Emiliano's FTB Answers

[Barkeep49]

Ok, I told Barkeep49 I’d have grouped these, but they were just too many! I’ll just answer in order, I hope it’s ok.

Originally Posted by st.cronin

True of false, all skittles taste the same?

True.

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

Are you married?

Kids?

What do you do? Is it your dream job? If not, what is?

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Originally Posted by Antmeister

What would be your dream job/career?

What do you currently do for a living? Are you a student or currently working?

No, I’m not married, and I don’t have any kids. I’m happily in love with my girlfriend, Sara. I guess I can say that we’re engaged, although that doesn’t mean we’re getting married soon.

I currently study sports sciences at the “Istituto Universitario di Scienze Motorie” (sports sciences institute) here in Rome, and I should graduate in October, I really hope so... After that, I want to specialize in sports marketing/management. I’ve already taken a sports marketing class during my second year, and it was very interesting.

Meanwhile, I work part-time as a media/marketing guy for the Italian Women Basketball league. You wanna check it out??? http://www.legabasketfemminile.it/ That’s our site. All Italian, I’m sorry. I’m in charge, with another guy, who is of course full-time, of (almost) all the content of the site, checking newspapers, doing interviews, communicate with the clubs, communicate with SKY (the TV), organize events (league cup final four, all-star games) and, yeah, fixing the computers and doing what is required at the moment... Basically, I did a stage kind of thing last season with them (working for free), and this season I got a contract. Yeah, it’s part-time, but it allows me to study in the morning, and starting to earn a little money. I’m also about to file the papers to become a free-lance journalist, the entry level to become a “real” journalist, which is not my main goal, but could be a good “plus”, since I enjoy writing. I even got some ideas for a couple of books.

Overall, it’s a nice job, and I’m liking it. It’s definitely a thing that I would do full-time. At the same time, I obviously hope that this is just the start of something bigger. I really don’t know what, exactly, but I’d really love to do a marketing experience in a sport products company, for example, either selling or studying new products, something like that. What can I say about the future??? I really don’t know right now, I just hope to live together with Sara, and that we’ll be both happy.

What do you think are the biggest misconceptions Americans have about Italy and/or Europe?

The first that comes to my mind is: Italians=mob members. Maybe it’s a bit old, but still a classic.

Originally Posted by Klinglerware

What do you think are the biggest misconceptions Italians and/or Europeans have about Americans?

#1: Americans eat only junk food
#2: Americans are all cowboys

Originally Posted by vtbub

How did you find us?

4/5 years ago, I used to type these exact words in Google: “american football manager”, almost every day or so. As some of you may know, I was a big FM(CM) player, but at a certain point I simply got sick of soccer, and didn’t play CM anymore. I’ve played managing games my entire life (since ’92 or so...), I just love it. I was (and still am) an heavy Madden player, and I used to read the MaddenMania boards for downloading rosters and finding news about the game. One day, someone mentioned FOF. I searched for it, and found the EA edition. I tried the demo, but didn’t buy it at first. It was really different from CM. I bought it a couple of months later, but I admit I didn’t play it a lot. I remember asking my father his credit card! It was one of my first online purchases.

Meanwhile, I started reading this board, finding that people were talking about NFL, NBA, and plenty of American things in general. To me, this was (and still is) amazing. I don’t usually have the chance to talk with Italian people about these things, since almost nobody is interested. Sometimes, I talk with my brother about the NBA, but that’s all. He’s just a fan of basketball, not a fan of the American culture like me. Believe it or not, this community has a great value for me, and I’m happy to be a part of it.

Originally Posted by Izulde

What is your favorite city in the world and why?

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Have you done much traveling outside of Italy? Outside of Europe?
If yes, where is your favorite place you've been to in Europe? In the world?
If not, where would you most like to go?

