Today was a holiday in Germany so there wasn't any school. The guys were free to mountain bike, watch some movies, pack their belongings or study. Roy and Kevin prepared a special meal for Kathy & Alan (boy, are they feeling spoiled). Former Sonnenite and current Air Force Academy cadet, HoldenL, dropped by the dorm and surprised many of the guys.

Currently Watching Munich (filtered) Starring: Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Ciaran Hinds Trivia: $75M to produce; 47M US gross; 127M worldwide gross. A crew truck imported from Germany and laden with heavy equipment, mysteriously caught fire during shooting in Malta, sparking fears of a possible terrorist attack. Local police attributed the fire to generators overheating due to the heat of the Maltese summer. The Israeli wrestler referee and former champion who died in the massacre, Guri Weinburg, is actually played by his son, Moshe Weinberg, who was just one month old when his dad died. During the scene where Avner's team joins up with the Israeli commandos in Beirut, one of the commandos introduces himself as Ehud Barak. Barak was a member of the most elite commando force of the Israeli army, Sayeret Matkal, before becoming a politician and eventually Israel's Prime Minister.

Let's see...Sonne held its First Annual Slam Dunk Contest this afternoon. The event was organized by Sean, who kindly lowered the rim so that anyone could compete. Judging was done by Alan, Andrew and SarahD. The guys displayed an assortment of dunks including 360-degree dunks, off-the-wall dunks, tomahawks slams, windmills, jumping-over-your-kneeling-roommate dunks, etc. AndyO edged out Sean for First Place and his well-deserved can of Mt. Dew!

For dorm fellowship, we said, "good-bye" to our departing staff, Alan & Kathy, and Andrew. We also watched the year-end DVD slideshow produced by BenB. Wow, what memories! It's hard to believe that we did all those activities in such a short period of time.

Since the RAs had the energy, we decided to do a "Friday night schedule" for the guys. With lights out at midnight, it gave the guys the time to have a rave party.

Tonight, BFA held its Spring Athletic Awards ceremony. Track certificates were awarded to: CorbanB, MorganH, BenB, KristoffB, JonG, JohnO, and LukeG. Soccer certificates were awarded to: JoD, DaweedC, Sang JinY, DavidA, AndyO, DavidO, DanielS, and CalebT. DavidA was named to the Division II Honorable Mention Team and DaweedC won the JV team's Perseverance Award. Congratulations to all our Sonne athletes.  Interesting stat: the JV boys team trailed 1-0 at Hanau in their first game; that was to be the last goal they surrendered the entire season as they outscored their opponents 31-1. The varsity team gave up 7 goals the entire season including only one during the tournament.

The guys are at Stage 3 of the packing process. Let's see, they are supposed to have their stuff boxed up and in the attic if they're returning, everything's supposed to be off their walls and they're supposed to be living out of their suitcases this week.

Today was also Alan & Kathy's 22nd anniversary! A big thanks to Rachel and Michael for preparing a special dinner.

Currently Watching Paparazzi (edited) Starring: Dennis Farina, Cole Hauser, Robin Tunney Trivia: Production cost $20M; worldwide gross 16.6M. Was inspired when Mel Gibson and some celebrities were talking about paparazzi nightmares and Gibson said, "What a great revenge film this would make." He is one of the film's producers; Cameo: Mel Gibson as a patient waiting to see the therapist.

Currently Watching Suspect Zero (edited) Starring: Ben Kingsley, Carrie-Anne Moss, Aaron Eckhart Trivia: $27M to produce; worldwide gross 8.7M.

 
 
Corban, David, Ian, Jason, John, Jon, Kevin, Luke, Michael, Owen, Roy, and Rachel (Jo)

We love our seniors and appreciate their unique talents. Each has had their special way of touching our lives and together they helped us become who we are. Thanks for making Sonne a great place guys (and gal)!!!

Today, we dedicated our day to the seniors by holding a scrumptious barbecue (prepared by Jesse and Doris Frank) before assembling in the Web for senior wills and farewells. Each senior gave away various items, shared some words of wisdom, and took the special seat while we recounted some of our special times with them. Recalling some of the memories or discussing some of their characteristics made us realize what a special group of seniors we've had. We're grateful for their craziness and kindness, for making Sonne a special family.

Today, most of the guys came home on the early bus. Hmmm...'musta been all that paintball yesterday. Tonight is the Spring Concert. Nicky and Sang Jin will sing with the choir and Daniel and Daweed will play the violin. Tomorrow will be Sonne's tribute for our graduating seniors. We've been blessed to have such great guys. We'll play some floor versus floor soccer, then chow down on some tasty ribs, then let the seniors will their stuff away to the returning students. The day will conclude with gratitude to our beloved graduating class. Since it was David's birthday, the guys let him check out the current temperature of the creek...it was cold!

Currently Watching Mystery Alaska (edited) Starring: Russell Crowe, Hank Azaria, Mary McCormack Trivia: Production cost was $28M; box office gross was 9M. Mike Myers's character Donnie Shulzhoffer seems to have the same mannerisms and sayings as Canadian hockey commentary, hero and all-around legend Don Cherry; The metal "goaltender" that John (Russell Crowe) uses for shooting practice is a painting of former Montreal Canadiens goalie and NHL Hall Of Famer, Ken Dryden.

Currently Watching Four Brothers (edited) Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin, Garrett Hedlund Trivia: $40M to produce; 74.5M gross worldwide. A scene with a frozen lake was shown in the movie and this was Lake Simcoe, north of Toronto. The ice on the lake freezes to a thickness of eighteen inches and this body of water is 28 miles wide; temperatures didn't reach above 24 Fahrenheit during the shoot.

