Week 5: Barcelona

This week we headed to Barcelona for our first appearance in the EFAF Cup tournament where we would be facing the Bagdalona Dracs (a spin off of the now-defunct NFL Europe team the Barcelona Dragons). Friday afternoon we bussed it to Genoa where we boarded a ferry for the coast of Spain. After having just spent a total of 25 at sea the week before we weren't too excited about the 18 voyage ahead but at least this time we had beds. The highlight of the boat ride was James dancing with "Mama Bistek" at the disco they had on board. 

Saturday we got into Barcelona around 3:30 but there was some trouble getting the bus off of the ship so we didn’t arrive at the stadium until 5:30 for a 6:30 kick-off. Nothing like an 18 hour boat ride and an empty stomach to get ready for a game. I sat out this week because of a bruised MCL so our D-Line coach John suited up in my place, and we also had Andrew eligible as the dual passports are treated differently in the EFAF games. I did my best coaching impression pacing the sidelines with a play sheet tucked in the back of my shorts and yelling at the refs. The Dracs were undersized but they had an athletic quarterback and a lot of speed...something we don’t defend well against. They couldn’t stop us on offense as Danny had a career day with 6 touchdowns: 5 in the air (4 of them to Corey) and one on the ground. Andrew was inspirational on both sides of the ball but especially on offense where he ran with a vengeance punishing any would be tacklers who tried to get in his way. However we let the Dracs hang around as their QB made us look stupid on defense by running around in the backfield all day. We gave up a few big plays and were getting frustrated about playing down to the competition. The second half was one of the ugliest halves of football I’ve witnessed. Things were getting heated and flags were flying in all directions. I think it was the first time I’ve heard people cursing in three different languages simultaneously. They must have picked the refs up off the street as they didn’t have a clue as to what was going on. At one point the entire D-line of the other team was lined up in the nuetral zone and when I so kindly brought this to the attention of the linesman he told he that it was OK because they weren’t “taking advantage of it.” In the end we came away with a win, an ugly one, but it was a win. Unfortunately it came at a price as Andrew pulled his hamstring and John blew out his back in the process.

We spent the next few days in Barcelona taking in the beach, paella, and sangria. Barcelona is a haven for travelers and one of the most popular cities for exchange students so it had a very international feel. We met people from all over including England, Ireland, and Australia. There was also a formula 1 race in the city that weekend so there were a ton of people out. For the most part we hung out on the main strip called the Ramblas which is where everybody goes to eat and drink at night. We didn't get much sleep as the clubs and bars stay open all night and there are always people out. The best place we went was called the Dow Jones bar where they have the prices of all the drinks displayed on big TV screens and they change like stock prices depending on who's buying what. Every 30 minutes they have a crash and everybody rushes the bar to take advantage of the lower prices. As far as tourist sights Barcelona is famous for the architectural designs of Antoni Gaudi, who has a really distinct style. His masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia Church is still under construction 90 years after his death (he was run over by a tram in 1926!). We also saw one of the biggest stadiums in Europe, home to the soccer team FC Barcelona.

Bye Week: the Greek Isles

This week we got some much needed rest as a lot of guys were pretty banged up after the game in Bolzano. I don't know how these guys do it at 35 and 40. Whenever I feel sore after a game I can't even imagine what they're feeling. True they're not getting half the reps we are but still, some of these guys have been playing for 20 years... pretty impressive. Anyway after weighing a few different options for our week off we decided to make a trip to Greece. We found some cheap tickets to Athens, where we stayed for a night and checked out all the monuments including the Acropolis and the original Olympic stadium. Athens, like most capital cities, isn't the cleanest place but there's a ton of cool stuff to see and do. We however were looking for a little more in terms of relaxation so we hopped on a ferry to the island of Santorini. The boat wasn't exactly a Royal Caribbean cruise ship but after 3 bottles of wine we managed to crash out in our little cabin. 13 hours later we arrived at the island and were more than excited to get back on solid ground. Santorini was amazing and for 10 euro a night we got a great hotel 30 yards from the beach. The island was formed by a still-active volcano and all the beaches are either black or red sand. We rented four-wheelers which you could drive on all the main roads and toured around the entire island. The weather was perfect and the scenery was amazing. Every time you came around a corner you had to stop and take a picture. I guess it wasn't quite the high season yet so the place wasn't too crowded but there was still a decent nightlife. After 3 days of cruising the island and hanging on the beach we were ready to head back to "work"... tough life huh. 

