When I was in Italy with a couple friends, I managed to snag tickets to a Roma-Lazio game, a very heated rivalry between Rome's two teams. The two teams hate each other, there's a lot of history why, Roma's supporters are very left-wing, Lazio's ultras (hardcore fans) are notorious for having fascist sympathies. (and some of their players, like ex-captain Paolo di Canio as well) The cheapest tickets to any game is sitting with the hardcore fans, and since it was a Lazio home game, we sat with the Lazio fans, who despite myself being a Juventino (fan of Juventus) were quite friendly. 22 euros a piece, being scalped on the streets for 150euros a piece, but I digress.
It was a terrific game, full of emotion as it was only a few days after the earthquake that devastated the Abbruzzo region. It finished 4-2, with 3 of the goals being scored in the first 10 minutes, and 3 red cards and 6 yellows issued to plays, a true delight to watch as a neutral. It was even better that Lazio won, since we were sitting in the Lazio stands, it was quite a celebration after the game.
Anyways, as the celebrations continued, one by one, the players all took their shorts off so they were walking around in the underwear and jerseys, applauding the fans, high fiving each other, etc. My friends were confused why they took their pants off, and I shrugged- it's just an Italian thing to do, whenever there is a huge game or a championship won, the players usually just take their pants off and run around the stadium, and it happens a lot. Certainly, a strange cultural phenomenon, it does not exist in other European countries from what I've seen. My hypothesis- Italians are not as constrained by social morals, hence Berlusconi shamelessly dating an 18-year old and taking no political heat (in Italy, at least) and such.
This allows the Italian players to live one of life's great aphorisms: Life is better without pants.
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