For the Love of the Game

2012 LNFA Race is On!

2012-01-19T21:32:00.000-08:00

The 2012 Liga Nacional de Futbol Americano in Spain has a lot of excitement to preview. With two brand new teams entering what is now called the ‘Elite’ division of the league, where will they fall? Will any team rise up to stop what has been a destruction derby by the L’Hospitalet Pioners with their dominating record and 4 championship victories in 6 years? The league also boasts 3 of 6 teams in the top division competing in international play, only Austria has a higher percentage of it’s clubs competing in Europe than Spain. The answers to these questions, only time will tell, but this review will hope to shed some light into the dark.

The 2011 campaign provided a much more balanced LNFA than what we’ve seen in previous years. There were three 5 win teams in the middle of the standings, and all 6 teams were within reach of the playoffs until the final two weekends of the regular season. Despite all of this balance among the bottom 5 teams, there was little balance on the scoreboard when the L’Hospitalet Pioners played. They outscored their opponents by a whopping 448-104. With the last two teams dropping down to the 15 team second division in Spain there will be need for some replacements. They come in the form of last seasons top contenders from Divison 2 in the Sueca Ricers and the Barbera Rookies.

2011 Final Standings

Pioners L'Hospitalet 9 1 0
Valencia Firebats 5 4 0
Badalona Dracs 5 5 0
Osos Rivas 5 5 0
Las Rozas Black Demons 3 6 0
Barcelona Búfals 2 8 0

L’Hospitalet Pioners
The team of Spain in recent years offers us another year of exciting football action. With their 4 victories in the past 6 seasons in LNFA title games and back to back champs in 2010 and 2011 the Pioners bring their juggernaut back for another year in Spain. The Pioners also have a chance to catch the Badalona Dracs with the most titles by a Spanish team in history. The Dracs have held that title since winning their third title in 2002. At 9-1 last season and 2 resounding playoff victories this club showed its dominance last year. Their only blemish was a road loss to the Osos Rivas mid season 16-21 that the team bounced back from and won the regular season finale and the semi-final and final with a combined 117 points scored to 20 points allowed in that 3 game span. The Pioners will also compete in the Eurobowl competition. Their group has the French and British reigning champs in the Paris Flash and London Blitz. These two tough international competitions will prove how good this 2012 team is after their dominant team a year ago lost convincingly in Switzerland to the Calanda Broncos and lost a close battle at home to the Parma Panthers. Their lone EFL victory came back in 2008 with a walk off field goal for a 37-35 win over France’s Thonon Black Panthers. The Pioners will need to play up each week as they will definitely have the proverbial bulls-eye on their backs especially from a Badalona side that will not want to relinquish their grasp as Spain’s elite.

Badalona Dracs
The Pioners may have the most storied recent history in Spain, but the Badalona Dracs have had more success in international play than any other club from Spain and have more titles than any other for at least one more year. The Dracs exited the group stage of the Eurobowl in 2010 to face the Vienna Vikings of Austria. Last season they met their match losing to the Spartans of L’Amiens in France two separate times by large margins to keep them from advancing out of the group stage. Their plans for 2012 are to regroup and reach the next level once again. They face the Schwabisch Hall Unicorns, the current German champion, and the Parma Panthers who are back to back Italian champs in the group stage with a chance to play the Vikings of Vienna once again. In Spain the Dracs have been the top contender for a couple of years. They came as close to beating the Pioners as possible in a 28-29 regular season defeat, but did not have the same gusto in the championship game in which they lost 24-8. Another year, another shot at adding to their league best 5 titles in 10 appearances.

Valencia Firebats
The third Spanish team that will fight for the Red and Yellow in Europe is the Valencia Firebats. The Bats lost their two EFAF Cup games last season, to the Amsterdam Crusaders 27-19 at on the road and 20-0 to the eventual champion London Blitz at home. They will play this year in the EFAF Cup again and will face the runner up in France in the Grenoble Centaurs and the Swiss Blue Devils of Hohenems, Austria. The Bats had a very up and down 2011 in the Spanish league. They could not beat the champion Pioners in two chances and yet lost to the last place Bufals in the regular season finale. They beat the Badalona Dracs twice, 41-29 and 35-34, before losing to the Dracs in the playoffs 22-30. This left them one game from the championship round and sent a team they had handled twice to the title game, offering the old adage that it’s difficult to beat the same team three times in one year. Count on the Firebats from the central coast of Spain to reload in 2012 and play at a high level once again contesting for the Spanish title that they won 3 times in 4 seasons between 2006 and 2009.

