PLAYOFFS?!? Are you kidding me...

9/20

 

The PLAYOFFS are finally here which means a couple things:  First and foremost, I love the playoffs and everything they stand for.  The competition, the pressure, the satisfaction, and ultimately one man’s season is over.  There are no moral victories and there are no ties.  Everyone trains to play like every game is a playoff game, but in all reality things are just that much bigger and better at the end of the season.  Second, the playoffs bring out the pitiful playoff mustache! This has been a tradition since I have made the playoffs and had any hair above my upper lip (so three years).  This week we host the four seeded Berlin Adler from the North conference of the GFL.  The team should be our best test yet as the will spread the ball around and use some fly motion to deceive us.  Furthermore, it is a funny coincidence that as the Linfield Wildcats take on Cal Lutheran this Saturday, Taylor and I will be defending passes from last year’s Kingsmen quarterback Kevin Ramey.  All in all it’s an exciting time of the year and we look forward to the game this weekend.

 

The adventures….
 

Jakobimarkt:

Jakobimarkt is Schwäbisch Hall’s version of Oktoberfest held at the end of July.  Of course this festival is not nearly the size of the actual Oktoberfest, but none the less it was a wild time with all of our friends and teammates.  Activities included drinking beer, singing along to the German music and at times American rock, carnival rides, dressing up in lederhosen, dancing on table tops, and sometimes falling off of those table tops…

 

Castle hunting:

After taking an absence of leave due to his first child being born, a key component of our defense returned for the second half of the season just in time to get in the swing of things for the playoffs.  In addition to his return, Simon Brenner also had invited Taylor and I to spend a day tracking down the castles of Germany.  We remained relatively close to Schwäbisch Hall, but managed to visit 5 or 6 beautiful castles along the way. 

 

Vienna Austria:

Schönbrunn Palace is a 1,441 room palace. 
The worlds first zoo resides a couple
kilometers away and is part of the palace's yard

Given that one of our American players/roommate Dusty had played in Vienna last year, we decided to take the 6 hour drive and spend a few nights with the players and coaches of the Vikings.  Aside from the nightlife we were fortunate to go on a walking tour with one of the receivers, visit the world’s first zoo, and get an inside look at the facilities of the Vienna Vikings who won the Euro Bowl championship as well as the Austrian title this season.  Some of these sites are very famous for the speeches that were given atop of them; however, most notably are the speeches of Adolf Hitler. 

Hofburg palace.  Many famous speeches were given, however most notably are the speeches Hitler gave

Vienna State Opera.  Big screen had to be 30X20 (yards)

Car museums:

Back home if you see a Mercedes, BMW, Audi, or Porsche we stop and stare because you almost don’t see one every day.  It is the complete opposite here in Germany.  All of these cars are made in Germany and have incredible museums filled with cars built from day one and lots of history to soak in.  Both Mercedes and Porsche play a big role in the Le Mans racing circuit so it was fun to check out these race cars with my dad who is a big time race fan.



 

 

 

Ireland:

Old Irish golf course owner. 
We talked, joked, and cussed at each other for an hour

I could listen to an Irish person talk all day long.  Our favorite part about this trip was interacting with Irish people and listening to them.  We had the opportunity to tour the Jameson whiskey distillery (and taste test), visit the Guinness factory, stay with a host family (thank you Colin Zeal), and go golfing on the west coast of Ireland.  Ireland was the first place we have been to where cars are on the opposite side of the road.  Because of this there were signs painted on the ground at which way to look when crossing the street.  Of course you can’t forget about the pubs of Dublin!  With over 400 pubs in the city you bet your butt we made a pub crawl multiple evenings to listen to live music and drink our Guinness stout beer!   Beautiful land, very friendly people, and delicious evening drinks were the perfect recipe for a successful week long trip.

 

 

Amsterdam:

I was fortunate enough to have my longest childhood friend Kyle visit and stay with me for two weeks this summer.  After hanging out in Schwäbisch Hall, spending a day at a castle/climbing park, and enjoying Ireland, we packed our bags and drove up to Holland for an Amsterdam trip.  Amsterdam was a spectacular city with canals everywhere and TONS of bicycles.  I had no idea how many people rode bicycles in this city.  They even had their own lane.  Amsterdam is home to Vincent Van Gogh, Anne Frank, and Heineken beer.  Naturally we decided to check out the Heineken house for a quick two hour tour.

