Viola Station 87: The sight is dismal
Cinders. Ash. Dark, roiling skies. A desolate landscape strewn with rubble. This, dear listener, is where your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots reach you from. We shriek into the uncaring heavens, hoping to hear an echo that will prove that their are limits to our suffering, but our calls continue into a cold and endless universe, weakening until they vanish without ever seeing an end to the suffering. Why, yes, we are indeed recording in the aftermath of a psychically destructive defeat against Como. However did you guess? As you’d expect, we’re diving deep into what went wrong here. Whether it’s the personnel or the tactics, we’re leaving no stone unturned. Much like the season itself, we’re so upside-down that we’re changing roles mid-podcast. This time around, it’s Producer Mike who completely diverts us into a long conversation about wine pairings, which may be for the b best given that we also touched on McMike’s oddly erotic dreams while Tito blithely plows through all of it. Turns out that we were wrong with our last episode, and that’s on us. We’re very sorry. Thank you as always to Sport Social Podcast Network for hosting us and to Windchime Weather (Nate's got new music out!) for the music. And as always, we hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making this. You could leave a rating and review if you want, but whatever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
25 Sep 1h 11min
Viola Station 86: Let's talk about real games, thank goodness
It's taken us months of waiting and we've gotten so frustrated that McMike pulled out all his hair, but we finally have additional games to talk about. Join two-thirds of your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots (McMike's getting experimental Rogaine treatments and also moving house) to talk about the Viola in real, live games. Calcio is back. Because the transfer window industrial complex remains the single greatest driver of discourse in this accursed sport, we do have more mercato discussions, running through the arrivals of Hans Nicolussi Caviglia and Tariq Lamptey and how they'll shape this team's season. The real highlight for us, though, is having actual Fiorentina games to talk about, although the Producer Mike therapy episode and Miner Talk (way less scary to write than say out loud) with Tito. Thank you to Sport Social Podcast Network for hosting us and to Windchime Weather for the music. As always, we hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making this. You could leave a rating and review if you want, but whatever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
4 Sep 1h 12min
Viola Station 85: So done with the preseason
Endless summer? More like endless bummer. Because Fiorentina isn't playing, obviously. Your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots are back and we're so tired of the estival inactivity that we've turned to making outlandish predictions. Yep, we're putting our names on some big predictions for this upcoming season, predictions that are of course completely correct and won't make us look like morons in 9 months. We don't just get hung up on the future, though. We also talk about the recent past, trying to glean what we can from preseason. McMike also prodded us into a discussion of Fiorentina's midfield and whether or not it's good enough. Along the way, we learned about what number of teeth in West Virginia is the right number of teeth in West Virginia, Producer Mike "Guinness in a Peroni Glass" Hines favorite lines from the New Jersey poet laureate (not that one), and Lorenzo the Lion in a gimp mask. You can find the show by searching “Viola Station” wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you to Sport Social Podcast Network for hosting us and to Windchime Weather for the music. As always, we hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making this. You could leave a rating and review if you want, but whatever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
24 Aug 1h 24min
Viola Station 84: Scraping the bottom of the friendly barrel
Welcome back to Viola Station, everyone, where 2 of your 3 favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots brave the heat and ennui of summer to talk about the Leicester City friendly and the transfer market. On the topic of the former, we chop up the action a little bit while trying to remember that these friendlies are utterly meaningless while still trying to draw some sort of conclusion. After that, we delve into the transfer market, discussing new signing Simon Sohm and some of the departures we're expecting and the Fiorentina salary structure and its implications. Along the way, we discuss Producer Mike's haunted house, some offhand disdain for Pisa, and Mbarney Nzola. Thank you to Sport Social Podcast Network for hosting us and to Windchime Weather for the music. As always, we hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making this. You could leave a rating and review if you want, but whatever. You can reach out to us on the website, Twitter, or Bluesky. Forza Viola! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
8 Aug 1h 5min
Viola Station 83: Hot hot hot takes
The mercury's high, the sleeves are short, the sun is hot, and the takes are even hotter. That's what happens when in July, when your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots are running on SPF (Speculatively Positive Foolishness) fumes and delivering some blistering takes. Before we get to takes, though, we run through the conclusion of Moise Kean Release Clause Minidrama and Stefano Pioli's introductory press conference. After that, though, each of us tried to outdo the others in irresponsible optimism, before doing a quick rundown of the transfer rumors. Along the way, we learned about McMike's Tuscan hot dog conundrum and Producer Mike's second stroker theory. Thank you to Sport Social Podcast Network for hosting us and to Windchime Weather for the music. As always, we hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making this. You could leave a rating and review if you want, but whatever. You can also hit us up on the website, Twitter, or Bluesky if you feel like it. Forza Viola! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
25 Jul 1h 23min
Viola Station 82: More grist for the rumor mill
We're fully into the summer transfer window madness phase of the year and two of your three favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots are doing their best to hang on. Producer Mike and Tito are back to chop it up (McMike's got some family stuff to attend to, so keep him and his in your thoughts). What is it? Well, that's always a question with lots of answers, isn't it? In this case, the main business at hand is Moise Kean and his €52 million release clause that only exists for another week. We also run through a few more potential additions--Adrián Bernabé, Sebastiano Esposito, Nadir Zortea--and, unfortunately, a couple potential departures in Dodô and Rolando Mandragora. Along the way, we learn about Tito's fun fun game to play with Manchester United fans, Producer Mike's come-get-me plea to Guy Fieri, and even get a complete linguistic meltdown. Thank you to Sport Social Podcast Network for hosting us and to Windchime Weather for the music. As always, we hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making this. You can listen to the episode on the embedded player on this page or wherever you get your podcasts. Forza Viola! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
9 Jul 1h 3min
Viola Station 81: Beating the heat in the mercato pool
The mercury's rising, the sun's beating down, and the oppressive heat of another off-season has us questioning our choices. Fortunately for your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots, we can dive into the cooling waters of the transfer window, especially since Daniele Pradè is actually getting stuff done before the last week of the mercato. We start with the additions of Edin Džeko and Jacopo Fazzini, breaking down how they'll fit in with the current squad and what grades Pradè gets for them. We then turn to the more nebulous rumors, working through some of the more plausible whispers, including a whole passel of Espositi. There's more to life than the transfer window, though, so we also try to figure out what new manager Stefano Pioli will bring to the table, both tactically and emotionally. We forecast the strengths and weaknesses of the squad for his approach before turning to the possible exits of current players. Along the way, we learn about the efficacy of dance-offs in a strictly audio medium, a conversational transition that might've gotten us excommunicated, and Producer Mike being too poor for IMDB. Also, the audio quality on this episode is pretty bad. We had some equipment issues her at Viola Nation studios but should have them fixed in time for the next episode, so bear with us. Thank you to Sport Social Podcast Network for hosting us and to Windchime Weather for the music. As always, we hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making this. You can listen to the episode on the embedded player on this page or wherever you get your podcasts. Forza Viola! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
26 Jun 1h 28min
Viola Station 80: Everything is Totally Normal
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9 Jun 1h 25min
