3kzisfootball
Debutant
Hello everyone. I have posted already in this forum, but this is my 'formal' introduction.
I was interested in joining BigFooty.com because it seemed to be a welcoming place for people like me. People that I call 'bicodal' that is that love both football and soccer (and yes, I am more than happy to use the term soccer...as long as it is not used as a put down).
I migrated from Italy (Milan to be exact) in the mid-70's when my father got a job offer that would have advanced his career considerably.
There is a long tradition of supporting soccer in our family. AC Milan hs been the team to support for at least three generations.
So with this tradition we came to Australia, and initially it was Sydney. My father (and therefore me...I was quite young then) was quite disdainful about Australian soccer at that stage. He had seen the best players in the world and did not really bother getting into the local scene.
Also we were quite adamant that we wanted to become part of Australian society quickly and therefore eschewed Italian clubs, and therefore the soccer scene that at that stage was very ethnic-based and we were not into that.
We couldn't get into Rugby League at all. No disrespect to anyone here that likes RL, but from someone who grew up on soccer, the idea of a ball being often on the ground being fought by scrums didn't really grab us.
I vaguely knew that there was this strange game played in Melbourne. The Sydney TV channels would show it on a Sunday night about 11.30 way past my bed-time.
Then just a few years later my father got another job offer in Melbourne. So we decided to give VFL (as it was known then) a go. The grand final was shown live, so imagine which one it was? It was the 1977 Grand Final between North Melbourne and Collingwood. I knew nothing about the game. I knew nothing about North Melbourne having been not very successful up to that point and who Barassi was and what he did with that club. I knew nothing about Collingwood and the history of that club and how much it was hated by everyone else.
And what a match to choose for the first one. Unlike Rugby the ball flowed from one end to the other in seconds. Possession could change in an instant. The ball was in the air...no idea at the other end would be good enough to tussle the other player and get the ball. And the scoring was good because unlike rugby the ball was kicked (like soccer) and for a few instants I had no idea whether it would score or not.
And of course it was a tight match....which ended in a draw. I said to my father that once in Melbourne we had to follow this game.
So we did. The question was which team? My sister who was living in Melbourne was in Carlton, and while my father wanted to live in the leafy eastern suburbs the rest of the family wanted to stay close. So we bought in Carlton which at the stage was not yet that desirable suburb it is now.
The choice was: Should we support Carlton, the suburb where we lived, or Essendon because their colours where the same as our AC Milan?
We finally went for the suburb where we lived and decided to follow the Blues. This was also helped by the fact that our new neighbours, a Milk Bar owner who had been there for ages were also Carlton supporters and took us to the first matches.
That was 1978. I knew nothing of the Blues illustrious past. As a bit of a leftie I was a bit taken aback when I discovered that the then Prime Minister, Malcom Fraser was the number one ticket holder, and this was somewhat augmented when I learned that Bob Menzies was also a Carlton fan (I remember when at Arden St when Malcom Fraser went into the grandstand some Norths supporters started booing and one even threw an orange!)
I went to the first match of the season at the MCG against Richmond. And I was overawed by the noise and athmosphere and how huge that stadium was!
Carlton lost. And it seemed that I would have had a hard time with that team. Trawling through the results:
Carlton 14.13 (97) Richmond 25.24 (174)
Carlton 13.17 (95) Geelong 15.19 (109)
Carlton 13.20 (98) Melbourne 11.19 (85)
Carlton 16.8 (104) Essendon 19.17 (131)
Carlton 17.14 (116) Sth Melb 18.9 (117)
Carlton 19.12 (126) Hawthorn 24.13 (157)
After round six we were second bottom from the ladder. But then Jesaulenko took over as captain-coach and the rest is history. This also brings me to the other thing I loved about football. Unlike other sports it seemes to welcome people of Non-English backgrounds in its ranks. Ever since I have been following football there has beens the Silvagnis, Alessis, Busostows etc. and also my father and I were barricking in Italian and no one even flinched! (it was Carlton after all
)
I was priviledge to witness a premiership in 1979 and many more after that.
Of course I wish the Blues could be successful like they were then now. My seven year old doesn't want to say he is a Carlton supporter because he gets teased at school!
But it is cycle. The good times will come back.
My signature comes back to those good times. I rememebr I always brought my transistor radio to the football and 3KZ had the 'Captain and the Major' (I think) and the announcer would say: 3KZ is football! With a big emphasis on the 'is'.
Before I write anymore (as I already wrote too much) I just want to say a brief word about the fact that I expect to contribute more on the soccer part of the forum. I like be in a forum where I hope I will exchange ideas with people like me. People who have no problems in following both codes and enjoying them equally.
I always been a supporter of the Socceroos since the early 80's. So I have followed them in all their failed wold cup campaigns and I was in Sydney to witness their triumph.
Now I am a keen follower of the Mebourne Victory - a team for all cultures. Same colours of Carlton and same success on the field !
