Well, as the year starts to end here, I am sitting in the kitchen at the "Kennedy Compound". We have about a foot and a half of snow everywhere. It is absolutely beautiful here in our section of the woods. We have a fire going in the fire place and the two wood burning stoves. Katarina and I each have a nice glass of wine and Samuel is dancing to Hank Williams Jr--"Almost Pursuaded" across the kitchen floor. He is exhibiting excellent coordination in a mixture of dance moves that I can only guess have been passed on through genetics...he can do the "rodeo man"---the "robot"--"running man" combined with "stumbling man"...He is a one man mosh pit....look out let's dance 2020!!!
Seems fitting to be here as the year goes out. This little place in the woods is most likely where they will scatter my ashes someday. We have alot of work to do here, but that is part of the joy and challenge of having a place like this. My New Years Resolution will be to get as much family time as possible here...maybe even a few "boys weekends" down here and get some extra work done along with a few evenings of poker...we'll see what happens...there will be 12 months to try and get stuff done, that's what is exciting about a new year...
Football in 2011:
This still is yet to be determined. I mean as far as my job goes working at the High School program it is business as usual. The Jets will have a few announcements coming soon. We are 100% committed to building a winning program and we will start actually with the building of a solid committed staff. We will add to that players that are committed to a high level of play, then we will try to put that all together in an effort that makes us a serious contender year in an year out here in Sweden. How exactly will we do that? Stay tuned, but the thing for sure is that it will get done. We are in the unique position of getting our Senior team to be as competitive as our Junior teams. I don't mean that at all as an insult, it is just a fact that our U-15, U17 and U-19 teams have all been winning for quite sometime. The thing we have to do to finish the project is simply to retain our home grown players and have them continue as they turn 20 years old.
As far as football here in Sweden, there are some interesting things. It seems that we will have a "National Series" of football here for U-15, U-17 & U-19 (Keep in mind that this is all ass-u-me (ing) I understand what is going on). It appears that those teams that are playing in the national series are from sound programs and there should be no "dropping out" of the league from the teams mentioned.
In regards to the Super Series--it appears that Örebro will be moving up, making us a 7 league team. I personally think that they are a solid team and with an import or two could keep things interesting in the SS. All in all it is hard to know what to expect. The reality is that the teams that can move up and retain quality juniors and the team that can recruit enough serious senior player will be the teams that do the best in the highest league. I am convinced that those two things (or combination there-in) is what makes a team competitive.
Lessons I learned in 2010 from people I admire:
1. Tiger Woods: I would give about anything I could to play 18 holes of golf with possibly the greatest to have every played the game....but I would not take personal relationship advice from him.
2. Brett Farve: I have been a Farve fan for a long time...I mean I would have loved to block for him. A good old boy at heart, winner, tough, give it all for the team kind of guy...Oh yeah....how many of us would find it hard to give up and stop if we would have been in his shoes...the majority of people would have played for that "one more magical year"....but I would not take any advice on how to SMS pictures from Brett Farve.
3. Rex Ryan: another of the good old boys. He has probably forgotten more football than most of us will ever know. He can get players to play and play hard. He has a swagger and honesty I truly admire..I would give about anything to get 3 hours with Rex Ryan, just to listen to him talk defense and coaching philosophy...but I would keep my shoes on!!!
New Years Revelation:
I want to move to this little house in the woods and grow old here!!
New Years Resolution:
Lose weight...again....and keep it off...this time for good...
1. Turn my cell phone off at 18.00 every night when I come home.
2. Take my wife on a date once a month.
3. Learn to play the Guitar...
4. Buy a guitar...(maybe that should have been #3)
5. Do things that would make my family proud of me....
6. Up date my blog at least every two weeks....
Until 2011, I hope that nothing is too easy, but everything feels worthwhile!!
Never underestimate leverage, hand placement and foot drive!! Finish!!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Rambling update
Well it has been a long time since I updated the old blog I figure it's time to start to get it rolling again. Here is what is happening:
1. Recruiting for the National Idrotts Utbildning---This is the program at Arlanda gymnasiet. It allows students to have 1.5 hours each school day to devote to their sport. In my case, I am the instructor for the American Football program. It is a real chance for students to develop not just physically but also their basic knowledge of the game. If you are interested in choosing the program or transfering into the program you can see more information at www.igunet.se/niu.
2. I have been running around doing some school visits and worked two weeks (this fall) with the Swedish Sports Acadamy...that was fun...I had 15-20 kids between 5-7 years of age playing American Football...two one hour sessions for 4 nights in a row...was great exposure for our club and sport. It could lead to a new project of actually starting a U-8 group that will play some flag football and meet once a week this spring...we'll see what happens...
3. This past week I started working in the weight room with our clubs U-15 & U-17 teams. This is a fun and important project. The one thing that is extremely important is that our young kids can learn to develop movement in order to develop strength that will enable them to develop speed/skills...The basic philosophy from Niclas Carlsson, Strength Coach for the Swedish National Teams and the World Team...
4. Going to a big meeting this coming Wednesday with some leaders in the club to make some decisions in regards to the plans with our senior team....
5. Emersing myself in the Jim Mcnally teaching series...I have never met Coach McNally, but someday I hope to...would be great to get him to Sweden for a camp/clinic....
6. Continuing to work with our U-11 program, although other coaches have taken the winter work-outs on Sundays...these guys, Lennart and Mike, are doing a great job!! We have kept a core group active...our goal is 50 U-11 players this spring/summer...
That's a quick catch up...could post more...but if I save a little...it might give me a reason to update a little more often...
Until next time: On, Playside Seam, Backside Seam, Linebacker....
1. Recruiting for the National Idrotts Utbildning---This is the program at Arlanda gymnasiet. It allows students to have 1.5 hours each school day to devote to their sport. In my case, I am the instructor for the American Football program. It is a real chance for students to develop not just physically but also their basic knowledge of the game. If you are interested in choosing the program or transfering into the program you can see more information at www.igunet.se/niu.
2. I have been running around doing some school visits and worked two weeks (this fall) with the Swedish Sports Acadamy...that was fun...I had 15-20 kids between 5-7 years of age playing American Football...two one hour sessions for 4 nights in a row...was great exposure for our club and sport. It could lead to a new project of actually starting a U-8 group that will play some flag football and meet once a week this spring...we'll see what happens...
3. This past week I started working in the weight room with our clubs U-15 & U-17 teams. This is a fun and important project. The one thing that is extremely important is that our young kids can learn to develop movement in order to develop strength that will enable them to develop speed/skills...The basic philosophy from Niclas Carlsson, Strength Coach for the Swedish National Teams and the World Team...
4. Going to a big meeting this coming Wednesday with some leaders in the club to make some decisions in regards to the plans with our senior team....
5. Emersing myself in the Jim Mcnally teaching series...I have never met Coach McNally, but someday I hope to...would be great to get him to Sweden for a camp/clinic....
6. Continuing to work with our U-11 program, although other coaches have taken the winter work-outs on Sundays...these guys, Lennart and Mike, are doing a great job!! We have kept a core group active...our goal is 50 U-11 players this spring/summer...
That's a quick catch up...could post more...but if I save a little...it might give me a reason to update a little more often...
Until next time: On, Playside Seam, Backside Seam, Linebacker....
Monday, August 2, 2010
Greetings from the woods
Here and now I find myself just a few hours from finishing up my first weekend with the family in what will be known as our "summerstuga"...or our Summer house...kind of cool because it implies a certain sentiment of..well..."yep...we bought an extra place to live in.." kind of mentality...when the the reality of the situation is..."what the hell did we just do?!?"....This place is old!! I would not trade this first weekend in what will---for now be known as..."The OTHER Kennedy Compound"...not sure how long that will last..but I have always felt like we (my family from Blanchard, Oklahoma) were the OTHER Kennedys..sure there might be some Irish blood flowing around here...but suffice it to say that maybe it's just not the same as those boys up in Mass...yep, I write M-a-s-s...because I can't spell the rest of it!!
On Probation from the "Mans Club":
Ok...the first thing I buy myself after the purchase of this sommerstuga...is a 4 cycle (better for the environment) handle bar, 3 different kinds of heads, shoulder harness attatched, will cut down anything not protected under the United Nations declaration of weeds not to cut down...Weed Eater...here in Sweden..it's called a "Trimmer"...I call it a "Man Machine"...my first purchase (after creating more debt than I ever had with just the singing of my name)...Now I can cut stuff to pieces just by starting this thing, putting on the shoulder harness and pulling the trigger...I was pumped...now I will give you a shortned version of exactly how everything went down..
First: Read and re-read the owners manuel...associate myself (somewhat) with what is what...Second: begin to put the device together...realize there is already something hooked up...come into the reality that "Hey, it can't be that hard!"..Flash 10 minutes later...I have put oil into the machine..I have put gas into the machine...I have attached the two pieces of machine and made it one enormous, weed shredding machine.....all the way until the head simply flies off...that's right...the head to my super duper, gas powered, good for the environment machine just flies about 4 feet from where I was working and sits peacefully on the ground. So, me being the machine nerd that I am, thinks, "Now would be a good time to try that metal, super trimmer blade!" Well let me just fast forward through the eurphoria of actually figuring out how to put the blade on..to the actual start using it phase...well my first thought was "well, this is some serious vibrations going on here...something doesn't feel..." at this time the lower half of my machine twists in half and falls to the ground...I have no idea what happened...I kind of stand there in this beautiful place in Västra Götaland and stare out into the woods with a kind of satisfaction that nobody saw what happened, but the realization that now would be a good time for a nice glass of wine...so I do what can only be my ticket to keep my Man license, at least for an extended probation period..I have a glass of wine and continue to work on the machine...to make a long story short, I get a different cutting device attatched to the machine and a go crazy for about 20 minutes...I mean nothing is too big or too small to meet it's destiny with my super duper trimmer latched on to my right hip (because the instruction said I MUST run the machine from my right side...)
Well..I get done and as I put the machine up for the evening...I see, one half of my high powered, show no mercy, string is wrapped (several times) around the part of the machine that is not supposed to have string wrapped around it...oh well...maybe I am on probation for a period of time until I figure out how to run the Super Weed Eater..until then..block...block like there is no tomorrow..block like you can make a difference..and I promise you, you will....
On Probation from the "Mans Club":
Ok...the first thing I buy myself after the purchase of this sommerstuga...is a 4 cycle (better for the environment) handle bar, 3 different kinds of heads, shoulder harness attatched, will cut down anything not protected under the United Nations declaration of weeds not to cut down...Weed Eater...here in Sweden..it's called a "Trimmer"...I call it a "Man Machine"...my first purchase (after creating more debt than I ever had with just the singing of my name)...Now I can cut stuff to pieces just by starting this thing, putting on the shoulder harness and pulling the trigger...I was pumped...now I will give you a shortned version of exactly how everything went down..
First: Read and re-read the owners manuel...associate myself (somewhat) with what is what...Second: begin to put the device together...realize there is already something hooked up...come into the reality that "Hey, it can't be that hard!"..Flash 10 minutes later...I have put oil into the machine..I have put gas into the machine...I have attached the two pieces of machine and made it one enormous, weed shredding machine.....all the way until the head simply flies off...that's right...the head to my super duper, gas powered, good for the environment machine just flies about 4 feet from where I was working and sits peacefully on the ground. So, me being the machine nerd that I am, thinks, "Now would be a good time to try that metal, super trimmer blade!" Well let me just fast forward through the eurphoria of actually figuring out how to put the blade on..to the actual start using it phase...well my first thought was "well, this is some serious vibrations going on here...something doesn't feel..." at this time the lower half of my machine twists in half and falls to the ground...I have no idea what happened...I kind of stand there in this beautiful place in Västra Götaland and stare out into the woods with a kind of satisfaction that nobody saw what happened, but the realization that now would be a good time for a nice glass of wine...so I do what can only be my ticket to keep my Man license, at least for an extended probation period..I have a glass of wine and continue to work on the machine...to make a long story short, I get a different cutting device attatched to the machine and a go crazy for about 20 minutes...I mean nothing is too big or too small to meet it's destiny with my super duper trimmer latched on to my right hip (because the instruction said I MUST run the machine from my right side...)
Well..I get done and as I put the machine up for the evening...I see, one half of my high powered, show no mercy, string is wrapped (several times) around the part of the machine that is not supposed to have string wrapped around it...oh well...maybe I am on probation for a period of time until I figure out how to run the Super Weed Eater..until then..block...block like there is no tomorrow..block like you can make a difference..and I promise you, you will....
Thursday, July 29, 2010
A Real Swedish Vacation
Well, this month of vacation is coming to an end..that's correct...one month. I have never had a vacation like this and it has been great to spend some extra time with my wife and 4 year old. I have peeked at some film and made some plans for the re-start of the football season in Sweden (practice starts August 3rd for us, with our first game Sunday the 8th). Hard to say what things will look like, but it does look like we will have a lot of guys that missed some time in June back so all we can do is plan to make a run...so that's the plan.
European Championships:
We'll the first game for Team Sweden didn't go as expected. I can't really comment on why..I didn't get to see it. I tried to follow via "live stats" on the internet, but that is not the most exciting way to follow a game. The interesting thing in a tournament like this is that fact that you will play two games in your group. Usually a game then two-3 days rest then another game. What has happened for Sweden is, that in their pool, they lost to France, then France beat England...now Sweden is playing England for a trip to the bronze medal match. I wish the guys, coaches and staff the best. Your reward in this is the game. Nobody get's paid, so I hope that Team Sweden can "cash" their checks and make some great memories vs England and then the eventual Bronze medal match. Heja Sverige...
Contest time:
As is said earlier, Katarina and I bought a summer house...ok, actually it is a place that we will use on a year around basis, but it's cool to call it a summer house..and I think it needs a good name. It has a Swedish name, but I need an American name for it also...so I thought I would make it a contest. I will list the names that I have thought of and you can either pick one of those names or suggest another...
