by tornados.de

First game was against Bad Kreuznach Cobras on April 22nd. It was the first home game this season for my team, the Trier Cardinals and I got asked to help out because the team was lacking some players. So far I wasn’t able to go to a practice as I’m lacking time and gas prices are also getting a little problem over here (8.63 USD/gallon). I was prepared to end up 0-4 with four K’s and millions of errors. It wasn’t too bad. Had one hit and as I played in right field and the last two innings on second base I didn’t get that much to do. Tried to dive for a ball and almost had it and I put a player out. The game ended with a 7-5 loss. But we lost because from the 7th inning on we only had eight players. Our catcher collided with our third baseman and got picked up by the ambulance. At that point we were winning 3-5.

Two weekends ago we played in Speyer. Although we lost again I enjoyed this game. I played first base, the position I play for years now. Felt really comfortable considering that first base in baseball is way different than first base in softball. Caused an error but I also hit a RBI-double and avoided a tag play by diving into first. I admit, it was quite spectacular

First of May is a holiday here in Germany. Workers Day, May Day or whatever you prefer. Since I can remember there was always a softball tournament, just like in 2012. We only had two games because one team resigned from the league. The first game was against the St. Ingbert Devils and we easily won that game with 1-27. But their team seems to be quite new to the game, still learning and just having fun. Great guys.

Second game was more challenging and it was a superb game. In my opinion a low score guarantees an amazing game. This one ended 2-3 for the Saarbrücken Blues though. In the last inning we had the bases loaded and no outs and didn’t manage to bring a runner home. The first runner who tried it was me. Waiting on third and the batter hit a high ball into shallow outfield. Waited for the outfielder to catch the ball and then started. But I stumbled and I guess that was the second I needed to get home safely. I still tried as I wasn’t sure if the runner at second was on his way already and saw that the catcher jumped up to catch the ball, so I wanted to slide underneath the catcher. But I crashed into the catcher. It was quite painful and obviously I wasn’t safe. Anyways, amazing game!

Next softball games will be on June 24th and the next baseball game will be on June 10th.

Right now I’m enjoying the evening watching the IIHF World Cup in Sweden (Germany vs Russia) with my girlfriend in Idar-Oberstein. We rented a holiday apartment and it’s amazing here. Last weekend my sister got married and this weekend it’s the church wedding. Beers guaranteed!

By the way, if you like to test beer and write about it you should email me! I started germanbeerday.com to honor the German Purity Law.

Have a great evening!

Never thought I liked this electronic device that much. A while ago I was really skeptic about Amazon’s Kindle but things changed when I was sitting on the plane to Boston about a year ago.

On the plane to the States I was sitting next to a couple and both of them had a Kindle. The book fascist I am was laughing at these foolish Americans who apparently can’t read a simple book and pay tons of money for something they need to charge constantly. Apparently I was wrong.

I love to read although I’m not reading 24/7. There are some days I can’t stop reading and some days I rather watch retarded shows or movies on TV instead of continuing reading exciting thrillers. On the plane I need to read. Most of the times the airlines have one or two good movies but the movies won’t fill the travel time. Just listening to the iPod is boring and I barely sleep. Usually I had 3-4 books in my backpack which was a pain in the ass once I finished a book and had to get up to grab myself a new book. While I was reading the last chapter of my paperback both of them were on their e-books. The woman finished her book and told her husband that she is done and she would start the next one. Could have been a silly commercial because the husband smiled, kissed her and said something stupid like “Good for you, darling!”. I can’t remember what exactly he said but about 15 minutes later I was done and wondering what I will go on with. I got up, had to dig my bag out of the huge mess above me and got mad because the book I wanted to read was in Germany while I was somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. Great. Got something else and had to deal with stuffing the carry-on luggage back into the compartment. While sitting down the lady smiled at me and I wish I had my 34” wooden bat with me.

In the States I decided to check the Kindle out. First I checked on the German Amazon store and the price was a bit shocking. The US store was way cheaper of course. The specs didn’t look to bad as well. One battery charge lasts for 2+ months. E-Ink that looks as good as ink on paper and I thought the price of books would be cheaper than the real books. The price isn’t necessarily cheaper. Many books cost as much as their paperbacks or they are barely cheaper. BUT there are many special offers or even books for free. Like the Christmas special or Pixel Of Ink.

