Get In The Game!!!
Weather: A cool 15 degrees with, and I kid you not this is straight from weather.com, a 100% chance of rain
CD: Willie Nelson
Beer, meat and football. Is there anything really better in life? This past weekend I introduced about 25 of my students to the simple joys that have carried me through the past 5 years back in Texas with a field trip to the Dresden Monarchs American Football game (with funding from the Bosch Stiftung. I’m telling you, I live a dream life).
Things kicked off with a tailgate party out in my "backyard". Hamburgers, Bratwurst, Chips and Salsa and beer were the order of the day. We tossed the football around and indulged in some good Texas music. I had one student come up to me and say "This is exactly how I picture America to be from the movies, with the grilling and the people playing with the balls…" It’s what I miss the most. WE made a mess of my half-baked chocolate brownie dough, grabbed that last beer and made our way to the stadium.
We missed kick-off. Hell, we missed the entire 1st Quarter. Not that that’s a terribly surprising ordeal considering I’m not really sure I’ve ever seen a kick-off in my entire life. But this is Germany. Punctuality. Nobody really seemed to mind though (once we were assured of our tickets and found our seats). First thing’s first though. We had to get some Spicy Coke. I made sure to teach them the tricks of the trade when it comes to sneaking alcohol into a stadium (it’s no big deal here. There’s alcohol everywhere.), then settled in to watch the Monarchs dominate the Hamburg Blue Devils, taking the game 10-7. Ricky Brown, the former fullback for the University of Texas ("Block Ricky Block!") who was ending his career on this day, left football as a winner. And we were out there in support. I let everyone wear my Texas shirts, etc, and you know the Texas flag was being flown, much to the confusion of all the other spectators. For a couple of moments I thought I was back in Texas seeing all that Burnt Orange (what a beautiful color).
After the game we met up with some of the players, including the Quarterback Sheldon Cross. He played for some little college in Iowa but was from Washington. He was pretty stoked to see a group of Texas kids but didn’t fail to mention the Holiday Bowl of 2003 (too bad he was playing in Iowa at the time…) … no no, but he was a great guy. He took us behind one of the security tables and let us get some photos with Ricky amidst all that Burnt Orange (who was being mobbed by spectators for an autograph). And just check out all those Horns Up!!!
The evening kept rolling back to my place, where we finished up any food and drink that could be found. Then continued on to Motown for some dancing into the night.
I had a blast. I think everyone else did as well. It’s one helluva life over here and it just keeps going. A special thanks to all those who took part, it’s the people who make it happen. And of course a best of luck to Ricky back in Texas. He’s honestly a really nice guy (what do you expect from a kid from Texas). Here’s a short interview with him about his future (auf deutsch natürlich).
More Pics here.
Talk to me for actual videos from the game:
Also, if anyone has a photo to add to the collection, send it this way. And if anyone wants a fullsize version of any of the pics, email me.