I haven’t traveled a lot around the world. I’ve been to Spain, Greece and the USA. Besides Rome, which I obviously love, I really loved Barcelona. Great atmosphere, and great people. But I also loved Boston, of course. As you can easily imagine, I’d really love to visit some more cities in the USA, especially New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco. Reality is: any USA city would be interesting for me.

Originally Posted by Desnudo

What part of Italy are you from?

Originally Posted by Antmeister

Where were you born?

I was born, and always lived, here in Rome. My mother is from Rome, and my father is from Vittoria, Sicily (south of Italy).

Originally Posted by Critch

What do you think HA would have posted in this thread, if he wasn't boxed?

I don’t know, but I bet it would have been fun to answer. HA is always surprising. Too bad is boxed.

Originally Posted by ardent enthusiast

How do you feel about full frontal male nudity?

Well, I don’t really love it, you know. In a locker room, I’m ok with it.

Originally Posted by Icy

Knowing that your girlfriend is going to move to live with you soon, have you really thought about how it will affect your gamming life? What about our long superbowl nights commenting every play by AIM? How long until she tells you that it's me or she?

Yeah man, I’ve already told her about it. She said that it’s ok, as long as she is able to sleep... Hey, my girl followed the NFL draft with me the last 2 years! It’s no problem, really.

We have discussed this a few times already, but... what would you give to be offered a travel machine to go back in time and to become a kid in a Texan high school like the one in Friday Night Lights?

What would I give... I’d give everything. Everything to have the chance I’ve never had, play sports in a “system” like the American one. I bet my passion for basketball wouldn’t have decreased, and I wouldn’t have quitted playing. I’m not saying I would have become a pro athlete, or even played in a DIII or junior college, but it would have been a great experience, to be a part of something like that.

More seriously now, what do you think about American high school and college sports, scholarships, etc compared with them (or the lack of) in Europe?

It’s a really long discussion, I always talk with my father about this. Let’s just say that, here in Europe, we should copy some elements from the USA system, making sports more important in the society. Not pro sports, which is already too important, I’m talking about school level here. Simply put: we don’t have sports culture, at all. And that also explains, but just in part, the s**t that happens every Sunday in our stadiums.

Originally Posted by Northwood_DK

Your thoughts on Italian football and what have happened the in recent weeks.

As I just said answering to Icy, the main, big problem, is the lack of sports culture, and we have a looong way to go here.

But I also think: you got to firmly stop these criminals. Because these are real criminals. Frustrated with their lives, their only goal is to get together on Sunday, and attack the police, which we’re paying for. You gotta put these people in jail, immediately, and throw the keys away. The problem is, there’s only one way to do this: a strong government intervention. We had that, yeah, for the first week after that poor cop was killed. A month later, and with a government crisis in between, almost everything is forgotten. Yeah, they’re closing the stadiums that don’t have the security requirements. Big deal. They should just stop everything, for like a year, or more if it’s needed. But you know what they say, the show must go on, and the circus continues, until another person dies. That’s the truth.

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

Why are Italian drivers crazy?

We’re a nation of professional drivers. This, and the fact (like Cartman said) that we think that rules are for the others to follow.

What is a fun place in Italy that the tourists usually miss?

I wouldn’t say a place, I’d say the nightlife. Italian nightlife is very enjoyable, and maybe the tourists miss that. But I’m not sure, I haven't met a lot of tourists. Maybe the younger ones go to nightclubs.

What are your other hobbies besides computer gaming?

Originally Posted by Antmeister

What do you do for hobbies on a regular basis?

Console gaming! No, really, I like to workout at the gym, doing some boxing and lifting some weights, but unfortunately I dislocated my right shoulder in December, so I had to slow it down everything, and I lost some rhythm. I’ve just re-started to run, but I’m not confident about lifting weights yet.
Something that I’d really love to re-start is DJing, but right now I don’t have the money, neither the time to do it. Besides that, I just watch a lot of sports: football, basketball, boxing, cycling, moto GP, formula 1, some track (especially in the summer).

