Clint Patterson's Blog

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Week 4 / Game 1
This week it is starting to warm up to a more comfortable temperature.  I have been able to wear T-shirts outside, but at night you still need a coat.  Earlier in the week I got stopped by a Jehovah's witness in the subway and she handed me a tract/pamphlet (in English) and we had a discussion for a little bit.  She said she believed in the bible, but was not part of the church ?  I went downtown a few times this week and one thing that I noticed was that you have to pay in most places to use the restroom.  You even have to pay in Burger King and McDonalds.  Around mid-week I had to fill out my papers for obtaining my visa or work permit here in Sweden.  It was good to do this due to my previous record in Scandinavia so hopefully there won't be any more hang ups in the airports around here.  This week I also went to a practice that the Junior team had to see what that was like.  They practice at a different field than we do and so I went to the different location.  Ilija and I got a little turned around on the way, but finally made it there.  Getting to a new place is always a possible adventure when you aren't in a familiar environment.  Anyways, during their practice I noticed 2 deer that just walked out carelessly across the practice field like everything was cool.  They just mosied their way across the field and back into some woods.  I was tempted to try to pet one.  Finally on Friday night we went to a bon fire.  They said it was like a Swedish tradition or almost holiday that every year they have big bon fires on a certain day.  I was informed that it is a historical event that started way back when to keep the witches away and that the tradition is still carried on today.  The bon fire was held at a field near a pond and there were a lot of people out there as well.  The bon fire was not that huge in comparison to some I have been to, but yet was bigger than the annual Jamie Jowers Thanksgiving night Campout fire.
 
We did have our first game this week and I think the best way to describe it would be " less than stellar ".  We got beat 54 - 6.  The team we played was said to be the top contender in the league for the championship. They were way more physical than we were.  They pretty much walked the dogs on us.  We could not stop them running and they passed at their pleasure along with blitzing almost every play on defense.  It was like a scramble fest for me.  I was on the move so much that I could barely call the plays in the huddle because I had cotton mouth so bad.  Then I would try to lick my fingers to get a better grip on the ball, but might has well wiped my face cause my mouth was so dry.  I think I had my feet set for like 3 throws the whole game and the rest I was scrambling or sprinting out.  I got hit by somebody nearly every play.  I made a few good runs, but many times couldn't break contain enough to do anything.  One time a guy hit me and my chinstrap went up on my face and my nose started bleeding for a bit, but stopped shortly thereafter.  Some have referred to it as " The Passion of Clint " saying that they crucified me on the field and after the game some fans commented to me " you take hits pretty well " and " do you want me to call an ambulance for you "....just to give you an idea. So you can imagine I am pretty sore today and have several areas that I have to take care of.  Since this is my first game in a while all of my neck muscles are sore from not being use to getting hit.  However, our guys did not give up or give in and played until the game was over so I was at least proud of that.  I did sneak away with one Td pass that my receiver made a good play on in the corner of the end zone.  On a side note the referees in Finland weren't great, but these over here are on a whole different level by themselves.
 
Since 2 of the teams in this league are playing in the Euro bowl the league has been adjusting the schedule around a bit to accommodate their needs and we were suppose to play a game this coming week, but now we are not because of a schedule conflict.  So we have an off week which should give me time to heal up hopefully.   We will have to get a lot better if we want to compete for the championship over here.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Regards,
 
Clint

Week 3
As you can imagine this week started off rough coming back from Germany and having to recuperate.   When I finally got my sleep straightened out I started back into my routine.  After 2 weeks of wearing everything I had, and much of it twice, it was time to wash clothes.  This was another experience, but I will say that the set up here is a little more efficient than the one I had in Finland... that never drained the water properly.  Over here they have a key and lock system for washing clothes.  Each person that lives here has  a lock specifically for their room number and it is stored in a grid on the wall in the laundry room.  This " grid " is almost like a bingo board or something.  It has sectors divided up into the dates of the month and is broken down into 3 hour sections.  So if you want to reserve the slot for Friday from 9 - 12 then you place your lock in that hole and leave it there until your time comes and then you go and wash your clothes.  When your time comes you take the lock out and then put it in the door that leads to the laundry room.  That door also has a main lock that everyone has a key to, but to keep people from stealing your clothes you have to put your personal lock in the top space that is also built into the door lock. This makes like a double lock.   Now I understood the principal, but not being able to read Swedish and they also put dates backwards here in Europe makes it a little difficult.  However, I had some of the guys explain it to me and I got it done.  I also hope I pushed the right buttons on the washing machine, but they came out smelling better so I guess I did.  They also have a machine in there that I have never seen.  Its like a roller or something that gets the wrinkles out of your laundry.  I don't even know the name of it.  Basically is has a cloth on it that wraps around  itself and you place your sheets or clothes on it and it pulls them in tightly and gets the wrinkles out.  It was neat to see.  Here are some pictures to hopefully help you understand.
 
