Random Soccer Thoughts Thread [Possible R]

[wolfsburgh]

A thread for random, German soccer thoughts which, by themselves, don't merit a thread, but need a forum. Feel free to add on:

1. I think the stars on the uniforms are stupid. When I first heard about it, I was neutral about it, but after watching the HSV/Bayern game, I decided that the whole look is so contrived and artificial. If teams want to honor their past glories, they should be permitted to fiddle with their badges and uniforms any way they see fit. But to have the league decree that little stars are the way to do it, and limit the number of stars, well, the whole thing smacks of the NFL (No Fun League). They just look out of place. I'd love to see a team like Bayern say, "We don't need no stinking stars on our uniforms. You know what we've done in the past, and you know how good we are now, and you know what we are going to do to you in the future, and we certainly don't need three stars on our uniform to establish any of the foregoing."

2. Speaking of Bayern, the gold uniforms should be barred. First, they have absolutely nothing to do with the club's colors (although some could argue that gold is, in fact, the team's primary color--read into that whatever you wish). Second, even the logo was in black and gold. I suppose I could have lived with the gold and black if the badge was the right color, but even the badge desecrates the club. Third, it seems to me that the gold uniforms are exceedingly cynical. Bayern is saying, "Buy these gold jerseys with STARS, because you don't know how long we'll have stars on our shirts." And, of course, next year, the Bayern fans will be fleeced into buying a shirt with stars that actually has the club colors in it because the only shirt they have with stars isn't in club colors.

3. I think it is going to be a long season for HSV.

4. I didn't see the FCK/FCN game, but FCK might be worse than I thought, and I didn't think they were going to be very good in the first place.

5. Aue: you can't stop them, you can only hope to contain them.

[Alex_K]

5. Aue: you can't stop them, you can only hope to contain them.
Essen probably just sucks ;).

[wolfsburgh]

Essen probably just sucks ;).

Not exactly a sterling debut. IIRC, last time Essen played at this level they were officially relegated like 2/3 of the way through the season for financial reasons. Maybe this year, they'll be relegated 2/3 of the way through on merit (or lack therof).

[Alex_K]

Their on the field success that year was nothing to write home about either.

[SirManchester]

Eh don't worry about the stars, they're not that distracting.

As for Bayern's gold jerseys with the black logo, let 'em experiment with this. I doubt it will drag on longer after this season, unless they are very successful with them. And if that's the case, why get rid of them ?

[210597]

-Bayern have always dicked around with their colors. They're actually red and white and their home jersey now is the first one they've had in pure red and white since 1991/1992, I believe. In the meantime, they had navy/bordeaux, navy/red, red/blue, white with red and blue stripe-and those were home jerseys. If there's any funny business they should bring back in terms of color, I'd go with the Brazil look jerseys they used to beat Kaiserslautern back in the day :-D
I think Schalke wearing orange, and ********ing up their badge in the process, or Bochum wearing a real rainbow from 1997-1999, or Hannover trying to wear a blue road jersey (colors of Arminia Hannover, their local rival from way back when), or Wolfsburg exisitng, is a lot worse.

-No stars for championships before 1963 is a crime.

-The DFB has joined FIFA in trying to ban banners being displayed on fences, or, for fenceless stadiums, on railings and balustrades. Trying to oppress the fans as usual...

-Fortuna Düsseldorf, Regionalligameister 2005 :-D

-When are LR Ahlen and Wacker Burghausen finally gonna do the drop?

[hertha supporter]

New Bayern yellow unis don't look that good. Probably better than the white ones though.

[BayernWake]

2. Speaking of Bayern, the gold uniforms should be barred. First, they have absolutely nothing to do with the club's colors (although some could argue that gold is, in fact, the team's primary color--read into that whatever you wish). Second, even the logo was in black and gold. I suppose I could have lived with the gold and black if the badge was the right color, but even the badge desecrates the club. Third, it seems to me that the gold uniforms are exceedingly cynical. Bayern is saying, "Buy these gold jerseys with STARS, because you don't know how long we'll have stars on our shirts." And, of course, next year, the Bayern fans will be fleeced into buying a shirt with stars that actually has the club colors in it because the only shirt they have with stars isn't in club colors.

.

The home jerseys (the red ones) will also have stars on them this year. Also, I'm planning on getting the gold jersey. I think they look pretty decent actually (my school's colors are Gold and Black, so I could wear it to soccer games there). Anyway, as far as the logo color is concerned, I saw a picture of the gold jersey with the traditional red white and blue logo on it, and it was hideous. The black and gold badge just makes more sense on the black and gold kit. From the pictures I've been with the players actually wearing the new gold kits on the field, they aren't bad at all. They only look awkward when you go to a website and see it for sale.

