Sunday, 24 February, 2019
We all arrived at Skorpion Field bright and early today for what would be an extremely full day of exciting . . .
. . . Varese Skorpions American Football!
The majority of the day was taken up by a four club flag football tournament with U13, U15 and U17 players each getting to play three games today.
Besides the Skorpions, the other clubs involved in this series of 18 games played on three fields were the Busto Arsizio Blue Storms, the Martesana Daemons and the Milano Seamen.
REVERSE!
Those pesky Daemons outfoxed our U13s on this play.
U13 LB Alessandro in Hot Pursuit
of the Daemons trickeration
RB Emma had a hard time
with this low pass
U13 QB Tommy in action
Daemons matched our U15 formation
with three of their own
The U15s' swivel hipped RB Davide
The Daemons U15 female QB threw . . .
. . . a TD strike on this play
The Skorpions U15s would respond quickly
While all three Skorpions and Daemons
teams played each other in Round One,
the three Blue Storms teams began their
warm-up rituals
Round Two would be the three games between the Skorpions and the Blue Storms at the U13, U15 and U17 levels.
Our U17s had a dominant day
U17 Bunch Formation
The Blue Storm player on Defense with his hand in the air is signaling that he will be blitzing the QB. He must be at least seven yards from the Line of Scrimmage at the snap of the ball. Under flag football rules, a Blitzer can not be blocked.
The Bunch scattering as the
Blitzer finds a seam
All of the Skorpion flag teams played 40 minute, running clock games in Rounds One and Two.
They would not see the field again until the tournament's final round, Round Six.
Only one thing to do, check out the doings at the Skorpion Snack Bar!
What the heck is Vito doing?
Were we going to perform Shakespeare's Macbeth later on in the day?
Why no, as it turned out Vito was simply stirring the Polenta which would be offered as our lunchtime staple.
Stir that pot Vito!
Polenta is a delicious yellow corn mush that is a staple of the Lombardian Winter diet on chilly days like today.
Vito probably added an extra
helping of Polenta to the plate
that he offered me
Underneath the Polenta was a slab
of Gorgonzola, simply Zola as they
call it here, that melts thanks to the heat
of the Polenta
It was DAMN good in my humble culinary opinion.
The flag tournament finally over, it was time for the Main Event, the Prima Squadra's scrimmage.
Our opponents today were the
DI Milano Seamen
As you can see from their post announcing their opening game in two weeks, they have won four of the past five Italian DI Championships.
We were in for a tough day to be sure. As is the case almost weekly when a team travels, the Seamen were missing some key players, mostly linemen.
Their three import players, a QB, a WR and a DB were suited out and all performed admirably.
With Seamen Head Coach
Mike Wood before the scrimmage
Mike has also been the Defensive Coordinator on all three of our Europe Warriors experiences in Mexico the last couple of years.
Reuniting with some Europe Warriors
from our game in Chihuahua last August
They all play for the Seamen this year and are from L. to R., DB Alberto Garlaschelli, DB Nicolas Principi and WR/K/P Stefano Di Tunisi.
"All I ask of you today is that you
COMPTETE, 100%, on each play."
Pre-Scrimmage Line-up as our
Tribute Weekend to fallen, former
Skarpion and Seamen Sem Molteni continued
Play action pass during the 7-on-7
phase of the scrimmage
QB Giacomo "Jack" Micheli
dropping back
I thought he played well today.
CB Andrea Mora had a great break
on this pass, a possible Pick Six, but his
hands failed him
Sling it Jack!
Good hands Matteo "Mozza" Mozzanica
SS Emanuele "Masch" Mascelli
covering an American WR
DE Tomas Pedotti in a One-on-One
Pass Rush Drill
An American CB in
Press Coverage . . .
. . . effectively re-routing Lorenzo
one of our rookie WRs
OC Omar Passera having a positive
impact on our team
Skorpion Punt Block team
applying the pressure to the Seamen
We may have to break it to Lorenzo that
the number 63 is not really a good
choice for a WR
Jack on the roll out pass
The Post-Game talk highlighted the
many positive and somewhat surprising
things we accomplished today
I felt that we competed well against some of the excellent players that make up the Seamen's roster.
