Last One

So I guess this will be my last post from Denmark. I don't like thinking it's over but I guess its a good time to reflect how lucky I am to have had this opportunity.

This was truly an experience I will never forget. From the moment I got in front of the team, they accepted me, even though I was wearing some Truman Purple. I tucked that stuff away and got to work with the guys with the goal of winning the Mermaid Bowl. We made a great run through the EFAF, winning our first international game, then traveling to Coventry to put a hurting on those guys. I'll never forget traveling to London to play the Blitz, and just the stunning looks on everyone face when walking the field. Glass, rocks, and other miscellaneous chunks were all over the place. Watching those guys pick it up was great, but its a same it came down to that. I thought that was a tough loss, but I know as a DL we gained a lot of experience playing them. I know as a team we did, because we saw how big and fast they were. The EFAF was a great gauge on where we stand on a European level.

Finishing 9-0 in DAFF play was special. I have never had an undefeated regular season in anything, and these guys deserved it. I absolutely loved working with my DL. They came to work every day and soaked in everything I was giving them. They asked their questions and I would do my best to answer, and they never complained about anything. I don't know if I was the greatest coach ever, but they sure made me feel that way. I loved being on the field with those guys and could trust everyone around me. This team was extraordinary, and I am thankful to have been a part of that regular season. Obviously the Mermaid Bowl didn't go our way, but in the big picture, the season was a success. I still can't shake those moments out of my head, but I know I can over time.

As for the U19 boys, I had a blast with those guys. It was a drama filled season at points, but I feel coach Nick did a great job keeping them focused with their eyes on the prize. I learned a lot from coaching those guys, basically due to attendance and figuring out the best way to coach 3 people as opposed to 10 people. I don't know how it is with other teams, but I doubt they have the ability to do the things we are doing at practice, and I hope our guys realize that. Because we do what we do, they are getting better at their trade.

Of the field, I clearly had some great experiences. My favorite part was clearly Audrey visiting in the summer break and our quest around Europe. I will never get tired of telling our Rome to Munich story, ever. When it comes to nights out in Denmark, I think I had my share of good ones. From the first "night" with the coaches, to this weekend with the DL and players, I cannot say enough how thankful I am for everything those guys have done for me. From buying drinks to walking me to the nearest Metro station that is our of their way, to grabbing a cab with me back to Amager, these guys have been great. I have never been denied a ride from practice, and had a blast riding back home with Sunshine and Nickelsen after practices. It's stupid little things like that that I will miss. These guys are just great at making you feel at home and one of the guys. I'll also miss the few Sunday night NFL parties I've been a part of. I enjoyed watching the games with everyone. I'm glad they let me flip to the baseball game to check on my Redbirds, and hopefully I got some hooked, haha!

I am excited to get home an see everyone, and sleep in my huge bed, but the athlete in me is frustrated I have to leave. After not winning the Mermaid Bowl, the journey almost feels incomplete, like my time was wasted since I couldn't get it done. I know that's not true at all, but I will always feel like the trip was missing a little something. I would love to be able to come back and work with these guys for another chance. I know the Razorbacks' Americans and the Towers' American are coming back. The hardest part of the loss was just knowing that was my last game, and I can do nothing to help get the trophy back. Now I know what Brett Favre felt like. I would have been a lot easier to leave if we sucked, but since we are a great team with a clear chance to win next year, I feel like I should be there. I know these guys are going to work like crazy, because that's their character and how much they care for this team.

As for the weekend, it's get as much time in with these guys as possible. I hate the unknown, and not knowing when I will see these guys again kills me. I am pretty packed up, and think I'll be fine, but I need to grab some last minute souvenirs one of these days. It's a tough feeling leaving as I said. Everyone has been so great, but there is always this awesome feeling of being home and seeing the people I haven't seen in so long. Also, as a lot of the guys have pointed out, just the cheap prices of everything will be nice. I always love eating with the players because it ends up with us talking about how cheap all the food is in the US. Well, I don't have much more to say, and hopefully everyone knows how great they have been to me and how thankful I am to all of them!

No I am not in this picture. It was halftime during the Mermaid Bowl, and I hate that I am not with them!

