Playing For Pizza by J. Grisham - Ch. 10-12

Rick was driving in his Fiat with the cops behind him. He was still not used to the clutch and was having a hard time. The cops pulled him over and asked for his license, Rick then remembered it had expired because his mother called him after Christmas to inform him. They towed his car and brought him down to judge Franco. Franco informed Rick that every thing was fine and asked him to come over for dinner tomorrow night and he would not take no for an answer.

The next day, Matteo the team trainer was in the locker room. He gave Rick a massage, Rick was sore and the massage was painful. But, football players can't complain during a massage. After practice Rick and Sam went to dinner at Franco's house. Rick had noticed the two attractive women, Anna (Sam's wife) and Antonella (Franco's wife.) Franco's kids Ivano, age six, and Susanna, age three, were allowed to stay for the first half hour before they had to go to bed. At dinner there was a lot of general conversation, while enjoying good food and wine.

The Panther's first game was today, they were playing the Naples Bandits in Parma. While all the Panthers were in the locker room Signor Bruncardo surprised the team with new team jerseys. When the team was ready they ran out to the field ready to face their opponents. The crowd was rather small but very loud. The Panthers played very well and won their first game. The final score was Panthers 48 and the Bandits 28. Rick emailed his parents telling them about the game and then informed Arnie about the win also.