Below are the current suggestions:
A. "Kennedyrosa"---who have to know who Hoss, Little Joe, Adam, Ben and Hop Sing were to understand that one...
B. Chateau Lanhnz--Named after my wife..
C. Camp Kennedy
D. The Kennedy Compound
E. Kennedy's Redneck Paradise--I would shorten it to "KRP"..."hey hon, how bout we go on down to KRP for the weekend"...has a nice ring to it....
OK...vote for your name in the comments section...suggest anyother name...vote as many times as you want to...
OK...not so much football in this one, but more to come later. Hope all of you enjoy what is left of the summer...
So until next time...Step...Strike...Drive...
European Championships:
We'll the first game for Team Sweden didn't go as expected. I can't really comment on why..I didn't get to see it. I tried to follow via "live stats" on the internet, but that is not the most exciting way to follow a game. The interesting thing in a tournament like this is that fact that you will play two games in your group. Usually a game then two-3 days rest then another game. What has happened for Sweden is, that in their pool, they lost to France, then France beat England...now Sweden is playing England for a trip to the bronze medal match. I wish the guys, coaches and staff the best. Your reward in this is the game. Nobody get's paid, so I hope that Team Sweden can "cash" their checks and make some great memories vs England and then the eventual Bronze medal match. Heja Sverige...
Contest time:
As is said earlier, Katarina and I bought a summer house...ok, actually it is a place that we will use on a year around basis, but it's cool to call it a summer house..and I think it needs a good name. It has a Swedish name, but I need an American name for it also...so I thought I would make it a contest. I will list the names that I have thought of and you can either pick one of those names or suggest another...
Below are the current suggestions:
A. "Kennedyrosa"---who have to know who Hoss, Little Joe, Adam, Ben and Hop Sing were to understand that one...
B. Chateau Lanhnz--Named after my wife..
C. Camp Kennedy
D. The Kennedy Compound
E. Kennedy's Redneck Paradise--I would shorten it to "KRP"..."hey hon, how bout we go on down to KRP for the weekend"...has a nice ring to it....
OK...vote for your name in the comments section...suggest anyother name...vote as many times as you want to...
OK...not so much football in this one, but more to come later. Hope all of you enjoy what is left of the summer...
So until next time...Step...Strike...Drive...
Saturday, July 10, 2010
What a crazy few months
I will start with ignoring the fact that I have not updated in a while. It has been awhile, but life has been busy...so I'll just start where I left on and ramble on until I am done...isn't that what vacation is for??
FOOTBALL:
As I have stated in past posts, we (the Arlanda Jets) set a goal to try and build an all Swedish team. That basically means that we don't have the cash up front for an important QB. We had thought about bringing over a guy during break, but we don't have the cash up front for that. Our board of directors had given us the green light to bring up to two import players, but the Senior team was responsible for all the cash. That just wasn't something that could be raised, but that's another post...another time...
We started the season off with high hopes. We openend the season aginst STU Northside Bulls. They are now coached by a friend and fellow American, Todd Ferguson. Going into this game I felt pretty good. We wouldn't have Magnus Lagerborn, a long time Jets player. He was (and still is) rehabing a knee injury. Also, we would be without Jocke Carlsson. What does Jocke mean to the team...in 2008 we scored 520 points in 10 regular season games...Jocke was responsible for around 260 of those points...so, yes, Football is a team sport...but yes, Jocke's abscence is felt...But we had a solid group of players and had some young guys that I had high expectations for this season...here is what happened..Five plays into the opening drive of the season, my QB, a 20 year old kid, Pontus Blomburg, carries the ball on an option play and cuts back for about a 12 yard gain, gets tackled and breaks his collar bone...Not good...Christopher Desezzar, a guy I had repped at QB, but planned on playing at Slot and WR this season, steps in and takes over the QB role. We end up winning the game but we lost Pontus, Anders Olofsson (OL), Anton Källvik...and a few others to injury...and the downward spiral started...
We went and played SMM (Stockholm Mean Machine) and never threatened them...played like a team that was going through the motions...we just couldn't execute on a level to threaten Stockholm. Pretty frustrating, but that is where we were at during the second week of the season.
The third week, we played DIF (Djurgården). This is a team that has some good athletes and has a good organization around it, but is still fighting for identity. They were without there starting QB, and we played a better game and won it convincingly. At this time in the season we sat at 2-1 and although we were still missing a few guys from injury and stuff and Anton had gotten a job back in Norrkopping, I felt like we had a chance to put some things together. We were scheduled to play Karlstad during the first weekend in June, but that game had to be re-scheduled due to the Crusaders playing the London Blitz in the EFAF cup Semi-final (which the Crusaders won and will play a team from Switzerland next weekend for the EFAF championship). This set up an interesting scenerio for us. We would have an off week, but then we had to play Coach Leo Billgren's Tyresö Royal Crowns...two weeks in a row. Now, just let me stop here and first of all, slap my own face for not raising a little cane about the scheduling. First of all, in Sweden, we have 6 teams playing in the top leauge and taking a 6 week break in the middle of the season...why??? "because that's Swedish" and that is the way it is...OK..the scheduling committee scheduled everybody to play each other twice, swaps the home and away the second time through...then they flip the schedule...Now I will be the first to admit that the schedule was sent out and all teams were given the opportunity to give their input in the schedule and I didn't take the time to complain...I just laughed..at the fact that everybody played everybody two weeks in a row with half the season to go...so I can "complain" about it in my blog, but it is my own fault for not saying something when I had the chance....OK..so this set up two weeks in a row versus a team that, on paper, we need to beat to finish third in the league and play the 2 seed in the play-offs....I thought it was good that we would have the opportunity to set oursleves up to prepare for the play-offs after the break. This is where everything started to fall apart...We had very bad practice attendance during the off week and we were able to only suit up 19 guys for the Friday night game one vs TRC. We played a good game. I was proud of the fact that TRC could dress up nearly 40 players (maybe more or a little less) but the game was 7-6 at half and up until late in the 4th TRC had an 8 point lead. In the end, they won it by two TD's and the clock ran out with us having the ball inside the 5 yard line. This set up an extremely important game the following saturday at our place against the same team we had taken 4 quarters with 19 suited up players...they would have to come to our place and I thought, we can get this done and split with them before we go and play our make up game vs Karlstad and when the smoke cleared at worst we still had third place within our grasps...To make a long blog post short, the season basically came crumbling down on us during that week. Bad practices, people gone..still hurt...gone on vacation...weddings...it just didn't feel good...we played one good quarter then slowly self destructed...TRC won the game and we couldn't put a point on the board and they would go into the break counting the days to the play-offs. We on the other hand could only lick our wounds and try to put a team together and go play the current best team in Sweden and see if we could put up a fight...needless to say, we didn't do much to worry CC and the game ended with the crappy feeling in your gut that you just showed up at the gun fight at the OK corrall (google it) with a new bowie knife!! So then starts the break...what awaits the Arlanda Jets after the summer break? Well first of all we will open with at home against the Karlstad Crusaders and then play DIF, SMM and STU...realistically, one would say that we are in a fight for 4th place and when we play STU on the last regular season game, it will be two teams that are playing for either a play-off spot or a qualification game....What are my plans...well to quote a great movie (Shawshank Redemption) "you either start living or sit around and die." I plan starting to live. That is the challenge of Coaching. In any country on every level, you are faced with adversity. All you can do is try to find a way to get the job done. You have to give the critics there say, but you don't have to listen to them. You simply try and find a way to get the job done. That is the plan of the coach. To show up on August 3rd, count the players, see who can do what and put together a plan to "get it done". We have nothing to lose. If we don't the critics will be able to explain why and if we do...well, we'll have one heck of an end of the year party!!
European Championships:
For those of you in the US, it may come as a surprise that in Europe we play the European Championships in American Football over here on this side of the pond. Well, we do and Sweden is actually the defending champions since the last EM was played in 2005. I was a part of that team as OC and OL coach. It is hard to describe the feelings of coaching a National Team, but I would count it among some of the coolest experiences I have ever had. What happened in 2005 started in 2003 when, then HC Kristian Thore explained to me the goals he had and that grand finale would be beating Germany in the Championship game in 2005. When the clocked ran out and we had won, that was my Super Bowl. Yep...an unbelievable moment. The hugs and tears and high fives...the look on those players faces as they celebrated that moment was one that will forever be burned into my memory scrap book!! Time has moved on and I am no longer involved in the National Team. I was on the staff, but life has dealt a few things that I need to deal with and right now I cannot give the National Team of Sweden the time that I could the previous 8 years. So this year, I will stand by and follow the guys as they go to Frankfurt, Germany the last week in July. I hope the best for them and the staff. They have put in an enormous amount of work and I think it would be fantastic to wave the blue and gold during the medal ceremony in Frankfurt!! It will be no easy task, as group play means going through England and France, but I know it is possible. Good luck boys and as "Bear" Bryant used to say..."Go out there and knock them on their ass...then stick out your hand and help them up...then tell them...I'll be right back!!"....not sure that is exactly what he said, but that is how I learned it!!
And Then Vacation Came:
Say what you want about Sweden, but these people know how to vacation. If you're over 40 you get 5 weeks of vacation...needless to say..most people take this time around July...great weather...lots of sunshine and you just hang out. My wife, son and I went to Finland first..We took the boat over and met some friends. Stayed in a hotel with a huge indoor/outdoor pools, and also went to "Mummin Land", an amuesment park. It was a great time. I am still in the "hey, we took a boat to another country" kind of mood, but the hotel, amusement park and friends were great. It was really a good time. From there we went back home and went to the amuesment park in Stockholm...a good time was had by all...After that this summer vacation took an unbelievable twist. We have some friends that have one of the coolest summer houses I have ever visited. It's an old red and white house with about a 20 yard walk to the water and it is the last house on the road...the coolest thing about it is that they let us use it from time to time. We went there to stay the night and check out another summer house in the area. We went to the showing of the other place. I was pretty impressed and thought it would be an investment and we should get it...but it was right by a main road. I was hoping for a more "out of the way" kind of place. On our way back to the place we were staying we say a for sale sign. We turned left and drove about 2km down a dirt road....at the end of that road..that is where this house was...
To make a long story short...or to save typing and possible wrongly spelled words...this place is our new "summer stuga"...it was originally built in 1909!! it has 13,500 square meters of land with it..one usable old barn and one not usable old barn on it!! It is the last house on the road and is guranteed to have 15 billjillion mosquitoes around...but it will be ours...Now, I own land in a country that I was not born in!! This may by the start of the "Great Kennedy takeover" in Sweden...only time will tell!!!
Random thoughts about these past few months:
FOOTBALL:
As I have stated in past posts, we (the Arlanda Jets) set a goal to try and build an all Swedish team. That basically means that we don't have the cash up front for an important QB. We had thought about bringing over a guy during break, but we don't have the cash up front for that. Our board of directors had given us the green light to bring up to two import players, but the Senior team was responsible for all the cash. That just wasn't something that could be raised, but that's another post...another time...
We started the season off with high hopes. We openend the season aginst STU Northside Bulls. They are now coached by a friend and fellow American, Todd Ferguson. Going into this game I felt pretty good. We wouldn't have Magnus Lagerborn, a long time Jets player. He was (and still is) rehabing a knee injury. Also, we would be without Jocke Carlsson. What does Jocke mean to the team...in 2008 we scored 520 points in 10 regular season games...Jocke was responsible for around 260 of those points...so, yes, Football is a team sport...but yes, Jocke's abscence is felt...But we had a solid group of players and had some young guys that I had high expectations for this season...here is what happened..Five plays into the opening drive of the season, my QB, a 20 year old kid, Pontus Blomburg, carries the ball on an option play and cuts back for about a 12 yard gain, gets tackled and breaks his collar bone...Not good...Christopher Desezzar, a guy I had repped at QB, but planned on playing at Slot and WR this season, steps in and takes over the QB role. We end up winning the game but we lost Pontus, Anders Olofsson (OL), Anton Källvik...and a few others to injury...and the downward spiral started...
We went and played SMM (Stockholm Mean Machine) and never threatened them...played like a team that was going through the motions...we just couldn't execute on a level to threaten Stockholm. Pretty frustrating, but that is where we were at during the second week of the season.
