Our Last Full Day in Varese

Tuesday, 16 July, 2019

The 180th day of our EuroBall 2019 experience would be our last full day in Varese as we fly home to Los Angeles from Milano via Munich on Lufthansa Airlines starting at 9:55 a.m. tomorrow.

Today started with a quick walk down the street from the Villa Skorpion II to take one last look at our local Bar al Semaforo that served me many a cappuccino in the morning this year.

Being only 50 meters from our front gate made this bar the easy, natural place to go in the mornings.

Convenient with a

good cappuccino

But, if you want a quality brioche to go with your cappuccino, you really need to head farther down the street to the Pasticceria Marabelli.

I did this today on my way to get our car washed and filled up with gasoline before returning it to its gracious owners, Enzo and Nency Petrillo, tomorrow.

GRAZIE

ENZO and NENCY!

At lunch time, Laurie and I

boarded the C Line bus one last time

from this very bus stop

We were headed into downtown Varese to have lunch with Nicolas Principi, Marta Crosta and her brother Riccardo.

On the ride down the hill, I was reminded of a common question, "Why Skorpions with a 'k'?"

Well, it turns out that back in 1983 when the team was founded, many of the founders were members of the same gym, or as its is called here, a palestra.

The name of the gym was . . .

. . . Skorpions Palestra with a "k"

and it still exists

Simple answer to a simple question as it turns out.

Our lunchtime rendezvous spot

It was such a good, fun lunch including the lively conversation with Nicolas, Marta and Riccardo that both of us forgot to take any pictures.

As we were leaving Ripoli,

dinner was being delivered

to Ripoli's kitchen

YUM!

Laurie and I stopped back in

at the Pasticceria Marabelli

for one last Aperol Spritz

Finally, in the evening, I had one last duty to perform as the Skorpions' Head Coach before flying home.

Everyone has been saying to me that the Skorpions were embarking on a Three Year Plan when they hired me in 2018.

In Year I, 2018, we had a winning record at 5-4 after going 3-6 in 2017. We lost an overtime thriller in our road playoff in Modena after getting killed in a playoff game in Rome in 2017. All of the Skorpions seemed happy at the upward mobility of the squad in 2018.

This season, Year II, I was told was critical to prove to people that the 2018 season was not a flash in the pan. We improved again going 7-3 against, what I believe was, a much tougher schedule and winning our first 11-man playoff game since 1988.

I was told by people that now that we had proved that we were a legitimate, improving program, new players would start transferring to our squad.

Tonight, at Skorpion Field, six players from two other DII teams in the greater Milano area asked to meet with us to discuss our program, our standards and our goals for 2020.

I felt good about how all six players reacted to our program tonight after our presentation and after answering all of their questions.

We'll see . . .

After the recruits left,

the Skorpions had a Prosecco

and pizza party

Nency was all spiffed up as she and Enzo had just left a social gathering early to come over to the field and say "Ciao" to me.

How cool was that?

Really cool but . . .

. . . not as cool as Nency's shoes!

Finally, we are packed

and we think that we are

under the weight limits

on all of our bags!

We'll find out for sure when we get to Milano's Malpensa Airport's official scales tomorrow.

It is indeed time for us to head home to be with our family and friends, but we sure had a great time in Varese this year both on and off the field.

Year III . . .

HERE WE COME!