Tough Loss to Open the Season

Our team opened the season with a disappointing 27-24 home loss vs. the Helsinki Roosters. We led 24-6 with 10 minutes to play, but a series of unfortunate events led to our coming up short on a warm sunny afternoon in Seinajoki. We did turn the ball over 3 times on offense, but the same crew who worked our semi-final game last season sure didn't help us out either. They threw close to 20 flags on us, which totaled close to 200 yards in the game. We had nearly 600 yards of total offense, so the penalty yardage did a fine job of wiping away much of that. This pattern of fourth quarter penalties against us in the form of holding calls and pass interference calls has led me to file a report with the Federation here in Finland. The umpire even told our starting right tackle from Duke that he will keep throwing the holding calls because we are blocking with our hands inside. Wow, Imagine that! The idea of blocking with the hands inside has been around for only about 20 years now, so there isn't much to say to that. Needless to say, we need to bounce back this Friday against the Saints in Tampere.

The game will be on the net as a live feed, so tune in if you get a chance. Just go to sajl.fi
Then click on media and you will see the game between us and the Saints. The game starts at 6:30 pm Finland time, which is 11:30 am east coast time in the states.

I will update soon with pics and info. from both games. My internet connection is still affecting my ability to blog on a regular basis, so I am still working on getting this resolved.

Lights out.

What time is it, Game Time?

The long awaited opening weekend for Maple League Play kicked off last night here in Finland as the Porvoo Butchers defeated the Lappeenranta Border Knights 31-21 in the first league action of the 2010 season. Our season opener is tomorrow afternoon 4 pm Finnish time as we take on the Helsinki Roosters at our home field in Seinajoki. Considering our four straight road games after this contest and the mid summer break, we will not play on our home field again until a Friday night game against the Porvoo Butchers on July 9th.

Our league appears to have a great deal of competitive balance this year, so getting a win in this home opener is a big deal. The Roosters will provide quite the challenge, so I am hoping we can overcome all the distractions we've had during our pre-season and come out today with a victory. We have had more intensity and better participation at practice over the past 2-3 days, but our offense still isn't clicking, so I have some definite concerns going into this matchup. I really believe the key for us today is to get out of the gate quickly and put some points on the board early. The Roosters offense is explosive and built to score on big plays. I believe we can be physical with a team like this. It will be a necessary ingredient if we want to slow down their attack

It is just after 4 am here now and it looks like the middle of the day outside. The sunlight woke me up around 3 this morning, so I'm not sure that I'll be able to get back to sleep. I do have curtains this year to block out some of the light, but it still takes some getting used to. Maybe, I will just stay up and watch some more film. My adrenaline is already pumping and after all, it is game time!

Crocodiles Club Night

The Crocodiles had their "Club Night" last week as community members were invited to the stadium for some festivities. The junior team played a short scrimmage, the cheerleaders performed some dance routines, and our senior team and coaches were introduced. The club is trying to continue its outreach into the surrounding areas to spread the word about American football in Seinajoki. One of the efforts the team has undertaken is working to grow the youth football programs in this part of the country. There might be as many as 3 or 4 new youth teams that start up this summer in this region of western Finland. The hope is that these programs will continue to expand and ultimately supply the Crocodiles with players for many years on down the road. I was able to have one small part in contributing to this effort over this past off-season. During my time coaching in the midwest, we at Trinity use to play a small college in Illinois called Principia College. I got to know many of their coaches very well and when they dropped their football program this past year, a door opened for me to help the Crocodiles get some great equipment. As it turns out, the Crocs are getting almost all of Principia's football gear at a very discounted price. The college has also been kind enough to donate many items to us for free including new wireless head sets, new game jerseys, and nearly new game pants. Buying football gear in this part of the world is not only difficult, but also very expensive. I know this equipment will be put to good use here in Finland for many years to come.

