A Day To Forget

Fun times

Lots of traffic

Flat as a pancake

Please help us-- we are gypsies from America

Getting ready for the QB challenge

Kodie along the harbor in Helsinki

Upensky Cathedral in Helsinki

Father and son find another cathedral

Sightseeing boat coming into the harbor

Kodie found a car he liked

Thursday was the day for the Maple League press conference in Helsinki. Kodie was along for the trip as well as Mikey. We picked up one of our American imports early Thursday at the Helsinki airport and then headed to a local stadium for the press conference. About a mile before we reached the stadium, we were pulled over by two Finnish cops. About 30 seconds after being pulled over, they extended a tube towards my mouth as if I knew the drill. I had been drinking profusely, but fortunately it was only water. I passed their first test with flying colors, but the fiasco was just getting underway. I spent the next hour in the back of a Finnish squad car, while they talked on their cell phones and wrote down all my license information. They said that my car lacked the necessary registration stickers, so they were going to have to fine me. After about 30 minutes, the story changed and they said that the taxes on the car were not paid. Therefore, they decided to take the license plates off the car and issue me a 66 euro fine for delinquent taxes on the vehicle. After receiving the paperwork, I climbed back in the car and headed to the press conference. The press conference lasted about an hour as each team was introduced and representatives from each team would say a word or two about their teams. I was there to represent the Crocodiles along with our team president and one of our players. The league looks solid from top to bottom this year and there were many great athletes present from each team. There was even a QB there from USC who backed up Carson Palmer and then Matt Leinhart. After the introductions, everybody headed outside for a QB competition and then lunch was served. There was another scheduled speaker at 2pm who was there to discuss adjusting to life in Finland. We had to skip this session because of the 4 hour drive back to Seinajoki for our 5:30 pm practice. We loaded up the car and pulled out around 1:45.

About 15 kilometers from the stadium, there was a popping sound and the car started swerving. We had a blowout while driving down the interstate. Fortunately, we were only going about 55-60 mph. I was able to get pulled off alongside the interstate less than a few feet from the edge of the right hand lane. We all got out of the car as traffic was zooming by at more than 70mph. We had a spare tire, but the tools to remove it were at the apartment in Seinajoki. About 10 minutes into the ordeal, an older man stopped to help. As it turned out, he was a Lutheran priest. There were some major language barriers, but he offered help in the form of some tools. Now of course, these were different from what we are used to in the states. On top of this, this car has a suspension system that is unlike anything I could adequately explain. The car raises up off the ground before you can drive it. Before this happens, it sits so low to the ground that you would struggle to get a ruler underneath it without touching the bottom undercarriage of the vehicle. Mikey took the lead and fiddled with the jack for a bit. The jack we had was inadequate, so I went with the guy to look for an auto repair shop and seek some help. We did manage to locate a jack and returned to the car about 30 minutes later. To make a long story short, Mikey risked life and limb to put the spare on as traffic whipped by close enough to reach out and touch. There were other complications along the way, but I won't go into all the details. Let's just say that it was a very challenging situation. Finally, the spare was on and we headed off to find another tire shop to put on in place of the spare. We ended up purchasing two tires and having them put on so we could drive back to Seinajoki. So 140 euros later, we were on our way in the pouring rain. We got back to town around 10:00 pm last night and missed the entire practice. Without question, this was my worst day since I arrived here. The day had actually started off rocky too as my son Kodie woke up with a painful ear ache. Fortunately, Kodie improved as the day went on. That was something to be thankful for on an otherwise miserable day. Oh yeah, the Lutheran priest was an angel sent from above too. Without his help, we would have been in a real tight spot. Kudos to Mikey as well for being our tire man on this day.

Lights out.