A High Energy, Well Attended Practice

Tuesday, 5 February, 2019

My goal for the day was to use our HUDL app to break down last Sunday's scrimmage against the Verona Mastini before tonight's practice.

Unfortunately, we are having a bit of a problem with our HUDL account so I was unable to even start my stated job this day.

I opted to walk down to the best pasticceria in our neighborhood for my daily . . .

. . . brioche and cappuccino

The chocolate brioche and foamy cappuccino were both fantastic!

On the walk back to the Villa Skorpion II

I spied several beautiful homes like this one

 These two qualified as well

 Good looking berries

 Apparently they love Christmas

year around at #35

The Madonna supporting the

European Union flag it seems

 An old, hard to read road sign

A bit later in the afternoon, I poked my head into the Bar Semaforo to catch up on the sports news of the day.

They are still buzzing about

Super Bowl LIII in these parts

 Nice article about the year the

Los Angeles Rams won the Super Bowl

back the 1970s with Warren Beatty at QB

 I agree that Six Super Bowl wins

qualifies Tom Brady as a legend

Ronaldo turned 34 today

From the book I'm reading called

Culture Shock! Italy

And a splendid opera it is indeed!

Dolci, let the fat lady sing!

I just like the color of this

downtown Varese building

We are having some severe issues with Skorpion Field and its weird microclimate.

As you may recall, it snowed heavily in the Varese area last Thursday night. In a picture the I posted a few days ago taken on Sunday morning before leaving for the scrimmage in Verona, Skorpion Field was still covered with snow.

By tonight that fluffy snow was still on Skorpion Field but had turned into treacherous, dangerous ice. As a result our U17 flag practice was cancelled tonight and out Prima Squadra tackle practice was moved to a nearby synthetic grass field.

 The field we used tonight is an

InterMilan youth training sight

 Foosball for the little people

These Inter minions know what they are doing to be sure.

They were also quite accommodating making us feel quite at home.

We will practice here again on Thursday from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

There is more than just a little concern on the part of our team leadership as to the ability for us to host Saturday's scrimmage against Switzerland's Lugano Rebels if the ice doesn't melt soon.

As for tonight, wouldn't you just know it . . .

It was a BEAUTIFUL night for American football!

We had 39 Skorpions suited out

which is an AWESOME number

by EuroBall standards

Offense, First and Goal

at the ten yard line

The energy was HIGH tonight and our men were exceptionally coachable.

What more could I ask for?

Super Bowl Monday in Italy

Monday, 4 February, 2019

After a really long Sunday on the road to Verona and back after our scrimmage with the Mastini, I only had about two hours at the Villa Skorpion II before needing to join Raffa Nardi for the drive into the heart of Varese's old town to watch . . .

Super Bowl LIII

New England Patriots

vs.

Los Angeles Rams

A HUGE grazie to Raffa's sister Federica for driving us into town as we needed to be there before the scheduled 12:30 a.m. kickoff.

The C line bus had long ago called it a weekend on this late, chilly night.

Our destination . . .

 The Bellavita Café

It is the Skorpions' team bar owned by starting Nose Guard Andrea Gorini.

We only had a small turnout for the game, I'm sure that the scrimmage in Verona took its toll on many of our players.  

Part of the group of ten or so

American football fanatics on hand

That's my main man Raffa standing at the far end of the bar.

As for the game itself, we enjoyed watching the defensive effort by both teams, didn't see much value in the way of this year's commercials and generally ignored the half time show.

Although the score was close until the very end, I just never felt that the Rams were in the game do to the suffocating New England defense.

The Patriots were the better team in Atlanta tonight by a final score of 13-3.

 To the Victors belong the Spoils

I returned home from the game at about 4:45 a.m. and promptly went to bed.

As you can imagine, the rest of Super Bowl Monday was quite unproductive.

I did enjoy a pizza and a glass

or two of Chianti for dinner

It's like having jet lag all over again.

The Skorpions Annual Scrimmage with the Verona Mastini

Sunday, February 3, 2019

What a BEAUTIFUL day for an American football scrimmage in Verona, Italy!

It was time for our first of three pre-season scrimmages, this one against our fellow DII opponents, the Verona Mastini who were 6-4 in 2018.

It was our turn to go to Verona after having hosted this scrimmage last year.

It was a good thing as Skorpion Field

was still under a foot of snow

when we left at 8:00 a.m.!

 The Skorpions were primed and

ready for the three hour bus ride

to the mythical hometown of

Romeo and Juliet

 Our hosts dis a great job today

making us feel welcomed

 No snow in Verona but on their

artificial turf made for soccer, a.k.a.

calcio in Italy, one does not paint lines

Instead the lines are made of meticulously laid tape.

The funkiest, oldest of old school

Skorpion logos

  

The Mastini coach going over the rules

and doing some needed tone setting

before the scrimmage with both squads

Our goal today was simple, test all of our basic plays, make sure that everyone get significant playing time so that we can evaluate them on video and compete.

I was worried as four key starters were missing today, our QB, two Offensive Lineman and a Defensive End.

Others would just have to step up during our 100+ play scrimmage.