Crocs youth cheerleaders performing at the team "Club Night"

Riku # 77, Big Sami # 76, HP in the background, Jukka # 68, Jari # 72, and Janne # 60
These are the guys who work hard in the trenches as offensive lineman, but usually only get mentioned or noticed if they make a mistake--

kitchen in my apartment

I currently share an apartment with our other American coach Todd Klugh and his wife Maja-- Here is my room-- I haven't completely unpacked yet because I will be moving again in a few weeks just before my family arrives.

The rest of my Finnish kitchen


Lights out.

No Blog Vacation

My absence from the blog over the past six days was not intentional, but rather due to some problems with my weak internet connection here at the apartment, and the difficulty I am having uploading pictures to the site. In any case, I am back and hope to be posting on a more regular basic now that I have found a few ways to get around these issues. In truth, my wife Estalita has informed me how to get around these obstacles and I'm just following her directions. (that is a familiar pattern for me in life!)

This past week, we had practice every day and a few other activities to keep us busy. I had a chance to speak at a seminar for about 40 people at the Kuortane High Performance Training Center. This particular training center is one of only 75 in the world that is accredited by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It is used by Olympic athletes in ice hockey, volleyball, track and field, and wrestling. I was asked to speak for an hour on the topic of attitude and motivation. It was really a lot of fun and challenging at the same time. One of the people in the audience who was listening to my talk was Tapio Korjus. Tapio is an Olympic gold medal winner in the javelin event. He won his medal for Finland at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea and he is now the director of the Kuortane Sports Complex. Along with being a very dynamic individual, he was a very gracious host.

Just a few days later, Coach Todd Klugh and I returned to Kuortane with many of the Crocodiles players. The purpose of this visit was for the players to get tested in the 40 yard dash, vertical leap, body fat measurements, and a few other tests that measure core strength in the abdominals and legs. Some of the tests are completely unlike anything I have ever seen before in the states, so I won't even try and explain them. There are a few pictures of the machines below that were used to test the athletes. A few of these machines are close to 30 years old, but they are still being effectively used to test world class athletes. Now, that would be hard to imagine in the states! The search for bigger and better methods motivates many in the U.S. and it is doubtful that any equipment close to 30 years old would be used to train modern athletes in our country. I think it goes to show that medals aren't necessarily won by fancy equipment, but rather by elite athletes who are willing to train hard and commit themselves to being the best.

Now that the week is coming to a close, I am starting to realize just how close we are to our home opener. We open the season next weekend vs. the Helsinki Roosters. The Roosters have a solid defense and a high-octane offense, so this will be a tough test for us. They beat us in the playoffs last season, so we know what they are capable of. We had a few disappointing practices this past week, so we have to get it in gear if we hope to have success in our first contest. I am excited for the challenge that awaits us.

Olympic gold medalist Tapio Korjus ( for those of you who might be new to the blog-- he is on the left!)

Tapio and the 6'5" tall defensive coordinator for the Crocs-- Coach Todd Klugh

Our American import Robert Bishop warming up before his 40 yard dash

British import D.A. in full stride on his 40

Our Finnish tight end Janne- being tested for leg strength

American import running back Greg Fountain straining those abs

QB Alex Rouse from Carson Newman College-- getting hooked up to his Ab tester

Lights out.

First Live Action

Our scrimmage with Nokia allowed us to get some important reps for both sides of the ball on Saturday evening. Nokia plays in a lower division than us and they seemed to be missing several of their players. Five of our first seven running plays resulted in touchdowns, so it is hard to really estimate where we stand in relation to other Maple League teams. We appreciate the guys from Nokia coming up here for the scrimmage and the effort they gave on the field.

Sunday was an off day, so I focused on getting my laundry done and writing up our running plays against various fronts for our Oline. We only have about 25% of our offense in at this point, so we have a lot more teaching and installation to do before our home opener in two weeks.

We have practices everyday again this week and then some testing at a sports training facility on Thursday. I will be traveling out to the same training facility tomorrow morning with our other American coach Todd Klugh to speak at a seminar at the sports institute. It will be similar to the talks I gave last summer on team building and attitude/motivation. These seminars are something I enjoy, and it allows me to get out and meet Finnish business people from all walks of life. Many of them are very curious about life in America.

