To make things more frustrating, I sprained my left MCL in the first quarter after someone fell on my lower leg when I was throwing a pass. I've never had any sort of knee injury luckily, but felt it all happen in slow motion as my knee buckled but my cleat stuck in the grass. After seeing the tape of it , it looked like it could have been much worse, so I'm grateful for that. I have been getting treatment and rehab all week, but it's still up in the air about playing this weekend.

Our team has a six-hour bus ride to Hamburg for our game Sunday afternoon. With two games left, we are 5-3, trailing Frankfurt and Amsterdam by one game each.
The two teams play one another this weekend, so providing that we win at Hamburg, which is a must, one of those teams will come back to us. Hamburg just got its first win of the season last week, after having led their last seven games at halftime and losing them all. They are a much better team than their record shows, and with nothing to lose, they will probably throw everything they have at us. We may have up to four starters out on offense, but regardless, we have to fight and find a way to win this game, no matter how pretty it may or may not be.

Since I had to stay here and rehab my knee, I had to cancel the three-day trip to Prague that we planned. It's disappointing, but that's the way things go. So the highlight of my time off was finding a movie theater that was playing Mission Impossible 3 in English.

It doesn't seem like a big deal, but when every errand or outing you go on is a production, getting to do what you really feel like doing is nice. It's been over two months I have been living in Germany now, and as my time here winds down, I have obviously been thinking about what I miss most and what I will do first when I get back to Dallas. They are, in no particular order:

Mi Cocina
Nobu
Patrizio
Baseball Tonight (Cable)
Golfing
Having a car to drive
Speaking the local language
AMERICANS

It's two weeks in a row now that we have hurt ourselves more than we can allow, and we need to correct it on Saturday against Frankfurt. That being said, our guys did a great job of continuing to fight through the last play of the game. We have the confidence that we can win these close games, but need to play smarter at the same time.

We travel to Frankfurt on Saturday for a rematch of our opening game. This is our biggest game of the season thus far. Both teams are 5-2, with the winner putting themselves in a great position to make the World Bowl.

Frankfurt has the largest fan base of any of the teams besides us, and they expect upwards of 50,000 people to show up. That'd be about twice as many people as we've had for any game so far. Personally, I really enjoy going on the road into a hostile environment, probably even more than home games. For me, it makes me focus in even more on my assignments and what I need to do to put our team in a position to win. That and I really like being booed by thousands of people, preferably not my home fans though.

These two-day trips that we have gotten to take are perfect because it gets you away from football for a while and it's enough time to see everything that you want to in a city. I've never been a big-picture guy, but since I've been in Europe, I'm totally that American tourist, taking pictures of anything that looks interesting. I'm hesitant to say, but it looks like spring has finally found Germany. It's been in the 60s the last week or so, and it feels like 90. I really am looking forward to getting back to the heat in Texas.

I watched some of the draft last weekend, and it looks like we picked up some guys that can help immediately. I also sold my house, which is great, but we close before I come home. I'm going to have to have the movers pack up the house and put my stuff in storage until I get back and find a new spot. Living in a hotel here for so long here makes you dream about getting home to your own bed, so that's going to be my top priority when I get back to Dallas. I believe my next place will be my 26th residence. Between growing up in a coaching household and then playing pro baseball, it feels like I've been packing or unpacking my whole life, so it's nothing new anymore.

I have to give a shoutout to my boy Kevin Mench, too. That consecutive games with a homer record he tied is just amazing, and to be the only right-handed hitter to do that is really something to be proud of. The Rangers need to sign that guy to a longterm deal!

In games like the one we just played, there aren't going to be many surprises. It comes down to executing and playing smart. I think that both teams are pretty evenly matched, and in cases like that, little things end up making the difference.

The mistakes that we had allowed Amsterdam to capitalize and jump out to a lead that we couldn't overcome. Good teams take advantage and they did. The turnover battle is the biggest determining factor in a game. Coach Parcells makes the point repeatedly that the team that wins the turnover margin wins nearly 80% of time. Those are odds that you would take every time. That is why taking care of the football is so important because if you can do that, you are giving the team a chance to win.

Off the field, I decided to finally challenge the vaunted Autobahn, renting a car a couple days ago now that I know my way around Dusseldorf. All of the freeways here are technically the Autobahn and in many spots there is no speed limit.

I take plenty of taxi rides, which are nearly all Mercedes, and the drivers had to have been breaking 100 mph. I heard that the Germans felt it was taking their rights away to enforce a speed limit, and they love their right to drive fast. You learn very quickly that the left lane is for passing and you had better not pull the "I'm gonna drive 55 in the fast lane" move that we all get mad at at home. Try that here and you'll have a sports car up your tail so fast.

