Luke

The soccer fan in me had a long gestation period. I’d probably still be entirely ignorant of international soccer had I not grown up next door to a Croatian-born family of 6 crammed into a very small working class suburban home. They loved soccer of course, but there was nothing else stereotypical about them. I clearly remember one of the sons winning a stuffed-animal rabbit at a local carnival and dubbing it not “Fluffy” but “Konstantin Chernenko”. My earliest memory of watching soccer involves being wedged in on their living room floor during the 1986 World Cup while attempting to identify just one of the scents emanating from their kitchen.

Time rolled on, soccer was a recurring passing fancy, something to watch for a week or so every 4 years, or if you were really bored, you could go to an MISL game.

In the spring of 2001 I found myself going on a “young man’s adventure”, taking a job in Germany more or less on the basis of a) I thought it would be “cool” and b) I had sleep-walked my way through some German courses in high school. And so it was that I found myself landing in Munich on May 23, 2001. Although my hotel was a long way from the center of Munich, there seemed to be a buzz in the air. Fighting jetlag, but determined to convert to my “new” schedule as soon as possible, I was still awake in the evening as I casually flipped through channels and stumbled upon..yes, the Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Valencia. I got more and more into it, but somehow fell asleep for at least 30 minutes of match time, including Effenburg’s equalizer. But I was wide awake for the drama of extra time, and the best penalty shootout I’ve ever seen. The neighborhood erupted into blasts of fireworks and firearms probably, from the sound of it, and I went another 14 hours or so without sleep–this was just too good to try to sleep through.

So this was my introduction to FC Bayern Munich. Winning the Champions League on the very first night I spent in Germany. I’ve been a fan ever since. Although I didn’t end up living in Germany all that long, it’s not from lack of desire really. I’ve had the opportunity to attend matches at both the Olympiastadion and the Allianz, and tried to learn as much as I could about the 100 years or so of club history that I missed out on. So that is the background I bring to trying to keep you informed and entertained, but of course, it’s the boys on the field who actually do that.