Was it really a Decade ago?!

I was included in a tweet that went out earlier today by from a former player and current official that said that it was 10 years ago that we (the Carlstad Crusaders) won the EFAF tournament. My first thought was "holy crap, 10 years have gone by and I am still in Sweden and not back in the U.S.A!" That thought was quickly followed by a flood of memories from coaching that team, making that trip, winning that game on the road and the bus ride home from the game. I was as proud of that group of Swedish guys has I every have been of any group. They remain today, the only Swedish club team to ever win a European Tournament! Some of them still play today. Some of them could still play today but all of them are quality people and were apart of a great experience. So I thought I would take a quick minute while at The Kennedy Compound for a weekend and fill you in on some stories from that great adventure.

The End Result:
I thought I would start at the end and go backwards, but reality is I will bounce around...here is an excerpt from the web about the EFAF Cup. Which, by the way, may become an official part of history as I believe the IFAF is running everything now and the EFAF will not really exist soon. I apologize for not understanding everything, but the politics of sports has never been my thing...this story will be about the Crusaders 10 years ago...anyway it's recorded here:

A new visitor record in 2003: 4000 people followed the EFAF-Cup Final 2003 between Papa Joe`s Tyrolean Raiders (Austria) und Carlstad Crusaders (Sweden). The Scandinaviens did win the thunderstorm game and became EFAF-Cup Champion 2003. 

So the end result of that journey to the EFAF-Cup Championship game, would be a big win for the Crusaders, an unbelievable road trip to and from a game and finally, 10 years later, it would bring a smile on an old ex-coaches face in the middle of a great summer.

"Thunderstorm Game":
The HC of the Raiders (at that time) told me that it would rain before kick-off because it always does about that time of the day but usually stops by kick-off. Well, rain I could handle. The fact that, while warming up it started to "drop water from the sky" and there was a dude with a long gray beard building a big boat in the end zone and animals were lining up in pairs to get in that boat was not something I had mentally prepared myself for!! We were on the field and started warm-ups. I was doing my HC/OC/OL/RB/WR coach thing and walking around to all the groups, trying to say the right thing, make sure they were focused and ready to play. Then the ocean began to drop from the sky. I mean a steady rain like when somebody pours a bucket of water over your head. I told myself, "OK, B.D., just walk around and act like it's just a little rain, no big deal." I didn't want anybody to think, "we run the option...the ball is wet...oh shit...we'll fumble...oh rain...noooooo." So I was clapping and walking around trying to act like it was no big deal. That was of course until I begin to wonder if a person has every drowned while walking around in a rain that was coming down so hard that water went up his nose and he actually choked on it!! Yep, that is what happened to yours truly right there on about the 25 yard line in the middle of a beautiful soccer stadium. I chocked on rain, while walking around on the field....It did quit at some point, but instead of disappearing, it stayed around. We had a few turnovers, but at the end of the day, the boys played great and did what they needed to do to win! In the meantime, my cell phone died because it had gotten too wet while in my pant pocket at the game!

The Alps:
We road the bus from Karlstad, Sweden all the way to Innsbruck, Austria. That in itself was an adventure. I am not sure how long it took, or exactly how many other countries we went through, but we were on a bus, parked the bus on a boat and road the boat, got back on the bus from the boat and continued to drive. There were a few stops along the way. Quite a road trip for an old dude from Oklahoma that used to think that traveling abroad was going to Arkansas to see his uncle. So the trip continued and we arrived in what somebody told me was Innsbruck. I was relieved and excited. We got checked into our hotel. I had a room to myself on the top floor, maybe 3 floors up. It was a small but nice room with a window in the ceiling that you could open up and actually look out and see the mountains that surrounded the city. I remember one of my assistant coaches and I, having a conversation while he was looking out of his window in the roof from the next room over. We were talking about what a beautiful sight this was and also talking about how we could win the game tomorrow and then actually talking about how it would look to strangers if someone actually saw us having this conversation with our heads sticking out of the roofs. So we decided to head of to the team meal.

10 years ago, I was looking at the Alps. Today
I am looking at a cow outside my summer stuga
in Sweden. I don't own a cow...at least I didn't own
a cow until today. (that was a joke Internet police).

How it all came to be:
Here is a brief story about how we actually got into the tournament. We had lost to the Stockholm Mean Machine in the Swedish final in 2002. I had never heard of the EFAF Cup tournament, but Robert Sundberg told me that since we finished second, we could qualify for a tournament in Europe. From the minute I heard about it I thought it was a great idea. The thought of taking a team outside of the country and playing other club teams from around Europe in a tournament was a no brainer. What I didn't understand was how it all worked economically. It was a risk. We had a meeting before a practice with Robert, myself and a couple of board members. I remember that there was a discussion about the cost to play the tournament, some discussion that we would have to travel at some point and money was a concern. I remember saying, "hey, let's do this, if we don't win it and lose money then you can fire me." Now that is how I remember it, we then stuck our hands in the middle and broke it down in some version. The club was going to play in this tournament and we were going to give it all we had! I also remember walking over to practice thinking to myself..."what the hell did I just say!"

