A fan is born...

Any sports fan remembers the first professional game that they went to see in a huge stadium. While I was probably only 5 years old, I went to my first pro baseball game: with my dad, a friend of mine, and his father in the old Veteran's stadium (back in the day when stadiums had real names instead of oversized advertisements) to see the Phillies.

The vet was this 1970's style multipurpose stadium designed for football and baseball - not really being suited well for either. Needless to say, we were way on the top, but I didn't care. As far as I could tell (and remember), I was super excited. That started a passion for baseball ... and to this day I still have a soft spot in my heart for the Phillies.
When Eva and I discussed what we would like to get Quinn for his 4th birthday, we thought about taking him to see a pro soccer game, but we thought he'd be a bit too young. Then we asked around a bit - to the soccer fans that we knew - and they all reminisced about their first games. And we did it...we got tix and timed the weekend so that Eva's parents were in town to watch over Emily.

Quinn had his own official 1. FC Nürnberg jersey (Danke Oma & Opa!) for the event. He was super excited...tho we tried, he didn't want to take a nap during the game...

...but he found some time to catch a catnap on the train ride to the stadium.

We were hungry...and I thought a hotdog was appropriate. No veggies are allowed at stadiums.

Nürnberg had been on quite a run lately, so the fans were pretty wild. Below a pic of the 'rowdy' home section...

Unlike the US, there is no national (German) anthem played at sporting events - only at international events. But at one point the stadium got rather quiet and a song started playing. I didn't know any better and kept on rambling. I got an elbow in my ribs from Eva: I was yammering during the 1. FC Nürnberg Anthem. Don't talk during this song. It is VERBOTEN.

We had perfect weather for the event...

When it was all said and done, Quinn said he had a blast...and asked if he could go tomorrow with Oma and Opa...

In Germany, soccer is the national sport and the national passion for sportsfans. We had a ball, and I'm sure Quinn will remember the event for a while. Unfortunately, Nürnberg didn't win...but Quinn thought they did (he assumed that the 'good guys in red' scored all the goals), and we certainly didn't spoil this minor detail.

While that was probably not the goal of the whole event, I'm sure Quinn will always have a soft spot in his heart for 1. FC Nürnberg. And, that's not a bad thing.

...and my mother in law is happy that we didn't go to see FC Bayern München (sorry Kocka ;-)