Friday, May 18, 2018

A Re-Charge the Batteries Day and a Full Night of Skorpion Practices


Thursday, 17 May, 2018

Truth be told, Pacio and Teresa's pace yesterday in Bellagio just plain wore us out today.

Despite what you read in the tabloids, being a jet-setter isn't as easy as everyone thinks. It can be darn hard work at times, rubbing elbows with the rich and famous on Lake Como.

Thus the day was one of reading, laundry and grocery shopping.

In the evening, we had another five hours and 15 minutes of Skorpion football practices to attend.

As is the usual case, the effort by all five teams tonight was good.

U19 Full Contact Team Practice
5:00 p.m.

The vast majority of the players on his squad also play for our U17 and U15 Flag football teams. Until their seasons are over next month, we will continue to have non-padded practices with this group.

The U19 season starts in September.

We had a small turnout tonight but this group is extremely coachable. What more could I ask for from a group of players?  

QB Elia looks . . .

. . . and fires!

Elia is too old to play on our Flag teams, so he is a new athlete for me. He shows good promise and is working hard to improve his leadership, footwork and his throwing techniques.

A GREAT battle for a
Goal Line Fade Pass

Nice socks.

U17, U15 and U13
Flag Team Practices
6:30 p.m.

These three teams all have their final regular season tournament at home this coming Sunday in predicted thunderstorms with the high temperature at about 73°F/23°C.

The National Championship Tournament will take place in the Tuscan city of Grosseto in early June for all three teams if we qualify.

I believe that the U17s and U15s have indeed qualified for the trip to Tuscany for the  Nationals while our U13s will have to perform well on Sunday to extend their season. 

 U15s Warming Up

U17s doing their
Dynamic Stretching routine

The U17 vs. U15 Thursday Scrimmage
is always the highlight of my
Flag Football week

Senior Team Practice
8:30 p.m.

Still loving our Skorpion Stinger
helmet decal

We had a decent turnout and those present gave us great effort but we had the usual problem . . .

. . . Only three offensive linemen

The progress of our entire offensive season has been held hostage by the work/school schedules of our offensive linemen.

As a result, we are constantly scrimmaging with WRs and RBs playing the role of Guards and Tackles.

The positive side effect of this negative practice situation has been the Game Day blocking of our WRs and RBs! Both of these groups have developed into solid, efficient blockers in our run game when playing their natural positions.

Given our circumstances, I think that Offensive Line Coach Leo Pozzato has done an amazing job getting our young linemen ready for games.

Also of concern are the usual declarations by players stating that their work commitments will not allow them to play in the next game. We probably average three of these per game. We are currently at two for what will be our toughest game of the year to date on the road against DII's #2 ranked, 7-0 Busto Arsizio Blue Storms on Saturday, May 26th at 8:30 p.m.

Michael and Susan D'Antuono
on the right 

This wet picture was taken last Fall in Boulder, Colorado while tailgating in a near tropical downpour before the Washington Huskies-Colorado Buffaloes game that the Huskies won 37-10.

In the middle are our son Andrew and his wonderful wife Jennifer. 

On a really good note, our long time friends, Michael and Susan D'Antuono, will be vacationing in the greater Lombardia area in a couple of weeks.

Laurie and I are both excited to see them on the Continent soon.

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