EM 2008
In exactly 4 days 21hrs 59mins, as I’m writing this, the whole of Europe will be caught in the EM (Europameisterschaft) fever, ahem…except maybe England 
. Just in case you are wondering what I’m talking about, Euro Cup 2008 will kick off this Saturday with the host Switzerland playing against Czech Republic in Basel.
I’m not a hard core football fan but living in a country like Germany, it is very difficult to miss the football craze that arises from any mega football events that the Germans participate. I have a feeling that football (and beer of course 
) , is an integral part of their lives.
I grew up watching English football. My stay here has opened my eyes to the German Football League (Bundesliga), although I’m no fan of any of the German football clubs. These regional football leagues have their very own loyal followers and each time come any football matches, I understand why there might be problems with hooligans, seeing how some of them behave in public transportation and pubs.
The Germans take it very seriously how their regional football clubs perform in national league chart. Sometimes I have a feeling that the results of the regional football matches are equal to the national news. And I once thought that football was only for guys and how wrong I was. You can see that housewives, young girls, aunts and grandmas all alike are hard core supporters for their regional football leagues.
As for this coming Euro Cup, I can feel how this football bug has infected the businesses as well. Banks have coined up some products like football funds. The largest electronic store in Germany has even came up with the idea to offer a rebate of 100Euro for each goal the German team may eventually score in the final match of the Euro Cup 2008 (penalty kick not included …ahem). Hello…there might be a chance that they will never reach the finals.
Got what you mean… I guess non football fans are driven into the mood nevertheless. Isn’t their passion fascinating anyway? =P
Haha..I like the rebate idea! In US, the major sports events are: college basketball, college football, and Superbowl. Superbowl is an annual football event between the last two standing National Football League teams, that is something like I-live-for-this-moment thing. It’s a huge thing here, with singers singing at the event, and this is the time where the best TV commercials in US are broadcasted. Yeah, US commercials are terrible, and I actually surfed the web to watch Superbowl commercials! LOL!
Stardust, yes, those football fans are really passionate about football, sometimes to the point of craziness
.
Chin, yea I heard about the Superbowl before, since the incident with Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake
. Hehehe.. I haven’t watched much TV commercials from the US before, I’m sure they would of course fight for air time since this event is watched by millions.