Pasquetta in Italy, Another Opportunity to Overeat DELICIOUS BBQ Meats!

Monday, 2 April, 2018

Last week all of the Skorpions got a message from our Middle Linebacker Ivan "Swito" Raso about gathering today at Skorpion Field for a team BBQ today on Pasquetta or Easter Monday.

Pasquetta is a National Holiday in Italy and it is an even bigger day to gather with family and friends than Easter Sunday.

Thus, I joined many members of the extended Skorpion Family for what turned out to be another amazing day in Lombardia!

Chiara, Swito's significant other,

was busy organizing the food when

I arrived at 11:00 a.m.

 Swito was the Head Grill Master

on this beautiful Spring day

Just the start of the animal

products to be expertly grilled

by Calabria's best BBQ chef

 Swito hand rubbing the ribs with,

what else, olive oil before grilling

Unlike most BBQs, the men were

apprensive to approach Swito to

give him their advice

Swito, being a Calabrese AND a Middle Linebacker tends to intimidate people.

He is actually a sweet young man.

Chiara, still in a Food Coma from

Easter Sunday, takes out the first of

many, many trays of meat to the BBQ

Swito was literally in

HOG HEAVEN!

Meat, we need MORE MEAT

NOW!

 Swito, beer at the ready,

stoking the fire

The first wave of burnt animal

flesh was about ready to be consumed

 It was AMAZINGLY good!

After several rounds of meat had

come off the grill, a game broke out

No wonder really as it was a BEAUTIFUL day for American football!

Bombs Away!

Getting Serious

Out came the scrimmage vests and flags, now the game was really afoot!

It was now about 3:00 p.m. and we had been noshing and drinking for about four hours.

MADONNA!

We still had tons of meat to grill and consume!

I thought we were done at this point but Swito informed me that in Calabrese terms, we had only just finished off the appetizers!

U13 Coach Marianna "Tex" Tessera

with the selfie stick,

Round 27 - Here We Come!

Tex is a great young lady and a darn good coach!

She asked me what we call Pasquetta in America. I answered "Monday."

She had a hard time believing that Americans would not enjoy another day with family and friends this weekend.

Frankly, so did I.

Going home with some fantastic,

home made Nutella cake rolls

for dessert

Ironically, this calendar, sponsored by a diabetes care center, hangs prominently in the Skorpions Snack Bar.

It was about 4:30 p.m. and I was not too proud to acknowledge my defeat at the hands of Swito's wonderful BBQing skills.

I tapped out BIG TIME!

Final Score: Calabria 1 - California 0

The last two days have been so much fun for me. When it is all over and I return home after our season ends, the joy of eating and drinking with these great Skorpion Family members this weekend will stay with me for a long, long time.

It's GREAT to be a Skorpion!

BEAT THE KNIGHTS!

At the Digennaro Home for Buona Pasqua, Italian for Food Coma

Easter Sunday, 1 April, 2018

This just in from Oxnard, California . . .

Jacob and Mary had a fun

Easter Sunday

Buona Pasqua is actually Italian for "Happy Easter," a day for families and friends to gather together to enjoy each other's company and, of course . . .

mangia, Mangia, MANGIA!

Mangia is the Italian word meaning "eat until you pass out."

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the beautiful, forested home of the Digennaro family on this blessed day.

  

Cinzia and Maurizio "DJ" Digennaro

DJ is the Defensive Coordinator for our U15 Flag team.

I'm not 100% sure if it is true but according to Enzo Petrillo, the U15 Head Coach, in the movie The Water Boy, the character of the Defensive Coordinator, Farmer Fran, was loosely based on DJ.

It is possible . . .

The view from Castello Digennaro

It took a few years but DJ built this amazing home himself I was told.

BEAUTIFUL!

Now, I said that today is a day for family and friends to join together and celebrate.

Thus I was not alone with Cinzia and DJ as more members of the Skorpion Family were in the castle.

We shared this glorious day with the Petrillo family (Enzo, Nency, Filippo and Emma) and the Nardi family (Giorgio, Santa Barbara, Federica and Raffaele).

