Three celebrations for city of Bologna
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Çetin Cem Yılmaz
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 26, 2009 00:00
BOLOGNA, Italy - Bologna is in a fierce relegation battle in Serie A, but still the Italian city was the place to be last weekend.
The city celebrated the centennials of three separate events in the same weekend: the foundation of the Bologna Football Club, the start of famous cycling tour Giro d’Italia and Guglielmo Marconi’s winning Nobel Prize in Physics.
The football club’s official birthday is actually in October but the Italian city did not miss the opportunity to celebrate its trio of centennials, and did its best to merge the events.
On the finish line of the Campi Bisenzio-Bologna stage of the Giro d’Italia, it was Bologna Football Club chairwoman Francesca Menarini that handed Simon Gerrans his victory jersey, a clear sign of how Bologna celebrates its culture with the interaction between other sports - and science as well - no surprise for a city that deservedly boasts being home to the oldest university in the Western world with the University of Bologna. Angelo Zomegnan, Giro d’Italia Cycling Race Director, said that even though there were some differences in the areas, those events had something in common.
"We share the same common ethical values," said Zomegnan at the press conference titled Tre Centenari Per La Citt?, which translates as Three Centenaries for the City. "We should work together if we all want to reach common goals." Recognition is one of those common goals.
"It was hard to bring the Giro very close to people," said Zomegnan, adding that he believed football club would achieve such a goal. Zomegnan recalled a day 10 years ago when Bologna Football Club was celebrating its 90th anniversary.
"There were all the newspapers here, and we were being delivered our celebration t-shirts. [The club’s legendary player Giacomo] Bulgarelli gave me mine," said Zomegnan, adding that he was sorry that the captain, who died last February, was not there.
"It is being a hard month for Bologna now, but I want to say, ’please hold on,’ to everyone at the club."
It has been hard, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel for Rossobl now. The team claimed one point at Chievo Verona on Sunday, and Torino was downed dramatically 3-2 by a late goal at the hands of Genoa.
Now, Bologna, whose last league title came 45 years ago, is tied with Torino on points and climbed over the red zone with only one week left, thanks to a better goal difference. Next weekend’s home game against Catania is a crucial one for the team, if not for the whole city, so the whole future projections will be decided in that 90 minutes of play.
When asked about what their plans for the future were, Francesca Menarini, who is only the second female football president in Italy, said. "Now the only goal is to survive. Then we will look into the future."
Last weekend’s celebrations that connected cycling, football and science were big, but probably, it will be nothing compared to next weekend, if Bologna manages to stay in the top-flight. If all goes well for the Rossoblu on Sunday, it will be just another chapter in the long history of a city.
The football club’s official birthday is actually in October but the Italian city did not miss the opportunity to celebrate its trio of centennials, and did its best to merge the events.
On the finish line of the Campi Bisenzio-Bologna stage of the Giro d’Italia, it was Bologna Football Club chairwoman Francesca Menarini that handed Simon Gerrans his victory jersey, a clear sign of how Bologna celebrates its culture with the interaction between other sports - and science as well - no surprise for a city that deservedly boasts being home to the oldest university in the Western world with the University of Bologna. Angelo Zomegnan, Giro d’Italia Cycling Race Director, said that even though there were some differences in the areas, those events had something in common.
"We share the same common ethical values," said Zomegnan at the press conference titled Tre Centenari Per La Citt?, which translates as Three Centenaries for the City. "We should work together if we all want to reach common goals." Recognition is one of those common goals.
"It was hard to bring the Giro very close to people," said Zomegnan, adding that he believed football club would achieve such a goal. Zomegnan recalled a day 10 years ago when Bologna Football Club was celebrating its 90th anniversary.
"There were all the newspapers here, and we were being delivered our celebration t-shirts. [The club’s legendary player Giacomo] Bulgarelli gave me mine," said Zomegnan, adding that he was sorry that the captain, who died last February, was not there.
"It is being a hard month for Bologna now, but I want to say, ’please hold on,’ to everyone at the club."
It has been hard, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel for Rossobl now. The team claimed one point at Chievo Verona on Sunday, and Torino was downed dramatically 3-2 by a late goal at the hands of Genoa.
Now, Bologna, whose last league title came 45 years ago, is tied with Torino on points and climbed over the red zone with only one week left, thanks to a better goal difference. Next weekend’s home game against Catania is a crucial one for the team, if not for the whole city, so the whole future projections will be decided in that 90 minutes of play.
When asked about what their plans for the future were, Francesca Menarini, who is only the second female football president in Italy, said. "Now the only goal is to survive. Then we will look into the future."
Last weekend’s celebrations that connected cycling, football and science were big, but probably, it will be nothing compared to next weekend, if Bologna manages to stay in the top-flight. If all goes well for the Rossoblu on Sunday, it will be just another chapter in the long history of a city.