Do-sell-dorf

At the end of the week of training with F-S-Fow, the coach felt we had done well and we were welcomed to keep training with the reserves. Unfortunately, since it was only training that was offered and not a contract we headed to the north west in search of something more permanent.


(Andrew is trying to get us the Man U-Tottenham Carling Cup semi-final on the tele - with no success.)

For the past 3 nights I have been staying in Duesseldorf with friends of Andrew's - A Dutch pastor, his wife, their 3 children, and 2-4 family friends (depending on the night). The house had the feel of the backpacker's hostel in Nuremberg because of the mixture of the people (5 Dutch, 1 Pole, 2 Brits, 1 German, 3 Americans).

As you probably already guessed the Pastor's family was very welcoming. Within 30 minutes of arriving the kids were already comfortable enough to start rough housing with Andrew and I. The kids (5,7, and 9) spent most of their lives in the UK and were already fluent in British, Dutch, and German. (On a side note, my kids will have an English accent and speak 3 languages. Minimum.)

Archived Quote of the Day

If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. It is the doer that makes mistakes.
- John Wooden

It's pronounced 'F-S-Fow'

So, I have spent the last week training with the Frankfurt FSV reserves. The level was not all that great, and the weather was even worse. All of the training sessions were accompanied with heavy wind and rain. Despite the conditions, it was sweet being out there.

I didn't have my best start the first session, but I settled in and played better with each new session. I can't really afford to do this, because to make it over here as an American you must show that you are 2x as good as the players they have to warrant being picked up. Either way it felt good to be training with a team again.


Since we were training with the club we came up on some courtside tickets for the 1st team's match that Saturday against Hansa Rostock. The Hansa fans were nuts (see above video) - they took up only a corner of the stadium, but they dominated everything within earshot. After watching a few games in Germany at different levels I am still unable to figure something out. How is it that the quality of training can seem so high and yet when these teams get on the field the level is terrible? It's like everyone crapped their pants and can't play when the whistle is blown. German games often come down to a defensive battle.

I am staying at my buddy's place again in Freebird. He spent all day today (Saturday) cooking a massive Thanksgiving spread. It turned out awesome. I am pretty fortunate to be able to spend the holiday with some good company.

I get by with a little help from my friends

A few days after my last post in Freebird (Friedberg) I came back to the states. After a 3 week stint with the Earthquakes, 4 weeks of solid training in Santa Barbara, 1 fly fishing trip (zero fly fish caught), 2 new parents, 5 new friends (and countless old ones), 2 Halloweens, 3 birthday dinners, and an early Thanksgiving, I came to the following realization:

I have awesome friends and an amazing family. Without you guys I would not be able to have the opportunities and the life that I have. Thank you for all the love and support.

Anyhow, I am back in Germany to play and ready to crush it. Stay tuned, there is more to come.