The third week, we played DIF (Djurgården). This is a team that has some good athletes and has a good organization around it, but is still fighting for identity. They were without there starting QB, and we played a better game and won it convincingly. At this time in the season we sat at 2-1 and although we were still missing a few guys from injury and stuff and Anton had gotten a job back in Norrkopping, I felt like we had a chance to put some things together. We were scheduled to play Karlstad during the first weekend in June, but that game had to be re-scheduled due to the Crusaders playing the London Blitz in the EFAF cup Semi-final (which the Crusaders won and will play a team from Switzerland next weekend for the EFAF championship). This set up an interesting scenerio for us. We would have an off week, but then we had to play Coach Leo Billgren's Tyresö Royal Crowns...two weeks in a row. Now, just let me stop here and first of all, slap my own face for not raising a little cane about the scheduling. First of all, in Sweden, we have 6 teams playing in the top leauge and taking a 6 week break in the middle of the season...why??? "because that's Swedish" and that is the way it is...OK..the scheduling committee scheduled everybody to play each other twice, swaps the home and away the second time through...then they flip the schedule...Now I will be the first to admit that the schedule was sent out and all teams were given the opportunity to give their input in the schedule and I didn't take the time to complain...I just laughed..at the fact that everybody played everybody two weeks in a row with half the season to go...so I can "complain" about it in my blog, but it is my own fault for not saying something when I had the chance....OK..so this set up two weeks in a row versus a team that, on paper, we need to beat to finish third in the league and play the 2 seed in the play-offs....I thought it was good that we would have the opportunity to set oursleves up to prepare for the play-offs after the break. This is where everything started to fall apart...We had very bad practice attendance during the off week and we were able to only suit up 19 guys for the Friday night game one vs TRC. We played a good game. I was proud of the fact that TRC could dress up nearly 40 players (maybe more or a little less) but the game was 7-6 at half and up until late in the 4th TRC had an 8 point lead. In the end, they won it by two TD's and the clock ran out with us having the ball inside the 5 yard line. This set up an extremely important game the following saturday at our place against the same team we had taken 4 quarters with 19 suited up players...they would have to come to our place and I thought, we can get this done and split with them before we go and play our make up game vs Karlstad and when the smoke cleared at worst we still had third place within our grasps...To make a long blog post short, the season basically came crumbling down on us during that week. Bad practices, people gone..still hurt...gone on vacation...weddings...it just didn't feel good...we played one good quarter then slowly self destructed...TRC won the game and we couldn't put a point on the board and they would go into the break counting the days to the play-offs. We on the other hand could only lick our wounds and try to put a team together and go play the current best team in Sweden and see if we could put up a fight...needless to say, we didn't do much to worry CC and the game ended with the crappy feeling in your gut that you just showed up at the gun fight at the OK corrall (google it) with a new bowie knife!! So then starts the break...what awaits the Arlanda Jets after the summer break? Well first of all we will open with at home against the Karlstad Crusaders and then play DIF, SMM and STU...realistically, one would say that we are in a fight for 4th place and when we play STU on the last regular season game, it will be two teams that are playing for either a play-off spot or a qualification game....What are my plans...well to quote a great movie (Shawshank Redemption) "you either start living or sit around and die." I plan starting to live. That is the challenge of Coaching. In any country on every level, you are faced with adversity. All you can do is try to find a way to get the job done. You have to give the critics there say, but you don't have to listen to them. You simply try and find a way to get the job done. That is the plan of the coach. To show up on August 3rd, count the players, see who can do what and put together a plan to "get it done". We have nothing to lose. If we don't the critics will be able to explain why and if we do...well, we'll have one heck of an end of the year party!!
European Championships:
For those of you in the US, it may come as a surprise that in Europe we play the European Championships in American Football over here on this side of the pond. Well, we do and Sweden is actually the defending champions since the last EM was played in 2005. I was a part of that team as OC and OL coach. It is hard to describe the feelings of coaching a National Team, but I would count it among some of the coolest experiences I have ever had. What happened in 2005 started in 2003 when, then HC Kristian Thore explained to me the goals he had and that grand finale would be beating Germany in the Championship game in 2005. When the clocked ran out and we had won, that was my Super Bowl. Yep...an unbelievable moment. The hugs and tears and high fives...the look on those players faces as they celebrated that moment was one that will forever be burned into my memory scrap book!! Time has moved on and I am no longer involved in the National Team. I was on the staff, but life has dealt a few things that I need to deal with and right now I cannot give the National Team of Sweden the time that I could the previous 8 years. So this year, I will stand by and follow the guys as they go to Frankfurt, Germany the last week in July. I hope the best for them and the staff. They have put in an enormous amount of work and I think it would be fantastic to wave the blue and gold during the medal ceremony in Frankfurt!! It will be no easy task, as group play means going through England and France, but I know it is possible. Good luck boys and as "Bear" Bryant used to say..."Go out there and knock them on their ass...then stick out your hand and help them up...then tell them...I'll be right back!!"....not sure that is exactly what he said, but that is how I learned it!!
And Then Vacation Came:
Say what you want about Sweden, but these people know how to vacation. If you're over 40 you get 5 weeks of vacation...needless to say..most people take this time around July...great weather...lots of sunshine and you just hang out. My wife, son and I went to Finland first..We took the boat over and met some friends. Stayed in a hotel with a huge indoor/outdoor pools, and also went to "Mummin Land", an amuesment park. It was a great time. I am still in the "hey, we took a boat to another country" kind of mood, but the hotel, amusement park and friends were great. It was really a good time. From there we went back home and went to the amuesment park in Stockholm...a good time was had by all...After that this summer vacation took an unbelievable twist. We have some friends that have one of the coolest summer houses I have ever visited. It's an old red and white house with about a 20 yard walk to the water and it is the last house on the road...the coolest thing about it is that they let us use it from time to time. We went there to stay the night and check out another summer house in the area. We went to the showing of the other place. I was pretty impressed and thought it would be an investment and we should get it...but it was right by a main road. I was hoping for a more "out of the way" kind of place. On our way back to the place we were staying we say a for sale sign. We turned left and drove about 2km down a dirt road....at the end of that road..that is where this house was...
 |
| Kennedy Red-Neck Village!!! opening soon!! |
To make a long story short...or to save typing and possible wrongly spelled words...this place is our new "summer stuga"...it was originally built in 1909!! it has 13,500 square meters of land with it..one usable old barn and one not usable old barn on it!! It is the last house on the road and is guranteed to have 15 billjillion mosquitoes around...but it will be ours...Now, I own land in a country that I was not born in!! This may by the start of the "Great Kennedy takeover" in Sweden...only time will tell!!!
Random thoughts about these past few months:
- It doesn't take numbers to win football games in Sweden..it takes committment and quality...(yes of course, if you have numbers along with commitment and quality..it is better)
- I hate 6 teams taking from May until the middle of September to play a season...(yes, we need more teams in the top level in Sweden...maybe time to look at new ideas)
- I think there is no bigger honour than playing or coaching for a team that represents the country you live in (or are currently living in because your wife is from there..) Go Sweden!!
- Some times in life it is just time to "cowboy up" and ride...(most of the time I say "nut up" but I know my Mom reads the blogg so I didn't want to type that)
- Excuses to fail are easy to find...the reason to succeed is in your heart!!
- I fell in love with Soccer...yes, because of team USA...I left the world cup still thinking that is men in shorts kicking a ball and acting like they have just been nuked or have some type of uncureable epilepsy if anybody comes within two feet of them...and they are officiated by a group of people that are not accountable in any way in regards to the decisions they make during the course of a game...attention Soccer decision makers...you let TV show your games...your better be prepared to use video replay...it took NFL, NBA and NHL a long time to acknowledge that, but they have acknowledged it!! think about it...
- That might have been the longest time I have every thought and typed about soccer in my life!!
- The first song I every remember playing on the Juke Box...was at Hub 'n Lils restaruant in Blanchard, Oklahoma and the name of the song was "Momma don't Dance and Daddy don't Rock 'n Roll" (another google assignment)...
- Am I old fashioned if my parents are my heroes?!?
- I think that the purchase of this summer house will give me an opportunity to totally square away in my life what is really important!! First question...do I buy a chainsaw or do I split the wood with an ax?
Friday, May 7, 2010
May is here
Well now we have made it to May. That is the good news, the bad news is that I am still wearing my jacket and long pants!! I am sure that the weather will warm up for real soon...I am looking forward to the official "shorts" season!!
Football has been off and running. We have finished "pre-season" camp now and will move into game week next Tuesday. We will open up against STU Northside Bulls on Saturday night May 15th at 19.00. Needless to say I am looking forward to getting the season up and running.
EPIC SUCCESS:
Our club, The Arlanda Jets, is totally committed to building a club with a very wide base. That means a committment to youth football. We have been trying hard to build from U-11 up. For the past 3 weeks we have had 20+ U-11 players at practice. We have now had a parent meeting and are getting some fantastic parents involved which is critical for the support of the project. Our next plan is going into effect now. It is to send out a flyer to every household in the Sigtuna Kommune that has a child that is between the ages of 9-11 and invite them to try an U-11 or U-13 practice. The interesting thing about this project is that we are sending out over 1300 letters...so you do the math...if we get a 5% return on this effort we can have 3-4 new teams of kids in that age group. It will be interesting to see if this idea works. We have talked about it for a while now and I am looking forward to doubling our numbers in Pee-wee football.
SCRIMMAGE WITH UPPSALA 86er's:
Last Tuesday evening we had a scrimmage with the 86er's. I felt like we did alright. We ran some plays well and others not so well, but all in all I was pleased as to where we are right now. They ran a couple of different looks and the QB's did a good job of getting us in the right plays. We ran the option well and were able to take advantage of the play-action passing game. I was very pleased with our 3 step boot concept. Good decisions were made and I think this can be an effective weapon for us this year.
Here is a shot of a well run option vs a 4-3 cover 2 look. We are "reading the stack" here and using the basic stalk block of the perimeter. Our 20 year old QB, Pontus Blomgren does a good job of decision making here and it is a nice shot...
Another play that I thought was nice is the using the "Stretch Concept" out of play action. If we are effective at running the option and making the right decisions, it will force a defense to use their safety to support the option. When that happens, it can make the Stretch route hard to cover. Here is a vidoe of our first official Play-action pass of the season. this is a side shot and the action is the same as our base triple option play.
Needless to say, having practiced before this scrimmage, as opposed to our first two with Tyresö, we actually feel a little better. We'll see how things go this season, but if we can continue on the path we are on, then we should be able to perform well this seaon....
BIRTHDAY WEEKEND:
Here is a "shout out" to Samuel Gustav William Kennedy...he turns 4 years old on May 10th. The same day that is "Mormor" (mothers mother in swedish) has a birthday and his cousin Cooper Kennedy back in the Good old USA. So May 10 is a big day in two countries!!
Until next post...I hope that you can protect the QB, generate movement, maintain leverage...and never underestimate the power of the cut-block...
Football has been off and running. We have finished "pre-season" camp now and will move into game week next Tuesday. We will open up against STU Northside Bulls on Saturday night May 15th at 19.00. Needless to say I am looking forward to getting the season up and running.
EPIC SUCCESS:
Our club, The Arlanda Jets, is totally committed to building a club with a very wide base. That means a committment to youth football. We have been trying hard to build from U-11 up. For the past 3 weeks we have had 20+ U-11 players at practice. We have now had a parent meeting and are getting some fantastic parents involved which is critical for the support of the project. Our next plan is going into effect now. It is to send out a flyer to every household in the Sigtuna Kommune that has a child that is between the ages of 9-11 and invite them to try an U-11 or U-13 practice. The interesting thing about this project is that we are sending out over 1300 letters...so you do the math...if we get a 5% return on this effort we can have 3-4 new teams of kids in that age group. It will be interesting to see if this idea works. We have talked about it for a while now and I am looking forward to doubling our numbers in Pee-wee football.
SCRIMMAGE WITH UPPSALA 86er's:
Last Tuesday evening we had a scrimmage with the 86er's. I felt like we did alright. We ran some plays well and others not so well, but all in all I was pleased as to where we are right now. They ran a couple of different looks and the QB's did a good job of getting us in the right plays. We ran the option well and were able to take advantage of the play-action passing game. I was very pleased with our 3 step boot concept. Good decisions were made and I think this can be an effective weapon for us this year.
Another play that I thought was nice is the using the "Stretch Concept" out of play action. If we are effective at running the option and making the right decisions, it will force a defense to use their safety to support the option. When that happens, it can make the Stretch route hard to cover. Here is a vidoe of our first official Play-action pass of the season. this is a side shot and the action is the same as our base triple option play.
Needless to say, having practiced before this scrimmage, as opposed to our first two with Tyresö, we actually feel a little better. We'll see how things go this season, but if we can continue on the path we are on, then we should be able to perform well this seaon....
BIRTHDAY WEEKEND:
Here is a "shout out" to Samuel Gustav William Kennedy...he turns 4 years old on May 10th. The same day that is "Mormor" (mothers mother in swedish) has a birthday and his cousin Cooper Kennedy back in the Good old USA. So May 10 is a big day in two countries!!
Until next post...I hope that you can protect the QB, generate movement, maintain leverage...and never underestimate the power of the cut-block...
Saturday, April 24, 2010
A month of football and life
So here it is again, the part where I type "well it's been awhile since my last post..." so I thought I would take a little time and fill you all in what has been happening this month.
LIFE:
In regards to life in April, it has been filled with ups and downs and some moments that will remain personal, but at the end of the day, the most important thing is that my family is fine. My wife has been a fantastic support during this busy time of football. We have been practicing 4 times a week for two full weeks going into three. That is not such a big deal back in the "motherland" but not so normal here in Sweden. Since we practice at 19.00, it means my wife is stuck with all the work at home while I go to coach football each evening. Note to self...buy flowers. Samuel continues to find many different songs where he can add the Swedish word "bajskorv" (which literally translates to "poop sausage") to and maintain the rhythm of the song. I think he may have some musical talent. I find it very interesting that I can have a son that can already understand two different languages. I speak to him 95% of time in English (with a nice Oklahoma twang) and he understands what I say, but he has the tendency to answer me and speak to me in Swedish. The most important lesson I have learned is that when your child is 3 (soon to be 4..May 10th) he will most likely repeat ANY word he might have heard you say. Yep...I am learning that when I can't find my wallet and we have to rush to daycare I should simply say "I can't find my wallet"...instead of "I can't find my @¤!!#"" wallet". Simply, because the words "I can't find my wallet" will not be repeated...the others will...Note to self...don't use so many adjectives to describe things....
Here is a dilemma that I never thought I would face. There are many words in Swedish and English that are very close. I can't really say if English Grammar and Swedish Grammar are similar or not...because I am not very good at either on of them...Anyways, there are some interesting conflicts in language when I talk to Samuel...first if I want to give him a little peck on the cheek, I will would call that a "kiss"...The Swedish word for "pee" is "kyss" (actually not sure I spelled that correctly, but it is pronounced the same)...so when I look at my son and say "How about a good night kiss for papa?"...he goes to the bathroom...Because the Swedish word for "Kiss" is "puss"...yep...I ain't going there..but you get the picture of some small difficulties in having a child with two languages from birth......Here is an interesting language finding...in Swedish, if something is poison it is "gift"...the word for getting married is "gift"...Is that why people live together for many years before actually getting married here????