PixelOfInk.com is a great resource for Kindle books offers. Every day they present free books and the books that sound interesting to me end up on my Kindle. They link the books to their Amazon.com page but almost all books are available in the German store for free as well. That’s why this page will be the Papp of the Week after I simply forgot about this for weeks.

Anyways, in the last week of my stay I decided to just go and buy the Kindle. I opened the box and thought there was a sticker on the screen telling me to charge it so I tried to scratch it off. After a while I noticed there is no sticker. It was the electronic ink. It’s amazing how the Kindle fools the reader. The screen looks just like paper.

I had to charge the Kindle around 6 or 7 times. One reason is reading at night. The case I bought with the Kindle has a light and the Kindle is the power source. When I read at night the reading light is on and if I fall asleep it gets turned off as soon as the Kindle goes on standby mode.

Another nice feature is the sync between multiple devices. You don’t need a Kindle to read your Kindle books, it’s also possible to read on the computer and on the phone. The devices sync your progress.

I’m really glad I got the Kindle and I got another Kindle for my parents for Christmas. I read a few books so far but there are still a few cons:

• Not every book is available on the Kindle
• You need Wi-Fi or a 3G version (or transfer via cable)
• You don’t have to charge it very often – Good thing but I promise you will FORGET to charge it one day, the battery dies and you won’t have the cable with you
• The Kindle will never replace nonfiction books

If you read a lot of books and if you aren’t interested in showing off your books at home I suggest you give it a try!

Hans Schäfer lifting the trophy May 12th, 1962

Friday I saw the 60th anniversary DVD of my favorite team, the 1. FC Köln. A film about the history of one of Germany’s greatest football clubs. February 13th, 1948 was the date of birth for the 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e.V. and it was supposed to be a story of success.

My dad grew up with this club and he was a child when Cologne became German champion in 1962, the first champion of the new Bundesliga in 1963 and won another championship in 1978. German Cup winners in 1968, 1977, 1978 and 1983. The club participated in European championships and played against famous and big teams. Then the 90′s came…

After 35 years constantly playing First Division, the 1st Bundesliga, Cologne relegated. From 1998 until 2009 Cologne relegated and promoted four times. Something we call an “elevator-team”, “eine Fahrstuhlmannschaft”.

I witnessed the promotion in 2009 with my own eyes. Saw how Roda Antar scored twice against Mainz in the second last match and the last home game and secured the promotion. The moment was so wonderful – I call it heaven, but the moment the referee ended the game it became so crazy – I call it hell (in a good way though).

Since 2009/10 Cologne is trying to establish themselves as a good team and slowly coming closer to the qualification for the European cups. Instead it’s a fight against relegation. It has been in 2009/10, 2010/11 and it’s happening right now. 28th game day is just over and Cologne is 16th. It’s not a very horrible situation. Still six games to play and the four teams in front of Cologne are just two or three points ahead. Basically all the teams from rank 10 to 17 are pretty close together. Out of these six games I expect two losses, two wins and two draws while the others have a quite exciting schedule.

Anyways, this one isn’t supposed to be about the current situation but it is about football in general and the dreams we have when we were young and still have somewhere sleeping in our head.

Back in the days when I was still playing there was a commercial on TV trying to get kids to play and possibly be in the team that plays in the 2006 World Cup. I can’t remember when this was but I was trying hard to make this happen. In late 2001 I quit playing football and of course I knew this would be the end of my dreams. I knew it was over before already as I was an average, maybe slightly above-average player and there aren’t many big players out of my area except for Edgar Schmitt, aka “Euro-Eddy”. In those years between my early retirement and the World Cup I never thought of that dream again.

In 2006 I was in my mandatory military service. The first thing they told us that we aren’t allowed to go to any games. I couldn’t care less because I didn’t have a ticket but there was a guy who had a ticket and, well, he couldn’t go. It was a shame. The last World Cup in Germany was in 1974 and we were helpless in the barracks. So much for patriotism. But they paused exercises and training so we could watch the games of the German team. I think we all know what happened.

But the last game of the German team made me cry. There was still a tiny molecule of hope that Jürgen Klinsmann would call and tell me that Germany needs me. It sounds ridiculous but it’s true. Once in a lifetime chance – over.

