Viola Station 65: Another international break and listener questions

It's happened. Everybody, it's happened. Fiorentina has played some games (albeit against your sister's boyfriend's cousin's amateur team), so the calcio is officially back and your favorite Viola podcast idiots are back to talk about how that makes them feel. Of course, because we're still at the height of summer, we're also going to run through plenty of transfer rumors while addressing the current state of the squad. Along the way, we learn about Mike's love of sending cheesesteaks through the international postal system, Tito's certainty that he can outplay a bunch of 6-year-olds, and that things on the screen of your cell phone might just be smaller than they are in real life. Thanks as always to Windchime Weather for the music and to Producer Mike for his unwavering, single-fingered support. We had a blast making this one, as always, and hope you enjoy listening. If so, feel free to drop us a rating and/or a review, and get in touch with us either on the website or on Twitter. Forza Viola! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

22 Juli 20221h 28min

Oh hello. It's been a minute since we released an episode, but we've got plenty of good reasons: We ran out of gas. We... we had a flat tire. We didn't have enough money for cab fare. Our tuxes didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole our car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts! IT WASN'T OUR FAULT, I SWEAR TO GOD! (Really, though, blame either Coronavirus or Disney or both.) As you maybe guessed by the title of the episode, we're talking transfers in this one. So yeah, we'll dip into Luka Jović and Pierluigi Gollini and Rolando Mandragora. We'll even talk about Dodô. We'll dive into some of the guys likely edging towards the exit. But, as you'd expect, we're diving in deeper to talk about potential additions, ideal upgrades, and how the squad looks at time of recording. Along the way, we learn about Mike's X-rated tattoo (and why you shouldn't touch that third rail), Tito's insatiable lust for more blasphemy, and Gollorius. Oh, Gollorius. You're the best. If you want to get in touch, you can find us on the website or on Twitter. Feel free to leave us a rating and a review to let us know how we're doing. Hope yall enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making it. As always, big thanks to Producer Mike for making us sound better than we are and to Windchime Weather for the music. Forza Viola! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

13 Juli 20221h 22min

Well, this one isn't perfectly timed. Your favorite Viola podcast idiots recorded this on the Sunday before a certain afternoon at the Luigi Ferraris that devastated Fiorentina's European aspirations in the most brutal way possible, so our emotional and psychological states have, hm, deteriorated since then. On the other hand, maybe some bubbly optimism will help push some of those clouds away, even though our first topic is (sigh) Fiorentina's chances of qualifying for Europe and whether that would determine the overall success of this season. We also discussed the situation of Fiorentina's strikers, debating Arthur Cabral's role and possible reinforcements in the summer before veering into another topic that's a bit of a bummer: why the Viola play both up and down to whatever team they're facing that day. The highlight, however, is a conversation with Danny Penza, our favorite (only?) Juventus-supporting friend and boss of Black & White & Read All Over. We chew over what's working and not working for the Bianconeri with a view to figuring out what match day 38 might bring. Along the way, we learned that Mike is absolutely fearless in the face of jinxes, that Tito is ready to post advertisements for a big lad, and that maybe Juve should avoid Brazilian midfielders surnamed Melo. We hope yall enjoy listening to this one as much as we enjoyed making it. If so, leave us a rating on whichever service you're listening on, and feel free to reach out to us on the website or via Twitter. Forza Viola! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

20 Maj 20221h 41min

As we languished in the international break, your favorite podcast idiots decided that, since there's not much happening with Fiorentina, we'd open the floor to the audience, and boy howdy did yall deliver. With Producer Mike's help, our conversation ranged from the Primavera to Fiorentina Femminile's struggles to possible transfer targets to the Coppa Italia and beyond. And we even had Serie A answer a question about when that Udinese game would be rescheduled, so that was nice. We also threw in a little conversation about Arthur Cabral, because who doesn't want to talk about Arthur Cabral? Along the way, we learned that Mike has some interesting marriage counseling options, that Tito might've missed a day or two in podcasting school, and that one of your hosts is pretty plugged into the severed toe market. We hope you enjoy listening to this one as much as we enjoyed making it; if so feel free to leave us a review. You can also get in touch with us on the website or on Twitter. Forza Viola! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

