Frau A and I went to see an American football game here in Munich!
The local team is the Munich Cowboys. They are one of 14 teams in the top level of the German Football League. The GFL 1st League has two 7-team conferences, North and South (Munich is in the South, naturally). Most major metropolitan areas have a team except Hamburg (they were relegated to the 2nd league):
Some team names are awesome: Kiel Baltic Hurricanes (so U of Miami doesn't get upset?), Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (not the fighting unicorns?), Marburg Mercenaries. (Berlin are the "Eagles": Adler in German). Defunkt teams include the Cologne Crocodiles. The Badener Griefs (what's a Grief?), currently in the 2nd league, were founded by a group of motorcycle enthusiasts! Also in the 2nd leauge: Magdeburg Virgin Guards!
Surprisingly, the league was founded (but with different names and structures) in 1979. Munich has been the most consistent participant, with 335 games in its history -- but have been champions only once (1993).
Interesting note: the league allowed unrestricted use of foreign players at first (probably to seed the teams) but now limits teams to only two non-EU players on the field at any time.
In its current state, teams play home & away games within their conference, plus home & away with one team from the other conference (the team that finished in the same place in that conference's standings last season).
Four of the seven teams from each conference reach the playoffs, where team #1 in the North plays team #4 in the South, etc. From these quarterfinals then through the semifinals, the final two teams standing meet in the German Bowl. The winner can go on to play in the EuroBowl.
On the flip side, the last place team in each conference must play against the first place team (in the respective conference) in the German Football League 2. If they lose, they are relegated to the 2nd league and the winner moves into the 1st league -- just like soccer and most sports in Europe.
(Note to the NCAA: playoffs are GOOD. Promotion/relegation is also a good idea.)
The Cowboys are currently in third place in the Southern conference, and were hosting the Schwäbish Hall Unicorns. Don't judge the Unicorns by their mascot - they came in undefeated at 10-0, in first place in the South, and are outscoring opponents by 2 touchdowns a game.
Dante Stadion is cozy, with a grandstand on one side and a smaller set of steps on the far side. It has a capacity of 18,000, but not nearly full for the game. It was built in 1928, and used for Hitler Youth activities during that period of time, but after the war it was used by U.S. troops stationed here for American football and baseball.
Visually, the Olympia Tower looms in the background. Very cool backdrop for the coin toss:
I was excited to get the camera going, so I snapped this on the first play of the game...
... and the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns threw a 67-yard touchdown pass. What a start. 7-0 after 18 seconds (note that they use 12 minute quarters):
Just like you would expect in the U.S., a large, loud coach circles the guys around for a pep talk after giving up a quick touchdown (and telling them how to fix the mistakes).
Munich is more of a running-oriented team, but couldn't get a consistent attack established.
They also seemed to be a bit sloppier, less precise. This snap was low and wrecked the play:
The whole experience is "produced" like an NBA game. At every break, pop music blares over the loudspeakers -- it does help keep the energy up. Given the small stadium and crowd, the announcer roams the stands with a wireless mic and clipboard of names and stats. He is often explaining the game in more detail to the fans, and constantly yelling "Let's go Munich..." to which the fans complete by yelling "COWBOYS"! The whole thing works quite well.
At halftime we wandered around to where they had a throwing game for kids. The NFL clearly is trying to help market the sport here. The challenge is people understanding all the rules!
In the second half, Munich started to mix things up a but more - here they lined up in trips-right formation and tried to jump-start the passing offense. The receivers are a bit slow, though.
However, the day belonged to the Unicorns. I noticed that their quarterback looked pretty good, and learned from the president of the Bavarian Amercian Sport Association (who was sitting next to us!) that this quy is the quarterback of the German National Team too. It looks like he's on track to lead his team to the German Bowl against Kiel, who are undefeated in the Northern conference...
Munich coaches brought out white boards to try and diagram something effective, but without success. In the end, the Unicorns beat the Cowboys 27-7. According to league statistics, Munich out-rushed Schwäbisch Hall 173 yards to 87, but were significantly out-passed 384-139 (and committed 3 interceptions to boot).
The overall experience (and quality of play) was a bit like a top level U.S. high school game, including hamburgers to eat and the players shaking hands at the end. We had a great time. The Bavarian Association president comped us tickets to another game, and we're definitely going! Thanks Georg! (Is there a roster spot for me?)
