by Rich Rod has made yet another vastly positive impression on me. He hosted a pre-spring game party at his house last night for all football lettermen that wanted to show up. I would estimate about 200 plus were there. Rich was an outstanding host. He and his family were at the door to greet the guests. There was hot and cold dishes open bar for beer and wine, disco with red and blue lights and the trimmings.
Saw lots of players that went way back in time. Excatdb was there looking like a fireman calendar poster boy. One of my old teammates was there with his son. The son wants to come to Arizona in a big way. He plays ol/dl at Snowflake.***Premium*** Rich Rod got up by the disco , welcomed everyone, gave a welcome to the house speech. He finished by saying that when we win the first Rose bowl, he will be hosting another party at his house and he will tell the neighbors that the party will go on for a long time.
Now let's talk about the house. It is way at the very end of Craycroft. There are gates and guards that would turn back the uninitiated. We were shuttled up in 6/7 at a time by suv limos. The house is at the very endof the road. The Catalinas simply tower over the back of the house. City lights are very prominent. The house is palatial, one of those Architectural Digest type places. Rather than go into the whole place, let me simply describe the kitchen. The kitchen is big. It has a full compliment of Viking appliances. Tow each, two refrigerator, two dishwashers, two sinks and the kitchen island is not an island, it is a continent sized slab of granite. As I recall there was only 1 Viking stove, but it was a big one and of course a nice sized oven also. All done in granite, high ceilings, marble and shining metal. The rest of the house matches the kitchen. Very livable.
The party was to end at 11 pm. Mrs Black Oaks and I left around 10:20 and people were still arriving in the shuttles.
Bearing Down on a party to remember and a coach that knows how to engage the community
was in a gated community but further down the hill off river Road somewhere. Rich Rods place is half way up the Catalinas or so it looks from the pool area. It was custom built by a developer just as the local real estate market crashed. It had been sitting up there just waiting for a nice family to move in. All the properties up there are in the seven figures. I understand that Rich Rod got a very deep discount from the developer just to move the property.