A BEAUTIFUL Spring Day to be Outdoors in Milano

Thursday, 5 April, 2018

My sincerest apologies to Paul Sabolic and Mike D'Antuono for posting so late about Thursday's activities, we have had internet issues at the Villa Skorpion the last two days.

Do not fear ragazzi, those responsible have been severely punished the old Roman way!

Today made it . . .

. . . consecutive days living in

Venegono Superiore, Lombardia, Italy

  

The Sun was out and I had a touch of wanderlust, so the train to Milano it was armed with my book 111 Places in Milan That You Must Not Miss.

Nice curb side menu

Isn't that the truth!

Speaking of food, let's get the food photos for the day posted and slobbered over right now!

In almost all cases it was a matter of look, don't touch and certainly do not buy!

 Cannoli-like goodies

Fruits are good for you!

 Check that, I did step into this

Spanish Tapas Bar and had half

of a perfect Tortilla Española

 Fruit was in season

everywhere I looked

YIKES!

I'll start buying these regularly as

soon as young Miss Laurie arrives

BUONGIORNO Stock Exchange!

The arcades near the Duomo

were a delight

Noticing more and more tourist

groups as we get into Spring

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

#86 Scior Carera

The voice of the people

 Scior Carera himself!

Almost every Italian city had an old Roman bust or statue where the populace could leave anonymous messages of protest, complaints, mottoes and/or take political shots aimed at whoever happened to be in power at the time.

In Milano it was this statue now located near the busy entrance to a trendy Zara store.

From the 3rd-century A.D., Mr. Carera today just silently watches the masses walk by on crowded Corso Vittorio Emanuele.

At the base of the statue, in Latin, is a warning to the grumblers, "Anybody who wants to criticize someone should be free from all faults."

In 1848 the Milanese staged an uprising against the Austrians who controlled Milano at the time that has become known as the Five Days of Milano. The city was turned upside down by the rioting Milanese.

It was during this turbulent time that Scior Carera became the moral symbol for the people and took on the role of spokesperson for the rioters. Every day the people would leave messages at the statue's feet calling for justice and freedom.

In case you are wondering, the Austrians were eventually driven out of Lombardia.

Just a random, good looking church . . .

 . . . where people can worship the Sun

San Pietro in Gessate

I was not heading here but this church caught my eye.

The sign outside said that it once belonged to the Convent of Humiliated Friars from the 13th-century.

I had to go in after reading that!

 Great Holy water font

Nice frescoes

Do any of these monks

look Humiliated to you?

Not Humiliated,

I think that's the Pope

The Sforza Family crest

Another random church that

looked interesting

But I did not enter this one as I was closing in on . . .

#10 Ca' Granda

Learning in the University's courtyards

Student life with the

State University of Milan

on the right

Ca' Granda means "big house" in Milanese dialect. It was the nickname for the Ospedale Maggiore built in the 15th-century.

The old hospital buildings are now the University's campus which are highlighted by four cloisters of varying sizes.

 SUofM students who died

fighting in WWII

 One of the cloisters

And another

Lots of building activity

going on today on campus

This sign reminded me that Laurie

will be here in just 14 more days

 St. Ambrose

Bishop of Milan

The city's Patron Saint never looked better!

Is he pouting?

 How many patients and students

have walked here over the centuries?

One way to keep the

riffraff out of the classrooms

Students enjoying a sunny lunch

Beautiful outside

University wall

 Intricate Artwork

What is that woman in the

upper right so upset about?

A bad grade on a Theology mid-term exam is my guess.

Damn birds!

GREAT Campus!

Cool Graffiti off campus

 #35 Giardini della Guastalla

Milan's oldest pocket of green

It is Milan's first city park acquired by the city in only 1938.

It is a great example of Italian Renaissance garden landscaping.

Near Ca' Grande, it was not surprising to see lots of college students enjoying the weather in this idyllic spot. 

Nice fountain near

the entrance

 A Jewish Synagogue

near the Giardini

 A Giardini just has to have

ancient, headless statues

 Meanwhile, back at the

Gallerie Vittorio Emanuele II

I never tire of this view . . .

. . . or of this one of the Duomo

Time to head north, we had four hours of practice in store tonight for our Flag and Tackle teams after all.

 Skorpions Field stadium addition

WILL be completed in time for

Saturday night's

Sant'Agata Knights game

It will raise the total seating capacity of Skorpion Field to a cozy 37,565.

 Gianluca Arena before practice

He held for our kickers for at least a half hour in pre-practice, LOVE this young man's dedication to the team.

We had our first good, all-around

practice in about two weeks

Attendance was up and our Offensive Line was on board!

Somehow, someway we must find a way to . . .

BEAT THE KNIGHTS!

One Message Made My Day!

Wednesday, 4 April, 2018

It rained HARD all day today so I hunkered down in the Villa Skorpion as I got wet enough as usual at practice last night.

I had planned on trying to score tickets at the last second at Stadio San Siro for tonight's Serie A calcio (soccer) Derby game between AC Milan an Inter Milan. The idea of standing in the rain while trying to deal with scalpers changed my mind.

I didn't miss much as the game ended in a 0-0 tie.

Still it was a good day as I recalled that in only . . .

. . . more Days my bride Laurie

arrives in Lombardia!

Almost 47 years of marriage and she is still my bride.

