Week 11
August 16 - August 22
On Monday, Mikko and Rio called us and asked us if we wanted to go to the horse track.
So we went but it wasn't what we expected. Since I'm from Kentucky I'm use to horses
going really fast with the riders on their backs. Nope not in Finland. These riders are in
carriages behind the horse and the horses aren't allowed to gallop. They have to run. So
the horses aren't going near as fast as the horses in the States. The first race was pretty
funny, but you got use to not laughing after a while. During a race if a horse gallops too
many times you are disqualified. So if you got money on a horse that starts to gallop, you
get pissed.
Mikko and Rio hit it big on the very first race. They had their little track books that tell
all about the horses and they even have their own superstitions like what seat they sit on
and what pen they use. They didn't win again after the first race. The only one that got
anything the rest of the day was Scott. He wouldn't really look at the book but watch the
horses as they went down to the starting spots. He said that he could tell who was a
winner by watching them run or jog before the race. He broke even but won on 2 out of
the 10 races.
On Tuesday we had practice, but we weren't putting in too many things because we were
getting ready for our last regular season game. We just got our legs loose and the guys
caught some balls, nothing special.
On Wednesday evening, Thomas and I headed down to the movies. We saw "The
Cronicles of Riddick." I read some of the reviews online and they were all saying the
movie was horrible. Apparently this movie is supposed to be a sequel to the movie "Pitch
Black" but it was nothing like a sequel but just took one character from the first movie.
Since I never saw Pitch Black originally, I thought the movie was okay. It has Vin Diesel
in it and is filled with a bunch of one-liners. So if you like that stuff you should see it, its
also a Sci-Fi movie.
On Thursday we had practice again and this one was a little better. We always seem to
get more guys at practice on a Thursday, but it still isn't as many people as we should
have at practice. We got some more things accomplished that we needed to. Our team
doesn't really need to practice on the physical aspects of the game, but we need to work
on the mental part of the game. We need to all be on the same page when I call a play or
an audible. Everyone on the field has to know what is going on at all times, especially on
offense.
On Friday, we relaxed and played Madden most of the day because we had a game on
Saturday. In the evening we headed down to eat kebabs as usual on a Friday night. Now
the past 3 weeks we have gone and not got what we ordered. The people that run the
place are Turkish. That means they are from the country of Turkey and not from the city
of Turku in case you were wondering. So not only do they not know a ton of Finnish, but
they have even less knowledge in English. Every time we think we are getting what we
order, but when it comes out its not, but its not too far off so we eat it anyway. This time I
read what we wanted in Finnish, only they were Finnish words in a thick American accent,
but at least they got it right this time and that was a plus. Then we were thinking we have
been eating at the same place on Friday the whole summer. Its the same 3 guys working
in there everytime. Don't you think they should know what we want by now? We order
the same thing everytime, or we try to order the same thing everytime. We have to be the
only Americans that come in that place on a regular basis. We have two more visits to
that kebab place maybe we won't have a problem communicating for a change next time.
Saturday we played the game. On Sunday, I was pretty beat up from the game so I just
stayed in for the day and rested. We normally do something on Sunday nights but this one
was an exception.
Somebody told us about a film clip on the internet from the game on Saturday. It is the
clip of Scott hitting the punt returner on that play that the refs screwed up. Coach Haula
told us later that the refs apologize for that call because it was so horrible. They were
thinking of the ruling that goes with the fair catch. I knew it on the field and told the refs
that that is the rule for a fair catch but not in this situation because he didn't call for a fair
catch. But they just shook their heads. Good thing this wasn't a close game or that could
have cost us. But here is the clip of the play.
They also have the stats up from the Jaguars game. I was 16-25 with 279 yards passing and
2 TDs and had 14 yards rushing. Scott: 3 solos, 3 assists, 1 forced fumble, 1 interception,
1.5 tackles for loss
Next week we play the Butchers in the semifinal game and we are going with Leo to shoot
some pistols.