Three-a-Days

!!!!NEWS FLASH!!!!

This just in from California:  The Rio Mesa Spartans, in "Mt. Etna Molten Lava" red above, beat Pacific View League rival and playoff #1 seed Channel Islands, in the blue, 2-1 Friday to claim the 2009 C.I.F. Division IV Boys Soccer/Calcio Championship!

Great job Spartans and

Congratulations to Coach Brandon Fuchs!!!!!!!

Meanwhile, back in Sicily... American Football Mania hit it's full stride in Catania during the last 24 hours.  The Elephants, only two weeks away from the season opener stepped up the pace with three practices in less than a 24 hours.

A tool Denver came up with to get our linemen to get off lower or is it really an instrument of torture?

Denver continues to do a GREAT job with our offensive line, it really showed in these three workouts.

A little scrimmaging is good for the soul!

Friday night we practiced for about 1 hour and 45 minutes, a good session with good effort leading to good improvement... WHAT A NOVEL CONCEPT!

Fortunato "Call me Lucki" Camarda and Andrea Mannino

Lucki is our Elephant Super Veteran logging his 24th season with the team this year.  Andrea is our MUCH improved kicker and back up wide receiver.  They each bring something positive to the Elephants in their own way.

They are seen here, a little groggy, before Saturday's 10:00 a.m. practice that lasted for two hours and 15 minutes..

Lucki has had a hard two weeks since his wonderful wife, Federica, had to go into the hospital and have a stent put in to clear up a partially clogged coronary artery.  Thankfully she is home and on her way to a speedy recovery!

Half-Time Break

Our final workout on Saturday lasted from 3:00 p.m. until 5:15 p.m. and featured a lengthy controlled full contact scrimmage.  The offense looked VERY sharp which also translates into an afternoon of questionable defense.  This was very disappointing since we had been very competitive defensively all week until the second half of this final practice.

The Ancona game is now less than two weeks away and I am VERY concerned about our defense again this season. 

A Luca Tony Fan in Aci Castello?

I found this sign outside a restaurant in Aci Castello tonight.  If you don't know of Luca Tony, he is an Italian soccer/calcio player who plays for FC Bayern Munchen of the German Bundesliga.  He leads the known universe in faked injuries during a career.  He is NOT my favorite player.