(Do we have a definitive answer on his gender yet? Yay? Nay?)
Ch-ch-ch-changes
First and foremost, before we get into all that shyte regarding a certain American business men using Associazione Sportiva Roma as a platform for his individual investing desires, a minor announcement. As you may or may not know yet, Bob has left to go save the world, and we'll all miss him dearly. I'll be one of the new mini-Bobs and you'll see me over on the main page daily (come visit), making an utter fool of myself as a I wax lyrical on all things Scandinavia, The Netherlands, Balkans, and the former USSR - amongst others. Which I'm totally stoked about. (The studying smallerish leagues part, not the making an ass out of myself part.)
Therefore, things are going to change around here, and hopefully for the better. Whereas you're used to one recockulously (official spelling) long post daily, you'll now be seeing multiple, shorter segments, dispersed throughout the day - some on a daily basis. I was in the process of creating a separate English Roma site all jacked up on Tour de France cocktails when the offside came a callin' and I love it so much here I thought "why not do the same thing without having to go into a Grand Mal seizure every time I look at HTML code?". Alas, I'm here. I don't know the categories and particulars yetyet - as always, there is a learning curve around here - but it'll be more inclusive and more organized (the antithesis of everything I've ever stood for). Because if Roma won't give you an English website, I'll damn sure try. But don't expect miracles until after the new year or so. So, as always, attack the comment threads like rabid animals, and off-topic is always on-topic here at the Roma offside. Onto the news.
I'm Afraid Of Americans
(Seems a bit late now, doesn't it? The media needs to learn to work things around my schedule.)
Honestly, nothing to worry about. First it was being reported that Tom Hicks had displayed some interest in purchasing the AS Roma juggernaut, but that was all media misreporting. It was actually Wasserman Media Group, owned by some 33 year old entertainment guy with grandpa's money who is more likely to produce Hayden Panettiere's first sex tape with a dolphin than purchase AS Roma, or Cisco Roma, for that matter. It's basically the equivalent of me taking my offside pay stubs to a Ferrari dealership and using it as adequate income. No worries.
As far as an American owning Roma, it won't happen in the foreseeable future. As Rosella so delicately said:
"Roma is ours, nobody can touch it,” said Sensi.
“The club will remain with the Sensi family. There will be trouble for anyone who tries to touch it. My father is still alive and continues to play an active role within the club.”
Key part: My father is still alive and continues to play an active role within the club.
I don't think anybody expects Rosella to run the ship after Papa Franco passes on. She has stated no less than a bajillion times that she has done this out of loyalty to her father, but that she is by no means the ideal choice to run this club. Yes, she has seemingly improved over the last couple years, notably over the last 6-12 months, but it doesn't mean she has her sights set on going to her grave still as president (honorary or otherwise) of AS Roma.
After Franco goes, I suspect there will be a relatively brief period where the things run status quo, but the For Sale sign will be going up, and sooner rather than later. This isn't her baby, it's her father's, and there isn't a son to speak of who would give his last breath for the chance to run his father's club. (But don't you think for one second the day that Franco dies I won't be on a plane to Rome to console, begin a courtship and ultimately wed Rosella, with the position of president becoming mine. And yes, it's totally worth the price of waking up next to this every morning. Some things are just priceless, like AS Roma. And brown paper bags.)
So, until Franco moves on to the Holy Holy lands, this becomes a non-issue and nothing more than useless banter - which, as you may know, we're all about here at the Roma offside.
* - Now keep an eye out for a couple other posts which will be coming your way today, as well as the offside homepage where I'll be making my not-so-illustrious debut at some point as well.