A sporty travel in the United States. From Miami to Philadelphia

From Miami to Philadelphia by car, traveling from south to north on the east coast USA. To enjoy a portion of the old America, and then dive into the world of sport stars and stripes.

 

To think about it now seems almost impossible, but there is a television season in which the calcium had not engulf everything else. And do not speak of another era (or maybe yes, come to think better), because that season were the 80s. While Rai had the rights to all football, but he used them with the minimum of parsimony that made it tasty even the vision of the second half of a game on Sunday at 18, the fledgling commercial networks were inevitably offer something different. And they did by focusing on a phenomenon that then, and very quickly became rampant: American sports. Football Nfl and Nba basketball in mid-80s lived a real explosion, thanks to programs such as Record and Super Bowl, thanks to journalists like Tommasi, Tranquillo, Bagatta, Peterson (and then Crosa, Cadeo, and others), thanks to choices such as TV and Channel 5 Italy 1, which aimed to embark on a young audience and alternative.
In the wake of the extraordinary challenges of the Los Angeles Lakers of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Boston Celtics of Larry Bird and Kevin McHale American basketball, since there considered an almost mythical and abstract, came to strike the imagination of thousands for kids. The same was American football: deferred due largely to the Sunday morning Dan Marino and Joe Montana, San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys, icons of a sport that many in Italy even knew existed, became famous almost like the champions of football .
The phenomenon was not just television if it is true that rapid proliferation journals (then just as quickly deceased), various kinds of merchandise (from T-shirts to the office, third in the average population diari branded Nfl), boxed games and more.
Those (beautiful) time is then finished in a hurry, the soap bubble has deflated almost immediately and early 90s he was not much for over a decade of football dominates and depopulated until the boredom, while practically all the rest, including American sport, has become a niche product in the end satellite TV and partly also into oblivion.
But for those who in the'80s became an adult, the mark of the season has remained indelible. Of course, for some time remain passionate about basketball or football Nba Nfl was difficult, the supply was short and not very attractive. And even though lately things are changing and the Internet has opened a number of opportunities (sites, forums, blogs, streaming, and so on) that until five years ago could only dream to be sports fans in America, especially when we talk about football, still qualifies as a protected animal. Be protected especially if both decide to be crazy bear 10 hours of solo flight, or almost, to see a game.
But the web, it was said just above, it offers opportunities that until a few years ago were unthinkable, and get their hands on tickets is no longer a business. The teams themselves, and specialized sites such as ebay parallel markets can buy entrance tickets for all leagues and all games.
So last June, without even having a ticket in your pocket plane, you just click on your keyboard to buy a pair of tickets ($ 40 each, auction on ebay) good to go to enjoy, live, the Indianapolis Colts. And December 10 we were there, all'AllTel Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla., to live to see Peyton Manning, the player symbol of the team, guiding the Colts against Jaguars owners.
Write that the result had not anything (a 44-17 victory for the Jaguars ...) would be a shameless lie, but for once, perhaps only one time, was the important part. Maybe not for the Colts, maybe not for the hundreds of supporters arrived by car dall'Indiana, but we absolutely do. And part was beautiful, even if in the field was a massacre, even though it was not fun to be around three hours from the near post, a boy of two meters high color that we laughed in our faces because we had to taste him the colors wrong. We were in Italy we would have been nervous, but not there, not that day. That was the day of our first game of football in flesh and bones, was the day of our first tailgate.
Already, the tailgate, which is literally at the tail, but in reality is the essence of how to live the American sport medium. Why we go to football just the average American. What a blonde and a 'plump, with wife and children services, which charge on his pick-up tent, barbeque and provisions, wearing the jersey of his team, the game is three hours earlier, park, mount the equipment , begins to cook hot dogs, drinking beer (and willingly shares with you, if your colors are the right ones) and goes on almost until the arbitrators shall not booed off. An atmosphere of absolute festivity that nothing and nobody could ruin. That even a disastrous defeat was able to spoil.

