Füßball!!!

      about a week ago it was my host brother's birthday. i got offered to go to a Hertha Berlin game (its pronounced hair-T-a. "th" is pronounced like a "tt" sound in Deutschland). Hertha is a Füßball team in the second Bundesliga (league). their games are played in the Olymipiastadion in west Berlin. if you didn't know, the stadium was used in the 1936 summer Olympics, in two Fifa World Cups, the German Cup, and many more events. it is so cool inside,  the atmosphere is soooooo amazing!! and since it is an open stadium, it was very cold. we were sitting, so the cold was even worse.

     during a Füßball game here in Germany or Europe for a larger scale, there are no load speakers urging the crowd on with chants, there are the fan mobs shouting, screaming and singing them. there is no music like the you might here at a baseball game, or a basketball game, there is only the music of the crowd. it is a sight to see. and when they start to jump, oh my god it is cool. it is like that section of the stadium is one breathing creature, all of them moving as one. then they incorporate giant flags, signs and what not. sometimes, there are the random fires that "suddenly appear" in the stands. and sometimes they are the color of the team: red, green, blue, purple, orange, etc. they only do that when someone scores a goal (TÜR!!!) or they win or do something else. its all so very crazy. 

     in Babelsburg, which is a suburb of Potsdam, and there is a Füßball team. i go to as many games as i can get to with my host brother and friends. but i usually go to the crazy fan mob section because it is WAY more fun then just sitting. i have learned most of the cheers, both english and german. the object is to shout and sing louder than the opposing team. it concludes with a horse voice the next day. but it is worth it. and when Babelsburg gets a goal, the mob goes crazy. every time i have to hold on to something or someone because i would get trampled by random drunk people. 

     as i watch the games on tv, and live on the field, there is one thing that i find absurd. all European soccer players are drama queens. all of them. they get touched, they immediately fall on the ground as if they have some mortal wound. it is really funny, but sometimes its just plain stupid. 

PICTURES:

The outside of the stadium.

Hertha fan mob.

Hertha fan mob.

Hertha fan mob.

Sharlke fan mob (biggest fan community
in all of the Bundesliga). And here is an example
of "fires that suddenly appear."

Players.

Hertha scores!

Playing the game.

Hertha fan mob.

Kicking the ball.

Might have been a corner kick.

Great view.

Shalke fan mob.

Hertha fan mob with scarfs up high.

Herth fan mob.

Players.

Number 7 is Raul, from Spain. He is one of the best soccer players.

Sharlke scores again.