Thurs.-Fri., Jan. 28-Feb. 5, 2021
On the eave of Super Bowl LV this coming Sunday, our son Michael said that I should write something about our experiences with this annual event while living in Europe.
Thus this post is offered to you today.
First of all, they are
Super Bowl MONDAYS in Europe
Central European Standard Time means the game usually kicks off live at about 12:30 a.m. on Monday not Sunday afternoon as it does in the USA.
Put another way, the game ends at about 4:45 a.m. meaning that for American football fanatics in Europe, Monday is a wasted day in terms of work or school.
Here is a quick review of the seven Super Bowl Mondays that I have experienced.
2008 in Catania, Sicily, Italy
A small group of Elephants got
together at a Coach Matteo Belfiore's
home to watch the undefeated
Patriots take on the Giants
Good food and adult beverages
were the order of the morning
New York 17 - New England 14
2009 in Catania, Sicily, Italy
We met at the home of WR
Gregorio Barbagallo again with a small
contingent of Elephants
Pittsburgh 27 - Arizona 23
2013 in Lyon, France for a
HUGE party at a local restaurant
We drew American football players
from several teams all over the region
The President of our Rival Lyon Gones,
Stephane Dalbec, was rooting for the 49ers
Bron-Villeurbanne Falcons RB
Brice Rontet won the award for best
outfit as he was backing the Ravens
With Christophe Sidhoum, the HC
of the Apaches, a team made up of
University of Lyon students
Falcons LB Sam Benjavon (#52) with
Falcons President Christophe Thuau in tow
Wearing the 49ers #94 jersey is Gones President Stephane Dalbec.
I took home some swag from
ESPN America that co-sponsored the event
Baltimore 34 - San Francisco 31
2015 in Murcia, Spain
Having the viewing party in an
Irish pub in Spain was different
New England 28 - Seattle 24
2018 in Varese, Italy
We watched this one at the home
of a former Skorpion player
Antonio Raffaele . . .
. . . but first we ate like Lombardian kings!
The halftime commentary in Italian
was of interest
Pietro Caprioli is an Eagles fan,
easily the happiest man in Italy
on this Monday morning
Philadelphia 41 - New England 33
2019 in Varese, Italy
We got together at the Skorpions'
team bar in the heart of the old town
Our small group enjoyed the
game except for me
New England 13 - Los Angeles 3
2020 in Varese, Italy
The Skorpions met at the home of
Skorpions LB coach Fabio Drigo
Host Fabio was the first
to fall asleep
He would not be the last to doze off for a few minutes.
Kansas City 31 - San Francisco 20
Now as to this Sunday's/Monday's game between the Chiefs and the Buccaneers, I have heard many say that Tampa Bay QB is overrated as the GOAT of NFL QBs.
Seeing how he stacks up against
other Hall of Fame QBs makes
it hard to think of a better career
than Brady's
The first ever female referee
working a Super Bowl game
In Europe, another Central European
Football League tournament
is taking shape, Covid-19 permitting
The Canadian football League is
realizing that there are a lot of
talented football players all over the
European continent, thus their Combine
Our Barcelona Gladiators will be
holding their own Combine in preparation
for this Summer's inaugural
European Football League season
The Spanish DII Pioners L'Hospitalet
won again over the weekend
This is the club that I'm helping remotely as the team's Analytics Coach.
The Pioners sit alone atop the
Serie B (DII) Eastern Conference
Laurie and I enjoyed a wonderful
Groundhog Day together for
about the LIII year in a row
As usual, I was Jacob's recess monitor during this school week.
Adventure at Nancy Bush Park
Jacob and a gnarly pepper tree
Picture Day at Las Posas Elementary
School was a big hit although Jacob
was only on campus a few minutes
I want these for lunch
EVERY day!
Good sentiment but all three
of these look a tad substandard to me
We continue to spend most of our time at home reading or watching TV when not helping Jacob with his education.
Here are our current go-to programs.
Great BBC mysteries
Low key, fun mysteries
Weird but really fun ET mysteries
Of course Italy is never too
far from our thoughts
Interesting observations
EVERY DAY!
Chicks dig fat guys!
A 2008 throwback picture taken,
I'm sure by Jason Johnson with his
fisheye lens, as I enjoyed a Jonathan's
panini with Matt Epperson and
Brandon Bennett in Catania
This picture popped up on Facebook this morning and brought back several fond memories.
Being an old AFL fan, I'm going with the Kansas City Chiefs, aka the Dallas Texans back in the day, to win Super Bowl LV.
