Archive for the ‘Sports’ Category

Golfing has been called many things: an elistist sport, boring, and on the other end of the spectrum, the best game on Earth.

The sport didn’t originate in Germany, but now about 500 years after the game was created in Scotland, there are more than 600 courses found all over the country — and Spring and Fall are two great times to do it.

Yeah, yeah, summer too — in case you like the heat-filled season. ;-)

Playing a round or two of golf in Germany isn’t as easy as waking up one day saying, “I think I’d like to take a gander at whacking a little white ball with a club for 6,000 yards.”

It is, however, a fantastic way to relieve some stress.

C’mon, I can’t possibly be the only one out there that thinks whacking the bejesus out of something (in a constructive way) is a therapeutic. Don’t believe me, try it. Or, go to the gun range — that’ll work too. ;-)

Before you can get that kind of therapy on a golf course in Germany, you better have brought your Handicap Card from your local club back home. No card, no play.

Please, at least for you folks it’s a bit easier than what any German has to go through to get their “Platzreife.” That’s a “license” to golf, just like you need one to fish, but with a lot more hassle.

To get it, you better do 18 holes in less than 108 strokes (that would be bad on a par-72 course, wouldn’t it), AND take a written test.

Yikes, a written test to play golf? That’s German bureaucracy for you.

OK, got your handicap card or your Platzreife handy? Good, now all you need to do is book your tee-time. Again, punctuality. It’s the German way. :-)

As with just about every other country where you’ll find a golf course, you need to be considerate to your fellow golfers. Did the guys behind you catch up ’cause you were taking too long? Courtesy demands that you allow that party to proceed ahead of you.

Plus, it’s bad form to have your Blackberry or other electronic device ringing every time someone’s about to tee off or find their way out of the rough.

Otherwise, it might be “rough” to get out of a situation with a crazy German wielding a nine-iron. Nah, maybe not — it’s probably just me. Just tell me how much you love my blog… ;-)

Let’s face it. We Germans love sports, and just about any sport will do. There’s football (that would be soccer for my American friends), track & field, skiing, bobsledding, boxing, mixed-martial arts, hiking, biking, and rugby (just to name a few).

Rugby? That’s not big in Germany.

At least for the moment it isn’t, but it sure is on its way.

If you think American football is rough, or think normal football (a.k.a. soccer) is a test of endurance — you ain’t seen nothing yet. But, first the rules!

Rugby, originated in England and the predecessor of American football, is played on a field called a pitch that’s 69 meters wide by 100 meters long. It’s flanked by two H-shaped goal posts; and game action takes place with thirteen players. Unlike American football, the only guy that gets tackled is the one with the oval shaped ball.

Perhaps the most vivid thought about rugby is the “scrum.” That’s when players all lock arm in a circle, all pushing back and forth on each other.

Whatever the rules of the game are; or whatever they’re doing in that huddle of theirs (probably discussing what pub to go to after the game, ha-ha) this is a very competitive and physically grueling game.

There are a lot of other rules, and trying to figure out how to score can be tougher than rocket science, yet it’s still a lot of fun to watch.

Don’t believe me, go see ’em in action. There are few teams in Germany that play for the Rugby League, like the Heidelberg Sharks and the Rhineland Reds.

Of course I bring this up because it hasn’t been all that long since Germany hosted the 2011 Women’s FIFA World Cup.

I know, rugby isn’t soccer, but wouldn’t it be nice to one day host the Rugby World Cup (that’s also held every four years) like New Zealand is set to do this September?

Heck, it would be nice for the German National Team (that’s part of the Rugby Union) to qualify for the Rugby World Cup (for which it’s never done). However, if we all united with them, they just might!

Now that the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011­™ is over, and the ladies have all packed up and gone home, I have to say for the most part that it was a fantastic competitive event. For the most part, being the key phrase in that sentence.

Ohhhh, you naughty, naughty ladies. Did you know two women of the North Korean Women’s World Cup Team had made the news for testing positive for anabolic steroids during the games?

That’s a big (huge) no-no. It’s also a big bombshell for what had been a pretty amazing competition. It’s high time you women finally get some serious respect in the world of sports; which is why when these two players from the same team tested positive, it kind of diminished all the hard work all the other women of the competition had done so far.

So, what’s going to happen to Song Jong-Sun and Jong Pok Sim?

