Sports, sports and sports

Well, we’ve got the Fifa World Cup over here in Germany and everyone sure is excited. Footie is everywhere and you almost can’t escape – not that I wanted to anyway ;)

I was actually in the middle of it last friday. I was in the stadium watching the match Netherlands vs Ivory Coast. What a great match and I can’t even begin to explain the spirit in and around the stadium, unbelievable. Here are some photos taken by my (not so high resolution) mobile phone cam, showing me (in the Eat, Sleep, Code SitePoint Shirt), the stadium and the Premiere broadcasting box which was right there a couple of meters away from us (Premiere is the only PayPerView channel over here in Germany, their expert in the box was Christoph Daum, who is one of our better known coaches – he almost became our national coach a few years back…): World Cup
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World Cup

In related footie notes: After the lost championship, some of us played footie again for the first time. It was supposed to be a fun “hobby tourney”, but it turned out to be a ankle-busting slugfest…so not much joy, but at least a little time with the ball and some time in the sun with mates…could have been worse ;)

Apart from the whole World Cup thing there are the NBA Finals, which I follow closely – after all Dirk Nowitzki and his Dallas Mavericks are in it. Too bad that they slipped in the third game and failed to take that game down. Instead of a 3-0 lead going into game 4, they were only ahead 2-1 and now the Heat have built up there momentum pretty good. Last night they pulled out yet another tight tight win in overtime to take the series lead 3-2. Now it’s up to Dallas to protect their homecourt to take it down in 7. Goooooooooooo Mavs!

Jam packed exciting Friday

I don’t even know how to start this post, I’m so excited. It’s after 3am and I’m still awake. Why? The NBA Finals are about to start with Game 1 from Dallas, featuring the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat. Why am I that excited? Two words: Dirk Nowitzki

The second time a german player has made it to the NBA Finals – if you don’t remember, Detlef Schrempf was in the Finals with the Sonics, but Michael Jordan’s Bulls denied their quest for the championship. This time it’s a different thing though. Dirk is the leader of the Mavericks and they got a real shot at the title. Let’s see if they can play their game and get Shaq, Wade and the rest off their game.

Jam packed? Yup, as the FIFA Football World Cup 2006 starts tonight – right here in Germany. We’re opening the Footie WC (or Soccer WC for the Americans) against Costa Rica. I’m really looking forward to the whole Cup, not only because it’s here in Germany, but because the Fifa World Cup is one of the most important cups there is, period. What adds to it, is that it is indeed in Germany and I was lucky enough to get some tickets – not for a germany game, but Netherlands vs. Ivory Coast should be a great match too :-)

Now I’m out of here…the Mavs starting lineup is presented now…goooooooo Dirk!

Update: Yes! Mavs 90-80 Heat! Not a particular good game, but tension right down to the wire. Not a good game by Dirk, but Jason Terry took over and that was enough to wrestle down the Heat. So the Mavs take the series lead 1-0, let’s see what sunday’s game two will bring…