Favourites once again: Germany 4 Switzerland 0

Just in case anyone is wondering why I didn't write anything about last weekend's round of Bundesliga matches, well, I didn't really feel like writing anything about it because nothing special happened. At least nothing which I thought was worth mentioning. So instead I will write a little something about last night's international friendly between Switzerland and Germany. Switzerland of course being the co-hosts of this year's Euro championship weren't very convincing in their last outings and they weren't any better yesterday. Although this first half was rather boring Germany went ahead 1-0 and then outclassed their opponents the the second half by scoring three times. Stuttgart striker Mario Gomez was brilliant and everywhere, while the rest of the team was rather uninspired. There were flashes of that fine play that brought Germany into the World Cup semis and to the Euro, but they weren't nearly as dominating as the used to be. And this might be because of some players really delaying the game by playing too selfishly. The prime example is Bastian Schweinsteiger who, on a good day, can play a wonderful left midfielder. But most of the time he just tries to run head first into a wall of defenders. I can't quite see why coach Joachim Löw is still holding on to him when there wáre alternatives like Podolski, Lahm or Jansen.
There will be no more matches before the final line up is announced and there is no doubt that Schweinsteiger will be in it. But I do hope that he either gets his stuff together or that the coaching staff will put him on the bench if he doesn't.

Spring is coming and so is the sound of cracking bats

I have to admit that I have been very anxious for the baseball season to start again and spring training games haven't had a great placebo effect on me. So I gladly accepted the opportunity to watch the season opening game from Tokyo between the Athletics and the Red Sox at a decent time. It was 11 AM in Germany so I was able to watch a few innings before I had to leave for work. I twas nice to watch, some nice defensive plays and hits, some shaky pitching by homecoming Matsuzaka Daisuke at the beginning, and a nice outcome for the Red Sox with a 6-5 win in extra innings.
I wasn't able to watch the exhibition games the days before though. I would have loved to see the Hanshin Tigers play against the American teams and they seemed to have done well against the defending World Champions from Boston. But those Tigers games were broadcasted too early for me unfortunately. And they were at Tokyo Dome and not at Koshien stadium which currently is hosting the invitational Spring Tournament.
Which leads me to the website for that tournament. The great thing is that you can watch every game there as a replay once it is finished. Just click on one of the numbers 1-13 which represent the game days. Complete game coverage with no commercial breaks. And the commentary is just hilarious. I watched a little bit of a surprising match in which Yokohama crashed out of the competition. Yokohama of course being the former school of Matsuzaka.
And finally in Japan the new season kicked off as well. Until now it is only the Pacific League, but the Central League will join the action this weekend, if I read the NPB website correctly. There is a nice blog about the Hanshin Tigers on a website which deals with almost everything about baseball in Japan which I really recommend.

Aah, I am really looking forward to another season...

Hanami - Kirschblüten: A German movie about Japan

Well, not exactly, but it is set in Japan and on a side note it deals with how someone traveling to a completely foreign culture copes with what he experiences abroad.
This movie "Hanami - Kirschblüten" by German director Doris Dörrie tells the story of an old couple living an ordinary life in the middle of nowhere of Bavaria, a very rural and conservative area of Germany. The wife Trudi (Hannelore Elsner) always wanted to visit Japan, since she had a strong interest in the culture and her son is working in Tokyo, and now she is confronted with a diagnosis of her husband's doctors telling her that he only has a few more months to live because he is suffering from cancer. She doesn't know how to cope with this and is not capable of telling him either. The husband Rudi (Elmar Wepper) is a normal civil servant who is afraifd of change and doesn't want to take risks at all, let alone travel to countries which are very far away. So she finally persuades him to visit their other children in Berlin and then take a trip to the Baltic Sea. While staying there Trudi suddenly dies leaving Rudi behind. He is struggling to keep up his daily life but in the end he has to understand that he needs to go to Japan to find out what his wife wanted to see there. Staying at his son's place (Maximillian Brückner) he experiences the vastness of Tokyo's daily (and night) life until he meets a young Butoh dancer, a form of dance his wife loved to do. He and Yu (Irizuki Aya) finally travel to see Mt Fuji, to fulfil the final wish of Rudi's wife.