Originally Posted by Logan

I'm sure this has been covered somewhere before...but have you ever been to America? If so, where did you go and what were your thoughts?

Yeah, only once. I spent a week in Boston, it was October 2004. Technically, I’ve also been to Philly, but only for an hour, in the airport waiting for the Boston flight...

It was simply great for me. We were “guests” of the Italian community in Boston for the “Italian Heritage Month”. My father is an academic dean, and his university has a great chorus that had to perform some concerts in churches during that month, so they invited us. We visited Harvard, Boston College, they let us see every sports facilities. I bought 300 $ of clothes. I went to a pre-season Nets-Celtics games. Too bad I couldn’t find Patriots tickets (they were impossible to find), and Boston College was playing away with Notre Dame that week. Also, the entire city was absolutely nuts about the World Series. I have a great picture, here at home, of me and my father having breakfast at the hotel, with a TV screen on the background showing “St.Louis-Houston, series tied 3-3”. For an entire week, I was a “kid in the candy store”...

Is "American" Italian food complete crap?

Based on my small experience: yeah, absolutely. Right in Boston, the last night we stayed there we had dinner at this Italian-American place. The place had pictures of Bill Clinton and Larry Bird having dinner there, so I was like: “Wow, this place should be good”.

The first course was a strange type of pasta, with rabbit in it. It was overcooked, and glued together. I tried to taste it, but it was really disgusting for me. The second course was even stranger: a pizza-thing with tomato sauce, sliced eggplant, cheese (italian “mozzarella”) and sausages, all together. I looked at it, and I was just done for the night. Don’t ask me how they came up with this stuff... Maybe they invented it that night, I don’t know.

The “only-Italian” place we went another day was actually very good, but I think also very expensive, compared to what you spend here for a lunch like that.

Originally Posted by st.cronin

Do you agree that Italians > French?

That means we’re better? No, I don’t think so.

Originally Posted by miked

How much do you hate the French?

Yeah, there’s a big, historic rivalry between the two countries. But I don’t hate ‘em, personally. I’ve only met 1 French guy in my entire life, and I didn’t like him, but that’s not a good reason to judge an entire population, I think. Darkiller and FFF, for example, seem like pretty cool guys, even if I’ve never met with either of the two.

How come in all my trips to Italy, the men drive around on little scooters making kissing sounds at the chick I'm walking with? Is that the main form of communication?

Hey, I have one of those little scooters! I don’t make kissing sounds at other chicks, though. I have to admit, that’s typical Italian, and I’m obviously not proud of it.

Originally Posted by Schmidty

When and why did you become a football fan?

Ah, great question, because that gives me the chance to talk about how my passion for American sports was born.

Right after I was born, my father had a lot of sleepless nights with me. We were in the first years of the 80s, and an unknown Italian businessman, Mr. Silvio Berlusconi, was just starting his big tv network, the “Fininvest”. On these new channels, NBA highlights and shorted-version of NBA games started to appear, very late at night. My father, former basketball player and great fan of the Italian league, started to see these games, waiting for me to fall asleep in his arms. His passion grew with the years, and I started to follow NBA basketball, too. In the mid/late-80s, this now-big tv network started to show American football highlights, and then entire games. Believe it or not, there was a football boom in Italy in the 80s. A lot of teams and a league were born, until the interest slowly decreased. But tv highlights were still there, and I started to follow this beautiful sport. I didn’t really get it at first, obviously, and it took me a lot of time to completely understand the complex rules. But it was fascinating. I don’t have a lot of memories as a kid, but I remember Montana to Rice, so great. As you can imagine, we just went with who was winning at the time: Lakers and 49ers. In the 90s, though, there was a little “black-out” period for American football in Italy, with no more tv coverage, so I lost track for a little bit. But with the arrival of internet, and Rupert Murdoch buying the Italian satellite network (SKY), the sport re-gained his little space, and now we can follow it really closely. We have 1 game on Sunday, MNF and all the playoffs, live. Not bad, for a nation where the only sport is soccer. I have to say that, in the last years, my passion for football has greatly increased, while my passion for the NBA has decreased (although I love the NBA playoffs).

