While we were dodging raindrops in Verona, I took these pictures that symbolize the football pools in Italy, known as Totocalcio. I could have taken pictures like these at many locations throughout the trip. This particular sign was probably the biggest one that I saw. Most of the time, I saw stickers with the same lettering (including the initials "C.O.N.I.," which come from the Italian National Olympic Committee, as written in Italian) and color scheme pasted in shop windows, indicating that they sold pool sheets.
I read a little about Totocalcio in The Ball Is Round, the excellent global history of football by David Goldblatt. (I hope to offer a fuller review of this wonderful book in the near future.) Goldblatt writes, on page 429:"Totocalcio, the state-regulated football pools system established after the war (World War II), became an inextricable element of family life in every social class and region."The bottom of the results sheet that I photographed looks like a team-specific lottery, rather than a proper pool in which the punter predicts the outcome of a series of matches. Totocalcio seems to offer that as well. This week's games come from the Euro 2008 qualifying matches taking place on Saturday.
(Music to write by: Nirvana, "With the Lights Out," Disc 3).
No comments:
Post a Comment