München, Germany - When it comes to match reports, I’m not one to write them. Reading them is entertaining and fun, but writing them takes me back to the times of my younger years when my professors forced me to labor through the night to create endless pages of the most complete and utter bull crap that no one would ever read. Kind of like these NJB match reports. And yet the ‘mayor’ of US Soccer supporters and official editor that Ed Kirwan is, he cracked his whip yet again and forced me to write my second and a half match report. Except that this time, just like the last one, it’s not an actual report on a match, but more of a personal review on a set of events. Let’s begin. [editors note: Dimitri offered to write this report]
There is a lot to be said about Germany, and there is certainly more to be said about München. Yes this is the land where the Third Reich came to power some 70 years ago, but there is more to this place then just that and precisely German engineered vehicles that roll out of the Bayerische Motoren Werke plant. This city is filled with beauty, history and culture. There are plenty of places to grab an excellent bratwurst or a pretzel, and visit anything from museums to theatres, to shops that satisfy your sexual pleasure (and no, I was not a ‘satisfied’ customer). Yet most importantly of all, this is the land where full breasted women serve gigantic portions of beer, fit only for ‘über’ Germans. And not just any beer, but the best damn beer in the world!
The date itself escapes me, perhaps because it took place 2 years ago, or perhaps because I drank the memory away on that very day. However, what I do know is that a long time ago, in a country far far away… the NJB went to München. Our spirits were high at that time. US had just tied Italy, and the Czechs fell to the Black Stars, our chances looked good. It was a day before we played Ghana, and the NJB had some time to kill, so we thought ‘why not’, what better way to spend a day than visit historic München. We woke up early to make sure that we got to enjoy the most of our trip and jumped on the train. The ride itself was not a long one, but then again with the German bullet trains you can make your way across the country in less then a day. Armed with a couple of maps we made our way on foot through the city taking in the sites and sounds. Needless to say we had only been in München for no more then a couple of hours, when we decided that it was time to get lunch. Of course, as the official trip planner I insisted on visiting a beer garden and no one seemed to disagree. And so with that plan, the duty of getting to the Hofbrauhaus was pinned on our ‘tour guide’ and the only German (by ancestry) in our group, Rob. Needless to say that after about half an hour and 7 right turns, we finally arrived at our destination which was only a tenth of a kilometer away (that’s .06 miles for you Americans).
We set down, ordered some brats, kraut, couple of pretzels, and of course a lot of beer. At first, only a few of us were man enough to order the liter of beer, myself included. (There was no way I was going to be visiting the famous Hofbrauhaus and not getting the full experience.) The rest opted out for the smaller half a liter portions designed for women. However, as soon as the sweetness of the finest brew in this world hit our lips, and the rest the crew’s testicles dropped, we knew we were going to be spending a considerable amount of time at the Hofbrauhaus. Even Rob, who’s is disgusted by the taste of beer, ordered a liter. And so the beer kept flowing and we kept drinking. It’s hard to estimate just how much alcohol you’re really drinking when your intake is in liters and it’s going down smoothly, but needless to say after about three drinks we were (for a lack of a better word) smashed! We decided that now would be a good time to go see the rest of the city.
What a mistake that turned out to be. I must say that this was certainly not the first time we stumbled across a German city totally unfamiliar with our surrounding. However, this was certainly the first time that all of us were absolutely plastered. Knowing that sooner rather then later we were going to pass out, our thoughts turned to heading home. And then, the most unlikely thing happened. On the way back to the train station we walked into who else, but Rishi (who happens to have a man crush on Ed), Hans and the other dude. These three just happened to take the train from Berlin to München on the same day, and unsurprisingly enough were on the way to a beer garden.
As you can imagine, we ended up back at the Hofbrauhaus eating and drinking once again. Nik passed out as usual. What city didn’t Nik pass out at you ask? I can’t think of any. The rest of us mingled with the crowd which included Americans, Germans, Koreans, Serbs, folks from the Ivory Coast, and oddly enough some dude in a MetroStars jersey. It was a great time had by us all, one that we hopefully won’t forget. Afterwards I do remember somehow getting to the train station and getting on the train, but the rest of the night was a blur.
