Chronicles of a Napoli Season Ticket Holder

Only today have I finally settled down. Up until last night, I was still drunk with joy. Between the game against Milan and the emphatic win at Juve Saturday, there was a veritable overdose of everything that is good in the world running through my system. In a way it was almost a waste having these two games/results so close to each other. But what a ride it has been, and what a birthday week did Napoli give me this year!

The come-from-behind 3-2 at Juve was historic, if nothing else because Napoli wins in Turin don't happen very often but when they do, they usually leave a...

I still feel like running around like a chicken without a head.

If you're lucky, there are experiences in life that give you an incredible natural high which is really not all that different from the feeling of having had a couple of drinks "too many," or some sort of toxic substance that floats your boat. I can think back, for example, on a particular U2 show from a couple of years back. The show ended with Bono screaming out lines to Patti Smith's "People Have the Power" over the climactic final notes of "Bad," which just so happens to be my favorite live U2 song. Walking out...

After missing out on Napoli-Siena due to flying back to the US on vacation (first time back in about a year and a half...), Napoli-Bologna was there to greet me and welcome me back "home."

Actually, if we really wanna get technical about it the first major soccer game to take place upon my return was Ireland-Italy on the day I landed. Not that I had the chance to follow that one - Armando organized a "farewell to summer" party at his house and Mena objected strenuously to any non-Napoli game being shown - and so I had to rely on an Irish friend texting me updates from Dublin to...

Napoli's second home game of the season fell on a very Neapolitan day - Saint Gennaro, the day dedicated to the patron saint of the city of Naples. You may have heard or read about the ritual whereby a vial containing the original Saint Gennaro's blood is to miraculously (?) melt during mass (it is usually dried up, as blood that is hundreds of years old should be...). And if it doesn't melt, it's a very bad omen (1980 earthquake, anyone?). Well, on this day Saint Gennaro's blood melted per custom, so (hopefully) that would mean no major catastrophes or otherwise ill will fall upon the city of...

As much as I don't like league games played in August, Sunday was (overall) a great night. As much as half of Naples (and Italy) was still out on vacation, the San Paolo was ready for Napoli's home debut of this 2009/10 season. And Quagliarella got to play his first official league match at San Paolo - while wearing his hometown shirt.

Important note: there was another debut Sunday night, and as of that night our cast of characters officially grew by one. My American friend Andrew, who recently moved to Naples and is a longtime soccer fan, got a season ticket and will be experiencing...

Many of you will be familiar with my intimate accounts of my time at the San Paolo stadium in Naples. Well, I recently had the opportunity to check out the Chelsea-Hull City Premiership opening match up close and personal during a very recent week-long vacation to London centered around the two U2 gigs at Wembley Stadium (no, I'm not gonna be comparing the concert experiences in the two countries...only soccer today).

In many ways, the stadium experience in the two countries couldn't be more different, a product no doubt of the existing differences between the two societies. So...

So another season is upon us. I thought I was ready for it. I'm not.

The thought dawned on me at some point during the night - the sleepless night which officially ended when I decided it was time to get out of bed and sit in front of the computer to type these words away.

The season is barely 90 minutes old and already I'm irritated. Tired. Frustrated. A disappointing loss. An away loss, so it was kinda "expected." But still. Napoli starting the season off in Palermo wasn't very auspicious, but you never truly approach a game with no hope whatsoever. Otherwise, you...

For quite some time now, I've been thinking of doing some sort of "end of season" post to finally put a stone over the crap season that was (as far as we Napoli fans are concerned). Napoli-Chievo closed out the season on May 31st, thus preventing Napoli's season from going into June and thus lasting a full 12 months (we were playing Intertoto games in July 2008...). But herein lies the problem:

When the hell does one season end, and the next begin????

I mean, think about it. This season has been far too long. Napoli fans the world over were anxious to put 2008/09...

No, this isn't gonna be one of those "the Champions League final was played in Italy but no Italian clubs were there to represent" diatribes deprived of any substance. This post doesn't even have much to do with the CL or "European" football at all. I'm simply commenting on what was, all things considered, a pretty mediocre and (hopefully) forgettable Serie A campaign.

Inter - Champions. Again. Yawn. Realistically it wasn't gonna be anyone else anyway.

So the (Not So) Special One made his debut in Italy. To fire Roberto Mancini and still be forced to pay him another...

I picked up the phone nervously, dreading to make the call.

"Anna, I'm calling to let you guys know that I can't make the game today. I have too many things to do. I would rather just go to Napoli-Chievo (the last game of the season)..."

It wasn't true. I had nothing of particular importance to do last Sunday. My day had to that point been characterized by a Hamletian internal debate - to go, or not to go?

Napoli-Torino. Three games left in the season. For most teams, since, Napoli-Inter exploit aside, Napoli's season had apparently ended in January....