Then, just 5/6 years ago, I started to follow college football too, and I discovered a whole another world. The college game is amazing, nothing is comparable to me. As some of you maybe know, I’m a fan of the U. Yeah, Miami. Why, you say??? Basically, the answer is simple. I started to notice Miami players in the NFL, and they were a lot of them, first rounder after first rounder, year after year. I read Bruce Feldman’s book (Cane Mutiny). I know, there’s a lot of criticism around the U, but it was just “love at first sight” for me. I’d love to attend a game, one day. Pretty much any game.

So, in the end, you discovered that Mr. Berlusconi actually did one good thing for Italy: he brought the American sports to us.

Originally Posted by gkb

Italian machismo...fact or fiction?

For those of you wondering...machismo:
1. a strong or exaggerated sense of manliness; an assumptive attitude that virility, courage, strength, and entitlement to dominate are attributes or concomitants of masculinity.
2. a strong or exaggerated sense of power or the right to dominate

Pure fiction. Italians are the best “mama-boys” you can find on the market.

Originally Posted by Dodgerchick

What do your friends say about you?

They say that I’m lazy, and I don’t wanna go out. They’re right.

If you had to choose to live without one of the following, which would it be and why: TV, the internet, telephone?

TV. Wait: can I play the console on the computer LCD screen??? If not, I choose phone, since we can make calls through internet anyway.

What is your favorite holiday and why?

Christmas. I’ve always loved the atmosphere, even if I’m not a religious person. And yeah, grandma Marisa's food.

What is one unique thing about you?

I have a chocolate-colored nevus (or birthmark, don’t know how you call it) on my right knee.

Originally Posted by Dodgerchick

I noticed from your profile that you enjoy hip hop music; who are your favorite artists and can you lock and pop?

Oh, yeah, I love hip-hop. My favorite all-time artist is the great Tupac Shakur. I started to listen to rap music in 95/96, right before he died. I know some of his songs line by line, I remember that the first thing I’ve ever searched on the web was 2Pac lyrics.

My favorite producer is Dr. Dre, and, as you can imagine, I love the west coast: Snoop, Ice Cube, N.W.A., Game, Warren G, Westside Connection, Xzibit, Eminem. But I also enjoy the east coast, especially Nas, The Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, the whole Wu-Tang Clan crew, M.O.P., and Kanye West.
Since a couple of years or so, I’ve started listening to southern rap, and I love it too. Three 6 Mafia, Rick Ross and Trick Daddy are some of my favorites right now. Reality is, I try to listen to everything.

As far as dancing, I used to dance at a nice hip-hop club here in Rome, and people said I was a pretty good dancer; but no, I can’t lock&pop.

Originally Posted by Karlifornia

Besides the obvious things such as smell, what are some of the downsides of living in a giant boot?

Nice one. I admit it, I didn’t get it at first. I don’t really see any negatives in the “boot”.

If Italy ever had an NFL franchise, what do you think it would be named?

Rome Gladiators, obviously! So I could sue the NFL, and get a couple of millions...

Originally Posted by Blade6119

We didnt get to play this year, but who would have won? Your MSU team or my Wisconin team?

I think your team would have been favored, my only real talent is at QB. But I’m building something good at MSU, I had 2 strong recruting class the first 2 seasons.

And do you think penn state deserved the playoff spot over both of us?

Well, since Penn State is CPU-controlled: nooo!!! We, humans, deserved it more.

Originally Posted by JediKooter

Ferrari or Lamborghini?

Lamborghini sure makes great cars, but Ferrari is on a whole another level. Ferrari’s history and tradition are some of the things we’re most proud of. Ferrari, forever.

You're in a train in your home town traveling at 100kph towards Rome and a train leaves Rome at 80kph, how long does it take your train to reach its destination?

