Danke Basti
I have loved sports for longer than I can remember. My parents recognized from a very early age that I had a passion for sports. I grew up playing baseball, basketball, and soccer. With every sport, I had favorite teams both professionally and collegiately. They were chosen most often by the two places I lived in. Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Watertown, Massachusetts (just outside of Boston).
With each of those teams, I latched onto a particular player who became my favorite. But with soccer, I had less of that. Soccer was even less mainstream than it is today in America. I liked Mia Hamm with the USWNT. She and my favorite basketball player, Michael Jordan both attended my favorite University and I grew up watching them go head to head on Gatorade commercials. But outside of that and the Alexi Lalas poster over my bed, I didn’t have a player or team to connect with for soccer.

I would continue playing soccer and it wasn’t until the 2006 World Cup that I began to follow players. I didn’t have a team but I liked Ronaldo and Thierry Henry. Another 6 years would go by. My best friend was living in Berlin, Germany. When he came back he was telling me about the soccer teams over there. We had played FIFA before he left and really got into after he returned. He had found a team. The team was Bayern Munich. The most successful team in Germany and one of the top teams in the world. It was less mainstream than the EPL teams and either Barcelona or Real Madrid. I began to follow them, reading about the team, and the players. During the 2010 World Cup, the player I had followed closely and the team I was intrigued by was The Dutch and particularly star winger Arjen Robben. This would be interesting as he played for Bayern Munich and helped make for an easy transition to following a club team. My first season I really count of following Bayern was 2012–13. It was a historically great season for them. Having finished runners up in all three competitions the year prior they would come back that year and take all three. As much as I had been obsessed with Robben during the World Cup, the player I couldn’t take my eyes off of was Bastian Schweinsteiger.

In every sport, I played I liked to be in control. I wanted to command the field or court and make the decisions. Not because I was the best necessarily, although sometimes I was the best. No, I wanted the control to make sure the best thing was happening for our team. The right players were in the right places and we got them in the best position for team success. I knew where we should be and expected the players to be there and I wanted my teammates to trust me with that responsibility.
Basti as he has been called over time exemplified every trait I desired in myself. He controlled the game from his midfield position. He was the vice Captain while at Bayern working together with Philipp Lahm. He was a vocal leader who had the right balance of in your face toughness and arms over your shoulder support. When he spoke, his teammates listened. Opposing players respected his grit, determination, and willingness to sacrifice his body.

He had been a hotshot young celebrity in his early career and by this point had settled into the leadership role his team needed. Over the two years of winning all three competitions in the 2012–13 season and the 2014 World Cup with Germany I was hooked. He would forever be my favorite player. Every other player would be held to that standard of performance.
Every sport has these types of players and not to say that other soccer teams didn’t but he was the top of his sport for me.
He would eventually leave Bayern Munich as age and injuries began to signal the end was closer. A short stint at Manchester United, Captaining Germany during Euro 2016 and finally a few years with The Chicago Fire of the MLS. United and Fire were not my teams by any stretch. But for Basti, I followed them. He had given me a club that if you have read any other stories on this blog or listened to Pass the Sticks Bundesliga Podcast you know I love. I have only cried during two soccer matches in my life. It was not the Champions League final win in ‘13 or the World Cup final win in ‘14. It was the farewell match for Basti with Germany and his farewell match with Bayern Munich. His club and country, teammates and coaches and fans all loved him. He was genuine, played the game the right way and did everything for the betterment of his team.

Bastian Schweinsteiger, you gave us unforgettable moments throughout your career. Hilarious off the field moments with the likes of Thomas Muller or Lukas Podolski, incredible passes, lockdown defense, brilliant back-heel flicks and in my humble opinion the greatest game of your career came at the biggest moment. The World Cup final was a masterful performance. Truly breathtaking the commitment and sacrifice you showed. For everything you have done in your career both on and off the field, for giving me a club that is more than a club and for being the player I desired to be I want to say thank you. Thank you, Bastian, you are absolutely Der Fußballgott.