 

 

FC Bayern:

Neither Taylor or I will admit to you that we are soccer fans by any means.  Faking injuries and scores ending in 0-0 ties just don’t do it for us.  That being said, we had great time watching FC Bayern kick the crap out of CSKA Moscow in the Champions League opener this past Tuesday.  Within the first three minutes of the game fireworks broke out as the Moscow fans who were crammed together in the third deck of the grand stands threw a burning road flare into the first level of the German crowd.  Of course this is normal for a soccer game so everyone was unfazed including Bayern Munich who proceeded to score a goal immediately after this incident.  The stadium atmosphere was exciting to be a part of and experience.  Not to mention we had great seats! 

 

Go Unicorns,

Drew     
 

Taking care of business

Head coach Sigi showing off his enthusiasm after a big win!

It has been close to two months since our last post and in that span of time we have played five games, winning four and tying in another. Our victories came against the Franken Knights, a team who defeated us earlier in the year, the Saarland Hurricanes twice, and the Stuttgart Scorpions. Our game against Marburg was crucial for both teams to win as the winner of this game would gain sole possession of first place in the South division and hold its own destiny regarding playoff seeding. Unfortunately, we tied and Marburg held onto first place in the division and we no longer controlled the outcome of our season. The result was very disappointing to our team as no one enjoys tying in sports, or any game for that matter (except maybe soccer). So we had two choices in front of us, we could decide to sulk, point fingers, live in the past, and become content with second place, or we could come together as great teams always do, look towards the next week and give it everything we had to win out for the remainder of the season.  And here we are, with our regular season finale this Saturday against the Rhein-Neckar Bandits. Having not lost a game since Marburg, we find ourselves once again with all of the control in our hands. A win and we secure first place in the GFL South and home-field advantage in the playoffs. A loss and we take second place and receive only one home game. This will be a good test for us as Rhein-Neckar would like nothing more than to dethrone the defending South champions and avenge their loss to us earlier this year. That being said, I believe we are hitting our stride as a team at the perfect time of the season and we should take care of business against the Bandits and carry the momentum into the playoffs.

Side Note: The interception tally is 8 for Drew and 4 for Taylor. There should be plenty of opportunities this weekend to add to those stats.

 

 The past two months have been action packed with football, travelling, and visitors here to see all of us Amis.  All of our families have come and gone, as well as friends from both home and Linfield have got the Schwabisch Hall experience.  It means the world to all of us to share our experiences first hand with our best friends from home and we are excited to share with everyone back home in another month.  Since our last post our journeys have taken us to Ireland, Austria, Holland, local Oktoberfests, brewery tours, and many museums.  Following the game tomorrow we will give a rundown of the playoffs as well as details from all of the sites we have seen.  Happy opening weekend of college football and the NFL!  May all of your fantasy teams be successful.

Go Unicorns,

Drew and Taylor 

Back on track

It’s been an exciting past three weekends for the Unicorns as we chalked up three more victories against Wiesbaden, Munich, and Stuttgart respectively.  Although never over satisfied, the Unicorns are starting to string together some solid performances all across the board and playing with a certain confidence that the good teams display when they take the field.  Practices are getting better, guys are becoming healthy, and there are new additions to the team on both sides of the ball that are helping this momentum continue.  Winning is a habit around here, but if we don’t keep our head down and continue to work our butts off there are a couple of teams who handed the Unicorns their two losses of the season looming over the next three weeks.  We do not control our own destiny to take the top spot in the GFL South and claim home field advantage in the playoffs, but there couldn’t be a bigger chip on this team’s shoulder to avenge our early season losses at home in front of the Unicorn faithful.  Meanwhile, let’s recap the past three weeks of Unicorn football.