One Week

So, the Mermaid Bowl didn't go as we wanted to. We had some stupid penalties at times, and at times some calls that made us scratch our heads and think "really?". The Razorbacks played well like they needed to, and made their plays, even though it seemed most of their drives started around midfield. It's a stupid feeling and I don't feel like going through every detail. I'm proud of our guys for stepping up and taking some swings in this fight. These dudes are winners, and I loved playing with them. Razors scored on a 4th down play, with the QB under pressure and running around slung a ball to a receiver, our DB played the ball and missed, and the dude ran in. I'm not sure, but I felt like I was being held. You can watch the play here and gather your own thoughts. It sucks to lose, especially feeling so confident going into the game, but I am glad we could give Denmark a great game to end the year on. I know these guys will use it as motivation and work hard this off season to become the best in Europe. I know individual awards may not mean much to guys, especially after a team loss, but I'm pretty sure and even bigger upset took place when the league MVP was given to an American receiver instead of our great reciever, Jonas Bo Hansen, who had over 100 receptions for some 1400 yards and like 20 TDs. Don't know what the Razor guy did, but don't think it was anything like that, maybe I'm wrong. All I know is that he will be my first pick in my DAFF NL fantasy league next year.

It was tough after the loss, but I went out with all the guys and we had a blast of a night. Leaving the Metro, I heard a girl talking to her friends say she is from Missouri, so I broke my rule of not talking to strangers just to ask where, and she is from Columbia, so not quite as cool as someone from STL. The team had a fun, but empty night out, and I enjoyed my time spent out with those guys. All of them that came up and talked to me for maybe the last time, and those crazies who apologized like they lost the game and ruined my experience or something. Couldn't have been farther from the truth, I enjoyed every minute (except maybe 2 minutes in the Mermaid Bowl) this year.

The weekend was not a total loss though, as I coached the U19 guys to a 9-0 win in the Junior Bowl. It felt great to see those guys out there, and the excitement of winning. I'm truly proud of those guys and how great they played. We scored a TD early, but it was called back because of a hold, and settled for a FG, which turned out to be all we need. We added a rushing TD later, and our defense played lights out. I loved those guys and am glad we won. I've been told no teams have ever won both a Junior Bowl and Mermaid Bowl, so I guess the U19 guys ruined it for us (just kidding). I was really hoping to break the trend and get two golds, but its a cruel world we live in right.

Yesterday, I laid in bed all day basically and watched How I Met Your Mother, which was on TV all day. I went over and hung out with some guys and watched the football games. He has ESPN America, so I got to flip around to the Cardinals game, which started out great, but ended miserably. I love the look on the guys' faces when I try to explain what's happening. They have very little knowledge of the game, so I am explaining balls and strikes, foul balls, and stuff like that. It makes me feel like some sort of genius.

As for my last week, nothing special planned. Going to try to get most of my packing done early, which will be broken up Tuesday for an after school thing, but I would just like it out of the way. I got some souvenir shopping to do, and some last football related stuff, but it's crazy it's over. I can't believe football is done, and I won't be able to help these guys on their quest to get the trophy back.

Time to pack I guess, see all you Americans soon!

Almost Here

So, in almost 24 hours, the U19 game will be kicking off. I am super excited for these games. After a solid week of practice on both levels, we are a confident group of guys heading into Saturday. The juniors have been working together as a unit more than ever this year, and it's evident they believe in each other and buy into what it will take to win the game.

The seniors put together a tremendous week of practice. So many of the guys sacrificed a lot, and moved their schedules around to be able to make it. It shows how much it means to them. I cannot be more excited for these guys to get out to the field and play fast, ferocious football and get after the Razorbacks. Last night was my last football practice ever, and it was a bit sad, but there is no time to dwell on that with the huge game this weekend. And just like after my first practice, I went to Kosk with some of the guys, except this time, I am able to order for myself! It's crazy to think it's almost over, but there is one more business day tomorrow.

For those in the US that want to follow the game,you can pay for the stream here, or I'm assuming you can follow twitter or USfootball.dk to get some updates. It will be a huge day for the team.

Tonight I am missing my 5 year high school reunion, and tomorrow is the homecoming game at Truman, but there is not a place I would rather be this weekend than here with these guys, playing in the biggest football game I've ever been a part of.

The Beginning of the End

So today marks the beginning of the last work week in Denmark. Kind of crazy to think about how fast it's gone and all that stuff, but I'll reflect on that another time. I still got some business to take care of!