This game is really important for us. It’s so important for us that my dad had to get a tissue. Not sure if he had tears in his eyes or if it was something else but my roommate and I were close to tears when we saw the film for the first time. It’s not the titles we won but it’s more about the players, the team, the comradeship and the will to win. Pierre Littbarski gave Cologne DM 500,000 just so they can pay the transfer fee to Marseille and get him back. Players played for Cologne their whole life. Wolfgang Overath for example. The only team he played for was Cologne (1962-1977).  Nowadays players stay 2-3 years. Back then many stayed two or three times as long as today.

I wish some players would still be somewhat of little children so they are excited and happy when they get on the field. And as excited and happy to play for such a team and in front so many and amazing supporters.

Dear Cologne players, please do me a favor and play for the club and not for yourselves.

It’s a shame that both quit but then again, maybe it was time and I’m glad they retired with a Red Sox jersey. Varitek was a great and very smart defensive catcher. The four no hitters by Lowe, Nomo, Buchholz and Lester are the best examples. He was a real leader, someone who wasn’t afraid to fight…

I still dunno what to expect next season when he’s not there anymore. No #33. Though I hope and I’m sure Tek taught Salty and the others well and I hope he still stays a mentor.

Wakefield, 45, played 17 seasons for the Sox and last year he won his 200th game. More than any other Red Sox pitcher. But he is also an example for every professional sportsman. Loyalty and volunteering to be active outside of the game. Someone I would consider a hero. You don’t see this very often.

Wakefield was also a big part of those World Series teams, of course, and my respect for him grew as I became a firsthand witness to the time and joy he brought young cancer patients in the Jimmy Fund Clinic at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. This, I explained to my kids, was the sign of a real hero. – Saul Wisnia BleacherReport.com

The loyalty of these players is rare in other sports. Football players in the German Bundesliga have an average contract length of two to three years. Not often the players extend their contract, especially when the player knows that he can play for a better club. I know MLB and European association football are two different leagues because there’s not as much competition as in the UEFA. Teams can’t relegate, no international matches, just the same 30 teams every year. In Europe the best teams play in the big tournaments, for example the “Champions League”. Still, I wish my team could call one of their players a hero. Someone who identifies himself with the club, who declines offers and stays no matter what because he loves the town, the stadium, the club and the fans.

Lukas Podolski had the chance to become a legend. He started his professional career in Cologne as a 18-year-old and played 81 games with 46 goals for Cologne until the World Cup in 2006. The team relegated in the 2003/04 season, promoted in 04/05 and relegated again the next season. His departure was understandable. For the next three years he played for Bayern Munich but he didn’t have a chance to prove himself. In 2009/10 the lost son returned for the same price as Munich paid for him. He was back and Cologne went crazy. I really thought that this might be the beginning of a new era.

This year could and probably will be his last one in Cologne for a while. Media reports a move to Arsenal FC. It’s understandable again. Cologne started well, sucked and is now trying to prevent relegation although the club leadership wanted to play international football by now. They promised him international football but out of all the players in the national team who play the same position as he does he is the only one not playing international. So he needs a good team to play with.

I can’t blame him at all but wished he stayed. Wished that he becomes the new Karl-Heinz “Charly” Körbel (602 appearances for Eintracht Frankfurt) or the new Manfred “Manni” Kaltz (581 appearances for the Hamburger SV). Heck, even top Wolfgang Overath (409 league appearances) as a FC Cologne legend.

Sad to see him leave… Maybe there’s still hope and he extends the contract… lol

Anyway, wish you all the best, Lukas, Tek and Tim.

One day and 750 km (~ 470 miles) after I left my home I returned and I had a great time. Here’s a list of all the places we went to. We had to cut three stations because of lack of time but we found one place that we didn’t plan on going to.

February 18th:
Diekirch, Luxembourg (National Military History Museum)
St. Vith, Belgium
Baugnez, Belgium (Baugnez 44 Museum)
Bastogne, Belgium (101 Airborne Museum)
Sedan, France
Reims, France

February 19th:
Reims, France (Cathedral, Museum of the Surrender)
Épernay, France
Romagne-sous-Montfaucon, France (American Military Cemetery)
Vauquois, France
Brabant-sur-Meuse, France (German Military Cemetery)
Verdun, France (Fort Douaumont, Ossuary)
Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial, Val du Scheid, Luxembourg

The first stop in Diekirch, Luxembourg, was the biggest surprise this trip. Got to Diekirch, saw the museum, which didn’t look very big from the outside and we were overwhelmed when we got in. The museum has so much to see and I will stop by there sooner or later again.