My taxi driver told me one time that their freeways are safer here because the drivers pay much more attention when they are driving faster. I'd give him a maybe on that statement. I will say that buying a sports car in the U.S. doesn.t do the car justice because I've been passed by a few Porsches and Ferraris and those cars were built to be driven on these highways.

Other random thoughts worth noting...

• The two Rhein Fire fans that have been hanging a state of Texas flag over the end zone wall at our home games.

• The barbeque sauce that came on my chicken quesadillas instead of salsa when I tried to eat Mexican.

• Me buying a German Xbox 360 from WalMart for the power cord since I blew mine out in the hotel room. I won't make it very long without my Halo fix.

• Making friends with a few guys stationed at one of our Army bases in Holland and letting us come use their commisary. You wouldn't believe how exciting finding Ranch dressing, Jiffy peanut butter and Wheat Thins could be.

We had Sunday and Monday off, so most of the team got out of town and visited another city. My mom had flown in for the week so her, my girlfriend, and myself flew to Paris for a day and a half. This being my first time in Europe, every place I go is new and Paris was definately the most impressive city I've seen to date. We were totally the American tourists, taking pictures of everything, but so was everyone else. It didnt take long to recognize all the stereotypes that we have of the French. They were not friendly and were not looking to help Amercans out at all. We began at the Arc de Triumphe and walked down the main street a couple miles, seeing different palaces and monuments along the way and ending at the Louvre. Being Easter Sunday, there were tons of people out and the lines were just too long to go inside. We also saw the Notre Dame Cathedral, and that was really cool to be there on Easter. Seeing the Eiffel Tower in person was one of the most impressive things that I have ever seen. It was much bigger that I expected, and we got to see it lit up at night and then climbed the stairs to the observatory Monday morning. Being able to get away for a couple of days and do something like that was much needed for our team here at the halfway point of our season. Its not much time off but it definately helps.

Once you come from behind once, the team doesn't panic the next time that we are behind. I played my best game so far, and it was a lot of fun. I believe that if we win our next two games, then we are assured to be in the World Bowl. We are playing Amsterdam two weeks in a row, which doesn't happen very often. It's almost like playing one half one week, then making halftime changes for a week later.

Our team will have two days off after the game this coming weekend, so most of the guys are making plans to leave town. It's the only time during the season that we have more than one day off. My mother is coming for Easter, so we are going to Paris for the two days off. Needless to say how excited she is about that one.

The middle four weeks of this season are the hardest because there is nothing new about it here anymore, and the end isn't in sight. So for guys who are here by themselves, it's difficult because every day is the same thing and it becomes hard living in a hotel room.

Winning games helps make the attitude around much better though.

My schedule isn't any different during our season with the Cowboys. During the week, you don't have a whole lot of extra time, so I have not been out to see much lately.

We did have the NCAA Tournament live on our cable, which we didn't think we would have. Most of the guys here watch DVDs in their room or play cards. It's not a whole lot different than college living was. Guys get to know each other real well in a short amount of time since it has been seven straight weeks that they all have been living together.

Cologne's starting center is my good friend Dave Pearson. He went to Brighton High School with me and later on to U of M as well. He is 300 pounds now, which is amazing for me to see since he was my fullback and then our center for our basketball team at about 225 pounds. I still remember the days when I was bigger than him. I just think it's kinda funny that the two of us from Brighton have traveled 5,000 miles away to play a game against one another.

Their defense is the most aggressive that we have faced. They are not afraid to blitz a lot, and they leave their secondary in man-to-man coverage. Lance Frazier, my teammate in Dallas my rookie year, is one of their starting corners. There will definitely be some chances to make some big plays, so that is the challenge for us tomorrow. It's more fun when you play teams with that mentality anyway.

This Sunday we play at Cologne, which is only an hour away. The city of Dusseldorf and Cologne have been rival towns for like three or four centuries in everything, from culture to sports to politics. Whenever these cities get together, people here care, regardless if they're American football fans or not.

The trip to Berlin was definitely memorable, though. The hotel we stayed at was right on a river that ran through that part of town. On Saturday morning, the day of the game, there was a huge anti-Nazi rally going on right outside the hotel, which was followed by the pro-Nazi activists afterward. That's definitely one thing that I never thought I would see in my lifetime.

Before we flew home on Sunday, the team took a tour of Berlin for most of the afternoon. There are parts of Berlin where parts of the Berlin Wall still stand (see right), and we went by many of the other important landmarks, the Holocaust Memorial, Brandenburg Gate (that's my pic at top), the cathedrals, Checkpoint Charlie. It's a very historical city but depressing since everything there is based on tragic events.

