An Historic Day - Elephants Superbowl Bound

The CATANIA ELEPHANTS are headed for the Italian Football League's Super Bowl!

"Cee Twice" gets the team fired up before the game

With a passionate and hard-fought 27-14 semi-final victory over the Bergamo Lions, the Catania Elephants are on their way to play for the Italian League Championship. The victory is symbolic in many ways, including the club's first victory over Italy's most storied franchise, but most importantly is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the players and coaches in Sicily!

The journey to this point is a great story in itself. The team was founded back in the 1980s, with nothing more than a few guys who had seen some NFL games on TV. Slowly the team grew in numbers and experience, which isn't easy in a country head-over-heels for soccer. When I joined the Elephants two years ago to begin my own "playing for pizza" odyssey, it was the first time the team would be welcoming American imports to the team and moving to Italy's top division. That year was a critical jump in experience for the team -- playing teams like Bergamo, Parma, and Bolzano for the first time. Yet we stood toe-to-toe with everyone, making it all the way to the semifinals. But more importantly, it showed the guys that we could compete at this level, and now in just the third year of IFL play, the Elephants have fulfilled its long-time dream by making it to the Italian SuperBowl!

A rowdy crowd was hyped up and ready to cheer on the Elephants, complete with some "Pink Elephant Special Signs!"

For me, it was great to be back in Sicily and getting to be a part of this historic day. The team knows how much they mean to me personally, and it was also fun to be reunited with a former Arizona QB - Richard Kovalchek - who is now leading the Elephants.

The defense set the tone early by stopping the Lions on the first drive of the game, and the offense started rolling from there - racing out to a 19-0 lead. Richard was spreading the ball around to a bunch of receivers, and doing it with his legs as well. Bergamo got a late TD with just seconds to go before the half to make the score 19-6 at the break.

Elephants on the attack, still running a variation of the system we installed two years ago

It wouldn't be Italy without "Magic Spray"

In the 3rd quarter, the Elephants got the ball first and drove the length of the field, chewing up almost the entire quarter before Richard ran it in from about 15 yards out. This gave them a comfortable 27-6 lead, although in Italy, nothing is ever over!

4th quarter!

The Lions scored halfway through the 4th to make it a two-score game, but the Elephants were able to march on another long drive that took the clock down to under 2 minutes. The D then stepped up with a huge interception by "Cee Twice" who probably gets his great athletic ability by sharing a nickname with me. At this point, the game was over and the celebration was on!!!

Sealing the victory

A long time in the making for Il Presidente Davide

A well deserved victory!

POST GAME CELEBRATION

He's been waiting a long time to wear this shirt... Fortunato "Lucky" has been a member of the Elephants since Italy became a country back in 1861.

The greatest thing about playing and living in Catania is that it truly is a familia. Many teams (if not all) talk about being a family, but rarely do they actually live it out. Here, everyone involved with the team rallies around the Elephants, and victories like this turn into monstrous pizza parties and nights out. About 50 Elephants and Pink Elephants (WAGs in other parts of the world) went to my favorite pizza joint in Aci Castello, Jonica, for a great 4 hour dinner.

MAJOR JUMP PICTURE!!!

After this, it was off to the now infamous Fondo Bianco - one of the "American" style bars in downtown Catania. Owner Attilio has become a huge supporter of the team, and his 100 flaming shots have become a staple for post-game celebrations.

Attilio preparing to welcome the team

Why wouldn't the pope be in the house?

SUPERBOWL!!!

Congrats Elephants -- I'm so proud of you!

JJ

Sicilian Wedding Parade!

Giuseppe and Valeria Tie the Knot Sicilian Style!

Congrats to the Newlyweds!

In a grand ceremony at the magnificent Chiesa de Viagrande, Giuseppe Strano and Valeria Gugliermo were married on June 11, 2010. It was a magical affair that fused traditional Catholic traditions with the fun & lighthearted nature of the Catania Elephants in what could only be described as Sicilian.

The Bride arrives via Porsche

Guests gathered in the late afternoon outside the towering 18^th century church, flanked by a baroque town square lined with historic buildings and tall trees. There was electricity in the air, matched by both the expressions on family & friend’s faces and in the style of Italians dressed to impress. The air was warm and smelled sweet from thousands of flowers. It was the type of atmosphere that is worth jumping on a plane and flying halfway around the world to experience.

