Gridiron Weekend

Let me first start off this blog entry by saying that the MVP of the Gridiron was from the Giants region. Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to present, the 2007 Gridiron Most Valuable Player, GERONIMOOOOOO! Here is Guillermo as he reflects on "sensible employee enhancements that build loyal to the organization" overlooking the Truckee River. His leadership and his performance under pressure led the Lions to victory over the Sharks! It was an amazing battle.

So who is Geronimo? The name is familiar but I honestly don't even know who he is. At first I thought Geronimo was the Lone Ranger's sidekick, but his name was Tonto. Let me do a wikipedia search.

"Geronimo (Chiricahua Goyaałé 'One Who Yawns'; often spelled Goyathlay in English) (June 16, 1829–February 17, 1909) was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who warred against the encroachment of the United States on his tribal lands and people for over 25 years."

* "The origins of his name of "Gerónimo" are not really known. Some believe that his Spanish enemies called out to Saint Jerome for assistance while attacking or in the midst of violent defeat. Having conducted raids into Mexico from an early age, it is suggested that Goyaałé took to shouting 'Geronimo' himself when heading into battle to unnerve his foes."

*"In 1940, the night before their first mass jump, U.S. paratroopers at Fort Benning saw a film about Geronimo, and began shouting his name during jumps, a trend which has caught on elsewhere." This is interesting because Fort Benning is right next to Columbus, GA which is where our headquarters is located!

*"Geronimo is a popular figure in cinema and television. Characters based on Geronimo have appeared in many films."

So, Guillermo was named Geronimo. I have a good feeling that this is not the last time we will hear the name Geronimo.

Guillermo won an awesome award that he will get later on. It's a football signed by one of the Amoses.

The Lions also had great performances from Chris Albany, Rich Talley, and Regina! Got to give them some props.

So here's how my Gridiron started.

I took BART into the City and waited for Jason to pick me up. I did that because we were leaving early on Friday morning.

I was on the corner of Davis and Market Street.

This is a shot of Union Street from Jason's living room window.

We originally were suppose to wake up at 3:30 am and leave by 4 am. That plan didn't work. I woke up about 4:15 am and did some work before we left. I woke Jason up a few minutes before 5 am. We drove to Guillermo's place and then we carpooled up to Reno. The drive wasn't bad at all. It actually was very quick. I want to say it took about 3 1/2-4 hours. We made a stop for gas as well as one pit stop.

This is Jason calling his girlfriend.

This is Jason modeling his new jacket!

Guillermo looks serious. He was the one that needed to make the pit stop.

Somewhere near the summit. Snow!

A shot of the most recognizable sign in Reno.

There were many times that we had to sit down during our breaks to study the scripts. Here's Josh and Guillermo in the bar/lounge area.

Here's Jason and Hortencia talking about the scripts.

Jason and I roomed together. I am not sure what Jason was doing here but I got a picture of him.

We had a tailgating dinner on the 4th floor of the hotel we stayed at. This is our fearless State Leader, Eric, with his special beer helmet. I think bottles would have worked better because he was spilling beer everywhere.

Will and Chuck make their first appearances on our blog. They were playing Pai Gow Poker. Pai Gow!

Josh and I went to Cal-Neva and then to Harrah to play poker. We found a $1/$2 game there. I won about $21. My first winning hand was a straight that was flopped! I slow played it and no one was biting. I bet $15 on the River and the dude called me. He was surprised.

My second best hand was a boat. I slowed played that one and let this guy keep betting $10 every round. I won another big pot.

The best hand Josh won was he went all-in with a flush. The chip leader at the table called him and Josh doubled up on him. It was very cool.

So on the way back, I told Josh that we should take pictures in the middle of the street in front of the big sign. Here we are!

I came back to my room and saw Jason and Guillermo just hanging out. They aren't much of gamblers (however Jason won about $60 on slots) and they were just talking.

On our way back home from Reno, Jason, Guillermo, and I all agreed that this was a great event and we definitely saw value in the practice and the script. We also agreed that we should really focus our attention on recruiting so we can teach this script to our associates.

I got back home last night around 9:30 pm. I took a shower and went to bed. I was pooped.