Clint Patterson's Blog

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Week 7 / Open Week 2

Well there was not too much going on this week as it was rainy and dreary outside and since we had no game.  As I stated before this was our originally scheduled off week.  Since it was raining outside a few days this week, I stayed in and messed around.  The weather over here is very fickle.  For those of you with a weak vocabulary, fickle means that it changes easily.  It will be hot one day, then cold the next and rain can come and go at the drop of a hat.  During the week I was on the net until my eyes crossed and then I watched some TV as well.  This is when I noticed that the censorship here is not as tight as it is in the states.  That is audio and visual censorship.  It was similar in Finland as well.  We still had practice this week and I lifted weights a time or two, but I was still sore from the game.

I squeezed in my first tennis match early in the week.  I have never played tennis before and if I could keep it between the lines its pretty hard to return, but the keeping it between the lines part gives me some problems.  I went and played with some friends and Ilija and his brother.   When Ilija and his brother played it was like watching 2 professionals.  They made me stand in there for a few hits and the balls were coming so fast I couldn't hardly see them, much less return them.    Tennis is a big sport over here, but soccer seems to be #1 with hockey coming in at #2.  Who knows where American football falls in that sequence.  I also saw a rugby match this week as well.

This week they had a holiday on Thursday, I believe, so everyone was out in the street during the day and out on the town at night.  During the day they have people just singing in the middle of town square to everyone.  Its like a free concert if you like that kind of music.  They seem to draw somewhat decent crowds.   I went to the big mall here called the NK one day with some friends and also went in several other stores downtown.   Lets just say that I will never be buying anything inside of the NK building.  One of my friends here bought a T-shirt that that would equal a price of 40 dollars...just to give you an idea.  Though there were some attractive females on the inside.  On a side note...I don't think that I have my hours adjusted totally as I continue to stay up late and sleep in.  This way I can talk to my friends on line from the states as well as manage my schedule here.  The nights are starting to be lighter longer which makes it hard to adjust to.

On Friday night some of the guys went out downtown.  We went to 2 different clubs/restaurants or whatever you want to call it.  There was a woman in there taking pictures.  I asked her what she was taking them for and so she informed me that there is a nightlife website for Stockholm and so I jumped in behind two girls while they were having their picture taken.  I was laughing, but click here to see it.  Then I was able to get Ilija away from all of the women long enough to get a picture with him.  Check it out here.  Yeah so maybe I should have shaved, but there wasn't anything worth me shaving for in there anyways...hahahaa.

So on Saturday since we didn't have a game we went to  watch 2 teams in our league play.  I also met another guy from my last years team in Finland at the game.  We had planned to meet there and so it was good to see none other than Mr. Kasper Johanson and his woman at the game.  He rode the boat over to hang out with his brother who lives in Stockholm so he just swung right over to the game and watched it with us.  We watched the Stockholm Mean Machines vs Carlstad.  Upon entering the game we got a free magazine that had half clothed women in it.  Another thing you wouldn't see at home.  Carlstad is the team that wore us out in the first week and Stockholm beat them 26 - 21.  Stockholm capitalized on some big plays during the game and were able to hold on for the victory.  There was some pad popping going on in that game too.  During the game one player injured his inner thigh.  So what did they do...he just laid down on the sideline, pulled his football pants down and the female trainer was their massaging his inner thigh.  I mean he still had other clothing on, but it was just something that you would not have seen at home.  At half time they had a punt, pass, kick contest, but I didn't enter though I would have won by a long shot.  I was tempted though.

On another side note Arlanda beat the team from Moscow in the Eurobowl series.  I'm trying to paint a picture here for you so you can see how the deck is stacked.  The team I played for last year ( Turku Trojans ) beat Arlanda 10 - 0 two weeks ago.  The following week we played Arlanda and lost  22 - 21.  Turku lost to Moscow 42 - 0 on that same day and then Arlanda beats Moscow this weekend 17 - 7.  So it seems that on any given day any team can be beat.  Hopefully we'll get our act together and be able to compete.