Around 5:30pm, the bride arrived in a vintage orange Porshe. The car pulled up to the curb to the shrieks of the crowd. The bride’s father was at the wheel, and the smile in the passenger seat could only be described as a little girl living out her dream of becoming a princess. Valeria leaped from the car, and her father gave her his arm as he closed her door and led up her up the red carpet to the church door. Everyone leaned in to get a glimpse of the beautiful bride, snapping photos and offering encouragement. It was a whirlwind of excitement. They made their way to the door, where Giuseppe stood waiting – a symbolic moment of passage. I have always loved the way that those two have interacted, and it just seemed so right the moment Giuseppe saw his bride for the first time on that day.

Elephants were excited!

Here comes the Bride

Beautiful old church adorned with flowers

As the crowd rushed into the church behind the bride and her father, the organist began “Here comes the Bride.” Hundreds of family and friends filled in the wooden pews. Valeria was escorted to the front of the church, where the couple took a seat in front of the alter adorned with thousands of white flowers.

The service was very traditional. Vows were passed, rings were exchanged, and the Italian priest delivered a long and from what I could tell, very heart-felt and personal message. I was unable to tell if he encouraged Giuseppe to “Beat the Lions” as one of his first acts of being a husband. There was an interesting quality to the event that differed from American weddings – it seemed that this service had a nice blend of ceremony and yet informality amongst the crowd.

In stark contrast to what was happening in the church, Giuseppe’s “crazy uncle” was stirring up some mischief with the Elephants outside. He had arranged for an impromptu parade to start immediately following the wedding, constructing a seven-foot tall papier-mâché Elephants helmet in the back of an old truck. There was a traditional Sicilian brass band dressed in white t-shirts and jean shorts who had their own flatbed truck to follow the helmet, and he had brought dozens of plastic soccer balls and other easily thrown objects to pelt the newlyweds as they left the church. He had parked these huge vehicles immediately in front of the church, and judging by the chorus of car horns from angry drivers, they were not pleased that the flow of traffic through the village on the one-lane main thoroughfare had ground to a halt. I couldn’t wait to see how this all played out.

Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Strano

Back in the church, the ceremony concluded in brilliant fashion. The couple exchanged their first kiss, and were embraced by family and friends as the ceremony ended. At this point everyone made there way outside. Giuseppe and Valeria took a few pictures, then made their way down the red carpet to the door where everyone waited outside to celebrate. Perhaps ambush is a better word. The moment they made their way out into the evening sun, the band struck up a tune and the crowd burst into applause. Confetti floated above the crowd, and suddenly the Elephants launched an attack of inflatable soccer balls! The air was filled with flying objects, and everyone went wild. I think I saw Valeria take a couple in the face, but her hockey background shrugged it off. Under heavy fire, the newlyweds made their way down the steps of the church, where Giuseppe did an interview for the TV cameras. They were then hoisted into the helmet for the parade, and the Elephants jumped into the back of the truck to lead the way. I hopped inside as well, and captured some video (next blog).

CRAZY!!!

ATTACK!!!

Now on to the real action...

Boys on the Cart

The couple in the back...

Lookout... here we come!

Go Elephants!

Soaking it all in!

After a few laps through the village, we circled back to the church. At this point everyone was laughing and relaxed. Ties were removed from collars and placed on our heads. The whole thing was just so unpredictable, and yet perfectly Sicilian. It was a fun end to an amazing event.

Valeria, Giuseppe, and "Il Senatore" Nino Strano

Davide and son Alessandro, who was born on the same day as my first Catania game

Next? (Sorry, I had to say it)

The old couple

When everyone had dispersed, Giuseppe took the keys to the orange Porsche and drove away with his bride. Two thoughts filled my head – 1) What an interesting and symbolically fitting tribute for the bride to arrive driven by her father, and depart with her new husband; and 2) If Giuseppe and Valeria’s life together is to be anything like this day, then they have an incredible ride ahead!

Into the sunset they ride...

To Mr. and Mrs. Giuseppe Strano, thanks for letting us be a part of your special day!!! We wish you nothing but Love and a life-filled with happiness!

Our Tour de France

The incredible Mont St. Michel

Hey everyone -

We've had bad internet during this trip (shocker) so I haven't been able to upload the blog as much as I'd like, so instead I've just thrown a few pics up on facebook and now am shooting this update to the world.

Everything is great with us on our own little "Tour de France" - we've had a fabulous trip so far and have been so impressed by this country. The people, food, and culture have all been first class. Rural France had always intrigued me, and it has been very interesting seeing the "real" side of the French people as opposed to the hustle and bustle of Paris and the glitz down in the South of France.

