Dutiful premise and reiterated every time: I’m not a connoisseur of soccer fans so my information is necessarily second-hand. My skills, broadly speaking, stop at the major groups on the national scene that I have been able to follow over the years out of curiosity and direct experience. A very necessary introduction so as not to force myself to definitively define the absence of the away fans this afternoon. Even among the landlords there were those who aired the possibility of some presence from Legnano but there were also those who excluded it almost a priori. In the face of facts, the latter’s party proves to be a winner, the host curve remains desolately empty despite, so they tell me, not everything went smoothly in the first leg and some mutual offenses also flew rather continuously.
A match that at least on paper looks very indecipherable, Pielle is at the top of the standings but the away team is among the most difficult ones so the public could play their part. In the end Livorno is always ahead of the opponents, in some stages of the match even overwhelmingly, a sign of an evening where everything turns in the right direction for the hosts.
Personally, I have now begun to appreciate the varied audience of the building. The proximity to the parquet favors interaction with the protagonists and the various insults to the opponent on duty reach the recipient without too many problems: this evening, on the podium of the insults received, Marino, a Knights player who in the first leg he was guilty of behavior deemed unpolite.
At the start of the race in the curve, the flag covering the curve descends, by now a classic of all games, the scenic effect is beautiful but by now the repetitiveness of the gesture makes it lack the exceptionality it deserves. The arena is quite full, apart from the guest sector as mentioned empty, the rest sees very few free seats and in Curva Sud, the temple of blue-and-white cheering, the rows of people standing in the upper part are wasted, a sign that there are those beyond to enjoy the game, he wants to influence the result and offer his vocal contribution to the team. The cheering thrives on flames and by now I’ve learned that the progress of the match has a substantial impact on the support offered by the public: apart from the hottest fans who are continuous in producing the chants, many people let themselves be carried away only in topical moments of the match or after a basket is scored, but fortunately basketball is a fast sport, characterized by continuous field changes and the cheering is not too fragmented.
In short, the arena was nice and warm even this evening, either for the offenses against the player Marino, or for the offenses against the team and the absent fans, or also for the constant support for the team that looks like a steamroller. After a few years I hear again the chorus “Where are the ultras?”, in the past sung in football stadiums even inappropriately towards minimal attendance but still to be commended, while on this evening it cannot be said that it is pertinent given that no guest is present.
At the end of the match won by the home team, the usual invasion on the parquet, the children asking their favorites for a high five, while some adults celebrate already anticipating the imminent derby between the two Livorno teams, an event that has already ignited the basketball fever in the city.
Valerio Poli
