At least 350,000 Italian Americans live in greater Chicago, according to the 2000 census. Illinois ranks seventh among states -- and Cook County ranks second among the country's counties -- with the largest Italian-Americans populations.
Chicago Sun Times
"Andiamo!"
Vincent Malfeo, perched atop the wooden edge of a bocce lane, throws up his left arm and shouts to his teammates at the other end.
"What's up?" he barks. "Let's-a-play the game!"
Nobody is stalling.
Malfeo, 75, is simply a taskmaster when it comes to bocce, a precision sport dating back to the Roman Empire.
The former Nabisco worker with a weathered face and tobacco-stained teeth scowls as he crouches, bending until his bottom is level with his knees.
He tosses the ball down the crushed limestone alley and watches intently until it lands just inches from its target, the smaller ball called a pallino.
Malfeo may be too serious, even grouchy in the heat of competition, but he's a flirty sweetheart between points.
"In Italy, we played on grass or stone and all over the place," he said with a sweet smile and a still-thick accent despite immigrating decades ago.
For a dozen years, Malfeo and his teammates -- his cousin Alberto Malfeo and friends Rosario DiMiele and Tony Melone -- have dominated the summer league at Mama Vesuvio's East in Palos Heights.
In the winter, they migrate a mile west on Illinois 83 to Caf-- Roma, where they drink espresso, play cards and watch soccer.
If the Southland had a Little Italy, this would be it.
At least 350,000 Italian Americans live in greater Chicago, according to the 2000 census. Illinois ranks seventh among states -- and Cook County ranks second among the country's counties -- with the largest Italian-Americans populations.
DiMiele, 71, who hails from Sassano in the Campania region, said the North Side can boast of more places for Italian Americans to gather and play bocce.
"More people from the old country up there," he said. "It's fun game. It feels like home."
Spending time with DiMiele and the boys felt like being taken back to a simpler time in a far-away place.
Out of nostalgia, they came to relive a game they played in their youth. They came for a few laughs. They came for the camaraderie.
And even if they claim otherwise, be assured they came to win.
"Nobody wanna lose," Vincent Malfeo said.
The gentlemen easily slipped into their native tongues, especially when giving directions for how to make a shot.
"It's wet," Melone said in Italian to Alberto Malfeo, of Oak Lawn, who goes by Al. "Push a little harder."
Ivaldo Basso, of Richton Park, sat on a bench and watched the game unfold. Sometimes he laughed when they taunted "corta," meaning short, or "forta," meaning too long.
"I'm from Asiago in the north (of Italy). They're from the south," said the retired welder. "We speak different languages, but we all got the same customs."
Bocce developed a strong Italian following, but it is popular in many overseas countries.
At Mama's, at least half the 160 league players have Italian roots, owner Gino Maira said.
"They're born with a set in the crib, and they have an extra chromosome named 'bocce,' " said Rita Bibeaux, a retired teacher who plays on a team with Tony's and Rosario's wives.
Immigrants from Croatia, Slovakia and Lithuania are represented, as well as Americans of Irish, German and Polish descent, Maira said.
Few can compete with DiMiele's team, which once placed third in an international tournament in Las Vegas.
Jim Healy and his team were no match for the old-timers Wednesday.
After an 11-3 thrashing (Healy's team had a three handicap, so they never actually scored), the Palos Park general contractor shrugged off the loss.
"I won't think about it tomorrow," he said. "They guys, they'll talk about it all day at coffee."
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