HSV Forever and Ever

On Wednesday I saw Chelsea visit Hamburger SV in Hamburg with my cousin Johannes. The common nickname for Hamburger is HSV (pronounced in either three syllables as ha-ess-valdt or two highs-valdt, depending on the chant). It was an astonishing game throughout, here's the rundown:


- My uncle, Paul, bought Johannes and I these tickets and they were fantastic! In the last row of the section under the balcony, I was able to stand, jump up-and-down, etc without blocking anyone's view. Plus, they were close enough we could recognize all the players by their faces

- For those of you who don't follow soccer, Chelsea is absolutely loaded. You can see their roster here. Basically they consist of players who started for their national teams and players who captained their national teams. The reaction they received from the strongly HSV dominated crowd was unlike any I've seen in the US: they gave them a rousing ovation when they entered the pitch. I initially started booing, as would be the norm at home, but quickly changed when I realized what was going on. The crowd was excited to see such great players in action on their home pitch, very classy.

- Even in warmups, Chelsea was so nasty. Nicolas Anelka, the striker who was sent home by the French team at the World Cup for being a prima donna, was flicking behind the back passes to teammates in the shootaround, and always hit the lower left side of the net when he decided to fire one home himself (even when the goalie seemed to know exactly where he was shooting). Also there was a juggling circle that consisted of Didier Drogba (my personal favorite), Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, John Terry, and a few scrubs (term used extremely loosely). They didn't allow the ball to hit the ground for what felt like 3 or 4 minutes by saving the ball with high difficulty maneuvers. Johannes and I stared in amazement, but when I went to record they stopped.

- When the game started, I was disappointed when Drogba wasn't listed in the starting lineup. "Oh well," I thought, "I guess I'll have settle for Anelka and Florent Malouda up front." They both started for the French national team, no big deal.

- Chelsea dominated possession right off the bat, but HSV got a few good looks. There was an audible gasp from the stadium when HSV crossed and John Terry did his patented headfirst dive to clear the ball out - even though he missed. I couldn't tell if the gasp was in appreciation for something that we had only ever witnessed on television, or because he missed it

- The young defenders of HSV had supreme difficulty handling Anelka, Cole, and Malouda; they could get or put the ball wherever they pleased. This climaxed in a poor pass by a defender that was intercepted by Malouda who crossed the ball to Lampard for the easy score in the 24th minute. The air was sucked out of the stadium, even the fans behind HSV's goal who stood all game chanting were silent for a few minutes.

- HSV controlled the ball and was very close to scoring on two corners just before halftime. The crowd was definitely tense, but there was a sense of anticipation; we knew HSV would score soon. Terry helped energize the crowd with a terrible tackle from behind that earned him a Yellow Card.

- Being there live amplified everything. Moves that looked routine on TV during the World Cup were exciting to see live. Live, the degree of difficulty is much more apparent. Dribbles and passes that are made in traffic that seemingly shouldn't work go through and leave everyone breathless.

- At half, many substitutions are made. Because it is a friendly match, there is no limit to the switches a team makes. Chelsea puts in Drogba... I am stoked

- HSV continues to inch closer to scoring a goal in the second half. A funny series of events occurs when Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic cuts off HSV striker Jonathan Pitroipa to get to a long ball, but doesn't touch it and continues to block him off as the ball rolls a good 20 yards out of bounds, irritating Pitroipa. Next possession, Pitroipa comes from behind Randy Moss style to beat Ivanovic to the ball, cuts inside turning him around, then dribbles the ball back outside leaving him in the dust for a wide open shot on goal. It's blocked, but Pitroipa got his revenge making Ivanovic look silly to the amusement of the crowd.

- HSV finally pulls through, this time on a bad error by Chelsea's defenders who allow a bounding ball to get behind them just outside of the goal area. This happened a couple times before without consequence, but this time Mladen Petric - who had been going all out all game for HSV - beat the goalie to the ball with a risky high flying kick to put the ball in the back of the net! The crowd goes absolutely bonkers! A split second later and the goalie gets the ball and Petric's cleats in his face, perfectly timed strike. In the 72nd minute, we wonder if the game will end in a draw and how Chelsea will respond.

