157. How Exciting it is to Win!
157. How Exciting it is to Win!
My blog today will not be of interest to many of my friends, but if you love me you know my idiosyncrasies my hobbies and my little quirks!
I am calling it a mania, but it is not that exactly. I cannot find the right word to express a passion that sometimes turns into an exaggerated nervousness or over-enthusiasm.
I’ll tell you what it is… I am referring to… CHEERING FOR A FOOTBALL TEAM!
The team of my heart is called FIORENTINA! Nothing strange about that. I was born in Florence and even as a kid I supported the team during good times and bad.
We fans of FIORENTINA use the expression that a “purple heart” beats inside us! Purple is the color of the club’s football uniform. There is a crest showing the lily of Florence, red on white!
In 1955-56, Fiorentina won the Scudetto. What does this mean? The best team that year! What a joy! I was very young but I never missed a game. I would go without food to have enough money to buy a ticket!
This addiction is with me to this day. I have transmitted it to my sons.
Even today, I do not miss a game, I do not go to the stadium but I watch the games on television. I would like to go to the stadium to cheer on my team whose great fans, young and old, have turned their passion into a way of life! I refer to the “Curva Fiesole”, the “Nest of Purple Fans”.
Years of absolute flatness… a few years of small satisfactions… other years disastrous… but I have never understood how you cannot be a fan of your city’s team.

Fiorentina Campione 1955-56
I would like to see a start of the season with all teams on the same starting line. Ten million to invest, an amount equal to all. Just so you can judge the ability to buy and sell and the ability of a trainer to compose his team!
Now whoever wins, wins with the power of money! Like everything that is now part of our lives, unfortunately.

Francesco Tola
Fiorentina, after a year of misery, is offering a show that is very entertaining. I share my fun with my son Tommaso and with Francesco Tola, a dear friend who is even more fanatical than I am. On sunday evenings we often meet to exchange comments after the game.
I congratulate coach Montella who has been able to improve the performance of his team to such an extent that they now seem really interested in competing with the big teams again.
Finally, I am enjoying Fiorentina… I am having fun again… and my enthusiasm is the same as when I was a boy of the “Curva Fiesole”!
Thanks Andrea Della Valle! Thanks Montella!
Thanks Fiorentina…
Un bacino a tutti..
I LOVE YOU


La Curva Fiesole
157. Che Bello Vincere!
Il mio post di oggi non sarà d’interesse per tanti miei amici, ma, se mi volete bene dovete conoscere i miei vizi i miei hobby e le mie piccole manie!
L’ho chiamata mania, ma non lo è esattamente. Non trovo la parola per esprimere una passione che si trasforma talvolta in esagerato nervosismo o entusiasmo sfrenato.
Esco allo scoperto… mi riferisco al… TIFO PER UNA SQUADRA DI CALCIO!
La squadra del mio cuore si chiama FIORENTINA!
Niente di strano, sono nato a Firenze e fin da ragazzino ho seguito la mia squadra nei momenti più belli come in quelli più brutti!
A Firenze usiamo l’espressione che in noi tifosi batte un cuore viola! Il viola è il colore delle maglie della Fiorentina con uno scudetto sul petto che rappresenta il giglio di Firenze, rosso su fondo bianco!
Nel campionato 1955-56, la Fiorentina ha vinto lo scudetto. Che cosa significa? La miglior squadra di quell’anno! Che gioia! Ero giovanissimo, ma non ho perso una partita. Facevo a meno di mangiare, ma le poche lire per comprarmi il biglietto riuscivo sempre a trovarle! Questa frenesia me la trascino fino ad oggi e ho contagiato anche i miei figli maschi.
Ancora oggi, non perdo una partita, non vado allo stadio e la guardo alla televisione. Vorrei andare allo stadio per incitare la mia squadra, in quella parte dello stadio dove i grandi tifosi, giovani e meno giovani, hanno fatto di questa passione una ragione di vita! Mi riferisco alla curva Fiesole, il “Nido del tifo Viola!”
Tanti anni di piatto assoluto… alcuni anni di piccole soddisfazioni… altri anni disastrosi… Non ho mai capito, quei tifosi che tifano per una squadra che non rappresenta la loro città.

Fiorentina Campione 1955-56
Vorrei vedere un inizio campionato con tutte le squadre sulla stessa linea di partenza. Ogni squadra con dieci milioni da investire. Un importo uguale per tutti. Solo così si può giudicare la capacità di acquisto e di vendita dei giocatori e la capacità dell’allenatore nel comporre una squadra vincente!
Chi vince, vince anche con la forza dei soldi! Come tutto ciò che oggi fa parte della nostra vita, purtroppo.

Francesco Tola
Mi congratulo con Montella che ha saputo stravolgere il gioco di una squadra che sembrava non più interessata a competere con le grandi squadre.
Finalmente mi diverto… mi svago… e mi entusiasmo come quando ero un ragazzo della curva Fiesole!
Grazie Andrea Della Valle! Grazie Montella!
Grazie Fiorentina…
Un bacino a tutti
I LOVE YOU


La Curva Fiesole

155. Maldives … Just Relax!
There are many ways to spend the day… the most special is snorkeling and spending some time in different parts of the island spying on the tropical fish…
Because of my two broken ribs I have had to take refuge in the Maldives, leaving my programmed adventures in the north of Australia behind me. I therefore had to leave behind many sporting activities such as windsurfing and Jet Skiing…
154. In a Few Days… Will Be 72!
When I’m on a plane, I like to look out of the window… the vast blue sea… the immensity! A unit of measure without end… my thoughts turn to infinite time, to eternity! As a young man when I was thinking of “the afterlife…” I tried to divert my mind… eternity upset me!
Have you seen the wonderful film “Wild Strawberries”? It is a black and white film by Ingmar Bergman. It is the story of an old professor who, after living a rigid life bound by a sense of duty, is forced to confront the emptiness of his existence… strict with himself and with others! He is invited to Stockholm to receive a major prize at the end of his career. During the long drive he is forced to rethink his whole life… including the relationship with his wife and children. He examines his conscience to see if he really deserves an award for how he has lived his life. He realizes that he has been too stern, too selfish and has demanded too much from himself and from others!