A Trip Down Memory Lane

Recently, someone asked me what my favorite post was that I had written. After 2 1/2 years of obsessive blogging, that was a really hard question to answer. But in trying to come up with that answer, I took a trip down memory lane. And I came up with a number of posts that I really liked, ranging from game previews, reviews, player profiles, editorials, and of course some imaginary and ridiculous ones, too. So I present to you a probably incomplete “best of” my posts over the history of Milan Obsession in a trip down memory lane…

One of my favorite derby memories of a visual variety

First stop, my venomous favorites about our venom-deficient rivals, Inter. First is brief historical look at Il Derby della Madonnina: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Or before that, a Milan Derby Preview: Family Feud, complete with Calciopoli rant. Then there was my favorite review, following our Supercoppa stomping of i biscioni, Supercoppa Milan 2, Inter 1: Snake Soup. Also derby-related was my recap and photos from my tour of the San Siro last October ahead of the derby, Worshipping in the House of the Devil.

I have always liked writing about our players, whether it be a player profile to welcome a new player, an editorial about a specific event, or the hardest ones: goodbyes. Some of my favorites include Temporary Insanity, written about Gattuso’s infamous meltdown at Tottenham; Ciao, Pirlo, one of the more difficult goodbye posts I’ve had to write; and Haters Need Not Apply, where I vented and dispelled so many of the myths that haters have propagated about Pato through the years just before we said goodbye to him.

Saying goodbye was so hard to do

Some have suggested that I change the name of the blog to Pippo Obsession, but three of my faves do worship him, in various ways. First, the imaginative My Dream Interview with Super Pippo. Then there was an emotional tribute when we thought he might leave Milan for Atalanta, Pippo Miiiooooooooo! And finally, when it really was time to say goodbye, the gut-wrenching Ciao, Pippo. (Memo to self: need to write more Pippo posts)

As for the ridiculous posts, where I stretch the definition of artistic license, there was the make believe story that served as a brief salve last summer as we transitioned into the mercato from the exodus of the Senatori, A Milan Fairy Tale. Then there was the partially factual, partially imaginary series, Where Are They Now?, complete with part 2 and part 3, which offers explanations for the current whereabouts and pastimes of former Milan players.

Champions League in our DNA and in our cereal, apparently

On a more serious note, I wrote about the plight of referees in a post called Referees: Who ARE These People? And a part history, part pep talk Champions League post called Nel Profondo dell’Anima about Milan’s Champions League DNA.

Nothing breeds creativity more than anger and outrage, so last summer might have been a recordbreaking blogging experience for me. There were actually lots of favorites for me, as I am an angry and vengeful woman. But I chose a few that stood out for content or levels of anger: The Berlusconi Files, written after Berlusconi went on the Milan Channel and tried to calm the angry mobs. I subjected his statements to the Milan Obsession Lie Detector Test™, let’s just say he didn’t fare so well. After that was The Summer of Doom™, which is the opposite of optimism, and immediately thereafter, The Blankety-Blank-Blank Season Preview.

I actually think I'd rather forget all about Year Zero...

If you are wondering when I turned from Allegri supporter to the leader of the campaign to sack Allegri, you can read about it in The Allegri Reaction. And as our season started off with a fail, I tracked the new Milan mentality back to its origin, the first player of the new Milan mediocrity, in Patient Zero.

And last but not least, a few personal posts, including a rant about female football fandom called That’s What She Said. Finding the silver linings in defeat, I wrote about Small Triumphs, or how my children betrayed their Juventino father to become Milanisti. And perhaps the post that was most difficult to write due to hysterical fits of laughter, Io Elaine (or I, Elaine), a parody of Ibra’s autobiography.

One of the final battles that Ibra led us into

Writing about Milan has been an amazing opportunity for me, and I am really grateful for all of the people who have indulged me and read what I have to say. This group of favorites includes only posts that I have written, there are lots of guest posts and those written by my amazing former co-blogger that I like even more, but this was in response to the question posed about my writing, so I’ll save those favorites for a future post.

My question to you is, do you have a favorite post (or posts)? They don’t have to come from my favorites, but I’d love to hear what you’ve enjoyed the most over the years. And thanks for indulging me in a trip down memory lane.

This post inspired by the music of Stone Temple Pilots