Here is a shot of the bi-lingual wonder who can put the word "bajskorv" into any kid song on most any rhythm you can imagine...what can I say..the kids got good genes...
HOW ABOUT THEM OKIES:
I have to say, I am pretty excited and somewhat proud of the way the NFL draft started. I am a Sooner fan and a Big 12 fan. Nice to see those top picks in the draft have a Sooner connection and a Big 12 connection. When you look at the stats, it's a little sounds crazy to say that 50% of the first 10 picked came from the Big 12 and 30% of those were home grown Okies...What's in the water there?? I really hope they all do well, but I have a soft spot in my heart for Sam Bradford and Jermaine Gresham (pick #21). It was a stroke of bad luck for those guys to come back for their senior year at OU and end up injured for that season. Hope that all the draft picks have a great experience. Odds are that some won't, but it is a credit to hard work and to ability that they have been picked. On the other hand I have waited for my phone to ring on draft day since 1987. Today it did ring, but it was just Katarina telling me to remember to pick up some groceries and a box of Lindamans Chardonnay....oh well...back to the weight room....
ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL:
As I stated earlier, we have been going hard in preseason camp. I am really working hard on creating a high "level of understanding" with our players. We are a spread option team and we are working hard on understanding how to run the option, where to run the option and how to run the option. At the same time we are working a balanced attack and my Swedish QB's are developing at a satisfactory pace. We are still double teaching quite a few guys and are beginning to work a few guys at some different positions and next week we will look at adding some formations and a few personnel groupings. It should bring April to an exciting end to April and get us gaining a little steam leading into the season opener in mid-May.
BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE:
One of the funnest things I have been doing is coaching our U-11 team. On Thursday nights from 18.00-19.00 I practice with these young kids. We are up to 22 the last two weeks (17 U-11 players & 5 U-13 players). We have a blast. We play a "game" at the end of every practice and I have (somewhat egotistically named it "Kennedy ball") It is backyard football in pads. We train mostly on the correct way to tackle and we introduce a very basic way to block. The rest we take care of on the run. I would encourage every club in Sweden to build up from the bottom. If we do not build a "talent pyramid" the sport will remain the same with a few great players coming up sporadically and a roller coaster of international success. If we build the pyramid from the base up, we build a chance for the sport to grow. What I am saying is nothing new or revolutionary...but if we do it and do it right...we will reap the benefit from our efforts for many years to come...and the biggest challenge for all you young coaches of U-11 and U-13...KEEP IT FUN. You do not get a kid to play football because he is challenged by the opportunity to understand how to play a man-off technique at age 9 or because he wants to be able to always check the power to the 3 tech when he is 10...you get a kid to play, because he has fun and then he will want to continue for years to come and his first memories of the game will be those based on fun experiences and a true love and appreciation of the game...So let's just do it. Keep it fun and teach them how to tackle the right way.
MEANINGLESS INFORMATION TO PUT IN MY BLOG:
During the writing of this installment of the blog I have listened to following music (while listening to the NFL draft in the background)....
1. Steve Earle--NYC
2. CCR--As Long as I can see the Light
3. The Band--I shall be Released
4. Van Morrison--And it Stoned Me
5. David Allen Coe--Willie, Waylon & Me
6. Bob Dylan--Thunder on the Mountain
Until next post, I hope that those things that are most important to you are the things you get to spend you time with...try to be perfect...
LIFE:
In regards to life in April, it has been filled with ups and downs and some moments that will remain personal, but at the end of the day, the most important thing is that my family is fine. My wife has been a fantastic support during this busy time of football. We have been practicing 4 times a week for two full weeks going into three. That is not such a big deal back in the "motherland" but not so normal here in Sweden. Since we practice at 19.00, it means my wife is stuck with all the work at home while I go to coach football each evening. Note to self...buy flowers. Samuel continues to find many different songs where he can add the Swedish word "bajskorv" (which literally translates to "poop sausage") to and maintain the rhythm of the song. I think he may have some musical talent. I find it very interesting that I can have a son that can already understand two different languages. I speak to him 95% of time in English (with a nice Oklahoma twang) and he understands what I say, but he has the tendency to answer me and speak to me in Swedish. The most important lesson I have learned is that when your child is 3 (soon to be 4..May 10th) he will most likely repeat ANY word he might have heard you say. Yep...I am learning that when I can't find my wallet and we have to rush to daycare I should simply say "I can't find my wallet"...instead of "I can't find my @¤!!#"" wallet". Simply, because the words "I can't find my wallet" will not be repeated...the others will...Note to self...don't use so many adjectives to describe things....
Here is a dilemma that I never thought I would face. There are many words in Swedish and English that are very close. I can't really say if English Grammar and Swedish Grammar are similar or not...because I am not very good at either on of them...Anyways, there are some interesting conflicts in language when I talk to Samuel...first if I want to give him a little peck on the cheek, I will would call that a "kiss"...The Swedish word for "pee" is "kyss" (actually not sure I spelled that correctly, but it is pronounced the same)...so when I look at my son and say "How about a good night kiss for papa?"...he goes to the bathroom...Because the Swedish word for "Kiss" is "puss"...yep...I ain't going there..but you get the picture of some small difficulties in having a child with two languages from birth......Here is an interesting language finding...in Swedish, if something is poison it is "gift"...the word for getting married is "gift"...Is that why people live together for many years before actually getting married here????
 |
HOW ABOUT THEM OKIES:
I have to say, I am pretty excited and somewhat proud of the way the NFL draft started. I am a Sooner fan and a Big 12 fan. Nice to see those top picks in the draft have a Sooner connection and a Big 12 connection. When you look at the stats, it's a little sounds crazy to say that 50% of the first 10 picked came from the Big 12 and 30% of those were home grown Okies...What's in the water there?? I really hope they all do well, but I have a soft spot in my heart for Sam Bradford and Jermaine Gresham (pick #21). It was a stroke of bad luck for those guys to come back for their senior year at OU and end up injured for that season. Hope that all the draft picks have a great experience. Odds are that some won't, but it is a credit to hard work and to ability that they have been picked. On the other hand I have waited for my phone to ring on draft day since 1987. Today it did ring, but it was just Katarina telling me to remember to pick up some groceries and a box of Lindamans Chardonnay....oh well...back to the weight room....
ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL:
As I stated earlier, we have been going hard in preseason camp. I am really working hard on creating a high "level of understanding" with our players. We are a spread option team and we are working hard on understanding how to run the option, where to run the option and how to run the option. At the same time we are working a balanced attack and my Swedish QB's are developing at a satisfactory pace. We are still double teaching quite a few guys and are beginning to work a few guys at some different positions and next week we will look at adding some formations and a few personnel groupings. It should bring April to an exciting end to April and get us gaining a little steam leading into the season opener in mid-May.
BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE:
One of the funnest things I have been doing is coaching our U-11 team. On Thursday nights from 18.00-19.00 I practice with these young kids. We are up to 22 the last two weeks (17 U-11 players & 5 U-13 players). We have a blast. We play a "game" at the end of every practice and I have (somewhat egotistically named it "Kennedy ball") It is backyard football in pads. We train mostly on the correct way to tackle and we introduce a very basic way to block. The rest we take care of on the run. I would encourage every club in Sweden to build up from the bottom. If we do not build a "talent pyramid" the sport will remain the same with a few great players coming up sporadically and a roller coaster of international success. If we build the pyramid from the base up, we build a chance for the sport to grow. What I am saying is nothing new or revolutionary...but if we do it and do it right...we will reap the benefit from our efforts for many years to come...and the biggest challenge for all you young coaches of U-11 and U-13...KEEP IT FUN. You do not get a kid to play football because he is challenged by the opportunity to understand how to play a man-off technique at age 9 or because he wants to be able to always check the power to the 3 tech when he is 10...you get a kid to play, because he has fun and then he will want to continue for years to come and his first memories of the game will be those based on fun experiences and a true love and appreciation of the game...So let's just do it. Keep it fun and teach them how to tackle the right way.
MEANINGLESS INFORMATION TO PUT IN MY BLOG:
During the writing of this installment of the blog I have listened to following music (while listening to the NFL draft in the background)....
1. Steve Earle--NYC
2. CCR--As Long as I can see the Light
3. The Band--I shall be Released
4. Van Morrison--And it Stoned Me
5. David Allen Coe--Willie, Waylon & Me
6. Bob Dylan--Thunder on the Mountain
Until next post, I hope that those things that are most important to you are the things you get to spend you time with...try to be perfect...
Friday, April 2, 2010
Easter in Sweden
Easter in Sweden in the football world usually means football camps. As I have stated earlier, I have decided to try something new for Easter. I am giving the senior players the time to relax and enjoy their families (of course this allows me to enjoy mine) and we will crank it up on April 6th with an 18 practice pre-season camp. Not to bad of a schedule, we will keep weekends free and work Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday the first week, then Monday--Thursday for 3 weeks, then break it back down to Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. We'll see how it goes...in the mean time; how did my Easter start:
Samuel loaded in the back seat with the DVD going. He's checking out "Up"....for the 5th time....and no I didn't take this picture while I was driving...the road to Vänersborg is an easy drive but there is a very important stop on the way. Just outside of Enköping is a "little" store where they advertise that it "Maybe the biggest candy store in Sweden" This place is a lineman's dream if that lineman likes candy....
I remember going in the store and picking up a plastic bag and a big scooper to fill that bag...the rest was a blur. They have signs posted all over the place that there are "no free samples" and I can honestly say I didn't sample any...but I scoped the place out for cameras and personnel...just in case I stop in there again...anyways..it all led to this...
What you see in that bag is 100 Swedish crowns worth of candy...mostly chocolate covered somethings...but it is all good...Here is the crazy thing...Katarina pays for her and Samuel's candy, when she saw my bag of candy, she thought it was best that I pay for it. So, she pays for hers and I get up there...my bag of sweets cost 1 sek more than hers and Samuel's combined. I make an off handed comment to the clerk..."now I have to listen to my wife tell me that that my bag of candy cost the same as two peoples bag"...Then he laughs and says "I remember you, you coach for the Arlanda Jets...American football"...He remembered that the same thing happened the last time we were in there...so I could only laugh and say "see ya when we comeback through on Monday"...
Easter in Sweden...for the first time in 7 years I am not at an Easter camp.....So what am I doing up at 1.00 in the morning...I have been working with my video playbook I am making from the film I have now been able to publish on www.hudl.com. I spent a little time on the phone with support and things moved rapidly in the right direction....so for now, whether you are spending the Easter weekend becoming a better football player and team or your hanging out with the family, or trying to a little bit of both...have a good one. The season is about 6 weeks away (for those of us not playing Euro Bowl or EFAF cup) and the first kick-off will be here soon....
Until next update...Fit & Fire!!
 |
| ON THE ROAD AGAIN |
 |
| THIS IS HALF THE STORE |
 |
| SAMUEL DOING ONE ARM ROWS WITH MY BAG OF CANDY!! |
Easter in Sweden...for the first time in 7 years I am not at an Easter camp.....So what am I doing up at 1.00 in the morning...I have been working with my video playbook I am making from the film I have now been able to publish on www.hudl.com. I spent a little time on the phone with support and things moved rapidly in the right direction....so for now, whether you are spending the Easter weekend becoming a better football player and team or your hanging out with the family, or trying to a little bit of both...have a good one. The season is about 6 weeks away (for those of us not playing Euro Bowl or EFAF cup) and the first kick-off will be here soon....
Until next update...Fit & Fire!!
Monday, March 29, 2010
A look at what we have
This picture is a picture of our new press box that will be up and running for this season. Not sure if there will be a big buffet served up for the "press" but it will certainly serve a great purpose and most importantly, it has a second floor which will provide a great film angle for the side shot...that's most important to me.
So that is a quick lood at our facilities we have at the Arlanda Jets. I don't post it to brag, just to give a look at what has been done. To any of my American friends who read this the thing to understand is that there is no organized school sports like we had when we grew up. No athletic department to buy stuff...every sport is a club and the people who want to have a football team put it together...What we have is a true credit to the committed people within the club that heard many "NO" responses, but hung in there and slowly the NO's turned to "Yes" and it seems to be non-stop right now. I would also have to mention that we are not the only club in Sweden with a promising future. There are other clubs that are working hard and are developing and educating good football players. As an American who grew up in School sports and coached College football for 15 years, it is amazing to see the hard work that these people put into making the sport work and their clubs work so that our sport can grow....
Until next time...as a lineman remember....To win the battle, you have to have leverage...to get leverage you have to be able to sink your hips...what exercises help you do that??? Do them....
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Late night bloggin
Well it's another late saturday night that has been mixed with some great family stuff along with a nice "earth hour" which left me thinking, thank God I had my cell phone!! March is winding down and here in the thawing tundra of Sweden that means that football is getting closer.
What's on the agenda:
Later today (because it is after midnight when I am typing this) we have the big meeting to plan our pre-season camp. As I have mentioned before, I am trying something new out. We will have practice starting after Easter. We will go 4 days a week for 3 weeks. We'll leave the weekends free and try to get things done during the week. We'll see how it goes, but I have very high expectations. One of the key factors in doing this is to extend the time the guys have to work-out prior to starting the season. So we'll see what happens...
Daily Vitamins:
One of the things I have started working with the coaches in our club is a program I call "Daily Vitamins". It is a list of 10 things that each position needs to get done at each practice. I have asked each coach in the club to come up with the 10 things that they feel like their position needs each day. Why 10?? Because that is the way I learned from my old boss Tony Demeo and when you put a number on something it makes people really think through it. The responses have not poured in from the coaches, but I am sure they will come in over time.
