Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to everyone. I haven't spent mine doing anything special---except going to the BEACH! I checked out the beach, which happens to be about a 15 minute walk from my apartment on Friday, and decided I would spend my Easter by the water, since it would be the only time I will probably ever do that. I was at the beach for a while today and it was absolutely fantastic. The sun was beaming, and the water looked great. I would imagine the water would still be pretty cold though, but I did see one person jump in with what looked like a possible dare from some friends. He didn't look too comfortable when he got out. One of the neat things is you can see the Øresund Bridge in the distance. The Øresund Bridge is this long bridge that connects Copenhagen to Sweden. It looks pretty cool, and I'll probably be traveling on it sometime!

We had this week off from all football for a couple of reasons. The first being that neither the U19 team or the Seniors have a game from at least 3 weeks, and the U19 National Team camp was from Thursday until today, and we have quite a few players and most of our coaches taking part in that. It was a bit awkward of a week since football is my guaranteed social interaction for the week. However, a few of the DL wanted to get together to do some conditioning type stuff on the off days, so I gladly planned that and enjoyed the wonderful weather. The weather has been absolutely fantastic here---about 65 and sunny, so the days have been beyond enjoyable. The whole week is like an Easter Holiday for the country, as a lot of the players left town and traveled it seemed like. Almost everything shuts down from Thursday until like Tuesday from what I was told.

On Thursday after the running, I went and BBQed with a couple of the DL guys, AG (Showtime) and Lars. It was a blast, especially because I love BBQing. We all got a different variation of chicken and some garlic bread and just threw it on the pit and sat on the porch enjoying the fantastic weather. After eating and hanging for a bit, we went inside to watch the new Rambo movie during one channel's "Pumped Up Easter" movie weekend. However, following Rambo was Semi-Pro, which is on the complete opposite side of the movie spectrum. I left around midnight and caught the bus home. I was the only person on the bus for most of the ride, it was kind of creepy.

The next exciting the I did was on Saturday. Without any general human interaction on Friday due to Esben being with the U19 at the National Camp, I met up with one of the OL guys, Alex and we hung out. We go some ice cream and sat at this one beach for a while, then we met up with a few more players and former players and got some dinner. I got a #37, which is the way things work here when ordering. Everything is a number and you order a number. The great thing is they had an English menu, so I didn't have to get someone to translate everything for me. The #37 was pork tenderloin, with vegetables in some kind of sauce and fries. The best part was by far the sauce. I have no idea what kind of sauce it was, but I was dipping my fries in it because it was that good! After the movie, we all went to the drive-in and saw Limitless. It was pretty cool catching a drive-in movie for the first time ever. The movie was pretty good, but I felt like there wasn't much of a bang in it. Certain parts were predictable, but I did like how it ended. Bradley Cooper looks like a cool dude. The trailer for the Hangover 2 was on during the previews and that looks freaking great. I cannot wait to see that!

So that was my week. In football news, the Cougars (who we beat 40-16 in our opening game) played their second game of the EFAF Cup against the Coventry Jets and beat them by a score of 87-7. It was a bit of a baffling score, but they were missing a few key players against us, so I guess those guys make quite a difference. Basically, when we go to Coventry in two weeks, its a win and advance situation, which is pretty exciting for us! So I know we are going to have two great weeks of practice and be fully prepared for the Jets. If we win, we would play the London Blitz, who won their group beating a team from Amsterdam as well as a team from Valencia. Finally, there is a picture of me getting a sack on the Cougars QB. He was a bit faster than me, and I was just going for his legs. I feel pretty cool that I can say I sacked a UCLA guy!

U19 Season Starts with a BANG

So I arrive to the field of the U19 game to see about 3 police cars and one of our DL talking to a policeman. Turns out as he was arriving, he witnessed a person shooting at a car. Quite a way to start your morning. We were also in a rough area of Denmark from what I understand. The team we played is a first year team made up of kids with a rough background to keep them off the streets of this area. The game ended 30-0 in the first quarter in our favor. They last play, some bodies got tangled up, and one of their OL broke his leg pretty bad, and ambulance was called and everything. The same kid that was a witness to a shooting, was at the bottom of a pile responsible for a broken leg. Talk about a day!