6/22    Wiesbaden Phantoms

In an odd situation, the Unicorns and Phantoms squared off in back to back weeks both home and away.  The first game was highlighted by high scoring from both sides causing some concern with the Unicorn defense considering the Phantoms were winless heading into the meeting with the Unicorns.  The concern is valid, but in every athletic season there will be off days.  The important part is when one phase of the game is lacking the other phase picks up for in order to get the victory.  The second showdown with the Phantoms was a complete 360 defensively as dominance was displayed at times resulting in a first half shut out and an eventual 34-14 victory.  With the Phantoms change at quarterback it was our time to shine in the secondary and take advantage of errant throws.  Taylor was able to finish the day with no balls completed his way and I was able to snag two of the three INTs on the day.  Offensively it was another day at the office for Ryan and the receiving core putting up over 200 yards through the air, however; what really sticks out lately is the running game.  We aren’t afraid to admit and claim our identity as a passing team, but running for 3 TDs and nearly 200 yards will certainly give headaches to any defense trying to slow us down.  The win was celebrated in style by going out to one of the bigger festivals near Frankfurt with some of the teammates.  After a night of shenanigans all of our focus was on a hot Munich team looking to improve their place in the overall standings. 

 

 

6/29 Munich Cowboys

After securing a victory against the Phantoms in Wiesbaden, our focus was set on the Munich Cowboys who were riding a two game winning streak and putting pressure on the rest of the division.  The game was our wettest one of the year by far, it rained from start to finish, making it difficult for both offenses to move the ball as effectively as they would have liked.  Despite the rain, our offense overcame the challenge and the soaking wet footballs to put up 452 yards of total offense, 26 first downs, only one turnover, and 30 points. On the flip side, Munich struggled offensively as our defense put together a solid performance, allowing only 218 yards of total offense, 8 first downs, and 14 points while also picking their QB off three times. This was a big win and put us on a three game winning streak heading into four straight home games in the Hall.

 

 

 

7/13  Stuttgart Scorpions

This past weekend we took on the Stuttgart Scorpions at home in front of our biggest crowd thus far.  It was great to be playing at home again after two straight games on the road.  No other stadium we have played at has an atmosphere that compares to the one we play in at home in Hagenbach Stadium.  This game was our new teammate/roommate Dusty Thornhill’s first game back in the Unicorn uniform (played with Boehme and Nish in 2011) and it was great to have our fourth American out there on the field.  Our offense kept it rolling this game putting up 38 points, 490 yards total offense, and 30 first downs.  It was our best rushing performance this season by far.  The o-line and running backs had it clicking as we posted 321 yards rushing off of 50 attempts for an average of 6.3 yards per carry.  Defensively, we played very well, our line was creating pressure all day and our secondary didn’t allow a single big play through the air.  When it was all said and done, Stuttgart could only manage 192 total yards of offense, 10 first downs, and 7 points.  Next up on the schedule is the Franken Knights who defeated us earlier this year by one point.  I know we will all be highly motivated to come away with a victory against the Knights and get the bad taste out of our mouths from the first game.

 *** Side note ***  The interception tally between Taylor and I is 8-3 in my favor.  5 snags in the past three games have made it a lopsided contest but at any given time those numbers can be even with how much the ball gets thrown around over here.

 

Taylor and I are over the halfway mark of our European adventure and couldn’t be enjoying ourselves more.  We’ve both been extremely fortunate to have support from friends and family who keep up with us and even come visit here.  Aside from football we have spent our time lately in Munich, Dachau concentration camp, Hofbräuhaus Brewery, celebrating America’s birthday, going on bike rides, and of course the beer garden.  Here is a collection of some pictures over the past four months:  

 

drew fisher's Slidely by Slidely - Slideshow maker

Go Unicorns,

Drew and Taylor

When in Rome

It has been a somewhat disappointing three game stretch over the past month for the Unicorns, but we are aimed in the right direction to begin stringing some W’s together. The first of the three was against the Calanda Broncos of Switzerland in the Euro Bowl quarterfinals where we came up short in a 42-28 loss. The game started out well with the defense not allowing a score through the first quarter and the offense adding a touchdown for a score of 7-0 at the end of the first. From there on out we couldn’t make enough plays as a team to come away with the victory.  Big plays and missed opportunities for interceptions hurt us defensively and played a big hand in the Broncos scoring 42 points. In games like this one, with two very good teams, one mistake or missed opportunity can decide the entire outcome of a game and in our case we committed too many of those mistakes to deserve a win and had to endure a long bus ride home after a tough loss.