"I am in Italy, I'll meet you at the game.":
Not sure how many people know this, but our starting QB, Johan Larsson, one of the most winning Swedish QB's in the history of American Football in Sweden (yes I wrote it that way, because trust me if I am wrong there will be about 20 people come up with a list of names of Swedish QB's that have a better winning percentage, but that list I would like to see) had a work assignment in Italy. AND of course that came the week we would play for the EFAF-Cup championship.  The team makes the trip down to Innsbruck and arrive the night before the game. On Saturday morning we are up and have a walk through in the stadium to get a feel for where we would play. Of course, our QB is in Italy and on the way up to Austria in a rental car in order to make it to the game in time. He arrives, has two hot dogs and some soda to wash it down. Then he goes out and leads the team to the win. After the game, he headed back to Italy to finish his work obligations. Only in Europe, baby!!

Because, that is what the game is about:
I also remember the Semi-final game.  We hosted a team from Denmark. The Tyrolean Raiders where already qualified for the final so their HC called me and said he was going to come and watch the game. I do apologize, but I cannot remember his name. So I told Coach, that after the game, he should come by the house and we could grill up some food and talk football. After the game, he met me outside of the locker room. I took him to my house where we continued with a few drinks and some nice grilled food. He was a true gentlemen and took time to speak with my wife. Tracey Gere and his wife, Åsa joined us and it was a great evening of football stories about coaching in Europe. There was no doubt that when we played each other, both he and I expected our teams to win. But in the time outside of the game clock, it was a great experience sharing the brotherhood of being apart of the greatest game on earth.

A Decade ago:
There maybe a nice mini-series that could be made out of that entire experience. It would make for some great entertainment. The bus ride home edition would only be available on the Director's cut version of the DVD. The after game celebration at Pappa Joes Sports Bar in Innsbruck was be one for the ages. I had a good seat and it was a great joy to sit and watch the guys celebrate a big win on the road. Many great memories and big smiles come up as I sit here and type this. So, 10 years later, still one of the greatest memories I have in football is taking a group of grown (and some growing) men to Innsbruck, Austria and winning a football game. Something I am not sure anybody else thought we could do, but we did. Nobody in Sweden has done it since. Damn, you guys did a great job!! I could write a ton more short stories about that game and trip, but maybe I'll save it for later so that I can update the old blog more than once every 6 months!! In the meantime, I'll leave the players, organization and fans with one more "Thank You" for providing me with a great memory and thank you for believing your were great and proving it! One thing about winning the last game of a tournament, is the fact that it proves, you were the best on that day and nobody can say you weren't!

Until next update. Enjoy life...it's not like you're gonna get a second chance!!
PS:
Todays version of the Tyrolean Raiders is coached by Shuan Fatah. He has done a tremendous job with that program and is one of the top teams in Europe. Google them. Follow them. Watch the high-lights the club makes...it's top notch stuff.
The Crusaders of today continue to claim the top sport of football here in Sweden. They are 3 time defending National Champions and are lead by Coach Doug Adkins. They are going into the break with one loss for this season, but looking like the trophy is still theirs until somebody comes and takes it. And, I would guess, the Crusaders aren't planning on giving it away.
As for me...I have one more month until school starts up again. Football goes on without me, but life sure as hell, keeps me rolling! I still follow the game here in Sweden and abroad and am always willing to give a current coach my opinion...that is of course if they answer when I call...damn that caller ID!!!

Player Evaluation

One topic I have been thinking about for a long time is the topic of player evaluation. In my opinion, this is one of the most important topics that a coach must do. It is more important than research for new ideas and crucial for a coach if he wants to measure his ability to communicate, educate and motivate his team.

Definition of Player Evaluation:
For me, player evaluation is two phases. First is to measure the player to find out at what level of athlete he is. This is done more often than any other evaluation. This is measuring his size, speed, strength, speed and explosive abilities. We do this in the Bench Press, Squat, Power Clean, L-cone, Broad Jump, Vertical Jump, Pro-Agility, 40 and/or 20 yard dash among many other tests. This gives us an idea of where each player is as simply an athlete. When we accumulate this information, it will help us determine whether or not a player has the desired physical abilities he needs to play football. This information can be compared by position and by "standards" that have shown up in other research. Here in Sweden, we have all this information filled in on a portal the player reports to and are able to rate a football player's results. Each player can be compared to the team standard for international competition or the world standard. The portal allows a National Team coach to go in and review the results of a player over a period of time and also to compare those results to other international averages. It is a great way to identify athletic ability. It is also clear as to where an individual is in regards to his physical abilities. I mean a 5.0 forty-yard dash is exactly that. If a player can rep 100kg (225lbs) 15 times then that is what he can do. Club teams can use the same evaluation process and put together a battery of tests to measure the athletic ability of their players in Speed, Strength and Explosiveness. Compare to the other players on the team or the same standards at the national team. One super important key is to then monitor these results to see a steady rise, a platue or a dip in results, then  manage that situation correctly.