2 Apr 20221h 21min

We're back, Viola fans, and we're ready to talk about all the Fiorentina stuff that we didn't think was going to be a downer before we started recording this but realized that, wow, we sound pretty grim here. Yep, that means we're chatting about that Juventus game and Dušan Vlahović's return to Florence, but we're also commemorating Davide Astori (sempre con noi) on the fourth anniversary of his passing, looking at Fiorentina's chances the rest of the way, and trying to figure out what's going on with this roster right now. Along the way, we learned that Mike isn't made at his former large son (although he is very disappointed), that Tito will fight anyone who's mean to Lorenzo Venuti, and which of your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots is the big spoon. After that, we had a chat with former Viola Nation boss and current rock star (who just dropped an album that you should listen to and buy!) Lorenzo Landini, who's smart and funny and talented and probably too good to be hanging out with us. We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed making it. Feel free to reach out to us on the website, on Twitter, or through email (sbn [dot] viola [dot] nation [at] gmail [dot] com), and, as always, Forza Viola! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

11 Mars 20221h 36min

It's been a minute since we recorded one of these, so let's dive into it. Your favorite Fiorentina podcast idiots have their plates full. The conversation begins with a discussion of the winter transfer window and how the Viola did in it, and yes, we did mention Dušan Vlahović once or twice. That took us to the Coppa Italia, where we remained pretty giddy after a famous victory, and even managed to engage in some rare optimism while looking at the prospects for the rest of the season. Along the way, we learned what Mike's secret word was (prizes to anyone who can guess it (not really)), that Tito isn't very confident in his Albanian pronunciation, and that botflies are a good reason to panic. We hope you enjoy listening to this one as much as we enjoyed making it, and if you want to get in touch with us, you can find us on the website or on Twitter. Forza Viola! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

20 Feb 20221h 22min

Well, will you look at that? You blink and all of a sudden half of January's just gone. Normally, we'd be worried that Fiorentina wasn't going to buy anyone to reinforce a talented but flawed squad, but the arrivals of Jonathan Ikone and Krzysztof Piątek had us feeling pretty good about the men's team, while the arrivals of Vero Boquete and (still can't believe this is real) Valentina Giacinti have the women's team looking like maybe the best attack in league history, even if missing out on the chance to bring back Alia Guagni stings. The only fly in the ointment (at least at time of recording, which was the day before a certain abomination against Torino) was the byzantine complexity of postponements, double postponements, and whatever the league office is up to in the shadows. We're pretty sure it's nothing good, but that's just a hunch. Along the way, we learned that Mike's had a pretty scary couple of weeks, that Tito still can't figure out how to turn Serie A into an adjective--Serie A-ian? Serie A-esque?--and that we've finally found the best spot for a certain Russian striker, and it's behind the woodshed. We hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making this one. Feel free to get in touch with us via the website, on Twitter, or even by email (sbn [dot] viola [dot] nation [at] gmail [dot] com), and feel free to leave us a rating on whichever platform you use to listen. Forza Viola! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

13 Jan 20221h 20min

Ho ho holy smokes, we're just about at the end of 2021. As a belated holiday present, how about a podcast retrospective over the past year, and especially over the team since one Vincenzo "Cousin Vinnie" Italiano took the reins? We'll look at the best and worst moments--and yes, a certain game against some Notts County cosplayers features prominently--but, because there's nothing else you can talk about this time of year, we also dive into the mercato. That means predictions galore, which are always fun for us to make and for you to roast us for in another month. The stars of the show, though, are ultra-talented VN staff writers Nick di Gruccio and Ben Lualdi, who braved the weather, the time zones, and a faulty internet switch (no, really) to share their thoughts on the season that was and that still is. Along the way, we learn that Mike is nosing in on Tito's regular bit and that Tito may never recover. We hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making this one. Feel free to get in touch with us via the website, on Twitter, or even by email (sbn [dot] viola [dot] nation [at] gmail [dot] com), and feel free to leave us a rating on whichever platform you use to listen. Forza Viola! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

28 Dec 20211h 20min