St. Emilion, Bordeaux countryside

Our flight over went smoothly (other than of course our luggage once we got to the budget carrier headed for France.) WHEN WILL WE LEARN! We landed there late on Saturday night and grabbed a hotel. Of course, the hotel we had booked on the internet decided to randomly close on Saturday with no phone number and no one there speaking English, so we audibled and found a decent one on foot with luggage in toe. Sunday we picked up a car and drove 45 minutes out of Bordeaux (the city) to the countryside and found a tiny little village named St. Emilion that came highly recommended. It was heaven... small stone buildings in a valley surrounded by vineyards! We walked the city, tasted free wines, and enjoyed a picnic in the city square before finding our accommodation - a small 18th century farm ran by a nice woman and her husband. It was so incredible, just plopped amongst thousands of acres of vineyards. We relaxed that day and walked through, enjoying what a proper "getaway" should be. That night, we decided to try out French Cuisine and feasted on a ridiculously good (albeit foreign) dinner of eggplant cakes, salmon tartare, fresh trout, roasted duck with sea salt potatoes, and finally Creme Brulee & Chocolate Fondant cake. It really was as good as it could be.

Christie with our lovely host and her dog, Vanilla! We were served a classic French breakfast in the vineyard and enjoyed the sunshine.

Nothing like a purple Vespa

The following day (Monday) we attempted to go wine tasting at a few of the over 860 chateau's in the region, but soon came to find out (after striking out at 5 in row!) that reservations were required. WHERE WERE YOU ON THAT ONE RICK STEVES!!! Can't fault Rick - overall he's been amazing on his recommendations -- so much so that we decided to bolt out of Bordeaux that afternoon, and drove the 300 km up to the Loire Valley where we spent the evening touring a pair of medieval chateaus -- Azey le something and Villandry, which boasts the most ridiculously nice garden I've ever seen.

Late that evening we made our way to the city of Angers (one hour to the west) where we were staying with our friend Aurelie's parents. She is the girlfriend of Swarco Raiders receiver Andi Proeller, and one of Christie's best girlfriends in Austria. They were so accommodating... only they didn't speak a LICK of English. It was so nice of them to let us stay there! However, this meant that even "Hello" in English was beyond them, and we didn't fare much better! It didn't matter, as they were WONDERFUL hosts -- preparing a delicious three-course meal that included a salad comprised of tomato, crab, and egg along with a baked cheese-filled bread. For dessert - in an unlikely yet delicious twist - MORE CHEESE!!! (They said that French people enjoy cheese 365 days per year. Can't argue with that!) We enjoyed all of this while using hand-signals and Christie's French that she hadn't used in years, along with a trusty French-English dictionary and a list of English sentences that Lili had printed out for her parents. Awkward at the time, funny looking back :-) But a serious example of great hospitality - Merci Remi and Paulette!

French for "House"

On Tuesday, we woke up early and headed north to Brittany to catch one of the wonders of the world -- the island of Mont St. Michel. It sticks out into the Bay almost 6 km and is completely surrounded by sand in one of the largest tides in the world. It was breathtaking from afar and made for some incredible pics... however the inside was a touristy nightmare filled with cheap nicknacks and too many stairs. My favorite part was when we walked way out onto the sand to get photos, and upon returning found that the tide had created a large pool that I carried Christie across on my back! Good times! That day we also discovered Rick's two gems in the region, the cobble-stone lined village of Dinan (lunch) and the Castle By the Sea town of St. Malo (dinner). What an incredible day!!!

Villandry gardens - incredible!

Cobbled streets of Dinan, small village in Northern France

Today is Wednesday, our last in France. We had a goal of seeing two more famous Chateau in the Loire Valley on the way to Paris, but in the name of simplicity (and saving a few hours driving) decided to head straight for the City of Light. BIG MISTAKE!!! We arrived to pouring down rain, bad traffic, and our usual disappointment that is Paris. We know we sound completely jaded, spoiled, and snobby, but seriously this city SUCKS for us!!! Ugh... we're laid up now at an internet cafe, where I'm catching up on life (Lakers up 2-1 over the Celts!) Hopefully the weather will clear so we can enjoy the evening... but in the morning we're off to Sicily for nothing but Sun!!! (Oh yeah, a big Sicilian Wedding and the Italian League Semi's too!)

