Tennis Borussia Berlin – VFL Wolfsburgh II (24-10-2009)

After the rather disappointing visit to Hertha BSC on Thursday, I was looking forward to the game of Tennis Borussia Berlin on Saturday. When I was young, and Germany was still divided, TeBe played a couple of seasons in the 2. Bundesliga (Second League). Nowadays they hang around in the lower ends of the Regionalliga Nord (Fourth Division North). More than enough reason to take the S-Bahn up to Mommsen Stadion.

My friend C. and I arrive well in time for kick-off, at 14.00, at the small homey Mommsen stadium. Built in 1930, it has undergone precious little upgrades since. Today it is home to both TeBe and SC Charlottenburg, which plays in the Verbandsliga Berlin (highest non-professional league in Berlin). We bought standing tickets for €8.00 and made our way to the sausages and drinks.

It was a nice sunny winter day in Berlin and officially 516 people had made the way to the Mommsen Stadion; the stadium holds 11,500. The home fans were roughly evenly spread over the one stand and the opposite side, where the good-tempered hardcore home fans stand. The crows is fairly diverse, though mostly alternative types who know each other and talk as much about football as about other things.

Despite the fact that TeBe is down 0-1 after 2 minutes, the fans around us remain good spirited, joking around and enjoying their beer and company. As is always the case with second teams of a club, very few supporters travel with the team. In this case, even with the first team of VFL Wolfsburg playing Hertha in Berlin the next day, I could count only six away fans.

We continued to enjoy the company as well as the play, which was pretty low quality, but entertaining. The guests were clearly superior, but didn’t really push. The home team did its best, but simply lacked the quality. Something the home fans seemed to accept without much disappointment.

The second half started fairly similar, with the visitors scoring the 0-2 in the 53^rd minute. After that, the pace went slower and slower, while Wolfsburg seemed content with the now clear victory. TeBe kept struggling, more with itself than the opponent.

C. and I were amazed how good natured the fans remained. True, they increasingly talked about other things than football, but they seemed real fans. Maybe they just had learned to adapt to the level of the club they support. In any case, 0-2 was an acceptable final result for the hosts, who profited from increasing laziness of the visitors.

If you are in Berlin, you have many choices for groundhops: Hertha BSC, Union Berlin, BFC Dynamo, Türkiyemspor, etc. However, do not forget about TeBe in Charlottenburg. It is like a trip to football memory lane, but with modern Alternativos as fans.

Hertha BSC – SC Heerenveen (22-10-2009)

I had to be in Berlin for work, so I made sure I would be able to catch a couple of games. Although Hertha BSC wasn’t very high on my list, I find it a rather colorless team, when I found out they played a Europa League game against the Dutch SC Heerenveen, I had to go. As both teams are having a terrible season, being at the bottom in their respective divisions, I knew the game would be far from sold out. So, I took the S-Bahn from Berlin-Mitte and arrived roughly 30 minutes before kick-off at the Olympiastadion. After some difficulty I found my colleague R., a Spanish football fan of Dutch descent, and we bought tickets for €16.00.

The Olympic Stadion was built for the aborted 1916 Summer Olympics and became infamous during Nazi Germany. It has rebuild several times, most recently for the 2006 World Cup. I had actually visited once earlier, in 1986, to see my Borussia Mönchengladbach win the DFB-Pokal against VFL Wolfsburg (the last time they won anything major).

Today the beautiful Olympiastadion holds an impressive 74,500 people. Unfortunately, it mainly sells out for games of Die Mannschaft, the German national team, not for the always underperforming Hertha BSC. This game was particularly badly attended: only 13,194 came, which included roughly 1,000 away fans (the only ones singing). From the beginning the home fans seemed resigned for yet another disappointment, which they also received.

After more than 30 minutes of subpar football, in which Hertha might have had a bit more of the bal, but the only semi-chances came from Heerenveen, the only great play of the game happened. And intelligently executed attack over 4-5 different players was beautifully finished by Losada: 0-1 for Heerenveen. The people around us now became even more boisterous, whistling their own team and complaining loudly about the players and coach.

After scoring a couple of cooked sausages, together with the happy Frisians (the away fans), we got back to our seats. The second half was even worse, even though a Heerenveen player was sent off more than 15 minutes before the end. Despite being one man up, Hertha couldn’t even dominate, let alone create clear chances.

As my Spanish friend was freezing his ass off – ok, it was cold, but most locals were surviving fairly easily – the home fans could hardly muster the energy to complain and whistle. By the time the referee whistled for the last time, only few still took the time to express their dissatisfaction. Most simply went home, like us.

