Amanda Walks the Panther

The Cadillac of German soccer, the Creme de le Creme of the Deutsche Fussball Bund (DFB) is, and has been in my memory, always FC Bayern Munchen. They were in the 70's, 80's and 90's the Yankees of the 40's and 50's, indomitable and a force of nature. They are known across Deutschland as FC Hollywood-you can guess why.

Maybe sports is more than skill and talent. There's always a portion of luck, the luck you make and the luck you carry with you. This has not been the kindest season for FC Bayern. Despite a payroll that many medium sized German and American cities would envy as their operating budget, the German First Division title was beyond their grasp as they were, no other word for it, humiliated by Borussia Dortmund. You don't have to know anything about soccer to know 5-2 is a beat down-simple math skills suffice.

Yesterday, the opportunity for redemption was there and then gone as Bayern hosted Chelsea for the Union of European Football Association's title and the Champions cup. Scoreless through 80 minutes, Bayern's Thomas Mueller drew first blood but Didier Drogba, with a nearly-beyond-belief header, tied the contest with less than two minutes left in regulation and it remained 1-1 through a two fifteen minute overtime periods (which also  included one missed penalty kick for Bayern).  

When all time was out, all that was left was alternating eleven meter penalty kicks, five a side and the storied franchise with history and tradition on its side found itself on the short end as Chelsea and its fans, on Munich's home pitch, danced the night way with the club's first-in-its-history UEFA Champions trophy. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. A preis is nice aber ein Bayer ist higher-ausser gestern. So isses manchmal.
-bill kenny