More American Football Videos and Some Good Practices

Tuesday, 5 June, 2018

More video study of our upcoming opponent, the 6-2 Modena Vipers, was on my morning agenda today.

As their record indicates, they are a good American football team. They will be extremely tough for us to beat in our DII Wild Card game Saturday night on the road.

At lunch time we decided to go get a pizza and while we were on the road we found an open door at a church we had yet to enter.

So we did.

 The walls looked OLD!

And they made Laurie

look small somehow

 It had a cool sun dial

 As well as a nice outdoor chapel

Is that the name of this

beautiful old church?

Interesting floor pattern

Frescos are always of interest

  

And there were lots of them

 The BVM!

 A Dandy of a saint

 Padre Pio has his Game Face on!

After a good lunch near the church, we had a little shopping to do. 

Wine, for once, was not on

our shopping list

I liked the table though.

At 5:00 p.m. the American football practice marathon began again but with only five U19s on the field.

We did what we could.

HC Enzo Petrillo tone setting before

the U15 Flag practice that started

at 6:30 p.m.

U15 BOMB!

Our U15 team would end their session with another lively, spirited scrimmage against our U17 Flag team.

The Buosi Gelateria

is one of our sponsors?

Why did I not know this much sooner?

  

Senior Scrimmage

It got dark fast tonight

Overall, I was quite happy with our troops and our effort tonight!

Laurie getting artsy while

I was at practice

Do you know what this is?

Want to hazard a guess?

Janne and Aiki will be visiting

us from Sweden starting tomorrow

Italy, GEAR UP, the fun is about to start!

A Video Study Day at the Villa Skorpion on Yet Another Tropical Storm Monday

Monday, 4 June, 2018

It was a good day for reading and studying more game video of the Skorpions in action.

That being said, the highlight of the afternoon was definitely the monsoon that hit us at about 4:00 p.m.

Still not sure of how many are missing in the greater Venegono Superiore megalopolis.

It looked like this

There was rain and . . .

. . . LOTS of thunder too!

Sooner or later, Summer will be here, alive and well in Lombardia.

Or so we are told.

Reading Is FUNfamental

Good story lines for the

first 541 pages

The final 20 pages were a bit of a letdown though.

A Trip to the Bergamo Lions vs. Lazio Ducks Game

Sunday, 3 June, 2018

Today was the beginning of our last month in delightful Italy. What better way to start these final 31 days than a road trip to watch an Italian DI American football game?

Lazio Ducks (4-5)

at

Bergamo Lions (3-6)

We had several reasons to make the 90 minute drive to the southeast for this final game of the DI regular season.

 To begin, the first year Ducks were coached by our good coaching friend Bart Iaccarino who is also the Athletic Director and Defensive Line Coach for our Europe Warriors All-Star team that will play in Chihuahua, Mexico this coming August.

Secondly, our outstanding Skorpions Strong Safety Nicolas Principi has been selected to play for the Warriors this Summer so it afforded him a chance to meet Bart.

Finally, Warriors LB Herbert Gamboa plays for the Ducks and to our surprise U19 Warrior Joey Fuentes was at the game as well.

Joey was our go-fer guy for the Warriors Senior team last August in Mexico City, was a starting Offensive Lineman for our U19 Warriors team last December in Texcoco, Mexico and played for Bart last year when they were both with the Rues Imperials in Spain. Joey was just visiting Bart this weekend as he still plays for the Imperials.

Thus the three of us we were off to the greater Bergamo area, the village of Verdello to be exact, where the Lions' home field is located.

 Good looking edifice

To set the game stage a bit, here is what you need to know.

In the first decade of the 21st-century, the Bergamo Lions were the Evil Empire of American football in Italy. They were portrayed as such in the 2007 John Grisham novel Playing for Pizza and I found them to be a tad sketchy when our Catania Elephants played them in 2008 and again in 2009.

Today the Lions are a mere shadow of those long ago powerhouse days entering this contest with a 3-6 record.

As for the Ducks, they are a new club that was formed this year in Rome when the old Marines and Grizzlies teams opted to merge.

A win today would put the Ducks into the post-season as the #4 seed thus giving them a home game in the DI Wild Card round of the playoffs.   

Nicolas Principi with injured

Bergamo QB Andrea Fimiani

They were teammates back in their flag football days if I heard the story correctly.

 The Second Half Kickoff

found the Ducks in control 19-6

It did not feel that close as the Ducks were in command of the game with only some dropped passes keeping them from at least another two first half scores.

The Ducks do LOVE to air it out

A solid win for the Men of the Tiber

The game over and a playoff spot secured, it was time to chat with our friends again and take a few photos.