The next morning…. Well that’s certainly a day I’d like to erase from my memory.
München, Germany - When it comes to match reports, I’m not one to write them. Reading them is entertaining and fun, but writing them takes me back to the times of my younger years when my professors forced me to labor through the night to create endless pages of the most complete and utter bull crap that no one would ever read. Kind of like these NJB match reports. And yet the ‘mayor’ of US Soccer supporters and official editor that Ed Kirwan is, he cracked his whip yet again and forced me to write my second and a half match report. Except that this time, just like the last one, it’s not an actual report on a match, but more of a personal review on a set of events. Let’s begin.
There is a lot to be said about Germany, and there is certainly more to be said about München. Yes this is the land where the Third Reich came to power some 70 years ago, but there is more to this place then just that and precisely German engineered vehicles that roll out of the Bayerische Motoren Werke plant. This city is filled with beauty, history and culture. There are plenty of places to grab an excellent bratwurst or a pretzel, and visit anything from museums to theatres, to shops that satisfy your sexual pleasure (and no, I was not a ‘satisfied’ customer). Yet most importantly of all, this is the land where full breasted women serve gigantic portions of beer, fit only for ‘über’ Germans. And not just any beer, but the best damn beer in the world!
The date itself escapes me, perhaps because it took place 2 years ago, or perhaps because I drank the memory away on that very day. However, what I do know is that a long time ago, in a country far far away… the NJB went to München. Our spirits were high at that time. US had just tied Italy, and the Czechs fell to the Black Stars, our chances looked good. It was a day before we played Ghana, and the NJB had some time to kill, so we thought ‘why not’, what better way to spend a day than visit historic München. We woke up early to make sure that we got to enjoy the most of our trip and jumped on the train. The ride itself was not a long one, but then again with the German bullet trains you can make your way across the country in less then a day. Armed with a couple of maps we made our way on foot through the city taking in the sites and sounds. Needless to say we had only been in München for no more then a couple of hours, when we decided that it was time to get lunch. Of course, as the official trip planner I insisted on visiting a beer garden and no one seemed to disagree. And so with that plan, the duty of getting to the Hofbrauhaus was pinned on our ‘tour guide’ and the only German (by ancestry) in our group, Rob. Needless to say that after about half an hour and 7 right turns, we finally arrived at our destination which was only a tenth of a kilometer away (that’s .06 miles for you Americans).
We set down, ordered some brats, kraut, couple of pretzels, and of course a lot of beer. At first, only a few of us were man enough to order the liter of beer, myself included. (There was no way I was going to be visiting the famous Hofbrauhaus and not getting the full experience.) The rest opted out for the smaller half a liter portions designed for women. However, as soon as the sweetness of the finest brew in this world hit our lips, and the rest the crew’s testicles dropped, we knew we were going to be spending a considerable amount of time at the Hofbrauhaus. Even Rob, who’s is disgusted by the taste of beer, ordered a liter. And so the beer kept flowing and we kept drinking. It’s hard to estimate just how much alcohol you’re really drinking when your intake is in liters and it’s going down smoothly, but needless to say after about three drinks we were (for a lack of a better word) smashed! We decided that now would be a good time to go see the rest of the city.
What a mistake that turned out to be. I must say that this was certainly not the first time we stumbled across a German city totally unfamiliar with our surrounding. However, this was certainly the first time that all of us were absolutely plastered. Knowing that sooner rather then later we were going to pass out, our thoughts turned to heading home. And then, the most unlikely thing happened. On the way back to the train station we walked into who else, but Rishi (who happens to have a man crush on Ed), Hans and the other dude. These three just happened to take the train from Berlin to München on the same day, and unsurprisingly enough were on the way to a beer garden.
As you can imagine, we ended up back at the Hofbrauhaus eating and drinking once again. Nik passed out as usual. What city didn’t Nik pass out at you ask? I can’t think of any. The rest of us mingled with the crowd which included Americans, Germans, Koreans, Serbs, folks from the Ivory Coast, and oddly enough some dude in a MetroStars jersey. It was a great time had by us all, one that we hopefully won’t forget. Afterwards I do remember somehow getting to the train station and getting on the train, but the rest of the night was a blur.
