Euro 2008: Getting a little ugly on St. Clair West

Tag : Shoes Spain


The Post continues its journey though Euro 2008 with a trip to theheart of Little Italy North, where Italy and Spain supportersgathered yesterday to cheer their teams on in the quarter-final.Brianna Goldberg takes in the cross-cultural machismo.
Match Italy vs. Spain
Venue A packed and overflowing A. C. Ranch Gelateria and Sports Bar, atSt. Clair and Dufferin-- the heart of Little Italy North.
Demographics From the outside, it seemed like A. C. was hosting a healthy mixof both Spanish and Italian fans. Patrons on its patio were splitinto two camps, right down the middle, with elderly Italiangentlemen on one side and slightly less elderly Spanish gentlemenon the other.
It's a small world after all Though they were cheering for different teams, cross-culturalmachismo was thick in the air. And somehow all the patio sittersseemed to have spent at least the past 20 years in a small roomcontinuously pumped full of cigarette smoke. That line fromSeinfeld, when he says Kramer's face looks like "a catcher'smitt" comes to mind.
But it was really more like a multi-cultural sandwich Because fans in Italy flags, shirts, shoes, necklaces, hats, etc.,were hanging all over the fence to the patio, and spilling into thestreet. And, after getting across the multicultural patio, thecrowd inside became a sea of blue once again.
Drink Whatever's cheapest. Tables were cluttered with Budweiser andMiller, but then again, most people at the game were standing upand scrunched against the wall, so it was hard to see what theywere slurping in the moments when they had enough elbow room totake a sip.
Snacks in A. C. Ranch Generous dollops of gelato -- the most popular recipe was achocolate scoop on the bottom and a pistachio scoop on the top.
And they thought they were early "Outside there might be fans for both sides, but inside weall support the same team," said Daniela Esposito, standingnext to her friend Sheila Dominelli. And what was it that broughtthem to A. C. Ranch, rather than another St. Clair cafe, where theycould do the same? "We come here because when we got here twohours ago, it was the only place we could still get a seat,"said Ms. Dominelli.
Player of the game One of the catcher's-mitt-faced fellows from the porch ventured into the bar to get another beer, and came across threetwenty-something women in a table right under the big screen.Though I couldn't hear exactly what he was saying, from the brightblushing on their faces I could tell his poetic devotions hadbegun. It was only a matter of time until he pointed at his weddingring, apologetically.
Score 4-2 for Espagna in a penalty shoot-out.
The ingredients Lots of cheap beer, a semi-final spot to lose, a nail-biting gamethat goes down in overtime penalty shots, and a mix of Spanish andItalian fans.
The fallout It was messy. Remember those split-down-the-middle Spanish andItalian fans on the patio? Within minutes of the final penalty kicktheir fists started flying, and the bouncers began to actuallybounce.
Number of police I saw 12 -- six on bikes, six on foot. But this obviously wasn'tenough.
My cue to leave When one fellow in a basketball jersey kept provoking a clump ofSpanish fans with a slew of profanities and dangling a sweatyItalian flag in their faces. There was a flurry of threats, and Iwas outta there.
And after the smoke clears Spain goes on to the semi-finals against Russia on Thursday. Thisis getting exciting.