I could take a few years without heartbreak right now. It is getting predicting 1860's next fun run in the tabloids. It seems the last 8 years have been nothing but Desperate Fussballers - Muenchen Edition. Seriously, I feel like 1860 has been paid to act like Harchester United from the Dream Team. All we need is a few more murders, a bus crash and a few more owner changes and we WOULD be them.
The Heartbreak Is Over In This Town The 25 year heartbreak in Philadelphia ended Wednesday evening. It's about time.
I'm from Trinidad, and I was 12 years old when Soccer made in Germany made its début, in 1977, on TV in my country. It was this programme that started and cemented my love affair with German football. It was there that I saw the twilight of the great careers of Wolfgang Overath, Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Muller and Sepp Maier. I remember Alan Simonsen, Kevin Keegan, Rummenigge and Hansi Muller then emerging as the biggest names on that show. Every Saturday afternoon, at 1:30, I would be glued to the television. What memories !
What I remember about SMiG is that it replaced a similar program that featured the English league. At the time, I was unhappy with the switch; the German names were unfamiliar to me. Since then, however, after several visits over and an academic year (1995-96) in Salzburg, not only the names but many of the cities are familiar. My favorite club is 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig, with Energie Cottbus and Hamburger SV the teams I follow most closely in the 1.BL.
My first experience with soccer that I can remember. My older brother would watch it, and I got into it. It was so foreign, so exciting, I remember as a little kid. I also remember hearing the announcer say Karl Heinz Rummenigge and feeling queasy thinking he was saying the N word.
I just stumbled across this thread, and had to reply. When it comes to Soccer Made In Germany with the great Toby Charles some of the greatest memories of my youth come to mind. Simply the best! This show had a lot to do with how my love for the game started. Great stuff in this thread from all.
I have a column this week about Toby Charles and Soccer Made in Germany: http://www.metroactive.com/features/columns/silicon-alleys_20100623.html I hope y'all enjoy it. Gary feel free to join: http://www.facebook.com/gary.singh http://www.twitter.com/Gary_Singh
Gary, Thanks for posting this. I enjoyed Leverkusen the same way 3 years ago. My son and I attended a Bayer 04 Leverkusen game. When the PA system played SHAME during the pre-game warmups I had a grin from ear to ear.
As a kid in Philadelphia, SMIG was THE telescope that brought the game into our living rooms. It was a ticket to sights and sounds we'd never seen before. All of us high school players grew up with Toby Charles' english voice in our heads as we practiced and played. The accent added credibility to our efforts, and more than a few of us would imitate him verbatim. The style of broadcasting was so different from American sports commentary - British phrases, long silences, witty commentary. The names of German teams seemed so exotic - Schalke O4, Borussia Moenchengladbach, Bochum, Kaiserslautern, etc. And for for the first time to American ears, we actually heard the impassioned German singing from the stands - an utterly foreign concept for us Americans. My father would get actually upset at me for playing the sound too loud because the Germans' singing reminded him too much of WWII singing at Nazi rallies.... One memory I seem to have was of one game where fans actually rioted and there was a military helicopter hovering above the field? Anyone else remember that? Maybe I am going senile.... Great thread..
Old thread, but I do remember when Toby and SMIG were covering the 1980 European Cup, there was a riot between England and Belgium. Toby Charles called what he saw "Disgusting scenes". This may have been the first game of soccer made in Germany I ever saw since I fell in love with soccer at an Earthquakes vs Whitecaps game on June 2nd, just weeks earlier.
What a great show that was..great commentator..great football....now TSN, Sporsnet and GOL Tv could use that as a template on how to properly produce and broadcast a game and league.
A gift to the thread. Enjoy! [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOTchs7zDGI"]YouTube - Soccer Made in Germany[/ame]
excellent.....great memories, even if i watched the later versions of the show. flohe and hans mueller....two great playmakers
Ah, you're bringing tears to my eyes. That season was what turned me into a Köln fan, although I do recall watching a Schalke-Köln game from, I think, the season before (76/77). Ended 1:1 with Schumacher having to be subbed in for an injured Topalovic. One of my first SMIG memories. Getting old sucks.
Both renown for their left footedness ... remarkable that Flohe scored that first goal with his right foot.
Then you must be well in your 30's...? +1, I used to love the animation and the music...I guess for the goal highlights it was or am I mixing it up with another?:confused Boy loved that show with or w.out those animations....the world was just a better place and the mighty fohlen where at their top- form Shivers still run down my spine picturing bokelberg and it's score board high in the sky... and of course our fans which still remain strong if Bokelberg has long gone sadly! www.fotobahn.com
I remember if being called "Football made in Germany" - my memory is hazy, and i cannot recall if I saw it in Cyprus (where my father was stationed in the RAF) or here in the UK. It was certainly the early 1980s though. Yep, ich bin alt.