DB's Cover Germany: 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….