The second game of three was against the Marburg Mercenaries in Marburg. This was an improved game for our defense, allowing only one offensive touchdown and 216 total yards of total offense. The game came down right to the end as we led 14-7 with just over three minutes to go. Marburg’s quarterback made a play scrambling around in the backfield and hit his receiver for a touchdown with three minutes left. The Mercenaries then converted on their two point conversion attempt making the score 15-14. With the time remaining in the game we were unable to put a touchdown on the board and left Marburg on a two game skid.

This past weekend we played the Wiesbaden Phantoms in a home game. We were all eager and focused on getting out of the losing slump and there was no better place to do it than on our home turf on a hot summer day. It was a great day for our offense as they put up 56 points with six of those touchdowns coming through the air. Defensively, we struggled at times during the first half, allowing 19 points, but played much better in the second half allowing 14 with seven of those coming in the final minute of the game. This win was a good response to the struggles we had been facing the past few weeks (injuries/losing streak). There are times during games and during the season where adversity presents itself in many forms and how teams react in the midst of these adverse situations will separate the good ones from the great ones. We were able to come together as one, stop the bleeding, and get a much needed victory heading into a bye week where we could get ourselves healthy and refocus for another game against the Phantoms in Wiesbaden.

 

Side Note: The interception tally is 3 for me and 3 for Fish.

 

 

 

With the past bye week allowing the Unicorns to rest up and get healthy for the remainder of our season Taylor, Bridgette and I loaded up our backpacks and flew to Italy and visited Rome for 4 days. Rome is one of the oldest cities in all of Europe. It is home to more than two and half thousand years of history for us to Rome around and check out (see what I did there?).  Needless to say, we found ourselves looking at ancient historical buildings on what seemed to be every corner.  But, let’s be real here….  The main reason any guy goes to Rome is to step foot where our Gladiator hero defied the emperor.  “Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius.  Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.”  I’m talking about the Colosseum.

Kill.... Kill.... Kill!!!

 

The Colosseum was built in 70AD and took ten years to complete.  Its estimated to hold between 50,000 and 80,000 spectators hoping to see bloodshed at the gladiator contests.  Most of us know the story about how gladiators would battle to the death in the Colosseum, but what I found new and intriguing was how other events such as animal hunts, re-enactment of famous battles, and mock sea battles took place.  The Colosseum would be filled with water with actual ships out there and men attempting to kill each other.  The floor to the Colosseum was not the earth’s ground, but rather a layer of boards creating one giant arena stomping ground.  The reason behind this you may ask was because the Colosseum had an intricate underground system of rooms, arches, and passages that were arranged to raise and lower gladiators and animals into battle by way of a pulley system that had 65 separate pulleys.  The Colosseum was as astonishing as we had hoped.  Along the way we also ran into many other historical parts of Rome worth visiting and learning about….    

Altare della Patria (National Monument)

Trevi Fountain.  Its said if you toss a coin over your shoulder into the fountain then you are destined to return to Rome again

Trevi Fountain at night.

Roman Forum ruins

Pantheon

On top of St. Peter's Basilica

Castel Sant'Angelo

On the Fiume Tevere

 

Go Unicorns,
Drew and Taylor

Keep calm and ride a Unicorn

Two more games down and two more victories for the Unicorns! After a disappointing loss to the Franken Knights we bounced back with a dominating performance against the Rhein-Neckar Bandits at home in front of the Unicorn faithful. Both sides of the ball played better as the offense put up 51 points and the defense allowed only 13. The two areas that hindered us against Franken were penalties (14) and turnovers (5). We improved in both aspects against the Bandits as we were able to play a more disciplined football game with only two turnovers and eight penalties. It felt great to get the “W” and get our season back on track with our sights set on the Munich Cowboys!

It was another solid win (37-3) for the Unicorns at home against the Munich Cowboys this past weekend! The sun was out and the fans were in full force for a great day of football. From beginning to end the Unicorns defense was stingy and swarming, allowing a total of only 229 yards of offense with only three of those yards by way of the Cowboy rushing attack (or lack thereof).  Offensively, it took us a quarter of football before we began to start clicking, but once we did there wasn’t much stopping us as we put up 500 yards of total offense to go along with 37 points. Again, we kept our turnovers at two and cut our penalties down to five. This team is heading in the right direction and as long as we can keep building upon each victory, learning from our mistakes and our successes, there is no limit to what we will be able to accomplish. Next up on the schedule is an away game in Switzerland against the reigning Eurobowl champions the Calanda Broncos. The winner will advance to the Eurobowl semi-finals. This game will be our biggest test thus far and we are all looking forward to the challenge of taking down the champions!

