Thursday, December 08, 2005

And You Think Your Job Is Stressful

USA Today has an interesting story today about Jurgen Klinsmann, coach of the German national team. Klinsmann was an ace striker during his playing days with Germany and several of Europe's biggest clubs. However, he had no coaching experience when he took over the national team in 2004. That might be enough for German fans to be nervous in the run up to next year's World Cup. Throw into the mix that Klinsmann lives in *shudder* California! But regardless of what the Germans think of Klinsmann, I like the guy:

The past several years, Klinsmann has played on a local amateur team, the Orange County Blue Stars, for fun and exercise. Unbeknownst to him, organizers gave him the pseudonym of Jay Goppingen — Göppingen is his place of birth — so initially most opponents had no clue who he really was. Hey, that Goppingen guy is pretty good.

So how's his game at age 41? "Slower," he says with a smile.

Anybody who's that into the game is OK with me. Doesn't mean I don't want to kick Germany's ass next year, of course!

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