The second phase of the evaluation is all football. Now, I will interject this here. I learned this grading system from Tony DeMeo when I worked for him as his OL coach at Washburn University. So I give all credit to this idea to Coach D. Of all the different football grading systems I have used or seen, this was the one that I truly believe is one of the best I have every used. You can read more about Coach Demeo at his website and also more about the "Gun Option" along with thoughts on leadership and coaching http://tonydemeo.com/ That is simply giving credit where credit is due...
What we did basically is Coach wanted us to define "Effort." When you think about each position on the field, we wanted to give the players examples of things they could do that would show extra effort. It is so much better for a player to understand what the definition of effort was than to just hear a coach say "come on, you just gotta give me more effort" or "Try harder." By having a definition of what extra effort was, the player would have a clear picture of what it was we were looking for. Now, when a player was in on a play he would be graded simply with a + or a - based on whether or not he did his job on that play. We will say that on the play we are talking about, the player executed his assignment correctly and used good technique. So he did his job. He would get a "+" on that play. Now in order to get a "E" or effort point on the play, he had to do one of the things that were defined as extra effort on that play. Here is a sample of what an offensive lineman could do on a play, that if he earned a +, he could have the opportunity to earn an extra effort point:

• Pancake: Blocking a defender and planting that defender directly on his back.
• Heel Shot: A second level of the defense block where he cut blocked a defender and the defender went down to the ground, usually head first with his heels flying high into the air.
• Road Kill: What we called Lineman's block on a DB where he runs over him like a Mack Truck hits a deer.
• Wired: A pass block where we pass set and stick the guy right on the line of scrimmage and he gets no rush at all.
• Knock Down: I used this one for anytime an offensive lineman knocked a defensive lineman to the ground on a pass play.
• 2 Blocks on a play: Any time an OL blocked more than one defender on a play.
• Blitz Pick-up: Picking up a blitz by the defense.

There were few other things, but this will serve as a good example of what we defined as "Extra Effort". If we look at the examples you can see that if a lineman is doing these things, they require more than just blocking your assignment. We were looking for guys that "can play the game with passion" or guys that "had a fast motor." I will interject this...my own opinion based on my work on many different levels of National Teams here in Sweden along with 11 years worth of club coaching, is we need this type of performance evaluation in our clubs and national teams. Here in Sweden we have this "krav" (standard) we want players to be at physically in order to play at the National Team level. Niclas Carlsson is the mastermind behind this and I do mean mastermind in a good sense!! He has information based on the physical testing where we can  evaluate if a player SHOULD be able to physically compete on an international level. Those physical tests are compared with other national teams that take the same tests and the World Team. The first thing we as coaches usually say, is "old Sven is a hell of a player but he doesn't meet the standard so we can't look at him." This is where we need to be open and have a system where we can evaluate old Sven as a football player. Then if we see that he his an "effort" player, then maybe we can work with him on the physical part, which in turn will make him a better athlete and raise his level of play even further. At the same time, this gives us a chance to evaluate Björn, Sven's brother, who is one of the best "testers" but can't seem to block a pee-wee player. If we evaluate Björn we can work with him to develop his football playing technique and then he will become better at playing football, because he already has all the other tools...So back to the "Extra Efforts" you can see that a player who grades out at 95% with 3 EE's in 10 plays is a solid performer. He is doing his job good and he his giving extra effort about 30% of the time.  Now, if the other guy is grading out at 80% and getting 6 EE's in 10 plays, I would tell you to evaluate that boys mistakes and get him to do his job correctly at a higher percentage, but get him on the field. He is giving you a 60% Extra Effort quotient...he is out there knocking people off the ground, picking up blitzes, getting two blocks on a play...he is performing the game at a level that is great.

Now let's take a step back and evaluate the minus. If a player made a mistake on a play, meaning he did not do his job. Then we would not just write - on his grade sheet. We would identify the minus. Coach DeMeo had a system we used where the minuses were broken down into 4 areas:

• "A" was assignment. The player simply did the wrong thing on the given play.
• "C" was concentration which was technique. The player was not able to do his job on the play because he did not use the proper technique. Coach used to say that in order to use the right technique you had to "focus on the task at hand."
• "E" was a lack of effort. The player did not get his job done because he loafed. He didn't give effort. If this accord, it would most likely occur on the backside of a play. Isn't the backside of the play important to cut off the defensive pursuit? I will add here that the first two mistakes, are easily corrected by coaching. This mistake was simply not tolerated. This player needs to be set down an talked to as to what the problem is.
• "S" was a synergy mistake. In other words the player did not do anything to help the team on that play. Most usually was a penalty on a play.

So we would take all the minuses and see where the mistakes were being made. This is an extremely useful tool for a coach, because it is your report card on how you are coaching. Here is an easy example. You look at a game and you see that the majority of your minus A's (assignments) are happening on a certain play. Well that tells you as a coach that you need to get those guys together and work out what they don't understand in order to run that play. If you see that the majority of minus C's (concentration = technique) is on your pass sets on your 5 step game, then you need to spend some more practice time teaching the players exactly how you want the pass set executed. This allows you to really keep tabs on how to improve your players and get the most out of them and also allows you as a coach to evaluate the job you are doing.

