Touchdown, Wooo!
There are many things an American Ex-Pat longs for after many months away from home...in our case, it's sports; namely, baseball and football. Apologies to our German friends, but handball and soccer just don't do it for us. Fortunately, we've found ways to fill our needs through the magic of the internet and the fellowship of the neighborhood boys.
It's just killing me to be away from Denver and my family right now, when the Rockies are FINALLY making it big, winning game after game after game, and blazing a hot streak into the playoffs. We've stayed up late a few nights (in some cases, gotten up early) to watch the mlb.com live streaming of the games.
It's not the same - as you can see, the screen is really small, and the sound is usually not lined up with the video (i.e., the pitcher's windup is usually accompanied by a 'CRACK' and screaming fans). But it's better than nothing, and there's something kind of fun about piping such a blatantly American sound into our Berlin apartment.
As for Dave, the changing leaves and the chill in the air make him want to toss the pigskin in a neighborhood game of pickup. A couple of weekends ago, we went into the park in front of our building to toss the ball around. We were there for about a half an hour before three of the neighborhood 10-year-olds came over and asked if they could play. One kid was pretty forward about it, throwing himself into all of his catches, spiking the ball, and yelling, 'Touchdown, wooo!' The others were a little more reserved, so Dave drew them in by inviting them to make placekicks with the ball. Soon all the kids were drawn in, and we had a regular game going - the 'adults' versus the kids.
The kids don't quite get it - their interpretation of the game is a mix of soccer and rugby, with some showiness thrown in (one kid actually does handsprings when he scores). And their version of the groundrules don't seem fair - they are the same boundaries the kids use for their soccer field, where one goal is down the steps to the apartment, and the other is on the border of the parking lot. That means for us to score, we have to run down the stairs, whereas they just need to kick the ball to the other end of the lot.
Nevertheless, the kids really love it - so much that they intercepted Dave on his way home this week and practically demanded he bring out the American football.
There are many things an American Ex-Pat longs for after many months away from home...in our case, it's sports; namely, baseball and football. Apologies to our German friends, but handball and soccer just don't do it for us. Fortunately, we've found ways to fill our needs through the magic of the internet and the fellowship of the neighborhood boys.
It's just killing me to be away from Denver and my family right now, when the Rockies are FINALLY making it big, winning game after game after game, and blazing a hot streak into the playoffs. We've stayed up late a few nights (in some cases, gotten up early) to watch the mlb.com live streaming of the games.
It's not the same - as you can see, the screen is really small, and the sound is usually not lined up with the video (i.e., the pitcher's windup is usually accompanied by a 'CRACK' and screaming fans). But it's better than nothing, and there's something kind of fun about piping such a blatantly American sound into our Berlin apartment.
As for Dave, the changing leaves and the chill in the air make him want to toss the pigskin in a neighborhood game of pickup. A couple of weekends ago, we went into the park in front of our building to toss the ball around. We were there for about a half an hour before three of the neighborhood 10-year-olds came over and asked if they could play. One kid was pretty forward about it, throwing himself into all of his catches, spiking the ball, and yelling, 'Touchdown, wooo!' The others were a little more reserved, so Dave drew them in by inviting them to make placekicks with the ball. Soon all the kids were drawn in, and we had a regular game going - the 'adults' versus the kids.
The kids don't quite get it - their interpretation of the game is a mix of soccer and rugby, with some showiness thrown in (one kid actually does handsprings when he scores). And their version of the groundrules don't seem fair - they are the same boundaries the kids use for their soccer field, where one goal is down the steps to the apartment, and the other is on the border of the parking lot. That means for us to score, we have to run down the stairs, whereas they just need to kick the ball to the other end of the lot. 
Nevertheless, the kids really love it - so much that they intercepted Dave on his way home this week and practically demanded he bring out the American football.
posted by Erin at 10:37 AM
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