Real Football Is Played Outside America

It’s February, it’s freakin’ cold in Europe, and the American public was warm, toasty, and glued to the television with beers in hand for its annual football ritual, the Super Bowl. Last Sunday, that is.

Uh, guys, as exciting as the Super Bowl is or was for the two teams on the hunt for the infamous Lombardi Trophy, you’re not playing FOOTBALL.

Yeah, as if that’s not gonna get a reaction out of some of you. ;-)

Just to set the record straight, guys ‘n girls, we (i.e., the rest of the world) call it football, you call it soccer (huh?), and we (i.e., the rest of the world) call yours distinctively American football.

Anyway, German teams that play real football are on the hunt for the coveted DFB Cup. Hmm, bragging rights alone should be good enough. But this 12.5 pounds of silver is worth more than €100,000; and can actually hold 8 liters of liquid to boot.

I’m guessing it wouldn’t be filled with cola after winning this baby; especially since Bayern München won it 15 times (and that artificial liquid called cola is not really a German drink, or is it?). ;-)

The competition starts at the end of July with 64 teams, ending in May the following year (the 2011 season kicked off July 30) with the final match to be played at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin.

The DFB League, called Bundesliga, is only of Germany’s top football leagues. The Bundesliga is the highest men’s league in the country. The creme-de-la-creme of the sport. The NFL of soccer, if you will.

They’re all competing for the Champions Trophy, or what’s so eloquently called the “Salad Bowl.” This trophy weighs in at a whopping 11kg (24 pounds), and kind of reminds me of the Ladies Single’s Rosewater Dish trophy from Wimbledon.

Sorry, Manly Men, but it looks like a dinner plate. ;-)

Sure, I make jokes but football is huge in Germany. So much in fact, the game’s played in big arenas like the Volkswagen Arena in Wolfsburg, the Allianz Arena (the home stadium for Bayern München) in Munich, and the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Stuttgart.

I mention these so if you’re here visiting you might want to see a game or two. You’ll find tens of thousands of screaming fans all decked out in their team colors who are playing real football. :-)

Now that you know what German football teams are playing for, I’ll fill you in on the rules soon enough. Stay tuned…