Last week, the U19 team had a spirited week of practice. They are all so focused, it's crazy to see their attitude this time around against the Towers compared to the last. We have a confidence, but are putting our work in to make sure it's sound confidence.

As for the seniors, Tuesday we had our picture day. It wasn't anything crazy, but its not like college, where all the guys are behind the cameraman trying to make you laugh and look stupid in your picture. I also had to give my height in centimeters and my weight in kilos, which surprised some people that I knew, but only due to my exercise science classes at Truman. Guess college did teach me something! On Thursday evening, the defense met up for some scout on the Razorbacks and some conditioning. We know what they want to do, and we will be prepared for that, and any other thing they may try to throw at us. Heading into this game, we will be a confident bunch of guys, and rightfully so! Everyone is eager to get to Farum Park and get rolling.

The weather has been gorgeous, and it was no different Friday and Saturday. Friday, I went to the beach for a couple of hours and finished reading The Junction Boys. Reminded me of a slightly more difficult freshman and sophomore fall camp at Camp Clark. We knew what we were getting into, we got water, and we had some grass to practice on. It was an interesting book. It was so nice, that I even dipped my legs in the water and cooled off. It was pretty cold, but it felt a bit refreshing on the hotter day. Saturday, I went into Copenhagen on another beautiful day and took the Jerry Glanville book Esben had with me. I sat out at a harbor by Amalienborg Palace and did some reading. I went to the Strøget to look at some souvenirs, and I grabbed one of those cheap take out boxes of Chinese food, just to see what it was like. Turns on Chinese food is internationally the same. It's not like the Mexican food that varies by location, the Chinese food is just oiled and greases up stuff, and fried shrimp and chicken. They really got the consistency down. I ate that at the harbor and on my way back, grabbed some ice cream. It just felt right on such a gorgeous day.

Sunday, I joined AG at the FC København soccer game. He scored some tickets from work, and they were awesome. We we like 20 rows up from the pitch, about even with one of the goal lines. It was a total blast of a game and since soccer is a lot of dudes running and not much action, we spent a lot of time just talking. We got to talking about baseball, and just compared it to watching soccer. It pained me since I enjoy baseball, but it's kind of true, you watch a lot of guys stand around and not much happening. One of the coolest things at the game is the 5 beer holder thing. You buy like 5 beers, and they have this like carrying thing that holds the beers by the top and the bottom pokes through. It's like a cooler version of the 4 drink carrying thing that's awkward to hold. The game was a lot of fun to be at, but it ended in a tie. FCK scored on a pretty awesome header in the second half to go up 1-0, but Aarhus equalized with a PK in the 90th minute. The atmosphere of the game is crazy, as the opposing fans have their own section just surrounded my security, and they get a security escort in and out of the stadium, and their buses got a police escort out of the city. They basically got the same treatment that the president of the US gets when he goes anywhere. The game is filled with chants, which make the game exciting I guess, since not much really happens on the field. After the game, I bought one of those soccer scarfs that says the team name, and I got the one that says the name of the player who scored, N'Doye, just because. I really didn't have a preference, and thought it would be cool to have one with a players name.

After the game, we went to another player's apartment and joined some guys watching football. Frederik, our RB and my taxi driver, is a Rams fan, and he had the Rams game on his computer. I watched the last about 6 minutes of the disaster, and we were both disappointed. I wish I could have taken a picture of the room, because it was a bunch of guys sitting around a table, with their computers on watching their teams games if they were on, or checking their fantasy guys. Every 5 minutes, AG would violently shake his phone to refresh the page. It was like a big meeting room and serious business was taking place. There were some commercials and talk about the Mermaid Bowl, which was interesting to see. I clearly had no idea what they were saying, but I can hear when the say "Mermaid Bowl", "Triangle Razorbacks" and "Søllerød Gold Diggers". I left around midnight and got home and crashed.

So now, it's game week, and I cannot be more excited to play in this game. I hear the stadium is great and the atmosphere is wonderful for a football game. I look forward to a great last week of practice and enjoying every minute of it. Hopefully, we can pull out the W!

Two More Weeks of Football

So the Gold Diggers U19 and Senior team advanced to the Junior Bowl and Mermaid Bowl. A fantastic Saturday for the Gold Diggers to say the least. I'll get more into the details of all that after I talk about all the neat stuff I did leading up to those games.

