Campioni d'Italia (reprise)

How times change. Yesterday afternoon the scudetto was practically sewn onto the nerazzurri's shirt. The Sfi*ati d'Italia are sfi*ati no more. They have finally broken the jinx of the thirteenth scudetto.... or have they? It seems that no one is in the mood of celebrating. The surreal effects of the Calciopoli decision still hang on the fetid marshland of the unpurified campionato.

Even this decision to assign the title to the Interisti is shrouded in doubt. Why not Milan? If they are good enough for the Champions league then they must be innocent enough to be the rightful team to steal the baton that Juventus earned deservedly on the pitch with the team that half of Europe want to buy. The mediatic exercise and the frenzied decision-making and scapegoating tends to ignore the fact that the team crowned champions last year was witch-hunted out of its title by the very same media and public pressure. In the court there is still no proof that anything illicit happened in the 2005-2006 league. Besides, the team that allegedly needed a helping hand to run away with the league in that manner had 8 World Cup Finalists in its fold... not your average Rigetta for sure.

Any faith one could have had in the cleaning up role of this Calciopoli vanished with the various moves that have been made in the last couple of hours. And like the victims of the first mediatic wave that crucified La Grande Signora thanks to a couple of phone calls made in true Mediterranean show-off style, us die-hard Juventini are beginning to believe in the new conspiracy theory that is brewing. Maybe it is true that everyone was guilty. Maybe it is true that nobody deserves to be playing football in Serie A next year. Maybe the Sensi - Moratti clans are really behind this farce in their final twisted efforts to dethrone the team that could win notwithstanding - and not thanks to - all this farce.

In our hearts (and in the hidden, honest part of many many other people's minds - the one that is silenced by blind passion) La Grande Signora remains Campione d'Italia. And we thank her for it.

My heart goes out to Ciro Ferrara who had his record eighth scudetto tattoed onto his leg. When asked whether he was sad to lose the two scudetti, the man who also gave his part to Italy's World Cup win replied: "I never lost those scudetti, I won them deservedly on the pitch".

You're so right guaglio', so right.