We were one big, happy Skorpion family today.

 DELICIOUS!

Nency made it and a few other dishes that we all enjoyed today.

Pepperoni to die for

In America, pepperonis are meat slices to put on your pizza.

In Italy, pepperonis are fantastic non-spicy grilled peppers.

Cinzia made these to perfection!

The humble beginnings of the

upcoming food orgy

Grill Master at work

Of course all of the men had to stay close to the grill to be sure that Enzo was doing things properly.

He was.

Official Buona Pasqua Food Taster

"To Protect and Serve"

With Rome on high terrorist alert this weekend, I volunteered to taste the food before the others ate as a way of insuring that terrorists had not tainted our food.

I'm happy to report that we were safe. 

 As I said, Enzo on the left

was grilling to perfection

With Enzo and Giorgio

 Santa Barbara was happy

Nency, Emma, Cinzia, Santa Barbara

and DJ enjoying the appetizers

 Pepperoni and Egg Plant in

a tomato based sauce

This was just the beginning, every time we finished one dish, Cinzia would magically appear from the kitchen with another that would pleasantly attack your senses of smell, sight and, most importantly, taste! 

Precocious DJ entertaining

Santa Barbara, Nency and Federica

The meal from appetizers to main dish to cocktails to main dish to wine to main dish to more wine to yet another main dish to desserts to after dinner drinks to coffee lasted for about two hours.

Nency, Giorgio and Santa Barbara

had neared Food Coma levels

Only one thing to do to combat this potentially dangerous situation . . .

. . . A Forest Passeggiata

I said that the Digennaro home was in the forest so to combat the negative aftereffects of our sumptuous meal, we went for a walk in the woods.

Narrow path in the thick woods

Giorgio taking a short rest

Keeping a keen eye out

for possible bear attacks

"To Protect and Serve"

We strolled through the woods at a leisurely pace and enjoyed nature's beauty.

No bears spotted, I was two for two!

Once back at the Digennaro home, the athletic juices started to flow in DJ and Enzo.

Tennis Tether Ball anyone?

A rousing game between these two

former stars of the Italian Gridiron

was enjoyed be all of us

Once Were Athletes

We enjoyed it more for the

comic relief than for the

athletic prowess

What a BEAUTIFUL day for a gathering!

I am so blessed to have such great people in my life on a day when I was really missing being with my family back home.

It reminded me that this was not my first Easter Sunday spent in Europe.

Quickly, let's look back at the other wonderful six Easter Sunday's overseas . . .

2008 in Catania, Sicily

At the home of Concetta Giuliano,

the Mother of our HC Davide

 

2009 again in Catania, Sicily

with Laurie and Paul Pertrich

2010 in Hässleholm, Sweden

with the Palmbrink Family

In 2012, I was solo in Amsterdam

2013 in Lyon, France with

the Vilavella Family

Manue, Jacques and Angel

2015 in Murcia, Spain

with Laurie

These are all wonderful memories to be sure but on Tuesday night at practice, we must get back to work to find a way to somehow this coming Saturday . . .

BEAT THE KNIGHTS!

March Ends With a Good Battle in the Milan DI American Football Derby

Saturday, 31 March, 2018

On day number . . .

. . . of my European Adventure,

I attended an American football game

Leisurely Day

I stopped in at the train station, not to ride a train but to have a cappuccino with the family that runs the Sicilian café across the street before hitting the Esselunga Supermarket for needed supplies.

GREAT people!

The rest of the day was dedicated to laundry, cleaning the Villa Skorpion and watching more video of our next opponent, the Sant'Agata Knights.

Finally, in the late afternoon I drove for about 40 minutes towards Milan to attend . . .

. . . THE DERBY!

Milan's two powerhouse DI teams were meeting for their only regular season confrontation.

In 2016, the Rhinos were the Italian DI Super Bowl Champions having edged the Seamen 35-34 in the semi-finals.

These two clubs met again in the 2017 playoffs, this time for the DI championship, with the Seamen winning 37-29, avenging a regular season 26-10 loss to the Rhinos.

