More Italia

From Roberto Gotta at ESPN Soccernet ...

This makes me thousands of miles away, physically, from Catania, site of Italy's latest horrific episode in a long list of football violence, and a couple of universes away on a metaphorical level, as I listen to the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears coaches speak gracefully about the upcoming match, watch fans mingle peacefully with each other and bask in the chance to be at a sporting event where you don't have to watch your back at all times - unless you fear pickpockets.

He is obviously Italian and speaks of the horrors of his homeland. But here he points out the same contrast that I also saw, from the opposite end. There is a clear civility about North American sports. I mean, how much respect was there (in the media anyway) between the Colts and Bears, Dungy and Smith, for the Superbowl, the biggest single game of any kind on earth? You won't see that in media or in fan behaviour in Italian soccer.

Of course, a responsible media is not something we enjoy a lot of in Italy, with most weekday talk shows ending in shouting contests and the vulgarization and oversimplification of concepts resulting in the impression, to the less discerning and more belligerent, that the actual game-day experience is a war between opposites who could or should never meet.

This is more amusing, because in the hotels Venice and Milan I spent some time watching TV while Heather slept 19 hours a day. I believe I watched a soccer "round table" program which seemed to be debating issues, but also which clearly had a line drawn down the middle, dividing the two sides. I couldn't understand a thing, but man, they could get into some heated conversations. At one point, this 65ish year old man started pounding on the desk in a blind rage while the 65ish year old man opposite him made mimicking gestures as if he were wiping away tears. The climax of the show was when one of the old dudes got up and started shouting at another old dude who was sitting at a tv and watching a game that was going on live at the time and giving periodical updates. Then, he started shaking him and pushing him a little, to which nobody seemed to mind. Now that, that is ridiculous.