Pre-Season

It's been over a month since we arrived but I'm just getting around to setting this up so I figured I would backtrack a bit for those who haven't heard from me. Corey, Danny and I flew to Italy February 29th (yes it was a leap year) where we met up with our 2 roommates / coaches. The offensive line coach is James "Big Bear" Bonelli, a California native who played at Notre Dame and more recently was a sales rep for Caterpillar. James is a pretty laid back guy whose self-proclaimed favorite things in life are sleeping and eating peanut butter. Although he looks a bit intimidating at first glance (see pictures) Big Bear tends to make friends wherever he goes. His last semester of college he was a pizza delivery guy on campus and usually ended up staying for a few slices wherever he went. Coaching the defense is John "Little Bear" Perrigo. He grew up in Montana, where as a mullet-draped teen he spent his time hunting, fishing, and blowing things up. John is the eldest of the group at 26 and is probably the best cook out of the group. He was also the only one who could drive a stick-shift upon arrival...unfortunately he showed up 2 days after we blew out the clutch on our 5-seater Fiat. 

Our Coach Andrew is a really cool guy and has been a big help getting us settled in. He's been thankful to have some fellow Americans here finally and loves to trash on the Italians. He's a few years older than us and played LB at Illinois State before playing for the Panthers in '04. Aside from coaching the Panthers, Andrew works for a vegetable exporter and can tell you everything there is to know about olives, tomatoes, etc. He never left Parma and is engaged to an Italian girl named Bella. She's a great cook and usually has us over for dinner at least once a week. Bella's parents live nearby and they also usually join us for a meal. Families here usually stick pretty close together and its not uncommon for people to live with their parents until their 30 years old. Bella's younger brother Zambo plays defensive end and he's been showing us around to all the bars and discos. 

As far as the team goes we have a really solid group of guys and they have been very welcoming. Players range in age from early 20's to late 40's and are all a bunch of characters. One of our cornerbacks, Tomas, is 35, decked out in tattoos and has been both a professional bob sledder and heli-skiier. Another guy named Cola (short for Colacino), who plays defensive line, comes from the south of Italy and is always shouting in a dialect that nobody understands. He's good for at least one personal foul a game and usually has to be held by the belt so he doesn't jump offsides. The level of play isn't too bad though, as most have been playing for a number of years. Lanzo, our middle linebacker and defensive captain is legit and is a natural hitter. We also have a good Italian running back who is a tough north-south runner who can carry the load up to 20-30 times a game. I've been playing all over the place on offense, running-back, slot receiver, and even some tight end and Rover on defense (basically what I played at Harvard). Practice is pretty intense and these guys put a lot into it considering they work all day and don't get paid to show up to practice.

So the first few weeks were pretty much a whirlwind just trying to settle in and get used to the different culture. Everything shuts down during the middle of the day so you really have to plan your day accordingly. The city of Parma is fairly small but it is a very nice place with plenty to do. I've been told that it is one of the richer cities in Italy the people here are especially into fashion even for Italians (that explains some of the stares we get when we go out in public). We don't exactly have a demanding schedule as we practice 3 times a week from 8:30 - 11 pm so the rest of our time was filled with going out most nights and sleeping til 11 or 12 (I think we still haven't lost our jet lag). We've seen a lot of sights and so far we've been to Milan, Bergamo, Verona, and we also spent a weekend in Frankfurt, Germany. The architecture around the city is pretty cool to look at and the art inside the churches is beyond anything we have back home. The food is also amazing although there's not much variety. Anything you order, whether its pizza or pasta, is most likely going to have some kind of pork product along with parmesan cheese. That about sums up our first month, next I'll re-cap our first few games.