O-Line Daily Vitamins:
Here is an example of a list for my OL:
1. Stance and Start
2. Base block/Cut-off
3. Release to second level (for mid-line and veer)
4. Combo Block
5. Cut-block (first and second level)
6. Pass set and Punch
7. Counter pass rush moves (Speed, Bull, Swim & adjust to scouting report)
8. Blitz and Twist pick up
9. Communication (line calls)
10. Second effort drills
So if I am a smart practice planner, I will keep that check-list in mind when I plan my practice and see that I get those things in for my lineman at each practice. If we "take our vitamins" we should be alright...that's the theory behind it anyway.
I would gladly take any other coaches list of 10 daily vitamins for their position. Feel free to list them in a comment or email the directly to me at bdkfbcoach@gmail.com no reason to ever stop learning...
5 suggestions if you are coming to Sweden as an import player:
1. Bring a jacket and some long pants...it will be chilly when you get here..it will warm up and beautiful in the summer...and it will be chilly again in September.
2. Make sure you have a computer on it and get Skype...easy way to keep up with those in the mother land.
3. Enjoy Mid-summers weekend. If the boys on the team take you to a Mid-summers party...take a camera so you will remember what all you did...
4. If your contract gives you a meal at a resturant, try the Swedish food...it is good....
5. When you have your first pizza here...you will re-define your definition of thin crust...but it is still good...I should know...
The last 5 songs I listened to while typing this update:
1. Jerry Jeff Walker---Life on the Road
2.Willie Nelson--Always on My Mind
3. Creedence Clearwater Revival--Who'll Stop the Rain. (might be the theme song for a bad swedish summer)
4.Carrie Underwood--Don't Forget to Remember Me (Always makes me think of home)
5. Ice Cube--Cold Places
Gotta love "Shuffle" on the Iphone.....
Until next time...take your vitamins...look 'em in the eye...then cut 'em.....The Linemans Dream.....
What's on the agenda:
Later today (because it is after midnight when I am typing this) we have the big meeting to plan our pre-season camp. As I have mentioned before, I am trying something new out. We will have practice starting after Easter. We will go 4 days a week for 3 weeks. We'll leave the weekends free and try to get things done during the week. We'll see how it goes, but I have very high expectations. One of the key factors in doing this is to extend the time the guys have to work-out prior to starting the season. So we'll see what happens...
Daily Vitamins:
One of the things I have started working with the coaches in our club is a program I call "Daily Vitamins". It is a list of 10 things that each position needs to get done at each practice. I have asked each coach in the club to come up with the 10 things that they feel like their position needs each day. Why 10?? Because that is the way I learned from my old boss Tony Demeo and when you put a number on something it makes people really think through it. The responses have not poured in from the coaches, but I am sure they will come in over time.
O-Line Daily Vitamins:
Here is an example of a list for my OL:
1. Stance and Start
2. Base block/Cut-off
3. Release to second level (for mid-line and veer)
4. Combo Block
5. Cut-block (first and second level)
6. Pass set and Punch
7. Counter pass rush moves (Speed, Bull, Swim & adjust to scouting report)
8. Blitz and Twist pick up
9. Communication (line calls)
10. Second effort drills
So if I am a smart practice planner, I will keep that check-list in mind when I plan my practice and see that I get those things in for my lineman at each practice. If we "take our vitamins" we should be alright...that's the theory behind it anyway.
I would gladly take any other coaches list of 10 daily vitamins for their position. Feel free to list them in a comment or email the directly to me at bdkfbcoach@gmail.com no reason to ever stop learning...
5 suggestions if you are coming to Sweden as an import player:
1. Bring a jacket and some long pants...it will be chilly when you get here..it will warm up and beautiful in the summer...and it will be chilly again in September.
2. Make sure you have a computer on it and get Skype...easy way to keep up with those in the mother land.
3. Enjoy Mid-summers weekend. If the boys on the team take you to a Mid-summers party...take a camera so you will remember what all you did...
4. If your contract gives you a meal at a resturant, try the Swedish food...it is good....
5. When you have your first pizza here...you will re-define your definition of thin crust...but it is still good...I should know...
The last 5 songs I listened to while typing this update:
1. Jerry Jeff Walker---Life on the Road
2.Willie Nelson--Always on My Mind
3. Creedence Clearwater Revival--Who'll Stop the Rain. (might be the theme song for a bad swedish summer)
4.Carrie Underwood--Don't Forget to Remember Me (Always makes me think of home)
5. Ice Cube--Cold Places
Gotta love "Shuffle" on the Iphone.....
Until next time...take your vitamins...look 'em in the eye...then cut 'em.....The Linemans Dream.....
Monday, March 22, 2010
Update
Well as always, it's been awhile, but since I am sitting up listening to a duet with Willie Nelson and Paul Simon singing "Homeward Bound" it only seem natural that I take a little time and update the old blog...
Back in the middle of Feburary we had planned a FUNdamental camp. The planning was great but the weather wasn't so cooperative. At the first practice it was -12 celsius which translates to COLD...we got through the first practice and then the snow came down. We didn't feel like we could do what we had planned, so the the evening practice we divided the guys up into 4 different teams and went out and played the first annual Snow Bowl. The main point was that the guys had a good time and played some ball and got to bond a little. We used the sunday for some team building workshops and called it good....
Breaking the rule of teaching progression:
We started with Theory meetings back in January. Installing the very basics of our offense and defense. Mostly all chalk-talk type settings. We hadn't really planned on doing much more than that until we start with pre-season camp after easter. Then a good friend and coach Leo Billgren, called me and wanted to scrimmage. We set up two times in March. One indoor scrimmage at Bosön in Stockholm and then this last Thursday at our place. Now, that is two scrimmages without any practice. Not sure what I was thinking, but we did it anyway...Now alot of people back home ask me what coaching in Sweden is like and I say that there is never, ever a dull moment---and you can never have too much imagination. These two scrimmages were just that. We ran 2 run plays---3 different pass plays and that was it...we drew a couple up in the dirt, but these guys went out to scrimmage and could actually execute a few things. Now, not much was really pretty, but the fact that we could see that there was a level of understanding to what we want to do was a positive sign.
Give--Keep--Pitch:
We are going to the Option game this year. 100%. In my playbook we have 4 different ways to run a triple option concept. We have the "normal veer", we have veer with counter motion, we have veer where the motion man becomes the dive and the FB is the pitch and we have the "inverted" veer where the QB becomes the "Dive" runner. We will most likely add the Mid-line to the the series also. We have a basic quick passing game, 3 step (from shot-gun, so it's 5 step routes) & sprint-out. Of course we will have a nice Play-action game and also a screen package. It will be fun to see what happens when we start practice....
No Easter Camp:
I've mentioned it before, but I have decided not to have a pre-season Easter Camp. Now for those of you at home that may not understand how it works in Sweden, Easter, in the football world is reserved for a weekend long camp. Alot of clubs will go somewhere and pracitce at an indoor facility. Dedicate the time from Thursday night through Monday of the easter weekend for football practice. There are two and sometimes 3 practices each day and then always a good party at the end. It is without a doubt a good time. The only problem I have seen is that it usually costs the guys extra money, because you have to pay for everything here, and secondly, the week after that camp is usually not the best practices of they year. Another reason this year is our late start of the Season. We kick off in the middle of May. What I am trying this year is an official pre-season camp. We will start the week after easter and go 4 days a week for 3 weeks and get all our installation and preparation done. I have had this idea for a few years now. We will see how it works...So for the first time in 21 years of existance our Sr team will not practice over easter weekend and for the first time in 7 years I will spend easter with my family. We will head out to Vänersborg to visit my wife's parents for the easter holidays...
5 Things that might give us a chance this year:
1. We have purchased a video editing subscription from http://www.hudl.com/ this should give us a unique opportunity to watch film and get film to our players. Should be a big plus as long as I can figure out how to work it.
2. Combining practice with our U-19 team. We do not have a big staff, so combining practice with our U-19 will give us a better practice staff and ensure that each group is getting some good individual coaching.
3. Finding the right position for all the players. This is key in football and extremely key in my experience in Sweden. It is easy to get into the situation that guys just play the position they have been playing. We are going to try to do a good job in evaluating where each guy should play to give us the best chance to be succesfull.
4. FUN...you gotta find a way to have fun. Of course winning is an easy way to have fun, but when you are coming off a dissappointing season, you have to really make an effort to keep energy levels high and focus on what will help you get back on the winning track...
5. Pride...the fact that we have decided to be "all Swedish" will hopefully fuel the enthusiasm and pride of my swedish players and they will rise to the challenge...
Well that is it for this update...as I always promise..I'll try to update sooner each time...hopefully that will go well....
Back in the middle of Feburary we had planned a FUNdamental camp. The planning was great but the weather wasn't so cooperative. At the first practice it was -12 celsius which translates to COLD...we got through the first practice and then the snow came down. We didn't feel like we could do what we had planned, so the the evening practice we divided the guys up into 4 different teams and went out and played the first annual Snow Bowl. The main point was that the guys had a good time and played some ball and got to bond a little. We used the sunday for some team building workshops and called it good....
Breaking the rule of teaching progression:
We started with Theory meetings back in January. Installing the very basics of our offense and defense. Mostly all chalk-talk type settings. We hadn't really planned on doing much more than that until we start with pre-season camp after easter. Then a good friend and coach Leo Billgren, called me and wanted to scrimmage. We set up two times in March. One indoor scrimmage at Bosön in Stockholm and then this last Thursday at our place. Now, that is two scrimmages without any practice. Not sure what I was thinking, but we did it anyway...Now alot of people back home ask me what coaching in Sweden is like and I say that there is never, ever a dull moment---and you can never have too much imagination. These two scrimmages were just that. We ran 2 run plays---3 different pass plays and that was it...we drew a couple up in the dirt, but these guys went out to scrimmage and could actually execute a few things. Now, not much was really pretty, but the fact that we could see that there was a level of understanding to what we want to do was a positive sign.
Give--Keep--Pitch:
We are going to the Option game this year. 100%. In my playbook we have 4 different ways to run a triple option concept. We have the "normal veer", we have veer with counter motion, we have veer where the motion man becomes the dive and the FB is the pitch and we have the "inverted" veer where the QB becomes the "Dive" runner. We will most likely add the Mid-line to the the series also. We have a basic quick passing game, 3 step (from shot-gun, so it's 5 step routes) & sprint-out. Of course we will have a nice Play-action game and also a screen package. It will be fun to see what happens when we start practice....
No Easter Camp:
I've mentioned it before, but I have decided not to have a pre-season Easter Camp. Now for those of you at home that may not understand how it works in Sweden, Easter, in the football world is reserved for a weekend long camp. Alot of clubs will go somewhere and pracitce at an indoor facility. Dedicate the time from Thursday night through Monday of the easter weekend for football practice. There are two and sometimes 3 practices each day and then always a good party at the end. It is without a doubt a good time. The only problem I have seen is that it usually costs the guys extra money, because you have to pay for everything here, and secondly, the week after that camp is usually not the best practices of they year. Another reason this year is our late start of the Season. We kick off in the middle of May. What I am trying this year is an official pre-season camp. We will start the week after easter and go 4 days a week for 3 weeks and get all our installation and preparation done. I have had this idea for a few years now. We will see how it works...So for the first time in 21 years of existance our Sr team will not practice over easter weekend and for the first time in 7 years I will spend easter with my family. We will head out to Vänersborg to visit my wife's parents for the easter holidays...
5 Things that might give us a chance this year:
1. We have purchased a video editing subscription from http://www.hudl.com/ this should give us a unique opportunity to watch film and get film to our players. Should be a big plus as long as I can figure out how to work it.
2. Combining practice with our U-19 team. We do not have a big staff, so combining practice with our U-19 will give us a better practice staff and ensure that each group is getting some good individual coaching.
3. Finding the right position for all the players. This is key in football and extremely key in my experience in Sweden. It is easy to get into the situation that guys just play the position they have been playing. We are going to try to do a good job in evaluating where each guy should play to give us the best chance to be succesfull.
4. FUN...you gotta find a way to have fun. Of course winning is an easy way to have fun, but when you are coming off a dissappointing season, you have to really make an effort to keep energy levels high and focus on what will help you get back on the winning track...
5. Pride...the fact that we have decided to be "all Swedish" will hopefully fuel the enthusiasm and pride of my swedish players and they will rise to the challenge...
Well that is it for this update...as I always promise..I'll try to update sooner each time...hopefully that will go well....
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Crankin things up
The Super Bowl is over and now it is time to follow the combine and see what happens with the draft. It is also time to start cranking things up over here in Sweden. This year I have decided to start Theory Sessions on Thursday nights. We alternate O then D every other Thursday night and have started to implent the playbooks slowly. So far the attendance has been good and I feel like we are headed the right direction. Only time will tell.
TRYING TO FIND THE BEST WAY:
One of the questions I have been fighting with for a long time is this; Why do we (in Sweden) always bring over an American QB? I have ask that question to myself and many of my closest coaching friends here in Sweden and the most common answer is: "to win". It is true that there is no better player (usually) on the field for an offense than a QB from the States. I have been fortunate to have had some outstanding ones play for me and they were excellent on the field. Some had their own "hot" system built in to the system. Nothing like standing on the side-line and seeing cover 0 and thinking we should protect it and then watching the QB look over, hand signal a Wr and then throw the quick pass for the TD. Then the QB comes to the side-line and I ask him why he didn't protect himself, and he says "I knew I could get it off before the unblocked guy was going to get me, and I knew the guy covering Jocke couldn't cover him." You can get that kind of play from a good American QB. You can get a guy that has such a quick release that he can throw "uncovered" if the Corner is off the WR 7 yards and playing cover 3!! An American QB is well worth the money. But here is where I am thinking, why can't we develop a Swedish guy that can play just as effective? A guy that can read the defense and run the system and make the plays. We have 12 months a year to develop a guy like that. We don't have any rules regarding when or how long you can practice, there is no Players Union that dictates the amount of time a guy can practice. And the truth is that all those great American QB's that have been here have been developed through time. I like the challenge of developing that postion. We are going to do that at Arlanda. This season we will go with a Swedish QB and we will plan on having him be effective enough to run the system we want to run and make good decisions. It feels good to make that decision and it will be a challenge, but I feel like the end result will be a positive one. The most important message it may send is down through our junior programs. The young QB's coming up through our club will see that there is an expected future for them at the QB position and they will have the opportunity to play Senior football and play QB...now I guess I better go watch another QB coaching DVD....