- Drogba had been playing facilitator since coming in at half. There was a nice behind-the-back pass to Anelka to get by three defenders (before Anelka is called for a questionable handball). But after the score, he goes into kill mode. He's built like a linebacker at 6-2, 220 or 230, but is faster than everyone on the field. He beats one defender to the ball before crossing him up and getting the ball to the goalie, Frank Rost, who smartly was in position to make the stop. More to come from him later.

- HSV deflects a corner twice, missing the goal by inches to the left. I jump up thinking it's in it was so close. It's late, but the crowd can feel another goal coming on.

- HSV gets an unlikely hero in Heung Min Son, a new transfer at only 18 years and one month old (born in 1992, younger than my brother. holy crap) from South Korea. He gets the ball and with apparently the hugest set of cahones ever crosses over Portugese national team starter Ricardo Carvalho and puts the ball past the keeper for the leading goal. Pandemonium! Everyone is hugging and jumping as "HSV Forever and Ever" (the team theme) blares over the loudspeaker. The stadium shifts from Hamburg to Cloud 9.

- No less than 2 minutes later, Didier "Manimal" "Two-Time EPL Golden Boot Winner" "I made peace in the Ivory Coast, but I will eat your babies" Drogba dribbles into four HSV defenders, leaving two of them on the ground and one of them facing backwards before unleashing a laser-guided rocket-propelled missile at Rost, who gets a finger on it to poke it out of bounds. There are no words to describe the crowds reaction. Some mixture of stunned, astonished, and a collective crapping-of-the-pantalones comes close. The girl next to me, no older than 7 years old sums it up perfectly: silent with hands over her mouth, eyes bulging, folded up on top of her seat with her knees to her chest. Earlier I didn't know if she was much of a fan because she wasn't reacting to some brilliant soccer, but she was completely aware of this moment. Priceless

- The crowd holds its breath through the corner a few more Chelsea strikes until time runs out and the fans go crazy again. Johannes and I go down to the pitch to try and get a HSV jersey from one of the players, but we realize they've all exchanged theirs with Chelsea's and they aren't going to give those up.

Absolutely phenomenal. Recounting this is pumping me up for the Paris St. Germaine match tonight. In other news, I've been to the Pantheon and the Louvre so far in Paris, I'll try and get a post up about that soon. Unfortunately my hostel charges for Wifi access, so I have to chill at cafés to post entries, photos, or even tweets. Not the worst thing in the world, just not convenient for frequent updates.

Cheers!
Stephen "Scuba" Lauer

Ich Bin Ein Berliner

Guten tag y'all,

After spending an enjoyable day in Hamburg and a couple quaint nights in Lüneburg, Johannes, Clara, and I made a trip to Berlin. Hamburg was a great introduction to Germany and Europe with its canals, fancy architecture, and ridiculous cars (seriously, I saw 4 Ferraris, 2 Aston Martins, and 2 Lamborghinis, not to mention countless BMWs and Mercedes), but if Hamburg was a slice of Europe, Berlin was an entire pie. Here are the notes I took about our stay:

- Traveled to Berlin by train from Lüneburg, which took 2.5 hours by train, and found the hostel where we would be spending the night, a nice place called Seven East

- We walk around the corner to rent bikes for a day, which was very crucial. We wouldn't have seen half of what we saw walking or taking the Metro and gave me a real feel for the city, especially as I was the navigator.

- When I asked if I could have a helmet to go along with the bike, the rental lady looked at me as if I asked for training wheels (I know this for a fact because I asked that moments later). So I traveled the city sans helmet hair (sorry mom, at least I tried). The first time I ride a bike for about 7 years, give or take a few instances, and I have to navigate traffic in the third largest city in Europe without a helmet (and later, in the rain)... exciting!

