Happy Groundhog Day!
Last year, in the Berlin Adventures blog, I explained the link between Groundhog Day and Germany. Click on Berlin Adventures if you need a refresher.
This year, I am pleased to say that I have found a New York City link to this wonderful holiday: Staten Island Chuck!
Staten Island Chuck apparently spends most of the week at the Staten Island Zoo, but spends weekends at his keeper’s house. Chuck is actually Chuck VI and was born in New Jersey last year.
Just like his Pennsylvania cousin Phil, Chuck came out of his house this morning and did not see his shadow. For those not versed in groundhog weather forecasts, this means we will have an early spring. (As if we ever had winter this year!)
Have a great weekend!
(photo courtesy of the Staten Island Zoo website)
posted by Erin at 2:01 PM
7 Comments:
Big sports weekend anyways here in Germany. Regular Bundesliga anyways. But Germany plays in the Handball World Cup final against Poland - the tourney is being staged in Germany right now, and Germany hasn't been world champ since almost 30 years.
They staged public viewing possibilities and have convention centers air it. Expected attendance thruout Germany: 100.000 people, 20 million more in front of the TV. In the whole World, roundabout 300 million people. Me and my lads are gonna be in the Westfalenhalle of Dortmund, about 6.000 people expected to cheer for a screen *lol*
The point it goes completely unnoticed in the US is that no english-speaking country even has any major team. Th best team in the WC was Australia, last place, lost to Greenland in the battle for place 19.
Maybe the same with Germany and Rugby or Cricket - not solely unknown, but no base at all.
Handball, wow, who knew that had an audience of 20 million! I'm sorry to say that when I think of handball, two things come to mind:
1. the sport you had to play in high school gym class if you got last pick of what you wanted to participate in for the semester
2. one of the sports that can only be seen on US television during the Olympics...and only then at 2am in the morning on cable.
This is also a big sporting weekend in the US-- the Superbowl (real football;-)) will be played on Sunday. I read that the television audience for that can be as high as 90 million (though a good chunk of those viewers just want to see the funny commercials.)
Superbowl Sunday seems so uniquely American to me because everyone gets a piece of the action... it's the biggest game of the year for an American sport, it's also one of the best opportunities for corporations to advertise, and the government (FCC) gets to run around threatening that "wardrobe malfunctions" will be costly to anyone who violates their rules. All of this gives media lots to talk about and the average American spends lots of money of party food. American, one big happy family:-)
Germany has the best Handball league in the world in the first place so if anybody would ask me about "THE german Sport" I'd say "handball". There are sports that are more popular like footie, but no sports that has more german legends, highest-profile leagues and history involved.
I do like American Football, watch it at times and german state TV ARD will air it *cough* without any commercials at all. We miss the funny ones, but we hear and see what's goin on in huddles and during time outs, so that's maybe something that other domestic US viewers have seen the last time 25 years ago.
But if Germany makes it to the title, I'm not gonna get a glimpse of the Super Bowl because I'm gonna be partying my rear digestive tract end off being to drunk to watch any football in the city centre.
For the Americans: Be reminded. Please do not flush the toilet right during the half-time break. You know. A cultural disease, it constipates too many poop bowls at the same time for any sane plumber to handle.
Deutschland ist Handball-Weltmeister!!
Toll wars und die Freude ist riesig! Mal schauen, ob es wieder einen Freudenkorso auf dem Kudamm gibt!
Gruß Franka
Ich gratuliere Deutschland! Maybe there needs to be a new Sportfreunde Stiller song:-)
Bense, I must admit being totally confused by your last comment. "What is this guy smoking" might have been a thought that crossed my mind.
So imagine my surprise when The Today Show (German Morgen Magazin) headlined today's program with a story about how the sewer system gets stressed at halftime during the Superbowl.
Seems that you are more up to date on important American stories than I am:-) Congrats to your handball team!
Den Song gabs diesmal von der köllnerstimmungsmachetruppe "die höhner". Kannst hier mal reinhören http://www.nurfuerfans.de/hoehner/intro2.html
ich glaub die sind auch bekannt durch solche reißer wie : "...da simmer dabei, das is prima, viva colonia...(bitte kölschen dialekt dazudenken;-))... Gerne genommen im Karneval in süddeutscheren Gefilden.
Franka
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