TO IMPORT OR NOT TO IMPORT:
Making the decision not to have an American QB leads to the next question: Do we bring a player over for 2010? I am not at all opposed to having an import player. I am an import myself...just happen to be married to a wonderful Swedish lady, so I live here year round. In Sweden we are allowed to have two North American players and they cannot be on the field at the same time (not sure how we handle that in warm-up...humor). With that being said, can one guy make that much of a difference? I am not convinced he can IF you have done a good job coaching up the guys you have and schematically have put them in a position to be successful. Also, in Sweden we are playing in a "Super-Series" Leauge with 6 teams. There is always the rumors of somebody dropping out before the season starts, hopefully that won't happen this year. Of those six teams 4 will play for the championship. The season starts in May we will play everybody one time and one team twice before the break in July. That leaves you with 4 games and the play-offs after a break that goes from the last game in June being played on the 19th and the next game being played August 7th. That is a long time to pay somebody to hang around. There is no football during that time except for the National Teams. The guys on the team usually take their vacations around that time so there is no practice. It seems smarter to bring somebody over at the end of July and have them ready for the second half of the season and the play-offs. That is something we will most likely look into as we progress here in the pre-season.
THE PERFECT IMPORT PLAYER:
I hope to find a guy that we can bring over after the break that is an "Athlete". A guy that can play both O and D plus return kicks and punts. A guy that you can put anywhere on the field and let him go make plays. I think that seems like the best investment for us. If you bring in the right kind of player at the right time, he can make a huge impact. Plus it is a better financial deal for the club. You can offer a little higher salary and save money on the "usual" cost of the player that is here for six months....Time to check my Europlayers account......
RANDOM THOUGHTS OVER THE LAST FEW WEEKS:
The Saints are good. They played a great game and won it. The play of the game might have been when the Saints MLB, Vilma, made a great play on a seam route that Peyton Manning threw. He saved a TD on that play!!
The onside kicking working at the start of the second half and the Saints taking it down and scoring a TD secured the "genius" tag on Saints coach Sean Payton.
Peyton Manning's legacy is not damaged in my opinion. He is still, most likely, the best to ever play the game.
Drew Brees is creating his legacy. It will be exciting to see if the Saints can repeat...
We have had snow on the ground since around the first week of December....doesn't look like it's going away anytime soon...I just hope the field is clear for our FUNdamentals camp we are doing next weekend.
Until next post...thanks for reading, Mom!!! You to Dad!!
TRYING TO FIND THE BEST WAY:
One of the questions I have been fighting with for a long time is this; Why do we (in Sweden) always bring over an American QB? I have ask that question to myself and many of my closest coaching friends here in Sweden and the most common answer is: "to win". It is true that there is no better player (usually) on the field for an offense than a QB from the States. I have been fortunate to have had some outstanding ones play for me and they were excellent on the field. Some had their own "hot" system built in to the system. Nothing like standing on the side-line and seeing cover 0 and thinking we should protect it and then watching the QB look over, hand signal a Wr and then throw the quick pass for the TD. Then the QB comes to the side-line and I ask him why he didn't protect himself, and he says "I knew I could get it off before the unblocked guy was going to get me, and I knew the guy covering Jocke couldn't cover him." You can get that kind of play from a good American QB. You can get a guy that has such a quick release that he can throw "uncovered" if the Corner is off the WR 7 yards and playing cover 3!! An American QB is well worth the money. But here is where I am thinking, why can't we develop a Swedish guy that can play just as effective? A guy that can read the defense and run the system and make the plays. We have 12 months a year to develop a guy like that. We don't have any rules regarding when or how long you can practice, there is no Players Union that dictates the amount of time a guy can practice. And the truth is that all those great American QB's that have been here have been developed through time. I like the challenge of developing that postion. We are going to do that at Arlanda. This season we will go with a Swedish QB and we will plan on having him be effective enough to run the system we want to run and make good decisions. It feels good to make that decision and it will be a challenge, but I feel like the end result will be a positive one. The most important message it may send is down through our junior programs. The young QB's coming up through our club will see that there is an expected future for them at the QB position and they will have the opportunity to play Senior football and play QB...now I guess I better go watch another QB coaching DVD....
TO IMPORT OR NOT TO IMPORT:
Making the decision not to have an American QB leads to the next question: Do we bring a player over for 2010? I am not at all opposed to having an import player. I am an import myself...just happen to be married to a wonderful Swedish lady, so I live here year round. In Sweden we are allowed to have two North American players and they cannot be on the field at the same time (not sure how we handle that in warm-up...humor). With that being said, can one guy make that much of a difference? I am not convinced he can IF you have done a good job coaching up the guys you have and schematically have put them in a position to be successful. Also, in Sweden we are playing in a "Super-Series" Leauge with 6 teams. There is always the rumors of somebody dropping out before the season starts, hopefully that won't happen this year. Of those six teams 4 will play for the championship. The season starts in May we will play everybody one time and one team twice before the break in July. That leaves you with 4 games and the play-offs after a break that goes from the last game in June being played on the 19th and the next game being played August 7th. That is a long time to pay somebody to hang around. There is no football during that time except for the National Teams. The guys on the team usually take their vacations around that time so there is no practice. It seems smarter to bring somebody over at the end of July and have them ready for the second half of the season and the play-offs. That is something we will most likely look into as we progress here in the pre-season.
THE PERFECT IMPORT PLAYER:
I hope to find a guy that we can bring over after the break that is an "Athlete". A guy that can play both O and D plus return kicks and punts. A guy that you can put anywhere on the field and let him go make plays. I think that seems like the best investment for us. If you bring in the right kind of player at the right time, he can make a huge impact. Plus it is a better financial deal for the club. You can offer a little higher salary and save money on the "usual" cost of the player that is here for six months....Time to check my Europlayers account......
RANDOM THOUGHTS OVER THE LAST FEW WEEKS:
The Saints are good. They played a great game and won it. The play of the game might have been when the Saints MLB, Vilma, made a great play on a seam route that Peyton Manning threw. He saved a TD on that play!!
The onside kicking working at the start of the second half and the Saints taking it down and scoring a TD secured the "genius" tag on Saints coach Sean Payton.
Peyton Manning's legacy is not damaged in my opinion. He is still, most likely, the best to ever play the game.
Drew Brees is creating his legacy. It will be exciting to see if the Saints can repeat...
We have had snow on the ground since around the first week of December....doesn't look like it's going away anytime soon...I just hope the field is clear for our FUNdamentals camp we are doing next weekend.
Until next post...thanks for reading, Mom!!! You to Dad!!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Thoughts for the week
Well the NFL's "Final Four" Sunday had me pumped. I was fresh off of a visit home (back to the States). I was trying to get used to Swedish time and enjoying the weekend with my wife and son. Samuel took up ice skating at 3.5. Needless to say he is much better than I will ever be...anyway, I new that at 21.00 Swedish time I could watch the Jets vs Colts game, then around 02.40 I could catch the Saints vs Vikings game. I could sit comfortably in front of my computer and catch the games on the NFL game pass. It would be fun. As fate would have it, I started noticing around 16.00 that we had no phone service and no internet connection. I could not believe this...on this sunday of all sundays!! So I figure a quick call to the internet company could have things fixed...wrong...they closed at 15.00 on Sundays, but the recorded message said that they would be open Monday at 07.00...needless to say I started feeling a "tizzy" coming on...I tried to play "internet fixer"...I had no idea what I was doing...called a few friends...finally...using my phone I saw a score that said the Jets were up 7-3 so I loaded my laptop in my car, drove to our offices at the field, hooked up to the internet and drank a pot of coffee and watched both games. Today...(Tuesday) we now have phone and internet back at the house...
The Greatest Ever:
When I started watching the Jets vs Colts game, the Jets had the lead and the Colts took the ball just before Half-time. Peyton Manning went out onto the field...drove down the field 80 yards in 4 plays taking 58 seconds. He looked like he had figured something out. He apparently had. He came out in the second half and--as they say back home--"gotterdone". When I watch Peyton Manning play...I truly believe that he maybe the best ever to play the game. Time will see if he gets another Super Bowl Ring....
Is this for Real??:
Peyton Manning and Ei Manning are brothers and both have won a Super Bowl playing QB for their respective teams. Peyton won it with the Colts in Super Bowl XLI and Eli won it with the Giants in Super Bowl XLII....the very next year...back to back wins for the Eli family. Now what are the odds that two brothers would led their respective teams to Super Bowl wins in back to back years. Now fast forward to the fact that the Saints...after all these years..all the years of being the "aints" and the old pictures of the fans in the stands wearing paper sacks over their heads...have made it to the Super Bowl. Now, who is the most legendary Saints player...most people would probably say Archie Manning. The Saints took Archie Manning as their first round pick in 1971 and he played 10 seasons with the Saints...Didn't have too many winning seasons...But by playing hard Archie Manning earned the respect of his peers and became probably the most recognizable Saint. So the Saints have their first chance at the Super Bowl and the starting QB of the opposing, and most likely favored, team will be the son of the QB that lead them for 10 seasons. I just find it interesting that there is this wild connection between one man and his family and 3 of the last 4 Super Bowls...
What a way to go out?!?:
Is it true...Bret Farve, argueably one of the greatest to play the game, may end his career with this stat. His final play as a Green Bay Packer...as a New York Jet...and as a Minnesota Viking are interceptions...that is a tough one...but I have been and always will be Farve fan...nobody is perfect..unless doing your best is perfect...then there would be no doubt that Farve was near perfect...He did his best for 309 games...that's not too shabby....
Do you Believe?:
They say that it is a "curse" to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated. I learned from "twitter" via Peter King that the Saints are on this weeks cover of SI. Many of the superstitious will be trying to find ways to block the curse...but is it really a curse?? Last week SI had a split cover nationally...featuring Mark Sanchez and Brett Farve....oh crap...better call the "witch doctor"....
Championship game in Sweden moved out of Stockholm:
I saw the news that for the first time since I have been in Sweden (going on 9 years) the Super Series championship game will be moved out of Stockholm to Karlstad Sweden, or as it is known "Solstaden" (Sun City). I personally think this is a good thing. It might be kind of fun to move the championship game around and Karlstad is most definantly a football town. As a matter of fact it is the only town outside of Stockholm that even seems to be able to support a Super Series football team. The only thing that I think would be better would be to have the Championship game on a Saturday. The last few years, SAFF has hosted a championship weekend that featured U-15, U-17 and U-19 championship games on a Saturday and then the Super Series championship on Sundays. It was a nice arrangement and maybe the only one available with that many games on the same weekend at the same place. But now they are only going to have a U-19 and a Super Series championship on the same weekend, and it is moved to a city 3.5 hours from Stockholm. I will never complain about going 3.5 hours to (hopefully coach in) see the National Championship game. But how cool could it be if there was a U-19 championship game at 12.00 and a Super Series championship game at 16.00. At Half-time they could introduce the winners of the different catagories. Any player or coach nominated that was active in the current game could be represented by a family member of close friend. The game would end around 19.00-19.30 after the trophy ceremony. After that the "football family" of Sweden would have Saturday night to celebrate with the winners or be depressed with the losers or to tell the opponents that "next year will be our year"...This could all be possible if they played the game on a Saturday. Not a Sunday. A Saturday would give the football world a chance to enjoy themselves and not have to rush back to where ever your from after a sunday game. That's just my opionion and since I have a blogg I guess I am entitled to that opinion...
OK..until next update...drive on...
The Greatest Ever:
When I started watching the Jets vs Colts game, the Jets had the lead and the Colts took the ball just before Half-time. Peyton Manning went out onto the field...drove down the field 80 yards in 4 plays taking 58 seconds. He looked like he had figured something out. He apparently had. He came out in the second half and--as they say back home--"gotterdone". When I watch Peyton Manning play...I truly believe that he maybe the best ever to play the game. Time will see if he gets another Super Bowl Ring....
Is this for Real??:
Peyton Manning and Ei Manning are brothers and both have won a Super Bowl playing QB for their respective teams. Peyton won it with the Colts in Super Bowl XLI and Eli won it with the Giants in Super Bowl XLII....the very next year...back to back wins for the Eli family. Now what are the odds that two brothers would led their respective teams to Super Bowl wins in back to back years. Now fast forward to the fact that the Saints...after all these years..all the years of being the "aints" and the old pictures of the fans in the stands wearing paper sacks over their heads...have made it to the Super Bowl. Now, who is the most legendary Saints player...most people would probably say Archie Manning. The Saints took Archie Manning as their first round pick in 1971 and he played 10 seasons with the Saints...Didn't have too many winning seasons...But by playing hard Archie Manning earned the respect of his peers and became probably the most recognizable Saint. So the Saints have their first chance at the Super Bowl and the starting QB of the opposing, and most likely favored, team will be the son of the QB that lead them for 10 seasons. I just find it interesting that there is this wild connection between one man and his family and 3 of the last 4 Super Bowls...
What a way to go out?!?:
Is it true...Bret Farve, argueably one of the greatest to play the game, may end his career with this stat. His final play as a Green Bay Packer...as a New York Jet...and as a Minnesota Viking are interceptions...that is a tough one...but I have been and always will be Farve fan...nobody is perfect..unless doing your best is perfect...then there would be no doubt that Farve was near perfect...He did his best for 309 games...that's not too shabby....