Wrap up and Confession:

I know this has been a long one and I have had this on my mind for a very long time. I am a true believer that we are headed the right direction here in Sweden in most clubs and at the national team level. I also believe that if we are going to have a physical standard, we should also have a football performance standard. A system where live scrimmages, insides runs and 7-on-7 drills are graded at a camp, then you as a coach will really find who is the best player right then and there. I mean if you have a new guy that shows up at a camp and he is grading out higher than an old favorite. He is getting more effort points, then you have to get that player on the field. Now, time for the confession part...I was never able to totally use this grading system when I coached here in Sweden at the club level. It is a little bit time consuming. Back in the day when I was at the WU, I could come in on a Sunday morning after a Saturday night game and sit in my office and grade out every lineman that played in the game on his own individual sheet. It would take from about 8:00am to noon to get done.(Then me and the DL coach would go get a bucket a KFC and start getting ready for the next week). I had planned on using this grading system in preparation for the World Championships in 2007. I went as far as go through with the entire staff how it should work. I was not available to be at that camp because my new born son was in the hospital and the grading didn't get done like I wanted. But I think in a situation nowadays where you have film systems like Hudl and film after a practice is readily available, something like this would be extremely important and effective to develop players to their max and help coaches find the best players for the given game or tournament. At the club level, to be one or two coaches grading all the players, well it's tough, but it is do able. Some clubs do have bigger staffs and I think it would be able to develop those players to reach their potential faster. And don't forget that the players grades are also a report card to you as a coach on how well you are communicating your expectations.

Oh yeah, one more thing:

This system is built on the "Reward the behaviour that you want" philosophy. We would keep a chart of EE's throughout the regular season on a big board so every player could see how many EE's everybody else had. It increased the competition to be the "Effort Leader." We also had a standard set for each positon that if they graded out at or above a certain percentage and at or above a certain number of EE's they were awarded a certificate on Monday's practice following the game. We used unit EE's. Example, anytime the offense had a penalty on a drive, but over came that penalty and got a first down to keep the chains moving, everybody on the field received and extra effort point. It rewarded the behaviour we wanted. I could go on all night here, but this has been the most I have every written since I did my Senior English paper back in 1982. I hope that you find it useful, I hope that it is something that you can use and I hope it gets you thinking about how you can develop players both physically and in the area of football performance.

Good luck to all the Junior teams who have kicked off their season here in Sweden and good luck to the Senior teams that will kick-off soon. Also, to you Junior players that want to and will be apart of the adventure to the European Championship tournament...keep working, keep believing take it one step at a time. To you Senior players who are working to make the team for the World Championships 2015 which will be played here in Sweden...seize the opportunity...work hard, be physically prepared and be an EFFORT player!!

Good night...

Thoughts on a Train

Well, I made it back to the train station after the game. Now it will be the long trek home. The Swedish Jr. National team defeated Holland in a qualification game (34-12) and will now continue the quest toward making the 4 team tournament for the Jr European Championships which will be held in Germany sometime in August this year.
The win today means we will be playing against Denmark later this summer. Win that game and we are in.
The game was exciting and I was really happy with the teams play. I have to give a shout out to the OL. They did a good job of executing their assignments and played hard. We had zero sacks, which is always good, and almost went penalty free up front. So my initial feeling is that the OL rose to the occasion. The next step will be to grade the film and see what the "big eye in the sky" says.
As I have made this trip I have been thinking about how these games & the camps leading up to the games are put together. There is an enormous commitment by a lot of different people. The players all have to find their way to the camps and games. Every event costs money, plus the cost of travel to and from the game. It is always encouraging to see how the players always seem to get there and they arrive excited and ready to work.
The support staff is incredible. They get the equipment organized, water ready , after dinner snacks organized, air mattresses checked out, hotel keys organized along with dealing with a host of other things that come up during the weekend of the camp or game.
This weekends game was a big deal and the Helsingborg Jaguars did a tremendous job getting everybody to and from bus stations to the hotel, back and forth to practices & to the field on game day.
I heard the attendance was around 650 which was a very nice crowd. I am not sure how many people watched the game streamed, but I heard it was over 1000.
When I sit back and watch all this happen, the words "For the Love of the Game" seem to be echoing through my head.
So thanks to all the players, coaches, support staff & volunteers that made the camps leading up to today & of corse the game itself a great experience!
Now, time to prepare for Denmark.
Good luck to all the teams here in Sweden who will soon kick-off the 2013 season! Play hard!

The Year in Review--The Year Ahead

Well, with a cool title like that, you would have to expect a really professional account of what has happened this last year and what to expect this coming year, but instead you will have to settle with what I have written...if you continue to read.....OK, thank you for continuing to read...here we go.

FOOTBALL 2011
Since part of the purpose of this blog is to update on my football experience here in Sweden, we will begin there. This season was one that can be described best as a launching pad for the future. Here at Arlanda we have made a serious effort to focus on building a football team and club and make it as good as we can. Notice I didn't say "better than everyone else" because that is not the focus. Our goal is not to build a team/club that prides itself on saying "we are better than you" it is as truly simple as building an organization that provides a positive experience for all its members. That is what we took the first steps in doing this year. Keep in mind, that this blog is mine and these opinions are mine, but I am comfortable that what I type here reflects the general attitude of your club...if not, there is a comments section and it cost nothing to start a blog :-)
Now this in itself can be an enormous topic, but I will relate it like this:  What I learned (or was reminded of) from football this year:

