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Since I began writing for this blog, my articles have dealt mainly with famous indigenous inhabitants of Southern Italy/Sicily. It behooves me to mention, though, since the destruction of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1861, the majority of the members of our ethnos were born outside the borders of the modern state of Italy in what I like to te...

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Jim Valvano leaned against an airport wall wearing a tan overcoat over a black shiny sweatsuit, looking like a senior point guard and talking about, of all things, getting old. This is something college basketball does not want to hear. Jim Valvano is supposed to stay young. How can he entertain us, how can he perform all those sideline histrion...

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Two Stocktonians appear in “Iron Ambition: My Life with Cus D’Amato,” a new book by Mike Tyson, former world heavyweight boxing champion. One is San Joaquin County Supervisor Tom Patti. The other is his father, Anthony Patti. Both fought in New York for D’Amato, the legendary boxing trainer and manager. “Everybody from the East Side, Cus was like a...

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Even if I hadn’t ridden my bike 191 miles on roads that climbed 23,850 vertical feet in the past four days, my quads would have found the flight of steps up to the podium of the Giro d’Italia — the Tour of Italy — steep. Still in my cleated cycling shoes, which are ideal for riding but not the best for walking, I ascend the galvanized steel treads...

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Ogni anno sempre più ragazzi italiani decidono di volare negli States, con l'idea di vivere un'esperienza di basket diversa, in cui possono confrontarsi con un mondo per alcuni versi lontano anni luce dal basket italiano ed europeo e, perchè no, sognare da vicino di approdare in NBA. Negli ultimi anni l'NCAA ha riscosso un interesse sempre maggiore...

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Two of Amsterdam’s Duchessi brothers may be sparring in heaven. In 1935, much to his mother’s chagrin, Peter Duchessi started boxing and became the first member of the family to use the nickname Duke. He was proud that he was able to go six rounds against future champ Sugar Ray Robinson. He fought 71 fights and had 57 victories, 15 of them knockout...

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Kicking off its inaugural event last year honoring National Baseball Hall of Famer Mike Piazza at Carmine’s Restaurant and Sports Bar in Brooklyn, New York, the Italian American Baseball Foundation (IABF) has set out to make this year’s festivities better than ever by presenting guest of honor Bobby Valentine with a commissioned portrait of the Ita...

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Italy and bicycles—the first thing they bring to mind is likely the neo-realist masterpiece The Bicycle Thieves, which will soon celebrate its 75th anniversary. But there’s another story that’s even more powerful and all the more remarkable for being true: the tale of Gino Bartali, Italy’s wartime cycling champ and—unbeknownst to all but a few—secr...

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Giuseppe Rossi will resume his career and has decided to return to Serie A. The Italian-American striker, released from his contract with Fiorentina after a loan at Celta Vigo, departed from Newark Airport last night (as evidenced by photo published on its Twitter profile ) ready to embark on the next step of his career.The goal is to return to the...

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Next year's Giro features two individual time trials, eight mountain finishes and eight stages for the sprinters in a balanced route that appears to suit four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome, who will race in an attempt to win his third Grand Tour in a row. Organizers unveiled the route of the 2018 Giro d'Italia in a televised ceremony in...

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