Fotoeins Fotografie

location bifurcation, place vs. home

Posts from the ‘Sports’ category

Hennes, 1. FC Köln, Köln, Cologne, North Rhine Westphalia, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, Deutschland, fotoeins.com

My Cologne: 1. FC Köln, Stadium, Anthem

Above/featured: “Hennes”, mascot for 1. FC Köln (GO4KÖLN, Breitestr. 36). Photo, 16 Jun 2023 (X70).

“Gute Laune, Laute Stimme”: the “EffZeh” (F-C) experience has me hooked.

I’m among men and women, young and old, swimming in a sea of red and white, and surrounded by full-volume chanting. Not only is it a big deal to procure a “Stehplatz” (standing spot) for under €20, but to be present in the stadium’s standing-only terraces is a big thrill. The terraces are present in German football stadia but banned in England (for historical reasons). I’m convinced I’m going to memorize their famous fan anthem as quickly as possible.

Founded on 13 February 1948, the football (soccer) team 1. FC Köln plays out of the Müngersdorfer Stadion, known also as the sponsored Rhein-Energie-Stadion (Rhine Energy Stadium) in Cologne. The stadium’s maximum capacity is about fifty-thousand, and the football side regularly sells out their home matches. The team’s mascot is a billy goat (Geissbock) for its steadfast stubborn perseverance; the team’s nickname is The Billy Goats. I’m also convinced there’s another “Kölle” verbal pun. “Geist-bock” is a compound noun consisting of “Geist” for (team-, fan-) spirit, and “Bock” for the people’s stubborn steadfast support. Various generations of “Hennes”, the mascot goat, have appeared on the sideline for home matches, and the mascot is prominent in the team badge’s and familiar red-and-white home kit (jersey).

The English version of the Bundesliga website highlights the team, reminding us they were the first ever champions of the newly established Bundesliga for the 1963-1964 season.

Bundesliga, 1. FC Köln, Rhein-Energie-Stadion, Köln, Cologne, North Rhine Westfalen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, Deutschland

Basic club info from Bundesliga (2018-2019), with updated FB link.

1. FC Köln, Bahnhof Ehrenfeld, Cologne, Köln, Germany, fotoeins.com

“1. FC Köln” mural at Ehrenfeld station – 14 Jan 2013 (450D).

Zesamme Simmer Stark, FC Kölle, 1. FC Köln, Effzeh, Hilton Cologne, Köln, Cologne, North Rhine Westphalia, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, Deutschland, fotoeins.com

“Zesamme Simmer Stark”: Hilton Cologne. Photo, 26 May 2016 (6D1).

1. FC Köln, Köln Hauptbahnhof, Köln Hbf, Köln, Cologne, North Rhine Westphalia, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, Deutschland, fotoeins.com

1. FC Köln fanshop “Stadion”, at Köln Hbf (Cologne central station). Photo, 13 May 2022 (X70).

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Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD, USA, MLB, baseball, Baltimore Orioles, fotoeins.com

Baltimore: Oriole Park at Camden Yards

I’m a longtime baseball fan, going way back to the days of watching on CBC Television many Montréal Expos’ home games at Jarry Park Stadium, and back to the inaugural seasons for both the Seattle Mariners and the Toronto Blue Jays. I’ve been looking forward to visiting Camden Yards in Baltimore since its completion in 1992. I’m visiting friends in Baltimore as one of many North American stops in my 2012 around-the-world (RTW) trip. With the added bonus of the stadium’s 20th anniversary, we’re on a weekday-afternoon tour of Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Although baseball season is already a few weeks in, there are only six of us on the tour. It feels like we have all of Camden Yards to ourselves.

I’m also a fan of sports history. A few weeks earlier, I returned to Toronto for the first time in ten years, and I found some ‘religion’ in the presence of “The Holy Grail” inside the Hockey Hall of Fame. Here at Camden Yards, it’s special to examine an important part of Oriole and baseball lore, reading about Brooks Robinson and Frank Robinson, and seeing the various displays for Cal Ripken Jr.

At home plate, I imagine I’m at bat, and smacking a 3-2 outside fastball towards the warehouse wall in right field, and I’m rounding the bases …

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Toronto: finding religion in the Hockey Hall of Fame

The Hockey Hall of Fame is the “Cathedral of Hockey”, a place where fans and followers pay their respects to the “Holy Grail”, one of the most beautiful and storied trophies in North American professional sports – the Stanley Cup.

Since 1993, the Hockey Hall of Fame (HHOF) has resided in an old Bank of Montreal building at the northwest corner of Front Street and Yonge Street in downtown Toronto, Canada. To the uninitiated observer, it might be easy to dismiss the Hall of Fame as no more than a bunch of keepsakes collecting dust in an old building.

The HHOF is more, so much more.

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