Football fans.

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Football

Probably the only word that once spoken evokes emotions in most people of the western world, whether good or bad connections with this sport, it has a great impact on the European countries. Coming from the states where American football is more popular than soccer, it is still hard for me to grasp how a sport can affect people so much. From the bars men watch each game religiously, where should their team win they will proceed to shout in the streets with happiness. However should they be the losers, it is blamed on everything and typically the men that follow the team are generally in poor moods for a few days. The thing that probably bothers me the most here in Italy, is that sports are considered Masculine, and therefore are only for men, not for the participation of women. Now I may not be a feminist, but after being in sports for most of my life, I cannot believe that Italian women wouldn't even dream of being professional sports players. Realizing that even in the states that title is still hard for some people to grasp, but to not even have the opportunity to play soccer or rowing, there is only one for to describe that, crazy. I only found out that Italian women don't play on sports teams from my Italian teacher Sara. We were in class last week and were talking about things we like to do, well for me it is sports like rowing. I told her this and she generally seemed surprised, which led to a discussion about how sports in Italy are considered only appropriate for men.


Now looking back on my experience at a true Italian past time, a football game, I understand why it was mostly men at the game. The few women that were there or at least sitting in my cheap seat section, were other American girls who I am guessing were having football withdrawals as well. At home I religiously watch my school's football games, and go to most home games sitting in the same spot on the 20-yard line. Getting tickets to the soccer game were a challenge; Daisy and I did not plan ahead which is typical for us. We had been sitting at home when Daisy let me know that she wanted to go to the game, which was starting in 3 hours. Our friends were supposed to be going as well so we planned on getting there around the time the kickoff was happening to buy tickets. We got to the stadium and could not find any sign indicating that there were tickets for sale. Finishing our Heinekens (since no alcohol is allowed inside the stadium) we went into a bar that a man pointed out to us sold tickets. The window inside looked like a porthole on a boat, luckily the man spoke some English so between gesturing, broken Italian and English, he let us know that we needed to have id's for each person wanted tickets. Well someone could have told Daisy and I before hand, because we ended up not bringing any legitimate id. I had brought my credit card with my photo in the corner, while Daisy only had a credit card with her name on it. Sweet-talking to the ticket man proved to be fruitful however because he ended up selling us tickets (sometimes it pays to be a girl).


Getting into the stadium though was a bit more difficult because not only did you need to have your ticket but also your id, which we didn't have. For me it wasn't too difficult because I at least had a terrible picture on my debit card that passed for id, but Daisy had no picture on her. So after several attempts by the guard to deny her entry, she used her skills at batting her eyelashes and managed somehow to get through. The head guard had to come over and looked her over before letting us go. I think if we had been 40 year old men, our attempts at getting past security would have had to be more creative.


Getting into the stadium, the first thing I noticed was that the fans of the opposing team were separated by high chain link fences topped with barbed wire, then had empty bleachers surrounding both sides. I had heard that the Italian fans could get violent, but had not idea people went to such extremes. The whole day however the Munich fans were walking around the city, singing their teams songs and causing a ruckus. I actually knew some of the songs they were singing, since people had been singing them at Oktoberfest only one month before hand. Finding out that our seats were on a first come first serve basis we found seats that had some view of the field. It was by no means the best view; it was the curved part of the end zone, which wasn't even next to the field. Once the game started I wished that I had downed a few more beers, because the crowd was getting so into the game that I couldn't really appreciate what was going on. Firstly because I didn't actually know what the announcers were saying, I could only judge by what the fans were doing. Very similar to when my roommate from home, Jezl and I went to a soccer game in Seattle to stare at the guy I had a crush on, and getting completely bored after the first hour because I didn't really understand the game. I may have played soccer when I was younger, but it was mostly just me chasing after a ball and trying to score goals. Italian soccer was the same as soccer in the states where I still got bored after the first hour. Luckily for Daisy was getting completely bored as well, partly because our friends that were going to meet us at the game didn't show up until after kick off. So they were not able to buy tickets to get into the game, had they been there it probably would have been more fun. Our friend Amanda and her date Scott ended up going to the game though and so they sat by us so we didn't feel too ridiculous saving 3 seats. Shortly after the first half ended however, Daisy and I left the game. Buying popcorn (which you can never find in Italy) on the way out and finding our friends that didn't make it into the game at the bar nearby. We took the short cab ride back to Piazza San Marco and went back to our apartment.

All in all the experience at the Football game was a good one, I will just have to remember to drink a bit more before going.

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Photos

Enjoying the game.
She was really excited about using her whistle during the game.

Purple power
Wearing all of our Florence gear.

Roommates.
Daisy and I loving each others company.

Stadium
The stadium in Florence.

Opposing forces.
You can just see where the barrier is to the opposing fans.