Show us your moves!

December 6 is Independence Day in Finland and St Nikolaus in Germany. My wife and I had a little get-together for our international group on that day. We served ginger bread and Glӧgi, the Finnish version of mulled wine. We had a short official part where my wife talked about the Independence Day and we listened to the National Anthem of Finland. Then all of us shared nuts and chocolate, which St Nikolaus brought us (beforehand).

After my return from Las Vegas I struggled with the three-hour time difference. On Tuesday ‘night’ I went to sleep at 6.20am. On Wednesday I discussed this with my friend E Pei from Singapore. His comment was: No sympathy, don’t care. I’m sure some of you readers share his opinion.. ;)

E Pei and I planned for a long time to see a NBA basketball game during this autumn. Unfortunately we couldn’t make it because of the lockout. A disagreement between team owners and players regarding salaries (what else) delayed the season start to Christmas Day. So we had to come up with another plan and went to see a college basketball game on Wednesday night.

Maryland Terrapins played against St Mount Mary’s, here in College Park. The 18,000 seats of the Comcast Center were just half filled, perhaps because of the heavy rain. One section was dedicated to reporters and commentators only. I’m still amazed how popular these college sports are, unthinkable back home. College basketball is played 2x20 minutes and the first half was rather boring because the Terrapins had an early lead and were never in any danger. Highlights were two slam dunks; those boys jumped really high.

The half-time show was really fun. In addition to the cheerleaders there were a few coupons give-away competitions for someone in the audience. The best one was ‘Show us your moves! Dance for your dinner’. Everyone could dance to some disco music and the cameras searched for the best moves, shown on the screen. As it came down to two, the cheering of the audience decided on the winner. Seems I have to do some work on my moves, I didn’t even make it to the screen..

During the second half a thing called momentum turned around the game. The home team was too sure of victory and suddenly they trailed. That woke up the audience and the atmosphere was now great! Just one second before the end, Maryland was leading by one single point and scored two more points for a 77-74 victory. Great drama, go terps!

Press box in Comcast Center

Some action

Cheerleaders in action

Mascot having fun

Show us your moves!

Go Terps!

Saturday afternoon we went with our group to see a football match. Maryland Terrapins played Towson. The Terps, as they are called, are the team of the University of Maryland (UMD) here in College Park. Mascot of UMD is a turtle, the diamondback terrapin, living the Chesapeake Bay region nearby.

This was my first football match, so I put on my red UMD hoodie. The Byrd Stadium on campus has a capacity for 54,000 and was perhaps 60-70% filled. Coming from Europe, I expected a college/university league game and stadium to be much smaller. But it's big here. Despite the weather (50F/12C and rainy) the atmosphere was really good and both teams fans and brass orchestras gave their best to support their own team. During half-time they stepped onto the field and played some marches and formed the border of the USA. Only Florida came out short, in my opinion.. :)

During the first quarter I had no idea why the spectators would cheer or be in agony. So I 'interviewed' one of our hosts regarding the rules, as football (American..) was a complete mystery for me. It took a while to get the hang of it, but eventually I understood more and followed the spectacle with interest.

To test and ensure my new-found knowledge, I really should see another game during this autumn. However, I try to see also at least one hockey, baseball and basketball match.

Regarding the turtle mascot, I asked why the giant blown-up turtle looks so mad. The answer was, that it has to look scary, it's just a turtle.

Fear the turtle!

Byrd Stadium, view from entrance

UMD orchestras

Byrd Stadium, view from our seats

Half-time, band members lining up as map of USA

Fear the turtle!

Some action!