Miss Italy Calls Former Chicago Bull Michael Jordan Her "Favorite Italian Historical Figure"

Alice Sabatini, who was crowned Miss Italy last weekend, named Michael Jordan as her favorite Italian historical figure.  It seems to be an unfortunate case of reality lending credence to the old jokes about the intelligence, or lack thereof, in beauty pageant competitors when a contestant doesn't seem to know much about her own country.  After all, Michael Jordan sure isn't Italian... Jordan was born in Brooklyn, NY and raised in Wilmington, NC.

According to Sporting News, what had happened was that as she was being presented with the award in the beauty pageant, she was asked which Italian historical figure she most admired. Her response was "Michael Jordan, the greatest player in basketball history," after a lengthy pause.

There's no doubt that Sabatini is a Jordan fan, especially considering the fact that she has a Jumpman logo tattooed on her upper thigh, and she does play basketball in Italy, according to CBS Local. So her Jordan answer didn't exactly come out of nowhere. She's obviously a big fan. Although, there were plenty of options for her to choose from, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci or even Christopher Columbus, she still chose the American Basketball player, Michael Jordan.

Maybe she just didn't catch the "Italian" part of the question? But then again, she also did mention something about wanting to relive the Second World War.

As reported by Daily Mail, on Sunday, during the Miss Italy final, Sabatini was asked what historical period she would like to live in. She answered with 1942. She claimed the reason behind this was the fact that she wanted to "live" the war. She added she that she would not have had to fight since she is a woman, "Well ... to see really what the Second World War was like, since the books talk about it for page after page."

Makes perfect sense, right? Because who wouldn't want to relive World War II along with the Benito Mussolini dictatorship?   Sabatini is only 18 though so perhaps she was simply speaking without thinking about the fact that millions are now scrutinizing her?