AC Milan beats Minnesota Thunder in soccer 2-1 (June 23, 2007) at Wayzata HS

AC Milan's team colors are black and red and numero 6 Ancellotti has been playing soccer (calcio) or European football for three generations. It was the perfect evening for a soccer game, a little too bright for photographing but the setting sun was waning red and lent a warm glow. Shooting at ASA 400 was not easy as I tried to keep the sun at my back. Carolina, Maria Pia and I, Donna Gina, were perched on the front rail, full of anticipation. It was electric. I was trying to format my new 4 Gig compact flash on my Nikon D70s. I had a 70-300 mm telephoto (really 450 mm in old film language) on the digital SLR. Thank God the man who was selling the Italian jerseys had the same camera and formatted the new media chip for me. He also ad his Mac laptop with and was ready to use that to format the chip.
We met many Italians and tried our second language on them. Alessandro's favorite number was 10, also. He was going to visit his father in Torino, where he was born. He is such a ham, but I worried about him getting lost in the crowd of 4,000. He had Juventus soccer stockings. I also met friends who knew Martin Lacey and had coached the English 13 and under boys team who won the 1995 Schwan's USA Cup at Blaine. Gina's 13 and under girls team won that year, too, but not in the USA Cup. Wayne had coached the same team when they were 15's and started naming the roster. He remembered Carl Adams and their family. I told them we had hosted them when they returned the following year, and that in 2000 Gina and I went to Bedfordshire and stayed with the Adams' family. It was the first time England had beaten Germany in 33 years and they said we had brought them good luck. Of course, Italy won the World Cup that year, too, with Alessandro Del Piero, # 10, scoring the winning goal!

Earlier this week we watched the professional cycling teams race a criterium around St. Paul's Mears Park and Ivan from Slovenia won. Friday night, Mama Jennie took Denise and I to Lily Tomlin at Orchestra Hall, but I watched 4 laps of the men's criterium again in Minneapolis. What a wonderful place to live, the arts and sports are alive and well in the Twin Cities! Lily went 2 hours straight, non stop, and was at her best, doing 2 Ernestines and a dark war monologue. She's the best! Thanks, Momma Mia Ranelli!