I wanted to get a short post in tonight before heading off to bed. It is 2 am now and the sun will be coming up in a short while. We lost our game earlier today to the Porvoo Butchers in overtime 27-21. They are the defending Finnish league champions and they have some really good football players on their team. They have a few guys with NFL Europe experience and also a few guys who have been on NFL rosters as practice squad players. I believe one player was with the Minnesota Vikings and the other with the New York Jets.
Despite their talent, we played fairly well today and led the game by 8 points with under a minute to play. They scored at the end and converted a 2 point conversion to send the game into overtime, where they ultimately won the game.
I will have trouble getting over this game because of how much influence the officials had on the game. Without doubt, it was the worst officiated game that I have ever been associated with. I was certain that with 3 minutes left the game was ultimately going to go into overtime. The officials called 5 penalties on us during this team's final drive and most of these were when we had them in a desperate and long yardage situation. It was actually laughable and anybody that knows anything about the game could smell a rat. I have never coached a game against 12 players, but today I experienced the frustration of what that feels like first hand. I have had only one run in with an official during the last 6 years of coaching at the college level and it pales in comparison to what when on today. I am sure that a new Guinness record was set today in Seinajoki, Finland. The officials called 5 holding calls against the Butchers during the game and guess how many of them were actually enforced. If you guessed zero, you are a winner. Here is their explanation. None of the holds against us had any bearing on the outcome of the play, so they were simply not marked off. In other words, holding isn't really a bad thing especially if those guys didn't mean to do it. Late in the game, the calls were so poor that these guys simply lost their ability to adequately cover up what they were trying to do. The cat was out of the bag and I could see right through it. There was even at least one occasion on this last drive when no flag was thrown, but then they stopped the play, huddled together and decided that we had committed a foul. Okay, now I feel better. I had to do some venting.
Here is the sad part. The Crocodiles played their hearts out today and they deserved to win. I told the team that I was proud of their effort and that final drive was out of their control. This is a hard working bunch of guys who play with a great sense of passion. They will bounce back.
Despite what happened today, it was still a rush to be back out on the field coaching and doing something that I really enjoy. My leg seems to be getting better each day and I am thankful that I am here. Estalita and the kids will be here in less than 4 days now. I will be leaving for Helsinki on Tuesday to pick them up. I will spend Tuesday night in the city. They are set to arrive early Wednesday morning on a flight from NYC. I can't wait to see them!!
Porvoo warming up before the game.
The Crocodiles warming up on a spectacular day for football.
Almost game time
European federation doing some passport control checks before the start of the game.
Lights out.
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