Coaching for Pizza

Sunday, May 6, 2018

A FULL Day in Varallo, at a U13 Flag Team Practice and at Swito's Home for an Italian Food Festival

Saturday, Cinco de Mayo, 2018

As a famous Roman once noted, "All Gaul is divided into three parts."

Some Saturdays too.

PART I

The Beautiful Drive to Varallo

As mentioned in yesterday's post, former stellar Westlake H.S. Defensive Lineman, Bob Hoyman was staying with us for a night.

Though well travelled in Asia and South America, it was this rugged outdoorsman's first visit to The Continent. He was here to celebrate his 50th birthday next week and enjoy a week long kayaking adventure on the Sesia River in the northwest corner of Italy's Piemonte region.

Thus our day started with a 90 minute drive (two hours if you include the time we spent wandering aimlessly when we lost our GPS connection in the mountains) through some of Italy's most naturally beautiful country side to the mountain village of Varallo. It was here that Bob was to meet up with his fellow kayakers for his birthday bash/adventure week.

As we reached the valley that the Sesia River has carved out over the centuries, it was fun to see Bob get excited was he read the river and started interpreting what he saw for me. It looked like a good river for kayaking.

When we finally got to Varallo and said our goodbyes, I was floored when Bob thanked me, not just for our hospitality the last two days but for working him hard in high school both on the field and in the weight room to make him mentally and physically tougher. He said that he believes that that mental training 30+ years ago was huge in helping him get through his bout with cancer the past two years.

Now that was humbling to hear.

We parted ways and I started to head home but quickly got lost without any GPS signal again.

I was stripped of any further male dignity that I had when I opted to stop by a bridge and ask for directions at the far end of Varallo.

Nice statue on the bridge over . . .

. . . the apparently fish rich

Sesia River

I wonder what Bob's assessment of

this stretch of the river would have been?

Looks a little rough to me.

I got good directions from the

owner of the Bar Asia at

the far end of the bridge . . .

. . . but he had me drive past Varallo's

Sacro Monte

I just had to stop to take a look

Didn't I?

Hill top religious structure . . .

Lots of hill top religious structure

Cool chimneys

Purple wisteria and yellow walls

A good combination if you ask me.

Another view of Varallo's Sacro Monte

Of course this old building has a

crest painted on it

This one had the Madonna

No, not the singer.

Marcantonio Carlavèe is a

folklore figure in these parts

that is huge during an annual

festival in Varallo

It says on this sign that he is "The King of Dreams."

Saturday, May 5, 2018

1980s Westlake HS DL Bob Hoyman Invades the Continent!

Friday, 4 May, 2018

We had a fun surprise today as a former standout player from our days at Westlake High School in California back in the 1980s arrived in Milano.

The one and only Bob Hoyman was coming to Italy for a week long kayaking and camping trip down the Sesia River in northwest Italy to celebrate his 50th birthday.

I know what your thinking, how is it possible that I coached someone in high school that is about to turn 50?

Beats me, the only thing that I can come up with is that I may be getting old.

Bob's plane arrived in Milan at about 8:00 a.m. and we arranged to meet him in Milano at about 11:00 a.m.

Once we got to Milano, we had time for . . .

. . . a cappuccino and brioche

We opted for what we thought would be a simple meeting place . . .

. . . the Duomo

We were wrong as Bob was no where to be seen.

Maybe he ducked into the Galleria

It was raining after all

We still couldn't find him and then realized that there is actually more than one church in Milano and that he was probably not at the Duomo.

A series of messages finally cleared up the matter and the next thing we knew, we were . . .

. . . eating lunch in Milano

with Bob Hoyman!

Bob was lugging two large bags full of his much needed kayaking and camping gear plus a good sized back pack.

We decided to all board the train back to Venegono Inferiore as Bob was to be an overnight guest in the Villa Skorpion tonight before heading farther northwest to Varallo to meet up with the other people in his adventure tourism group.

Jet lagged to the max, Bob crashed in his new bedroom for about five hours before auto-reviving.

We decided that a trip to beautiful downtown Varese was in order to dine at the Bellavita Cafè.

As you may recall, Skorpion NG Andrea Gorini owns the Bellavita and tends the bar as well with the aid of fellow Skorpions SS Nicolas Principi and RB Ema Della Bosca.

