Giulio Caravatta is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet.
He is, as they say, salt of the earth.
Now in his 26th season as the colour analyst for the B.C. Lions radio broadcasts, Caravatta is also extremely humble.
The B.C. Football Hall of Fame issued a press release this week announcing the 2024 class of inductees with bios on each and every individual except one: Giulio Caravatta.
Caravatta didn’t even notice until friends and family started reaching out to let him know that his bio was missing, but in typical Caravatta fashion, he shrugged it off.
I guess he’s got used to such happenings.
Like last year when the Lions decided to honor his 25th season as the team’s analyst by making the announcement during a game at BC Place and then showing a live shot of him in the booth on the scoreboard.
One small problem. They showed my mug on the big screen instead.
In fact, the end zone camera angle actually took Caravatta entirely out of the shot of our broadcast booth.
Then there is the constant mistaking of Caravatta for yours truly. It’s not just fans though. Media personalities from other CFL cities will often come up to Caravatta with a “Hey, Moj! How’s it going?” introduction to a conversation.
Even current Lions players have misidentified him.
Just ask defensive tackle Tibo Debaillie, who was the latest to commit the cardinal sin.
But through all of it, the 58-year-old Coquitlam resident remains a good sport.
He just goes about his job – which he’s the best at by the way – and does his thing. He’s not constantly tweeting or posting on Instagram trying to drum up followers. The man’s ego is non-existent.
With Caravatta it boils down to two things – family and football – and in that order.
I cannot tell you how many times we have been on the road the night before a game and he’ll make an early exit so he can go back to his hotel room to watch either of his daughter’s (Sarah and Jessica) soccer games online.
When Covid forced us off the Lions charter and to travel commercial during the 2021 season, Caravatta would take the first flight out in the morning to Vancouver on several occasions so he could watch one of the girls’ matches that afternoon.
Never mind the pre-game face timing with his wife Linda, who he met while they were students at Simon Fraser University, or the girls.
Family is always a priority with Giulio.
When the Lions travel to Toronto or Hamilton, a stop at ‘Mamma Caravatta’s’ is always a privilege for our crew.
His mom Maria still lives in the same home in the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke that Giulio and his two sisters – Pina and Silvana – grew up in.
It’s your typical home from that generation with a big kitchen in the basement.
Upstairs?
That’s reserved for formal occasions like Christmas or Easter dinner.
The visit always includes a five-course meal with the majority of ingredients coming from the garden in the back yard.
Back in the day when Giulio played for the Lions in the 1990’s, the young back-up quarterback would take a couple of teammates over for dinner. That group kept on expanding until they entire offensive unit would come over.
The stories from those gatherings are legendary.
Giulio’s late father – also named Giulio - would love to grill some of the Lions’ players.
“You! You are Darren Flutie,” said the elder Caravatta in his thick Italian accent with some homemade wine in his hand.
“Yes, sir,” Flutie responded.
“Do you like to play against your brother Doug?” he would ask.
“Yes, I do Mr. Caravatta,” said Flutie.
“So why do you play like crap against him?” said Giulio with teammate Danny McManus almost falling over backward in his chair from laughter.
There are more than enough stories from those visits to write a separate column, so we will try to stay on point.
The son of first-generation immigrants, Giulio learned from his parents the core values that led him to success during his eight-year stint in pro football and during his 25-year career in the West Vancouver Fire Department which culminated in him retiring as a captain this past year.
He tries to pass those same values along to his daughters of course, and he’s even trying to give back to the game he loves with the Centennial Secondary football team, where Caravatta is in his fifth season as an assistant coach.
He is planning on reaching out to offer some guidance to Alex La Vecchia, who is in his first season as a quarterback with the University of British Columbia. The La Vecchias and Caravattas are ‘paisan’ with the families going back a couple of generations to the small village of San Martino in Pensilis, Italy.
He hasn’t connected with La Vecchia yet but will try to do so in the near future.
La Vecchia’s family hopes that he returns home to Ottawa someday, just as Giulio and Maria did when their son left Etobicoke to play football at SFU in 1984.
With Maria in tears seeing her son leaving the family home, her husband offered her some comfort.
“Don’t worry Maria. When he gets hungry, he’ll come home,” laughed Giulio.
Lucky for us, he stayed even when he did get hungry.
Congrats big fella on a well-deserved honour.
OVERTIME:
* The 2024 B.C. Football Hall of Fame class also includes Paul McCallum, Glen Suitor, Mike Emery, and Shawn Olson in the athlete category. Dave Hawkshaw, Farhan Lalji and Doug Staveley enter under the builder category, while the 1984-1996 North Delta Razorbacks flag football team is also being inducted. The late Brian MacKay will also be honoured with the CFL Bob Ackles Award. The 2024 class will formally be inducted prior to the B.C. Lions home game versus the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday, Oct. 19.
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