Just a short blog to highlight an important piece of history for Germany that happened last night. In Europe, the Champions League is made up of each country's top 3 or so teams and they compete all year long to ultimately crown a champion of champions. For example, there may be teams from Spain competing with the best in the UK. In the last few months, the teams have participated in qualifying rounds to get to the final 2 clubs. Last night for the first time in history, 2 German teams rose to the top and competed in the final match held at Wembley Stadium in London. Borussia Dortmund was up against Bayern Munich. The players from each club made up the lion's share of the German national team.
The picture shows one of many viewing areas setup in Wiesbaden for the night. This tent was erected outside of one of our favorite restaurants - Spital. As you can see, the room was packed around a projector screen on a rainy night. The fans were all very proud to be Germans that evening and everyone showed respect for each team even if the allegiances were split at least in this room about 50-50.
Dortmund represents an area of central Germany that is one of the most populous regions in Europe and historically the mining region. Bayern Munich represents the Bavarian region to the south. After a few years living here in the central region, most locals consider Bavaria another country! I'm not sure all the reasons - history, religion, and I think the Bavarians just plain have more fun!
Anyway, on this night, I enjoyed superbly played soccer (I'm beginning to know the difference between good and bad) and great camaraderie from the many fans attending. The pride in the room was evident - THE biggest European footbal event next to the World Cup, and only German teams playing.
Oh, and one more thing. Daktronics just installed 2 very large video screens at Wembley along with a 360 degree ribbon board along the upper deck... so, we had even more to celebrate!
Tschus!
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