As you've no doubt caught by now, Europe is in the throes of the European soccer championships. As it happens, this year England failed to qualify, and ze Germans can't resist rubbing it in like crazy, like pretending to be astonished when noticing no English team taking the field, etc. etc. etc.As you all know, Germany will be nailed to the floor by Spain on Sunday.

If you don't hear from me after tonight's inevitable rioting (no matter who wins), well, it was nice knowin' y'all.

Note the first city listed on the calendar.

The kids and I are so there, dudes and dudettes.

(NASN was advertising this on heavy rotation as we watched the Twins go down swinging against the O's.)

Caught the opening game with the Braves on tape delay on NASN with the kids, and though we missed the opening innings (where the Nats jumped ahead 2-1) it was a great game -- great way to break in the new stadium, particularly with Zimmermann's walk-off homer to win the game 3-2.

While Gloriana was decked out in her Nats ballcap and was swinging a Nats kiddie bat, the Confessor interestingly enough didn't want to wear his Nats or his Braves gear...until the Braves tied the game on an error by the Nats catcher and sending a runner home, when I asked him out of curiosity which team he wanted to win. The Braves, he said. (Em is now grinning ear to ear.) Shortly after that, the Nats got the winning run, and he was a bit unhappy about it...oh well, kid, welcome to baseball. :-)

Punt.
Punt.
Punt.
Punt.
Punt.
Punt.
Downs.
Half.

Then a third quarter that went the same way.

Then 14 points in 2 1/2 minutes. And an INT. And a recovered kick. It was like Sean Taylor really was suddenly intervening in the game.

And then Todd Collins, who has been nearly flawless in his rebirth as the Redskins starter QB, makes a mistake beyond all mistakes -- lobbing that pass where Moss had given up -- and it turns into an INT returned for a TD.

And then another INT returned for a TD in the closing minutes. Unbelievable. Hard to imagine Collins doing that.

The Seahawks proved they were the better team through three quarters -- their defensive line and linebacker corps just crushed the Redskins O-line -- while Collins played well, in spite of the pressure. Which made those two major mistakes that much more jarring. And the end of the rally that much more crushing.

Sigh. Better luck next year. But an exciting game nonetheless.

Redskins 22, Giants 10.

Though if the Giants had caught half the passes they dropped, they'd probably have creamed the 'Skins. Yeesh. Manning damned near set a record for incomplete passes, and half of them were dropped balls.

And the wind kept doing the 'Skins favors, weirdly enough. Only once do I recall a case where the wind really cost the Redskins a play (when a Collins pass that would have been a TD wobbled a bit too short), but other than that it kept blowing in FGs and blowing Giants passes awry (and one Giant FG). And in one case blowing what would have been a lousy 30-yard punt and turning it into a 60-yarder ending at the Giants 4.

Not to mention a couple bad spots where I thought the Giants had the first, but then the spot was miraculously inches short. If the game had been in DC, I'd have been suspicious.

If you're wondering why I only now am posting about the game, the original broadcast was at 2 am last night...so I chickened out and watched the repeat at 9 pm. And they're showing the 'Skins-Vikings game next week...at 1 am. Sigh. At least there was the occasional baseball game earlier in the day, when the kids were still up, but letting them stay up until midnight is a bit much (even if the Confessor was excited by the prospect of watching tonight).

Meanwhile I noticed they announced the game times for various places around the world, and it never occurred to me before, but the evening NFL games in the US are of course midday in Oz. Therefore I am moving in with Arb.

Cowboys 28, Redskins 23. It is to weep.

First off, I gotta wonder what the hell the Cowboys have for a center. Sweet Lord, three blown snaps in one half?! The Cowboys are insanely lucky none were recovered by the Redskins (though of course one turned into an INT).

That missed FG in the first half really hurt the 'Skins, especially to come up with nothing after that great drive. Sigh.

Jason Campbell is turning into a really solid QB. I have high expectations of him in the next few seasons, and think he may make those three draft picks he cost be worth it. Yes, he's been fumbling a lot -- but I think that boils down to the amount of pressure he's been under with that weak offensive line, along with his relative youth. Both can be corrected, and learning to deal with pressure is just the seasoning he needs.

But still, his inexperience shows, like the intentional grounding call he had, but especially like that blunder that effectively killed the game for the 'Skins by throwing a sloppy pass under pressure right into the gut of a Dallas defender. He had some room to run and could have gained a good four or five yards if he'd have just run with it, rather than throwing the ball into heavy traffic like that. Even so, he led what looked like a magnificent rally, marching down the field and giving the Dallas secondary fits. If he keeps this up, he's gonna be a hell of a quarterback.

