Friday, 29 June, 2018
Before we talk about today's fun filled activity, I must post a great photo from last weekend's Skorpion BBQ that we just received today.
Laurie and Nency Besio
Nency is married to our U15 flag team Head Coach Enzo Petrillo, is the mother of Skorpion flag players Sofia (U17), Filippo (U15) and Emma (U13), has let me use her car for the past five months and, most importantly, makes the best lasagna this side of Naples!
As for picking the Big Deal of the Day, that was easy.
Our Skorpion Season Ending
Party/Awards Ceremony
was the runaway winner
The fact that this event was being held at the Skorpions team bar, the Bellavita Cafè, may have influenced the voters.
The walk from our packing spot in Varese to the Bellavita Cafè took us past several interesting store windows.
YUM!
Escargot anyone?
We arrived fashionably late or as
Italian societal norms would have it,
WAY TOO EARLY!
Palio Cranchi and Teresa Confalonieri
What's with the matching t-shirts that Pacio and partially hidden Vito are wearing?
Ah, we were each given one
upon entering the Bellavita
Contreras is on there twice, once for Laurie and again for me.
Cool t-shirts to be sure!
Copyright infringements are no problem in Italy by the way.
With QB
Gianluca "The Golden Arm" Arena
Coach Pacio and Skorpions
Team President Aristide Mangano
discussing the Fall of the Roman Empire
Selfie with DL Raffa Nardi!
Outdoor seating was a must
one a warm Lombardian night
A GREAT group of people!
Falcon Lorenzo Pizzetti and
OL Gabriele "Capo" Di Stefano
enjoying a moment
Recounting war stories
With Gigi Bravin and Giorgio Nardi
just after being told that
gelato was not being served tonight
I recovered quickly and made a note to myself to pick up a 500 grams of green apple, lemon and coconut gelato on the way home.
It was wonderful.
Vito, Enzo and DJ
The Three Amigos
With LB Marco Andreolli, DB/Coach Dario D'Adelfio and LB Ivan "Swito" Raso
Pietro Caprioli, our club's do-everything man, is our photo bomber.
Same group with Laurie and
photo bombing Pietro in a new spot
It was time to enter the Bellavita to say GRAZIE to everyone for a good year and to hand out five awards.
Giorgio setting the tone
Saying Grazie for my new
Swatch watch the team gave me
Why did I suddenly think of
Mussolini addressing the multitudes
back in the 1930s?
Maybe because of the multitudes in
front of me listening intently
Pacio just found out the we were
out of Prosecco
Just kidding, the Skorpions are NEVER out of Prosecco!
As for our awards tonight . . .
RB Alessandro Brovelli was our . . .
. . . Rookie-of-the-Year
QB Omar Passera was our
Offensive MVP
Unfortunately, he could not be here tonight.
OLB/Falcon Nicolas Principi . . .
. . . was our Defensive MVP
OC Gigi Bravin about to give . . .
. . . OLB, Kicker, Punter and Goal Line
Wingback Stefano Granelli . . .
The Team MVP Award
#26 with the Hammer,
leading our team out onto the field,
is Dario D'Adelfio
Dario was given a Special Award
for his outstanding career
This was his final year as a player having enjoyed previous stops with the Palermo Sharks and Catania Elephants before joining the Skorpions.
He has been a great ambassador for the game of American football all throughout Italy for so many great seasons.
Dario is the main reason I came
to the Skorpions as he was the
one who first contacted me last Fall
He flattered me tonight by saying that I was the best American coach that the Skorpions have ever had in our 35 year history.
Laurie then asked how many other Americans had coached the Skorpions over the past three-plus decades.
The answer was "None, George is our first one."
After some non-sober reflection, I took it as a compliment.
Thanks Dario, I think.
These two are reason enough
to return to Varese next season!
Enzo and Giorgio sharing a bottle of Prosecco by using straws just about sums up life with these two zany characters!
Helping ace WR Martino Piazzi
decide on what new helmet to purchase
before he joins the Europe Warriors
in Mexico this coming August
Speaking of characters,
Tony Mitrano is simply and
always a fond memory
about to happen
LOVE this guy!
What is Giorgio up to now
with all those straws?
Ah, it's a science experiment
involving Prosecco yet again
I think.
So you join all of these straws together,
put one end in the Prosecco and . . .
. . . no wait, Giorgio needed to
tape up a few of the joints
for a better seal . . .
DJ tried to make it work . . .
. . . but it was really Giorgio's
shining moment!
It took awhile but he got it to work.
Laurie's observation that he could have just poured the Prosecco out of the bottle more easily into the awaiting glasses was timely.
DL Andrea Gorini and
Falcon Nicolas Principi
Never a moments rest for these two Skorpion stalwarts when working behind the bar at the Bellavita on a hot June night.
Pacio about to take on the
Bellavita's Shot Drinking
Challenge that includes a classic
helmet and a hammer hit or four
I believe that DL Coach
Pacio Cranchi survived
the Challenge
I'm not so sure that OL Coach
Leo Pozzato did though
It was another great evening in a long list of amazing events with the fun loving Skorpion Family.
We are so fortunate to be . . .
LIVING LA DOLCE VITA
AS SKORPIONS!
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