Well, for starters they were taken off the lineup, and other team members have been subjected to FIFA testing them for the banned substance.

But, does it really matter? I mean North Korea was eliminated from World Cup Competition; because of their game statistics — not because of the doping, mind you.

Maybe nothing else will happen to them. I don’t see North Korea banning them from future competition, or anything.

The two Jongs weren’t the only ones who have tested positive, either. A Colombian player tested positive two days before the official start of the World Cup.

C’mon, what’s with the steroid use? Don’t you know that all samples of your blood are tested by the World Anti-Doping Agency? They’re also tested at the German Sport University (it’s in Cologne, in case you’re wondering).

What? You know how methodical us Germans are. Did you really think we weren’t going to find it?

That’s beside the point, actually. Theo Zwanzinger (president of the German Football Federation) has said that “there’s an inhumane system in North Korea to give athletes success… which could possibly be used for propaganda purposes.”

Ouch, that was pretty harsh.

Even non-sports playing folks can appreciate everything you go through to become the best of the best in your sport. Just think how much better you’ll feel (and gain all the respect and admiration of the public) to know that you’ve won your matches (games, whatever) on the world stage, without the use of steroids or any other banned substance.

Yeah, that goes for the men too!

—Marcus

It’s official, Munich, Germany’s bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics has been denied. I won’t be a sore loser, so congratulations to Pyeongchang, South Korea on their success.

Yeah sure, I do wish it was us though. ;-)

I truly am sorry that this Upper Bavarian town won’t get to host the Olympic Games. Germany has hosted the Games on several occasions throughout the years of the modern games.

We have the resources, we have the infrastructure (a top modern train system that’s prompt, thousands of hotel rooms, international restaurants, etc.), and we’ve shown that we can hold world-class sporting events.

Germany’s hosted the 2006 FIFA Men’s World Cup, the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup, international boxing matches; oh, and three Olympic Games in 1896, 1936, and 1972, just to name a few.

Unfortunately, the country’s been turned down for hosting the games more times than it has been awarded them. Germany’s been denied for the 1960, 1992, 2000, and 2012 Games to just name a handful.

Drats, foiled again!

But, before I’ve gone off to sulk about Munich not hosting the 2018 Olympic Games; there’s still a chance to host the 2022 Games.

And even detractors for Angela Merkel would have to hand it to her; she really pushed for Munich’s chance in 2018, as well as Katharina Witt (an Olympic Gold Medalist) and other big names in sports, going all the way to South Africa to make a last-minute push to hold the Winter Games.

Hey, at least Munich has Oktoberfest to help drown out its Olympic woes. ;-)

Hmm, do you think we could petition the International Olympic Committee to make beer drinking a sport? No?

What about a bratwurst eating as an Olympic sport? Still no? Wow, this is a rough crowd — even rougher than the International Olympic Committee. ;-)

We’ll all just have to hold our breath for the 2018 then, huh?

—Marcus

I’m torn on this. I was reading boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko’s blog at www.KlitschkoBlog.com after his fight with Britain’s David Haye (July 2nd), where it stated that Mr. Klitschko (the younger of the two heavyweight champion brothers) dominated the 12-round bout.

Um, I watched that fight — and this champ, whose adoptive hometown is Hamburg, might have won the match, but dominate? Nah, I don’t think so.

I agree that at times Haye boxed like a little kid afraid for a mother’s slam on his face for stealing candy from the kitchen table. But this didn’t make my beloved Wladimir dominate the match.

However, I won’t be a Monday morning quarterback on this sport that’s often called barbaric.

And German fans are rough; sometimes they’ll boo you as soon as they look at you, even if you are a local boy (sorry, Wladimir you might have won but the thousands of Germans in attendance still booed you). I thought that only happened in Philadelphia, USA where they’ll consistently boo their own team, let alone an opposing one.

At least the Germans aren’t known for throwing snowballs at Santa Claus (yes, that really happened in the City of Brotherly Love).

I only brought this up to talk about how boxing in Germany is yet another sport to add to the long list of other blood pumping, adrenaline rushing activities.

A few famous boxers from Germany have been making international headlines (read: title fights) recently besides Wladimir. His older brother Vitali, also a heavyweight champ, is another professional boxer that has made Germany his home base.

