Sunday,
July 29, 2007
Italian Americans in
The
ANNOTICO Report
At least 350,000
Italian Americans live in greater
Yet,
the Chicago Sun Times, Chicago Tribune, and Chicago Herald (and TV
&Radio Media) have for so long been so disrespectful to the Italian
American Community, by constantly associating Italian Americans with the most Negative
Portrayals. They support Negative theatrical,(Movie,
TV, Theater) Portrayals, lose NO opportunity to spectacularize
every little transgression by any Italian American and "Mafiaize" every incident.
Any
somewhat "positive" story about Italian Americans features them as a
somewhat "quaint" and "picturesque", not as leaders, pillars, or backbone of the Chicago Community.
All
these years I have wondered why the Italian Community have
"tolerated" this. Why they haven't assembled the leaders, and the
large advertisers in those Media outlets and have a "sit down", and
share the Communities disappointment.
Are
we so naive that we don't realize that all other Ethnic communities do this,
and get resolution.??
Now
time to enjoy a "quaint' story about bocce
in
Bring on the Bocce,
Southland
Chicago Sun Times
By
Courtney Greve Columnist
July
29, 2007
"Andiamo!"
Vincent Malfeo, perched atop the wooden edge of a bocce lane,
throws up his left arm and shouts to his teammates at the other end.
"What's
up?" he barks. "Let's-a-play the game!"
Nobody is
stalling.
Malfeo, 75, is simply a
taskmaster when it comes to bocce, a precision sport dating back to the
The former
Nabisco worker with a weathered face and tobacco-stained teeth scowls as he
crouches, bending until his bottom is level with his knees.
He tosses the
ball down the crushed limestone alley and watches intently until it lands just
inches from its target, the smaller ball called a pallino.
Malfeo may be too serious, even
grouchy in the heat of competition, but he's a flirty sweetheart between
points.
"In
For a dozen
years, Malfeo and his teammates -- his cousin Alberto
Malfeo and friends Rosario DiMiele
and Tony Melone -- have dominated the summer league
at Mama Vesuvio's East in
In the winter,
they migrate a mile west on
If the Southland
had a Little Italy, this would be it.
At least 350,000
Italian Americans live in greater
DiMiele, 71, who hails from Sassano in the
"More people
from the old country up there," he said. "It's fun game. It feels
like home."
Spending time
with DiMiele and the boys felt like being taken back
to a simpler time in a far-away place.
Out of nostalgia,
they came to relive a game they played in their youth. They came for a few
laughs. They came for the camaraderie.
And even if they
claim otherwise, be assured they came to win.
"Nobody wanna lose," Vincent Malfeo said.
The gentlemen
easily slipped into their native tongues, especially when giving directions for
how to make a shot.
"It's
wet," Melone said in Italian to Alberto Malfeo, of
Ivaldo Basso, of
"I'm from Asiago in the north (of
Bocce developed a
strong Italian following, but it is popular in many overseas countries.
At Mama's, at
least half the 160 league players have Italian roots, owner Gino Maira said.
"They're
born with a set in the crib, and they have an extra chromosome named 'bocce,'
" said Rita Bibeaux, a retired teacher who plays
on a team with Tony's and Rosario's wives.
Immigrants from
Few can compete
with DiMiele's team, which once placed third in an
international tournament in
Jim Healy and his
team were no match for the old-timers Wednesday.
After an 11-3
thrashing (Healy's team had a three handicap, so they never actually scored),
the
"I won't
think about it tomorrow," he said. "They guys, they'll talk about it
all day at coffee."
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