David vs. Goliath

In the biblical story, David defeats Goliath. Unfortunately, yesterday Goliath won. Showing an effort that rivals anything I've seen in our program, the playing of soccer in the 2009 European Tour has come to an end. A 1-0 loss in the first round of yesterday's playoff game means we are hanging up our boots and getting ready to come home.

With only 8 players on the field, your Vikings fought valiantly, but came up short. We held a Swedish team scoreless for the first 20-minutes of the match, despite being down 3 players and having no substitutes. Alas, the dam broke and we let in a goal. I truly could not have been more proud of the girls and the way the composed themselves and handled the challenges on this trip.

Today was a sleep-in day and we spent the afternoon in a town called Hirtsthal and had a picnic on the beach after a short 30 minute train ride. We all went exploring and Meryl, Delilah, and I explored a WWII bunker built by the Germans in preparation for an Allied invasion that never came; it went to Normandy instead. It was truly special for me to explore a piece of history, especially since I teach the subject. According to the literature, Rommel personally inspected the bunkers in December 1943. It's fascinating for me to engage my mind and literally walk on and through history.

I am taking out the girls to dinner tonight at Pizzeria Bambino. Tomorrow we pack and get on our 6 hour bus ride to Hamburg at 11:00 p.m. I can promise you'll have some tired daughters on Sunday afternoon.

Until next time...

Hogie