1. Working with Rik Parker is fun. Rik is a guy that I knew pretty well before he came to Arlanda, but after spending this past season coaching with him, I have to give him a lot of credit for really getting me recharged in regards coaching. I had reached a spot in my life that being here (Sweden) year around and just about run it's course. But working with Rik has been refreshing and I truly believe we are on the right course.
2. Concentrate and focus on what is important to your club, your team and start with your practice. This is a great start. What we have tried to do is make each practice moment the best it can be. I will not lie to you and say that at every practice, everybody was there. I cannot speak for other teams, but in all honesty, I would be surprised if any team averages more than 75 to 80% attendance at EVERY practice. So, what we did is make every practice special and routine. Sometimes people had to work "out of position", but the thought process was each practice is a game day, so if today was a game, who would play where. This may seem  strange, but this did a lot for building team unity. I mean, if I had to say, "we have three lineman...who will fill in. We can't run a play until somebody is in there." Somebody would jump in. Maybe it wasn't the guy that I would want in there on the Saturday, but it was a guy that was saying through his action "OK Coach, I'll do it because it has to be done." "I'll do what helps the team." "I am tough enough to do this." With that type of thinking and mentality, we have taken a huge step in the right direction. Any activity we run with the Sr team is guaranteed to be a good experience, an opportunity to work hard and a chance to get better along with having fun doing it.
3. Don't mess with things that take time and energy and provide little satisfaction. Since I have been in Sweden, I have found myself always trying to do as much as I could for football. There is apart of me that still would love to be out there doing everything I can for everybody, but it just is not possible. So, what I did this year was to focus on those things that I deemed worthy of my time. Sound a little egotistical...maybe, but it's the way you have to be sometimes.
4. Stop worrying about the other guy. I came to the realization that it is not my job to decide what is right and wrong in coaching or running a club. I grew up under the guise that your job was to win the game and do it with class. Part of class was having a lead and running the clock out, not trying to run the score up. Now this hasn't happened a lot, but there have been three times that I have personally felt that guys went out of their way to get one more touchdown in a game that was out of reach...it happened in the infamous SM-Final in 2008 when SMM went for two up 68-32 late in the 4th qtr. This year it was CC staying in no-huddle trying to get a young kid some carries and scoring on a run (that yes, we should have stopped) as time ran out in a game they were up several points...TRC took their opportunity to get one more TD in a game that they had under total control with around 2 minutes left...Now I will admit that I wasted no time in letting the coaches (all who I considered friends and still do) know exactly what I thought about what happened....BUT...that complaining I did was all wasted time. I told them all how I felt about what happened with no hidden words....well, upon further review...why waist my time and energy...nobody "did it on purpose"....so maybe those are just things that happen. I realized this summer while spitting some wood, worry about my guys, my team, my club...that's it. With that attitude, the second half of the season, was truly enjoyable and I have wasted very little time with concentrating on things that, at the end of the day, really don't matter.....except the occasional bad call by a referee....
5. Defining simplicity. Keep it simple stupid. I have been working on defining simplicity. I have not finished, but I am getting close. It really doesn't mean that you line up in the "I" formation with one TE and 2 Wr's. What it means is that everything you do revolves on executing the play with the best fundamentals of blocking, tackling, throwing, catching, running or even kicking that are possible. Many of us coaches will stand in front of the a whiteboard and say "Well, we will do this and this..." Have you ever heard a player describe what went right on a play..."I pulled and he never saw me and I trapped the crap out of him!!" or "I filled my gap and plugged the entire play up."  A player's descriptions of what happened usually start with the word "I..." remember that coaches, the players are the ones doing what we draw, make sure they are equipped to perform.

That is my 2011 year in review...now what about 2012?? Well we have started back in October, meeting twice a week and doing a program where we train on running fundamentals, change of direction, plyometrics and lifting where we focus on movements that will make us better football players. The guys have been coming in, sometimes more than others, but every Tuesday and Thursday night somebody is getting better.
As many people have heard, we are bringing back Aki Jones for the entire season. I think Aki will be a serious force to reckon with on the field. I think to most teams his presence was felt on the fieldlast year. But what people don't know is how good he works off the field too. He does a great job working with the kid in the National Idrotts Utbildinging program and helping coach the other youth teams in our clubs. He is also fantastic at school visits. Last years offensive import Nick Danielsson will be missed. He did a great job for us. He is currently back in the U.S. looking to get into coaching. I hope that happens for him because I know he'll do a great job. We plan on adding an American QB this year and are in the process of getting that done. But as of this update it has not been finished.

NEW YEARS RESOLUTION FOR 2012:
Go back and read the resolutions for 2011...I think I'll just shoot for them in 2012...I didn't accomplish them in 2011...or 10..or 09...so we'll stick with the same for 2012...

WHAT WAS GREAT ABOUT GOING HOME TO OKLAHOMA IN OCTOBER:
Seeing the family is always the best. Seeing my oldest boy, Jonathan and hanging out with him and being in awe of the man he has become is always a blast. Seeing my two younger brothers (and thinking they are starting to look old) laughing with my Dad and hearing stories about the good old days and nothing is better than a hug from Mom...
Then there is going back to see a college football game. Nothing like the environment of a college football game and especially going to see The University of Oklahoma play. I didn't go to school there, but I grew up a fan. Of course I would have gone their and played football it I had just been...bigger, faster, stronger and a better athlete...so damn close...anyway..one game in Norman and then we made the trek down to Dallas for the OU vs Texas game. That should have been a blog post or two on it's own..but here is a few pics from the trip:

Here is the pregame tailgate snack: The shiskabob(that's how I spell it) a big thick piece of toast...a twice baked potato...a jalapeno wrapped in bacon and stuffed with creme cheese...water chestnuts wrapped in bacon and soaked in a spicy sauce...and a cold beer...of course that was only round one on all aspects....courtesy of Uncle Mike Arbuckle...