At first I didn't really know what to expect since all the movies Doris Dörrie previously made weren't really my cup of tea. And at the beginning of the film I think I saw some tries of applying the technique of slow story telling, which one can find in Japanese cinema very often, to a German landscape and story. But as the movie went on I got sucked into the story more and more and all of a sudden this becomes something everyone can relate to. It's not only a movie which concentrates on the loss of a loved person, but at the same time it shows the difficulties parents and children have as time goes on. There is one scene were Rudi says the should just go back to Bavaria, because his children don't understand him and he doesn't understand them anymore. everything's fine, they are grown up and healthy and happy, that's it. His children take on a similar stance towards their parents, a stance which changes slowly with the death of the mother. And then in the second half of the movie there's the cultural difference between rural Germany and the pulsating metropolis of Tokyo.

This is a great movie with a brilliant cast (Elmar Wepper and Hannelore Elsner are just great) with a very moving story which will get you thinking. I really recommend this one.

Bundesliga - Day 24: Missed chances and trash talk

Bayer Leverkusen - 1.FC Nürnberg 4:1
Werder Bremen - VfL Wolfsburg 0:1
FC Hansa Rostock - Hertha BSC Berlin 0:0
Karlsruher SC - Eintracht Frankfurt 0:1
VfL Bochum - VfB Stuttgart 1:1
Hamburger SV - Borussia Dortmund 1:0
Hannover 96 - Arminia Bielefeld 2:2
FC Energie Cottbus - FC Bayern München 2:0
FC Schalke 04 - MSV Duisburg 2:1

So another missed chance for the pack trailing Bayern Munich at the top of the table. An unexpected loss to last place Cottbus and none of the persecutioners took advantage. Bremen seems to be completely out of it at the moment. Losing to Glasgow in the UEFA Cup and now being beaten by Wolfsburg, the epitomy of mediocrity. Hamburg and Leverkusen won their matches, but they seem to be too far back to really get into the title race at this point of the season.
The main theme for the past few weeks though seems to be the person of Karlsruhe defender Maik Franz. Labelled the "bad boy" of the Bundesliga he again had some fights with his opponents. Now, honestly, I really don't like him as a player. He plays rather unfair and dirty (they were showing a scene on television were he stepped on his opponent's foot on purpose) and I don't consider him to be a good football player. So every time I see some one speak out against him I really enjoy this. This weekend there were numerous players of Frankfurt who complained about his style of play. Only a few weeks ago there was an incident with Stuttgart striker Mario Gomez and if I remember it correctly last weekend someone else was complaining about Franz as well. Now, although I said I like it when people stand up against him I think at the same time he is getting way too much attention. He's just a mediocre player on a team who has a high right now. Next year he will be back to normal down in the depths of relegation struggles with Karlsruhe (which is wishful thinking on my part, but I really hope predictions come true). Interestingly enough there was an article regarding the existence of trash talk on the picthes in the Bundesliga (I am sorry I cannot find the link any more) which stated that the master of trash talking seemed to have been German national team captain Michael Ballack, a player who most of the commentators consider to be very calm and reserved.

In The Backyard Of The Record Collection (8): Big Rig - Expansive Heart

Now actually I can't quite remember when or why I pruchased this little gem. I think it must have been through the infamous German mailorder Lost & Found (note to myself: I have to write about Strain some time in the future). Could have been that the review said something about the singer of Operation Ivy being in this band and that was why I bought it. Ever since I first got my hands on the Op Ivy discography CD is was head over heels in love with that band. I always liked ska-punk, but this was different, as all of us know. I wasn't that much into Rancid at that time though, that only changed when they released their brilliant "...And Out Come The Wolves" record.
So I got Big Rig and at first I didn't really know what to expect. If I recall it correctly the review in the catalogue didn't say anything about the style of the music, so I am not quite sure what I was hoping for when I put the "Expansive Heart" 7" on my turntable for the first time. It wasn't ska-punk that awaited my ears, that's for sure. This record was explosive yet very intense and touching. Only four songs, but each and every one of them is great. The title track has a great melody and simply rips through everything. The singing of Jesse Michaels just sounds as if Operation Ivy have gotten rid of all the ska stuff and became a normal punkband. I never really got into listening to his next band Common Rider, that was too much reggea for me. But Big Rig was all that I needed back than.
I have no idea if this record is still in print, but maybe you can find some songs on the internet somewhere.

Nothing In Common @ Sonic Ballroom, Cologne

All good things have to come to an end eventually and since Lisse, Nothing In Common's guitarist and singer, decided to join Aachen's Pale and play bass with them, the end of one of Germany's finest punkrock bands came to an end last Friday. What a fitting venue the Ballroom is for an occasion like this.
We (a.k.a. A Modest Proposal) have been friends with Nothing In Common for a long time because our singer Pascal and Lisse grew up together. It was always a pleasure to watch them play and the songs they performed were always highly entertaining. As were Lisse's announcements and actions on stage. For their last two release parties they asked some of their friends to perform punkrock and hardcore classics only accompanied by a piano player. Great stuff.