We started out on Defense

I was pleased with our Defensive

effort and depth all day long

The Counter play has a chance

for us this time

The Mastini Offensive Tackle was

HUGE!!!

Passing on the Goal Line

Our QB here is 16 year old Mathias Masini who performed quite well all things considered.

Our "emergency" QB Jack Micheli did a good job as well. Normally he is a Strong Safety for us. 

Coming out from the partially

obliterated Goal Line on this drive

The BIG kid looks hungry,

I'm concerned for our DE

Tomas Pedotti's life

The Pit

There was a ton of great competition today and I think that both teams were pleased with their results.

I know that I was pleasantly surprised by our overall efforts at this early stage of the season.

We will have a second scrimmage, this time at home if the snow ever melts, against the Lugano Rebels who, in 2018, were the Swiss DIII playoff finalists.

One of the great things about EuroBall is the many excellent relationships that are made during our competitions.

With Verona DC Christian Costanzo

Christian played for the Catania Elephants in 2012 when they were Italy's DI finalists. That Italian Super Bowl was played in Varese and Laurie and I were in attendance as we were living in nearby Switzerland that year while coaching the Thun Tigers.

I coached the Elephants in 2008 and 2009.

He did a good job today with his team.

With the BIG FELLA himself,

Andrea Spadoni

Andrea is Italian but spent a year studying abroad in a South Carolina high school where his American football talents led to a career playing at DIII Buffalo State University in New York.

 Mastini staff member Stefano Samoa

Stefano has volunteered to referee our scrimmages each of the last two seasons and has done a splendid job both times.

For my money, he is the best referee in DII Italy.

After our players showered, changed and had something to eat and drink in the Mastini's snack bar, we headed home.

Our recliner bus, or Pullman as they are

called in Italy, broke down about an hour

after we departed Verona but at least

we were able to limp into a rest stop

What to do?

LB Ivan "Swito" Raso

TO THE RESCUE!

He knows just enough about engines to fix the problem and get us home after only 30 minutes of tinkering.

Swito was definitely our team MVP today!

Later this evening we will reunite at the BellaVita Café in Varese to watch Super Bowl LIII between the Rams and Patriots. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30 a.m. Monday, February 4th, Central European Time.

I think that I will be largely unproductive on Monday.

Go Rams GO!

A Somewhat Snowbound Saturday Minus Flag Practices and With Stinco

Saturday, February 2, 2019

First and foremost . . .

Happy Groundhog Day!

It is a special day in our house for Laurie and I, but I digress.

Still lots of snow on the ground

in Varese but it's turning into slush

I was headed downtown to the public library to return a book and check out a new one for the next few days.

As you may recall, the Varese library is located in the city's large municipal building.

The city's small tribute to two judges

who bravely stood up to the Mafia only

to be cut down by the Sicilian mob

Their deaths outraged the citizens of Italy at that time which led to some severe crackdowns on Italy's infamous crime families.

The park behind the municipal

building was still a winter wonderland

for kids of all ages

I was told by the Nardi's that this

is the best butcher shop in the area

Obviously, I had to give it a try today.

As expected, lots of meats but also

an interesting array of wines and

cheeses too

The small shop was quite busy so the lady working the cash register went around to the queued up patrons offering samples of cheese, salami and PROSECCO!

Italy, WHAT A COUNTRY!

The meat choices were awesome!

I bought a couple of different cheeses and a small bottle of Chianti wine and was off to my next destination.

No, not the Sacro Monte

The Nardi's pick for the best panificio

I bought a nice loaf of bread and continued on my way to the Bar Semaforo for a noontime spritz and a chance to peruse the daily Gazetta della Sport.

Apparently Cristiano is off to a relatively,

for him, slow start in his first year

with Torino's dominant Juventus squad

Did I say dominant?

I believe that a record of 19 wins, 2 ties and 0 losses qualifies as dominant.

Wouldn't you agree?

Hey, Monday morning's big NFL game

made it onto Page 9 today!

Go Rams GO!

When I got back to the Villa Skorpion II, Giorgio Nardi informed me that all of the Skorpion flag team practices today were cancelled because of the muddy, slushy conditions at Skorpion Field.

Thus I had the afternoon off to putter around the Villa and prepare for dinner tonight at Varese's Spitz Brew Pub.

Fried gnocchi behind Stefano's hand

with meats and cheeses to accompany

our spritzes

Now all of this was just appetizers before we ordered.

I was told to order the Stinco alla birra

Stinco is the meat of a pig's knee joint cooked in a beer sauce.

It sounded like an adventure to me.

LET'S DO IT!

 Stinco alla birra

It was amazingly tender and quite flavorful, I'm glad I ordered this delicious dish.

Our Dinner Crew

Stefano, seated next to me closer to the camera, inquired as to any of us having a tequila boom-boom after dinner.

Cooler heads prevailed.

Dinner lasted for over three hours and we had an amazing time with great people.

Tomorrow the Skorpions will load up the recliner bus for the three hour drive to Verona to scrimmage the Mastini.

Wish us luck please!

Life is GOOD!