Do you Believe?:
They say that it is a "curse" to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated. I learned from "twitter" via Peter King that the Saints are on this weeks cover of SI. Many of the superstitious will be trying to find ways to block the curse...but is it really a curse?? Last week SI had a split cover nationally...featuring Mark Sanchez and Brett Farve....oh crap...better call the "witch doctor"....
Championship game in Sweden moved out of Stockholm:
I saw the news that for the first time since I have been in Sweden (going on 9 years) the Super Series championship game will be moved out of Stockholm to Karlstad Sweden, or as it is known "Solstaden" (Sun City). I personally think this is a good thing. It might be kind of fun to move the championship game around and Karlstad is most definantly a football town. As a matter of fact it is the only town outside of Stockholm that even seems to be able to support a Super Series football team. The only thing that I think would be better would be to have the Championship game on a Saturday. The last few years, SAFF has hosted a championship weekend that featured U-15, U-17 and U-19 championship games on a Saturday and then the Super Series championship on Sundays. It was a nice arrangement and maybe the only one available with that many games on the same weekend at the same place. But now they are only going to have a U-19 and a Super Series championship on the same weekend, and it is moved to a city 3.5 hours from Stockholm. I will never complain about going 3.5 hours to (hopefully coach in) see the National Championship game. But how cool could it be if there was a U-19 championship game at 12.00 and a Super Series championship game at 16.00. At Half-time they could introduce the winners of the different catagories. Any player or coach nominated that was active in the current game could be represented by a family member of close friend. The game would end around 19.00-19.30 after the trophy ceremony. After that the "football family" of Sweden would have Saturday night to celebrate with the winners or be depressed with the losers or to tell the opponents that "next year will be our year"...This could all be possible if they played the game on a Saturday. Not a Sunday. A Saturday would give the football world a chance to enjoy themselves and not have to rush back to where ever your from after a sunday game. That's just my opionion and since I have a blogg I guess I am entitled to that opinion...
OK..until next update...drive on...
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Random thoughts brought about by Jet lag
Ok, on January 9th I left for Orlando, Florida and the AFCA convention. On January 14, I left my hotel at 05.10 to catch an 08.00 flight from Orlando to Chicago then to OKC...spent from the 14th to the 19th with the family back in Blanchard then left the 20th at 07.00 to head back to Sweden and arrived at 07.30 on the 21st...I have yet to get myself on a schedule...which leads to this late night (early morning) Blogg update...
6 THINGS I LEARNED ON THIS TRIP:
1. There is no more motivation to lose weight than fly economy on 6 flights in 10 days.
2. I spoke to more stangers in 10 days in the states than I have in 8 years in Sweden. No offense to my Swedish friends, but people are just more open in the states.
3. There were 8000 coaches at the AFCA convention...I think that is more than the number of players we have in Sweden.
4. I am amazed at the number of people that travel around the world on a daily basis. Truly amazing..
5. My oldest son is 21...He is a man...I am proud.
6. The beer and the coffee in Sweden is better than in the States...it's just true...
THE 5 MOST IMPORTANT WORDS FOR MY TEAM THIS SEASON:
1. Belief
2. Communication
3. Understanding
4. Perserverance
5. Fun
5 THINGS I WONDER IF I WILL EVER SEE AGAIN IN MY LIFETIME:
1. A 40 year old QB with a chance to take his team to a Super Bowl and either play against a Rookie QB on the Cinderella team of the year..or against the team led by maybe the best to ever play the position. Everybody was "sick of Bret Farve" 3 months ago...now they wait on the edge of thier seats to see if the story ends like a typical Hollywood ending or a Quentin Tarrentino movie.
2. My Sooners to have another decade like they had the last 10 years. Not totally sure on all this (since I do this for fun, I won't research these facts but I think I got 'em) 1 national championship, 4 times playing for the national championship, 6 time Big 12 Champions...and some people aren't sure if Bob can get it done...I do hope we get a chance to see what can happen in the next 10 years...
3. Seeing 3 major college coaches getting fired for "alleged mistreatment of players". Hope we never see that again. Not saying anyone is guilty or innocent, but that's just not good news...
4. My 300 pound Center score on a deflected screen pass....from 24 yards out...still amazing...
5. My feet...man, I gotta lose some weight...again...
OK, enjoy the random thoughts brought about by jet lag...big football weekend back in the Mother land...I will say....Vikes and Jets...just because it would make for some unbelievable analysis of how it happened..
6 THINGS I LEARNED ON THIS TRIP:
1. There is no more motivation to lose weight than fly economy on 6 flights in 10 days.
2. I spoke to more stangers in 10 days in the states than I have in 8 years in Sweden. No offense to my Swedish friends, but people are just more open in the states.
3. There were 8000 coaches at the AFCA convention...I think that is more than the number of players we have in Sweden.
4. I am amazed at the number of people that travel around the world on a daily basis. Truly amazing..
5. My oldest son is 21...He is a man...I am proud.
6. The beer and the coffee in Sweden is better than in the States...it's just true...
THE 5 MOST IMPORTANT WORDS FOR MY TEAM THIS SEASON:
1. Belief
2. Communication
3. Understanding
4. Perserverance
5. Fun
5 THINGS I WONDER IF I WILL EVER SEE AGAIN IN MY LIFETIME:
1. A 40 year old QB with a chance to take his team to a Super Bowl and either play against a Rookie QB on the Cinderella team of the year..or against the team led by maybe the best to ever play the position. Everybody was "sick of Bret Farve" 3 months ago...now they wait on the edge of thier seats to see if the story ends like a typical Hollywood ending or a Quentin Tarrentino movie.
2. My Sooners to have another decade like they had the last 10 years. Not totally sure on all this (since I do this for fun, I won't research these facts but I think I got 'em) 1 national championship, 4 times playing for the national championship, 6 time Big 12 Champions...and some people aren't sure if Bob can get it done...I do hope we get a chance to see what can happen in the next 10 years...
3. Seeing 3 major college coaches getting fired for "alleged mistreatment of players". Hope we never see that again. Not saying anyone is guilty or innocent, but that's just not good news...
4. My 300 pound Center score on a deflected screen pass....from 24 yards out...still amazing...
5. My feet...man, I gotta lose some weight...again...
OK, enjoy the random thoughts brought about by jet lag...big football weekend back in the Mother land...I will say....Vikes and Jets...just because it would make for some unbelievable analysis of how it happened..
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
10 days at home
Probably would have been a little smarter to blogg as I went, but there really wasn't alot of time for that. Thanks to my club, The Arlanda Jets, I was able to attend the 2010 AFCA convention in Orlando, Florida and also spend 5 days home in Blanchard, Oklahoma to visit my family. The original plan from the club was to send somebody else over, but that person wasn't able to go so at the last minute the boys at the club found a replacement. I was excited to have the opportunity.
The Run Down:
Basically my time at the convention was to research a variety of products that we would like to add to our club and the HS program we are running. I had forgotten how much "stuff" was out there to work on the game. I will say that some of the coolest stuff was the video editing programs. If you really want to take your film study to the next level, you have to find a way to get some sort of a editing system. It's increadible what they can do nowadays.
The speakers were great. I heard Chris Pedersson (Boise St), Mack Brown (Texas) Tony Dungy (former NFL HC) and Mike Singleterry (SF 49ers HC) all in one afternoon. Hard not to leave excited.
Familar Faces:
On day two in Floriday, I walked in to the international coaches meeting, just to see who was in there. Low and behold I run into Jan Jemnert and Tyson Gullian from over in Sweden. I had no idea they would be there, so it was nice to see a familiar face. Janne was busy with his Team World preparations, but I was able to spend some time with Tyson and Soren along with Thomas Ahlberg, so it was a good time.
Also ran into my old room mate from when I first got hired at Washburn. Dale Perine. It was great to see him. All in all it was a great time at the convention. Not sure who the club will send next year to Dallas, but I will try to keep a bag packed.
Home Sweet Home:
Needless to say, coming home for a short time was better than not coming home at all. I got to see my Nanny (my Dad's mother). She is clipping a long at 91 years of age. Also got to see the youngest Kennedy, Cooper, who was born to my Brother Mike and his wife Shannon only 8 months ago.
Spending time with my son Jonathan, was priceless. It is a wild feeling when your son is now a man. He is 21. I will right a little more about our Food adventours in the great state of Oklahoma. Just to get your attention I'll write the name of one of the restaurants..."Fat Sandwich Company"...the name says it all. I can say that I had no idea that they even made food like this....anyways...battary is running low on the old Dell, so I just wanted to do a quick update. More to come later in regards to the trip and of course football....
The Run Down:
Basically my time at the convention was to research a variety of products that we would like to add to our club and the HS program we are running. I had forgotten how much "stuff" was out there to work on the game. I will say that some of the coolest stuff was the video editing programs. If you really want to take your film study to the next level, you have to find a way to get some sort of a editing system. It's increadible what they can do nowadays.
The speakers were great. I heard Chris Pedersson (Boise St), Mack Brown (Texas) Tony Dungy (former NFL HC) and Mike Singleterry (SF 49ers HC) all in one afternoon. Hard not to leave excited.
Familar Faces:
On day two in Floriday, I walked in to the international coaches meeting, just to see who was in there. Low and behold I run into Jan Jemnert and Tyson Gullian from over in Sweden. I had no idea they would be there, so it was nice to see a familiar face. Janne was busy with his Team World preparations, but I was able to spend some time with Tyson and Soren along with Thomas Ahlberg, so it was a good time.
Also ran into my old room mate from when I first got hired at Washburn. Dale Perine. It was great to see him. All in all it was a great time at the convention. Not sure who the club will send next year to Dallas, but I will try to keep a bag packed.
Home Sweet Home:
Needless to say, coming home for a short time was better than not coming home at all. I got to see my Nanny (my Dad's mother). She is clipping a long at 91 years of age. Also got to see the youngest Kennedy, Cooper, who was born to my Brother Mike and his wife Shannon only 8 months ago.
Spending time with my son Jonathan, was priceless. It is a wild feeling when your son is now a man. He is 21. I will right a little more about our Food adventours in the great state of Oklahoma. Just to get your attention I'll write the name of one of the restaurants..."Fat Sandwich Company"...the name says it all. I can say that I had no idea that they even made food like this....anyways...battary is running low on the old Dell, so I just wanted to do a quick update. More to come later in regards to the trip and of course football....
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Too Cold!!
This is the time of the year I start to wonder why I stay here. You see, if you come over to Sweden and play or coach football as an import player coming for just the season, you'll get here sometime in April. The weather will be nice, most likely some rain, but each day will get better, brighter and longer. You start playing the games sometime in May and you'll play up until midsummers holiday. The longest day of the year. Now this is a big time party for the Swedes and it is an awesome time of the year. I have seen blue skies at 02.30. It really is incredible. You celebrate this holiday, then if you are involved in football, you take the entire month of July off...no games...no practice...Why?? Well for now, let's just say that somethings are just meant to be...so if you are an import player or coach, you are most likely looking at 5-6 weeks paid vacation to go see Europe...So July will be a care free month...then August brings the end of the season and then September brings the semi-finals and then National Championship. Now, as an import player or coach, you will leave Sweden. You will notice that it is getting darker a little earlier. Maybe getting a little cooler, but over all it will have been a nice trip...a nice way to keep playing/coaching a great game and you will have made memories and friends to last a life time. This is where it changes for those of us that I call "Refugees of Love"...I am here because I fell in Love with somebody that ask me if we could move to Sweden. She was a little homesick, elderly parents and we had no IKEA near us in Topeka, Kansas. It was something I knew that some day I would have to do when we were married...so I decided to give it a try...besides I grew up in Oklahoma....I used to think traveling abroad was going to Arkansas to see my uncle. Anyways, my wife ask me about this during a summer visit to Sweden. Oh Yeah...one of those days where the sun is warm, the ever so slight breeze is cool. You're laying in the yard looking up at blue sky that goes forever. Thinking about what to put on the grill later....Oh yeah, baby...I can live here...OK...Fast forward to the winters...dark, cold and rainy....then comes the snow and life cranks up again...snow is nice. Kids come back outside and we throw snow balls and race on sleds. Then the cold seems to stick around...it seems to always be there...you can't go outside without getting that first breath that seems to get stuck in your nose because all those fine little nose hairs start to freeze and stick together...Oh well...bottom line is I think I am starting to like it...that is probably what scares me the most...ok on to football ramblings:
EXCITING GAME COMING UP SATURDAY JANUARY 30:
On the 30th of this month will be the first ever USA vs the World game. The game will be played at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. It will be broadcast via NFL network at 12.00 noon ET which I believe will be 18.00 for us here in Sweden. If you have NFL game pass you should be able to see the game live. This should be an exciting game. The World roster right now has 43 spots filled. It is basically Team Canada and 12 friends from around the world just now. Team Canada fills up 31 of 43 roster spots. No real surprise because they play some pretty good football in Canada. We (Sweden) have 3 players that made the team. Elias Groon a big defensive lineman from the Stockholm Mean Machine, Hampus Hellermark from the Lidingö Saints and Sebastian Johansson from the Carlstad Crusaders. So we wish those guys and the team the best of luck. It will be an interesting game. I checked out the Team USA roster and it is very impressive. A lot of big-time recruits are on the roster. The world will be led by Coach Jan Jenmert who also serves as the Head Coach for team Sweden. Sweden also had Niclas Carlsson working with the strength and condition part of the world team. For more information on Team world or Team USA check it out here:
http://www.usavworld.com/2010/ and http://www.ifaf.org/
The "Hey, we scored in the first quarter this season" award:
Goes to the Kansas City Chiefs...scored there first, first quarter TD of this season...if was scored by Brian Cox...it was his first ever TD...nice...