Yesterday, we beat the Amager Demons 58-0. It is their first year in the National League, and their first two games are against us! Our backup QB played the whole game and did amazing. He's a really smart player and had some incredible throws. My highlight came in the form of a dislocated (sort of) finger. It was the same finger I broke in high school. I was rushing a punt and hit my hand awkwardly on a guy, and at like the second joint from the tip of the finger, it like popped back onto the top of the other. That's the best I can do with words, it looked cool and felt weird. The trainers could not (legally I believe) pop it back, but one of our players is in med school and he was able to give it a tug and set it. It happened in the 4th quarter I think and I was legally unable to finish the game from what I was told. I had X-Rays done and there is nothing more wrong with it, it's just fat and colorful. We did have a defensive TD, but it was a corner and not one of the DL unfortunately.

We have the next week off from training since we don't play until May 7th, which is a huge game. That game is against the Coventry Jets in England, and if we win that game, we advance in the EFAF tournament, which would be fantastic for our club.

Yesterday, I also had the great time of talking to Billy and Brenton (and Badger for a bit) through Skype for a bit. It was fun to talk to them and hear about the spring game and their nights running wild in Kirksville.

I hope everything back in the states is great and hopefully the weather is getting nice. It's basically a grab bag as to what we will get here, but I'm used to that!

Sweet 16

I am still coming down from the exciting game over the weekend. Watching the film and making notes just got me more excited to play again. We have recently cracked the European Top 20 with the win, coming it at number 16. It's a pretty awesome accomplishment for our team, and I'm looking forward to playing again this weekend.

A week ago I took a ferry from Helsingor into Helsingborg, Sweden. Helsingor is home to Kronborg castle, and I just saw it from the ferry and it looks freaking awesome. Over in Sweden, we just sort of walked around looking for a good place to eat. What was really cool was the castle that we saw. It was awesome and we got some great pictures from way up high. We ended up eating at a McDonald's, nothing too crazy. The wild thing was that McDonald's had hot wings. They weren't anything great, but they weren't bad for McDonald's food.

This is the original wall of the castle. It is the only part still standing as one of the King's ordered the removal of the rest. It was a pretty neat thing to see. The next few pictures are from the high bridge in the middle.

The picture above is as I looked to the left from the top of the bridge. The one on the right is looking to the right. The really cool looking building would be the city hall. In the way background you can see the water. It was a pretty cool view from up there.


It was a really fun time in Sweden and is the first country I got to travel too. What amazed me was just how quick it took. It was probably a 30 minute car ride to get to the ferry, and the ferry is maybe 15 minutes, but it doesn't seem like that at all. Luckily, I took some pills, so I didn't get motion sick!


I already wrote about the freaking awesome game. It was a blast to play, and of course we went out Saturday night to celebrate. The French were invited out with us and some of them came out, along with their American QB, who I spent some time talking to. He was really nice and enjoyed Denmark. It seems I have it quite nice here, as everyone speaks English, and that's not so in France. It's tough for him communicating plays to the offense because hardly anyone can understand him. He was a very good QB, and you could tell, he could fling the ball effortlessly down field, would just stand calm in the pocket, and could move when he needed. It is pretty neat to have been able to talk to a UCLA guy as well as sack him a few times. I of course also had a blast hanging with the Gold Diggers. We were all so pumped up and it was nice to hear them telling me good game. I enjoy hearing that, but our defense played really well and its easy to have a good game when you have great players around you.

The drink of the night was Carlsberg. I was back at LA Bar, which was where I was the first night out and has the 10 tequila shots for 100 DKK, but luckily I did 0 of those. It was happy hour (at like 10:30 when we got there) so draft beers were 20 kroner, so we had a few of those. When that ended, they has 4 bottles of Carlsberg for 100, so we would just buy some and find someone without a beer that needed one. Just wanted to give an example how much things can cost.

Sunday was a pretty lazy day despite the great weather. It was gorgeous outside, so I took my time walking to the store and enjoyed it a bit. I was a bit sore from the game, and their was a Modern Family marathon on, so I took full advantage of that.

Monday I watched the game and sent out notes to the DL. It was great watching it the second time around as well. I also went to the gym and enjoyed another beautiful day in Denmark. Unfortunately all of that would change Tuesday, as it was cloudy and rainy and windy all day. When U19 practice rolled around, it was so cold, windy, and rainy. I, as well as the players, were pretty cold. I knew it was cold when I had a DL asking if we could do some running to warm up. Fine with me! The seniors took the night off to watch film and recover from the dings of the first game.