So this was their last show and the place was packed. So packed that - honestly - I wasn't in any mood to join the crowd so I kept standing in front of the room and talked to some people. It seems that the days of great shows which were more like a huge meeting of friends with some random band playing are a thing of the past now. So people only show up for special stuff like Gorilla Biscuits or for the last show of some of their friends' bands. For The Day (Aachen) opened up for the evening which took me a little by surprise since I thought that they had called it quits as well. What I was hearing from outside sounded as good as always and their choice of coverversions was exquisite as well (Jawbreaker "Boxcar" and The Undertones "Teenage Kicks"). Next up were D.H. from the east of Germany. I had seen them play with Nothing In Common at some show in Brühl years ago and I really liked what I heard so I bought their record. Still I can't remember much of it and it's been quite some time since I last listened to their music. By the time they entered the stage on Friday I didn't really pay any attention. Unfortunately maybe. If I remember it right they had a more "German" touch to their music, but still their brand of punkrock had something of some American bands as well. Note to myself: Have to listen to the record again.
So the I left I didn't see Nothing In Common play their final show because I had to work the next day. I believe they were awesome as they always were when I saw them. Another great band left the stage.

Bundesliga - Day 23: Forget about professional football...

1.FC Nürnberg - Hamburger SV 0:0
Bayer Leverkusen - Hannover 96 2:0
VfB Stuttgart - Werder Bremen 6:3
VfL Wolfsburg - FC Energie Cottbus 3:0
Arminia Bielefeld - FC Schalke 04 0:2
MSV Duisburg - FC Hansa Rostock 1:1
Bayern München - Karlsruher SC 2:0
Eintracht Frankfurt - VfL Bochum 1:1
Borussia Dortmund - Hertha BSC Berlin 1:1

This weekend was really frustrating. And I am not talking about the first division results. I couldn't care less this time. To be honest, I didn't really pay attention to what happened in Germany's highest level of playing. Because this weekend saw the local derby in Cologne. Albeit in the 5th division. former local bigshots Viktoria and Fortuna went head to head on Saturday afternoon sitting in the top two spots in the table before the match. The atmosphere was great and I haven't felt such an excitement before a football match in a long time. The audience who turned up was huge for a 5th divison match, must have been around 1.500 as predicted. The match was moved from Sunday to Saturday which was a smart thing to do since Sunday is the day when the 2nd division a.k.a. 1.FC Cologne is playing.
Well, well, well, Fortuna started out pretty well, using their wingers frequently but they were still lacking clear chances. Meanwhile Viktoria was nowhere to be seen. They were simply trying to clear every ball which entered their half into the sky or elsewhere. And after only 12 minutes they cleared it a little further towards the goal, the Fortuna defender reaches it first and plays it back to his goalkeeper. IN SUCH A POOR WAY! that the goalkeeper has to use his hands to clear the ball. Free kick in Fortuna's box, and it's 1-0 Viktoria. To cut a long story short: While playing the better football Fortuna was outclassed by a witty Viktoria side which simply waited for mistakes to happen. The result after 90 minutes was Viktoria 4 Fortuna 0. And while this looks pretty clear Fortuna had enough chances (e.g. a penalty) to score and maybe equalize. What a horrible experience. You go to a match in high spirits and all your hopes and dreams get crushed in just 45 minutes. I was totally devastated and my weekend was in ruins. I just hope the team will bounce back after losing the first two games after the winter break.

As for the first division the press is raving about the performance of Stuttgart and Germany striker Mario Gomez who scored three times in a 6-3 win over Bremen(1st half, 2nd half). Gomez had offers from numerous clubs before the season, it seemed, but he decided to stay with Stuttgart. His value is believed to be something around € 30 mio which by far would make him the most expensive German player. Of all German strikers he is at his best right now. World Cup darlings Klose and Podolski are struggling at Bayern, Kuranyi seems to have problems finding his role at Schalke where he sometimes looks a little lost and noone really understood why Mike Hanke (Hannover 96) was playing on the national team anyway. No, Gomez is at the top right now and if he stays healthy (and doesn't vent his anger on medical boxes. Which he did once and broke his hand by doing so) he should be Germany's life insurance for this year's Euro tournament.