Osos Rivas
The Bears from Madrid were the odd man out in 2011. Finishing at 5-5 alongside both Valencia and Badalona the three teams needed a tie breaker to decide the 2nd and 3rd places in the LNFA who would be rewarded with playoff berths. They were the only team in Spain to defeat the champion Pioners after having been handed a 56-6 beatdown by the Pios earlier in the season. They didn’t beat the Dracs, but split the season matchups with the Firebats. League rules offer the team with the best point differential to advance, which is why they were left out of the playoff round. The Bears lone title came back in 2001 in a 21-7 defeat of the Zarazoga Lions. To get back to the glory days, the Bears need to play more consistent from week to week with closer affairs in order to not be left in the same circumstance as they were last year.

Sueca Ricers and Barbera Rookies
The two newbies to the LNFA will play their first ever regular season games in the top division when the league kicks off this January. The Ricers did have a glimpse into being in the Elite division last year when they won the second division they were offered a shot to play in a playoff game against the top team from the league. The Pioners gave them little opportunity for contest by beating them 49-6 in the semi-final. The Ricers and Rookies qualified for this seasons Elite campaign by finishing atop their second division. The Ricers will test their medal in the very first weekend of the LNFA playing perennial power L’Hospitalet on the road. The Rookies celebrate their 10th anniversary this season with a chance to compete against the best teams in Spain.

You can get a more in depth look into each club by clicking the link for the Spanish league in the league website section of links to the left side of this blog. The Pioners will broadcast their games live, a link is commonly provided on their official webpage. The hunt for the Spanish title begins the weekend of January 21st, 2012. Enjoy the ride.

Movin on

2011-12-09T09:02:00.000-08:00

With sadness I write this blog to let all my followers know that I am not playing football for the Vienna Vikings in 2012, or any one else. I'm "hangin em up" as they say. Hopefully I can make a big deal about it and draw a lot of attention to myself in the coming months and years by returning to play on and off and entering into contract negotiations so that I don't have to come to the realization that I'm done... only joking, this is it for me, God has blessed both my wife and I with a wonderful career that we got to enjoy together this last season in Sweden and I am grateful for all the opportunity I've been given from Central High to Fresno City to Humboldt to L'Hospitalet, Danube, and Carlstad. To avoid any confusion the main reason that this has occurred is because of an injury that I suffered during training preparation for the season in Austria. When life throws you lemons, you make lemonade. Mary and I have plans to adapt and continue to seek opportunities to help where we're needed. Thanks everyone very much, and I hope to still cover some more of the action of the various leagues in Europe from here in California, so stay tuned.. spanish preview is on the horizon.

2012 Eurobowl is set

2011-11-18T12:19:00.000-08:00

The 2012 Eurobowl tournament increases to 14 teams including 8 national championship teams, last year’s EFL silver medalist, two national runner-ups, and Austria’s 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th ranked clubs. The most competitive international competition for 2012 should provide plenty of excitement.

Last season’s highlights were the Swedish Carlstad Crusaders knocking off the German Kiel Baltic Hurricanes in the group stage, and the Swiss Calanda Broncos destroying everyone on their way to the quarterfinal. The Vienna Vikings staved off elimination by a 7 point win over Calanda only to fall short to the eventual champion Innsbruck Raiders by a walk off field goal in the semi-final. The Graz Giants beat the Carlstad Crusaders in the quarterfinal and then gave up a 21-0 lead in Berlin to lose to the Adler. In the final the Raiders controlled the game winning the Eurobowl crown over the team from north Germany.

Group A of this year’s tournament has the defending Austrian and European champion, Innsbruck Raiders, waiting in the quarterfinal round for the winner between the Danube Dragons (AUT) and the Prague Panthers (CZ). The Dragons had this same matchup last season beating the Panthers 38-21 in late April only to lose on the road against the Berlin Adler in the quarterfinal round. With all three teams competing in the Austrian Football League that kicks off in March they will know plenty about one another well before the European matchups take place.