Today is Sunday and my cousin David Patterson flew into Sweden.  He just recently graduated and this was his first time in Europe and I was present when he sat foot in Scandinavia.  On the way there and on the way back we saw some moose.  We saw a total of 3.  One of the guys, " Diesel " as known by females all over Stockholm, was with us and he said that its not that frequent that you see something like that.  He said that he's seen maybe 3 or 4 in his whole life.  So as you can see whenever you have more than one Patterson at the same place anything magical can happen.  Who knows what will happen downtown this week.  We had some girls at McDonald's giggling already.  I think they notice that you're not from Europe when they see you with baggy pants on.  That's pretty much the tip because baggy is not the style here.  We will try to get some good pictures while David is here and post them on the site next week.

Now we are preparing to play against the Solna Chiefs.  We need to have a good week of practice because its time that we get a W.  Hope all is well for all of you.

Regards,

Clint

 


Week 6 / Game 2

This week the weather was very fickle. On Sunday it was pretty hot...like T-shirt and shorts hot and then the rest of the week it was very cold. I often get caught without a jacket when it's cold or with too much on when its hot because its difficult to plan because you never know what might happen. When the sun goes down you better have a jacket some where close though.

Since I got a package in the mail last week I have been sharing Reese cups, oatmeal pies, and jolly ranchers with all of the fellas. It was the first time for a lot of them to ever eat them and they liked them all, but said that the Reese cups were too rich for them. It was pretty neat to witness the " Reese cup reactions ".  Can you imagine being deprived from Reese cups your whole life?

This week I washed clothes again so that was another process that was good to get out of the way. I even cleaned my room up. Yeah you know I am bored if I clean my room up huh. Also, this week Britney ( Fame made me go psycho ) Spears was in concert over here at the Globben. Can you believe people actually paid money to go watch that? Usher is soon to be in concert on June 8th. I called my boy lil john and he answered the phone and said " yeeeeaaaah " and I was like can you send me some tickets and he was like " wwwhhhhaaaattt " and I said can you send me some tickets the finally he said " okkkkaaayyyy ". So I may try to go to that one if he comes through on it. lol

On Friday I met one of my good friends from Turku here in downtown Stockholm He and some friends took the boat over just to hang out in the city. His name is Kari Toivonen and he is the media guy and webmaster for the Turku Trojans. It was good to see him again and he even brought me a 2004 schedule poster that had a picture of me on it along with a game day program that had a picture of me as well.  So that was neat.  Since I was downtown I visited some stores and went into the Hard Rock Cafe and also went into a store that only sales goods from the US that you can't find in stores here. For instance products like...peanut butter, reese cups, hershey's white chocolate bars, certain kinds of cereals, pop tarts and a whole lot more, but I didn't buy anything just checked it all out.

The Game

This week we played against the Arlanda Jets.  This team won the championship last year in this league.  We ended up losing 22 - 21 in a tough game.  We passed all day and they are an option style team.  I wore # 16 instead of #7 because the #7 jersey was sewn up tight and thus hindered the full range of motion so I just grabbed #16 and wore it.  Our team played a whole lot better from game 1 and showed more heart, but a few inches here or a different / (correct) call there and it could have been a different outcome.  They scored like 11 points with their field goal kicker.  I still had to scramble, but not as much as the first game and the good news is that I can still feel my ribs today.  However there is some bad news.  I hate to break it , but the inevitable has happened.  The streak is over.  After 40 td passes in Europe I threw an interception.  I dropped back and went to throw and a d-lineman batted the ball up in the air and then some other guy caught it.  I tackled him too!.  I ended up throwing 3 td passes and yes 2 interceptions.  The last one was on the last play of the game. There were like 23 seconds left on the clock and we were down by one point and I was trying to scramble around and throw a deep ball and just didn't put enough on it so in desperation hopes I threw another pick.  After all you have to take some chances every now and then or you'll never succeed.  Though this time I gambled the wrong way.   Now  we have our originally scheduled off week coming up this week and then after that we play the Solna Chiefs.