Nicolas waited on us and suggested that after his specially prepared appetizer plate which included two amazing cheeses that we order some gnocchi from the restaurant across the walkway that cooperates with the Bellavita to provide an upgraded menu for the Cafè's customers.

We each got a tray like this one

with the same three styles of gnocchi

The top one was a sausage based, the middle one was a covered in broiled parmesan cheese while to bottom one had boar's meat.

Speaking of boar's meat, I was in HOG HEAVEN! These were three of the best gnocchi dishes that I have ever had.

GREAT call Nicolas!

Former Westlake Warriors

reunited in Varese, Italy

We had a great evening to be sure with friends both old and new.

Upon our return to the Villa Skorpion, Bob's jet lag hit him over the head again and he was dead to the world within seconds of our arrival back home.

The joys of cross-continental travel are boundless!

Thursday, May 3, 2018

A Quiet Day at the Villa

Thursday, 3 May, 2018

The weather was still a bit off with scattered showers throughout the day.

It was a good day to stay indoors and do a lot of laundry, read a bit, prepare for the evening's practice and look at more game video of our next opponent, the Cagliari Crusaders.

We had a spirited workout in the evening

Unfortunately, only one of our starting linemen showed up. We only had him and three of our back up offensive linemen in attendance requiring our TE to play tackle for most of the practice and run a four wide receiver set tonight.

More bad news arrived after practice in talking to our Skorpion Board Members.

As is normal throughout the European American football scene, when a team has to play a game requiring long distance travel and an overnight stay there are roster problems.

It must be remembered that the Skorpions are definitely not paid professional athletes. They are, first and foremost, students, workers, husbands and fathers who all have several off the field commitments that often take precedence over playing or practicing American football. Also, finances may come into the picture as EuroBall players often have to pay for their plane or bus tickets plus the cost of a hotel room and meals on these journeys.

As for our student-players, it must be recalled that in Italy schools are in session on Saturdays for at least the mornings. Thus, a significant amount of our outstanding Kiddie Korps of players will have to miss a day of education to play next week.

Our next game will be played on Saturday, May 12th at 8:00 p.m. in Cagliari against the Crusaders on the island of Sardinia. This will require the expenses of a 90 minute plane flight to Cagliari Saturday morning, hotel rooms after the game Saturday night and a return flight to Milano early Sunday morning.

Thus, the news of which players were in our out for the Crusaders game caused us to have to reshuffle the roster deck, especially in the kicking game, as to who would be playing which positions.

This is clearly not a good situation but it is quite normal in EuroBall coaching life.

Always have a Plan B ready.

As usual . . .

It's GREAT to be a Skorpion!

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Cenacolo Vinciano

Wednesday, 2 May, 2018

One of the major art attractions in Milano is Leonardo Di Vinci's The Last Supper.

Getting tickets to see it are not easy, as only 30 people are allowed in at a time for a 15 minute visit, due to concerns for the masterpiece's long term conservation.

I had to buy our tickets two months in advance in order to get in during the month of May when Laurie would be here to enjoy seeing it with me.

Our tickets were for a 3:30 p.m. admittance, so we decided to take the 10:35 train from Venegono Inferiore to arrive in Milano at about 11:30 thus giving us time for lunch in the city before our viewing.

Since it was raining again today, apparently Laurie's California weather mojo has lost its luster, we decided to ride the Metro from Milano's Cadorna train station to . . .

. . . the Duomo exit

It is true, this view never is boring to me.

I decided that it was time for Laurie to try the lasagna at the Peck Gourmet Deli.

As always, it was amazing.

So were Peck's desserts

Although we only looked,

physical fitness is our creed

A short ride on the 16 tram heading toward venerable Stadio San Siro, dropped us off at the site of The Last Supper.

Di Vinci's opus is located in the refectory of the ancient Dominican monastery of the . . .

. . . Chiesa Santa Maria delle Grazie

We picked up our two ducats, but still had a good 45 minutes to kill before our group of 30 art lovers needed to report to the entry doors.

What to do on a rainy Italian afternoon?

Why drink a macchiato of course!

The rain let up so we decided to settle our tab and check out the neighborhood.

The Lithuanian Consulate

A beautiful building

And another

The Last Supper is through

those doors but we still had

about 15 more minutes of waiting

So we checked out the outside

of the Chiesa while we waited

Good looking ragazzo

WE'RE GOING IN!

They whet your artistic appetite

with teasers like this in one of the

waiting rooms used to dehumidify

the newest group of 30 visitors

That is the Apostle Peter on the left with the Apostle John, a.k.a., Mary Magdalene, at the Last Supper.