 
 
 
 
Early this week I received official confirmation in the mail that Garth ( G - Funk ) Knight will indeed be gravitating in May.  I'm sure he will accept all gifts prior to, and after graduation, so send him something.  Rumor has it that it took a lot of prayer to get that boy through, but he did make it so what else can you say except... God is good.  hahaha.  The second half of the week here was dreary and rainy so I kind of stayed in for the most part.  We still had practice and are preparing for the game this coming week.  We still have a ways to go to be good.
 
At practice on Wednesday there were 3 people that came and stood on the field while we practiced.  Everyone was like who are those people, but it didn't take us long to figure it out.  These people came to do drug tests on our players.  After practice they had selected like 6 or so guys to take the test.  They wouldn't let those guys leave until they got it done either.  They ended up coming to the club house because some of the guys couldn't make ends meet for a while.  To me it looked legit and just like an NCAA drug test from the procedures that they were going through.
 
On Thursday I traveled with one of the coaches down to one of the southernmost points in Sweden.  A town called Malmö.  They said that Malmö is like the 3rd largest city in Sweden. It was a 6 hour ride (one way) and it was pretty neat to see the country side of Sweden and some of the coastline.  When we got to the very bottom you could even see Denmark from the shore.  It would be like being at Myrtle Beach looking over the ocean and when you could only see the horizon and at this point you would see towers and buildings.  To me that was odd to be able to see a different country in the distance, but they said that Copenhagen was right there.  We went to Malmö to watch a football scrimmage.  The Swedish national junior team had a scrimmage and this coach's son plays on the team so we went.  They played well and I think they even won.  I think they scored twice or something.  They play against the Junior national team from Holland on Saturday.  We got back at 4 am on Friday.  On the way I saw this building on the coast.  It is like some ruins of some castle like structure. 
 
 
I finished reading Numbers and Proverbs this week.  I was reading them at the same time and now I will start on Deuteronomy and Psalms.  I am jumping around a little bit I trying to cover some ground.  Numbers was tough for me to read because it was so much detail.  This week I also saw a hedge hog.  From watching that thing I don't think that they are intelligent creatures.  I also keep getting these Swedish pop-ups on my computer too, some of which are pretty hilarious.  I noticed that when cars ride by some are quiet and then some are loud, speaking of the tires against the road that is.  It is because they have special tires for the winter with small spikes in them and some people have changed over and some haven't.  They had these in Finland as well, but these spikes must be bigger or something because they are louder.  These people have 2 sets of tires.  One for the summer and one for the winter.
 
On Friday, Ilija and I went to lift weights.  After we lifted we went to get in the sauna.  Well there were like 7 kids in there and when I opened the door I noticed that it wasn't too hot.  These kids were probably around 13 - 17 years old.   I figured they didn't know what it was all about so I grabbed the water bucket and went and filled it up.  When I came back in they were looking at me like I was crazy.  I started to consistently throw water on the sauna heater and they were trying to be hard core, but pretty soon they started moving to the lower levels and when the lower level got full you could  hear them saying " ne ".  ( Ne means no in Swedish).  I just kept throwing and they kept saying " ne, nee, nee ! ".  I was laughing at them.  They sounded like a bunch of horses in there saying " neigh ".....lol.  It honestly wasn't even that hot, but they started peeling out of there like flies.  Like two of them stayed the whole time and when the rest had left one of those guys looked at me and said " what are you Finnish or something? " .  I said yeah half Finnish half American how'd you guess.  So now I have a group of kids at the gym that hate me and look at me funny when I go lift. How great.  I had heard rumors that the Swedish sauna is not as intense as a Finnish sauna and I guess they were right.
 
So now its game week so we have to get ready.
 
Regards,
 
Clint

Week 2
Not too much happened during week 2 that is worthy of writing about.  It did warm up here though towards the end of the week so hopefully it will stay pleasant.  I got into somewhat of a routine this week.  That is staying up late talking on IM, sleep late the next day, lift weights, come back and eat, check email, then go to practice, eat, then start it over.  There are some deviations during the day, but that's the general schedule.  One thing that I have noticed again here, as it was in Finland, is that no matter how fast a car is going or at what point the color of the light is.....if you go to cross the street they will stop and let you cross.  They don't give you a mad look either.  I always double look and then hustle across the street, but here its more like no look and take your time.  I see people just walking out in the road and I think that they are crazy and about to die, but then the car will stop and let them cross.
 
