I am not a true fan by any means but last night I was a Naples fan. I was excited for days leading up to this game. I told everyone I knew that I was going to the game. Most people were very excited for me as well, I even had one of my teen classes clapping and cheering for me like I had won the golden ticket!
I left after work with my friends and headed for the game. Everyone said that there would be traffic and we would miss part of the game but luckily for me, my friend took the long way around and avoided most of the traffic. When we arrived I asked where we were going to park. They said it was difficult. But, then I heard a phone conversation that proved otherwise. And sure enough, my friends have connections and we had a parking spot waiting for us. We parked and walked quickly to the stadium (I jogged). :) I told my friends I wanted to buy something of the team Napoli. They suggested a scarf. So I bought a scarf for 5 Euro. In America, any form of memorabilia would cost significantly more! We continued on our way and made it to the stadium but we had to wait in line to enter. We waited about 10 minutes and then made our way inside the stadium. I could hear the music playing and the crowd going crazy. I was so excited!!! We found our seats and sat down. The first thing I noticed was that everywhere I looked I saw blue, light blue (Naples colors). I didn't see any other colors. I thought where is Siena's fans? Finally, I spotted them. There were only a few of them. I'd say less than 100 people. Whereas, the rest of the stadium was filled with Napoli fans (around 60-65,000 people). Chants started and the noise never ceased.
What I enjoyed most about this experience was learning the culture behind the sport. At the stadium, thousands and thousands of people were there but not of one particular age group. All ages were proudly represented. From the grandparents all the way down to the little toddlers. And never did anyone miss a beat. If the crowd stood up during a chant, everyone stood up. Everyone participated. Children were fun to watch. They would randomly stand up and cheer not knowing if there was actually anything going on. I learned that they like to yell "SCEMO"which means stupid. Also when someone makes a goal, the crowd cheers their name. I didn't realize this until later when I realized that there was a player with the same last name as the cheer they yell when they make a goal. I thought it was just a cheer they say when they get a goal. And the same player made the goal twice so I didn't think anything of it. If a different player made the goal then I would have figured it out, I hope! ; )
I learned about their food culture too. At the stadium, there isn't food vendors inside the stadium like in America. There are a few guys who walk around and sell boxes of crackers and coke, but there aren't booths or places to go for something to eat. Instead, all the people bring sandwiches with them and eat either before the game or during halftime. When my friends busted out the sandwiches at halftime, I looked around us and many other people were pulling out sandwiches that looked very similar to ours. Outside of the stadium there are vendors with food but inside there was nothing. I enjoyed the experience very much especially because you didn't have people constantly getting up and down to get food like in America. People brought their own sandwiches and own drinks.
I noticed there wasn't a scoreboard anywhere within the stadium. I guess it is a good thing they don't score that often otherwise it would be difficult to follow. But, I enjoyed not having the scoreboard. Sometimes the scoreboards distract me and I watch it instead of watching the actual game. Instead, I was able to watch the game, follow the ball and watch the players. I was also able to look around the stadium and admire all the flags, scarves and chants. They even had a guy screaming into a megaphone to get the crowd going. One section of the stadium kept setting off a form of a firework, so smoke kept filling up that area. And, as each goal was scored the crowd went wild. Everyone was screaming and cheering! It was fun sharing that joyous moment with everyone.
After the game, we made our way back to the car and went to a cafe to meet up with the rest of the group. We sat and talked for a little bit then headed back home. I was exhausted but had a wonderful time. I was worried that today I wouldn't have a voice from screaming during the game. I kept saying "GO, GO, GO!"- I figured they understood some English :) Thank you to all for taking me to the game and letting me experience another first!
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| Doesn't it look like something is on fire! No, it's just fireworks... |
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| Can you see the megaphone? They mean business! |
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| He is one of the younger fans... :) |