Group B provides an interesting set of clubs that have all different recent history events. The Graz Giants won in the quarterfinal over Swedish Champion Carlstad Crusaders but like their Austrian counterpart, Danube, lost in Berlin in the following round. The Giants, who finished 3^rd in Austria a year ago await the winner between the Calanda Broncos of Switzerland and the Helsinki Wolverines from Finland’s capital. The Broncos and Wolverines were each league champions this past season, the Broncos have won the Swiss league in each of the past three seasons, while the Wolverines won the Finnish league in upset fashion for their first ever title giving them another chance to compete in international competition.

Group C is the first of the tournaments two traditional groups. The Vienna Vikings who lost only to eventual champion Innsbruck in two separate elimination games awaits the group winner of the Badalona Dracs (ESP), the Schwabisch Hall Unicorns (GER), and the Parma Panthers (IT). The Dracs lost two games in last seasons group stage to the then French champion L’Amiens and were the second best team in Spain losing to L’Hospitalet in the final. They do however have success in the EFL, most recently in 2010 exiting the group stage to face the same Vienna Vikings in the quarterfinal. Schwabisch Hall is the other newcomer to the tournament having never faced another team in international play before. Their thrilling stand at the end of the German Championship to beat Kiel secures them the chance to show their might amongst Europe’s best. The Parma Panthers, back to back Italian champions won one game in the EFL last year, yet lost the other disallowing them to move past the group stage. They are back for another shot at reaching the elimination round.

Group D has three champions in the group stage vying to compete against Germany’s 7^th best team from 2011. The setup of the tournament allows for previous season semi-finalists to have automatic berths, therefore despite the Berlin Adler’s performance in their league, their European victories over Austria’s Danube and Graz have them as a quarterfinalist for 2012. The Spanish, French, and England’s champions face off for the chance to head to Germany’s capital. The L’Hospitalet Pioners lost both of their group matchups last season but beat the Badalona Dracs, fellow EFL contender, 24-8 in the LNFA final giving them a shot at redemption this year. The Paris Flash missed out on European competition last season but have regrouped after winning the French final 45-27 against Grenoble and vie to do one better than 2009’s EFL runner-up finish. Finally, the London Blitz return to the Eurobowl after having competed in the EFAF’s B tournament the EFAF Cup the past two seasons. The Blitz won the British championship as well as the EFAF Cup in 2011 as the only other 2 title champ besides the Raiders.

All of these teams except one will kickoff their league competition between January and April prior to this tournament kicking off. The Helsinki Wolverines will have their season opener in this tournament against the Broncos of Calanda due to the season in Finland not starting until later in May. Stay tuned to all the action forthcoming.

Heading to Vienna, again

2011-10-22T11:04:00.000-07:00

2012 will be a year in the Austrian Football league for the second time in my career. I am proud to say that I will be a part of one of the most storied franchises in the history of football in Europe. Vienna will be our home, and the Vikings will be our team. Mary and I will head across the pond at the beginning of February and begin preparations to kickoff the season at the end of March. The Vikings will be competing at the highest level of Europe in the Eurobowl as well as playing in one of the toughest leagues on the continent, the Austrian Football League. The Vikings lost in the semi-final of the Eurobowl and in the Austrian final last year, both losses coming to the hands of the rival Innsbruck Raiders. A final ranking of #2 in Europe was a testament to how well the Vikings organization competed in 2011. The goal for 2012 will be to be the best team in Europe and hoist two trophies that will be contested in back to back weekends.. July 21st (Eurobowl final) and July 28th (AFL championship).

The biggest unanswered question is will there be a chance to reproduce the opposite of this picture...

There have been a couple of recent press releases and once more you'll need to download the google toolbar and/or use google language tools to translate the German into English.

Vikings press release
AFL press release
Football-Austria online magazine

11 postseason nominations for the Crusaders

2011-10-22T10:51:00.000-07:00

The 2011 Super Series Season was headlined by two teams, the Champion Carlstad Crusaders and the vice-champs the Tyreso Royal Crowns. The Crusaders prevailed at the end of last month for their second championship ever and in as many years. The Swedish American Football Federation proved this past week that these two teams were at the top of the league from an individual standpoint as well. Each team was honored with 11 nominations and each team had players nominated for 8 out of the 11 possible awards. My biggest congratulations to each of the players who were nominated. The Crusaders nominations are as follows:

Import of the year: Eli Cranor, Joey Stein
RB of the year: Christian Forsman
WR of the year: Fredrik Eklund, Fredrik Isaksson
OL of the year: Thomas Falklind, Carl Romlin
DL of the year: Olof Flemstrom
LB of the year: Johan Bjorn
Rookie of the year: Christian Kuylenstjerna
Coach of the year: Tracey Gere

