Clint Patterson's Blog

Week 4 / Game 1

On April 13, 2011 in Sweden by Clint Patterson

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.

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