- We started off towards the Berliner Dom, a large cathedral in the East side that's all blinged out in the traditional style. From the rooftop we could see all of Berlin

- We biked up to the Berlin TV Tower, the tallest tower in the city with the intentions of going to the top to see all of Berlin, but then we realized we already did that and decided to go to lunch instead.

- To get to the lunch spot, we rode all the way down (about 3 km) Unter Den Liden - the most famous street in Berlin. There are many government and old-fashioned buildings lining the street until we got to the Brandenburger Gate, which separated East and West Berlin along with the Wall pre-1990. It looks kinda like the Arc d'Triomph and is surrounded by the US, Great Britain, and French embassies, as well as Hotel Adlon, the most famous hotel in Berlin.

- We continued down past the President's house; Johannes and Clara had difficulty describing his position in the country, but I got the sense he wasn't very important - the Chancellor is the top dog in Germany.

- We finally arrived at Weitzman, a hole-in-the-wall restaurant famous for its Schnitzel and Spätzle, which is definitely the name of the German Cheech and Chong in an alternate universe. I had eaten Schnitzel everywhere I went, so I tried the Spätzle. It was freaking fantastic! Noodles with cheese tomatoes and mushrooms all mixed together and cooked in a way that they all stuck to each other and you had to use a fork and knife to cut out bites. Rejuvenated we cycled back up Unter Den Liden.

- When we got back to the Brandenburger Gate, we saw storm clouds rolling in. Johannes suggested that we head to the Sony Center, an open air covered mall that has restaurants and entertainment. With the rain just beginning to fall as we entered we bought tickets for Toy Story 3D in IMAX. Pixar didn't let us down.

- The rain had just stopped when we left, so we biked home and prepared for dinner. Again Johannes came up with a big suggestion: eating out at a Singapore/Malaysian restaurant on a trendy street. The food there was sooo good, cheap, and in huge proportions, I really felt terrible leaving some of my chicken with peanut and coconut milk sauce untouched. The final bill was 40 Euros, but my cousins advised me to tip only 2 euros (5%), because anything more may be taken as an insult?!? Whatever, I guess I'll take it

- We found a bar that Johannes could get into (he's only 16 and can drink in Germany, but not go into clubs, which you must be 18 years old for) and met a kid from Michigan who was visiting a German girl who did an exchange program at his high school. Naturally, with the world being as small as it is, his hometown was five minutes from the place we had the Lauer family reunion 3 years ago. (The night before in Lüneburg, I got a free drink after talking with the bartender, who exchanged in Argus, right outside of South Bend, IN) We stayed until 2 before heading back to the hostel to call it a night.

Today we biked around a bit in the Medieval section of town before heading to the train back to Hamburg, where I'll be seeing Hamburger SV play Chelsea!

Last note: for whatever reason, my German phone isn't connecting to Twitter. I'll give it another shot, but if this doesn't work I won't be able to post as often as I'd like to up there.

…

I wrote that all a couple days ago when I didn’t have an internet connection. Right now, I am sitting at Crepes A Gogo, a stone’s throw away from the Pantheon, drinking café au lait and eating a lemon crepe. I’ll update about the incredible Chelsea-HSV match and my Paris adventure soon with pictures.

Au Revoir,
Stephen “Scuba” Lauer

World Tour

As you’ve probably heard, I’m going on a little trip. I’m going to try to keep these entries short so that I can update more frequently. So here’s a quick layout of my trip and my preliminary thoughts on each place before I get there:

Luneburg (Aug 1-5): This is where my uncle, Paul (he’s requested not to be called Uncle Paul) and my cousins Johannes and Clara live - I just landed here this afternoon. It’s a suburb of Hamburg and so far it's more of a Framingham than a Sudbury - if Framingham was more of a college town, and less commercialized, so actually more like Concord. Most of you probably don't understand that analogy, don't worry it's not that accurate.

