I have one reader less

I have to take a break in sports memories: today I got terrible news. I have one less reader: Andrea (a man's name in Italian) Alivernini died, my colleague almost of the same age (born in 1966) and fan of this blog since the beginning. This is what he had written to me after reading my first post

"Bravo Fabio, I read the history of the Milan Palasport with a lot of curiosity. Keep writing, you have talent! "

Perhaps the most encouraging message I have received.

I've known him for 20 years, since we were colleagues. We never worked together, but I often visited him to talk about sports. Die-hard Roma fan, he too, like me and I think almost everyone in my generation, remembered better games of his youth than many more recent ones. He took part in our league of fantasy football, a game he played since the beginning, then after an argument with a participant, he had quit, carving out the role of guarantor. He told me about his league, which mixed First and Second division players. As a result they could only play when both divisions were playing, and he once had 2 hat-tricks from Second Division players when First was not playing.

After the start of the blog we had also talked about athletics: he told me that he was there when when Panetta won the gold in Rome 1987. I had envied him: I too wanted to go to those World Championships, but I had not found the tickets. It was not easy to get them before the Internet.

His last game, at least in the league, was the derby his team won: in this he went well (I do not know if he has had time to see the defeat with Atletico). Sometimes I wonder what my last one will be ...

Among other things, his death soon follows that of two athletes more or less my age, Jana Novotna and Naim Suyleimanoglu. It is the first person so close and of my age that I lose: a long time ago, the death of one of my former football coach reminded me that you die young, but he was still 8 years older than me (30 him, 22 me).

I hope he has already met Bernardini, Amadei, Liedholm and maybe even Di Bartolomei.

... et in perpetuum, Andrea, ave atque vale (..."and forever, Andrea, hallo and goodbye", it's Catullus)