Chris B.

I am currently in the Netherlands on business until June 06. I am from Texas and have been a Cowboys fan as long as I can remember as my dad introduced me them at the age of 3 (1970), so any chance I get I like to watch NFL, especially the 'Boys.

Thanks and Best Regards,
Milton J.

This is our first road game, so we will see how we respond to the hostile environment. They are a good defense, probably doing more schematically than most of the other teams in the league. Their best player is their linebacker, Andre Torrey. He's the most physically impressive player on defense that I have seen thus far. Our goal going into each game is to establish our running game, and if we can do that early and get a lead, I believe that we will be in good shape.

Obviously, I have been keeping up with the moves that Dallas has been making. It's tough to see guys like Keyshawn and Larry Allen leave. That's part of pro sports, but they both were solid leaders for us and you knew what they were going to give you on Sunday. With the addition of Terrell Owens, you can't help but be excited about adding another explosive player to our offense. He has the unique ability to change the game every time he has his hands on the ball, and that really puts pressure on the defense. I know it did watching him play against us.

.

I'm as interested as anyone to see how my comfort level and speed at which I play improves with each game. That is the point of me coming over here. Obviously it's important to get the game experience to better prepare me for the upcoming NFL season, but it's also important to work on the little things that separate quarterbacks. Leading an offense, becoming efficient in the most important areas, third down and the red zone, how to come back from games when things don't go as well as planned. Little things like that are what I really hope to take from this experience that you cannot simulate in practice or limited time in preseason games. And, of course, the obvious, winning the World Bowl. That is my one real goal before June comes because right now I'm not part of the Dallas Cowboys, I'm the quarterback for the Rhein Fire and we are trying to bring a championship to the city of Dusseldorf.

Winning games is the ultimate measure of a quarterback and whatever it takes I'm going to do to make that happen.

We had our first game Saturday night against Frankfurt and won, 10-6. Kind of a typical season opener. A bit sloppy on both sides at times. But it's great to get the win and be able to make a lot of corrections going in to Week 2.

There was maybe 25,000 people there, but it was by far the loudest stadium I've ever been in. Nearly every fan there has a whistle and they blow on them the whole game except when we are on offense. Unbelievable.

Outside the arena before the game was their version of tailgating, which was more like a fair than parking lot barbeque. People were drinking beer, getting their faces painted, and drinking more beer. There was a stage with some live concert going on. Besides the players' families and friends, pretty much everyone either had a jersey on, a flag, face paint or devil horns. They like their fooball, but they like to party just as much.

The actual pregame show on the field was an '80s cover band playing AC/DC.
The roof was closed and after the over-the-top fireworks show, we played the whole first quarter basically in a cloud of smoke. There must not be any fire codes here between the flamethrowers on the field and the fans smoking in their seats.

It's Friday here in Dusseldorf. I've been here a week and I am finally getting adjusted to the time schedule. The hotel we stay at is about 10 minutes from our stadium and 15 minutes from downtown Dusseldorf. It's a gorgeous city right on the Rhine River, and the main part of downtown has only pedestian streets. We have only had time to really go down there for dinner a few times so far.

Our first game is tomorrow against Frankfurt. It's the biggest rivalry in the league, and the two cities are big rivals in just about everything. They have beaten us the last six times so the fans are dying for a win. Since we are the Fire, the front office uses the theme to blow up just about anything they can during the pregame show. I guess it's crazy.

The funniest thing I have seen so far is when we went to go pick up stuff we needed for our hotel and general things like that. I'm 5,000 miles from home and the place where everyone shops here in Ratingen is the WalMart. Of course, they really are taking over the world. Here they charge you 10 cents for each plastic bag and you have to bag it yourself. Also, you have to put a 1 Euro coin in the slots just to use a cart.

Wednesday night the team went down to the hockey arena to watch the local team play a playoff game against Hamburg. They have cheerleaders on the ice during the intros and set off plenty of fireworks themselves. It's an open-air arena, so it was about 25 degrees in the stands during the game. The fans sing songs, chant, and smoke cigarettes in their seats the whole time. Everyone smokes. Even the 14-year-olds I was standing next to at the bus stop.

Our main sponsor is Schlosser Beer. I guess it the local and official beer of Dusseldorf because you see their signs outside pretty much every pub you pass by and everyone drinks it. We actually had to leave a space between two guys in our team picture so they could superimpose a giant beer bottle into the picture.