 

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 2 / Game 2
Well this week has been ok. It has been colder these past few days than it was in the beginning. The festival started this week and as you can see from some of the pictures the people were out and about. My week was pretty much the same as far as my schedule. We went to the gym in the mornings and had practice at night. We also had to travel to some kids sports camp in a nearby city to talk to some kids and teach them how to play football. They honestly had no idea. I don't guess that they have ever seen a game on TV or anything. We had a pretty good time doing this though and it was funny to see the kids throw and tackle for the first time ever in their lives. My friend David Corley and I have been emailing and he is telling me how tough it is in Canada and I'm going to call him and see whats going on. If I find anything out I will keep you all posted because many of you know him as well.
 
JP on a skinny post for for aTd
 
We had our first home game this weekend, which was against the Pori Bears. It was neat because they call you out position by position at the beginning of the game. We like ran out of the tunnel onto the field. Its kind of like they do it at the Shrine Bowl game. By the way we have a grass field if you can't tell from the pics. Now this week I did have a belt, but I had a different helmet although it didn't fit well and we had new jerseys...I was #1 this game. The jerseys don't have the patches on them yet, but he said that they will. I got to wear my own cleates this time so obviously they fit and I was glad that I packed my rib pads for this trip too. Thanks to my equipment manager.This was one of the sloppiest games I've been in. We did win 46-0 in the end, but it wasn't a pretty game to watch. The defense was on the field for maybe 4 to 6 plays a drive because the other team's offense wasn't that good. I threw 5 TD passes, but one of them got called back due to holding. I'm not sure the stats and yards, but you can click on the stats link on the homepage to see them when they come out...probably on Wednesday. I had to scramble all day because they were blitzing linebackers and and we couldn't pick them all up and there's no hot read that I know of right now. 
 
Me and Marlon
 
Anyways in the 4th quarter I scrambled one time and went downfield and this guy gave me a charlie horse. He put his helmet right into my thigh and it was and still is hurting. I had to limp/hop back to the huddle, but no fear the next play I threw a strike on a skinny post for about a 40 yard TD then I came out and didn't go back in. (and yes I do already have an appointment for a massage) I think we have the potential to win the championship this year, but we have to get everyone on the same page. We weren't hitting on all gears as we say. The starting center is about to leave and go to Italy for his vacation and will miss 3 games so that means I will have to get use to another center. Marlon got MVP of the game. After every game they have both teams line up in the middle of the field, similar to how we did at the state championship in 94, and they call out the MVP and they give you like a present. Since one of our sponsors is "Fenix" (a ketchup company), Marlon got a box of all kind of condiments. One of them was caviar (i think thats how you spell it, its the fish eggs) So anyways that is a neat thing that they do here that we don't do at home. One funny thing that happened at half-time was that I was sitting in the locker room and I was messing around and then I picked my head and looked and one of our recievers was outside smoking a cigarrette. He came back in smiling and said he felt better. I ain't mad at him though cause he caught a hitch and took it to the house the next drive we had the ball. He said that the nicotine helped calm him down and get him in his game.
 
Scrambling a little
 
As you all know (assuming that you have been reading) this week was a big festival here in our city. So even though I could hardly walk I did c-limp down to the river where there were tons of people. I didn't even go until about 1 o'clock in the morning. I probably wouldn't have gone, but I received a phone call from a certain female hinting that I should go. The streets were packed with people and all of the bar/pubs/night clubs had extremely long lines going to them. "Down by the river" there was all kind of food to eat and some of which I've never heard of. I didn't check out the Al Amir tent though because I figured they might catch on to me being American and try to drop bombs over baghdad on me. Speaking of that ...there are 2 stores over here that are named "Baghdad export/import". I'm wondering what they sell, but I don't think that I'll be going into them anytime soon. Well I went down and hung out a little bit. It was kind of like Mrytle Beach at graduation...you know as in the amount of people. I went to the bar called Blanco and stayed for a while. If you could see how some of these people dress you would trip out. A lot of the guys here dress like they are gay, but I was told that this was just fashion and to be open minded. I could feel myself begin to cramp in my legs (and no, this wasn't my attempt at dancing the finnish way) so I had to get on back to the house eventually. So that was that for week 2 and game 2. Everyone says that our opponent this week is like the worst team in the league so we'll see I guess. 
 
The stadium crowd
 
Thanks to those of you who sign the message board. It makes me laugh sometimes and gives me something to look forward to when I get in at night.
 
Regards,
 
Clint
 

Clint Patterson

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