NBA IN Washington
With a surplus of disorganization that should be avoided when you travel, perhaps because they were too excited by the Colts, we had no thought to the possibility of assisting in the course of 10 days of vacation on the east coast of the U.S., to other sports, basketball or football them to be. Too late to find something on the Internet, once we arrived in Washington tried to take a look at the Verizon Center Nba, basketball stadium.
On Friday night the Miami Heat played the world champions, the team of Shaquille O'Neal and Dwayne Wade, guests of the Wizards Gilbert Arenas, the current deputy leading the league. Without tickets, but with a lot of desire to enter, we approached the touts. In reality, of course, to avoid trouble with the police, these people worked with one hand a sign that reads "I need tickets (look for tickets), but with the other waving the coupons to sell. It went away that evening at an affordable price, $ 30 (40 in starting, but compete with each other ...) and in three minutes the affair was concluded. Then via the control input, with the fear that they were fakes. He had sworn that they were good, Mr. touts, but we all know how these things go. At least to us, because the tickets were rather good, and the 19:05 time on the ball two, we were in our place. In a beautiful stadium, very elegant, which contains about 18mila people, even if inside were essercene up to 12-13 thousand.
A bit more public than the selected football, more elegant, less popular. But the game of football is a real event (each team plays at home only 8 races per season), football is the event on Sunday that fills the entire family.
Basketball is entertainment of an evening, a beautiful distraction that you can use at will (the Nba season lasts 82 games before the play-off). And this, even at the emotional level, makes all the difference in the world. From a strictly sporting little luck this time too: Wade and Shaq still to look for injury, and Washington, between the applause of an audience vaguely distracted, won easily.

Baltimore, OTHER FOOTBALL
Once discovered the phenomenon of black-exists here, and that all things can be groped to take the risk, we decide that before returning to Italy to give us another game of football, or at least groped to do so. The nearest one is in Baltimore, 40 kilometers from Washington, where sleep and where to start on Monday morning for our flight to Italy. Nine on Sunday to leave the motel, destination Maryland, where we come to the 10th Already a couple of kilometers before the M & T Bank Stadium to see the first touts. They approach one, a black about 50 years, with a huge cigar in mouth, we demand that $ 75 a ticket, a figure much lower than chiestoci from his other colleagues. This time there is no room for negotiation: the antiphon capita will give him 150 bucks and in return he delivers coupons and business card ... With the loot in hand entering the stadium, this time bypassing much of the tailgate, but not the part that provides the photo with some of the Ravens cheerleaders beautiful, the home team. The game opened at 13, but around noon we're already in the gallery. Tickets, despite un po 'di fifa mandatory, was also good this time. We expect the game between Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns, a challenge between two cities after all quite close between the teams playing in the same group and are divided by a long rivalry and heartfelt.
The noise of 75mila is impressive, the insults of the Browns players and thick as they enter, when the speaker reads the names, the whole audience screams sucks (the translation is easy). But despite the hostility, despite the boos, the noise and all this verbal aggression, nothing happens for nothing. In the gallery there are a mesh of a Browns' everywhere, the fans are mixed here because nobody ever dream of dividing the areas, and yet everything goes smooth until the end. Even when Cleveland recovers and goes on 17 Similarly, increasing the tension and whistles. But there is no one disputes that, os'incazza or smadonna. Nothing nothing, only fans. Despite liters and liters of beer that is sold everywhere. Shortly before sunset the game ends, and after a quick tour to Baltimore, one of the most ugly views in the United States, aiming the camera toward Washington. One last night and then we bring the plane in Italy. The dream is over very quickly. But we found that, while beautiful, is not a dream. Indeed, it's all true. And we relive it as soon as possible. Why even in the American sports are all roses and flowers, and even across the Atlantic have problems with doping, players overpaid, spoiled and sometimes violent, prosecutors too powerful and so on.
But between that vision of sport el'isterico, corrupt, megalomaniac Italian football, our choice as we have already done. For some time.