Side note: Drew is leading in the interception battle 3-1 as he pulled one down against the Cowboys this weekend. He also had a would be pick six against the Bandits if not for a defensive off-sides penalty. And I forgot to bring my hands with me to the Munich game and let a couple balls slip through my grasp.

Aside from football the past three weeks we have been mostly hanging out around town and with our teammates.  Although it has not been a typical warm May around here, it hasn’t stopped us from enjoying the festivals that have been taking place.  Schwäbisch Hall had their annual Salt Festival celebrating and displaying how the historic salt economy functioned. “Hall” in German refers to drying something by heating it, thus tying the city’s name with its main economic resource.  The parades and shows were neat to see but the food, beer, live music, and carnival rides were what had us acting like a four year old on Christmas morning. 

Along with the festivals we were fortunate enough to be joined by the company of our QB Ryan’s parents for the week.  They were kind enough to snap thousands of pictures of us at our games as well as join us to our visit to Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria.  This place was awesome.  It was a little mind blowing at times wondering how a castle like this was built in such a location let alone how it is ever constructed in the first place.  Neuschwanstein Castle is one of the castles Disney modeled Sleeping Beauty’s castle and Disneyland after.  Long story short; King Ludwig II was filthy rich and wanted a new castle built on this hill next to a waterfall, the foothills of the Alps, and an amazing view.  We took the opportunity to tour the inside of the castle where the majority of the structure has not been touched.  In no way does one man need such a sanctuary to reside in, but none the less it was an incredible display of life over 100 years ago for one man.      

Go Unicorns,
Taylor and Drew

FOOTBALL!!!!

The past couple weeks have been spent playing the greatest game brought to earth.  Its bitter sweet to write about, as the Unicorns went 1-1 over the past two weeks.  To sum up last week’s game against Amiens, France in a couple words, we kicked there butt 52-12.  This is the same team we played in our season opener.  The home/away games with them were a Euro Bowl qualifier to go play the defending Euro Bowl champions in Switzerland.  I am very much looking forward to the competition and travel experiences that this team brings to the table.  Playing on the home field in Schwäbisch Hall is something I am excited to do all year.  Great field, great atmosphere, and even a little rain doesn’t stop the fans from using the obnoxiously awesome noise makers all game.  To paint a picture of the home field for folks it starts with well groomed grass surrounded by a track and long concrete stands that extend from end zone to end zone.  One of my favorite features is Debi’s restaurant and beer garden that overlooks the corner end zone.  Beer and pizza AND the best seat in the house for games?? I know where I’d be all game if I weren’t on the field.    

One thing I have been looking forward to since I knew I was coming here to Schwäbisch Hall is give it my best shot to be on “Wear in the World”.  “Wear in the World” (http://www.nba.com/blazers/fans/blazers-fans) is a segment during Portland Trailblazer games where fans submit a picture of themselves with their Blazers apparel on wherever they are in the world.  I have seen people standing next to pyramids in Cairo, scaling the Great Wall of China, and even scuba diving in their Batum jerseys, but nobody has been warming up before a game in Schwäbisch Hall in their Unicorn uniform with a Blazers shirt!  The Blazers hold a special spot in my heart and although they ended the season on a 13 game losing skid, I am proud to show off my red and black on the other side of the world. 

Mike Rice and Mike Barrett would be proud.  Rip City baby!