Given the odds going in, the 'Skins were damned lucky to be in the game at all at the half, though, let alone be ahead 10-7. Unfortunately, the Cowboys are known for going berzerko-crazy in the second half, while the Redskins are known for wilting. And indeed, that's more or less what happened, though surprisingly it was the Redskins D that failed, not the offense. Even then, their secondary is what killed them, not their defensive line -- the latter managed to bottle up the run pretty well, while the former got burned repeatedly by Owens. Bleah.

But the Redskins D looked surprisingly good overall, considering how banged up it is. And amazingly enough, the Redskins' offensive line didn't do too badly, all things considered. Maybe things are finally looking up again for the team -- but it's a shame they couldn't come up with a win after that effort.

A real heartbreaker of a game overall. Were it not for that late INT thrown by Campbell deep in Cowboys territory, the Redskins probably would have won it. The look of utter disappointment and frustration on Joe Gibbs' face after the INT just said it all: Somehow the Redskins have immense potential, but keep coming up short.

I direct your attention to the NASN TV schedule for this Saturday at 6 pm.

Hot diggity damn.

The Confessor was weirdly prescient, getting himself dressed earlier after coming home from shopping with BoE...putting on his Ohio State sweatsuit that his Buckeye grandma gave him some months back, but until now he always refused to put it on. But today he proceeded to go to the closet, pick it out and get dressed.

Maybe he heard me talking to Grandma about the game during our recent video chat, and took it to heart more than I realized...

Anyway, I now also direct your attention to the schedule the next day, 10 pm (or 22:00 as they put it).

Hot diggity-double-damn.

Hail to the Redskins, hail victory, braves on the warpath, fight for old DC!

Like I mentioned in suldrew's blog, I watched the 'Skins-Iggles game just now on tape delay (NASN often repeats games). So it was my first (almost) live 'Skins game on TV in a mere, oh, 14 years.

I had wanted to watch it live last night (or more accurately in the wee hours of the morning), but it would have started at 2:30 am and my MIL is staying with us a few days, sleeping in the living room -- so no dice on that.

The 'Skins looked decent, though they definitely need to get their offensive line improved if they want Portis to be productive. Campbell looked pretty solid, especially considering he's so young. Lots of potential there, I think. And their secondary and pass rush looked pretty good. Even so, they made a lot of stupid mistakes (that series of penalties at the end of the first half was just embarrassing) and considering the amount of money Snyder shits out on the team, they oughta be freakin' cruising to victory rather than worrying about blowing a 10+ point lead.

Dayamn have I missed football.

Sorry, arb, mah 'Skins hadda beat them Iggles. At least they didn't rough the kicker. ;-)

Meanwhile over here in Krautland you can buy fashionista MLB ballcaps at the local sports store (I say fashionista, because they aren't actually in team colors -- they're either black with a white logo or beige or some other color). So they have gear for the Yankees, lots of it (surprise surprise), plus the Braves and the Indians and the White Sox. (Presumably all this because of rappers -- and the young whippersnapper Tchermans are imitating them, not turning into budding baseball fans.)

But they also have one team's ballcaps that actually are in their real team colors. One team and one team only. Which one? The effing PHILLIES.

What. The. Fuck?! The shittiest team in baseball history? The team that was the first to lose ten thousand games? So they sell these ballcaps so some poor young unsuspecting German can prove how clueless they are about baseball?

Ach look, I heff bought zis totally kewl ballkep und I em really kewl! I heff ze Fillees on my kopf! Ja ja! I em goink to show all my friends how kewl I em mit zis Fillees ballkep! Ah! I am lookink on ze Internetz on ze standinks to see how ze Fillees are doink und OH MEIN GOTT I EM SUCH A DUMMKOPF!

(Yes, I know, some rappers wear Phillies gear. But still, that was the first thought that crossed my mind when I saw the caps. :-) )

This was sent to me by an Aussie friend in Hannover. Some of these are absolutely priceless. The Collingwood one wins. :-)

"I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father."
(Shane Wakelin)

"Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein."
(Mick Malthouse - Collingwood)

"I'm going to graduate on time, no matter how long it takes."
(Peter Bell - Fremantle - on his University Law studies)

"You guys line up alphabetically by height." and "You guys pair up in groups of three, then line up in a circle."
(Barry Hall Sydney Captain at training)

Brock Maclean (Melbourne) on whether he had visited the Pyramids during his visit to Egypt:
"I can't really remember the names of the clubs that we went to."