I was interested in joining BigFooty.com because it seemed to be a welcoming place for people like me. People that I call 'bicodal' that is that love both football and soccer (and yes, I am more than happy to use the term soccer...as long as it is not used as a put down).
I migrated from Italy (Milan to be exact) in the mid-70's when my father got a job offer that would have advanced his career considerably.
There is a long tradition of supporting soccer in our family. AC Milan hs been the team to support for at least three generations.
So with this tradition we came to Australia, and initially it was Sydney. My father (and therefore me...I was quite young then) was quite disdainful about Australian soccer at that stage. He had seen the best players in the world and did not really bother getting into the local scene.
Also we were quite adamant that we wanted to become part of Australian society quickly and therefore eschewed Italian clubs, and therefore the soccer scene that at that stage was very ethnic-based and we were not into that.
We couldn't get into Rugby League at all. No disrespect to anyone here that likes RL, but from someone who grew up on soccer, the idea of a ball being often on the ground being fought by scrums didn't really grab us.
I vaguely knew that there was this strange game played in Melbourne. The Sydney TV channels would show it on a Sunday night about 11.30 way past my bed-time.
Then just a few years later my father got another job offer in Melbourne. So we decided to give VFL (as it was known then) a go. The grand final was shown live, so imagine which one it was? It was the 1977 Grand Final between North Melbourne and Collingwood. I knew nothing about the game. I knew nothing about North Melbourne having been not very successful up to that point and who Barassi was and what he did with that club. I knew nothing about Collingwood and the history of that club and how much it was hated by everyone else.
And what a match to choose for the first one. Unlike Rugby the ball flowed from one end to the other in seconds. Possession could change in an instant. The ball was in the air...no idea at the other end would be good enough to tussle the other player and get the ball. And the scoring was good because unlike rugby the ball was kicked (like soccer) and for a few instants I had no idea whether it would score or not.
And of course it was a tight match....which ended in a draw. I said to my father that once in Melbourne we had to follow this game.
So we did. The question was which team? My sister who was living in Melbourne was in Carlton, and while my father wanted to live in the leafy eastern suburbs the rest of the family wanted to stay close. So we bought in Carlton which at the stage was not yet that desirable suburb it is now.
The choice was: Should we support Carlton, the suburb where we lived, or Essendon because their colours where the same as our AC Milan?
We finally went for the suburb where we lived and decided to follow the Blues. This was also helped by the fact that our new neighbours, a Milk Bar owner who had been there for ages were also Carlton supporters and took us to the first matches.
That was 1978. I knew nothing of the Blues illustrious past. As a bit of a leftie I was a bit taken aback when I discovered that the then Prime Minister, Malcom Fraser was the number one ticket holder, and this was somewhat augmented when I learned that Bob Menzies was also a Carlton fan (I remember when at Arden St when Malcom Fraser went into the grandstand some Norths supporters started booing and one even threw an orange!)
I went to the first match of the season at the MCG against Richmond. And I was overawed by the noise and athmosphere and how huge that stadium was!
Carlton lost. And it seemed that I would have had a hard time with that team. Trawling through the results:
Carlton 14.13 (97) Richmond 25.24 (174)
Carlton 13.17 (95) Geelong 15.19 (109)
Carlton 13.20 (98) Melbourne 11.19 (85)
Carlton 16.8 (104) Essendon 19.17 (131)
Carlton 17.14 (116) Sth Melb 18.9 (117)
Carlton 19.12 (126) Hawthorn 24.13 (157)
After round six we were second bottom from the ladder. But then Jesaulenko took over as captain-coach and the rest is history. This also brings me to the other thing I loved about football. Unlike other sports it seemes to welcome people of Non-English backgrounds in its ranks. Ever since I have been following football there has beens the Silvagnis, Alessis, Busostows etc. and also my father and I were barricking in Italian and no one even flinched! (it was Carlton after all
)I was priviledge to witness a premiership in 1979 and many more after that.
Of course I wish the Blues could be successful like they were then now. My seven year old doesn't want to say he is a Carlton supporter because he gets teased at school!
But it is cycle. The good times will come back.
My signature comes back to those good times. I rememebr I always brought my transistor radio to the football and 3KZ had the 'Captain and the Major' (I think) and the announcer would say: 3KZ is football! With a big emphasis on the 'is'.
Before I write anymore (as I already wrote too much) I just want to say a brief word about the fact that I expect to contribute more on the soccer part of the forum. I like be in a forum where I hope I will exchange ideas with people like me. People who have no problems in following both codes and enjoying them equally.
I always been a supporter of the Socceroos since the early 80's. So I have followed them in all their failed wold cup campaigns and I was in Sydney to witness their triumph.
Now I am a keen follower of the Mebourne Victory - a team for all cultures. Same colours of Carlton and same success on the field
!