By the way, you want to see a hideous jersey? Check out the new Juventus away kit: http://www.juvestore.com/dettaglio.asp?id_prodotto=307

[Robert25]

As far as jersies go, simple is not always the worst thing. bayern and many other European teams are trying new colors, new designs, etc...But some of the best jersies are the ones that are the green and white of celtic, the red and blue of Barca, the red of Liverpool and Man U, etc... There does not always have to be a change, but when you're trying to sell clothes, guess anything can happen, i.e. see why juve went to a new home jersey even though their last one was perfect.

Hey Aue might do some damage, but everyone watch out for...

DyAnMo DrEsDeN :cool:

[Dead Fingers]

-No stars for championships before 1963 is a crime.


How many would Schalke and FCN have? It is pretty ludicrous. I liked the Bayern white jerseys from the last 2 years. Not a big fan of the gold ones.

[Alex_K]

2 each.

[bayerndawg]

-Bayern have always dicked around with their colors. They're actually red and white and their home jersey now is the first one they've had in pure red and white since 1991/1992, I believe. In the meantime, they had navy/bordeaux, navy/red, red/blue, white with red and blue stripe-and those were home jerseys. If there's any funny business they should bring back in terms of color, I'd go with the Brazil look jerseys they used to beat Kaiserslautern back in the day :-D
I think Schalke wearing orange, and ********ing up their badge in the process, or Bochum wearing a real rainbow from 1997-1999, or Hannover trying to wear a blue road jersey (colors of Arminia Hannover, their local rival from way back when), or Wolfsburg exisitng, is a lot worse.

-No stars for championships before 1963 is a crime.

-The DFB has joined FIFA in trying to ban banners being displayed on fences, or, for fenceless stadiums, on railings and balustrades. Trying to oppress the fans as usual...

-Fortuna Düsseldorf, Regionalligameister 2005 :-D

-When are LR Ahlen and Wacker Burghausen finally gonna do the drop?
I remember when Bayern went with the yellow tops and blue shorts vs Kaiserlautern if I remember correctly they went to the yellow tops because the had a string of losses wearing white. It seems like most teams alternate uniforms are different colors than the "official"colors are. Chelsea has a silver and black kit their alternate uniforms. Its all about money. I heard that Bayerns Champion League uni is going to be black.

[bayerndawg]

The home jerseys (the red ones) will also have stars on them this year. Also, I'm planning on getting the gold jersey. I think they look pretty decent actually (my school's colors are Gold and Black, so I could wear it to soccer games there). Anyway, as far as the logo color is concerned, I saw a picture of the gold jersey with the traditional red white and blue logo on it, and it was hideous. The black and gold badge just makes more sense on the black and gold kit. From the pictures I've been with the players actually wearing the new gold kits on the field, they aren't bad at all. They only look awkward when you go to a website and see it for sale.

By the way, you want to see a hideous jersey? Check out the new Juventus away kit: http://www.juvestore.com/dettaglio.asp?id_prodotto=307
I just bought the gold jersey and its not that bad looking I also saw the picture in Eurosport with the traditional badge when the gold first came out I thought they should have stayed with the traditional badge but after I saw the picture with the red white and blue badge I think the black and gold look nice. The new shorts are also nice (I collect the jerseys and wear the shorts)Have you heard what Bayern will be wearing during The CL this year I heard they were wearing black.

[wolfsburgh]

5. Aue: you can't stop them, you can only hope to contain them.

Aue wins again, this time against TSV, which is surely a better team than Essen. Is Aue for real? I thought they just had a nice run last season, but it is possible that they are legit promotion candidates?

[BayernWake]

I just bought the gold jersey and its not that bad looking I also saw the picture in Eurosport with the traditional badge when the gold first came out I thought they should have stayed with the traditional badge but after I saw the picture with the red white and blue badge I think the black and gold look nice. The new shorts are also nice (I collect the jerseys and wear the shorts)Have you heard what Bayern will be wearing during The CL this year I heard they were wearing black.

I just bought the gold jersey today. Simply put, it's slick. Much better "in person" (for lack of a better term). I think it's great, but apparently you and I are in the minority as far as that's concerned. Now I have to find the shorts...
Also, if you go to http://shop.fcbayern.de/ you can see the new CL jersey. Just go to "Adidas Collection" then "CL Collection."

[F96]

I like the gold jersey too, I'm the only one I know personally though!

[BayernWake]

Aue wins again, this time against TSV, which is surely a better team than Essen. Is Aue for real? I thought they just had a nice run last season, but it is possible that they are legit promotion candidates?