Late last night I opened a surprise message that I received via Facebook Messenger from one of the Europe Warriors Senior players that we all coached during a magical week in Mexico City last August.

Louis is a TOUGH Running Back

with strong Italian roots

He is from New York and played his college ball in-state at Marist College.

Last year he played for Italy's DI Torino Giaguari which led to his selection to our Europe Warriors All-Star team.

His extremely kind note really brightened and re-focused me after what had been a bleak practice situation last night.

Louis got me back into a positive mental frame of mind instantly.

Louis at Mexico City's Olympic Stadium

before our game with the UNAM Pumas

As I learned back in 2010 when I did my 500 mile pilgrimage walk on France and Spain's Camino de Santiago, in life, "The Camino Provides."

I have always taken that Camino mantra to mean that in life, at unexpected times, positiveness will come from unlikely sources like a Europe Warriors running back.

GRAZIE LOUIS!

Part of what Louis did for me was get me to think about all of the hard working Skorpions who make it a joy to show up at practice three times a week due to their hard work and courage.

There are many but tonight I will point out just two.

Nicolas Principi

A hockey player who found the light!

Nicolas is new to American football, this being only his second season playing the game, both with the Skorpions.

He plays outside linebacker and strong safety for us as well as being a Special Teams demon and our Fullback in Goal Line/Short Yardage situations.

He is a worker who is usually the first player on and the last player off the practice field. A sponge, he absorbs as much American football knowledge as possible everytime we get together on or off the field.

After two games, he is currently our leading tackler with 29 combined First Hits and Assists, almost double of the next best Skorpion player's total.

Nicolas is Number 21 in white

vs. the Varese Gorillas

Hockey's loss was definitely American football's gain!

Our Back-Up QB

Gianluca has not had much of an opportunity to play in our first two games but is still an undaunted, team player. Being good friends with Nicolas helps him have a partner to also put in as much extra time as he can trying to get better.

What I like most about Gianluca is his heart and courage that he shows at each and every practice.

These are just two of the valiant Skorpions that Louis' note helped me to remember why one coaches this crazy game of ours.

It is first, foremost and always about the people!

Oh the wonderful people you meet in Mexico coaching American football . . .

A Birthday and a Disappointing Night at Practice

Tuesday, 3 April, 2018

Today was our son Michael's 42nd birthday . . .

That is him on the right in the 

authentic white Westlake H.S.

Nick Kormanik game jersey

Our older son Andy, in the blue jersey, has a much better hitting stance at this age.

I would guess that Andy is about seven years old here which would make Mike about five.

Nice Rams helmet Mike!

Mike and his son Jacob

This photo was taken last Spring when Mike received his Masters Degree from California Lutheran University.

Still a Los Angeles Rams family

This was taken after last Fall's Rams-Redskins game.

Our sons are now 44 and 42 years old . . .

How did that happen?

Meanwhile back in Venegono Superiore . . .

A new spot for my morning

cappuccino and brioche

 Lots of temptations as usual

Amazingly strong again, "No Grazie."

I drove north towards Varese after my Italian breakfast to do a bit of shopping at the IPER Supermarket Center.

Rustic Home For Sale

Don't let the signs saying "DO NOT ENTER, DANGER OF BUILDING COLLAPSE!" scare you off.

It's still a fixer-upper bargain I'm sure!

IPER offerings today . . .

Fish of some sort

LOTS of octopi

More . . .

 . . . temptations

I was strong for a second time in only a one hour time span!

Who would have believed it?

Certainly not me.

On the drive back to the Villa Sklorpion, I had to pass through the village of Vedano Olona.

They have a small chapel just off of the main road that is easily visible to motorists like me. Today, for the first time, I saw that the door was open.

Exploration Time!

Quaint is a good word

Fading Frescoes

always interest me

More colorful ones in

a side chapel

 Nice Candle Holder

 More Colors that caught my eye

Me, in about six hours, when

I found out that only two

Offensive Linemen were at practice

 The gophers had enjoyed digging

up Skorpion Field over the

Easter Weekend

 A sharped dressed

U17 Flag player

Part of our nightly

Three Ring Flag Circus

from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Tonight I decided to roam continuously between each of the U13, U15 and U17 practices.

I saw lots of good, patient coaches and young boys and girls hard at work improving their skills.

And then came the Senior team practice from 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

QB Gianluca Arena going DEEP!

This entire season the Senior practices have been marred by one consistently negative thing, our Offensive Linemen's lack of attendance.

It has made many of my practice plans mute, forcing the coaching staff into Plan B, C and even D modes at times.

With the Sant'Agata Knights game now just four days away, we only had two Offensive Linemen show up tonight and neither one was a starter.

The shame of the situation is the tremendous work ethic and positive attitude that the players at all of our other positions show at each and every one of our workouts is somewhat wasted because of the OL.

Is there any wonder why our Offense has struggled in our first two games?

PLAN B: LOTS of 7-on-7

We did Team Defense as well as possible with Wide Receivers and our even our starting QB filling in at the non-snapping Center and both Tackles spots.

When it came time for Team Offense, I sent all of the OL and DL home. Team Offense is all about timing and we were not going to get any under these circumstances.

Thus we turned to Plan B that called for about 40 minutes of 7-on-7.

We will probably have to use smoke and mirrors Saturday night in order to . . .

BEAT THE KNIGHTS!

FRUSTRATING!