It was a good scrimmage and I believe that we learned some valuable lessons today.
WR Mozza and American Import DB
after the scrimmage
One of the best things about the European brand of American football is the post-game friendly atmosphere.
I was pleased to see Nikko Moruzzi, our right OT, in a serious discussion outside of our locker room complex after the scrimmage getting tips from the veteran Seamen DE that he played against today.
Nikko was physically outweighed by about 40 kilos in this match up but he has a big heart and gave great effort today. The Seamen DE was awesome in helping Nikko to better understand his counters to various pass rush moves.
While we were finally finished at Skorpion Field, our Ladies Flag Team was just starting their three game, night time tournament in Busto Arsizio about 15 miles away.
I didn't make it there but I . . .
. . . heard from their HC Dario D'Adelfio,
standing at their post-tournament meal,
that the Ladies played extremely well
After our scrimmage, I joined Marta Crosta and Nicolas Principi for dinner and drinks at the excellent and relatively inexpensive Varese restaurant called Spitz that I first visited about a month ago.
I was in the mood for a large steak
with three types of sea salts
Some times you just want to say no to pasta.
Not often, but sometimes.
Meanwhile, the Italian DII season started this weekend with a limited schedule of games . . .
Our Governing Body
WEEK #1 DII RESULTS:
Group A Results
No Games Scheduled Week #1
BYES:
Brescia Bengals (0-0)
Busto Arsizio Blue Storms (0-0)
Canavese Mastifs (0-0)
Martesana Daemons (0-0)
Milan Rhinos (0-0)
Monza Brianza Hammers (0-0)
Palermo Sharks (0-0)
Varese Gorillas (0-0)
Varese Skorpions (0-0)
Group B Results
Verona Mastini (1-0) 35
Isonzo Sentinels (0-1) 7
Padova Saints (1-0) 24
Ferrara Aquile (0-1) 18
BYE:
Castelfranco Cavaliers (0-0)
Group C Results
Roma Pretoriani (1-0) 42
Sarzana Red Jackets (0-1) 6
BYES:
Bologna Braves (0-0)
Modena Vipers (0-0)
Reggio Emilia Hogs (0-0)
DII STANDINGS and
WEEK #2 SCHEDULE
Group A Standings
Brescia Bengals 0-0
Busto Arsizio Blue Storms 0-0
Canavese Mastifs 0-0
Martesana Daemons 0-0
Milan Rhinos 0-0
Monza Brianza Hammers 0-0
Palermo Sharks 0-0
Varese Gorillas 0-0
Varese Skorpions 0-0
Group A Schedule
Saturday, March 2nd
Monza Brianza Hammers (0-0) at
Varese Gorillas (0-0)
Martesana Daemons (0-0) at
Canavese Mastifs (0-0)
Sunday, March 3rd
Brescia Bengals (0-0) at
Palermo Sharks (0-0)
Varese Skorpions (0-0) at
Busto Arsizio Blue Storms (0-0)
BYE:
Milan Rhinos (0-0)
Group B Standings
Padova Saints 1-0
Verona Mastini 1-0
Castelfranco Cavaliers 0-0
Ferrara Aquile 0-1
Isonzo Sentinels 0-1
Group B Schedule
Saturday, March 2nd
Ferrara Aquile (0-1) at
Verona Mastini (1-0)
BYES:
Castelfranco Cavaliers (0-0)
Isonzo Sentinels (0-1)
Padova Saints (1-0)
Group C Standings
Roma Pretoriani 1-0
Bologna Braves 0-0
Modena Vipers 0-0
Reggio Emilia Hogs 0-0
Sarzana Red Jackets 0-1
Group C Schedule
Saturday, March 2nd
Modena Vipers (1-0) at
Bologna Braves (0-0)
Sunday, March 3rd
Reggio Emilia Hogs (0-0) at
Sarzana Red Jackets (0-1)
BYE:
Roma Pretoriani (1-0)
Let the Games BEGIN!
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