On Wednesday I went into Copenhagen to watch the time trials for the 2011 UCI Road Race World Championships. The time trials took place in Copenhagen, and the actual race took place out where the Gold Diggers practice. The time trails were not the most interesting thing ever, as it was just a dude riding by every 5 minutes, but I pretty much expected that. It was a gorgeous day, and I doubt I would ever have the opportunity to see that again.

Thursday, I worked another after school football thing, and this time they came to the field. They were older kids, maybe 14ish I would say. It was just funny to see how many of them are just horrified to hit someone or get hit. I remember in high school as a freshman, the first day we got all our pads, after a practice, we all put them on and organized our own game, just because we wanted to hit each other. The coaches weren't to happy about it, but I just think it's funny how excited we all were, and most of the kids here are like screw this. I also haven't commented, but the kids just cannot seem to figure out how the crazy football equipment works. Putting on the equipment takes a solid 15-20 minutes for us to make sure the kids have the shoulder pads on the right way, how to strap them up (is it really hard to figure out that the thing that looks like a belt needs to go through the thing that looks like a buckle?). I understand the difficulty with the helmet, as it is awkward to put on, and we don't have an abundance of extra equipment, and I feel bad helping the kids adjust the chinstrap, because I don't know how tight or lose it is, and I think they expect that since I play, I know exactly how to adjust everyone else's equipment. I just realized how much would go into being a youth coach. After all that, I had my practices with the U19 and Senior team, and went home to sleep.

Friday was an off day and I don't recall doing anything too exciting. I went to the gym and cleaned and that was the highlight of my day I guess. I was busy getting pumped for a football filled Saturday.

The day finally came, and it would be the last game of the season for some teams. Luckily, it was the Gold Diggers day. The seniors came out blazing and diced up the Rebels defense putting up 52 points with some great offensive plays. The Rebels lone score came midway through the 4th quarter after some questionable calls against the defense kept a drive going and gave them valuable yards. I was out of my pads at the beginning of the 4th quarter, so it was hard to watch them go down the field and score. All in all though, I feel, without seeing the film, that our DL played a solid game. The Rebels came with a good game plan to slow me down, and I'd say our ends picked up the slack and played some good football. Hopefully the film agrees with me because it's always hard to get a real feel for how others are doing when you are playing.

I rushed to the showers immediately after our game, with no time to celebrate in order to make it to the U19 game on time. I rode with Carlos and we arrived just as the team was beginning their stretching, great timing. The kids were amped up and ready to rock. The game started tightly, but once the Gold Diggers scored, it was just the opening of the can of whoop ass that would be broken out the rest of the night. The defense shut down their triple option offense, and our ground game was rocking, as the youngsters followed up the seniors with an equally impressive 47-6 victory. The story of the game came with about 4 minutes left in the 4th quarter. The start time of our game was 5:30, and the sun goes down around 7:30. The Tomahawks agreed to this game time, and their beautiful turf field is equipped with lights. However, I guess someone wasn't prepared for the inevitable nightfall, and the lights were never turned on. We took a very-convenient-for-the-opposition 45 minute break while the lights were figured out. The officials didn't know how to handle it, as there is no rule for handling a situation where the home team doesn't realize the lights need to be on. Now I really have no idea what was going on, or if it was strategic operation by a team with less players, and tons of which were getting fatigued and going down with injuries. My favorite thing about the situation, was that when the game finally started, we scored on a good run the very first play of the game. It was a stupid situation that should have been avoided, but our guys stayed positive and ready to go.

After that game, I got some food with the Senior coaches and called it a night since I had to be up early to work the Cycling World Championships. I arrived at Holte around 8, and got to working the VIP tent. It was pretty easy stuff, we just had to check to make sure people were wearing the correct wristband. The thing I found odd is that while it was all fenced off and looked fancy, there were no signs or anything at the entrance saying what it is, or that today was blue bracelets, so a lot of people were just trying to walk in, and we had to explain it was a VIP thing. If there was any big skirmish, we just sent them to a table right by, and they would handle it. Nothing too big. I watched them go by a few times, and left at 1, and took a quick nap before heading out to Sanne's for a big eel dinner. Yep, I ate some eel. Joined by Johan and his wife, and Kim after the Razorbacks-Towers game, we feasted on the ell, potatoes and some cauliflower. It was pretty good, different for sure, but I ate it, and ate a lot. We had cookies and cakes, and just a great time.

