In Playing for Pizza, Rick soon finds that the Italian people enjoy the sport of football much more than the Americans that play professionally. Sam explains to him that they simply play because they love the game. Sam clearly states this when he says, “Yes, the Italians play for the sport of it. And the post-game pizza,” (34). Rick doesn’t really understand this too much at first, but as he begins to practice with the Italians and spends more time with them, he soon realizes Sam is completely right about them. This sentence displays the theme of the story by showing that it is possible to do something simply because you love it. They don’t play for a big fat paycheck or to become famous. Instead, they play because they love the sport. The theme of the story is “Doing what you love,” and nobody does this better than the Italians. As Rick spends more and more time with them, their attitude towards football and life begin to slowly rub off on him.