Vitali fights Tomasz Adamek in Wroclaw, Poland on September 10th. With any luck, I’ll give you my analysis of that Klitschko fight on September 11th. ;-)

Arthur Abraham would be another champ (an IBF World Middleweight Champ, to be exact) whose title reigned from 2005 to 2009. He’s proud to be Armenian, but he’s also proud to call Berlin home.

Just so you know, you’ll find quite a few amateur and professional boxing gyms in Germany’s capital. It might be off the beaten path, but why not come into one of ’em, you never know who you might find training. Right?

It would also be a disservice to leave out German boxer Felix Sturm, whose win against Irish boxer Matthew Macklin in a split decision bout not too long ago in Cologne has been controversial to say the least.

Say what you will, German Sturm did get to keep his WBA belt; and he got to do it in front of his hometown crowd.

I look forward to a much anticipated rematch.

—Marcus

It’s time for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011!

From June 26th to July 17th, 2011, folks are looking forward to the matches, and new records in terms of the number of spectators are to be expected as women’s football (a.k.a. soccer) is still fairly young.

So let me list the nine host cities (in alphabetical order) with the names of the stadiums and the schedule of the matches so you know where to go when.

Bookmark this page as I will update this page on a regular basis during the course of the World Cup!

Augsburg

The Impuls Arena in Augsburg will host four matches:

June 29th at 15:00: Norway – Equatorial Guinea (1:0)
July 2nd at 14:00: Korea DPR – Sweden (0:1)
July 5th at 18:15: England – Japan (2:0)
July 10th at 13:00: Quarter-Final 3: Sweden – Australia (3:1)

Berlin

The historical Olympiastadion in Berlin hosted one match only:

June 26th at 18:00: Germany – Canada (2:1)

Bochum

In Bochum it’ll be the Rewirpowerstadion that will proudly host four World Cup matches:

June 27th at 15:00: Japan – New Zealand (2:1)
June 30th at 18:00: Canada – France (0:4)
July 3rd at 14:00: Australia – Equatorial Guinea (3:2)
July 6th at 20:45: Korea DPR – Columbia (0:0)

Dresden

Historical Dresden is among the eleven host cities of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011, and its Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion is where you’ll want to go see the following four matches live:

June 28th at 18:15: USA – Korea DPR (2:0)
July 1st at 18:15: New Zealand – England (1:2)
July 5th at 20:45: Canada – Nigeria (0:1)
July 10th at 17:30: Quarter-Final 4: Brazil – USA (7:5)

Frankfurt am Main

Frankfurt with its legendary Waldstadion (a.k.a. FIFA Women’s World Cup Stadium) is happy to host these matches here:

June 30th at 20:45: Germany – Nigeria (1:0)
July 6th at 18:00: Equatorial Guinea – Brazil (0:3)
July 13th at 20:45: Semi-Final 2: Japan – Sweden (3:1)
July 17th at 20:45: FINAL: USA – Japan

Leverkusen

The Bay-Arena in Leverkusen is able to accomodate almost 30,000 fans for these four matches here:

June 28th at 15:00: Columbia – Sweden (0:1)
July 1st at 15:00: Japan – Mexico (4:0)
July 6th at 18:00: Australia – Norway (2:1)
July 9th at 18:00: Quarter-Final 1: England – France (4:5)

Mönchengladbach

In Mönchengladbach, look out for the Stadion Im Borussia-Park to find these three matches here:

June 29th at 18:15: Brazil – Australia (1:0)
July 5th at 20:45: France – Germany (2:4)
July 13th at 18:00: Semi-Final 1: France – USA (1:3)

Sinsheim

You’ve probably never heard of the town of Sinsheim yet, but for us Germans it became famous for its successful 1899 Hoffenheim football club which plays in the Bundesliga here in its Rhein-Neckar-Arena — and hosts/hosted the following four matches:

June 26th at 15:00: Nigeria – France (0:1)
July 2nd at 18:00: USA – Colombia (3:0)
July 5th at 18:15: New Zealand – Mexico (0:1)
July 16th at 17:30: Third Place: Sweden – France

Wolfsburg

In Wolfsburg, the Volkswagen city, it’s the Volkswagen-Arena that will happily greet tens of thousands of fans for these four matches:

June 27th at 18:00: Mexico – England (1:1)
July 3rd at 18:15: Brazil – Norway (3:0)
July 6th at 20:45: Sweden – USA (2:1)
July 9th at 20:45: Quarter-Final 2: Germany – Japan (0:1)