Comments on: Turn out the Lights, the Parties Over http://cagliari.theoffside.com/cagliari/turn-out-the-lights-the-parties-over.html News from Cagliari Italian football team Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:56:00 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: KJ http://cagliari.theoffside.com/cagliari/turn-out-the-lights-the-parties-over.html#comment-686 KJ Fri, 15 May 2009 22:43:18 +0000 http://cagliari.theoffside.com/cagliari/turn-out-the-lights-the-parties-over.html#comment-686 Man, I thought I was the old man around here at 25 Man, I thought I was the old man around here at 25

]]> By: Olly in Cagliari http://cagliari.theoffside.com/cagliari/turn-out-the-lights-the-parties-over.html#comment-685 Olly in Cagliari Fri, 15 May 2009 22:41:27 +0000 http://cagliari.theoffside.com/cagliari/turn-out-the-lights-the-parties-over.html#comment-685 Cagliari also turns out to be a small city. Just bumped into Lazzari, Fini and Marchetti in the bar where i was drinking. I think they found it quite welcoming that I wanted a photo with them...nobody else seemed to notice they were there. Perhaps they are not used to fame. I asked Marchetti if he was going to inter next year and he said he would "take each day as it comes". What a professional. Cagliari also turns out to be a small city. Just bumped into Lazzari, Fini and Marchetti in the bar where i was drinking. I think they found it quite welcoming that I wanted a photo with them…nobody else seemed to notice they were there. Perhaps they are not used to fame. I asked Marchetti if he was going to inter next year and he said he would “take each day as it comes”. What a professional.

]]> By: Olly in Cagliari http://cagliari.theoffside.com/cagliari/turn-out-the-lights-the-parties-over.html#comment-684 Olly in Cagliari Thu, 14 May 2009 18:43:25 +0000 http://cagliari.theoffside.com/cagliari/turn-out-the-lights-the-parties-over.html#comment-684 There are two things that intrigue me about football in Sardinia and probably in Italy as a whole. Firstly the sheer exposure to the game. It is a culture which dominates conversations wherever you go. When I go to my friend's house in Oristano on the weekend I find myself in a very small sardinian village with just one bar - the social centre of the community. Inside, 90% of the banter is about football, it doesn't matter whether you are male or female, everybody talks about the game in one way or another, be it playing, watching, betting, referees etc. It's a way of life for some. Makes me wonder about the size of the party should Cagliari ever conspire to win a title. The second thing is that very few Sardinians that I've met have claimed or admitted to be just Cagliari fans, certainly outside of the city. Most support Cagliari but they really root for the Milans, Juve and Roma when it boils down to Serie A and Europe. They will bleed rossoblu 6 days a week and then they'll have mixed feelings when their "real" team plays against Cagliari on any given Sunday. There is an outlying opinion, maybe in Italy that it says a lot about man who supports a team that is not achieving, almost as though that man is not an achiever himself. In England the mentality is completely the opposite...there is a warm pride in supporting the losing team as long as that team is close to your heart, while the bandwagon boys and glory hunters are just not real fans. I'm a born and bred Arsenal fan Jeremy and you have it right that I natrually have something against people that have joined ship in our recent winning years even though they are supporting the same club as me. But then maybe they and their sons and daughters will go on to be great passionate fans in the future so who knows? I guess it tells me a bit about two differnet cultures if nothing else, but it makes me love football even more becuase it's a sport which is followed in such a diverse fashion all over the globe. I think its great to adopt a team in another country and apply the mentality and passions of your own country - that's when it really gets fun and that's why for me there is only Cagliari. There are two things that intrigue me about football in Sardinia and probably in Italy as a whole. Firstly the sheer exposure to the game. It is a culture which dominates conversations wherever you go. When I go to my friend’s house in Oristano on the weekend I find myself in a very small sardinian village with just one bar – the social centre of the community. Inside, 90% of the banter is about football, it doesn’t matter whether you are male or female, everybody talks about the game in one way or another, be it playing, watching, betting, referees etc. It’s a way of life for some. Makes me wonder about the size of the party should Cagliari ever conspire to win a title.

The second thing is that very few Sardinians that I’ve met have claimed or admitted to be just Cagliari fans, certainly outside of the city. Most support Cagliari but they really root for the Milans, Juve and Roma when it boils down to Serie A and Europe. They will bleed rossoblu 6 days a week and then they’ll have mixed feelings when their “real” team plays against Cagliari on any given Sunday. There is an outlying opinion, maybe in Italy that it says a lot about man who supports a team that is not achieving, almost as though that man is not an achiever himself.

In England the mentality is completely the opposite…there is a warm pride in supporting the losing team as long as that team is close to your heart, while the bandwagon boys and glory hunters are just not real fans. I’m a born and bred Arsenal fan Jeremy and you have it right that I natrually have something against people that have joined ship in our recent winning years even though they are supporting the same club as me. But then maybe they and their sons and daughters will go on to be great passionate fans in the future so who knows?

