Another annual finale has come and gone, and a big question dragging out over the course of months has finally been answered. As tempting as it is to share my thoughts on a finale which ended this past Thursday night answering if Marie, Mandy or Sara would become Germany’s Next Top Model, I am in fact referring to who the 2009 Bundesliga (German national football or soccer league) champion is.

So the answer is: VfL Wolfsburg. And while I can certainly share my thoughts and facts about this news, that really isn’t the point of this post. Today, we’ll be looking further down the table. Way down. Keep going. And at number 15, stop! That’s right: Borussia Mönchengladbach. There’s a lot I know about this team, which you may not know. For example, they have the second largest fan base across Germany after Bayern Munich. They are the only Bundesliga team to have two gold stars on their uniform which symbolizes their five victories as Bundesliga champions. They hold the title for having the highest winning score in league history (12-0 against Borussia Dortmund in 1978). Their 1971 7-1 victory against Inter Milano is deemed by many as the most interesting game played by a German team on the European level, sadly annulled by a Coca-Cola can thrown onto a player during the game. Unsurprisingly, I know so much about this seemingly obscure football team from North Rhine-Westphalia, which had its heyday decades ago, because of my husband. Born and raised in ‘gladbach, my husband is a walking Wikipedia entry on the team. If I weren’t able to rattle off all of these facts to you today, it would indeed be shameful given how much they are lectured to me on a regular basis. READ MORE »