Practice was ok early in the week, but we picked it up towards the end.  I feel we still have a ways to go though.  Sometimes its hard for me to adjust to the pace of the game here.  I will overthrow receivers big time or throw it when they aren't ready or looking because I am use to the pace of the game at home, but I will adjust and hopefully the receivers will too.  I guess it won't happen just like that.  So it may take some time.  I believe it took a little while in Finland as well so hopefully we'll all get on the same page soon.
 
So I can officially count to 10 in Swedish.  Now I can do it in Swedish, Finnish, English and Spanish.  Maybe I'll get German here this weekend.  I am trying to learn the basics of the language here so that I can get by, but really there's no need to because everyone speaks English.  I can say " excuse me " , "you're welcome " , " I don't speak Swedish " and " I want to have a good practice/game " in Swedish as of now.  I will have to build my vocabulary in hopes of aiding in tracking down females.  Speaking of females...it seems I get one to two random emails a week asking me why I don't have a woman here yet.  I don't know what the big deal is and didn't known that I was supposed to be  in a hurry.  I'm trying to stay focused over here and my mama told me to be picky.  So if you have a problem just email her about it (or if you're married to her or happen to be her other son then just ask her).
 
So I finally got my shoulder pads and a helmet that fit.  I was hoping that I would get those soon seeing as how we leave for Germany tomorrow  With that thought I must begin to pack.
 
Regards,
 
Clint

Week 1
After the scrimmage with the roosters coach gave the guys the week off because some were banged up and also because it is Easter.  On Monday I lifted weights and for all of my Finnish readers I did locate the sauna in the gym and did throw loulu, but it wasn't the same without Marlon by my side.  I had no one to talk to while in the sauna and felt as though I was breaking tradition or something.  Then for lunch I went with one of the guys on the team to the Tyresö Centrum.  Later on that evening my boy Ilija and I went  threw on the field.  It took me an extremely long time to get warm due to the coldness.  I couldn't feel my fingers for like the first 15 minutes.  We threw for about an hour and then went and ate pizza at a local place and caught up on old college days.  Can you believe that a medium pizza could cost 17 US dollars.  I have got to watch myself over here or I will be spending everything that I have without even knowing it.
 
Then on Tuesday I went into the city of Stockholm to meet coach for lunch.  I took a bus then a metro that took us underground and then we popped out in the dead center of town.  This  was a new experience for me.  I don't remember ever taking a metro before in my life other than in Venezuela or Atlanta.  So I finally saw some of the females that everyone has been talking about and no Pat and Adam I don't have any pictures of them  because I don't carry my camera everywhere I go.  The city really has a lot of stuff going on down there.  I will have to get some footage of that place because there is water everywhere, bridges, neat looking buildings and such.  There are also all kinds of people there as well.  I guess you could say melting pot if you want to.  Coach just showed me around and gave me the tour on how to get to different places though in relationship to the city we really didn't get too far because there is so much down there.  It was interesting and I definitely will be heading that way again.
 
When I returned we had offensive meetings here at the club house.  The offensive coordinator was going over the playbook and the routes, blocking scheme, cadence, and theory of the system.  I started to understand how things worked and hopefully I will have a handle on it sooner than later.  After offensive meetings I went with 3 of the guys to watch the movie " The Passion of The Christ ", which made my second time seeing it.  The first time was in Aramaic and English and this time it was in Aramaic and Swedish.  Though I could not read the words, I knew what was going on and even sometimes explained what was happening to one of the guys who went with us.  It was a pretty neat experience to watch it over here though the movie theatre was smaller, the ticket cost like 14 US dollars, and there were less sniffles in the crowd than when I watched it at home.
 
The next day offensive skills had a short practice.  Skills meaning everyone except the lineman...sorry big guys, but its the truth.  Anyways we were throwing and getting warmed up when one of our receivers popped his Achilles tendon.  It was pretty bad and he has already had surgery on it and will be out for the season.  He was in his starting stance and when I said " hutt " he immediately went to the ground.  I guess when he tried to take off it just gave way.  This kind of put a damper on practice, but we still made some strides.  I have to memorize the system quick or I will be in trouble, but I am getting there.  Hopefully I will pick up on things with more reps in practice.
 
