I’ve been to Munich. Great place. If things break the right way, I’ll get there one fall, when the Bavarian beer gardens are teeming with seasonal hops and joyness. If things break the right way from there, I won’t be permanently detained in a German jail and will, in fact, be allowed to collect my passport and return quietly to the United States.
Edson Buddle goes to Germany; it’s a mystery to me
I’ve been to Nuremburg, which looks a little dated but also is full of history (some of it quite dark, as it was a primary Nazi rally point before the famous post-World War II trials.) Still, the history makes it an important place.
Smack in between sits Ingolstadt. I had never heard of this place before last week. It was just another dot on the German map.
Today it’s the new home for U.S. international forward Edson Buddle.
And I don’t get it.
Let me state right away that every man and woman on Earth has the right of freewill. Buddle is no different. He can do as he pleases, and I’m rock-solid sure that he cares not at all about what I think. That’s fine.
Still, I have the right to shrug my shoulders, throw up my hands and say, “I don’t get it!”
Buddle is a proven goal scorer here. He’s making good money (just shy of $200,000 guaranteed last year, with a promised bump coming up this year). He’s living in sunny Southern California – some would say “living the good life.”
The forecast for today in Ingolstadt, by the way: high of 40 degrees with rain and snow. That’s great weather … if you’re a duck.
The lure of European soccer really must have some limits. Right? Or maybe I’m wrong about this.
Ingolstadt resides in Germany’s second division, the 2 Bundesliga. At the bottom of the second division, that is. Sitting 17th in an 18-team league is no happy place. Relegation looms. What of Buddle then?
Being cold and miserable, isolated as an American in a room full of Europeans who need the job and the money doesn’t sound like a day at the beach.
This cannot be about improving his stock on the national team, because he just made the national team in a World Cup year. He played in the World Cup. Bob Bradley knows plenty about Edson Buddle.
I am no expert on 2 Bundesliga compensation, but I cannot imagine he’ll be earning significantly more than he does here.
By the way, Buddle turns 30 this year. So, if this move to 2 Bundesliga is about “being seen” and making his way up the totem pole of European soccer, he may be getting some bad advice. He’s nearing his expiration date as a desired commodity.
I certainly understand the allure of playing soccer in Europe. Freddie Ljungberg just had some interesting comments as he left two years of MLS soccer for Scottish giants Celtic. He liked his time in the States and even had good things to say about MLS quality. What he missed, he said, was the overriding passion for the game.
So, I do get that. But the desire to play soccer in a place that better appreciates the game surely has its limits, no?
Some journalist will get with Buddle in the near future and maybe an interview can help unravel the mystery here. Until then, I’ll just keep saying that I don’t get it.
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