http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/20130820/mario-balotelli/

Told you guys his marketing potential is higher than most players.

Well, americans likes people with personality.

I think it helped him going to England, where he was in the spotlight all the time. It made him a much bigger star.

And England is obviously a bigger market than Italy.

You still have a camouflage Bentley? "No, I gave it to [Milan teammate Urby] Emanuelson. But he took the wrap off, and now it's white."

dam he just gave away his $250k car away

It is kind of racist how they call him African at the top. Would they have done the same with a white American footballer like Dempsey or Donovan with a title "He is European"?

AltoZ wrote:Well, americans likes people with personality.

I think it helped him going to England, where he was in the spotlight all the time. It made him a much bigger star.

And England is obviously a bigger market than Italy.

Not really, in fact American athletes are punished for having personalities more often than not.

Compare an athlete like TO(A NFL player with a big personality who was hated and subsequently blacklisted from the league) to one like Marvin Harrison(another NFL player who had the personality of a log, while effectively running a crime syndicate, yet is loved by everyone)

I've often heard him described as the Chad Ochocinco of futbol.

Betty La Fea wrote:It is kind of racist how they call him African at the top. Would they have done the same with a white American footballer like Dempsey or Donovan with a title "He is European"?

how is it racist? he comes from two african immigrant parents, wtf is wrong with being called by your heritage.

B-Mac wrote:

Betty La Fea wrote:It is kind of racist how they call him African at the top. Would they have done the same with a white American footballer like Dempsey or Donovan with a title "He is European"?

how is it racist? he comes from two african immigrant parents, wtf is wrong with being called by your heritage.

Hes Italian.

Didn't Rooney make it on the cover of Sports Illustrated? He's not US based.

Betty La Fea wrote:

B-Mac wrote:

Betty La Fea wrote:It is kind of racist how they call him African at the top. Would they have done the same with a white American footballer like Dempsey or Donovan with a title "He is European"?

how is it racist? he comes from two african immigrant parents, wtf is wrong with being called by your heritage.

Hes Italian.

yes he was born there but his blood is of direct african decent he is as much african as he is italian.

they are trying to tell a story of who he is, I don't get how simply stating facts is racist.

B-Mac wrote:

Betty La Fea wrote:

B-Mac wrote:how is it racist? he comes from two african immigrant parents, wtf is wrong with being called by your heritage.

Hes Italian.

yes he was born there but his blood is of direct african decent he is as much african as he is italian.

they are trying to tell a story of who he is, I don't get how simply stating facts is racist.

Except he was born in Italy,raised by Italians, and views himself as an Italian.

He is as much African as Dempsey or Donovan are European, yet SI would never run a story with that on the cover next to them. It is just kind of racist.

Betty La Fea wrote:

B-Mac wrote:

Betty La Fea wrote:Hes Italian.

yes he was born there but his blood is of direct african decent he is as much african as he is italian.

they are trying to tell a story of who he is, I don't get how simply stating facts is racist.

Except he was born in Italy,raised by Italians, and views himself as an Italian.

He is as much African as Dempsey or Donovan are European, yet SI would never run a story with that on the cover next to them. It is just kind of racist.

how is he as african as dempsey and donovan are european when neither of there parents are from europe? unless your just going off all white's are of european decent which is stupid in this case to compare to balotelli who comes from parents who are both africans where as dempsey and donovan both come from american parents.

you are just looking at the skin colour and calling it racist when in fact it is more to do with his family and background and not about skin which is why you are calling dempsey and donovan europeans because they are white

Betty La Fea wrote:

B-Mac wrote:

Betty La Fea wrote:Hes Italian.

yes he was born there but his blood is of direct african decent he is as much african as he is italian.

they are trying to tell a story of who he is, I don't get how simply stating facts is racist.

Except he was born in Italy,raised by Italians, and views himself as an Italian.

He is as much African as Dempsey or Donovan are European, yet SI would never run a story with that on the cover next to them. It is just kind of racist.

Balotelli became an Italian citizen in 2008. He had to wait until his 18th birthday to request Italian citizenship. He wasn't born from Italian parents. He is now Italian, he feels Italian and he loves Italia. Calling him African is in opposition with the way he feels and thinks but it is not racism.

Has anyone actually read the article yet? I subscribed to SI for probably about 10 years, and I guarantee the contradiction between being both Italian and African at the same time is mentioned in the article through his interview quotes. I'm certain it discusses it through the lens of the difficult racism and discrimination he faced, and about how difficult it is to be viewed as an immigrant but feel Italian. All of these are things which probably came out of his mouth when they sat down to get quotes for the article, and I'm not sure how any of them could be construed as racist or offensive. Being an Italian of direct African descent has had a major impact on Balo's life, and ignoring that in an piece which devotes major sections to his personal history and youth would be strange.

Wow, three paragraphs in and my prediction was spot on:

by turns a national hero and the target of national prejudice, who was born in Sicily to Ghanaian parents but (by law) couldn't become an Italian citizen until he turned 18.

Now, can anyone explain to me why that shouldn't be included in a piece on Balo's personal growth and experiences?

stevieg8 wrote:Wow, three paragraphs in and my prediction was spot on:

by turns a national hero and the target of national prejudice, who was born in Sicily to Ghanaian parents but (by law) couldn't become an Italian citizen until he turned 18.

Now, can anyone explain to me why that shouldn't be included in a piece on Balo's personal growth and experiences?

I believe people already knew that and I already mentioned the fact that he couldn't become an Italian citizen until 18.

I found this now:

Official Bario Malotelli Site wrote:Mario was born in Palermo on August 12th 1990, but has lived in Brescia with the Balotelli family since he was two.
From the very start mum, dad, brothers Corrado and Giovanni, and sister Cristina (all much older than him) looked after little Mario with all the love of a parent, brother or sister.

...and this:

http://www.mario-balotelli.org/

stevieg8 wrote:Has anyone actually read the article yet?  I subscribed to SI for probably about 10 years, and I guarantee the contradiction between being both Italian and African at the same time is mentioned in the article through his interview quotes.  I'm certain it discusses it through the lens of the difficult racism and discrimination he faced, and about how difficult it is to be viewed as an immigrant but feel Italian.  All of these are things which probably came out of his mouth when they sat down to get quotes for the article, and I'm not sure how any of them could be construed as racist or offensive.  Being an Italian of direct African descent has had a major impact on Balo's life, and ignoring that in an piece which devotes major sections to his personal history and youth would be strange.

thank you exactly what I was going on about

people are so bloody touchy these days and just play the racism card way to often, it is annoying, you can't talk about this guys life and background without being called a racist? wtf?