A Good Lunch and a GREAT Practice

Tuesday, 21 January, 2020

One of the great things about the last 12 years being involved in EuroBall has been the many wonderful people that I've met while coaching American football in Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Spain, Austria and Mexico.

One of these dear people is a young man from the Czech Republic named Honza Rauš who has been a key part of the dominant Prague Black Panthers program.  I first had the pleasure of coaching Honza, an outstanding offensive lineman, during a Europe Warriors game in Chihuahua, Mexico in the Summer of 2018.

In the late Fall of 2019, I teamed up with Honza twice again through the Europe Warriors program as we coached together, first in a U18 game in Vienna and then in a Women's game in Mexico City.

Honza made the conscious and solid decision to spread his wings a bit in 2020 and joined one of France's premier teams, the Thonon Black Panthers, as a player.

Apparently, Honza is a big fan of black panthers in general.

This week his new Black Panthers squad had some sort of media event and I was happy to see that Honza opted to look his best for the assembled reporters.

"Every woman's crazy

'bout a sharp dressed man!"

ZZ Top

Cool bow tie!

Europe Warriors Athletic Director

Bart Iaccarino's reaction to Honza's

photo captured all of our thoughts on

first seeing the "new" Honza

Meanwhile, back in Varese . . .

I had to wonder, as I strolled through Varese's downtown, if William Shakespeare had used Varese instead of Verona for his acclaimed play Romeo and Juliet, which of these two would have he chosen for the famous balcony scene?

I like the simpler

colors of this one . . .

. . . over the more elegant patterns

of this one

Agree or disagree?

We really need a vastly improved

address number above our doorway

in Camarillo

A good example of the Liberty style

architecture that is so prevalent

throughout Lombardia

I had received a message from Skorpions Board Member Enzo Petrillo earlier in the morning to meet him for lunch today at 1:00 p.m. to discuss some team related issues.

How could I possibly refuse?

Enzo drove me out to a new place for me to dine, the Ristorante Olona "Da Venanzio" which first opened in 1922.

Enzo said that this spot served

great risotto with quails legs

So we each ordered a serving. 

Enzo knows his food!

This is an amazing ristorante that did not disappoint us at all.

What's all this?

The large blue bowl was full of cherries in a syrupy sauce.

The small plate on the right had a large jar of thick, rich chocolate with three smaller jars of cinnamon powder, chocolate powder and a third powder that I don't recall.

They were fixings for this home made

vanilla ice cream that they we shared

for dessert

Now, THIS is the way to serve

a chocolate sundae with style

Oh my!

That did it, I was done eating for the day.

That is no small feat for a fine ristorante like this one to humble me so thoroughly.

Mentioned in the

Michelin Guide in 2017

The "Da Venanzio" will be mentioned in all future Contreras Guides to be sure!

In the evening, I struggled to get my fully sated off the couch to attend our Skorpions Prima Squadra workout.

We had 45 passionate players

at tonight's practice

One-on-ones went well with

lots of spirited competition

During team time, our Offensive Line

showed good improvement

The consistency that we need to win games is still not there but we are heading in the right direction.

I liked our Defense's relentless

pursuit to the ball tonight

I love our attitude and effort, we got better tonight.