1860 better get their act together. Also, a few questions about Aue (I haven't been following the 2. Liga as closely as the 1. Liga):

1) Where are they located?
2) Call me crazy, but it seems like of lot of 2. Bundesliga teams have peculiar/slightly funny sounding names. Examples: Essen, of course. Aue (which reminds me of "Aua", German for "ouch"...no wonder they can't get promoted). "Wacker" Burghausen. And don't even ask me why Greuther-Fuerth's "Spielvereinigung" is "abbreviated" as SpVgg, because I haven't the slightest idea.

Well, the second one was more of a random comment than anything, but then again, it goes with the thread title.

[wolfsburgh]

1860 better get their act together. Also, a few questions about Aue (I haven't been following the 2. Liga as closely as the 1. Liga):

1) Where are they located?
2) Call me crazy, but it seems like of lot of 2. Bundesliga teams have peculiar/slightly funny sounding names. Examples: Essen, of course. Aue (which reminds me of "Aua", German for "ouch"...no wonder they can't get promoted). "Wacker" Burghausen. And don't even ask me why Greuther-Fuerth's "Spielvereinigung" is "abbreviated" as SpVgg, because I haven't the slightest idea.

Well, the second one was more of a random comment than anything, but then again, it goes with the thread title.

We love randomness in this thread. I can't really help with the origin of city names, but Aue is in the state of Saxony in the old DDR (East Germany). Closest big city is Chemnitz (formerly Karl Marx Stadt). It is not far from the Czech border.

As for the club, it was a non-descript team in East Germany (I don't know if it ever won much of anything). It was called Wismut, now the club is called Erzgebirge (sp?), after a local mountain range, I believe. I don't know what Wismut means, but Aue was closely associated with miners and mining, I think, so maybe Wismut has something to do with mining (since East German teams were often associated with the local industry--Motor, Stahl, Lokomotiv, etc.).

Aue did not make it to the 1.BL or 2.BL when the West and East German leagues merged, so since up until last season, Aue played 3rd division (or maybe lower, but I think there were pretty steady campaigners in the 3rd Div.). Last year, they were promoted, and although they were picked to be quickly relegated, they had a strong second half of the season and at one point were even in the hunt for promotion before finishing 5th or 6th.

Still, I think most thought they were flukes . . . but maybe not.


And as for Wacker, I don't know what Wacker stands for (and have heard several things), but they are very close to the Austrian border, and several teams in Austria had/have Wacker associated with their name. But I do know they beat Cologne 4-2 today, which has to be a pretty big upset, since I think Cologne is probably the popular choice to win the 2.BL this season.

[Alex_K]

Beeing a native speaker I never thought about any of those names as beeing funny (well, i still don't ;)).
If you are interested in the origins of the city names, i can look them up. They are often a bit complicated (e.g. Braunschweig actually means Bruno's Wiek).

Aue actually was one of the bigger clubs in East Germany (won 3 championships and probably a few cups too). Wismut (Bi) is a radioactive element (don't know the English name), as it was the club of the local Wismut mines.

I expect Aue and 1860 to finish mid-table, so the result doesn't surprise me that much :D.

Wacker: in the special case of Burghausen there is also a chemical company of some sort that is named Wacker which sponsors the club, as far as i know but in general Wacker (there are also clubs named Wacker in Hamburg, Berlin and Braunschweig so it isn't only a Southern thing, btw) means something like brave.

Oh, and you should follow the lower leagues (instead of Bayern :D), way more interesting than the oh-so-glamorous top flight.

[wolfsburgh]

Beeing a native speaker I never thought about any of those names as beeing funny (well, i still don't ;)).
If you are interested in the origins of the city names, i can look them up. They are often a bit complicated (e.g. Braunschweig actually means Bruno's Wiek).

Aue actually was one of the bigger clubs in East Germany (won 3 championships and probably a few cups too). Wismut (Bi) is a radioactive element (don't know the English name), as it was the club of the local Wismut mines.

I expect Aue and 1860 to finish mid-table, so the result doesn't surprise me that much :D.

Wacker: in the special case of Burghausen there is also a chemical company of some sort that is named Wacker which sponsors the club, as far as i know but in general Wacker (there are also clubs named Wacker in Hamburg, Berlin and Braunschweig so it isn't only a Southern thing, btw) means something like brave.

Oh, and you should follow the lower leagues (instead of Bayern :D), way more interesting than the oh-so-glamorous top flight.

Even if the German names are funny, there are a lot of funny ones in the US, too. In Pennsylvania, where I live, we have town names like Intercourse, Blue Ball, Bird-in-Hand, Jersey Shore (miles and miles away from the Jersey Shore), and Indiana (miles and miles away from Indiana). Those are pretty odd. BTW, in the Pittsburgh area, there is a town called Monessen, which is a corruption of Essen on the Monongahela (river), and which may be weirder than Essen by itself.

I had heard both those stories about Wacker (that it was a company name, and that it meant brave).