Ciao and Merci,

Jason and Christie

On the road again...

It's back - the Jump Picture! Christie is pumped here to be entering her home and native land of Canadia.

And they're off.

Jason and Christie's 2010 European Adventure (abbreviated from here on out as JC2K10EA) officially kicked off on Friday as we pulled out of our parking structure in Tacoma, Washington, USA at officially 9:02 am Pacific Standard time. Ahead of us lied thousands of miles, a handful of countries, and numerous once-in-a-lifetime experiences -- but first, a day and a half of travel to get there. This is the gritty part of being a traveler, for despite my love of the open road, I must break positological tradition and admit that getting to Europe is not all poppies and strudel.

Happy to have reached the train station in Manchester.

For us, this road required some fancy footwork as an easy direct connection from Seattle to Bordeaux wasn't available for less than the GDP of Andorra. Therefore, we made a four hour drive north to Vancouver to catch our flight to England, filled with it's own intricacies of a border crossing, dropping a car at a nondescript downtown location, praying that it would still be there upon our return, catching a train to the airport, and braving an airport line-up that harkened back to 1982. All of this went fairly according to plan, except the aforementioned line at Thomas Cook Airlines. Doing things "The Old Fashioned Way" might work for Smith Barney in the financial world and does provide interesting material for commercials, but this is not exactly so in the travel biz. Despite arriving at the airport nearly 3 hours before our flight, this English charter company still required an old school face to face meeting, and so no quick electronic check-in kiosks. It seemed everyone - including the 400 odd English bound passengers - knew to expect this and thus arrived at the airport last Thursday to catch this flight. I do want to go on record that my beautiful wife did tell me this, and two stress-filled hours later we were finally checked in and racing to the gate just moments before take-off. The good news is that this delay meant we were not sitting together and therefore I wouldn't need to hear about it the first three hours of the flight, the bad news is that we had the joy of deciding between Middle Seat Next to Crying Baby and Middle Seat That Doesn't Recline.

Street performers come in the soccer variety in the city that first gave us Beckham, Christiano Ronaldo, and Wayne Rooney. Ironically, Thomas Cook stands quietly in the background.

Upon arrival into Manchester, we had a six hour layover before our next flight to Bordeaux. We quickly dropped off our bags inside the airport and hopped on the train for a fifteen-minute train ride into town. The plan was nothing other than walking aimlessly through the city center, and I was curious to see the town that is home to one of the world's top soccer clubs, Manchester United. There was a Saturday market on, and the city buzzed with people looking through various shops and flower-filled stands.

The colors in this picture are a little to close to the Puyallup Vikings.

Yes, I can take pictures of flowers.

Travel guru Rick Steves advocates traveling like a temporary local. This means ditching your typical American attitudes and hang-ups, and making it a point to try new things and experience culture through the eyes of those that live there. This had me a little worried as I surveyed the folks filling the Manchester Piccadilly Station, who either were quite unfortunately dressed or were auditioning for the role of a Jesse James mistress. The over/under on tattoos per person hovered around 15. I know dressing "euro" is a buzz-word among hip Americans, but perhaps those had never seen the average 17 year old Manchesterite. Yes, we were no longer in Kansas.

Great buildings lead to...

... great squares and people watching galore.

Eventually we made our way down into the heart of town where modern gave way to historic and suddenly there were sunny squares filled with people. This was British culture we were looking for. We decided to cure our jet-lag with some time at Sinclair's Oyster Bar, an historic watering hole dating back to the first Gentleman's Club in Manchester, founded in the 18th century. There was fascinating people watching here! (Note -- be sure to ask before trying a local brew as it might be served warm!)

If it's England than it must be time for a pint.

Happy travels.

We spent the rest of the afternoon admiring the old buildings and people watching, which somehow never gets old in this part of the world.

Look this way!

Cool texture.

A little help here?

Manchester city square

On a sightseeing scale, Manchester was pleasant enough but not worthy of a special stop on any itinerary. Perhaps we're a little jaded having been to Europe consistently over the past few years, but I think the true joy in Europe is found in the small villages or in the few great large cities (Rome, Prague, Berlin, etc.) Four hours in the core was much more than enough, and we hurried back to the airport for our connection to France.

I do want to make the note to fellow Chelsea supporters that I did not go to Old Trafford while in town. Go Blues!

Safely in Bordeaux

There is no hiding what this region is about...

We touched down at sunset in Bordeaux, feeling relatively good for 36 hours of consecutive travel, and excited to now let the real fun begin!

