The Gypsy King and the Jaguaarit

Highlights of Week 2:

1. Alright... I am feeling like a lot of you are getting the impression I am complaining about all things Finnish. I really am not, the differences between the Finnish culture and American culture are not radical ones, ... it is not like I am in Myanmar or China.

Note on Mynamar and China: The only late-night televsion station I get in English is the BBC World News so I am on top of all worldly current events i.e. earthquakes, cyclones, and the Italian crackdown on illegal gypsies.

Note on Gypsies: Or the for the politically correct, the Roma, are a crowd who are very unpopular in Finland. They are generally in the country illegally and apparrently are known to steal anything not nailed down. Being an ignorant American I know little of this ethnic group, beyond what I learned from Borat. After asking a few questions and a Wikipedia search I find out gypsies are for the most part of Romanian descent. For all of you that aren't aware I am exactly 50% Romanian. Figuring I am the largest Gyspy in Finland, I've decided to start my own Gypsy community and by the end of the summer I plan to be the underground gypsy chief of Western Helsinki. I will supply the best in secondhand bicycles and doormats.

I am having a great time observing these differences and in my own unique and cynical way, I am spitting them back to you. Finland has treated me well so far and everyone I have met has been extremely kind. A few people have had to their homes for dinner and everyone is eager to show me the best of Finland.

2. After the game against Turku and the following night of debauchery I was worthless for the next day and a half. Went out for Italian on Sunday afternoon but the day was mostly a waste. Monday I managed to drag myself to the gym in Toolo, a neighborhood between Munnkineimi, (my hood), and the city centre. I was told Toolo Gym for the largest gym in Helsinki, but I wouldn't say it was much larger then the Peak Fitness in downtown Raleigh. I rolled in about 14:30, (that is right... now you have to convert just like I do) and besides the normal mid-afternoon gym rats and rattesses, the place was empty. I figure I'd do the same workout, I have been doing in Raleigh, and start with heavy dumbbells bench reps.

Note on Gyms: The damn Metric System. I should have brought a calculator with me. A 45-mintue workout turned into 2 hours of frustration. I know it doesn''t take a CPA certificate to multiply 1 kilograms X 2.2 to get American pounds, ... but the dumbbells aren't labeled, and out of order. I spent more time picking up sets to "feel" their "heavyness" and guess that it's right.

Still it was nice to get back in the gym and push some weights around and hit the elliptical a bit.

3. Besides going to the gym a few times the week and the regular practices on Tues and Thurs I took it easy this week. I am still nursing a jammed right thumb and the tightness in my hips, knees, and ankles still remind me it's been a year since they have been really pounded the ground. I met with OC Jens and dicussed the blocking scheme our coming game against the Jyväskylä Jaguaarit, or Jaguars. They run a 3 -3 stack half the time and I 4 - 3 the rest of time, but adjust at the line instead of from the huddle. I am going to have to make the double Mike calls, and well are identify the front for the entire line every play, which means no mouthpiece for me this game.

4. Finnish High School graduation was this Friday/Saturday. Most students are 18-19 at graduation, add that to the fact that the drinking age is 18, the entire weekend is a massive party and the streets of Helsinki are flooded with wasted Finnish teenagers. I went out to dinner to a Mexican restaurant Friday night for a friend birthday, and afterward made it to a nearby bar districts.

Note on drinking laws: Finns are very lax. Public comsuption of alcohol and public urination are as Finnish as baseball and apple pie are American. I saw three drunken fights in the middle of the street with not a POLISI in shouting distance. Apparrently that is just how they roll here.

5. As for this week's game we won 42-35 against the Jyväskylä Jaguaarit. The game was ours first away and Jyväskylä is a college town 3 hours by highway due north of Helsinki, in the middle of Finland lake district. The weather was great about 75 degrees and there field was grass. The defensive front was awful but our young center was getting beat one on one so after a few adjustments to the scheme our passing game overwhelmed them. We dominated the game in a way the score doesn't reflect, due to poor defense. 3-4 defensive starters couldn't make the game due to high school graduation, and we lost 2 other starters to injury, I ended up playing the last 3 quarters going both ways. I didn't mind because of how bad the Jaguars defense was. Their QB was from Oregon State and they had a good WR that repeatedly beat our inexperienced DBs, but the game wasn't that close.

6. Rob, Sonte, and myself are running a mini-camp youth clinic this week with about 35 kids ages 10-15. Their football skills aren't far off Americans at this same age, so it is fun sharing with them the things I love above football, even though a Finnish coach usually has to reiterate my instructions and anecdotes to Finnish. Camp is starts early so I am hitting the sheets.

7. Flying to Nice, France next week to meet my parents and enjoy a bit of Provence and the Cote D'Azur for a long June weekend. This jetsetting around Europe thing is definetly not a drag.

Miss you all.

John