Now, its time to prepare for the Razorbacks with the older guys, and the Towers with the younger. We are both familiar with the opponents, but it will come down to who prepares themselves better. I think we have a distinct advantage there. Hopefully, we get 100% commitment from out guys these last weeks and we can come out on top!

Game Week!

The bye week time passed as usual. I am spending quite a bit of time at after school programs right now playing football with kids that understand very third word I say. I still think it's pretty amazing they are 10 years old and grasping the basics of what I am saying and formulating a response. They neat thing is that the longer the players are around me, the more comfortable using English they are. Yesterday was one of the more fun ones I would say. We had about 15 kids, and they all had a blast. It started off with me signing an "autograph" for a little girl. I had no idea what to say, but I wrote a nice message in the pink marker I was handed and made her day. Then her and her friends joined us on the field. It was funny because the girls would go against each other in WR-DB one on one, and they were more fierce in grabbing and trying to get the ball, and then more consistently catching the ball. A couple of the kids left early so they could go home before coming out and trying out a Gold Diggers practice, so that is awesome they are enjoying it. At the end, there are always 3 or 4 kids that are just loving it so much and get sad when it ends. They generally are the really athletic ones, so hopefully they come out. It's just rough timing with the season ending soon and all. So I've been to 3 different schools so far about 5 times.

Thursday was a big day as it was the election here. From what I have read an gathered, a new party has taken over in what was a really tight vote. That's all I feel qualified to talk about.

Stall from Pusher Street in Christiania

As far as last weekend---Friday was an absolute gorgeous day. I started off by going to the National Museum and spending 3 hours there. It was so huge and I was wandering everywhere.
It's really neat as it takes you through time and different regions of the world. I really like all the old Asian stuff, they seemed to have some really lavish stuff. There were also some crazy old bodies that were found that are on display. I really enjoyed the modern history stuff as well. Crazy to see a Playstation 2 and computer in a museum. It was pretty neat, even though I am not a big museum person; I prefer to interact with things rather than read.

From there, I went to the City Hall to go inside and take a look around and snap a few pictures. It was awkward as there were other tourists in there, but no one that looked like security or anything, so I just wandered around a bit. Pretty neato place.

Rosenborg Castle from the Round Tower

After that, I walked to the Round Tower- an old observatory built by Christian IV in the 1600s. Wikipedia does a good job explaining it. It's cool in that its a spiral ramp up to the top and not a crazy big staircase. The top offers up some good views of the city. It's awesome being up there and recognizing the building knowing what they are. I guess I really should by now, but still, good feeling. It was a perfect day for that as it was sunny and not raining. When I came down from the tower, I walked into a bookstore for the hell of it. As usual, they are wildly expensive. I had no desire to buy a book, but I was curious as to how much they cost.

Saturday the battle took place. The U19 team went on a paintball excursion. I can sum up my abilities in one word-horrible. I couldn't hit the water if I fell out of a boat. It was a bit of just no experience, mixed with unluckiness, and just plain being bad. I tried all strategies---charging swiftly, planning where I will run, or just improvising. Nothing seemed to work. One of the guys that was never on my team played in like leagues before so he was a badass. I think I may have shot 5 guys guys, and got shot a good 7 times.
The worst fail ever took place in a close quarter shootout. As I steathily snuck into an occupied house, I saw the enemy. I opened fire 3 times from say 4 feet away. I aimed for the legs, and I hit him, however the stupid paintballs didn't explode, so no kill. We chased each other and I guess someone else got him, but that was pretty much the story of my day. How do the paintballs not explode from 4 feet away--I was so frustrated. From there, we went to watch the Tomahawks play their final regular season game. It was super cold and kind of rainy, but I made it. They didn't play well at all, losing the game by a score I'm not aware of. It wasn't a good predictor of what we will see, as they were using some of their players on the senior team, who was playing in a game to move up to the National League. I think out guys will be hungry, and we win the numbers game as they have about 15 guys. Hopefully we can wear them out

Sunday was time to take down the election posters. That was so much easier than putting them up. It took about 2 hours to take down compared to the 5 to put up. I really wanted to keep one, but felt a little weird carrying a poster of the former Prime Minister around on the Metro. The used posters get sent to Africa to build huts. Funny to think that cow poop will be smeared all over pictures of these people's face. Good to hear all of them go to good use though.