There are still snow banks all around the field-- I failed to pack enough warm clothes for the temps we've been getting since I arrived!

Team Nokia

American import Robert Bishop warming up during pre-game

That is team captain Thomas Cekken in the center of the picture-- He is as intense as any football player I have ever been around

One of our new defensive players we signed for the 2010 season-- Ollie played for the Roosters last season, as you can see by his helmet

Men in Black-- Me with Coach Todd Klugh-- Todd hails from New York. He is doing a superb job with our defense.

The Crocs defense is ready


Lights out.

Eve of the Nokia Scrimmage

I finished up with practice this evening around 8pm and then walked around town for about an hour before returning to the apartment. On the way out for my walk, I decided to snap a few pictures of the apartment/area where I am currently living. It is less than half a mile from where we stayed last summer.

We have our first scrimmage tomorrow evening against a team from Nokia. This is the same town that is known globally for its Finnish cellular brand namesake. I don't know much about the team coming in here tomorrow. They are a lower division team, but I am expecting a very tough and competitive group of players to arrive for the game. We are missing some of our key guys and our practices have been less than stellar over the past few days. Our defense is making some nice strides, but our offense is having a lot of mental breakdowns. We have a lot of work to do and improvements that need to be made before our Maple League schedule begins in two weeks. We open the season on May 22nd at home vs. the Helsinki Roosters. The Roosters knocked us out of the semifinals of the playoffs last season on a long scoring pass with less than 10 seconds left to play in the game. They look to be very tough again this season. Speaking of Roosters, check this bird out!

Took this photo right out behind my apartment

Here is the front of my apartment-- I dwell on the 3rd floor

View from my window

my room is the top floor on the right

the path I take to walk to the practice field

thin crispy crust, cloves of garlic, chicken, feta cheese--Sofram Pizza is out of this world.

Lights out.

A Second Time Around

I finally made it to Finland after about 27 straight hours of traveling, which included about 11 hours in the air, 5 hours by train, and a mere 45 minutes on the bus. Of course, the 27 hours does include the 5 hour layover in Frankfurt, Germany.

Things have been very busy since I arrived in Seinajoki. We have been getting our phone and internet connections sorted out, helping the import players get situated, and setting up our practice schedules. My initial accomodations weren't the greatest, so I have relocated to another apartment in town. It is close to where I lived last year, but it looks like I will be moving again at the end of the month.

We have had two practices already and there is great potential on this team. We are still missing many of our regular players, so we should be closer to full strength by next week this time.

The weather has been very chilly compared to back home. When I left Maryland on Saturday, it was 91 degrees. It has been in the 50's here during the day and evening practice temps. are probably in the mid to upper 40's. It is already getting light out at around 3:30 am, so I know we'll be close to 21-22 hours of daylight within the next 2-3 weeks.

I have only been here 3 days and here is what I've experienced so far.
1. one flat tire while driving the white bomber-- check
2.one parking ticket while parking directly in front of a bank--check
3. one administered breathalyzer test while driving back to my apartment (no, I was not drinking)--check
4. two drunks, one being thrown out of a restaurant and another keeping me up most of the night at my first apartment--priceless

For those who love Finland, it pays to discover. (ok, some of you may not get this!)

Anyway, I really am having a great time and it is good to be back. I miss my family dearly and can't wait for their arrival next month.

Here are a few pics from my journey over to Finland.

A businessman on a bicycle at the Frankfurt, Germany Airport

Lufthansa planes lined up at Frankfurt International

I think there is a bread shortage in Germany. I have seen this before when traveling here. A big bratwurst and a small bun can be a tough eating challenge. It leaves very little room for the onions, mustard, and kraut.

German race cars in the airport-- Not sure about the Hess sponsorship though?

Saved the best pic for last-- This one is for my son Kodie. I didn't realize U.S. Airways had such great taste in football teams.

Lights out.