We skipped the beer museum in St. Vith because we were quite late and rushed to Baugnez, Belgium, close to Malmedy. During the Battle of the Bulge German SS-troops murdered 84 American POW’s and the museum told the story but also covered the whole Battle of the Bulge. Good museum, little bit pricey, but OK. The unusual thing about the museum was the souvenir shop where they have original items on sale. I’m a bad tourist, by the way, didn’t take many pictures so the only one I took in Baugnez was the proof that some German military gear didn’t change in almost 70 years.

The last big stop was Bastogne. There I wanted to see the 101st Airborne Museum which was interesting as it told the story of the Screaming Eagles’ role in the Battle of the Bulge. Wasn’t allowed to take pictures inside so here is the building!

The places I really wanted to see on day one were all done. After Belgian fries for dinner we had an easy ride to Sedan, the place where the Prussians took the French emperor as a POW in 1870. Didn’t plan anything for Sedan. Just wanted to be there and buy an iPhone charger for the car because I used the GPS on my phone and the battery was dying.

We arrived in Reims at about 8pm and checked-in at the hotel. The quality of the hotel was as good as 35€ for a night can offer. But I couldn’t care less. Went into town and had a couple beers. Beer in France is a bit more expensive as it is in Germany. Pint of Kilkenny at a pub was 5.80€, at a different pub 7.50€. The next morning we left quite early to inspect the cathedral. My friend attended mass and I took pictures.

Second stop in Reims was the Museum of Surrender. Former HQ of General Eisenhower. Now, except for the museum part, a school again. Highlight is the room where the German representatives surrendered. Hasn’t been changed and I thought it was something special to stand there.

Goodbye Reims! Finally! Now heading to Verdun with a quick stop at Romagne-sous-Montfacon, where the biggest WW1 US-cemetery is located. The remains of more than 14,000 soldiers rest here.

On the way to Romagne-sous-Montfacon we passed a German cemetery and we passed one after the we went to the US cemetery. The third one shouldn’t be forgotten. So we stopped somewhere close to Brabant-sur-Meuse. It took me a while to find this one online but I found it. More than 11,000 German soldiers are buried here. Take a special look at the crosses. The Versailles Treaty forced the Germans to use black crosses…

The highlight was planned for the end. Verdun. I doubt there is an other place in the history of WW1 that was as cruel as this one. 700,000 people died and even 96 years later I felt the death is still there. 96 years later, still thousands are MIA and probably buried under the earth. First picture is the Douaumont Ossuary. I didn’t take a picture of the bones you can see from the outside but feel free to google  an image.

After we walked though the Ossuary we moved on to Fort Douaumont. It’s a tragic place. For example, more than 600 Germans died because an ammunition cache exploded. They couldn’t take the bodies out because of the fighting, so they just walled them in. Before going there I advise to look at some pictures from the time before the Germans bombed hell out of it. Today it’s all ruins and the area around Douaumont is still dangerous.

As I said, it was a great trip. Saw a lot and it motivated me to go for a trip again. Planning will begin soon…

Europe, especially the BeNeLux countries, France and Germany, is heaven for military historians. Both world wars and many other wars happened here. There are also many places you can see, visit, explore and most of these places are accompanied by museums.

Earlier this week I decided to do this trip, no matter what happens. The previous week was kinda crappy and I needed a timeout. I asked one of my best friends, who is also interested in history, to join and he was in. I’m really looking forward to this trip.

Gonna charge the cameras, pack my stuff, do some research, find out the addresses for all the places and then tomorrow morning we’ll head out.

View Larger Map

The first destination will be Diekirch in Luxembourg, where we’ll check out the National Museum of Military History. On the way to Malmedy in Belgium, where we’ll walk through the Baugnez 44 Historical Center, we’ll have a stop at a beer museum in St. Vith, Belgium. Our last stop in Belgium will be Bastogne. It’s famous for the Battle of the Bulge and we’ll try to see as much as possible.

As a last sightseeing/exploring stop for the day we planned Sedan in France. There, in 1870, the French emperor Napoleon III surrendered to Moltke, Wilhelm I and Bismarck. It was an important point in the Prussian-Franco War. We might check out the Château de Sedan for a little bit and then continue to Reims for dinner, beer and rest.

The next day we’ll taste some champagne in Épernay, move on to Vauquois Hill and then explore the Forts at Verdun. I’ve been to Verdun once years ago. The Battle of Verdun was one of the most cruel battles in WW1. Almost 700,000 men died and the area is still scarred by this battle. Wikipedia has a quite good article about it: CLICK ME.