Monday and Tuesday were school and practice days for me. On Monday, the senior guys were low on numbers so we did some scout stuff and special teams, and some conditioning. Tuesday was a regular day. It's a bit difficult getting to the stadium now because the World Cycling Championship is taking place, even more specifically, in the municipality of our stadium. Therefore, our earned home game in the semifinals has to be played at Herlev, the home of our opponent the Rebels. Should be an exciting game, but I am confident in our team and our preparation. Hopefully we can secure the win and earn a spot in the Mermaid Bowl. Immediately following our game, I will be scooting down to the U19 game, arriving probably right about kickoff. Sunday morning, I have to work security with some guys for the cycling. Shouldn't be anything too excruciating.

So, there is a chance this could be my last football game ever. Hopefully it won't be, and I have the opportunity to play with these guys one more time. The way we've been practicing, I think we'll be okay!

Playoff Time

So, much has happened since my last update. I guess I'll just start typing, who knows how random this may be.

The biggest catch

I went to southern Zealand with Alex, one of our OL, to his parents cabin. It really reminded me of a Goose Creek type place. It was about a 50 minute drive south of Copenhagen. It took us a while to get down there Friday due to Friday traffic and a couple of accidents on the freeway. We arrived around 6 and fired up the BBQ and got to work grilling some hamburgers and corn, just a regular BBQ.  After that we walked to the inlet which has a dock (that is covered in bird poop) to "fish" and drink a couple of beers. I was really hoping to sit down, but it was too poopy. The only thing we brought up was a bunch of seaweed, but that was pretty expected. After that, we just hung out in the beautiful cabin and watched some movies, including Speed.

Saturday, we had to go into the beach to try out his water scooter. It was by far the coldest day I have ever got into any water, but I couldn't not do it. Once fully submerging, it became bearable, slightly enjoyable. I don't think the scooter was made for us larger guys for carrying us around, but if we were in deep water diving down, it would kick ass. Also, with it being so damn cold, I was a bit timid to go under and really try to enjoy it. We spent about an hour and a half around the beach. We then went into the closest town area to get some eats for later. From there we just enjoyed the nice day and rested watching the Hangover. We did some more BBQing and later, Speed 2 just happened to be on, so naturally we had to watch.

Beautiful home

Sunday was beautiful, but we had to get back to Copenhagen. While the day was gorgeous, it started to rain in the evening, and I'm like 90% sure it has rained in some way every single day since. I just expect it now. But with the weekend over, it was time to focus on preparing the young guys for a victory over the Towers and get the older guys focused on beating the Razorbacks.

Practice was great for the Seniors all week, as we felt we were extraordinarily prepared as a defensive line for their scheme and what they would do to us. We had a feeling they may scale down their playbook a bit as they also secured a semi-final spot and are a favorite to reach the Mermaid Bowl.

I wish I could have said the same for the young guys. It was a lackadaisical week with little focus. By far the most frustrating week of DL play, at the worst possible time because we needed to beat the Towers to be the number 1 seed and get a home game. Thursday was an abysmal practice when it came to executing plays. It is baffling to me that they can't remember the 6 twists we do. I even take time in practice from doing other drills to walk through the plays, but I guess they don't realize how terrible they are at it, until they mess it up. Now of course its not everyone, but the fair majority had poor execution on Thursday. I also think the play has some to do with having to use what we have on the scout team, which means receivers on the offensive line. The DL are just getting pumped beating up on a receiver instead of playing their technique and reading their keys. I had to let Thursday go and hope they came prepared Sunday

Saturday, I met up with AG, and our two Danish QBs, to watch the Herlev Rebels take on the Copenhagen Towers in the battle for second place. In what most assumed would be a fierce battle between two quality teams, the Towers prevailed like 47-7 I think. It was a disastrous game for the Rebels as anytime they got any momentum going, they killed it themselves with penalties or turnovers. Teams won't be successful with the amount of 1st and 20s and 3rd and 15s the Rebels had. Their ground game was tearing it up and the Towers couldn't answer, but its hard to stick with a constant ground attack when you are down 30. The "turning point" in my opinion came when the game was 14-7 in favor of the Towers early on. The Rebels D just came up with a huge fumble recovery in Towers territory. The very first play, the QB throws a pick, then the Towers drive and score, taking what could have been a tying score by the Rebels, and making it a TD of their own. Some more heartbreak came when the Towers got the ball around their 40 with 10 seconds left. The Towers QB LAUNCHED this ball to a streaking receiver who caught it for the score to go up 27-7 at the half. A score like that knocks the wind out of a team.  That being said, the Towers will host the Arhus Tigers, and the Rebels will travel to Aalborg, home of defensive end extraordinaire Stephan "Steve" Nickelsen, to play the 89ers.