 The Seamen were 1-0 in IFL play

entering tonight's game

They had defeated the Bolzano Giants (2-2) 21-0 a few weeks ago.

The Seamen are also playing in the ten team European Football League tournament this Spring. They opened EFL playing last Saturday night in Spain beating the defending Spanish DI Champion Badalona Dracs 23-10.

Their next EFL game will be at home against a traditional French powerhouse team, the Thonen Black Panthers on May 12th.

 The Rhinos were 0-2

After going undefeated the past two regular seasons, the Rhinos have fallen upon some hard times.

Their first two IFL games this season have both been losses to the Florence Guelfi (4-0) 6-2 and to the Ancona Dolphins (2-1) 28-7. 

 Home of the Rhinos

How we ever travelled anywhere before the invention of GPS is still a mystery to me.

The drive to the Rhinos home field took me through some interesting and scenic countryside and villages.

"GET YOUR RHINO SOUVENIRS!"

I looked but did not buy anything.

For once.

Pre-game warm-ups were

just finishing when I arrived

The Rhinos decked out their crib

Opening Kickoff

The Rhinos came to play and caught the Seamen napping a bit as they jumped out to a surprising 13-0 First Quarter lead.

The Seamen would roar back in the

second stanza to lead 20-13 at the Half

 Though trailing, the Rhinos were

playing with great enthusiasm

 Nice sports complex but . . .

With the skies threatening, why were the unique two sided stands on the auxiliary fields covered while our main field stands remained al fresco to the impending inclement weather?

Oh well . . .

Second Half action

The Seamen went back to work and at the end of three periods led comfortably 32-13.

And then they relaxed . . .

The Fourth Quarter saw a valiant

comeback attempt by the Rhinos

Midway through the final quarter, the Rhinos had made things interesting by cutting the Seamen's lead to just 32-25.

All Rhino hope faded as the Seamen went on a punishing, ground oriented, seven minute non-scoring drive. They turned the ball over on downs at about the Rhinos' ten yard line.

A subsequent Seamen interception of an errant Rhino pass ended the contest.

A nerve wracking game for the

Seamen fans and coaches to be sure

 I'll bet the Final Score made them happy

It was after the game when I got to have some fun seeing some old friends on the field.

Giulio Romano

Giulio is the starting Left Guard for the Rhinos and even played a little at Nose Guard on defense tonight.

He was our starting Left Guard as well when I coached the 2008 and 2009 Catania Elephants based in Sicily.

Giulio is just full of life and an unforgettable character too.

Most importantly tonight, he has become a tremendous blocker.

GREAT GUY! 

Claudio Nicola

Claudio is an exceptional Defensive Lineman for the Rhinos.

Mild mannered and polite off the field, something dark happens to him when he puts on the pads.

Claudio is a high energy player that I enjoy watching compete.

I first met him last August when I coached the Europe Warriors Senior team in our contest in Mexico City against the University of Mexico Pumas.

When all of us who ate the lasagna at the Radisson Hotel got a bit of food poisoning one night, he didn't.

When queried why he had not tried the Italian dish that night, he was the one who responded "If I ever ate lasagna in Mexico, my Grandfather in Heaven would come down and slap me in the face!"

Words to live by . . .

Mike Wood

Mike is in his first season as the Head Coach of the Milan Seamen after several European campaigns in Germany, France and Italy as well as coaching some college football in the USA.

Mike has been our Defensive Coordinator with the Europe Warriors for both the Senior team game last August in Mexico City and the U19 game in December in Texcoco, Mexico against the Mexican U19 All-Star team.

A good word to describe Europe's #1 Ohio State fan and alumnus would normally be . . . INTENSE!

But after tonight's see-saw battle he appeared overall to be quite calm and in control of his emotions.

It was this quiet, confident side of Mike that I was not used to but liked greatly.

Nevertheless Mike, think TFD!

Skorpions Game Week is finally here!

After two consecutive BYE weekends, we'll be back at it at home next Saturday for the first of four games in the month of April.

Somehow, someway we have to . . .

BEAT THE KNIGHTS!