I have noticed that here, like in Finland if I remember correctly, that the stop lights don't go from red to green, but rather go back to orange in between.  The lights also can sense when a car is coming so if you are alone on the road you will see the lights changing as you get closer to them.  Just a little factoid for you there.  Also, I mentioned that the people dancing in Finland looked as if they were catching full body cramps.  Well if they were cramping in Finland then I guess we can say that they are having seizures here in Stockholm or at least from what I have seen in the past 2 days that is a safe statement.
 
Ending up the week I have just been trying to figure out how to keep my laptop online and have been throwing the past 3 days in a row.  Ilija came through and got my laptop online for now, but its tricky on how to get it to stay online.  My arm is getting into better shape now that I have been throwing more.  Also this week I took the bus, to the sub to the city....hung out got on the subway from a different location then back to the bus and made it home.  That sounds like an ordinary day for someone who lives here, but for a country boy it was good to be able to find my way around.  I will post a picture of the subway routes so you can see what I am saying.  I think we have a few more practices then we are going to be heading to Germany for camp and a scrimmage against a team in  Russelheim. Our team is also going to go watch an NFLEurope game too because our coach has to scout the game.  I will be posting again before that and afterwards have a Germany trip entry as well. 
 
Regards,
 
Clint

Week 7 / Game 6

This week marked my 7th week being here, which puts me around the middle of my trip here. I have a little over 7 weeks left and it seems like I've come a long ways, but still have a long ways to go and some business to try to finish with the Roosters coming up sooner than later. From talking to some of you on Instant Messengers and Emails I understand its getting hot and humid at home. Thats one thing that I do not miss at all. I will let you guys have the heat while I'm over here and the humidity is not close to that of SC.

Since we played on Sunday last week we didn't go lift on Monday because we got back late and because I could hardly feel my body and the soreness didn't leave until about Wednesday or Thursday. We did lift the rest of the week and I think I strained a muscle in my left shoulder area. Must be getting too much mass for my tendons to handle or something. It wasn't anything serious, but I probably won't push it too much more because I don't want to press my luck on it. During the week when we walk to the restaurant we have to cut through the center of town and like 3 times this week I saw one of those guys who stands still like a statue. The only other place I've ever seen that before was in New Orleans. You drop them money in the box and then they change positions. Its amazing how real they look and how many people will just walk by and not even notice them. I may try to get this guy on camera if I can catch him on the right day. We still see drunks every day when we walk. They sleep in the bus stops and walk zig zags everywhere on the sidewalk and sometimes in the roads. I also had a guy talk to me this week about playing ball in Italy sometime. I have to get in touch with him to see about that. I have no clue about the league over there, but if I find out anything I'll post it.

On one of the nights this past week the club that our friend on the team works at had a bikini contest and yes I did take my camera. I assure you that this contest wasn't that of a bikini contest in South Beach and I think Myrtle Beach may have an edge on them too. I have attached some pics of the contest. The tallest girl ended up winning, though I didn't think she was the prettiest one. Sorry the light is low in the pics, but you know how it is in a club. Just had to post a pic or two of some girls so you guys would get off my back.



This week we had to play the Porvoo Butchers. It was an away game on grass and it rained about an hour before the game so everything was wet and the balls were tough to throw. This team's record would put them in the top 5 teams in the league, but we were suppose to beat them since we are in the tops in the rankings as far as records go. Well Marlon still isn't all the way healed so he sat out this game again and is probably not going to play the next 2 weeks as the upcoming opponents records aren't that great. The team just wants Marlon ready for the playoffs and so that is what we are trying to do. Our other starting linebacker was also hurt and didn't play. We are still missing other guys on defense too. Its weird because in Finland, in the summer, I guess everyone gets like a 4 week vacation and so our players are coming and going. Playing when they are here and then when they get back. You have to remember that its a hobby for many of these guys. So our numbers this week were down and our team's "body language" going into the game showed it. We didn't have that fire or that look in the eyes as you would call it.