"He's a guy who gets up at six o'clock in the morning regardless of what time it is."
(Kevin Sheedy on James Hird)

Jonathan Brown, on night Grand Finals vs Day Games
"It's basically the same, just darker."

Ron Barassi talking about Gary Cowton "I told him, 'Son, what is it with you. Is it ignorance or apathy?'
He said, "Barass, I don't know and I don't care."

Barry Hall (Sydney) when asked about the upcoming season:
"I want to kick 70 or 80 goals this season, whichever comes first."

"Luke Hodge - the 21 year old, who turned 22 a few weeks ago"
(Dermott Brereton)

"Chad had done a bit of mental arithmetic with a calculator."
(Mark Williams)

"We actually got the winning goal three minutes from the end but then they scored."
(Ben Cousins, West Coast Eagles)

"I've never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body."
(Luke Darcy)

"That kick was absolutely unique, except for the one before it which was identical."
(Dermott Brereton)

"Sure there have been injuries and deaths in football - but none of them serious."
(Adrian Anderson)

"If history repeats itself, I should think we can expect the same thing again.
(Andrew Demetriou)

"I would not say he (Chris Judd) is the best centreman in the AFL
but there are none better." (Dermott Brereton)

"I never comment on umpires and I'm not going to break the habit of
a lifetime for that prat." (Terry Wallace)

Garry Lyon: "Have you ever thought of writing your autobiography?"
David Swartz: "On what?"

"Well, either side could win it, or it could be a draw."
(Dermott Brereton)

"Strangely, in slow motion replay, the ball seemed to hang in the air for even longer."
(Dermott Brereton)

Somewhat oddly, the Confessor has decided to root for the Atlanta Braves.

Not too sure why, really. On NASN we don't have too many games to pick from, and it happens that they have shown some Braves games, and he decided to root for them. So now they seem to be "his" team, even though I'm not a Braves fan -- and his American babysitter is from Cleveland and an Indians fan, so she's a bit nonplussed. ;-)

So he's going around saying "Go Braves" and even already does the tomahawk chop.

Really odd. I have no idea where he got it from. He's got a Nats and Twins ballcap already. Guess I have to get him a Braves one.

What's really sad is that the Braves lost each game we've watched, and the game we saw today (tape delay) they got bombed by the Red Sox, 11-0. Even by the time we tuned in in the bottom of the 2nd, it was already 7-0. Yowza.

(We did see Sosa's 600th homer -- NASN cut away for Sosa's at-bats.)

And I have yet to see a full game by any of "my" teams -- Nats, Reds or Twins. I did see part of a Nats-Orioles game earlier this week as a fluke (NASN had a satellite feed problem and was showing it on tape delay instead, then cut away to show the scheduled game). Oh well. But the kids are already getting into baseball a lot -- funnily enough, the Confessor is already calling out "HOME RUN" on practically every hit. :-)

Yeppers, Ethelred finally went out and got the set-top box for digital cable on Saturday (set me back EUR 120, but oh well), and went to the cable company today to get the SIM card for it today. I only ordered the English-language channels (scroll down to the UK flag), and among them is NASN, North American Sports Network.

And this means...

BASEBALL!

The funny thing is that I mentioned this to the Confessor, who really has no way of knowing what baseball is, except for a couple pictures from some of his books (such as Go, Dog, Go!, where in one picture the dogs are playing baseball) and of course the Nationals and Twins ballcaps he and I both have. I also have an autographed ball that I got once when I was in the hospital (some Twins players came by for a visit). But other than that, he really can't have a clue what baseball is.*

Yet he's been apeshit about wanting to see baseball on TV, even more than me. All evening as I was setting up the set-top box and re-cabling everything (which is pretty complicated, given all the stuff we have), he was excitedly going on about baseball.

Unfortunately, the SIM card still hasn't been activated by the cable company, so no baseball as of yet. *sigh*

Meanwhile, when he's older, there is a small baseball club in Hannover, the Hannover Regents...but unfortunately they play at noon on Sundays, which means skipping church. *sigh*

But hey, after years of missing it, I will finally be able to watch baseball on TV! w00t!

* - He does know football, because I have Madden 2003 and Madden 07 on the PS2 and play them sometimes. He also has a kid-sized Rhein Fire football.