How
can you explain something like this? I think and I wonder... It
is hard to find your words. How can you make someone who hasn't
a clue to understand something that for you is so important. Because
this article is dedicated to those who don't have a clue. To those
quiet spectators, to those journalists, to those parents, to those
girlfriends, to the majority. To those people who don't understand
us.
I will try to make a short history of this tifo item. As it would
be expected, the first scarves appeared in England. Made
of thick wool, under the form of simple big stripes, with the
colors of the team. Then, with the birth of organized supporters
in Italy, scarves and the way they were used (stretched above
the head) were also present in Italy. Of course, like it always
happens, things evolve. Different way of using the scarf appeared(you
know how...). But the most spectacular change was made by their
color and their form.. Today we meet very long or very wide scarves,
or tiny ones. They are made of a variety of fabrics: wool, polyester,
cotton. They use a lot of colors, not to talk about the many badges
and symbols. Today they make very specialized scarves: to show
your attachment towards the club, towards a player, to express
your hate for a club or for a group of rival supporters. Or to
commemorate a special day or a hero.
It's obvious that this item so dear to us was affected by mercantilism.
The clubs gain a lot of money on some scarves that have nothing
to do with anything.. -see recent examples in Germany or Spain
with scarves from Adidas, Kappa, etc. More serious is that organized
groups of supporters sell their materials too easy. It all started
with wanting to be independent from your club. Then everything
got out of hand, transforming into an industry. So that things
could be more serious, also fakes appeared.. So that, nowadays,
the scarf has become something ordinary and sometimes trivial.
The respect and veneration from old times was lost.
Now I want to tell you what I personally feel for my scarf. I
wanted to make a short introduction but ... anyway, 1 000 words
are not enough to explain what I feel in one second, when I put
it around my neck. In Romania the ultras movement developed very
hard. At the beginning('95, '96) there were no scarves. Dinamo,
my club, hadn't made any scarf, there were only some ridiculos
rags, we couldn't wear those. I was in a lot of pain, especially
because I took contact with SuperTifo and through that magazine
with the dream world of Italian ultras and, especially, because
Steaua, our rivals had some scarves. Horrible ones, just with
one side, written with paint but, still, they existed. I remember
how I felt when I went at some incidents at the handball arena
(God, what beautiful times!) and I managed to capture one scarf.
It was very very long because I had to do some serious pulling
to steal it. The scarf was very ugly. But I felt really bad because
Steaua's fans had scarves with their club.
I remember how much I envied the older guys from the ultra' block
who had foreign scarves:Liverpool, Benfica, Bari, Koln, etc. I
thought they were extraordinary but also very expensive. Then...surprise!
I managed to buy one. The guy was a friend with a colleague from
my high-school. I went to his home and when I saw the scarf I
went mad, I paid the guy his money and bought it. I will remember
it all my life: my first scarf was with BoSparen Bank. The scarf
wasn't with a famous team but it was mine and, in addition, it
was original. Nobody else had it. I remember how much Mihnea,
an older guy, laughed when he saw it. Despite that, I was very
proud of it. Then I remember somebody tried to steal it. I was
at a home game, inside the ultra' block and a drunk guy came,
I was very lucky with the guys from the Nuova Guardia Group, who
gave it back to me.
The age of Borsallino started, a shop specialized in sporting
items in Bucharest. It was one of the kind in my city and I think
in all the country.. It was kind of a Mecca to us. Later, I bought
(again, very expensive) a green scarf with... Werder Bremen. What
a crazy boy! I got laughed at again. Then I exchanged it with
a scarf of Parma and then with one of AS Roma. A red-white one,
very nice. I exchanged them, I never liked to collect them, I
have another hobby: ultra'.
Then, the great moment: 1999. A crossing point for me. A year
full of symbols. Then, in that winter filled with hope(Dinamo
was about to win a new title after a big pause). In that pub in
front of the stadium, filled night and day with enthusiastic young
men. Then and there a group was born that was called very simple:
Boys (a group in which I am still a member).. In one of those
ordinary nights. In that pub filled with cigarette smoke and with
plans entered Razvan (founding member of Nuova Guardia) and from
a black bag he began to take them out. I couldn't believe my eyes:
bar scarves! Incredible!
I had dreamt at this for 2 years. I couldn't stand the commercial
scarves made by the club, with different writings on them. I was
dreaming, I was wanting some scarves that would make the aggressive
and ridiculous messages written on the scarves disappear. And
it happened, I couldn't believe it. It was the first time in Romania
. Obviously, I didn't have money. It was kind of expensive in
that pub. I was afraid all the scarves would be sold. There were
made only 100, with white and red stripes, 60 on black, 40 on
gray. I asked Razvan to keep one for the next day so that I could
find some money.. In the end I raised money from the guys in the
pub and I bought it.
I managed to have the MOST BEAUTIFUL SCARF IN THE WORLD!!! With
no exaggeration, that's what I felt then and what I feel now,
after 5 years. I chose the scarf with the background color black,
maybe because I also liked Milan... The other guys wanted to buy
gray but I liked this one.
Then many many things happened. Like my life, my scarf knew good
and bad. That united us. It was very dirty, sweaty, soaked by
tears, even by blood once. One time it was filled of tear gases;
it was kissed many many times.. I washed it very carefully...
I remember how nervous I was when I heard a guy washed it with
hot water and the white transformed into pink...
What more can I tell you? That I even had sex with him at the
neck, that I take it everywhere, at the mountain or in other places
where it is cold. That I prefer it instead of other bigger and
warmer scarves. Do you want to know it saved me many times by
covering my face at fights? yes, all these things are true. It
even sustained my broken arm once in a train.
I go crazy when I hurry to go to the game, the guys are at the
door, waiting for me and I can't find my scarf. Where is it? What
have I done with it? I forgot it anywhere?I scream to those from
my house. When I open the closet I smile. There it was, I calm
down: everything will be OK.
What can be more pleasant then coming down in front of your
house and seeing your friends,waiting with sun glasses, a smile
on their face and a beer? They, like you, have the same scarf.
And then you understand: they think and feel the same way you
do. You are with your people. You forget about everything! When
you get down from the bus and it's a cold but sunny morning. You
are a bit confused because of the fatigue and the alcohol. When
you are on the empty streets of an unknown city. Those who have
the same scarves like you begin to tell jokes, to loosen up at
a pizza and a (another) beer. Is there anything else? Does anyone
remember that he argued with his girlfriend, does anyone remember
the nervous crises of their mother or that their boss sucks???
NO!! You are in your world.
With whom do you cry when your team has been stolen again? What
makes you happy after you got beaten? "I still have the scarf....".
can anyone understand that? We all know the answer.
But we also know another thing: that no matter what happens
our beloved scarf will never betray us. NEVER! And I personally
know another thing and tell you with all my heart:
I
HAVE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SCARF IN THE WORLD!
My
scarf