The other team won the toss and elected to receive. They got the ball and had a long "central like" drive on us and scored. It looked as if it was going to be a long day from the first drive. Then when they kicked off to us, we fumbled the kickoff and they recovered. A few minutes later they scored again. So it was 14-0 before our offense even got on the field. On the next kickoff we got the ball about the 25 or 30 and our offense went out there and on the first play I hit one of our receivers on a post and he ran it in for the TD. Since the other team was a running team the clock had been running a lot and our offense only got 1 play in the first quarter and it was a TD pass. After this it was just who could score the most because we couldn't stop their running game and they couldn't stop our passing game. Since our numbers were down some of our lineman were having to go both ways and so they were getting tired. So before half time they started breaking through our line and kept doing it the rest of the game so I had to scramble a lot (again). This seems to be a trend here, but whatever it takes to get it done. I don't know the stats yet, but I would say this was my most rushing yards this season in one game. I ran for 3 td's and threw 2 td passes and we were lucky to get out of that place with a 42 - 35 win as we scored with a few minutes remaining. Our defense held them on the goal line then we ran the clock out. I also got my first European personal foul (and I think the first one of my life). Early in the game we called a pass play and as I was dropping back I glanced at my Tight End only to notice that their guy tackled him right on the line. I went to the ref and said "Mr. Ref" and he yelled at me "WHAT" and I was like " What????" I couldn't figure out why he was yelling at me. I said " the D-end tackled our guy" and he looked at me and said " Your man did it to himself" . I figured he just couldn't speak english that well or understand me correctly so I just said " whatever " and out came the hanky and minus 15 yards on us because of me. It was ok though cause I threw a Td pass like 3 plays later, but I quit talking and paying that guy any attention since I was on his bad list. I got MVP of the game too.



After the game Marlon and I didn't ride the bus home. We went to Tampere, Finland. Its like the second biggest city in Finland or something. Some of the guys on our team live there and so we stayed with them for the night. We went to some clubs over there and toured the town. It was a nice place and the guys really took care of us and made sure that we didn't have too many girls you know....hahaha, just kidding. It was funny in the club because one guy came up to me and said "hey I saw you on TV last week and I just want to tell you that you are awesome. I really admire your arm." This was kind of weird having someone tell me this, but I just said "kiitos" cause that means thank you. We had a good time in Tampere and you know we sat in a sauna too. We came home today (Sunday) late in the afternoon.

I got this one pic of something that was kind of weird. We were driving on the interstate and were coming up to this bridge like structure crossing over the road. As we got closer to it I noticed that there was no road that ran over the bridge, in fact it wasn't a bridge at all. It was a store that took up the whole structure. I guess they wanted to get business from traffic coming from both ways and you could walk all the way through this thing and there was a restaurant in the middle. I've never seen one like it before so I got a pic so you can see it too. What do you think?

Regards,

Clint


Week 15 / National Champions

Well this was officially my last week here. It is starting to get pretty cold here too. I could no longer sleep with my window open. I was in long pants and hooded sweat shirts every day here. Everyday I was telling Marlon..." this is your last tuesday, wednesday...etc " because it seems like its been a while. I also took an hour and a half tour of the castle that I earlier visited. You could really get lost in there.

So if you are reading this then you probably want to know about the game. Well this week we played the Finnish National Championship game in Helsinki vs the Helsinki Roosters. Our guys had lost to the Roosters 7 years straight and were kind of psyched out for the game. All this week we scouted their film and we stayed up til like 3 am one night breaking down their schemes. We pretty much knew what they were going to do, we just had to see how they blocked it and had to narrow down their tendencies.

So the game was a long hard fought battle. Defense shut down the roosters running game and so they had to resort to passing, which didn't work. The first quarter went by quickly as they were running all day. Then in the second quarter my boy Rio took a kick off back about 90 some yards for a td and got us some momentum. I can't remember what quarter it was but I did throw one Td pass, putting me at 38 Td passes and no interceptions for the whole season. We were up like 14 to 3 going into half time. The second half we scored, maybe it was the pass but we scored and then they were down 21-3 for the whole third quarter. Then we were playing ball control the whole fourth quarter and trying to run out the clock. They got the balls and kicked a field goal then on side kicked it and got it, and then scored, but by this point all we had to do was to get a first down and run the clock out. So we ran qb follows and the clock went out and so finally after about 9 silver medals the Trojans have been crowned with their first Gold medal and Maple Championship trophy. All game they were late hitting me and trying to talk junk to me to get me thrown out. I did pimp slap one guy in the pile and the referee got on me about it. So the defense bent, but didn't break and that was the key to the game. The leagues leading rusher was shut down and this is a credit to our whole defense.

