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....

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.....

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....

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!!

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...