Champions League - Last 16 (Leg 2)

FC Porto - FC Schalke 04 1:4 (a.p.)
Real Madrid - AS Roma 1:2
FC Chelsea - Olympiakos Piraeus 3:0
Internazionale - Liverpool FC (11.3.) -:-
FC Barcelona - Celtic Glasgow 1:0
Manchester United - Olympique Lyonnais 1:0
FC Sevilla - Fenerbahce Istanbul 2:3 (a.p.)
AC Milan - Arsenal 0:2

Some upsets in this round, Arsenal being the first English team to beat Milan at San Siro, Fenerbahce coming back after losing the first leg 2-3 to become the first turkish team to move to the quarterfinals, I believe. And Roma throwing Real Madrid out of the competition by winning at the Estadio Bernabeu.
In Germany Schalke was the talk of the town. German TV stations always like to promote matches with German teams as an occasion during which the whole nation sits in front of the television set to keep their fingers crossed for that particular team. By doing this the completely ignore the fact that there is a lot of dispise for certain teams and with the Schalke-Dortmund rivalry being one of the fiercest there was no way I was going to cheer for Schalke in their match against FC Porto. They won the first leg at home 1:0 and needed a draw to advance to the quarterfinals. That being said it became the match everyone expected. Boring, boring, boring. But the most frustrating thing was the commentary.
Now, in Germany Champions League matches are broadcasted by the pay-per-view station premiere and every once in a while they show off their skills on free tv as well. The station takes a lot of pride in their competent and in depth reporting, but to me their are just a bunch of idiots. Their announcers have no idea whatsoever of how to play and "read" a football match, they are simply there to sell the product. Their experts might be ex-football players like Beckenbauer or Sammer, but they have no television presence at all. And their commentators always talk like they are more interested in the private lives of the players and coaches than in the game taking place. A prime example was last night's commentator Fritz von Thurn und Taxis. That guy was simply hilarious. As far as I saw it Schalke had one chance in the first half and he was saying that they were in complete control of the match. He than blabbers on about the origin of certain players, calling Porto midfielder Lucho Gonzalez "a gipsy" (a word which in Germany sometimes is used in a rather insulting way) and tells Schalke and Germany striker Kevin Kuranyi to go back to Brazil because he refused to shake hands with coach Mirko Slomka. This is pure racism. That guy was way off. It sounded like he only liked to listen to himself talk. There was no information whatsoever on the match. I happened to switch to the coverage of Real vs Roma on an Austrian station and this was completely different. The commentator there was very laid back and only talked when needed. And he was trictly referring to what was happening on the pitch. The same goes for English commentators who I really like. They seem to have the ability to be "into" the action and at the same time the keep enough distance to give an unbiased look onto the match. Something which rarely happens in German television.
So thumbs down to premiere and I sincerly hope that Schalke gets eliminated in the next round so I don't have to listen to such crap again this season.

Bundesliga - Day 22: A storm is coming

Hertha BSC Berlin - MSV Duisburg 2:0
FC Energie Cottbus - VfB Stuttgart (cancelled)
FC Schalke 04 - Bayern München 0:1
Hannover 96 - 1. FC Nürnberg 2:1
Werder Bremen - Borussia Dortmund 2:0
FC Hansa Rostock - Arminia Bielefeld 1:1
Karlsruher SC - VfL Wolfsburg 3:1
VfL Bochum - Bayer Leverkusen 2:0
Hamburger SV - Eintracht Frankfurt 4:1

So there we have it, the first match got cancelled last weekend because of a huge storm front blowing over Germany on Saturday afternoon. Apart from that there wasn't really anything happening. Quite frankly, this is becoming a little bit boring. Maybe the only piece of news worth mentioning is the hilarious comments the BAyern Munich front office was saying after they won at Schalke. Schalke's coach Mirko Slomka is under a lot of pressure since the club's president decided to voice his opinion on matters which he seems to have no clue about. Which lead to a now famous remark from Slomka about that you can put a nail in a wall to hang up a picture, but once you take the picture down and pull the nail out of the wall, the hole of the nail will stay there. Since then It's more than likely that Slomka will be sacked rather earlier than later. He still has the match against Porto in the Champions League this week, but if he loses that one most of the media guys think he's gone. So what Uli Hoeness and all those hypocrites did was commenting on the Schalke situation that it was not acceptable to sack a successful coach and stuff like that. What the hell, they have been crushing their own coach Ottmar Hitzfeld during the winter break just in the same way. It all started in Munich when President Karl-heinz Rummenigge announced that "football is not mathmatics" after a disappointing draw against Bolton Wanderes at home. Since then Bayern has done everything to dismantle Hitzfeld's position and status in the club. They found a replacement in Jürgen Klinsmann who will take over at the beginning of the new season. This is so typical of German media politics. When it's Bayern everything will do. No one even felt the need to point out the hypocritical behaviour. Ridiculous.