After the game I was getting interviewed by the tv guys and so that was pretty neat. I gave all the credit to God and to the rest of the team because I couldn't have done any of it by myself...as I told the reporter. I did have some females yelling Clinton, Clinton, Clinton ...and all that so you know. The most rewarding part for me was to see these guys on our team that have played for so many years and not received the gold finally get it. Some were laughing, some crying, some didn't really know how to act. It was kind of weird. So that made me feel good that I could be on the team that did it. The guys were all telling me that I really didn't understand how great this was and that the monkey was off of their back now. After the game they gave me the MVP trophy, but I didn't go get it because 1.) I was doing an interview and 2.) because I couldn't understand what he was saying in Finnish. However, I didn't deserve the MVP of the game so I gave it to Rio because he had a kickoff return for a TD as well as an interception and his play on the field wasn't as crucial as what he did off the field. He was the main reason that the defense succeeded so much because he had them scouted to the T. So we got gold medals and championship hats. The Helsinki team didn't even stay on the field while we received our medals. I guess they were still in shock as many of the guys on our team were. After my shock and awe campaign the last time in Helsinki (where I dropped 7 td passes ) they had signed to US defensive backs to try to slow our passing attack down and they didn't blitz as much so they were trying to sit back and make me pick them apart....so I did throw somewhat, but I just checked to runs. There coach was calling our defense over rated and stuff all week so I think some of the guys felt good about the victory.

I won't even get into the ride home. I will just tell you that we listend to " we are the Champions" a million times. I'm typing to you now and all of the guys are waiting for me downtown so I must go. I will post again tommorrow so if you are reading and care, I will be home on Tuesday with another gold medal. And in the words of Coach Al Usher back in

1997 ....IT'S TIME TO GO STRUT, so that I must do.

PS: I was also in some sports magazine over here. I will try to get some copies of it and will bring them home. It just has some pictures of me in it and I will try to get a translation of it so that I can understand.

Regards,

Clint


Week 13 / Game 11

This week was pretty eventful. I'm beginning to start my " about to go home shopping " and so Marlon and I are in the malls and seeing what all we can buy. We did lift weights 3 times this week again. On Wednesday Marlon won the sauna competition and if you want to read the details then Click Here . It was pretty funny to hear those guys talking junk to each other and I was even sweating just standing outside of the sauna. Marlon said that it felt like someone was ripping his skin off of his back, but nevertheless he endured.

On Friday, I went ice skating for the first time in my life. I'll just say that I wasn't too graceful. I think I stayed on the ice for about 5 minutes. I had like 2 falls in 3 minutes so I wasn't too productive. The ice is hard and cold when you fall too (what a profound statment). Marlon wasn't so graceful either as he did some movements that looked like tip toe drills on the ice. Eventually he just fell and rolled back to the side. They were calling us Bambi and Grizzly on ice. I've posted some pictures from the experience and as you can see my ice skating career wasn't much too brag about. I've got it on film too so if you want you can check it out when I get home and Todd if you are reading this, don't tell or show Dixon my pictures cause he'll be talking smack to me. hahahha.

 

 

This weekend we played the Crocodiles for the 3rd time this year. This game was a TV game and marked the second round of the playoffs. This team had picked up a new American Qb and had their American linebacker back since the last game that we played. It was forecasted to rain before the game and it did a lot and the field was in bad shape, not to mention the condition of the balls. I was interviewed by the TV guys before the game so that was pretty neat. He even asked me what was the deal about some web page so I gave him the address. The game got off to a good start as the defense got a safety on the first drive, but then the offense went 3 and out on our series. The very next series one of our db's picked off a pass for a td. The defense played really well this game. This was the first game that the offense was leaning on the defense and they were picking up our slack. On offense we couldn't get anything started all the first half. In the second half though we finally got moving. I ended up with 3 td passes, which all came in the second half and I believe it was for 243 yards. We won like 35 - 0. This game was a very sloppy game as my uniform got very muddy from the field being so wet. I smelled like a backwoods South Carolina swamp when you're duck hunting if you know what I mean. You will see from the pictures. Oh yeah and they said that on TV the broadcasters commented on Marlon's victory in the Sauna Bowl. hahaha. Later on that night when we went to eat they were replaying our game on TV over here. It was pretty neat to be watching yourself on TV.

This week they were having something interesting over here that we normally wouldn't have back at home. They had a a thing called Turku Sex . I guess it was like a sex exhibition or something. I don't know was happening over there, but I did see all of the advertising for it around town. I'll just say that the advertisements wouldn't be allowed at home either. I heard rumors that if you went naked that you got in free, but I'm not sure about that either cause we didn't go, but I was tempted. Finland is also hosting the championships for soccer under the age 17 and I believe that Finland got beat already, but the USA team is still playing. I guess we are getting good at soccer now I dont know. I heard Finland got beat 9 - 1 by Colombia. How ironic.

So now my time is winding down here and before we know it Marlon and I will be getting on a big bird headed back to the hot, sticky south. It's been a long ride, but hopefully we will have a happy ending.