I guess it tells me a bit about two differnet cultures if nothing else, but it makes me love football even more becuase it’s a sport which is followed in such a diverse fashion all over the globe. I think its great to adopt a team in another country and apply the mentality and passions of your own country – that’s when it really gets fun and that’s why for me there is only Cagliari.

]]> By: Jeremy http://cagliari.theoffside.com/cagliari/turn-out-the-lights-the-parties-over.html#comment-683 Jeremy Thu, 14 May 2009 16:30:37 +0000 http://cagliari.theoffside.com/cagliari/turn-out-the-lights-the-parties-over.html#comment-683 That summer in Mallorca and Sardinia was the experience of my life. Mind you that was about 20 years ago where my initial impression of Europe, especially being in smaller countries and in their smaller cities, was that it was very simple and like how I would imagine the suburbs in the USA in the 50s. Very family oriented and very friendly people who would do anything for strangers. When locals I met in Sassari found out I was there learning about my relative, I was welcomed even more despite the language barrier. The stories I was told and the people who knew my grandmother as a child were amazing. Sardinians are tough and weathered people, but very loyal to their own. They dont seem to like outsiders, even those Italians from the mainland. While I did not experience it personally, I would guess the excitement on the island is tremendous when the team wins. I did not quite get that same impression in Mallorca but I got to see more soccer there. Ultimately you want to identify with a family history or places you have been or lived and that is how our teams find us. I mean why else would I ever root for Cagliari? While most of the teams I have supported outside of the Lakers in the NBA have never won anything and are often the laughingstock of the league they play in, it does not matter as part of your life somehow got you tied to that team and you wouldnt trade it. Cagliari is a part of that life even if I didnt get exposed to it until later in life when i knew very little about Europe or its people. Funny how that works out, but now youngsters just reading the internet and finding a team, most them get a big club to root for. I am glad that was not my experience and I am sure true fans of the big teams who have family or life history to their club has to hate all the bandwagon jumpers. Either way its fun and glad to know there are others out there in the USA that root for Cagliari like I do and have their own good stories about why it is that way for them. That summer in Mallorca and Sardinia was the experience of my life. Mind you that was about 20 years ago where my initial impression of Europe, especially being in smaller countries and in their smaller cities, was that it was very simple and like how I would imagine the suburbs in the USA in the 50s. Very family oriented and very friendly people who would do anything for strangers. When locals I met in Sassari found out I was there learning about my relative, I was welcomed even more despite the language barrier. The stories I was told and the people who knew my grandmother as a child were amazing. Sardinians are tough and weathered people, but very loyal to their own. They dont seem to like outsiders, even those Italians from the mainland. While I did not experience it personally, I would guess the excitement on the island is tremendous when the team wins. I did not quite get that same impression in Mallorca but I got to see more soccer there.

Ultimately you want to identify with a family history or places you have been or lived and that is how our teams find us. I mean why else would I ever root for Cagliari? While most of the teams I have supported outside of the Lakers in the NBA have never won anything and are often the laughingstock of the league they play in, it does not matter as part of your life somehow got you tied to that team and you wouldnt trade it. Cagliari is a part of that life even if I didnt get exposed to it until later in life when i knew very little about Europe or its people. Funny how that works out, but now youngsters just reading the internet and finding a team, most them get a big club to root for. I am glad that was not my experience and I am sure true fans of the big teams who have family or life history to their club has to hate all the bandwagon jumpers.

Either way its fun and glad to know there are others out there in the USA that root for Cagliari like I do and have their own good stories about why it is that way for them.

]]> By: Olly in Cagliari http://cagliari.theoffside.com/cagliari/turn-out-the-lights-the-parties-over.html#comment-682 Olly in Cagliari Wed, 13 May 2009 12:58:49 +0000 http://cagliari.theoffside.com/cagliari/turn-out-the-lights-the-parties-over.html#comment-682 Hats off to the pair of you. that's some wicked history you've got behind the club. I'm sure if you went back to Sardinia and talked with a few locals they'd go head over heels for your stories, not least because you're foreigners. I just need to mention that I went to the game the other day and they love it. Incidentally, I have a new favourite piece of footballing trivia...I read that in the 1970 scudetto winning season Gigi Riva "forced" all the sheperds of the Nuoro (central) region of Sardinia to buy transistor radios to follow the tail end of the Cagliari season. Made me chuckle that one. Hats off to the pair of you. that’s some wicked history you’ve got behind the club. I’m sure if you went back to Sardinia and talked with a few locals they’d go head over heels for your stories, not least because you’re foreigners. I just need to mention that I went to the game the other day and they love it.