Today I have went to gym and I am about to break down some film on the Demons for our game this weekend. The nice thing is the Demons field is about 5 minutes away from where I live, so its right in my neck of the woods. On Sunday, the U19 guys open their season against a new team, the Cadets. From what I understand, this team is made up of guys who come from rougher backgrounds at home, and this coach has gone around forming teams of these guys and teaching them football. It sounds like an awesome thing to me, so we don't really know what to expect. The seniors then have 2 weeks until another game week when we travel to Coventry to play the Jets in the second part of out EFAF games. If we win that game, we would advance to the semi-finals!


And finally, CONGRATULATIONS to my cousin Jessie and newest cousin Shay, who were married over the weekend. All the videos looked like a blast and wishing you the best!

A Big Day in Danish History

On this day 71 years ago, Germany invaded Denmark with little resistance. We were remind of this as the French came onto our soil invading Sollerod. The Gold Diggers came out and held out and defeated the Cougars by a score of 40-16. Quite a great all around game. Our offense was able to move the ball, and our defense was just, wow. The Cougars had to have the ball in the Red Zone 5 times and came away with only 1 TD and 1 FG. Our guys really stepped it up. Special Teams played a huge role as we returned the second half kickoff for a TD to go up 21-10 and deflate their spirits a little bit. I had the chance to score a touchdown on a bad snap, but as I dove on the ball, it just squirted out, right to our end AG, who I call Showtime due to his two TDs last week, and he lived up to it this week. Apparently there is am American Curse here that prevents us from scoring TDs. Last year's Ryan had an interception and clear sailing to the endzone only to get tripped up by the 5 yard line. I'm incredibly proud of our team. I don't think we were favored to win this game, but we believed and never came out with bad spirits.

The game started off rocky as they took their opening possession down the field for a TD. Instead of an "oh here we go" attitude, our team picked it up and took control of the game. They were successful when we shot ourselves in the foot. When we played our game, we decided what happened.

It has been a blast to put the pads on again and have some fun with a team I am becoming close with. A week from today, we play the Amager Demons, a team that has recently moved up to the National League. I can't wait to get on the field, but definitely need some time to recover, I feel like I just played some football.

That's most of the DL (just guess who SHOWTIME is!!). We played our asses off. It was fitting that one of our oldest, largest, members, big #64, ended the game crushing the QB on our 5 yard line. A fantastic way to finish the opener for the Gold Diggers!

Game Week

So it's game week for the Gold Diggers as we prepare for a French Invasion. We are taking on the Cougars who are midway through their season in the French league. They are currently 3-3-1 with a lot of close games. They bring in a very solid offense with a focus on the pass led by their QB, Kevin Craft, who spent some time at UCLA. They have some very talented receivers and a pretty big, solid OL. It will be a good test. It's kind of a shame we open our season with this game, and they are midway through theirs, but it is a good test to see what level we are on in comparison to other European teams. Our team is pumped and we are working hard.

It's been a while since last time, and I have done quite a bit. On Monday night, I got a night tour from one of our offensive lineman. He had the week off of work and already got a bit restless, so he settled for taking the American around. He showed me some of the places that really pick up in the summer, we drove by the American Embassy as well as the American Ambassador's house. That part was pretty cool. We then just went to Stroget and walked around. I got my first Danish McDonald's--a McBacon and Mozzarella Stars, both items on the Coin Offers menu. The McBacon is basically a double cheeseburger with bacon, and mozzarella stars are cheese sticks in the shape of starts. The total was 30 kroner, which is about 6 bucks. A bit on the pricey side, but my guide for the night thoughtful took care of the bill. He got these cheeseball things that were basically like cheese sticks with pepperjack cheese in it. I tried one and they were fantastic.

The rest of the week was pretty typical, with practice on Tuesday and Thursday, and a bunch of free time on Wednesday and Friday. I usually go to the gym on the days we don't have practice, and some days when we do if I can't entertain myself.

Saturday was a blast of a day. We had a scrimmage against the Wolfpack. We had to be at the field at 9 am to set things up. It was our first time on the grass and it had rained a few days before so it was a bit muddy. Being that it is not a permanent football field, I also enjoyed my first experience putting up the uprights. It was a different thing, but not very tough, the hardest part was getting them even to the field.