Which destination? I’m already in my home town! Ok, I tried...

What is your favorite place to visit in Italy?

My city, Rome. There’s always something new to discover and see. I also enjoy to go to my father’s land, Sicily. Sicilian’s people hospitality is unparalleled.

Originally Posted by Dodgerchick

What is your guilty pleasure?

The most simple of the cakes, cream with fresh fruits on it. I could eat tons of it!!!

Has something so embarrassing happened to you that just thinking about it makes you blush?

Nah, nothing in particular, although I was a little “out of control” as a kid...

How many languages do you speak?

Two: Italian and English. I’d really like my spoken english to be as good as my written english, but unfortunately I don’t get to practice a lot. I also want to learn Spanish ASAP.

Originally Posted by cartman

Allora, che cazzo fai?

Please, please, call me on Skype: I want to hear how you pronounce it!!!

From an Italian proverb I learned, why is it bad to let the farmer know that cheese is good with pears? (Al contadino non far sapere quanto e buono il formaggio con le pere.)

It’s an old Tuscany saying. Basically, it means that the simpler things are always the best things.

Why, for good luck, do Italians say "In the ass of the whale"? (In culo alla balena)

I think it comes from the fable “Pinocchio”. I’m not sure, but I think Pinocchio’s maker Geppetto got eaten by a whale. So it’s like, “f**k the whale”! As far as I know, it’s used by actors, or people from the entertaining business.

Why do Italians have two or three cell phones per person? I saw babies in strollers sending SMS messages, and 94 year old men on cell phones when I was in Italy.

The reason for this is mainly one: cell phones, and sim cards, are very cheap right now. Only 5% of the Italian population use contracts, we all have pre-paids, so everybody can have a sim card or more. Another reason could be that cell phones are still saw as a “status-symbols”, when they’re obviously not anymore.

Anyway, I agree with you that the thing has really gotten out of control. Families buy cell phones for kids in elementary (primary) school, and that’s not good, at all. Kids should be kids, not “little adults”. I think the government should make a move about this, maybe introduce an age requirement or something.

Veline, or Velone? ?

Man, you really loved “Veline”, didn’t you??? Well, I gotta admit, I hate the “Velina” type of girl. In the 99% of the cases, they’re dumb as hell. At least the “Velone” were funny to watch!

Is Totti as stupid (pirlo) as he appears to be in TV interviews?

Ah ah! That should be “pirla”, “Pirlo” is another soccer player, who is even worse than Totti, BTW. And yeah, the guy is not the most intelligent you can find. He grew up on the streets of Rome, with his mother screaming from the balcony: “Francesco, what will you eat when you’ll be a grown man, the soccer ball???” Turns out his mother was right. But overall, I think he’s a good person, with a good heart.

If Italian women are so damn good looking, why is the birth rate is falling in Italy?

You answered this question yourself: because they want to remain good-looking!!! Another reason could be a pessimistic view of the future.

Originally Posted by Antmeister

What is the size of the family that you grew up in?

We were 4. Mom, dad, brother (20 years old now) and me.

How do you feel you life is coming together at this point in your life?

Well, I’m quite happy for some things. I’m 25, I live alone in my own house, I’m together with a wonderful woman. But there’s still a lot to do, so I see a lot of room for improvement. The first thing is to graduate.

Do you have any interesting people in your family tree?

My grandpa Alfredo would have been an interesting person to meet, I think. Former soccer goalkeeper at local level, he was always making jokes about Lazio (die-hard Roma fan), telling how he escaped Nazis in WW2, and lived his life with a wonderful joy. I guess the fact that he was a poor kid made him appreciate every moment of his life. He passed away last November, at 87. He’ll always be in my heart, since he raised me.

Did you grow up in a religious or spiritual household?

Yes and no. My father is not religious, my mother is. They left us free to choose as kids, and I’m not religious. Both of my grandmas are strongly religious, though, and I truly respect them.

Are there local areas that you are least likely to visit?

