I imagine all is not well among the traditionalists on German soccer right now.

Its a ton of fun to watch. Leipzig have been a very attractive side to watch as well. Hopefully they can pull a LCFC and carry the whole season

We should call Boyd up lol. Crazy to think RB only started in 2009 and they started in Tier V of German football.

I was glad mainly because I've kinda read about and followed the absolute crushing that the former East German teams have taken from the West German squads and how it seemed sad and ridiculous that an entire region was almost locked out of the German national leagues except for one (west german) team from the capital and a mere handful down in the second and third level..

I also think that is patently ridiculous the beating they take for having corporate backing and control, when you have another team flat out named and owned by Bayer (but I guess its old so...), and a couple other teams who are basically Team SAP (Hoffenheim) and Team Volkswagen (Wolfsburg)

I won't lie, though I watch the EPL and love it, I tend to find Bundesliga games more entertaining.

JJxvi said:

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I was glad mainly because I've kinda read about and followed the absolute crushing that the former East German teams have taken from the West German squads and how it seemed sad and ridiculous that an entire region was almost locked out of the German national leagues except for one (west german) team from the capital and a mere handful down in the second and third level..

I also think that is patently ridiculous the beating they take for having corporate backing and control, when you have another team flat out named and owned by Bayer (but I guess its old so...), and a couple other teams who are basically Team SAP (Hoffenheim) and Team Volkswagen (Wolfsburg)

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I know this is true, but what exactly is the back story to the East German clubs. I have always assumed that the nature of the two economies at the time of reunification made the divide inevitable when the two FAs joined. East Germany was exactly what you would think it was in 1991, a depressed communist cesspool. West Germany was a leading economy in Europe even then. Was there more to it than that?

Also, Leipzig is not some new or small town. Its a pretty big place. And the mayor was one of the guys that plotted to execute Hitler.

Last, good to see a competitive race.

Inevitable maybe and not surprising but sad and ridiculous in a purely sporting sense. None of like the 50 or 100 largest German companies are headquartered in the region either, not even in Berlin.

We went on a Fat Tire Bike Tour of Berlin, and I asked about the lack of major industry in the town and the tour guide reported two major problems in the modern era of Berlin (and I get it, it's a tour guide not an economist or business analyst, but at least it's someone even if it is just anecdotally) 1) is fighting the urge to make everything a monument. A city as old and historical as Berlin has had history occur all over, thus they want to memorialize everything. Related to 1 is 2) Because so little industry exists in Berlin, they tax the little bit of industry there exorbitantly, thus few new companies want to build there.

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1) is fighting the urge to make everything a monument. A city as old and historical as Berlin has had history occur all over, thus they want to memorialize everything

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I would have trouble squaring that with all the modern buildings around Berlin due to much of the city having been destroyed in World War II and the years after. The former East Germany still suffers from Communist rule and probably will for a long time, just as much of the former Soviet Bloc does and will. I'm not sure I'd blame much on it being old and historic.

Anyways, happy for RB Leipzig. It doesn't bother me that their a corporate creation but I do get those who don't like it much. Bayer is a little different. It is very old and a product of a different time.

Those old historic company clubs were kind of just that...products of the local industry and local employees coming together to put teams together.

Exactly. Company clubs are a traditional as old as the game itself all across Europe. Don't really care if one is new.

Eh. I don't really see the Red Bull clubs as an extension of that tradition. This is different.

It just doesn't bother me that much.