I happen to surf over to the Central High Football website ( www.centralhighfootball.com ) and was looking at the roster pictures. Can somebody tell me what Trent and Garrett are thinking with their hair? Are they in some kind of contest to see who's got the nappiest hair or something? I hope those boys beat Timmonsville so somebody keep me posted with the details of the game. I can find the score online, but not whether somebody got stuck or not.

So it looks like we will have to go back to Helsinki to play for the championship. I hope we can do it..and it should be a good game.

This was a cop on a horse

This guy was drunk and was literally crawling up the sidewalk

Went to a castle

Went to a cathedral


Week 12 / Bye

Well this week was the first round of the playoffs so we had the bye week. It was nice to not have a game and try to get everyone healed up. We tried to go on a cruise to Sweden this weekend, but the boats were full so we're trying for this coming weekend after our game. If we can't go to Sweden then maybe we'll go to Russia because its not too far from here. At least St. Petersburg isn't too far from what I've heard.

This week I went to a fair or something similar to a fair. There were people selling all kinds of stuff along with carnival rides, food, music performances, and an army display so that was pretty neat. It was in a place that would be similar to the Charlotte Merchandise Mart, but smaller. So we lifted like 3 days and Marlon is still in training for the Sauna Competition that will take place this week. Sorry, we're not accepting international bets. Then about mid-week they had an Art festival here in town. I didn't see any art, but the streets were more packed than I've ever seen them. Also, all of the students are starting to arrive back to town and there are some new faces around. I guess it is time to go back to school....being a graduate you know those things don't cross my mind. Then on Saturday Kari, the camera man for our team took Marlon and I to a hockey game. This was my first hockey game (or is it match). It was pretty neat to watch, but I don't think that I could ever play that...mainly cause I've never ice skated which may pose a problem. The first goal of the game was scored by an American. The game was in the big arena here in town and it will hold around 11,000 people.

As I spend much of my time watching the BBC News channel I saw the shots of all of the people in New York without power. I have 2 friends in New York that are checking the page, but I didn't see them on the news. It was weird to see that from over here. I also hope that no weapons dealer tries to get on my airplane in Heathrow or I may just have toget off and catch a later flight. In the first round the Crocodiles beat the Vikings so we will have to play them for the 3rd time this season in the 2nd round of the playoffs. This will be a home game and a TV game so we are hoping to be victorius again. I hear the Eagles whipped up on Marlboro County...somebody tell that to Darrin Bradford. Looks like we may be making another trip to Williams Brice this year. Also, I sent our first TV game home on video tape and they attached it for the first time last night. If any of you are interested in watching it and also seeing the new " Patterson Palace " then swing by there and check it out. I don't think they'll mind and if they do, tell them I sent you.

2 weeks and 3 days left in the countdown...

No game this week so no pics, I will have more next week.

Regards,

Clint


Week 11 / Game 10

Can you believe that it's cooling down already? Yes last week it was hot and this week its already cold enough to make me wear long sleeves. I think that may be the fastest weather turn around that I've ever seen. This week we did lift 3 times again as usual. If we didn't lift during the day we would probably be pretty bored so thats like our usual routine.

When I started this site I started it to keep my family and friends back home informed on whats going on with me over here instead of writing everyone emails saying the same thing. Well I was informed that my site address got listed in the forum for our leagues web site over here. So to all of you people in Finland reading my site...Hello and don't laugh too hard at some of the stuff that I have posted on here. Its pretty neat to have everyone reading though. This week was the last regular season game for us. We played an away game against the Pori Bears. During the past 2 to 3 games the wind has been blowing pretty bad and it makes it tough to pass sometimes. We won the game 55 - 8 ...some like to say that we won the game 55 - Riio because one of our corner backs Riio (toasty posti) let a reciever catch a hail mary pass at the end of the half, which was their only score. Riio also mentioned that he likes strawberry jelly for his toast...hahahaha, just joking here. Can anybody guess JP's favorite flavor? I was 20 out of 26 for 336 yards and 3 td passes and that puts me at 34 td passes 7 rushing tds for the year and 0 picks during the regular season. We finished the regular season 9 - 1 and ended up 2nd in the league which gives us a bye this week..ie: an off week with no game. I am excited about this because I need to rest some. Have to let my body recooperate a little. After the game I talked with the Quarterback from the other team. He was an American and had only arrived here on July 4th. He was from Texas and went to Grambling State. He was a pretty nice guy and it was neat to talk with other another American who is doing the same thing that Marlon and I are doing. Then we went and stayed in Tampere for the night. We had a good time and it was nice to see a different city and be in a different setting. Riio and Mikko took real good care of us there and we returned to Turku on Sunday. Marlon and I are trying to get a cruise to Sweden lined up so that would be nice if it works out.

