We Were Those People

Have you ever talked to someone in late January/early February about their Super Bowl plans only to get a reply such as, “I don’t really watch sports,” or “I don’t have a television,” or “I really only have my television for watching the news”? I have, and I generally want to punch those people because they are either lying (Really? A television ONLY for watching news?) or completely oblivious to (like or or not) a major American cultural experience. Unfortunately, we were those people our first weekend in Berlin. That Saturday was the Bundesliga championship between Dortmund and Bayern-München a week ahead of Bayern playing Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League final. I realize that for many of you, that sentence may as well have been in German, but I’m talking about soccer here.

A few weeks earlier, I had signed up for the Berliner Frauenlauf, a 10K run for women in the heart of Berlin, thinking it would be a nice way to get out and see some of the city and get the legs shaken out after the long flight here days earlier. I did not realize that it was on the same day as the big game, and as we rode the bus to the race, there were thousands of people in the streets in kits supporting their team, walking around drinking and getting amped up for the game. It occurred to Neil that it was probably well-planned that the men could go get rowdy and watch the game while the women went for a nice run on a Saturday evening. Nevertheless, I felt like that person who wasn’t going to watch the Super Bowl. In our defense, at that point, we didn’t have a television, so in order to watch the game we would have had to lug Annika to a bar past her bedtime thus making watching or enjoying any of the game impossible. On the up side, the run was nice, and I was the second-fastest American to finish!

Me and a lot of German women runners (Lauferinen).

The game turned out to be a bit of a one-sided affair, with Dortmund winning the crown. Fortunately, our tele was delivered in time to catch the UEFA Championship the following weekend which was a nail-biter, coming down to a penalty-kick shootout. Unfortunately, Bayern lost to Chelsea after missing a PK at the end of the game as well as a couple in the shootout. (Sidebar:  When did elite players start missing so many clutch PKs? I swear this never used to happen, and now it seems like every major game or tournament there are numerous missed shots. I’m not talking keeper-saved shots, I’m talking flat-out misses. It’s ridiculous.)

It is nice to be in a land where soccer is loved and watched and appreciated. With Euro 2012 set to start up here in a few weeks and the Olympics kicking off a month or so after that, it’s going to be a good summer for me. Now that we are starting to get things semi-situated here (as much as we can without having any real belongings), we are starting to plan some travel. On the agenda for me as soon as the internet installation guy leaves next Monday is looking into a trip to neighboring Poland for a Euro 2012 game. It’s kind of a big deal, and we live so close that it would be a shame to miss out. The travel portion of Olmsted is supposed to be geared towards developing a greater general/cultural/political understanding and appreciation of your region. Soccer is a big part of the culture here, and if I can wrap a few other places/events into the itinerary, we should be good to go.

Viva la beautiful game!