You mean in Rome??? Well, yeah. The suburbs near where I lived with my mother before weren’t really the best places in Rome.

Has there ever been an event in which you feared for your life?

Luckily, no.

Since I just learned that you are moving in with your girlfriend because of Icy's questions, what led you guys to make the decision to do so?

We’ve been together for 3 years and half now, and besides loving each other, we realized that we need each other all the time. That’s all, I guess. There are differences between us, but I think that’s a plus, so you always have something to learn from the other one.

What is your given birth name (You don't have to write the full name is you are a privacy guy)?

Emiliano Salvatore. If I’m not mistaken (well, my parents won’t read this anyway...) “Emiliano” comes from Zapata, the Mexican revolutionary, and “Salvatore” was my other grandpa’s name (father of my dad). Hard-working farmer, he was the most generous person I’ve ever met. He gave my father the chance to study, and become someone. I’m really proud of having that name.

What are the good and bad memories that you reflect upon from time to time?

Good: all the moments with Sara, camping with my friends. Bad: quitting basketball, not having done good in school.

Because you reside in an area steeped with history, does the schools do a pretty good job teaching you about its past? And do you find that some educators tend to embellish the truth a bit?

Yeah, I think they do a pretty good job of teaching you history. I don’t think they hide the truth, at all.

If a group of FOFCers somehow scrounged some money to visit Italy and you gleefully volunteered to be our tour guide, where would you take us to as the must-see places?

First of all, let me say that I’d love to do that. A good tour of Italy, IMO, would be: the 2 islands (Sicilia and Sardegna), Rome, Venice and then the Dolomiti (mountains in the north part of Italy).

What do you fear the most?

Someone breaking into my house.

What are the specs on your current computer?

Intel P4 2.4 Ghz Processor
Asus P800 Motherboard
1 GB Ram
Nec DVD-RW
160 GB Hard Disk
ATI 9000 128 Mb Graphic Card
Logitech Cordless Desktop
Philips 170C 17’’ LCD Screen
Trust Speakers
HP Deskjet 840C Printer
Creative Web Cam

Besides the screen (that I bought in December), the last update on this machine was in Septmeber 2003.

Do you prefer to have a lot of gadgets or a lot of software?

Gadgets.

What other forums/blogs/message boards do you visit?

Mainly MaddenMania, Operation Sports, GreyDog, Wolverine as boards. I also read the Sports Gamer, Dubious Quality, PSP Fanboy, Marc Cuban, Bruce Feldman, Mel Kiper and Tod McShay blogs.

Favorite mode of transportation for vacationing?

Feet.

What are your pet peeves?

Spiders! They freak me out.

What sports did you participate in?

Basketball. I played 8 years, until high school. I give you guys a curiosity: I’ve played on the same young team of Andrea Bargnani, the “Basket Roma”. I’ve never met him, or played with him, since he’s 4 years younger than me. I was a great rebounder and defender, but I always scored my 10-15 points.
From 2001, I’ve done some amateur boxing, but I’ve never fighted officially. I stopped because of the shoulder injury.

What is your current mode of transportation?

Scooter, and public transportation. I gave up on cars for now, too expensive and too much traffic.

Did you ever meet jbmagic or secretly know of his family?

Nope.

How often do you travel?

Not very often. We hope to do at least a trip/year from now on.

Although just a message board, do you find any major differences in national culture?

Yeah, a lot of differences. As I’ve already said, I love reading this board, because I always discover new things about the American culture.

Do you a pessimistic or positive outlook on life?

Mostly positive.

Do you have a strong opinion on American politics?

No, I don’t. I’m not that into American politics, so I don’t feel like taking a position.

Do you watch a lot of local television shows, American television shows, or neither?

Italian television is 99% crap. The only thing we watch is Dr. House, which is not Italian of course. We’re also fan of Friends & E.R., we got almost all the DVDs. Lately, I’m absolutely loving Friday Night Lights. As soon as it comes out on DVD, it’s mine.