Week 3: Bolzano Giants

      This week we headed north for our first away game to the city of Bolzano, which is up in the mountain country about 3 hours northeast of Parma. We didn't know much about Bolzano because it was their first contest of the season but other than Bergamo, the Giants were billed as one of the toughest teams in the league and one that we really needed to beat to ensure a spot in the playoffs. They featured the supposed best back in Italy, a Brooklyn native by the name of Reggie Green who's been playing out here for six years or so. The past few season's he's shredded the opposing defenses and was yet to be held to under 100 yards in single game. Other than him they had an American quarterback and a TE/WR who were good but nothing special. Our main focus was to stop Reggie and make them beat us through the air. We were riding pretty high after the win against Ancona and with Danny healthy again we were ready.

The bus ride up was actually kind of nice as we traveled along some scenic highways passing by traditional villages all throughout the countryside. I was told that this region used to be part of Germany before WWII and you can see that there is still a strong German influence in the cities there. The buildings looked more similar to what we saw in Frankfurt and a lot of the signs were posted in German as well as Italian. Bolzano has a nice stadium set right at the foot of a mountainside, and it is also one of the few actual American football fields in Italy. However it also happens to be fifteen year old astro turf, so, although it was nice to actually have hash marks for a change, I think I would have rather played in the street. We arrived at the stadium around 6:30 for an 8:00 kickoff (Italians are not know for being punctual) so there wasn't much time to take in the surroundings. I was excited though to be playing in our first night game and with the sun setting behind the mountains it was a slightly less than perfect stage. 

We came out pretty flat and the first half was all Giants. They jumped out on us early hitting a fade down the right sideline on the third play of the game. Two plays later they were in the endzone and it was 7-0. Nothing was working on offense as their D-line and linebackers were crashing into the backfield on almost every play. With nowhere to run and no time to throw we struggled to move the ball and were forced to give it back. They hit another fade, this time for a touchdown, and on their next possession Reggie broke through an arm tackle and went 40 yards to put them up 21-0. Things were looking pretty bleak at halftime but our guys refused to throw in the towel and after a rousing a speech by the ol' ball coach we came out determined to make a comeback. We kept pounding the ball, looking for a crease between their blitzing linebackers and things finally started to open up. We mounted a decent drive gaining about 6 or 7 yards at a time on either the Iso or the Toss but nothing was coming easily. We traded possessions but after getting the ball back on a fumble, Danny capitalized as he burst through the middle on a designed draw and scampered forty yards for the score. There was still plenty of time and our defense was playing with a ferocity Reggie hadn't seen in years. Our coach put me in the middle at about 6 yards and I was to mirror Reggie wherever he went. I was in his pocket on every play and we shut the door, not giving up a first down the rest of the game. We continued to grind it out on offense and with their D constantly on the field you could see that they were starting to tire. Finally in the first few minutes of the fourth quarter Danny hit Corey on a post corner in the back of the endzone to bring us within 7. Upon scoring Corey unleashed a vicious spike that I think he had been bottling up for all five years at Harvard...no celebration penalties here! We kept up the pressure on D as they tried to run out the clock and forced them into a third and long. Corey picked off the QB and brought it deep into their territory, however a phantom pass interference call brought it back yet due to some fuzzy officiating we somehow retained possession of the ball. In need of a score we were forced to go to the air but with Corey doubled and tripled and without any other deep threat it was an uphill battle. After a dropped ball that would have been for sure been a touchdown we were forced to punt. Again the D stepped up they had to give the ball back to us with just under 2 minutes left. A personal foul though pushed us back inside our own ten so we would have to take it 90 yards to tie. We ran the 2 minute drill nicely and managed to get inside their territory but with 27 seconds left on a fourth and nine we failed to convert and that was the game. Although it was a tough loss, I think we found our character as a team and hopefully we can ride the momentum we had in the second half. 