The scrimmage started off slowly for us. This week, we were unable to hit their QB, so I think it slowed us down a step as DL because we were conscious of not hitting him. As the scrimmage went on, we really picked it up and got after him. We had 3 total TDs by defensive lineman, 2 by one of our ends, AG, and I had one of a bad snap on a punt. AG's first was recovered in the end zone, then on the punt, the punter tried to kick it out of the endzone but kind of whiffed, and our two guys that were ahead of my kind of took each other out and the ball squirted out right too me. It was pretty sweet I must say. The 2nd one by AG required the most work as he scooped and ran about 25 yards for the score. As a coach as well, I will take partial credit since I think we do a considerable amount of ball drills. The offense got rolling as well and put together a solid performance. I'm not sure how many touchdowns we had, but they only scored one. I like the way our teams play, we give so much more effort than other teams. Example, on their one TD, one of our DBs chased the receiver down and tackled him at the 2 yard line, and on film, he was flying the whole way. Then watching some games of the team we will play, there are times DL just stop rushing, or DBs give up on chasing a receiver.

Immediately after the game, Kim brought some drinks to the field, some beers, and some other drinks for those who were driving. It was the first time I have ever ended a game, then immediately popped open a beer on the field. Troels, our defensive coordinator, and Esben worked with me on opening the beer bottler with another bottle. I looked like a rookie, but I am becoming more confident in my skills. I will be a natural by the time I get home.

After the game, I went home and took a bit of a nap. We had a team dinner type thing about two hours after I got home. It was a meal of friend pork, potatoes and a gravy. This was the same meal that Mille made the first week I was here, so I had high expectations. Now I'm not saying I didn't enjoy this meal, but it didn't compare to how good it was the first time around. Being that it was all you could eat, I think I did some decent damage on the food.

After the meal was the team Hawaiian party at this club place, I really need to start paying attention to names, I just sort of follow people. Esben was nice enough to loan me a Hawaii shirt. It was a University of Hawaii shirt, so it was literally a Hawaiian shirt. It was a blast hanging out with the team. When we first arrived we had the place practically to ourselves, so it was so fun. It was great talking with everyone because they make an effort to make sure I'm having a good time and enjoying Denmark. It's nice to know I have a bunch of guys who will be there for me if I need anything, it's great. That's the thing about joining a team--you are immediately part of a great group working together, and you already make a bunch of friends! I really had fun there dancing like an idiot and just hanging out with the guys. I'm so appreciative of how well I get treated, I mean they all have their own friends from way before I got here, but I get welcomed in right away. The funniest part is some of the DL mess around and call me coach all the time, at least I feel like its messing around when we are out on a Saturday night, so I think they get a kick out of that.

People started leaving around 4:30 if I had to make a guess at the time, and I ended up going with AG, our defensive end (who I have started to call showtime), and Oelund, one of our great linebackers. We took a cab to a former linebacker's place and were there for about 15 minutes before Oelund passed out. AG and I decided to leave around 5:15 I guess, and we were obligated to write on the the sleepy guy, it was house rules. So I wrote USA just to leave my mark. Turns out Oelund was out until about 9, and luckily went to the bathroom and saw it before he left. He said it was sort of smudged, oh well. I want the record to show that I was going to write on his arm first, but I was directed towards the cheek. Peer pressure won. Like a true gentleman, AG walked me to the Metro and I took off. I got home around 6 and immediately slept until noon. I woke up and went to the store to get some food and had a pretty productive Sunday.

So far this week, we had a lighter practice on Monday to get familiar with the French plays, and our regular practice last night. I have been watching so much film trying to pick up anything, but they like to throw the ball, so for us as DL, its get to the QB and we will have a fun day. Tonight, there is a chance I might go with Alex, the OL guy, and take a ferry into Sweden. He called it "Junk Fooding" since apparently right when you cross, there are all sorts of fast food places. Tomorrow we have practice again, and Friday we have a lighter run through type practice I believe. The DL last year started meeting at one of the players houses on Friday to eat together and watch some last minute film. I love that idea, so we are going over to Rorbol, one of our HUGE, defensive tackle's places to spend some time together and ease any nerves that may be starting up.

I really look forward to this game and will post a recap as soon as I can. Wish the Gold Diggers some international luck!