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