This past weekend the Unicorns took on the Franken Knights in Rothenburg.  This game went back and forth all the way until the end and unfortunately ended in a one point loss 34-35.  Although it is a tough pill to swallow, quality competition and close games are what we live for.  It’s where you get to prove how much more you want it than the person lined up across from you in a different uniform.  14 penalties and 4 turnovers had major implications on the overall scoreboard but in the end we still had a shot to win.  After scoring with 45 seconds left on the clock, head coach Sigi decided to go for two and win the game rather than risk ending in a tie.  There is no overtime until the playoffs start and I had full confidence that this was not only the right decision, but we would win the game.  After failing to convert the 2, we successfully pounced on the onside kick and had one last chance to get into field goal range but came up short.  It will be great to prepare for and play these guys again in a few weeks on the Schwäbisch Hall home turf.  For being back to back German Bowl Champions there is certainly a degree of high expectations for the season.  This ultimately brings a couple of scenarios to the table.  First off, every team in Germany and Europe not only wants a shot at the Unicorns, but wants to beat us.  Our Unicorn career has only been brief; however, after competing for quality programs in the past you know the feeling of playing somebody that has the mentality of it’s their Super Bowl when the Unicorns are in town.  It will be great to have a bounce back game at home this week, and hopefully this will be a learning point for the rest of the season.

 

Go Unicorns,

Drew          



***Side note***    The side interception contest between Skore and I is at 2-1 in my favor.  Had the refs not thrown a penalty on both the receiver and Taylor last game for pass interference when he got his interception we would be even at 2-2

Barcelona, Spain

Next stop on the Euro experience was Barcelona.  Once again, this will be one to remember for the rest of our lives.  We’ll shake it up a little bit this time and take one out of fellow blogger Ryan Carlson’s playbook with a segment of “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.”  To all the non Linfield Wildcat followers out there, Ryan puts together his post game thoughts in three categories breaking down the weekly Wildcat performance during the football season.

 

The Good:      

·       First off, Barcelona is a beautiful city with much to do over a three day span.  You may ask, “why Barcelona?” Good question.  The local airline German Wings has a “blind booking” deal that gives you 8 possible destinations and chooses for you after you pay.  All of the options were worth going to and is the price is an absolute steal compared to other means of travel.  We will most likely be a repeat customer needless to say. 

Taylor and Ryan doing their best Columbus impression at night

·       The beauty of the city started with the taxi ride in.  We were greeted by a large statue of Christopher Columbus pointing out to sea which is located in the middle of the two main streets in downtown Barcelona.  Columbus sailed the blue in 1492 under contract from Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain when he discovered America.     



On top of Park Güell enjoying the view

       Much like Paris, we hiked around the city all day checking out Sagrada Familia, Arc de Triomf, Torre Agbar, and all that the city had to offer.  Our favorite part was making it up to Park Guell and admiring the city from one of its highest points.  This vantage lets you overlook the Mediterranean Sea and all of what Barcelona has to offer including the site of the 1992 summer Olympic games.

Sagrada Familia is an incredible church started in 1882 by Antoni Gaudi and has been under construction since his death in 1926.  Estimations ares that the 170 meter tall church will be complete in 2028. 

 

·       The nightlife in Barcelona is one that nearly rivals Vegas; however, Vegas is in a league of its own and I can’t put them both in the same category.  The two biggest disco techs are Opium, which is right on the beach, and Razzmatazz, which stood three stories tall with enough flashing lights to almost throw you into a seizure.    

·       Huge thanks to our roommate Ryan’s friend and teammate from Holy Cross, Ricky, for letting us stay in his apartment for the weekend.  Those who have travelled know the importance of finding a cheap and safe place to stay.  Anyone who provides a roof over our head in exchange for a fridge full of Heineken is a true man in my book.   
 

The Bad: 

·       Immediately after checking into our hostel, “Bedcelona” (the name sold us), we took it to the beach and got fried.  For a couple of northwest natives who haven’t seen a ray of sunshine since September and lost their only sunscreen to airport security in Stuttgart, it was like jumping in a pool of gasoline and proceeding to playing with sparklers.  We simply did not stand a chance.  The next day Taylor was walking around in the shadows through the city and my face was already peeling.

 

The Ugly: 

·       Prior to the city hike on Saturday as soon as we stepped foot outside of Ricky’s apartment Taylor was super soaked with mud from a city worker pressure washing the sidewalk.  Luckily this was no indication of the rest of our day.  As the night grew later, we found ourselves hungry and somewhat hopeless Americans when the food started to close.  For a desperation Hail Mary we settled for ordering pizza in a dark alley from a Turkish gypsy.  What received was nothing more than two floppy, mystery meat, microwave pizzas and then charged a ridiculous amount.      

