Una piccola rassegna della nostra vergogna, allora:
ON SPORTS
By SAM WALKER
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB114...mod=tff_articleLineage Drive
The Italian baseball federation alone spent five weeks and more than $20,000 researching the background of American players like Lenny DiNardo and Frank Catalanotto. "It was quite a workload," says the federation's Ricardo Schiroli.
dove abbiamo appreso delle spese della nostra federazione per fare questa Nazionale.
Interessante poi, sapere che eravamo dei "Carpetbaggers"
WBC "Carpetbaggers" Create Complaints And Confusion
By Matt Meyers
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/news/...wbcfeature.htmlItalian Baseball Federation president Riccardo Fraccari decided his country’s team would respect Olympic guidelines requiring citizenship, recognizing that Italy has complicated citizenship laws that nonetheless would widen the pool of players for Italy significantly. Players such as former big league catcher Mike DiFelice, whose parents were both born in Italy, have no problem obtaining Italian citizenship as long as they file the proper paperwork. Other players Italy targeted who qualify for citizenship include Mike Piazza (Padres), Dan Miceli (Devil Rays), David Dellucci (Rangers) and former Cardinals righthander Jason Simontacchi, who pitched for Italy in the 2000 Olympics.
While some might think these “carpetbaggers” undermine the credibility of the Classic, the players involved do not seem to mind.
Non privo di interesse sapere come, dalle loro parti, gli americani conoscevano le ragioni del patriottismo italico di Piazza:
Will Baseball Tournament Be a Classic?
By RONALD BLUM, AP Baseball Writer
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060302/ap_on_...i_world_classicGene Orza, the chief operating officer of the players' association, persuaded Mike Piazza to play for Italy. He tried to get Mike Mussina, too.
"I told him I'm not Italian and nobody in my family is Italian," Mussina said.
Bravo Mussina, nell'occasione.
E il grande attaccamento alla terra italica di un po' tutti che - come ci dice Galante - nessuno manco sapeva da dove veniva:
Piazza happy to wear Italy's colors during WBC
By Fred Goodall
Associated Press
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060304/ap_on_..._italian_piazzaTeam Italia, a collection of mostly American-born players who'll represent Italy in the World Baseball Classic.
The manager of Team Italia, Houston Astros special assistant Matt Galante, said people are surprised to learn that it was much more difficult to put the team together than simply locating enough players of Italian descent who wanted to play.
For many, though, just the thought of a national team consisting of players who don't speak the language of the country they're representing is hard to stomach.
E interessante la sintesi finale circa che impressione dà, una cosa del genere.
Bella, in particolare quella definizione: Team Italia, a collection of mostly American-born players who'll represent Italy in the World Baseball Classic.
Qualcuno, giustamente, ci prese apertamente per il culo:
WBC a great idea, save for the timing, injuries, politics ...
By Scott Miller
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer
http://cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/story/9214497Really, now. Mike Piazza playing for the Italian team?
As they say in Italy, Sei cosi bella.
Or, literally, "You are so beautiful." (Wait! That was supposed to be, "What a crock."
Ma la cosa più triste forse è questa:
Itay Looks to Be Surprise Team of WBC
http://articles.news.aol.com/sports/articl...004&cid=561ESPN's Buster Olney previews the WBC and explains why it's not going to work.
There was a delightful aroma in Team Italy's clubhouse: The chef had been hard at work and the pasta was ready.
Known more for good cooking and skiing than baseball, Italy is hoping to surprise some people in the World Baseball Classic.
"I think a lot of people are not taking us seriously," Detroit Tigers pitcher Jason Grilli said. "I think they're counting us out. We might surprise some people when they don't expect us to win. It takes a lot of the pressure and heat off of us. That might work to our advantage."
Grilli is slated to start the team's first game against Australia on Tuesday night. He'll be followed in the rotation by Lenny DiNardo of the Boston Red Sox, who pitched against the Tigers in an exhibition game Saturday.
Team Italy manager Matt Galante said he would likely go with Kasey Olenberger in the third game.
"I'm holding that back because if I need him the second game, I'm going to use him to try to win," Galante said.
Grilli, whose family originally came from Naples and Florence, said he was honored to pitch for Italy. After watching his team play a close game against the Tigers, he said he expected Team Italy to be competitive in the WBC.
Mi sembra la più triste perché nell'unico articolo equilibrato, non polemico, dove si vuol parlare dell'Italia, che Italia resta? La pasta. E nulla più, il baseball italiano non appare. Non l'abbiamo portato, del resto. E appena riappare il baseball, l'Italia sparisce.