Europe Explained

We recently did Egypt on this Blog, then yesterday was Brazil, so it's time to return to my favorite place, which of course would be Europe.  In fact, Debbie and I were just there, as evidenced by this photo from the Hofbräuhaus in München (Munich).  We were in Southern Germany from September 13 through the 22nd.

So there are two versions of Europe: one found in Heaven and the other at the opposite end of things down in Hell.



It has been said that in Heaven:

 The police are English;
 The mechanics are German;
 The lovers are Italian;
 The cooks are French; and
 It's all organized by the Swiss.

But in Hell:

 The police are German;
 The mechanics are French;
 The lovers are Swiss;
 The cooks are English;
 and it's all organized by the Italians.

   Think about it.

   Prosit!

Soccer and Naked Women in Brazil

   In a marvelous story in today's New York Times, Sam Borden takes a close look at the culture of pick-up soccer in Brazil, which will host next year's World Cup.

  The game is called pelada, a word Borden says is used by Brazilian men to refer to a naked woman.  He said a hotel doorman in Rio, waiting to play in a pick-up game, explained that, “Football and women are the only two things we really love.”

   You can tell the story is worth reading just by the first paragraph: "In Brazil, the ball is always moving. It moves on grass and on sand, on concrete and on cobblestone. Sometimes, during the rainy season, it even moves on water."

   Borden takes us from Rio to the quadras of Sao Paulo to the remote city of Manus in the Amazon where players play for the love of the game, because they have nothing else to do, in the hopes of being discovered by a professional team or to escape drug dealers.

Is Bradley Still Walking Like An Egyptian?

Last week Grant Wahl wrote an excellent piece (as he always does) in Sports Illustrated about Bob Bradley, who was fired as coach of the U.S. men's national team, in 2011.  Bradley had since taken over in Egypt where he has attained rock star status as the Pharoahs were on the brink of qualifying for the World Cup - until yesterday.

Egypt has been torn by political strife and stained by the deaths of 74 fans at Port Said Stadium last year.  It has not been to the World Cup since 1990 but suddenly was undefeated in six matches as it took on Ghana in a home and home aggregate goal series for one qualifying spot.  Bradley, meanwhile, was everywhere in Egypt, adored by fans and walking like, well, an Egyptian.

But now the dream may have fallen to pieces.  Ghana won, 6-1 yesterday, meaning Egypt will need to win by six goals when the series resumes in Egypt next month.  After the blow-out rumors surfaced that Bradley would be fired, although he told Wahl that was not true.

New Season, New Field at HMHS

It was a postcard-perfect early fall day yesterday as the Haddonfield girls played their first weekend game in the newly-carpeted high school stadium.  There was a lot of agitation by some in town over the decision to replace the rutted football field and adjacent practice field with artificial turf, but walking on the field before the game and watching from the pressbox, it sure seemed like a good investment in our school's athletic program.  (Full disclosure: Debbie and I contributed to the turf field campaign.)

There is now a level, smooth and well-marked playing surface.  Although there are different color lines for Football (white), soccer (yellow), field hockey (orange) and lacrosse (red), the players and officials seemed to have no difficulty discerning the correct markings.  The advantage of turf will hit home when the rains come and the field is still playable.

This was technically not the home opener but as noted the first weekend game on the new field.  Because weekday games are played here as well, the scoreboard is now operated from the scorer's table and that and the benches have been moved form the far side to the side in front of the stands.  Having the clock operated by the scorer is one less thing for me to do during the game, although running a clock in soccer is way easier than football or basketball.

Yesterday we had a nice crowd, great weather, two undefeated teams and a well-played game well-called (in my opinion) by two veteran officials.  Before the game Allen Stout and I reminisced about some of the games he had refereed for my Medford Strikers teams over the years.

Generally stadium operation went well but I did not have time to test the CD player before the game so did not risk trying to play the National Anthem.  Then the microphone stopped working at the very end.  Add to that a few errors in the program, and there are some things to improve on for the Kingsway game on October 5.

All that aside, the game itself was typical Haddonfield-West Deptford: fast, close, exciting.  There were only a few real scoring chances but Haddonfield's Kylie Kirk gave the Bulldawgs all the scoring they need with a goal with just 8:49 remaining.  Haddonfield is now 8-0 on the season with Overbrook and Paulsboro coming up this week.

Action from Haddonfield girls' 1-0 win over West Deptford in the stadium.

High School Team or Academy? This Hawk Chooses High School

Over the years club soccer coaches always grumbled about conflicts with high school soccer.  The problem was especially acute on the girls side where the WAGS (Washington Area Girls Soccer) Tournament was the king of the hill among college showcase tournaments but was played over Columbus Day weekend and inevitably caused at least indirect conflicts with high school games or practices. 

Lately the upper echelon club teams, the so-called academies, have subtly or not so subtly demanded its players forgo high school teams to be on their rosters.  Chris Melchiorre has a story in today's Inquirer about one top college prospect who is going against the flow and will play for his Haddon Township High School team in his senior year this fall, rather than for the Philadelphia Union U18 Academy team. 

I wish him luck and will be interested to see how things turn out for him.

There's a Moon Out Tonight

   Police and reporters will tell you they always know when it's a full moon because that's when all the crazies come out.  Tonight's spectacular full moon in South Jersey may well bring out some strange people, but it also reminded me of the great song by the Capris and a great soccer story from my brother, Gary.

  When he's had time from his full-time job teaching religion at a New England prep school, Gary has coached soccer and ice hockey on and off over the years at the school.  A number of seasons back he was coaching a girls team when one of the deans stopped by practice to briefly discuss an academic matter.  Apparently the dean had done something to antagonize the students and as she walked away from the field, one of Gary's players mooned her.

   Gary happened to catch a glimpse of the moon and asked the girl, "Did I see what I thought I just saw?"

   "Just adjusting my equipment, Coach," replied the player.

Bundesliga Kicks Off 2nd Half Century

The German Bundesliga begins its 51st season tomorrow when Borussia Mönchengladbach visits defending champion Bayern München.  Bayern is coming off a "triple" in '12-'13: winners of the Bundesliga, the DFB (German Football Federation) Cup and the European Champions League title.

At the other end of the table are Eintracht Braunschweig, returning to the First Division after a 28 year absence, and Hertha Berlin, back after a brief period of relegation to the Second Bundesliga.  Eintracht has special meaning as the site of the first European game I ever saw in person.  My high school had an affiliation with a school in Braunschweig, an old Hanseatic city between Hannover and the Harz Mountains.  My family hosted the first exchange student from the school and after college I visited his family in 1968 and saw Eintracht play.  When my son and daughter lived in Berlin in 2001 we saw Hertha play Bayern in the Olympic Stadium on a cold December night in a fast-paced, exciting match that ended in a 2-1 Hertha victory and 50,000 fans singing Nur Nach Hause (gehen wir nicht).

I'm hardly an expert on European soccer and the differing styles of play but have always enjoyed the Bundesliga's all-out, up the middle go for the goal play.  Here's to the next 50 years.