 

Next order of business is to take care of Amiens again on our home turf this Saturday.  The Ami’s and the rest of the Unicorns are eager for some more football.  From here on out is the meat and potatoes of our schedule, as there aren’t too many bye weeks left the rest of the season.  We hope to fill the few bye weeks we have with Euro bowl games as we make our way through those playoffs.

 

Go Unicorns,

Drew and Taylor                    

I see London, I see France!



Head Coach Sigi in the middle, Drew wearing 19, and I'm next to him on the right

As you already know, we traveled to France to play the Amiens Spartiates for our first game as Unicorns. We won the game 55-13 on a somewhat chilly night. There was definitely some rust that I needed to shake off and I am sure Drew would say the same, but it was still great to be back on the field playing under the lights again. Overall, both sides of the ball played well with some areas to improve on as is expected after the first game of a season. The offense put up plenty of points and only gave the ball away once if I can remember right. Our defense also did a good job creating turnovers and gave the offense some short fields to work with. Individually, Drew and I made a few good plays throughout the game. On the first offensive play, the Amiens quarterback threw the ball to a receiver on a bubble screen who was then flattened by a vintage Drew Fisher hit which set the tone for the rest of the game. I was also able to get in on the action with an interception in the second quarter that won me a little wager placed between Drew and I on who would get the first pick of the season. Of course I can’t leave out our roommate Ryan who played a nice game and threw for three touchdowns including one to our wide receiver Thomas Hambalek who busted out his Bernie dance for his touchdown celebration.  The Bernie dance is from the movie Weekend at Bernies (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME6n3TvTHfM) All in all we had a great time playing in France and we are all eager to move on to the next game!


-Taylor

 

Top of the cliffs at Omaha Beach

After the game against Amiens we took the opportunity to explore a little bit of France.  Our two day excursion included Normandy and Paris.  Taking the time to drive over to Omaha beach in Normandy was something we all agreed would be a powerful experience and worthwhile.  If Coach Smith could redo his honey moon he would book the trip to Normandy France to see Omaha beach.  Although I was hoping to see a Czech hedgehog or two lying around still (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_hedgehog), what we experienced put a lot of things into perspective.   The majority of us have all seen Saving Private Ryan (in Germany it is “Der Soldat James Ryan”), and it shows just how brutal the initial invasion was.  After seeing the cliffs first hand in which the Germans had vantage points on with bankers and artillery, it is absolutely mind boggling in how the Allies were able to ever advance their ground.  Provided with some much needed sunshine, we were able to hike up the bluffs and explore some of what hasn’t been removed from the war nearly 70 years ago.  The bunkers and trenches that were still intact put you in the shoes of a German soldier overlooking the 5 mile long coastline in which we infiltrated.  Squatting down in one of the bunkers I tried to visualize and imagine the entire coastline for all I could see being lined with ships and soldiers but it simply isn’t something you can make up.  The fact that I get the opportunity to play football in Europe because of the groundwork that was laid seven decades ago is good enough for me for a reality check and puts life into perspective.  Being able to visit these beaches, see the memorials, and learn some more history about the war has been one of my favorite journeys so far.      

 

 

Taylor perched right on the edge of the tall, steep cliffs overlooking Omaha



Remaining German bunker atop the cliffs

Omaha Beach memorial and cemetery

 

 

 

 We didn’t realize we were on such a course until
Taylor went around this NASCAR track a couple times.

Paris was full of sightseeing.  Paris is known for its fashion and famous monuments and buildings, but we knocked out everything we wanted to see in about a 24 hour time frame.  Although the structures were pretty spectacular and unimaginable how they were constructed hundreds of years ago, I think the most exciting part was probably the driving.  People are crazy on the road and it seems like there are no rules.  The huge roundabout around the Arc of Triomphe  was mayhem. 


Luckily Taylor was driving so I could sit in the back seat, laugh, and watch dudes on motorcycles race in front of us with wreck less abandonment.

 

After a night in the “Young and Happy” hostel we walked around all day visiting Notre Dame, Arc of Triomphe, seeing the France Statue of Liberty, and of course the Eiffel Tower.  What’s crazy is some of these buildings and structures were built or being built before the United States declared freedom and was even formed. 

 

Some people don't get math, others could care less about sports, and I just don't understand art like this.

TEBOW!!!

Go Unicorns,
Drew