This put a tear in my eye...O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A

another band shot...don't know why the Texass fans booed here...

Here is my brother Mike and son Jonathan...throwin' down the horns at the cotton bowl!!

and we'll finish with a pic of my son Samuel at the OKC zoo..yes..he's the one on the left....don't even...

Well...thats it for a quick update on a little bit of what was 2011 and what will become 2012...a little bit of a rambling update..but as you know..my new years resolution is (insert Lee Corso's blooper here)...if you don't know what that is...look it up on you tube...

Halfway through the year

Well, since we are at July 1 and 2011 is on the "way out", I thought it would be a good time to update the old blog again. We'll start with the official report on 2011 New years resolution:

• Update blog every two weeks--Result--there's always next year...
• Learn to play the guitar--Result--there's always next year...
• Have a date night with my wife each week--Result--need a better definition of date night...
• lose weight--Result--am down 13kg's but seemed to have hit a plataue--maybe I have found my ideal weight???

Here's is what's happening so far this year:

FOOTBALL WITH THE JETS:
To say that we are struggling would be an understatement. We have tied one game and lost 5. The guys are  playing, but we just can't seem to put it all together. On offense we have some serious struggles. The biggest challenge we have is that we have about 25 guys playing so a lot of players have to play both ways. That is ok if your opponents are having guys go both ways, but when they are not, the advantage goes to the opponent later in the game.
The thing that I can promise is that we will keep having good practices, we will keep working on the fundamentals and we will get better.
I am totally convinced that if we could combine our "B" team and our "A" team we would be more competitive. The "B" team is a good idea, but, in hindsight, I have to say it all happened a little early. We'll see what we can put together for the second half of the Season...You know, the season where we have played our last game on June 11 then we will play our next game on August 6th...then we play again on August 27th...Anyways, Coach Parker has a BBQ party scheduled on Monday the 25th of July. So we'll kick things off for the second half of the season....

Youth Football:
We are on summer break for our U-11 & U-13 age groups also. We had an end of school camp on June 20-22. It was not as well attended as we had hoped, but the kids that came had a good time. We will keep doing this camp at the end of the school year and again before schoo starts. The next camp will be scheduled to be the 17-19 of August. It should be a fun time.

I might finally get it:
In my 9 years I have been involved in American Football here in Sweden, I have been in a million conversations, emails, committee meetings, disucssions over a beer, phone calls and forum posting meetings regarding how to make football better here in Sweden. There are as many ideas and opinions as there are days in eternity. That is somewhat normal, when people are passionate about something. Finally, I have come to the realization that the best use of my time and energy is to concentrate on where I am at and try to do what I do better than it has been done before. This is the secret to making football great. Sure, we need those people with the ideas and vision to push the sport forward here in Sweden. That, of course, is essential to growth, but if more time was spent by us trying to make our clubs as professional and good at producing football players as we could be, then the game would improve. Committ to getting out to the local schools and recruiting kids to come and try some football. Committ to going to the local hockey, soccer, handball and basketball clubs and see if there are some players that want to play two sports. More importantly, find those that have been cut or stopped playing and get them to try something completely new and fun, like American Football. Committ to not just saying we can "play some kids up" when you don't have enough U-13 guys to make a team and you want to move up some U-11 kids so you have a team. Go out and find enough players in that age group. It is not easy and it is not easy for us at the Jets. It takes a lot of work and not by just one person to make it go and keep it going when the numbers are low. I can't say it enough...If you want football in this country (Sweden) to grow, then make it the best it can be where you are at: That, my friends, is the secret...In my opinion anyway...if you don't think I am correct, then just keep watching...but don't invite me to one of those meetings where we all sit around and have coffee and brainstorm about what needs to be done...because that is the slowest way to get something done...wait..if you have good pastry & coffee....yeah...then invite me...lunch included..could get me there also....

Senior National Team:
Things are starting to get rolling for the Senior national team. They are having a "combine" type camp at the end of July. This is a great idea, in my opinion and it gives the coaching staff an opportunity to take a look at what is out there and an opportunity to set standards (which has been done in the past via Niclas Carlsson) to show the players where they should be physically. I hope that all the guys that are serious about football take the time to go to the camp and show what they have. I have met and spoke with John Konecki and he seems like a really good coach and he is excited about leading Team Sweden to the next European Championships. I would also encourage any coach that wants to be apart of this camp to show what they can do and help work the camp and meet with the coaches currently on staff to contact Patrick Lundqvist and see if more help is needed.
A few people have asked me about me roll. As of this moment, my roll is to be a fan. I cannot committ my free time right now to the national team. I am full up with the Elite gymnasium program, school visits, u-11 and Senior team football...and when you are employed by a club, there is an "other duties as assigned" clause. But someday, somehow, I hope that I can be involved to some degree. I truly enjoy the idea of international play, The European Chamionships & The World Championships.
Here is a link with information regarding the Senior National Team camp: http://www.amerikanskfotboll.com/110728senior1.pdf

Vacation in Sweden:
I have four (4) straight weeks of vacation. As an American, I can say that I think this is really cool. But now as the owner of  a summer stuga I can say that it means that for 4 weeks, I do a different kind of work than what I do on a regular basis. But all in all, I love being at "The Kennedy Compound". Lots of projects going on and a few visitors coming by, before we head back to the big city....