Incidentally, I have a new favourite piece of footballing trivia…I read that in the 1970 scudetto winning season Gigi Riva “forced” all the sheperds of the Nuoro (central) region of Sardinia to buy transistor radios to follow the tail end of the Cagliari season. Made me chuckle that one.

]]> By: Jeremy http://cagliari.theoffside.com/cagliari/turn-out-the-lights-the-parties-over.html#comment-681 Jeremy Wed, 13 May 2009 11:38:42 +0000 http://cagliari.theoffside.com/cagliari/turn-out-the-lights-the-parties-over.html#comment-681 93-94 is what got me into it hardcore Poindexter. My backpacking adventure was 4 years earlier when I didnt even know where Sardinia was and my trip to Mallorca to see my college roommates family. From what I remember the team had just moved from C1 to Serie B and then Serie A in consecutive years and the island was pretty crazy about the promotion back to the top league. Its been an up and down ride since. We need another year like 92-93 to get us back into Europe for the next year. Thought this year might be it. 93-94 is what got me into it hardcore Poindexter. My backpacking adventure was 4 years earlier when I didnt even know where Sardinia was and my trip to Mallorca to see my college roommates family. From what I remember the team had just moved from C1 to Serie B and then Serie A in consecutive years and the island was pretty crazy about the promotion back to the top league. Its been an up and down ride since. We need another year like 92-93 to get us back into Europe for the next year. Thought this year might be it.

]]> By: Poindexter http://cagliari.theoffside.com/cagliari/turn-out-the-lights-the-parties-over.html#comment-680 Poindexter Wed, 13 May 2009 09:46:17 +0000 http://cagliari.theoffside.com/cagliari/turn-out-the-lights-the-parties-over.html#comment-680 I'll own up to being a vintage of the late 70's too. I became a supporter by birth right as dad is as mad as a cut snake Cagliari supporter. He still reminisces about the 1970 campaign and how they used to bet on serie A matches in the sugar cane fields of Far North QLD. For me my passion was sealed on my first backpacking adventure through Europe in 1993-94. Was very fortunate to see the boys roll Mechelen and Juve. I’ll own up to being a vintage of the late 70’s too. I became a supporter by birth right as dad is as mad as a cut snake Cagliari supporter. He still reminisces about the 1970 campaign and how they used to bet on serie A matches in the sugar cane fields of Far North QLD.

For me my passion was sealed on my first backpacking adventure through Europe in 1993-94. Was very fortunate to see the boys roll Mechelen and Juve.

]]> By: Jeremy http://cagliari.theoffside.com/cagliari/turn-out-the-lights-the-parties-over.html#comment-679 Jeremy Wed, 13 May 2009 02:02:02 +0000 http://cagliari.theoffside.com/cagliari/turn-out-the-lights-the-parties-over.html#comment-679 Turned 40 in April to be exact...Got turned on to the European soccer with the folding of the NASL and the advent of the internet. I watched Georgie Best and Hugo Sanchez amongst others as a kid growing up in So Cal. Best is still my all time favorite player and I miss the Sockers. Those were the days. My parents were big time soccer fans and got me watching and playing at age 5. Became a Cagliari fan in the early 90s thanks to a trip to Sardinia to see my grandmothers home town of Sassari. The internet helped me learn about the team. Im sure my writing is barely high school level, but cant hide my age. Monday night football was best in the 70s. Turned 40 in April to be exact…Got turned on to the European soccer with the folding of the NASL and the advent of the internet. I watched Georgie Best and Hugo Sanchez amongst others as a kid growing up in So Cal. Best is still my all time favorite player and I miss the Sockers. Those were the days. My parents were big time soccer fans and got me watching and playing at age 5. Became a Cagliari fan in the early 90s thanks to a trip to Sardinia to see my grandmothers home town of Sassari. The internet helped me learn about the team. Im sure my writing is barely high school level, but cant hide my age. Monday night football was best in the 70s.

]]> By: Steven http://cagliari.theoffside.com/cagliari/turn-out-the-lights-the-parties-over.html#comment-678 Steven Tue, 12 May 2009 09:21:22 +0000 http://cagliari.theoffside.com/cagliari/turn-out-the-lights-the-parties-over.html#comment-678 Johonna, my dear, I know. But as Jer stated that he watched Monday Night Football, I'm guessing he wasn't born in '77 :) Johonna, my dear, I know. But as Jer stated that he watched Monday Night Football, I’m guessing he wasn’t born in ‘77 :)

]]> By: Johonna http://cagliari.theoffside.com/cagliari/turn-out-the-lights-the-parties-over.html#comment-677 Johonna Tue, 12 May 2009 00:49:19 +0000 http://cagliari.theoffside.com/cagliari/turn-out-the-lights-the-parties-over.html#comment-677 I will have you know, Steven, that it is perfectly possible to be alive in the 70's and not be 40! I will have you know, Steven, that it is perfectly possible to be alive in the 70’s and not be 40!

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