Sunday, 16 June, 2019
Today was Day Number 150 in my self-imposed exile from President Trump's version of America.
Over the course of the last five months, the Nardi's have had us over for a meal on several wonderful occasions. Today we tried to repay their kindness by having them over for a California/Mexican lunch.
Laurie was hard at work making
her signature chicken with sour
cream sauce dish, as well as
cheese enchiladas
Laurie's aperitivi started the
California/Mexican taste festival
Federica and Raffa enjoying
a Corona with lime of course!
We thought that Santa Barbara, Giorgio, Federica and Raffa all enjoyed our typical three hour but not so Italian lunch.
I know we enjoyed their company immensely.
Meanwhile, back on the American football front . . .
Our Women's Flag Team returned
Lions Field near Begamo for Day Two
of their National Championship
qualifying tournament
Our nine woman roster was depleted today as Marta was still unable to play due to the six stitches in her forehead that she received in a collision early in Saturday's first game.
Arianna was also out having broken a finger yesterday.
The results were mixed as we did qualify for the National Championship Tournament in Catanzaro located in Calabria in two weeks based mostly on their first place standing in Group A during the regular season.
I'm not sure how we'll be seeded after this weekend's results.
We split our two games on Saturday and today we split our two contests again to go 2-2 on the weekend and are now 7-3 overall on the season and 5-1 in Group A play.
Today, our Women's team lost to the Palermo Mustangs 7-20 and beat the Palermo Sharks 41-0.
Today's final DII Quarter-Final playoff
game at least had a competitive score
as opposed to Saturday night's blowouts
The DII Playoff Brackets
Nineteen teams started the season,
only four are left still playing
The top four seeds advanced with both Semi-Final games being played in the Milano area this coming weekend.
The DII Semi-Finals shape like this:
The #1 seeded Milano Rhinos (9-0) will host the #4 seeded Reggio Emilia Hogs (8-1) on Sunday at 6:00 p.m..
The #2 seeded Cernusco Daemons (8-1) will host the #3 seeded Roma Pretoriani (8-1) on Sunday at 3:00 p.m.
The DI Playoff Brackets
Nine teams started the season,
only four are left still playing
The DI Semi-Finals will also be played this coming weekend.
The DI Semi-Finals will feature:
The #1 seeded Milano Seamen (7-1) hosting the #5 seeded Lazio Ducks (6-3) on Sunday at 6:00 p.m.
The #2 Bolzano Giants (6-2) hosting the #3 Firenze Guelfi
(7-2) on Sunday at 3:00 p.m.
The DIII Playoff Brackets
Forty-Three teams started the season,
only four are left still playing
DIII plays nine-man football and their Semi-Finals will also be played next weekend.
The Semi-Finals will see these two match ups:
The Alto Livenza 29ers (8-1) will host the Verona Redskins
(8-0) on Saturday at a time as yet to be determined.
The Barletta Mad Bulls (8-0) will host the Napoli Briganti (8-0) on Saturday at 8:30 p.m.
The Championship Games for all three Divisions will be held at the Stadio Sesto San Giovanni in Milano on the first weekend of July.
The DIII National Championship Game is scheduled for Friday, 5 July, at 9:00 p.m.
The DII National Championship game will kickoff at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, 6 July.
The DI National Championship game will end Milano's orgy of American football madness with a 9:00 p.m. start on Saturday, 6 July.
All the meteorologists agree, it will be a BEAUTIFUL two days for American football in Milano on the 5th and 6th of July!
More photos were posted on Facebook today from our game last night against the Cernusco Daemons by one of our AWESOME team photographers.
Here are some of my favorites . . .
RB Dylan Auriema
T-O-U-G-H!
Pre-snap looks
Dylan on the Sweep with
#13 WR Martino and #32 FB Bumba
leading the way
#16 Riccardo de Micheli
had a GREAT night!
The start of a tackle by
#9 LB Stefano Granelli . . .
. . . the middle of the same tackle . . .
. . . and the end of the stop with
#70 DT Luca "Ceo" Bozzo
coming to seal the deal!
Laurie taking picture on my iPhone
during the pre-game festivities
Overall, we were a really good
pass blocking team this year
Double Team
#54 Guard Marco Fortunali and
#51 Center Gabriele "Capo" Di Stefano
Good looking get-off by two
pass rushing Daemons
Tackle by #9 LB Stefano Granelli again
with #58 LB Ivan "Swito" Raso and
#24 CB Federico Zanetta closing in
if needed to finish off this Daemon
#33 SS Emanuele "Masch" Mascelli
had a wonderful, Team First season
for the Skorpions in 2019
The sidelines
Those are my guys!
Skorpion Pass Rush
Hoping this was another of our
patented Sweeps
I have not seen the official stats
but I'm guessing that Riccardo
may have had double digit catches
against the Daemons
Dylan pounding the Rock
up inside on an Iso Play
Legs
#19 LB Stefano Granelli and
#3 FS Manuel "Biondo" Bulgheroni
on an open field tackle
Biondo is only 17 years old and has had an outstanding season for the Skorpions both at Free Safety and on Special Teams. He is going to be a great player for many years if he keeps working hard.
Artsy look at the Pit
We need more pressure on this play
After all, American football is
a physical game
LB Swito listening
An emotional Andrea Gorini
Post-game, it was hitting Andrea, his career with the Skorpions was over due to the mandatory 48 year old retirement rule that FIDAF has in place.
One final time in 2019 . . .
Skorpions on Three . . .
1-2-3
SKORPIONS!!!
Coach Giorgio Nardi,
WR Riccardo de Micheli
and FB Cristian "Bumba" Bianchi
One side of the
Varese Skorpions helmet . . .
. . . and the other
Laurie is such a shy and
delicate flower
Pietro Caprioli, Federica Nardi and
Santa Barbara Zanella
The Defensive Line and their
Coach Pacio Cranchi
Thanks for putting up with me
for another great season of EuroBall
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