Week 2: Ancona Dolphins

     Things were looking pretty bleak going into week 2. We were pretty beat up, both mentally and physically, after an emotional game against Bergamo and Ancona was supposed to be another solid team. They had two stud linebackers, one who played at Notre Dame and the other a 2-time All-Big Ten selection out of Wisconsin, who spent some time with the New York Jets. On offense they had a speedy QB who had played his college ball up in Canada, and the two linebackers filling out the backfield. All week our QB, "Downtown" Danny Brown, had been nursing some sore ribs and after a visit to Dr. Pasta (no joke that's his real name....and yes he's a real doctor) he learned that two of them were cracked and so he wouldn't be able to suit up on Sunday. Seeing as we have no back-up QB that caused some serious problems. Fortunately Andrew, our head coach, had been acting as fill in during pre-season before we arrived, and with one American out he would be eligible to play in the game. Although Andrew had literally zero game experience at QB at any level of football, he's a good athlete and the Italian guys really rallied around him. Nothing like having the head coach right in the middle of the huddle to light a fire under your ass. 

     Our game plan was pretty simple, play good D and pound the ball on Offense. The emphasis was on first downs as each time we moved the chains we could eat up more clock and keep their offense on the sideline. Things couldn't have started better as we stuffed their first two attempts at running the ball forcing them into a 3rd and long on their first possession. They motioned to trips with one of the Americans and tried to run a flood pattern with the two inside guys running double outs. I buzzed out to the curl and the QB floated a duck right into my hands. I took off with it down the right sideline with their QB and runningback trying to cut me off. I saw they were pursuing hard so I cut it back. The runningback tried to put on the breaks but the QB slammed into him from behind and I had nothing but green grass all the way to the endzone. Just what we needed to take the pressure off our newly formed offense. We continued to stifle their offense for the rest of the first half as our own began to come into form. Late in the second quarter we had driven down inside their territory but the drive was stalling out after a short gain and then an offsides penalty. We had been running the ball a lot and two American linebackers were flowing fast to the ball so we called a reverse to Corey and it worked like a charm. I took the pitch to the left side and immediately there was a whole sea of green jerseys racing to cut me off. Corey took one false step at the corner to freeze him then came around behind me as I flipped the ball to him. Danny through a nice block to seal the Notre Dame linebacker who was blitzing from the backside but had bit on the toss. Corey took the ball at full speed and nobody caught him as he turned the corner and headed for the pylon. Up 14-0 at half and we never looked back. The final was 28-6. The defense played lights out coming up with another turnover and a key fourth down stop in the second half. Andrew was huge both running the ball and throwing just enough to keep them off balance. The atmosphere wasn't quite the same as when Grisham was in town but a win's a win no matter how many people are in the stands. The beers stared flowing as soon as the final whistle sounded and in locker room the entire team busted into our traditional victory song, "Heyyyyyyyy-hey baby....OOOH-AHHH, I wanna knooooo-o-o-o-o-ow if you'll be my girl!" Even though Ancona turned out to be pretty bad, it was a huge win for us and hopefully give us some confidence going into next week's match with the Bolzano Giants. 

In other news, we attended the infamous Vinitaly wine festival this past week in Verona. It's one of the biggest wine expos in Europe and features wineries from all over the world. We did our best to sample them all but I now realize why the experts don't actually drink it. We stuck out like a sore thumb surrounded by the supposed "experts". While they were sniffing, swishing, and spitting, we were slugging and chugging. We may not have learned too much but we definitely had a good time...so far Italy has not disappointed.