Welcome aboard…

By: Matt | February 29th, 2008

Ok, so a little about me, and what brings me here to the Reggina blog. I promise I’ll try to make the future of these blogs posts as entertaining as possible. But you know, I need to get the introduction out of the way first, so please bare with me over the next few thousand words:

Let me premise this whole post by saying that I have a number of confessions which would logically lead you to believe that I’m not qualified to write this blog, so I’ll get those out of the way now:

Confession #1: Firstly, the majority of my blood comes from Foggia, which, for those of you who don’t know where it is, is located in Puglia, situated pretty much in between Bari and Napoli, thus making me mostly Pugliese by blood (not Calabrese).

Confession #2: This brings me to my second point: my favorite team, in fact, is not Reggina! However it is Foggia, who are currently buried in the bowels of Italian soccer, fighting for a playoff position in Serie C.

Confession #3: OK, onto my next flaw: I’m also a diehard Roma fan. And when I mean diehard, I’m the kind of person who skips work to watch the Lupi in their most important games…Champions League knockout stages, Serie A battles, etc.

I lived in Roma for a while, and developed a passion for the Giallorossi. So that will never go away. But I agreed long ago to root for two teams (Roma and Reggina) and rationalized it this way:

I think it’s OK to support one top-tier team that is always going to be in contention for a European position, and one team that will never finish better than middle-of-the table, at the same time. Two completely different mentalities and goals = two completely different teams I can root for.

So this segways nicely into why I choose to root (and write about) Reggina:

Here are a few rules that I developed for myself, when choosing to root for a specific calcio team (please note most of the following teams are only Serie A teams. I didn’t feel compelled to go into my feelings for other lower league teams, although I did reference a few of them):

1. I can’t root for a team that’s won more scudettos than you can count on one hand:
Eliminated: Juventus, Inter, Milan, Genoa, Torino, Bologna (not in Serie A anyway), Pro Vercelli (ditto)

2. I can’t root for a team from northern Italy (I have too much respect for the people who come from humble origins)
Eliminated: Fiorentina, Udinese, Sampdoria, Atalanta, Empoli, Siena

2. I can’t root for a team that is not on mainland Italy:
Eliminated: Cagliari, Catania, Palermo

3. I can’t root for a team that blatantly endorses racism and whose fans are associated with suburban trash:
Eliminated: Lazio (if trailer parks existed in Italy, the tifosi for Lazio would be knocking on those people’s doors, beginning to let them in and watch the biancocelesti games)

4. I can’t root for a team that has an intense derby with Foggia:
Eliminated: Napoli, *also Bari (Serie B), Avellino (Serie B), Salernitana (Serie C)

Also, I was born into a family that is part Calabrese, and my wonderful fiancée is the full-blooded offspring of emigrants from Reggio Calabria.

So this brings us to the blog…

I can’t lie and say I’ve followed Reggina closely through their Serie B and C days. But for as long as they’ve had a presence in Serie A, I’ve been an avid supporter (their rise to the top-flight dates back only to the late 90’s).

This is one of the main advantages of rooting for Reggina – it’s a team with a relatively modest history (meaning history of success, not being in business) that doesn’t date back too far. This is attractive for the younger audience, as Reggina’s history is currently in the making. As opposed to some of the northern foe’s, who, no matter what they accomplish in the future, will never be able to relive their clubs’ golden years.

Reggina has consistently fought with spirit and bred high-quality talent (see Pirlo, Perrotta, DiMichele, Bianchi). So, here I am, writing for the Reggina blog.

Now what to expect from this blog…

If you’re looking for first-hand historical accounts of the team, you’ve come to the wrong place (although I do know quite a bit about the club’s history, players, etc.)

But one thing I can guarantee is that you’ll find consistent coverage and thoughts on Reggina and Italian soccer, in general.

My hopes are to make this blog a forum that focuses on the Amaranto (nickname for Reggina), but also is a place where thoughts on the beautiful game in general are exchanged, as it’s played in the most beautiful country in the world. So expect to see thoughts and commentary on things not necessarily Reggina-related, as well.

Looking forward to meeting you all. And if you’re looking for a Serie A team to follow, you might want to create a set of rules to narrow down the field (it worked for me).

- Matt