Although the Olympiastadion is certainly worth a visit, Hertha BSC is a soulless club with a non-distinct fan base. I am happy to be able to scratch them off my list, and look forward to seeing the other teams in Berlin.

Chicago Fire – Columbus Crew (20-09-2009)

One day after Notre Dame barely managed a victory against Michigan State, it was team for a game of the real football. So, together with my Brazilian colleague A. we set off for Chicago, roughly a 150 km drive. Unfortunately, we forgot that Illinois is one hour behind Indiana, so we arrived more than 1.5 hour before kick-off. We paid a disgraceful $15 (ca. €10) to park in front of the stadium – there are very few alternatives around – and walked in between some of the tailgaters to the ticket office. We bought tickets for $35 (ca. €25) each, which gave us a covered seat on the long side of the stadium.

Toyota Park is in Bridgeview, a suburb of Chicago, and is home to Chicago Fire, Chicago Red Star (professional women soccer), and Chicago Machine (professional lacrosse) and is also used for concerts. This typical American soccer stadium opened in 2006 and has a capacity of 20.000. Unfortunately, Chicago Fire never fills the stadium; its record attendance was a 94.1% capacity!

Today’s game was between the number 1 (Chicago Fire) and the MLS champion and number 2 (Columbus Crew) of the Eastern Division. Yet even for this game only some 7,500 showed up at the stadium; even though the website reported an official attendance of 16,549. Prominently among them Section 8, the hardcore home fans, and friends of the Timbers Army. There were also some 50 away fans, most of whom had made the roughly 600 km trip from Columbus, Ohio, in a supporter bus. Respect!

The crowd was classic for MLS games: many kids, youth soccer teams, and Hispanics. Most of the people would wear some type of Chicago Fire merchandise. Also typical, the game starts 6 minutes late – I have no clue why virtually all professional soccer games in the US start a couple minutes late.

The game started pretty well: after 3 minutes the Crew have to save a ball from the goal line, while two minutes later the Fire finish a good attack over the right with a great volley on the rebound: 1-0. A couple of minutes later Crew defender Pedula makes a nasty foul on Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Mexican international and star of the Fire; he gets away with yellow, but should have been sent off.

Much of the first half the pace is pretty decent and the Fire dominates the game. C. Blanco combines smart passes with useless tricks, which were unfortunately much appreciated by the Hispanic part of the audience. The game flows well back and forth, providing chances to both teams every three minutes or so. However, most chances are finished weakly; the few good finishes are saved. There is one exception, in the 34^th minutes, when poor defense of the Crew is punished by a hard shot in the corner: 2-0 (the second for Lowey). Just before the break McBride gets a great chance to make it 3-0, but tries to shoot where he should have headed. Half time score: 2-0 for the Fire!

After some good half time entertainment, notably the game between the local sports mascots, we get ready for the second half. Already in the 49^th minute the Fire gets alone in front of the goalie, but miss. Six minutes later the Crew is more accurate, finishing a great pass from the left with an easy header from 3 meters: 2-1. The game now starts to deteriorate, with the pace dropping significantly, but the home fans have some entertainment with flags to keep us busy.

The Fire creates two good chances in the next 10 minutes, but again fails to score. As so often, this is punished. In the 77^th minute the Crew gets a penalty after dangerous play by both players. Although undeserved, they do take the gift: 2-2.

In the last 15 minutes the Crew were the better team. The Fire were holding on, supported by an ever louder Section 8 (despite the rain). Despite some chances on both sides, the final score remains 2-2. A well-deserved draw for both teams.

To be honest, I was a bit disappointed by my visit to Chicago Fire, the closest MLS team to my home. The stadium doesn’t have much atmosphere and everything about it is expensive. The team has a decent level, but faltered in the second half. In contrast, Section 8 was silent during most of the game, yet came alive under the worst circumstances: heavy rain and a Fire team on its last feet. Then again, as friends of the Timbers Army, I’ll have to give them another chance to impress!

Notre Dame – Michigan State (19-09-2009)

After missing the opening game against Nevada because of a conference out of town, it was finally time for my first Fighting Irish home game. For those who have never heard of American football; first, the Fighting Irish are the sports teams notably the football team, of the University of Notre Dame, where I work this academic year, one of the most famous football schools in the US – even though their heydays are already more than 20 years ago. Second, college football is huge… and when I say huge, I mean H-U-G-E!