With Bart and Joey

Bart's big smile is partly because of today's win and partly because of his joy when he told us that he and his lovely bride Chiara are expecting the arrival of their second son in November.

CONGRATULATIONS!

With Bart and Nicolas

With Herbert and Bart

All of us in these last three photos will meet again in August with the Europe Warriors in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Here are the Final Standings for the Italian DI American Football League:

Congratulations to Europe Warriors DC

and Milano Seamen HC Mike Wood

for an outstanding season

The DI Playoff Bracket

The #4 Lazio Ducks (5-5) will host the #5 Ancona Dolphins (4-6) in two weeks. The Ducks edged the Dolphins 36-30 in their regular season meeting in early May.

The winner will travel to Milano to play the #1 seeded Seamen (10-0).

All in all, it was another great day in Italy with good friends!

GREAT News, a National Holiday, a Meeting, a Practice and a HUGE BBQ

Saturday, 2 June, 2018

I would be remiss in going another day without posting about a great honor for one of our Skorpion defenders.

 #21 Nicolas Principi OLB/Falcon

Nicolas has been a dominant defensive player for our Skorpions all year long. He is on every Special Team, plays Fullback in our Goal Line Offensive package and has yet to miss a practice.

In short, he is a winner!

I am proud to announce the Nicolas will be a . . .

. . . Europe Warrior this Summer!

He has been selected to be part of the team that will play against the University of Chihuahua in Mexico this coming August.

Our son Michael and I will both be part of the Warriors' coaching staff.

It should be another great experience South of the Border.

An Italian National Holiday

Today marked the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the current Italian governmental system after the end of WWII and the reign of the Benito Mussolini led Fascist government.

As is usual, there is daily turmoil in the halls of the Italian government these days.

Not Trump level turmoil but turmoil nonetheless.

I headed to Varese for another video session with our defensive players as we continue our prep work for next Saturday's DII Wild Card game on the road against the 6-2 Modena Vipers.

 Heroic Statue decked out

in Italian Flag colors for the Festa

 Raise this fancy number up on

your driveway and no

unwanted cars can enter

 Our team bar and the site

of today's Defensive meeting

GM Giorgio Nardi leading

the video review

We had a good 75 minute session and then it was time to head back to Skorpion Field for the first major U19 and U16 practices leading to their season openers in September.

 I have got to learn more about

this walk before we head home

to California

 It was a BEAUTIFUL day for

American football!

Our U13 Flag team is seen practicing in the foreground.

They along with our U17 and U15 Flag teams all qualified for the National Flag Championship Tournament being held in the Tuscany region in the city of Grosseto next Saturday and Sunday.

Tone Setting

Giorgio Nardi leading the Warm-Ups

 Me leading the Tackling Drills

MADONNA . . .

BEND YOUR KNEES, OLD MAN!

 Getting him into a good Fit Position

Right Shoulder Tackles

Eyes UP DJ!

Either Dabbing or pointing

the way to the BBQ

Offensive Linemen to the

Two Man Sled

 Reach Blocking

Hit - Lift - Drive

Good Extension

What do you think for

Day One?

For the first major practice for these two teams that will play nine-man full contact American football in the Fall, I thought it was a good one.

Lots of enthusiastic players always makes for a good coaching situation.

Meanwhile at the BBQ pit . . .

 Skorpions Family members were

gathering for the Festa BBQ

 Is Jack being PC here?

 There would be LOTS

of meat on the grill today!

Of course you eat a slice of raw

meat when the chef offers you one

At times, grilling can be vastly overrated.

Still, all of the meat eventually

got on the grill

And the bread was SO good!

Especially with some of the

10 Kilo Gorgonzola cheese

wheel that Enzo Petrillo

brought to the BBQ

That's 22 lbs. of delicious cheese for goodness sakes!

 There was also incredible white wine

to go with the beer, Prosecco, red wine

and sangria

The table near to the BBQ Pit

is always a good place to hang

out during one of these events

  

Chateaubriand cooked Luca's

Skorpion way

Grill Master Luca takes this big cut of meat and places it on the grill for a few minutes. He then takes it off of the grill to slice off a few cooked portions near the surface before placing the slab back on the grill.

If you somehow just happen to be standing by the big table, you are going to get to eat some delicious cuts of high quality animal flesh.

Then there were the desserts

  

Giorgio and Enzo wanted to talk to

me about coming back next year

I told them that they would have to talk to my Agent Laurie Maguire. 

"SHOW ME THE GELATO!"

Enzo and Laurie quickly reached an agreement.

"It's GREAT to be a Skorpion!"