In all honesty I was a big Fiorentina fan in the late 90's and when Batistuta left, I followed him and I never looked back.
I played rec league soccer as a youngin for a few years before the 98 world cup. I was a good athlete and did alright, but I was infected during the 98 world cup. I recorded almost every game and watched them over and over studying different players. Zidane, Zenden, Davids, and Boban were personal favorites of mine. I had this personal bias against Brazil, which is a shame because Rivaldo was a gem, and obviously the one and true Ronaldo is legendary. Watching those tapes all day long and tuning my game to mimic what I was seeing really helped my game. I didn't really get that you could have a national team and club team, so it took me a while to realize that all of these players didn't sit around waiting for the next world cup. I bought this VHS of all of the goals from Euro 2000, and something about the Italian team caught on with me. Once I found out about all of the Euro Leagues and UEFA CL started being shown regularly in the U.S., I was drawn to Serie A. Through some random selection process, Roma became my team. I didn't really watch them on a regular basis until the 04/05 Serie A season when I got the channel on cable, but any time someone would ask, Roma was my team, and of course I would pick them in video games and stack them with all of the stars at positions that didn't already have stars. When I first got into it, you were limited to what you saw on TV, which was a sparse supply of games outside of the World Cup and the odd USMNT qualifiers (the Euros weren't even broadcasted until 2008). They had the CL games on, but you were limited to United and Real Madrid's games. I only saw Roma play a handful of times during that stretch, and none of them ended well for us. Once I had given up my routine of playing and training seven days a week in favor of a real college education, I had more time to follow the sport. The internet was at a capacity that you could track your team and get live streams when it wasn't on TV, I became pretty close to a diehard and haven't looked back. Forums and blogs for Roma in the English speaking community have certainly helped. It's one of the more active in the soccer community outside of the household, global names.
I didn't even have the ability to follow what was going on with the club. I would just tune in, see a new face on the sideline, and be like, "Who the hell is coaching now?"
i pooped out the biggest turd ever. after i was done i looked in the bowl and it read Lazio Merda i've been supporting Roma since
Hm... It was a long time ago. We are from Bulgaria, me and my family. I was 10 years old, we didn't had TV at home at that time for some reason. We were at my grandmother`s house to watch Euro 2000 matches from time to time, mostly Italian national team`s matches since it was my parent`s favorite team. I hated the football before that, except when we played it in school. You know, since in Europe the football is pretty much everyone`s national sport, it's the same in our country too. But then I was really captivated from the game for first time, since Italy played with such passion and it was full of great players. I liked Totti the most, because he looked great, like a leader, and he wore that white things around his hair, he looked awesome and it was easy for me to spot when he plays with the ball. Little by little as the tournament was progressing, I started to love the football game more and more, and the Italy`s national team with it. I was for Italy in the final against France and it was so dissapointing way to lose it, that since then I am Italy NT fan and I totally hate France NT. And so the Euro 2000 was over. I started to get more interested into football, but back then the more famous teams were Man United, Real Madrid, Inter, Juventus, etc. I wasn't fan of any of those clubs, I just loved the idea of the game. Back then I didn't knew the team Roma even existed. But I think that some months( I think it was months) after the Euro 2000 I happened to be visiting my grandmother`s house and I watched TV. I was scrolling trought the channels and somehow Roma were playing then. And I saw that Totti is playing for them. I was like "WTF, who are those guys". And then I saw that Cafu was in the team too. And also Batistuta I think. This is quite impressive list of players for 10 years old. And then I decided I am a Roma fan, mostly because of Totti. Well, to be honest it was all about Totti. The next few years I didn't had the chance to follow up the team, regardless that we already had TV. I have watched mostly CL matches and such, and some with Roma too. It was great when Roma were playing in CL, because back then only Premier Liague was broadcastet regulary I think, but I am not sure. And I am more involved with the team maybe from the last 8-9-10 years. I had my first computer before 10 years maybe and when I learned my way throught the internet it was easier to follow the team. Some seasons I am trying to do not miss a match of the team, other seasons I don't follow them as closely, as with last of the Ranieri`s seasons and the Luis Enrique seasons. I was so fed up with Rosella`s shits I decided to boycot the team. And after the American`s big mercato was a big dissapointment I decided to stop following team for a while, because I am really passionate fan of the team and I don't like the pressure when the team isn't doing well, at some point you just avoid to get angrier for stupid management decisions. I am following the team more closely from last season I think, and I am following every game possible from this season. I am not from the fans who support their team only when it's winning, I supported the team when we lost 1-7 to Merda United and when referees gave Inter 3 of our Scudetti, but damn if it doesn't get annoying after 7 years of nice football and no throphies because of either team`s management or Inter's referees. But still the love of the club remains, even if you don't feel like giving the management a chance in any particular moment. So this is it. Forza Roma!
Was in Europe for the 2000 Tournament as a 13 year old. Was completely impressed by 2 men that tournament - Totti and Kluivert. My ancestry is Italian and I had always supported the Italian NT but had never heard of Totti (at that point we all still wanted to be Roberto Baggio). Brought the name home with me but didn't know anything more about him and I remained a Real Madrid fan since some family friends lived in Madrid and were huge fans. Next year my grandparents came back from Italy with a Batigol jersey for me which was when I first learned of AS Roma. Next year got Xbox with Fifa decided to play as AS Roma, saw Totti on the squad list. Fan ever since.
My story is a bit the same as @Roma_NY . I studied in Rome for a year-2008-2009 school year. Before that, I was in Italy when they won the World Cup in 2006, which really re-fueled my love for the game (I played for 12 years growing up but never followed professionally). After the World Cup, I started to follow Serie A in general, and when I picked Rome as my study abroad city I supported Roma and never looked back. I have 1 team, and that is Roma. I do not watch or follow any other sports. My background on my computer at work and at home is AS Roma. My spring jacket is AS Roma. On my key chain I have two things- a rosary ring and my Roma wolf. Every year my wife gets me something Roma, this year she framed all of my tickets I saved from the 10+ home matches I attended while I was there with a giallorosso back color. Have not been a fan as long as some here, but I will be for life.
Funny how more than half of you guys are saying because of Totti , when the Laziali's main argument when discrediting Totti is "no one knows totti outside of Rome!"