-Hamburg: Surprisingly to me, this is the 7^th largest city in Europe, larger than Munich, Barcelona, Amsterdam, or Athens. It is a port city (sorry Joyce, you were right) and I’m going to be seeing a soccer, er football, match between Chelsea and local team Hamburger SV with Johannes there on August 4^th. This could be the most underrated city on the trip; I’m excited.

-Berlin: One of the six cities in Europe larger than Hamburg, I’m hoping that Clara will show me around for a day. In Beijing, a few Swedes I met called it the most fun city in Europe for their dollar, er Euro. I haven’t heard much about it, but I’m optimistic.

Paris (Aug 5/6-11): I can’t freaking wait to come here! I’ve only heard great things, plus the ultimate compliment to Shanghai that I’ve heard is that it’s the “Paris of the East.” What better way to put that to the test than to visit the Paris of Earth first? I’ve read a fair amount about Paris, but am definitely open to hearing about more fun places to go, especially in young person/nightlife terms. I’ll open up a forum later so that anybody who’s travelled there before as a young lad/lass can give me a few pointers. I can use all the help I can get. (Side note: I’m going to a Paris St. Germaine [PSG] soccer match on the 7^th)

Madrid (Aug 11/12-14): In stark contrast to the next place, I haven’t heard one glowing review of Madrid yet. But everyone says that I should at least go there while I’m in the area. Sounds like a really low bar to get over. I’ve allotted some time here just in case it exceeds expectations and I actually like it. Otherwise I could spend one of these days at Figueres (for the Dali museum) and there’s a soccer tourney in another town in Spain with Atletico Madrid that I may try and catch.

Barcelona (Aug 14/15-18): I’ve only heard gushing reviews of Barcelona and, before I read the guidebook at the airport, couldn’t name one monumental site there. Sounds like a real cultural hub that has places to explore during the day and likes to party all night. While Paris is the best bet to be my favorite destination, I could easily see the Catalonian capitol taking that title. I’ll also start a forum for this as well… it’ll be more important here because it’s such an unknown for me. FC Barcelona will be in America of all places while I’m there, so I may need help finding a soccer match to go to in Spain to complete my football tour of Europe.

Munich (Aug 18/19-21): I went here when I was 12 and I remember loving the weiss wurst (white sausage – no jokes please). I’ll be meeting up with my cousin Matthias here. Every guidebook of Munich I’ve seen so far has entire sections devoted to their beerhalls. Let’s just say I’m giddy. (Potential Bayern Munich game 8/20!)

Brussels (August 23^rd): I stop by in Luneburg to pick up my stuff, shower for the first time in weeks, etc before coming here to launch over to Shanghai. I have a late morning flight, so I’ll only have time for breakfast. Belgian waffles anyone?

So that’s it for my extremely brief introduction to my trip… I guess I rambled a bit. I expect that will be my longest post until I get to Shanghai, but I also know better than to think I know what to expect out of me (what?). To get more frequent updates from me you can follow me on twitter at @s_lauer.

Auf Wiedersehen from Lauer East,

Stephen “Scuba” Lauer

Shameless Plugs:

To my dad, Greg Lauer, who has been invaluable as ever throughout this entire process. He’s at least as excited about this trip as I am and I couldn’t ask for a better #1 fan (or 1b after you mom). I’ll also give him credit ahead of time for helping me survive when I inevitably lose my credit card/phone/passport at some point during this trip.

To my Aunt Laurie for meeting up with me at JFK airport and discussing Shanghai and Paris, somehow getting me even more amped for this trip.

To my uncle, Paul, in advance for not only putting me up at his place in Luneburg but for serving as my European base. Oh and for getting me a ticket to the Hamburger SV game!

And lastly, to the girl who sat next to me on the plane, Maria Metzler of Aldenburg, for being an enjoyable flight companion and especially for telling me that Justin Timberlake/Janet Jackson’s “Wardrobe Malfunction” was called Nippleblitzen in Germany. Awesome.

I'll leave you with this video that I saw when I got off the plane in Dusseldorf.