Some thoughts about our team

We took in games Saturday night and Sunday night with a pair of friends. Saturday night we watched Syracuse play Virginia on TV while we had a bite to eat at the House of Sizzle, a watering hole for college kids in Florence. SU lost 75-56. Sunday night we were in the stands as Florence hosted Lazio at Sergio Franchi, the local soccer stadium. Florence lost 0-1.

Not a great weekend for our teams.

There were some things that mitigated the loss by our team.

1) Our players were tired. They had played a too many games in recent days and our players were worn down physically and mentally.  2) Some key players were not available.  3) Our fans are in an uproar over a referee’s decision in a recent game. Everyone agrees that the referee was wrong but there was nothing that could be done.  4) The big games in the upcoming tournament had to be on every player’s mind.  5) The team played very well defensively but the team lacked the offensive punch needed to take a victory.

Florence fans “on strike” by refusing to take

their seats for the first 10 minutes of the game.

From La Repubblica, March 3, 2014

Of course, I’m referring to the Florence team and the Florence-Lazio game. (Live links are in boldface below.)

Florence fans holding up red cards
and demanding respect (Vogliamo
rispetto) from Braschi, the official
in charge of judges.
From La Repubblica March 3, 2014

1) This week Florence played difficult games against Parma on Monday and Esbjerg on Wednesday. Both games ended in draws.  2) Giuseppi Rossi, Florence’s key offensive player, is injured and will be out until late April. Also, Borja Valero was suspended and unavailable as a result of the Wednesday game.  3) Florentine fans were in an uproar about the suspension and carried out a 10 minute strike at the beginning of the Lazio game. Yes, I know, the link is in Italian.  4) Florence has advanced to the final of Europe Cup but faces multiple games with Juventus, their arch-rival and the current league leader.  5) In the contest with Lazio, Florence had lots of opportunities but just couldn’t get a score.

Oh, by the way, we wore the team colors for each game, orange on Saturday, purple on Sunday. That didn’t seem to help.

No, I wasn’t thinking of Syracuse-Duke, Tony Greene, Jerami Grant, Syracuse players who sometimes seem searching for their game. No, I wasn’t thinking of that all.

Yeah! Sure!