Well until next time, and you know I can't promise when next time will be, I hope all your blocks are pancakes....also keep in mind that all the things I write here on the blog are my thoughts on how things are and are not intended to represent Arlanda Jets or SAFF ect...

Life over here

First post for 2011, puts me a little behind my New Years resolution of updating every two weeks, but as we say in Sweden "sante livet" (Such is life)...if I spelled that correctly...
Here is an update of what is going on.

Football:
Rik Parker has settled in here and taken over as Head Coach for the Senior Team. Rik and I work together with the High School guys in what is called National Idrotts Utbildning in American Football. So we start each morning with a quick cup of coffee then walk over to the gym and work with the players that are in the school program. After the work-out we head back to the office and plan out that next practice. It has added a little skip in my step so to speak, because it has been along time since I had time to spend with another coach during the "normal" work day hours. We have started our "pre-season" practice and are practicing outside Tuesday and Thursday nights while having theory meetings every Wednesday. So far I can say that every practice has been good. The guys are working hard. We are not many so that will force us to be creative, but last time I checked it is still only 11 on the field at a time.
What we are trying to do is be good at what football is about. As Coaches we are often amazed with ourselves at our "new" ideas or our special schemes we like to run. It is a very solid feeling to see a QB step back and hit the seam quick, when the flat defender breaks to the flat. Looks good on paper and even better when it happens on the field. The thing we have to remember is that the ability to throw the ball, run the route and read the defender have to be able to be executed by the players. So, in this example, the better the QB is at throwing mechanics, footwork, decision making abilities...the better that play will be. Also it will be tied into the receivers base fundamentals of understanding route running, take-off, reading the defenders movement and actually to get it all done, he has to know how to catch the ball. In a nut shell that is what we are trying to work on those five basic things that every football player has to do--blocking, tackling, catching, throwing & running. It's that simple. It will not be a system that wins, it will be a group of athletes that can do the things that each offensive, defensive or special team system requires to be done. The thing to remember is that everything can be traced back to one or more of the five fundamentals of football. Don't get me wrong. Coaching your system and the keys things that are involved are very important. Matching what your system is to what the talents of your players are is the key to developing any system in football...again, simply in my opinion. I have coached in Pro-style, Wing-T, Flex-Bone, Wish-Bone, Spread and Single Wing systems...they are all good systems but to win in the system, you need the athletes that can perform the special athletic skills required by each system.
What we are going to trying do is play a fundamentally sound style of football that matches the strengths our athletes possess. It is that simple. What will happen? We will see....

Youth Football:
On the youth football front I am running full speed ahead. I know have over 34 school visits booked between now and the end of the school year. Our U-11 & U-13 teams have started outdoor training so we are expecting more and more to start showing up. I have some tremendous leaders in our youth programs and I expect an increase in those numbers.
On Sunday April 3rd, 13.00-15.00 at our field, Midgårdsvallen, we are conducting a big "prova på" (try-out) day for our U-15, U-17 & U-19 teams. This is a project to have our active players bring a friend to try out some football and see if they like it. We will also get some advertisement out in the schools and also in the community by handing out flyers. If every active player brings one friend then we have a chance to double in size right away. If nothing else, we expose the game and club to more people.

5 Things to do from each formation:
1. Run inside
2. Run off-tackle
3. Run outside
4. Pass (including PAP)
5. Screen

5 Things for a lineman to do every practice:
1. Stance and first 2 steps
2. Pass set and punch versus various alignments
3. Working on putting hands, feet & head together with every block. (by head I mean where it should be aimed)
4. Recognize alignements of defenses and understand who (most likely) has what gap.
5. Keep your body between your assigned defender and the ball for the entire length of the play. (If you are not good at any of the first 4, adhere to this principle at all times. If you are good at the first 4, this will be easier to do)

Until next update...just keep coming off the ball low and hard...Keep a postitive attitude between you and the challenges you face everyday...

Good-bye 2010 Hello 2011

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!!

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...

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...

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:

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

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....

THIS IS HALF THE STORE

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...

SAMUEL DOING ONE ARM ROWS
WITH MY BAG OF CANDY!!

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!!

A look at what we have

I thought I would show a little about our field and facilities which are result of this clubs 21 years of working their tails off. Last year at the 20th anniversary of the start of the Arlanda Jets, they showed some pictures of the first practice...on a gravel field. This club has a strong tradition of getting things done and this is a picture blog of the things that have come to pass over the last few years that I have been here. But don't get the wrong idea. These were not done because of me. The spirit and leadership in the club has been working hard for many, many years to get these things accomplished....
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.

Here is a shot from across the field at the Bleachers and new press box. The field is 3rd generation turf and seems to be holding up fantastic. You can see that there is plenty of snow piled up on the sides, but that is postitve. Our Kommune, local municipality, does a great job in the winter plowing the field off as the snow comes down. Since it is not heated underneath, keeping the snow off, helps the field thaw quick and also gives us the opportunity to work-out on it as much as we can. If the weather cooperates, we can play just about year around. Usually, December, January and Feburary are a little chilly in this area of the world, but there have been mild winters, where we were able to have outdoor practice and not freeze at those times...this year...was not an option...

