Ball(er)Men Reloaded: Love at third sight

Created: 06/07/2022, 23:00

By: Andreas Mayr

German but expensive: (from left) Len Werle, Andreas Mayr and Dean Walle enjoying the beer.

©Andreas Mayr

The German globetrotters are back: Merkur employee Andreas Mayr and fellow journalist Len Werle are once again traveling to the NBA basketball league finals.

Episode two of her diary from San Francisco.

San Francisco - It's never too late to confess.

So here is an unbelievable confession from Andi, the Bavarian.

So far, the San Francisco was pretty stupid.

He just hasn't told many.

After three trips, nobody believes that.

The shaky weather, the stinking seals, the outrageously expensive food - he ended up making a sport out of filtering out the bad sides of Frisco.

As it turns out, it was all a huge misunderstanding.

The good news: they love each other now.

San Francisco and the Andi.

A little anyway.

You have spoken out.

Like every good love story, this one begins with a coincidence.

Coincidence's name is Dean, Dean Walle.

He likes to jet between Los Angeles, Miami and Germany.

He used to play a few minutes in the first division in Bamberg, and his sayings are still first class.

Dean knows everyone, and everyone knows Dean.

The man is more famous here than some squad fillers in the Warriors.

He holds the record for most hands pressed per square meter at the Chase Center in San Francisco.

You always have Falco in your ear here, only that you hum "Hey Deany" in the chorus.

Dean and Andi met at the 2016 NBA Finals, and because we love seeing more of one another in life, they've now met again in San Francisco.

Dean is the middle man into the world of the beautiful and rich, and everyone who wants to be.

Since then, the two shooters and the colorful dog have been roaming through San Francisco as the German Gang, which is quite German, as they notice.

Chrischdl Geyser (Crystal Geyser) supplies drinking water, the farmer Edi (Eddie Bauer) sells clothes, and the Radhaus, a German-style beer hall, has been in the port of Frisco for a few years.

Before prejudices leave the NBA orbit again: No, it wasn't a German with a speech impediment at work, but a shrewd marketing man.

A town hall would have grossly irritated the Americans, because nobody voluntarily sits in a rat house (Rat = English for rat).

What they sell here as German is of course not German (potato salad with fried potatoes?) - except for the beer.

They import the Pils from Rothaus from Freiburg, the dark one comes from Andechs,

the wheat from Weihenstephan.

Even tried-and-tested folk festival veterans like Len and Andi are shaken by the prices: $21.50 the Mass Rothaus in City Hall.

Well, cheers.

Then rather Wiesn and Wasn again (for all non-Swabians and cultural philistines: that's the name of the Stuttgart version, the second largest in the world). 

When the game is on, people are typing diligently here: the shooters' workplace in the Chase Center.

©Andreas Mayr

In the Chase Center, the Warriors' new billion dollar cathedral, they know exactly where the Germans belong.

The NBA put her in the Modelo Cantina, the drinking and gossip corner of the Modelo Brewery in Mexico.

The whole world has known her since 2020 at the latest, keyword Corona (extra).

And you shouldn't joke about that.

At the next TV broadcast on DAZN or in League Pass, the NBA channel, just pay attention to the Modelo bar under the roof - we'll wave too.

It used to be said that Warriors fans were the loudest in the league.

But with the move from Oakland, the dark side of the Bay, to San Francisco, the Warriors lost a part of their soul.

The history of the Warriors only reflects the passage of time.

The cities rank first and third (Oakland) in the ranking of the most expensive US metropolises.

A taxi driver tells us about his rental costs: $2,400 a month.

The Warriors used to be the club for the small and poor, today only the rich can afford the tickets.

They used to plaster the cities with warrior flags, today you have to look for them in the city.

The hall used to burn, now they burn the money.

They'll take a few hundred bucks out of your wallet for a rental car.

Haven of the shooters: A beach in front of San Francisco.

©Andreas Mayr

Len and Andi use it to buy themselves a ride into the warm.

In Gilroy, 75 miles away, they sweat in 29 degrees.

The return trip ends at a beach in front of San Francisco, 14 degrees cold, priceless beauty.

Mark Twain once said about the city: The coldest winter he has ever experienced was the summer in San Francisco.

He grew up in Florida.

like len

And Deans.

San Francisco isn't for everyone.