After that, we met up with one of the OL who has ESPN America, to watch some college football. We grabbed some chicken and pasta for dinner and watched Wisconsin roll Oregon State. I left early to get home to get a good night of sleep before my long Sunday.

Sunday morning rolled around and I headed out to Gentofte for our youngster's game. Our practice was still on my mind, but I let it go, hoping they would come out fired up. We were missing some of our key lineman on the day, so it was a bit scary. It's just funny how we still had 7 DL, but we were freaking out about our rotation, when most teams would KILL to have that many guys. Just a fun thought. But the weather toyed with us, pouring down rain before the game, then doing it again as we were in pregame. It cleared up and became a beautiful day for kickoff.

The game did not go as planned, and I suffered my first lost in Denmark as the Towers went on to a 22-8 victory. They threw some stuff at us we didn't expect to see, and didn't do some things we were really expecting. They also made plays when it counted, and we were a bit unsound. Fatigue seemed to set in for some of the guys as well, but that will happen when you are playing offense and defense and special teams. I remember those times in high school, and the great nights of sleep that followed. We clearly didn't play out best, and didn't execute when we had the chance too. However, with a playoff spot secured, its not the time for me to become worried or scared. The guys should come out hungry, waiting for the unbeaten Copenhagen Tomahawks in the semis. I'm hoping they have that attitude, because they are a great group of players, and it would be scary to think we could be finished after one more game. That said, I had to erase this from my mind and scurry over to Rundforbi for our game against the Razorbacks from Vejle.

I got there about an hour before kickoff and hurried up to get ready and my mind right. The guys were focused going through their pregame as if I am not even needed! The game started out magnificently, as we received the ball, marched down the field, and scored to go up 7-0. It was a lead we would never lose as we went on to a 31-13 victory. Both teams had already secured a spot in the semifinals, but the winner would have an "easier" road to the Mermaid Bowl, as the loser would be more than likely facing the Towers.

As far as the game, the offense was clicking, and the D was rolling. The Razors had some solid players and played with a passion that most other teams do not display. While I feel their offense was scaled down a bit, our preparation led to us having a good idea of what to expect, as far as go to plays, and offensive line weaknesses. I was pleased with OUR execution of twists. I felt like I was getting blocked from every angle, and one of the guys would come up huge. That's what awesome about our defense, we are a team. If you send 3 guys at one of us, there's another dude you need to worry about. We got some good hits on their QB and the sat him towards the end of the game to protect him for the finals. Their American WR/DB played a great game. He had an amazing interception on defense, and some great catches on offense. A really tough dude. Along with their WR, their import DL is from UConn. Our OL did a good job against him. He's so freaking tall, that it always seemed his hands were in a passing lane, but it's tough for one guy to make a huge impact consistently, and out OL did a good job neutralizing him.

On our ride home, we had a celebrity sighting, as we spotted Danish pop sensation Medina riding in her BMW in the streets of Copenhagen. All the guys went crazy of course, but I had to get a lesson on who she was. This here is the song I was told to check out, because I HAD to know it. She definitely noticed us staring, as she avoided passing us, until the car swooped over to make a turn and lose us paparazzi. Pretty cool I guess.

So, that leads to a prefect 9-0 Danish season, and 10-0 on Danish soil including our win over the French. We have a bye this week for the wild card games. Since we are the #1 overall seed, we will get the lowest seeded remaining winner, which will more than likely be the Rebels or 89ers. Both teams would be fun to play. So, for another bye week, time to keep myself busy. Today I am going to another after school thing for kids. Basically they bash into each other, laugh, and catch some footballs. They really seem to like it. I also have some weekend plans to check out an FC Copenhagen game with some of the guys, so hopefully all that works out.

DL at my last game at Rundforbi Stadium