September has arrived and that means a couple things. Football season is upon us in the States and its wrapping up here in Germany. As of today the Scorpions are only guaranteed four more practices in the season. If that's not enough to motivate you to go all out and have fun then I don't know what is! It has been a roller coaster of a season to date with many ups and a few downs. We have punched our ticket to the dance and are officially in the post season playoffs. In order to be the last man standing we will have to be road warriors the rest of the season. However, there's always a little extra incentive to go on the road, walk in to a visiting stadium, and tick off another team's home crowd. Cannot wait...
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| Game clinching INT will always get you up! |
To recap the past month of football we've had three rematches from earlier in the year. After blanketing Marburg back in June they put up a much better fight in our home Gazi stadium at the beginning of August, but still fell to the Scorps 35-49. That would be the last time we play in front of the home faithful here in Stuttgart. Our first road test was a showdown with the Comets of Allgau. A battle of 9-2 teams jockeying for home field advantage did not disappoint. This one was a game for the GFL ages as it came down to the final 8 seconds of regulation. After never trailing the entire game, some improbably Comet magic occurred resulting in a fourth quarter fourth down hailmary to get inside the five yard line setting up the go ahead touchdown just as the fat lady was tapping on the mic ending in a 41-45 Scorpion loss.
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| If they'd only listen the game would be perfectly called... |
After shaking off the dramatic finish in Allgau, the Scorpions had yet another big showdown with the division leading Schwabisch Hall Unicorns. After a strong defensive performance against the Unis in April, it was the exact opposite story this time around. Blistering heat in Hall's new stadium paved the way to too many missed tackles and falling behind by too much early in the game to mount a comeback. Next up is our regular season finale against the Saarland Hurricanes who narrowly edged us previously in the season. Both teams are coming off of loses to the Comets and Unicorns so it will be one last chance for both teams to build some momentum heading into the eight team post season playoffs.
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| Veteran GFL Americans shaking it up with some veteran GFL Germans at the coin toss |
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| New Optima Sportpark in Schwabisch Hall. Watching the game from a hot air balloon with a bucket of beers would be a pretty cool seat |
With time winding down over here its always a pressing issue to hang out with our teammates and friends as much as possible before coming back to the family and friends Stateside. I've been very fortunate to do some travelling again this year with some cool dudes. Our latest adventure was to the Czech Republic where we enjoyed a night at a lake and then one day/night in Prague. Prague is a city that flies under the radar to many travelling to Europe. This city has a ton of history, castles, sites, and plenty of night life to enjoy. However, probably the most interesting fact about the Czech Republic has nothing to do with the buildings or land.. Our Czech teammate is never one to shy away from laughing at other cultures customs, so it's only fair to share that there was no toilet paper to be found in
Czech bathrooms. Every time he goes back home I make sure to give him one of our spare rolls to take with him.
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| Seven man team from all over the world. (Indiana, Czech, Germany, Croatia, Oregon, Ohio) |
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| Despite the flash not working properly there are still seven of us in this picture.. |
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| Huge thanks to my guys for the golf outings. A slice of home hobbies here in Deutschland. |
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| The bye weeks allowed us to work some American Sports camps put on by one of our American defensive ends. Getting some extra monopoly money to play around all day with German kids was a cool experience. Activities included football, baseball, bowling, capture the flag, and dodgeball... Its safe to say I am permanently banned from throwing dodgeballs at kids again. But as Coach Smith taught us, "Giving anything less than your best effort is a disservice to your opponent no matter the competition." |
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| Who needs Oktoberfest!?!? |
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| Only one more month til I get to see the crazies back home again |
Go Scorpions,
Drew