We entered the refectory which was the Dominican's dining hall back in the day.

On one end wall was this fresco of

the Crucifixion by

Giovanni Donato Monitorano

dated 1495

This is part of the long side wall

connecting the Crucifixion

fresco with . . .

"One of you will betray me."

"Lord, is it I?"

Leonardo did extensive biblical research on the events of the the Last Supper before starting his work. He decided to capture the shock and emotions of all of those at table the moment that Jesus announced the betrayal.

Contrary to what I said in yesterday's post, Leonardo's Last Supper is definitely not a fresco. Frescoes, by definition, must be painted quickly while the plaster that is used on the wall is still fresh and wet.

Di Vinci started to paint the Last Supper in 1494 but did not finish until 1498. He was commissioned to do this work by Ludovico il Moro, the Duke of Milan and the head of Milano's leading family, the Sforzas.

This Sforza gift to the Dominicans was essentially a bribe to the monks so that the Sforzas could place their family tomb in the chiesa.

Eventually the French drove the Sforzas out of Milan, so they were never buried in the chiesa and the monks got a masterpiece for free.

The painting started to noticeably deteriorate within six years after its completion and has been under constant repair ever since surviving humidity, pollution, dirt and even Milano's WWII bombing raids which destroyed part of one of the refectory's long side walls.

Part of the reason for the rapid onslaught of problems for this great work of art is the technique that Leonardo used. He painted on the wall in layers as he would on a canvas instead of applying pigments to wet plaster in the fresco technique. He felt he needed to work slowly in a non-fresco mode to fully express his vision for The Last Supper.

It was a really great Janson's History of Art moment for us.

Afterwards, we ducked into the Chiesa Santa Maria delle Grazie as Laurie had not been in it yet.

Lots of colors as they set up

for a concert tomorrow night

Frescoes?

Laurie buying more candlepower

White is a color

The Choir behind the Main Altar

Choir woodwork

Cool ironwork too

Trying to keep up with

the Refectory

Vaulted ceilings are a must

As we walked back to the Cadorna train station for the ride home, we ran into . . .

. . . a WWII air raid bomb shelter sign

It was good to know its location in case the Swiss Army crosses the nearby border brandishing their ever popular knives.

Meanwhile, back at DII American football . . .

The Italian Federation really is doing a good job keeping their website up-to-date and informative . . .

. . . for DII and DIII as well

as for DI

As you may recall, your Varese Skorpions are in the 24 club Division II this season.

Division II is divided up into six, four team leagues named Groups A-F. The Skorpions are in Group C.

Every club plays each of its Group opponents twice, home-and-home, plus two non-Group opponents once for a total of eight regular season contests.

The Skorpions have two byes and two road games in the final month of play.

With four more weekends left in the regular season, here are the current standings for each of the six DII Groups.

It's GREAT to be a Skorpion!

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

May Day at the Villa Skorpion

Tuesday, 1 May, 2018

Today is a holiday in Italy as it is . . .

The International Day of the Worker

In other words today was Labor Day, a holiday which many stretched into a four day weekend this year.

We planned to join several of the Skorpion Family at Skorpions Field for a team BBQ.

I remind you that Italian BBQs are SERIOUS business and not for the faint of heart or those with a weak stomach.

My heart was good but at about 10:00 a.m. my stomach joined the spirit of the day and went on strike against me.

Not wanting to infect our teammates or their loved ones, we decided to stay home instead and be within easy crawling distance to a bathroom with an actual toilet, seat and all.

A good by-product of my bout

with the stomach flu

I took my time on HUDL and finished breaking down all of the Varese Gorillas game from last Saturday night. After tabulating all of the stats and awarding game decals, I was pleased that I had at least spent a fruitful day for the City of Varese Champion Skorpions at home.

One of our Skorpions Media Staff, Amanda Deni, put together a nice little video of our game which you can see by clicking on this link: https://youtu.be/vhHXdpfNouM

Hopefully I'll be operating at 89.7% or better tomorrow as, after a two month wait for tickets, Laurie and I will be heading to Milano's Chiesa Santa Maria delle Grazie to see Leonardo Di Vinci's famed fresco masterpiece, The Last Supper.

Leonardo Di Vinci

We are looking forward to a great art experience on Wednesday!

Damn, he had a SWEET beard!