Here is the weight room that is under the bleachers. This is all started as an idea when we moved the current bleachers from the old field to this place. The bleachers used to rest on the ground at the old field. When we moved to this new field, the idea about moving the bleachers came up. Then the idea to raise them up, followed by the "what will we do with the space underneath"---and the weight room was born....it has been a long process and not quite finished in finality, but we have 4 plat-forms with 150kg per platform. We train using the general idea to create movement---create strength--create power and speed....sounds fancy to write...bottom line is "hard work works." Simple...but true.....

This is the last project left in the wieght room. In the space you see there, we are working on getting some rubber flooring and 3rd generation turf put in on top of the rubber flooring. This will give us a unique opportunity to have an 15 yrd long and roughly 10 yard wide space of turf to work on everything from plyos to take-offs to individual techniques....it will feel very good if we get that done....

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....

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!!

One step closer to the Swedish drivers liscense

Well I spent three and a half hours driving a little car and trying to control on the classic halkbana course on Friday afternoon. I now am one final step from getting my Swedish drivers license. It has been a long process, but I hope that it is soon over. I can say that all the people that told me I would have a blast at this course were right. I hadn't done stuff like that since a high school lunch trip with two of my buddies driving all over town like crazies at the first snow fall my senior year. Gotta say that the teacher was a blast. He was full of comments for us when we messed up and was not shy with his congratulations when the car actually stopped as it should....

We (the Jets) have booked a pre-season game against the Helsinki Roosters. We take the big boat over to Finland and play them on April 25th. Should be a good test for us to see where we are at.

Hope all the players are working hard in the weight room. I read a quote written on a white board in our weight room. If I translate it correctly it said "strength is good, Explosiveness is everything." I am pretty sure Coach Oud wrote than down as a message for our young guys in the gymnasium program. As a football player, you just need to think about how you have to move and play in a game. Very seldom are you in one spot exerting energy and trying to move something while your feet stay flat on the ground. You have to use ground based traditional exercises to build strength and at the same time exercise in movements that simulate game actions. I think there can be a great marriage between the MAQ training that is taking over Sweden and the traditional training in the core lifts. Not to mention training speed and agility by mimicking movements that you do in the game. When you tie all those things together AND work-out on a regular schedule, you will develop into a good player.

Tip to the young coach---Never tell your players to line up alphabetically by height. It creates a lot of confusion!!

Until next time...understand leverage...be first to strike and first to drive...

Back again

Well I found this blog spot and thought I would try it out. It is a little easier to run because the instructions are in english...that can be both good and bad for me. Lots of cool computer talk that might as well be in greek for me...but I'll try to manage.

I thought the Super Bowl was a really good and exciting game. The Steelers were excellent, the Cardinals kept killing themselves with penalties. The Steelers seemed to get comfortable, made a few mistakes. Kurt Warner did his magic and Larry Fitzgerald lost the MVP award on the Steelers last play. All in all it was a fan friendly game and we (the Jets) had about 100 people sitting and watching the game.

I renamed me blog to the Linemans dream....So I'll talk a little football and maybe even unleash some good old BBQ recipes from time to time.....

Here in Sweden, football is starting to role into the pre-season....We just had our first camp over the weekend and it was a great camp. We had 6 practices in two days....took just an hour and a half each practice and did nothing but the five fundamentals of football---blocking, tackling, running, catching and throwing....the weather was below freezing and the turf was froze in some spots...it was great to be outside and practicing football again...

The Super-Series is shaping up to be the Stockholm district with special guest, the Carlstad Crusaders....I personally feel that it is time to look at moving to some sort of district play within the country and moving into the play-offs from there....

Cool to see the Junior National team getting reading for the Junior World Championships...that should be a great trip for the guys that make the team...Should be a great motivator for the guys trying to make the team....

Old news is that there will apparently be a change in the Senior staff...tough to take for me...I really thought that we could get somewhere special in 2010...I feel that the national team experience is a great thing...

Was home visiting the family in the States in December through the first of January...it was great to be back home and see the family...My grandma (we affectionately call here Nanny) is 90 and still driving a car and doing her own shopping. It was great to visit with her about all the things she has seen in her lifetime...kind of makes my obsession with winning football games seem kind of small....

College football ended with my Sooners falling short of another national title...It was a good game and I would love to have seen them score on the first possession...Holding on a long completed pass kind of took the air out of them a little....along with the int before half...along with the goal line stand by the Gators...It will be a very interesting season next year with Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy all coming back for another season...I'm not sure if it has ever happened in a season that the three top vote getters and two previous winners have been back for one more year at the same time.....should be interesting to see how it shapes up...and BOOMER SOONER!!

When I was home in enjoyed a great meal with three old Washburn Ichabods...Jared Barge, Joey Hoytal and Buck Rueter...it was a great time for this old coach to re-hash old stories and catch up with these guys who have gone on in life and are doing well....Caught up with another one of my old players, Joe "Mauler" Busby....he was truly a "Mauler" on the field....Great to hear he is doing well....

I'll finish up with tips for the young coach---
Never look at your players as just players....you can never forget that, you, as a coach, may not concentrate on much else, but they have lives outside of the game....Guide the gifted....lead the over achievers and you will be successful...the key will be that you can tell who is really gifted and who is really the over achiever...that is not always easy...
Until next time...Fire out low...bring you hands and feet...when all else fails...cut 'em...