Viola... In English!

Back in the Saddle

Howdy all.  Well, I'm back.  I am very sorry about my absence and, well, I'd rather not get into it. 

December 31 was my last day of work.  Ever, hopefully...  So now I am a stay-at-home dad and husband and I have a lot of projects I want to get into gear.  This website IS one of them.

I am going to change the format some, though, over the coming days and weeks.

So, just give me a chance and I am going to rebuild my readership.  Just watch.

Regarding the Viola...  I have not watched a game in months as I have been really out of touch for various reasons.  My soccer news has really been limited to just checking Channel4 every few days so I have a lot of catching up to do.

Forza Viola!

Ok. New Plan.

Howdy folks.  So it turns out that I have too much going on right now to make ViolaIE what I want it to be...  Yet. 

So, I have decided to just do several (4-7) short translated articles a day until that changes.  I am looking at around mid-December to mid-January when I will be able to quit my job (free at last) and live off of the several other projects I currently have in place.  So, no more long match reports or anything like that in awhile but I will put several short snippets on. 

Nicky

Sorry About My Absence

I was indisposed over the last few days.  It was unexpected and unavoidable.  I am back, though, and working on some articles.  Rather than try to catch up I just want to get some new content up and I will track back for older stuff later on.

I apologize and now I start to make things right.

Time Goes By...

I always do my eBay business invoicing and inventory on the weekend that follows or lands on the 20th of the month so I am going to be doing that this afternoon after I watch the Juve match.  My Viola-Siena match report will not be done until this evening.

Beginning this week I am cutting back on my hours at work from about 58 to 53 a week so I plan to get a lot more done on the website in the mornings.  Hopefully I will be able to quit my away-from-home job entirely in February or March as my eBay earnings have been strong and my wife (she sells Porsches and Audis, want one, email me!) has been doing really good at work lately.  We'll see.

I am hoping to go to a Fiorentina match in Firenze by the end of the season.  Fingers are crossed, but that's our goal.  I know that at least two of you are going to Franchi to watch the match with Inter so I expect some photos for the album.  Same with you Pavel, send me some pics man! ;)  My wife and I are going on a trip to Sedona, Jerome and Montezuma's Castle in a few weeks and we are going to take some photos with our Viola banner so that Christopher doesn't feel so lonely in the album. ;)

Forza Viola and Forza Genoa!

ViolaIE-Related Stuff

Some small changes have been made to the way I do match reports.  Over the last two matches I have changed which stats I use a bit.  Also, beginning with the Livorno match I am adding a lot more of my commentary to the Player Ratings section.  I am going to try to make the top, running commentary section, as unbiased as I can and and my own highly biased stuff in purple italics after DataSport's roughly translated player-by-player commentary. 

Subside Sports has added a lot of 2007-2008 merchandise to the Viola Gear area including the 07/08 home and away jerseys.

I've been updating the Discipline page on the right after every match.  Still looking for UEFA Cup and Coppa Italia data, though. 

I am going to be adding a page for Player Profiles over this week.  Just the hard data (date of birth, history, contract, etc...) rather than my thoughts.

I'd really appreciate some feedback on the translated articles and which are the most popular; transfer market, injury updates, interviews, etc...  Please leave feedback either as comments to this article or by emailing me by clicking "Email Me" under my pic.

Thanks,
Nick

Gonna Hit It Hard

Lately I have been swamped with my home business stuff, out-of-town visitors, etc...  All of that is behind me now, though.  After work tonight the Viola-Roma match report is coming plus (I guarantee) several articles and updates.

What a match!  Good stuff.  Hopefully it converted at least some American soccer fans into Viola fans.

Some New Things

Well, I have finally added the Viola Discipline page on the right and I will try to keep it updated.  Right now it only has our Serie A card situation as I have not found our UEFA Cup or Coppa Italia data yet.  Once I do, I will add it.

I have also teamed with Subside Sports to give readers a place to buy Viola merchandise.  I would get a 3% commission (your price does not go up, of course) if you were to buy something so I hope no one thinks I am trying to get rich.  If you scroll down the page you will find a photo of a white jersey below the heading 'UK Viola Gear.'   I think that those of you in continental Europe can use that link (I had to open two accounts; one for Subside US and another for Subside UK) to order merchandise.  If you cannot then please let me know and I will add another one for Subside EU.

I just want to note that I have never bought anything from Subside.  I chose Subside as it offered the widest range of any big web retailer I saw.  There was even one that offered Ascoli merchandise but not Viola merchandise...  Huh?

I ordered a Fiorentina ball cap on Saturday and I will let everyone know how long it takes.  Shipping was pretty pricey at $12 but worth it as I doubt that there is a store that sells a Viola cap for thousands of miles in any direction.  Admittedly, too, I did not look around to see if they had a less expensive shipping option as I was rushed for time.  Also, they don't have banners or scarves or this season's jersey.  A lot of the stuff they do have looks pretty cool, though, and I will buy more after this test run with the hat.

Still lots to do around here and since my move I have killed 3 scorpions on the back patio; 4 black widows on the outside of the house; and 3 scorpions and 2 tarantulas inside the house so my wife has bug hunting pretty high up on my priority list.

ViolaIE Weekend Edition

My own non-Viola-related, online retail business has kept me very busy this week (a good thing) so there are lots of very interesting stories that I have not had a chance to cover this week.  I plan on really dedicating a lot of time to ViolaIE this weekend so expect to see a lot of interesting stuff.  In truth, websites get very few visitors on Fridays and Saturdays so I don't typically do that much on those days.

The most common question that I am asked via e-mail is if I can recommend a good online retailer for Fiorentina merchandise.  I cannot as I have not used one.  I do have a deal in the works, though, to advertise for one and once I do I will order some merchandise, report how it goes, and then either dump them or keep them; depending on the experience.  I definitely need at least a shirt and a scarf so that I can post some photos in the photo album as it is so barren.  *Hint, Hint*

I'm Finally Back In The Saddle

So, I moved this weekend and my new (to me) home does is not in an area that gets cable high-speed internet...  And I had no idea.  So I went down to Verizon and bought a wireless internet thing that plugged into my USB port and it works great.  I couldn't be happier so far.

This morning, though, I sit down to write and spill my bowl of corn flakes on my keyboard which shorted out several keys.  I go to the store to get a new keyboard and my wife has turned off my computer.  I turn it back on and I can't get in because I can't install my new keyboard and type in my password.  What a mess.  I was frantic until I did some research and eventually found out how to use safe mode to get in and fix everything.

So, anyway, I'm back and will be writing and posting like a maniac beginning tomorrow morning.  I did add a new little gadget to the top right column.  Click on it and you will be taken to the match report of our latest game.

Forza Viola!
Nicky

Egg On My Face

Pretty embarrassing...  I've been reporting that Montolivo injured his calf when it was actually his ankle.  My Italian is far from perfect; I'm about a million times better at Spanish than Italian and if I see a word and am pretty certain of what it means (caviglia and calf, it seemed obvious) I don't bother to check it out.  My mistake.  I guess I need to start plugging things into online translators and proofing my stuff a bit more.  For all those who noticed and were just too polite to correct me, thanks.  You are kinder souls than I have ever been accused of being.