Tough battle versus the Butchers

Crocs players warming up for the Butchers game

The cheerleaders were out in full force

Including this young group of cheering fans-- Kaylin doing her best "Go Crocs" cheer

A fine day for football

"Gang-Green"

On Friday evening, we played the five time defending champions from the south of Finland known as the Butchers. We started off poorly with a few offensive turnovers, shaky tackling, and a busted coverage. We even killed a drive with an offensive penalty and helped the Butchers keep a first half drive alive by first having twelve men on the field, and then subsequently jumping offsides on consecutive 4th down penalties. Fortunately, we didn't lose faith in our ability to rebound from our mistakes. The team pulled itself together and scored two key touchdowns late in the first half, one coming on a slant pass with just eight seconds left before intermission.

Our defense made some big stops in the second half and the offense kept ringing up big plays when it had to. A total team effort allowed us to overcome our early miscues and register a 42-30 victory over the Butchers. The guys were so excited about the win and the crowd was treated to a great football game on a hot sunny day in Suomi. We are starting to play with a lot of confidence and the guys are giving exceptional effort on the field. There is a hunger to keep getting better. We have one more game before our second break of the season. This Saturday, we play the Jaguars at home. The Jags are coming off a 24-21 victory vs. the Tampere Saints.

After the Friday game, we decided to hang around town on Saturday and attend the Tango Festival in Seinajoki. This annual event brings in thousands of people from all over the world to, well you guessed it, TANGO. They tango in the mall, in the city square, on the streets, in the campgrounds, and just about anywhere else you can think of. It is really quite the spectacle. Their are many vendors present at the event selling everything from jewelry, clothing, tango dancing shoes, fresh fruit, and countless other items.

On Sunday, we drove two hours south to Pori, Finland and visited a beach called Yyteri. Many say that it is the finest beach in Scandinavia. It is a beautiful beach that sits near a forested area close to a nature preserve. There are big sand dunes as far as the eye can see and the water was surprisingly warm compared to the Baltic waters near Vaasa, where we swam last summer. The place was jam packed full of people and it even felt a bit like Daytona Beach--- Finnish style. The kids thought it was great so we might take another trip down there before we return to the states. I will post some pics from our weekend activities on the next blog.

Lights out.