How are you enjoying the multiplayer experience with FOF?

Oh, greatly. I didn’t even like MP until a couple of years ago, then my buddy Icy made me try. Still got a lot to learn, though, and with all these veterans...

Is there one place outside of this Italy where you could easily live the rest of your life in and where would this be?

Yeah, the USA. But I wouldn’t mind Spain.

What are some other game recommendations that you would suggest?

Nothing that FOFCers already don’t know. I can say that I love The Sims 2 on the PC, I even have all the expansions.

If FOF were to make your player card, how would the following categories look:

Height: 6’1’’
Weight: 215
Loyalty: High (80)
Wants Winner: High (75)
Leadership: Average (50)
Intelligence: High (70)
Personality: Average Strength (50)
Popularity: Recognized (50)
Volatility: Low (15)
Health: Good
Seaasonal Rust: Some
Attitude: Content
Chemistry: ---

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

Do you like Italian Ice?

Are Ramen noodles just as good as spaghetti?

I had to wiki both of these, since I’ve never tasted ‘em. I don’t know about this Italian Ice, but I don’t think these Ramen noodles could be better than spaghetti.

Originally Posted by Dodgerchick

How did you feel when you were chosen for the next FTB?

It was a great feeling. Thanks to Cartman for that.

Should the Americans switch to the metric system?

Yeah. Or, Europe switch to the American one. One system only, please.

Originally Posted by st.cronin

Would you like to play Werewolf? There's a game starting soon.

Originally Posted by Dodgerchick

Have you ever read a werewolf thread Emiliano? It's an easy game, all you do is vote lathum day in and day out. You'll get a wolf easy if you do that.

Originally Posted by st.cronin

Mine is still a ways out. New players are always a good thing, though. And, yes, Dodgerchick has it: vote lathum if you're a villager, kill blade if you're a wolf. Basic strategy right there.

I’ve never played Werewolf. Thanks for the offer, but I’m not really interested right now. If I ever choose to play, I’ll already have a strategy in mind.

Originally Posted by JeeberD

Didn't your woman used to post here? What ever happened to her?

Yeah, she did. But she chose to stop, since it was too time-consuming. She was very busy with her graduation thesis when she stopped, and now she’s very busy with her job. She lurks, every once in a while.



DISCLAIMER: Me, my girlfriend, Passacaglia and his wife met in Rome the last week of February, while they were in their honeymoon. We went to dinner together, and we had a very good time.

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

jbmagic's first language is Italian -- is he real or fake?

Oh, I really don’t know.

When you and Tara were talking in Italian, were you:
a) making fun of our inability to understand any Italian, or
b) laughing about how you could have dropped us off in the middle of nowhere

Neither of the two. The few times we were talking in Italian were for finding streets, or remembering English words.

Why are you afraid of pictures?

I’m not really afraid of ‘em. I gotta tell you, I regret not having a picture of our meeting. I’m just not comfortable posting them on the internet. I don’t know, I guess I’m a little paranoid.

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Why do you call your girlfriend Tara, when her name is Sara?

Tara is just a nickname I gave her some time ago. It also is her screename here. I usually call her Sara, though.

I've lived in Chicago for a few years now, but haven't got around to seeing most of the touristy places here. Have you seen most of those in Rome?

Nope. I still have to see a good amount of places in Rome.

When you read WNBA jokes on here, does it get you upset?

Nah, not at all. In a football fans-based message board, you gotta expect ‘em.

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

Two chicks you'd want in a threesome. Go.

Serena Williams & Missy Elliott.

[st.cronin]

Wow, that was awesome!

[terpkristin]

Another fantastic edition of FTB.
Thanks for taking the time, Emiliano! I guess I shouldn't be surprised, given that Europeans are always so good with English, but I am continually amazed at how if I didn't know better, I'd think you were American (same goes for most of our other Europeans, like Icy etc).

