Hello. Welcome to my website. It started while I was in Europe for a semester, and I've kept it up since then. I'm now at the University of Chicago Law School, living in Hyde Park, and the story continues. If you want to say hi or visit me, email cfloyd at uchicago dot edu.
"Life is nothing if not the sum of your anecdotes." -Scotty The Body, on storytelling "But it ain't that bad, man. Just figure out the system before the system figures out you." -T. Matthew Smith, on the 1L year "The beer just doesn't taste as good when you're not drinking it with your buddies." -Anon., on being away from good friends "Somebody has to pay the rent around here. Why the hell not us?" -Cotton, on studying for exams
5/31/2003
Final Score: Graz Giants 49, Team USA 22. Yep, I am sorry to say, we basically got spanked. Here's the deal. The Graz Giants are a cohesive team that imports players from the United States. Their star quarterback and running back are American. They have a good playbook, but, more importantly, executed their plays. Team USA, on the other hand, is a newly-assembled group of amateur American football players. Apparently several of them come from the Oklahoma League, where Chickasha vs. McAlester is a big rivalry. This does not diminish the quality of the players. In fact, Team USA looked, on average, much bigger than Graz, although slightly slower. There were two problems with Team USA. First, they didn't have a quarterback. The original didn't make the trip, and the replacement threw the ball away six times. One was called back for an offsides penalty, but that was still five interceptions, and Graz scored off of four of them. That was the main problem. The other problem, however, was that "Team USA" was closer to "Collection of Football Players from the USA Playing Together." They weren't a cohesive team. With a few more practices, minus the jet lag, we could have beaten Graz. Maybe next time.
Observations from the game: As I said, the Americans were bigger, but the Austrians were faster.
There was a larger concentration of ballcaps than I've seen anywhere else in Graz. Apparently fans of an American sport pick up American sportswear.
Large speakers played music during the entire game. They turned it down for the snaps, but didn't turn it off. It was distracting to me, but I suppose it was to keep the Europeans from getting bored.
The game started with the American, then the Austrian, national anthem. It was good to hear the "Star Spangled Banner."
The cheerleaders at the game were very skilled at their stunts and cheers. I don't know that much about the art, but I know that these girls were at least as good as a squad from a large American high school. And their cheers were in English: "Clap your hands! Stomp your feet! And listen to the rhythm of the Giants beat! It goes..." etc.
I met two women in Team USA shirts who were filming the game near my seat. They ended up being from Norman! I asked them about their stay, and, while they found the scenery beautiful, they were less than enthusiastic about the food. I was sympathetic--though it exists in abundance, it is not a simple task to find the good food in Styria. So they had resorted, in desperation, to eating at McDonalds. Without a guide or any knowledge of German, I don't blame them. I gave them some tips and told them where to buy food, as well as souvenirs and t-shirts.
Overall I enjoyed the experience. It was too bad that the game wasn't competitive, but it was a good time nonetheless.
5/31/2003 11:19:00 AM
