Big Sports Day

It was perfect day for life as a couch potato: pouring rain. The afternoon began with THW Kiel against Flensburg-Handewitt. It was close the entire game, but THW pulled away just before the end and squished Flensburg 37:31! My new THW scarf that I had bought at the Final Four but was rather useless there was much needed. Nikola Karabatic had a smashing game, with 9 goals. The Ostseehalle was, as always, packed to the rafters. You didn't need to follow the game to know the score - cheers for the THW goals that tend to follow about 16 seconds after the groans at the Flensburg goals. But then Flensburg misses, and THW pulls away.

No chance for a breather, the women were already fighting it out for the Pokal: Potsdam vs. Frankfurt, as always. Potsdam won after a very, very boring game, sending in an 18-year-old girl, Isabel Kerschowski, who kicked a goal inside of 2 minutes! A second goal followed soon after, both of course while I was in the car driving the teenager someplace so he wouldn't melt in the rain. At the award ceremony (in the pouring rain), the Potsdam captain Ariane Hingst proudly put her sleeve up to Angela Merkel's to show that both were the same color. Merkel is from the state of Brandenburg, the capital of which is Potsdam. The commentator was maddening, constantly talking about "Dr. Köhler" (the president) and "Angela Merkel" (the chancellor). Either they both get their Dr. titles or neither. How difficult is it to remember this simple rule???

After a short breather the men are now underway. Let's hope Bayern Munich loses..... [Nope. They won. Of course. ]