For every home game of the Fighting Irish, which is roughly 6-7 per season, around 200.000 (!) people descend upon the university campus. Mind you, the stadium hold ‘only’ 80.000. The rest come just to experience the atmosphere, which includes tailgating; i.e. putting a grill in front of your truck and having burgers etc. with your friend on the parking lot. Weird? Yes! But also fun. Not impressive enough? The game I attended was sold out… which made it the 207^th sell out in a row… in other words, all home games of the Fighting Irish have been sold out since 1973!!! And sold out means, just to remind you, 80,795 people (at a university of just 11.733 and in a town of just over 100,000).

Most of the people are alumni of the university, who come from all over the US to rekindle their college experience. All over campus students sell foods, while the Notre Dame Bookstore sells for more than $1.000.000 in that weekend alone! Add to that the revenue from the tickets and from the tv right, all home games of Notre Dame are live on a major national network (NBC mostly), and you will understand how the Football team brings some $25.0000.000 per year to the university budget!

In August I bought two season tickets at $770 for 7 games, which includes a 20% discount ($55 per ticket). This is one of the privileges of being an employee of the university. In fact, this privilege used to be presented as a plus when offering jobs to faculty, who were allowed to sell them with huge profits. This is no longer allowed and those who are caught will loose their ticket privileges for 5 years. As you can see above, our tickets are different and, to be honest, uglier than those for the regular public (who buy tickets through a tombola).

Roughly 10 minutes before kick-off (15.30), M and I take our places behind one of the goals. On the pitch is the Notre Dame band, the biggest university band in the US, which plays everything from Beyonce to Notre Dame’s famous Victory March. Before the game starts, we do not only get the obligatory national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, but also the equally patriotic “America the Beautiful” – both are sung by large parts of the audience. After that, it was time for the game. However, before the Fighting Irish start their game, they come to the crowd and get down on one knee for them. Respect!

As said before, the stadium was sold out. Opposite to us, in a corner next to the other goal, was the section of the Notre Dame students. Virtually all students will go to each home game and will wear “the shirt” – each year the University of Notre Dame makes a new, unique shirt for the season. This year the shirt is gold (one of the two school colors). After any score of the Fighting Irish, you will see students push up other students (once for each point scored so far).

There were also a remarkable number of away fans; I estimated some 2.000 white-green fans at least. True, East Lansing, home to Michigan State University, is ‘only’ 250 km northeast, but it is not very common that thousands of fans will travel with their team. I guess they were attracted by the fact that the Spartans won the last 6 away games at Notre Dame. And with both teams losing last game, they looked for a seventh.

The weather was perfect for a game. It was roughly 24 C with the sun at our back. Around us where locals and alumni, all of them with much more knowledge of the game then me. Most fans were tense and skeptical, after several poor seasons under coach Charlie Weiss and last weeks last-minute defeat against Michigan still fresh in their heads. Moreover, many were convinced that last weeks defeat was the result of biased refereeing; Notre Dame plays many teams of the Big Ten (including Michigan and Michigan State), but is itself one of only three non-divisional college teams. Hence, fans feel that Big Ten referees discriminate against them. And, to be fair, there were some very dodgy calls against both Michigan and Michigan State!

The game started very well for the Irish. After the first period, which consists of 15 minutes pure play which is stretched over almost an hour, the Irish were up 13-3. The second period went terrible, however: 3-14 for the Spartans. Most depressing, however, was a clear touchdown of the Irish, at the end of the period, and therefore the first half, which was ruled out. Not just no six points, which according to replays on tv were deserved, but the key receiver injured himself and will be out for the season. Half time: 16-17. :-(

After entertainment from both school’s bands, the MSU band played songs from Bruce Springsteen (although that was almost impossible to hear), the third period started around 17.45 (more than two hours after kick-off!). The Irish were able to grab the initiative again, but played extremely careful. Quarterback Jimmy Clausen threw almost no ball and it took them ages to get the 10 yards down. Still, after the third period we were 26-23 up; much less than we deserved.

The fourth period was going to be a tight one. With just over 10n minutes to go, the Spartans scored their touchdown and conversion: 26-30. Five minutes later, Notre Dame scored a touchdown and conversion: 33-30… but the ball with the Spartans. Slowly but steadily they advance to the endzone… letting the time tick away, so that if they score the touchdown, Notre Dame won’t have time to come back. With less than a minute to go, and less than 10 yards for MSU, the Spartans quarterback throws and… an Irish defender intercepts! Game over and everyone goes crazy. Not a great game for either team, but enough to keep hopes alive and Charlie Weiss in the coaching seat.

Football at Notre Dame is a special experience. The stadium is a huge, concrete arena filled with passionate fans. Mind you, with a capacity of just over 80.000, it is not even in the top 10 of college football stadiums! However, the descending of some 200.000 people upon the campus is unique. I can’t wait for the next games!