Hey, that's me!
Right now is the unofficial "halftime" of my Italian adventure, as I have now been in Italy for over 80 days and have completed just over half of our schedule. During that time, I have met countless new friends and been on numerous hilarious adventures. The 'readership' of this blog has also grown - now having been read by over 8,000 people in 43 countries! That figure blows me away, and makes me humble to be sharing this unique experience with so many of you.
With this in mind, I thought I'd give a brief recap to those of you who have joined this journey at some point along the way, with some of my favorite memories and a little more info on who I am and why I'm over here playing in the Italian Football League. (Although narcissistically I would advise any of you to just go back to the very first day and START READING! There will be test! haha...)
Also, my partner-in-crime George Contreras (Elephant's Defensive Coordinator and my roommate at our "Malibu" condo) has his own blog that is much more thorough and targeted to the male demographic (or at least his 'ad of the day' contest). PLEASE check it out on a daily basis at coachingforpizza.blogspot.com!
For those of you still with me, here's my quick recap! (and as always, be sure to click on the hyperlinks for the 'long version')
Jason Johnson... hence the "J TWICE" nickname!
To introduce myself, I would define myself as a POSITOLOGIST (click the link to read the LONG, Tangent-filled version) originally from Seattle... who thinks great thoughts and amazing things happen! I played my college football at the University of Arizona, and later spent time with the Buffalo Bills and 3 years with the Edmonton Eskimos in the Canadian Football League.
My older brother Chad, also a quarterback, played a year oversees in Germany and I had always dreamed of coming to Europe to travel & play. Coincidentally, as I was deciding to come here, John Grisham released the now famous book Playing for Pizza... which of course is ALSO about a quarterback coming to Italy to play. Once I was on my way here, I knew I had to share my experience, and hence REALLY PLAYING FOR PIZZA was born (again, click for the long version.)
Gondola Sliver in Venice.
Over the course of my 3 months here in Europe, my wife Christie and I have traveled extensively - visiting such cities as LONDON, PARIS, BARCELONA, and ROME. I've had THE BEST PIZZA IN THE WORLD, sampled WINE IN TUSCANY, and SEARCHED FOR ORANGEMAN in Syracuse (please watch... hilarious!). We've seen Volcanoes erupt (Etna & Stromboli) and taken Aeolian Island MUD BATHS. And most importantly, we have EATEN... Conolli, Gelato, Granita, Pasta, Pizza, Involtini, Arrancini, Cipolata, and of course Cavallo (The OTHER Red Meat!)
The 2008 Catania Elephants.
As for the football, your Elephants Catania are 5-1, currently tied for 2nd place in the Italian Football League. The games here are intense and the players LOVE the game and are excited to learn & improve. Personally I have had so much fun playing, but even more, getting to be the Offensive Coordinator in conjunction with our coach/president/right-tackle/all-around-good-guy Davide Giuliano has been a blast. Our Running Back Enrico Lombardo is among the league leaders in rushing and Matt Epperson & Claudio Mangano are 1/2 in the receiving statistics. We have a tough stretch of games ahead but are looking forward to the challenge!
Elephanti Mai Stanchi... ON and OFF the field!
But the most important thing about this trip so far is the FRIENDS we have made. Sicily is absolutely beautiful, but the people here are even more incredible. I hope I've been able to bring to life all the unique characters and funny moments that we have shared. (Truly, the real word of this trip has been COMEDY!!! From Ice Skating in Sicily to Jerseys with Wrong Numbers...)
In the next two months, we will be taking on the second half of our schedule and moving on into the play-offs. We will also be traveling to such places as Malta, Tunisia, Greece, Prague, Amsterdam, and could even be running with the Bulls!
SO STAY TUNED FOR MORE CRAZY ADVENTURES OF REALLY PLAYING FOR PIZZA!!!
~ J. Twice
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