DARMSTADT - Sonne's second annual paintball dorm retreat was a blast once again. We left our dorms around 7:00 am and met with Maugenhard dorm before traveling to Darmstadt; about three hours away. The weather was wet and very cool. We had a few sprinkles of rain and the cool breeze enabled the guys to play multiple games before having to find fluids. Last year, it was very hot and the guys drank everything in sight. The fields were under new management this year, so we had to work out a few bugs before we eventually got it rolling smoothly. The Sonnenites and Maugies played a lot of mixed dorm teams, splattering paint on whoever joined them.

We did have a 5-man tournament with a team from Maugenhard edging out Sonne in a 3-way shootout. Sonne did win the all-dorm-last-man-standing battle as 30 guns on each side of the field let go with a volley of paint that could coat the barn door. DavidA did the final honors by doing a mercy takedown (he was in point blank range, so he didn't fire) on the last three Maugies pinned in the end of the field. The senior class beat the combined freshmen/sophomore classes, then went on to beat the juniors. They technically fell against the resident dorm staff as our three recruited juniors did the final damage and won the round.

Our hats are off once again to Tido Huckfeldt for his arrangement of the field, the food/drink, the extra paintballs and all his hard work to make the event so successful. We believe the guys' fond memories of the day will far outlive the welts that will heal in a week or so.

Andy and DavidO celebrated their twin birthdays with some frozen raspberry whip and a cheesecake...that is...after they were taken down to the creek. Last year, they avoided this Sonne tradition...but that was last year...

RAMSTEIN - It wasn't supposed to end like this. The SHAPE Spartans rewrote the storybook ending to the Falcon's amazing tournament run by scoring on a breakaway goal in the second overtime. A stunned crowd watched BFA surrender its one and only goal of the tournament as dusk settled on the storm-delayed match. Too many times the ball clanked off the SHAPE crossbar, or sailed wide right, or wide left, or dribbled across the mouth of the goal without finding the net. As the Falcons (11-1-1) pressed the Spartan defense midway thru the second overtime, the ball popped free allowing their tournament MVP to go one-on-one with all-tournament goalie NathanK. No doubt, it'll be a goal that he'll tell his children's children.

To SHAPE's credit, they didn't back into the title but earned it by knocking off the two undefeated powerhouses and tournament favorites. The dark horse team from Belgium upset the Lions of AFNorth, 2-0, last night, then stunned the very team that had just beaten them, 2-0, in pool play:  two-time defending champ, BFA. Our guys should hold their heads high after giving it their all on a rain-soaked muddy field that was so exciting, most of the fans rarely sat down. They showed much class by acknowledging the new champions after the match despite the heartache of their only loss of 2006. It's that attitude, in victory or defeat, that separates BFA from the other teams. Their picture is a bigger picture; it looks at life and that beyond. Don't worry guys, the pain will eventually subside and soon it'll be time to craft a new story. We're all very proud of you and the effort you gave for all of us.

Related article from estripes: SHAPE ends Black Forest’s reign in overtime

Well, we're going to the Big Dance again. BFA (11-0-1) defeated a very tough Naples squad, 2-0, in order to advance to tomorrow afternoon's Division II Championship game. It was the first time the two teams had met and offered the fans a classic battle. Just four minutes into the contest, TobyW sailed a kick from about 35 meters out into the corner of the net. "It was one of the best kicks I've ever seen," said Coach Greathouse. Following the half, Naples almost knotted the score on a very controversial sequence of events. The referee had signaled that BFA was to be awarded a direct kick from behind the midfield line. Our players moved downfield before the line judge indicated that the direct kick should go to Naples. The ref approved the call immediately and Naples took off on a fast break against a pair of Falcon defenders. NathanK managed to make a fantastic stop just outside of the box. "If they had scored, I think I would have been red-carded for entering the field to protest," said Coach Greathouse. "We were not given a chance to get our men back." Midway thru the second half, DavidA extended our lead by heading in a goal from just inside the box. "I've never had so much fun playing varsity soccer," said David. "They played very clean." Maybe the Italian team was a welcomed relief from the down-and-dirty play other tournament opponents have given to BFA. Naples finished second in Pool B after going 2-0-2 in pool play; AFNorth finished 3-0-1 to win their pool. The Falcon's final opponent will either be AFNorth or SHAPE (who finished second in our pool with a 2-1-1 record) who are playing tonight. Ask the players or coaches who they prefer and they'll tell you they want to face an undefeated AFNorth team. "We want to win it the hard way," said Andy. "We've already beaten SHAPE, we want AFNorth." Naples will play the loser of the AFNorth-SHAPE game tomorrow morning for third place.

HÜTSCHENHAUSEN - It was a very productive afternoon for BFA against the team from Belgium. For the guys, their 2-0 win over the SHAPE Spartans put them into tomorrow night's semifinal match as the top seed. BillyR and NathanH scored for the Falcons (10-0-1). "It was a hard fought match," said assistant Coach Young. "Our spacing in the second half made the difference." Coach Greathouse stated that, "These were our two toughest games of the season today. I'm very happy with our intensity." BFA's defense held tough once again as they finished pool play outscoring their opponents 10-0. They'll face either AFNorth, the brash and somewhat dirty team from The Netherlands, or the upstart Italian team from Naples. BFA has never played Naples, who were eliminated in pool play last year but much improved this year. AFNorth and Naples tied each other in pool play so we can only speculate as to who's the better team. The Lady Falcons won their first match of the tournament, 2-1, over the Lady Spartans. The Lady Falcons almost surrendered another goal in the final seconds but managed to pull out the victory.