999: Tony Gonzalez finished this season with 999 catches. I hope the first play next season is a pass to Gonzalez....
IF it were a play-off: Check this out for round one of a 16 team National championship tournament for NCAA Div 1 football. Nothing fancy, just took the top 16 in the final BCS standings. Round 1 would have been played the weekend of December 19th (8 games). Followed by December 26th (4 games). Followed by the Semi-finals on Jan 2 with the Finals being played Jan 9th. Basically the same schedule as the Bowl schedule. Here is what the first round would have looked like. The number in paranthesis is the final BCS rank.
ROUND 1:
(1) Alabama vs (16) West Virginia
(5) Florida vs (12) LSU
(7) Oregon vs (10) Iowa
(3) Cincinnati vs (14) BYU
That's the top of the bracket, now to the bottom bracket:
(2) Texas vs (15) Miami, Fla
(6) Boise St vs (11) Virginia Tech
(8) Ohio State vs (9) Ga. Tech
(4) TCU vs (13) Penn State
That would make for some interesting games and a very interesting tournament played out right through the bowl season that is in place now...well it's a dream...
The Ulitmate Question:
Will the NCAA move to a play-off format for NCAA div 1 schools before Sweden ever plays a straight through season without the 4-6 week summer break in the middle of a 10 game schedule? Hard to say, but there is a side of me that feels like I will never live to see either of those things happen....
In the meantime enjoy the football that's left...I haven't decided if I can cheer for that team that plays on Thursday night that starts with a "T" but I am a Big 12 fan....only thing mostly for sure is that with a live kick-off at 02.30 Swedish time...I'll be asleep on the couch!! Unless of course, if I get tired, I go and open the front door and let my nose hairs freeze a little...that should wake me back up!!
EXCITING GAME COMING UP SATURDAY JANUARY 30:
On the 30th of this month will be the first ever USA vs the World game. The game will be played at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. It will be broadcast via NFL network at 12.00 noon ET which I believe will be 18.00 for us here in Sweden. If you have NFL game pass you should be able to see the game live. This should be an exciting game. The World roster right now has 43 spots filled. It is basically Team Canada and 12 friends from around the world just now. Team Canada fills up 31 of 43 roster spots. No real surprise because they play some pretty good football in Canada. We (Sweden) have 3 players that made the team. Elias Groon a big defensive lineman from the Stockholm Mean Machine, Hampus Hellermark from the Lidingö Saints and Sebastian Johansson from the Carlstad Crusaders. So we wish those guys and the team the best of luck. It will be an interesting game. I checked out the Team USA roster and it is very impressive. A lot of big-time recruits are on the roster. The world will be led by Coach Jan Jenmert who also serves as the Head Coach for team Sweden. Sweden also had Niclas Carlsson working with the strength and condition part of the world team. For more information on Team world or Team USA check it out here:
http://www.usavworld.com/2010/ and http://www.ifaf.org/
The "Hey, we scored in the first quarter this season" award:
Goes to the Kansas City Chiefs...scored there first, first quarter TD of this season...if was scored by Brian Cox...it was his first ever TD...nice...
999: Tony Gonzalez finished this season with 999 catches. I hope the first play next season is a pass to Gonzalez....
IF it were a play-off: Check this out for round one of a 16 team National championship tournament for NCAA Div 1 football. Nothing fancy, just took the top 16 in the final BCS standings. Round 1 would have been played the weekend of December 19th (8 games). Followed by December 26th (4 games). Followed by the Semi-finals on Jan 2 with the Finals being played Jan 9th. Basically the same schedule as the Bowl schedule. Here is what the first round would have looked like. The number in paranthesis is the final BCS rank.
ROUND 1:
(1) Alabama vs (16) West Virginia
(5) Florida vs (12) LSU
(7) Oregon vs (10) Iowa
(3) Cincinnati vs (14) BYU
That's the top of the bracket, now to the bottom bracket:
(2) Texas vs (15) Miami, Fla
(6) Boise St vs (11) Virginia Tech
(8) Ohio State vs (9) Ga. Tech
(4) TCU vs (13) Penn State
That would make for some interesting games and a very interesting tournament played out right through the bowl season that is in place now...well it's a dream...
The Ulitmate Question:
Will the NCAA move to a play-off format for NCAA div 1 schools before Sweden ever plays a straight through season without the 4-6 week summer break in the middle of a 10 game schedule? Hard to say, but there is a side of me that feels like I will never live to see either of those things happen....
In the meantime enjoy the football that's left...I haven't decided if I can cheer for that team that plays on Thursday night that starts with a "T" but I am a Big 12 fan....only thing mostly for sure is that with a live kick-off at 02.30 Swedish time...I'll be asleep on the couch!! Unless of course, if I get tired, I go and open the front door and let my nose hairs freeze a little...that should wake me back up!!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
football ramblings
The Red Raider Saga:
Like most of you I have been following what has been going on at Texas Tech over the past few days and it seems to get more and more bizarre. When I first heard about it, it sounded strange that a coach at any level would lock a player in an electrical closet since he could not practice because of a minor concussion. As the stories continue to develop it has taken (and I am sure will continue to take) some crazy twists and turns. The shed that Adam James was taken to stand in turns out to be a garage that is used to store equipment. A garage that was not small. The electical closet turns out to be a room used to do press conferences after the game. Many of Mike Leach's former players have come to his defense and complained that the problem was Adam James. Likewise, I understand that those defenses of Coach Leach are being countered by more complaints of treatment. Now, we as fans will be left to follow the story via the internet, TV and even Twitter, while the lawyers go to war to see what can sort of financial deal will be worked out. Some things seem obvious. Mike Leach will not coach at Texas Tech next year. That would be a no win situation for everybody. You have coach that turned around a program with an exciting brand of football. The Red Raiders were coming off a fantastic 2008 season where life was good, and things were looking up. They did not have the same success in 2009 and there were some situations brought up in the media of problems within the team. This incident with Adam James seems to be the straw that broke the camels back, and now the kindom of Mike Leach and the Red Raiders is crumbling down. What happens next? I saw on "Twitter" that Mike Leach was fired. Roughly 3 hours later, I saw a "tweet" stating that Tommy Tubberville is interested in the Red Raider job. I can honestly say that I have no idea if that it true or not, but it is a little look into the world of big time college athletics. One thing will be interesting. How will the next HC of the Red Raiders handle Wide Receiver Adam James? He will not play in the bowl game and it will be interesting to see what happens to his career as time goes by.
What can we learn from all of this:
I would say that as a Head Coach, regardless of what level, you have to think out everything in regards to how you handle a team. Being in coaching myself since 1987 I can tell you that I have not always made the best decisions or been proud of all my actions, but I don't feel I have ever put a player in harms way. I think this is going to be the big factor in the Mike Leach story has it unfolds. Did he put his player in harms way by what happened under his leadership of the Texas Tech football program. I think that will be a hard point to prove. Bobby Bowden is quoted as saying, "In coaching, the highs are never as high as the lows are low." I would guess as good as Mike Leach felt when Graham Harrell threw the TD pass to beat Texas in 2008 can't compare to the down he is going through right now.We'll see how the bowl game goes....
Bowl Season Ramblings:
Here are some thoughts from me regarding this years Bowl season as it has progressed:
The "I got the dream Job at the right time award": From what I saw last night, that award has to go to Brian Kelly. Does a fantastic job building up the program at the University of Cinncinati, goes undeafeted, gets a chance to go against the University of Florida to prove they can "play with the big boys". I would think he really likes that new Notre Dame coaching gear!! Seems a little unfair that teams can get the reward of a bowl game only to not have their head coach, coordinator or position coach because that guy gets a new job and moves on before the bowl game....
The "Thank you Bob and the Sooners award": Obviously this one goes to the Sooners. It has been along time since the Sooners won a bowl game. I was unable to watch it but got score updates via espn on my iPhone. It made for a stressful New Years Eve, but it was nice to get the final score update that the Sooners had won. Now, goodbye 2009...Hello 2010.
The "OK you probably are one of the best ever to play the college game award": Gotta give this one to Tim Tebow. I stayed up to catch the game live. Kick-off around 02.00 in Sweden. When I went to bed at 06.00 after the game...I truly thought that Tim Tebow could not have gone out in a better way. Yes, of course the Gator fans would like to have seen the back to back championships, but the way Tebow played in that last game was the exclamation point on a fantastic career. Two things will be interesting to follow now. One is, what will Tebow do in the NFL? I am no expert, but he'll probably do something...Two is, how would you like to be the starting QB at Florida next fall?
The "I can't believe they stopped that play twice in a row award": This has to go to the Oklahoma State Defense on their goal line stand against Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl. Ole Miss ran their 330+ pound DL straight up the gut...twice...from inside the one and the Cowboys defense stopped the big dude from getting into the endzone...Mass x Velocity = ???
The "That's not the way we planned it award": This one goes to the OSU offense. In their 7 first half drives they went 6 punts and 1 fumble..They regrouped at halftime and then went..Punt, Punt, TD...so things are looking good...then they followed it up with...turn over on Downs, Interception, Interception, fumble, fumble, interception...and finally, interception....not a good day for the offense....
Ok, now it's time to stop rambling and time to watch a some more football...it's sunday morning now in Sweden and I have The Liberty Bowl to finsih watching, then check out the Red Raiders in the Alamo Bowl.
Like most of you I have been following what has been going on at Texas Tech over the past few days and it seems to get more and more bizarre. When I first heard about it, it sounded strange that a coach at any level would lock a player in an electrical closet since he could not practice because of a minor concussion. As the stories continue to develop it has taken (and I am sure will continue to take) some crazy twists and turns. The shed that Adam James was taken to stand in turns out to be a garage that is used to store equipment. A garage that was not small. The electical closet turns out to be a room used to do press conferences after the game. Many of Mike Leach's former players have come to his defense and complained that the problem was Adam James. Likewise, I understand that those defenses of Coach Leach are being countered by more complaints of treatment. Now, we as fans will be left to follow the story via the internet, TV and even Twitter, while the lawyers go to war to see what can sort of financial deal will be worked out. Some things seem obvious. Mike Leach will not coach at Texas Tech next year. That would be a no win situation for everybody. You have coach that turned around a program with an exciting brand of football. The Red Raiders were coming off a fantastic 2008 season where life was good, and things were looking up. They did not have the same success in 2009 and there were some situations brought up in the media of problems within the team. This incident with Adam James seems to be the straw that broke the camels back, and now the kindom of Mike Leach and the Red Raiders is crumbling down. What happens next? I saw on "Twitter" that Mike Leach was fired. Roughly 3 hours later, I saw a "tweet" stating that Tommy Tubberville is interested in the Red Raider job. I can honestly say that I have no idea if that it true or not, but it is a little look into the world of big time college athletics. One thing will be interesting. How will the next HC of the Red Raiders handle Wide Receiver Adam James? He will not play in the bowl game and it will be interesting to see what happens to his career as time goes by.
What can we learn from all of this:
I would say that as a Head Coach, regardless of what level, you have to think out everything in regards to how you handle a team. Being in coaching myself since 1987 I can tell you that I have not always made the best decisions or been proud of all my actions, but I don't feel I have ever put a player in harms way. I think this is going to be the big factor in the Mike Leach story has it unfolds. Did he put his player in harms way by what happened under his leadership of the Texas Tech football program. I think that will be a hard point to prove. Bobby Bowden is quoted as saying, "In coaching, the highs are never as high as the lows are low." I would guess as good as Mike Leach felt when Graham Harrell threw the TD pass to beat Texas in 2008 can't compare to the down he is going through right now.We'll see how the bowl game goes....
Bowl Season Ramblings:
Here are some thoughts from me regarding this years Bowl season as it has progressed:
The "I got the dream Job at the right time award": From what I saw last night, that award has to go to Brian Kelly. Does a fantastic job building up the program at the University of Cinncinati, goes undeafeted, gets a chance to go against the University of Florida to prove they can "play with the big boys". I would think he really likes that new Notre Dame coaching gear!! Seems a little unfair that teams can get the reward of a bowl game only to not have their head coach, coordinator or position coach because that guy gets a new job and moves on before the bowl game....
The "Thank you Bob and the Sooners award": Obviously this one goes to the Sooners. It has been along time since the Sooners won a bowl game. I was unable to watch it but got score updates via espn on my iPhone. It made for a stressful New Years Eve, but it was nice to get the final score update that the Sooners had won. Now, goodbye 2009...Hello 2010.
The "OK you probably are one of the best ever to play the college game award": Gotta give this one to Tim Tebow. I stayed up to catch the game live. Kick-off around 02.00 in Sweden. When I went to bed at 06.00 after the game...I truly thought that Tim Tebow could not have gone out in a better way. Yes, of course the Gator fans would like to have seen the back to back championships, but the way Tebow played in that last game was the exclamation point on a fantastic career. Two things will be interesting to follow now. One is, what will Tebow do in the NFL? I am no expert, but he'll probably do something...Two is, how would you like to be the starting QB at Florida next fall?
The "I can't believe they stopped that play twice in a row award": This has to go to the Oklahoma State Defense on their goal line stand against Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl. Ole Miss ran their 330+ pound DL straight up the gut...twice...from inside the one and the Cowboys defense stopped the big dude from getting into the endzone...Mass x Velocity = ???
The "That's not the way we planned it award": This one goes to the OSU offense. In their 7 first half drives they went 6 punts and 1 fumble..They regrouped at halftime and then went..Punt, Punt, TD...so things are looking good...then they followed it up with...turn over on Downs, Interception, Interception, fumble, fumble, interception...and finally, interception....not a good day for the offense....
Ok, now it's time to stop rambling and time to watch a some more football...it's sunday morning now in Sweden and I have The Liberty Bowl to finsih watching, then check out the Red Raiders in the Alamo Bowl.
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