Only thing you said here I have to quabble with is...ew Serena Williams and Missy Elliott...ick.

/tk

[cartman]

Molto buono! Very interesting stuff, mio amico l'Italiano!

Please, please, call me on Skype: I want to hear how you pronounce it!!!

I've been told my pronunciation of Italian is very good, but my knowledge is not very good, like above with pirlo/pirla. I thought it ended with 'o' or 'a' based on gender. And verbs are the worst for me. I almost always had to use the infinitive (-ere, -ire, -are) instead of the proper form.

[Izulde]

What a fun read!

[digamma]

Thanks!

[miked]

I was hoping the kissing sounds on your scooter was how you met your girlfriend. It would be justified. Nice read anyway

[Buccaneer]

That was really good, esp. from someone I didn't know.

If you think the food was awful at the faux Italian-American place in Boston, you should really try Olive Garden. You would be so scared to eat for the rest of your life!

Seriously, I love watching shows on real Italian cuisine and places. One of our dreams is to eat in the Tuscany region.

[Antmeister]

Wow. Another great read. I didn't realize how much you really liked American sports. You have more pride in our sports than some of us do. Damn.

And there were a few things that surprised me. As far as your threesome, I must say that you are the first person I know to put Missy Elliot in your threesome. Great job with the FTB.

[flere-imsaho]

This was a real pleasure to read. Thanks!

[st.cronin]

Originally Posted by Antmeister

I must say that you are the first person I know to put Missy Elliot in your threesome.

Personally, I approve of that. I have to think that a 3some with Missy Elliott involved would at the very least be educational.

[Antmeister]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

Personally, I approve of that. I have to think that a 3some with Missy Elliott involved would at the very least be educational.

Yeah, something tell me that she is gonna make you Work It and that is when she is going to Lose Control. Highly educational.

[Icy]

Awesome read, this FTB stuff is one of the best ideas in this board, i really enjoy knowing more about the persons behind the nicks.

I like a lot Emiliano and we have become nice friends over these FOF years, talking a lot by AIM mainly because we are as close to each other that sometimes it scares us, we think exactly the same about a lot of things, and we are huge fans of the USA sports culture. We feel also so alone in our countries regarding our sports taste, and it's so hard for us to find somebody to talk about USA sports if not between us.

Nice to know even more things about you buddy.

[Passacaglia]

DISCLAIMER: Me, my girlfriend, Passacaglia and his wife met in Rome the last week of February, while they were in their honeymoon. We went to dinner together, and we had a very good time.

We had a good time, too -- although I'm still not totally used to using the word "wife" so when I saw that, it was kind of weird -- even though we've been married since August. Anyway, it was a lot of fun -- you never know if a thing like that will end up being awkward, plus we were so tired from walking all over Rome for the last week. Anyway, I asked Emiliano about helping me get soccer tickets (which is another crazy story altogether), and he was really helpful and welcoming, and we were able to arrange a get-together, despite the fact that I didn't check my e-mail very often once in Rome. He and Sara took us to a Sicilian place, did all the ordering for us (which was good since our Italian consisted of little more than "acqua" "no maiale" "grazie" and pointing to the menu), and they did great -- everything was really good (well, except the clams, which I think Emiliano wanted to keep mostly to himself anyway). Anyway, it was a really good time, and a good chance to get to know each other, and this FTB was a good chance to get to know even more. Thanks!

[Eaglesfan27]

Great read, Emiliano. I ate real Italian Food in Italy for 2 weeks, and it ruined most American versions of Italian. The one exception is a place called Ruffino's in Baton Rouge that has become my favorite restaurant in the area. If you ever visit this part of Louisiana, we'll have to get together for dinner.

[JediKooter]

Thanks for anwering Emiliano! For the record, I didn't realize you lived in Rome. I'm not always the most thourough in my research.

[Schmidty]

A very interesting read. Thanks man.

[Emiliano]

Thanks everybody! I'm glad you enjoyed these.