Then we’ll continue to Metz to rest a bit, otherwise we’ll go straight to Luxembourg to salute to Gen. Patton at the American military cemetery and also visit the German military cemetery just a few kilometers away.

Expect some photos and a report on Sunday or Monday!

Not even a day later there were dozens of posts on facebook where people degraded her career and compared her death to the ones of military service members. Right or wrong?

Although I never really liked that sort of music I think she was a great singer. And I prefer to remember her as the singer who sung classics like “I wanna dance with somebody”, “One moment in time”, “How will I know” and the all-time classic “… and IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII will always love youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu”. These songs will remain excellent (no homo) and she shouldn’t be forgotten for that.

While I agree with most people that she fucked up and maybe shouldn’t get all that excessive sympathy as she is getting right now, she shouldn’t get rude comments from especially one group – military members.

Don’t get me wrong. I think servicemen deserve more credit than they get right now. Servicemen decided to sacrifice lots of their life and sometimes, unfortunately, they sacrifice their whole life. And they decided to do this for a really lousy paycheck, regarding the job, the working times and conditions.

But they decided to do this and accepted all the troubles and hard conditions with putting on the uniform. And one thing shouldn’t be priority for those who join the military and that’s fame. The top priority is and should be serving the country and comradeship. I’m sure Lt. Michael P Murphy isn’t forgotten. I read his story years ago and I haven’t forgotten his name.

Now back to Whitney Houston’s death. She had her flaws and died because of drugs but who didn’t? Google for drug-related deaths and Wikipedia gives you a good list. Let me tell you a few people of that list:

Marilyn Monroe, Layne Staley, Elvis Presley, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse…

This is just a small list. None of these people I just listed (except for Amy Winehouse) are getting bashed on for passing after taking drugs, alcohol or whatever. At least I can’t remember that it happened. I know that many military members like the work of these musicians and actors and so do I.

One more reason why the military should think about the Whitney-bashing again is Whitney Houston’s concert for the military servicemen and their families who came back from the Gulf War in 1991. You don’t see big musicians or bands doing this that often.

But the person I am, I make my jokes about all this, I admit…

Good night!

Barton Silverman/The New York Times

I watched the game and I was hoping for a revenge for 2008 when the New York Giants ruined a perfect season. Although I’m not a big follower of American football and the NFL, I still like to watch it. And that’s why I always watch the Superbowl. It’s also the only NFL game I can watch anywhere with a TV because it’s the only game on German Free-TV. Although this years’ broadcaster Sat.1 did a crappy job. There were a few occasions when they missed some moments of the game because of commercial breaks.

Since I’m somehow related to Boston and like the New England region it makes it even more interesting. But it’s not just the location, since 2009 the Patriots have a German player in their roster and apparently is doing great.

As I said, I’m not a big follower but I think it was easy to see New England had troubles with the Giants’ offense. And from what I’ve seen and heard about the Patriots’ defense it wasn’t very strong. But I’m not an expert.

After two quarters I fell asleep (the game started at 12:30am in Germany) and I woke up at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Why I fell asleep? I HATE THE HALFTIME SHOW! 30 minutes is so unnecessary. In association football, the real football btw, halftime shouldn’t be longer than 15 minutes. Even in baseball there’s no very long break but multiple short breaks and in the MLB extremely long at-bats.

Well, the last time New England had possession while leading they seemed to just try and waste too much time with running plays. Then Wes Welker didn’t make the catch and the Patriots had a problem. Would have made sense to try and score earlier and then try and defend really hard? Buuuuuuuuut I’m not Bill Belichick and not an expert.

Still, it’s sad to see that Vollmer missed the chance to become the third German champion in the States after Dennis Seidenberg winning the Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins and Dirk Nowitzki winning the NBA Finals with the Dallas Mavericks and becoming MVP. The World Series title will have to wait a while because the highest league a German plays in is AA I think.

Although the picture I posted isn’t a photo taken right after the game it could be. It shows the shock and the loss of hope in the bit of Brady’s face you can see through the cage. In that case Vollmer might have said: “Come on, there’s always next year!”

While I’m watching retarded shows on TV where people embarrass themselves in front of the whole nation for 1,500 € I thought I share the latest “Papp of the Week”. I’d like to thank my former USAFE co-worker Mr. C. Murphy for this wonderful discovery.