~ J. Twice

New Backyard...

I always admire a nice cone.

I've always been an advocate of "being a tourist in your own backyard" -- well, our new backyard in Tacoma is the Museum of Glass. It features the Venetian-style blown glass of acclaimed artist Dale Chihuly, and a signature pyramid on the side of the building. After admiring said pyramid every morning for a month, I finally got off my butt when the light was right to get a stylish pic. So without further ado... the cone.

And in keeping with this Mantra... thought I'd show some of my Euro readers a little video of my hometown, as done by Seattle photographer Charlie Beck. Enjoy!

Seattle, WA :: The Best City in the World from Charlie Beck on Vimeo.

~ J. Twice

Still SAC...

A lot of people new to the blog might not be hip to all of my lingo, so I thought I'd post a couple updates before we got on the road to bring everyone up to speed. SAC is a concept I developed two years ago and has spread throughout Europe and much of Asia. It has been referenced across pop culture platforms, almost making its way into dozens of Hollywood movies and hit TV shows. And to be perfectly honest, with the growth of smart-phones and everyone's dangerous habit of texting while driving a Vespa one handed while balancing a small child on your lap (sorry - that's maybe only in Catania), SAC is as relevant and perfect today as when I first thought it up. So without further ado, let's start the show! SAC.

SAC: The New LOL

THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2008

We all have pet peeves. For some, it's bad drivers. For others (such as my wife), it's chewing with your mouth open, talking too loudly, or being against the socializing of healthcare. Or so I've been told. Oh yeah - one that really ticks me off is showers that have two knobs for water temperature -- hot & cold water knobs -- instead of just one! How many times have you been forced to dance around the slippery shower while getting scalded because you made a mistake on the ratio of hot and cold! But my own personal pet peeve is perhaps a little more far reaching -- touching all members of the growing community of text messengers that span the globe. I'm talking about a little acronym called LOL.

For those of you still "using CD's," "setting your VCR," or "unnecessarily using quotation marks," let me explain (although you do get bonus points for reading a blog.) LOL is an internet / text-message acronym that stands for 'LAUGHING OUT LOUD' and is commonly used as a response to a joke or witty comment. Let me give you an example:

FRIEND1: Yo, whattup?

FRIEND2: Leaving 4 Italy in 3 dayz... cr8zy

FRIEND1: Sweet - eat lots of meatballs

FRIEND2: LOL. Fo' sho'

Now, is the 'meatball' comment witty? Yes. Is it funny? Yes. But is it LAUGH OUT LOUD funny? NO. And that my friends, is where my beef lies.

Comedians - or people like me who just tell lots of jokes - live for that LOL moment. We work for it. We strive for it. We are rewarded by it. Because let's be perfectly honest, it takes a LOT to make someone actually LOL. I'm talking hit-in-the-groin-with-a-ground-ball funny. I'm talking Bambulance or Felching funny. (Please Google both and LOL!) That's LOL... not meatballs. I mean, all it's doing is giving a bunch of mediocre comedians or not funny people a false sense of confidence. There are some very boring people out there that maintain a 58% LOL ratio. In fact -- LOL is the digital equivalent of the adult courtesy laugh (the one all people over the age of 18 give at cocktail parties and office water coolers after any joke/story told, regardless of its merit.)

And thus we come to SAC. SAC simply means SMILING AT COMPUTER. As you read this sentence, you are probably SAC. SAC is what happens 95% of the time – and that's ok. It's good. It preserves the authenticity of the LOL... while at the same time acknowledging the witty-ness of the sender. We all need to use SAC more often.* Here’s a good example:

FRIEND1: Hey thanks for the ride last night

FRIEND2: Don't be silly - it was no prob. What r u doing?

FRIEND1: Just gonna sit around and use Google Maps all day to look at my house, my parents house, and where I work.

FRIEND2: SAC. Holla at me later. And check out the Grand Canyon too.

Please -- do your part. Please help spread SAC worldwide.

KEY POINT: LOL is not a term to be thrown around lightly. When most of you say LOL, you really mean SAC.

And for those of you saying OMG or WTF, I know this chapter had nothing to do with Italy. SAC.

* SAC also applies to phone text messages or books as well... simply because to use different acronyms such as SAP or SAB for each instance is not as LOL. By the way, the 2nd most underrated punctuation mark is the asterisk. It's as under-used as LOL is overused... but don't EVEN get me started on that!