Q: What do the Federico Fellini, Martin Scorsese and Diego Armando Maradona have in common?
A: All were thanked by Paolo Sorrentino at the 2014 Academy Awards after his film “The Great Beauty” won the Best Foreign Film category.
The 43-year-old Naples man is the appropriate age to have been in the full youthful throes of soccer passion when Maradona tore through European defenses as a member of Napoli from 1984-1991.
And we know Maradona likely accepted this honor will humility and class, likely deferring to the beauty of the sport and how its inspiration transcends the boundaries of the pitch.
Or he’s calling up Sorrentino and demanding the actual Oscar for the Argentinian’s trophy case.