While I have been over here sometimes I've seen people playing finnish baseball and have always wanted to get some pics of it, but I never know when they are going to play so I haven't been able to. Well while we were playing our football game they had a game going on beside our field. I asked our camera man if he thought it was possible to get some shots of their game so that I could post them on here and he said that he would so when I get them I will be posting them. So thanks to Kari for doing that for me. I would try to explain finnish baseball to you, but its impossible for me because I dont even understand it. I just know that they dont pitch it from a mound...they just stand beside the person and toss it straight up and when it comes down they hit it. Kind of like a toss up drill if you've ever played baseball. The uniforms are quite different as well and I cant describe how the bases are...all I know how to say is that it is not in the shape of a diamond.

As of today we have like 3 weeks left and then I'll be heading back home. Hopefully we can win the championship...so until I get back somebody let me know how we do in the jamborees....GO EAGLES!

Pics from this week:

Finnish baseball pics

Regards,

Clint

 

 


Week 10 / Game 9

This week we lifted about 3 times about the usual. Its kind of tough to lift in season cause I'm always sore, but anyways. On Thursday I helped one of the guys move and man it was hot when we were doing that. We did that all morning, then I lifted in the afternoon, then had practice that night. So, I had a pretty busy day on that day.

Ever since I've gotten here I've been saving the big plastic bottles that I buy...you know like Coke bottles. One thing that they do here is recycle. Its pretty neat how it all works so I will explain. Pretty much any bottle you can collect be it glass or plastic is recyclable. You just save them up and take them to the stores that accept them and slide them through this little hole. The hole has a conveyor belt that takes the bottles and separates them and all. The bottle gets scanned and whenever you are done you hit the green button and out comes your receipt. You take the receipt with you and whenever you check out you have them scan the receipt and thats how much money you get off of your purchase. I think I got like 7 dollars off from 14 bottles or so. I believe that is one of the reasons that this place is cleaner than at home because the drunks will pick up all of the bottles and recycle them. That may be promoting drunks, but I guess at least they are keeping the place clean. So I've been seeing all of these posters around town forever that say "Tall Ships Races" and I was wondering what was going on. Well towards the end of this week I saw a bunch of sailors walking around the city. At first I thought it was just "European fashion" ...again, but turns out that it wasn't. There is a race of ships that runs a course around the Baltic and Turku was the first stop on the journey. The ships ranged from very small to very large and there were many nationalities represented. One of the biggest ships was from Mexico. All of the boats were docked on the river that goes through town and you could tour the boats all weekend and stuff so it was pretty neat. Every boat had a sign on it and flags and told you where they were from and what class the ship was in. So I boarded the Mexican ship and of course I was flowing in spanish with those guys. I asked them if they thought they would ever meet an American white guy, in Finland, that spoke spanish. Of course they said no. I threw some spanish words that only exist in Mexico in there for them just to let them know. It was pretty neat seeing all the ships and those things are pretty big, but I don't think I could stay on one of them for 7 months, which is how long the voyage for these guys is. There was an American ship, but it was small and to be honest I walked everywhere and couldn't find it. Only the big ships were available for touring so most of the small ships were unmanned anyways. These sailors stayed in town for like 5 days and on Sunday there off to another port.

This week we played the Seinajoki Crocodiles. This is the same team that we played in the first game of the year. By winning this game we secured a bye in the first round of the playoffs. This was our last home game of the regular season. When we first played this team I thought they weren't that good, but all week the guys had said that they had gotten in some new players and some of their players had returned from other leagues or from their vacation. There was also a rumor that some of their guys were injured. The rumors turned out to be true as their American linebacker had a broken hand or arm. I couldn't tell I just know he had a cast on. The wind was blowing very strong at this game which made it tough to throw when the wind was in my face. In the first half I didn't really play that well. I came close to throwing my first pick and I also made some bad reads. I had some td passes dropped as well in the first half. We had at least 100 yards in penalties and never really got good field position in the first half. Our defense was holding them pretty well though. The second half was better as I threw 3 td passes and ran 1. I ran over a guy on our sidelines too. We ended up winning 52 - 3 in a flag laden, swirly winded, long game. We now have one more game left in the regular season and its an away game in Pori.

Here are some pics from this week

 

 

 

 

 

Regards,

Clint

 


Clint Patterson

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