My friend posted the URL to this page on facebook and he has a great talent for finding such gems. He also has a very sarcastic sense of humor so I immediately clicked on it. I didn’t really expect such an impact on my evening. Because that show I was watching was quite funny actually.

Anyways, the page is made by George “Maddox” Ouzounian who also runs The Best Page In The Universe, a page I stumbled on a couple years ago. He rates kids’ arts, writings, etc. and it’s wonderful. Why is he doing that? From his “about”…

I was standing around in a co-worker’s cubicle at my old job one day, and noticed that she had poorly drawn pictures hanging in her cubicle. So I told her they sucked. She took offense and brought to my attention that it was drawn by her 4-year-old nephew. It changed nothing. In fact, it only strengthened my resolve to grade children’s artwork, because I don’t think kids should get a free pass for being kids. Coddling children ruins them. Mozart wasn’t coddled, and look at him: dead and famous. Most people will only ever accomplish being dead in life. Mozart accomplished two things.

Let me show you an example from Maddox’ page:

The “F” word bird…. yup. I hope my unborn kid won’t start producing such things otherwise I know what I’m gonna send him…

It started so good. Know the feeling when something hasn’t even begun and you know it will be great? I had that feeling. When I walked up the stands and heard the music (Bläck Fööss – Du bes die Stadt) they were playing I was getting really excited. Then the hymn of the club (Höhner – Mer Stonn zo dir) and if it didn’t happen already I get the creeps because it’s an amazing thing to hear 50,000 people chanting and waving their scarves during that song. And even after song when the game is on the fans continue and it’s even more amazing. I love it. I love to go that place. I have great memories of the RheinEnergie Stadion and I know I can’t stop returning and paying money (where I sit I usually pay 37€) for it.

The game begins and it took Cologne three minutes to score the first goal. They played excellent! At least for the first 20 minutes.

An ugly game. It’s the worst thing for a fan to see an ugly game. A 0-0 can be good, although a goal is always better but the way both teams played was an insult to football. Both teams made lots of mistakes, stupid mistakes that can easily be avoided by actually playing the game it is supposed to be. DO NOT pass the ball to the players of the other team or if there are some players waiting for you to pass the ball to them you SHOULD NOT pass the ball to the player who is covered by two defenders. Oh, and if there is a defender you SHOULD NOT try and run against him. In the first 20 minutes I thought that winning this game seems realistic, after the first half I thought that we can be happy with a tie and then when Schalke scored the equalizer I knew we will lose.

Schalke’s first goal came in the 60th minute. Cologne brought in a defender and a winger in the 69th minute but three minutes later Cologne was behind. The defender that just got on had to leave in the 78th minute because of a red card and that led to a penalty kick. 1-3. Oh, and there was another goal but many supporters didn’t see it because they left. 1-4 was the final result.

I wasn’t even sad when I left the stadium. I accepted the defeat. That’s the best thing you can do after such a day – sit down, have a beer (or two, or three…) and think of something else. But at home when I watched the sports show on TV my head’s analysis was working hard.

Where is the sense in bringing a defensive midfielder into the game when you’re behind 1-3?? Null points are null points. If you lose 1-3, 1-5 or 1-100. Doesn’t matter. Why don’t you take out a striker who touched the ball three (!) times during the game and was almost not existent? How come you have talented strikers and don’t use them? Uth, who played in the Cologne youth-teams, Ishak, 18-year old Swedish player or Roshi, another young and very talented kid? The news that totally ruined the weekend was the injury of Podolski, Cologne’s star player who scored 15 times this season (more than the half of Cologne’s goals this season). He will be out for a couple weeks. Guess who they signed today as a replacement? Chong Tese! Yea! Great player! North Korean who is playing second division and scored four times this season. In all his 39 matches for Bochum he scored 14 times. I’m so excited… I highly doubt (but hope) that this player is going to help us in the race for the points we need to stay in the division or even get a good place in the mid of the division.

See, that’s why I’m excited for baseball. The Red Sox can’t relegate!

If you clicked on the link at the top of my post you already visited one of my favorite blogs out there. It’s Grantland.com, a blog by ESPN and whose head editor is Bill Simmons. There are a few other writers for this page and it’s fun to read because a) you have many opinions thanks to the huge amount of writers and it covers everything, not only sports. It’s worth to stop by!