Defense Leads Crusaders to Title Town

2011-09-25T03:52:00.000-07:00

The 2011 Swedish Super Series Final provided the Carlstad Crusaders, the 4th ranked team in Europe, to flex their muscles in front of 1,500 screaming fans in Uppsala on Saturday. After trading wins with the Tyreso Royal Crowns, ranked second in Sweden, and after both squads won easily in the semi-final it seemed that the matchup between these two teams would be highly contested. That wasn't the case in this SM final. The Crusaders Offense scored early while the Defense put a stranglehold on the Crowns offense that allowed them 7 first downs and 74 yards of total offensive output on the whole day.

The game kicked off with plenty of excitement in the air after an honorary coin toss and the event being broadcasted live in Sweden. The Crusaders started at their own 45 yard line after a healthy return. The offense went right to work. The big offensive line dominated the Crowns front early and often creating holes for last year's player of the year, RB Christian Forsman, and this year's import of the year, QB Eli Cranor to blow through the defense. On second down from the Crown 33 Eli Cranor called and executed to perfection a pass play giving 17 year old superstar WR Robin Juhlin a chance to outrace the middle line backer, spin off a tackle from the safety, and outrun two others on his way to the score zone. Juhlin led all receivers in the game with 6 catches for 51 yards and the lone score. The Crusaders defense started just as hot offering the Crowns 6 yards in 3 plays and 34 yard punt return bringing the ball back to the Crusaders 44 yard line. The second 55 yard drive began with an offensive pass interference which would begin the only element that would have a chance to slow the Crusaders on the day, penalties. 12 penalties for 148 yards negated big play after big play in this Championship and kept the Crusaders from riding away with this game on several occasions. The Crusaders came to a 4th down when Eli escaped the pocket and launched a ball up to breakout star of the Super Series WR Fredrik Isaksson. Fred Ice avoided the corner who was in close pursuit and climbed the ladder against the safety earning a highlight for the ages on the grand stage, a 35 yard touchdown catch was the first of many big plays that led him to be voted the Most Valuable Player of the game.

After being up 14-0 the Crusaders went for the jugular. Head Coach Tracey Gere called a surprise onside which was executed to perfection by Kicker Victor Jonsson. The gaping hole in the Crowns kick return was exploited and the Crusaders had the ball again. A coaching staff puts in many hours of preparation for a single game and sometimes the game plan doesn't always work. For this final Tracey Gere, in combination with myself and Eli, developed and installed a thought out and in depth plan for both offense and defense that had this club prepared for any and all situations that could arise. This was evidenced by our team's ability to run the ball at will, rushing for 250 yards, after having thrown for over 300 yards and 6 touchdowns just 7 days before in the semi-final. Rushing was something that we have focused on primarily for the Crowns. Having the ability to run amok on this day proved crucial, because the Crowns pass defense played great.

The drive stalled after a missed call on a Fred Ice catch on 3rd and 9 which was ruled incomplete unbeknownst to Eli who thought it was still 3rd down following the decline of a penalty instead of what the situation actually was, 4th down. As a result, the Champs turned it over on downs. This didn't matter to the Crusaders defense who gave up just 4 yards after 3 plays and a new punt. The stout Carlstad defense that held the German defending Champions to 14 points back in April was in full outfit during the game. Tracey Gere's complex setup of a defense that is constantly in motion, similar to that of the Green Bay Packers, attacking the backfield from unknown angles, and having the ability to bring pressure while deploying a spiderweb of coverage made for a long and frustrating day for the Crowns.

The second quarter went back and forth. The Crowns increased their output to 18 plays and 37 yards for the first half including two more punts and our two way star Fred Ice's interception from the safety position. The Crusaders offense was hounded by mistakes in the second quarter giving up the ball on downs, per a fumble, and to interception in it's three possessions each time after pushing the ball within the Tyreso 30 yard line.

The second half kicked off with the Crusaders utilizing their athletic ability to make plays. A short kickoff failed to be caught by the return squad. The Crusaders pounced on the ball and started the second the same way as the first, on offense. The Offense overcame two holding penalties on the drive with a first down toss to Christian Monclair, and two big Christian Forsman runs bringing the ball to first and goal at the Crown 4 yard line. A personal foul penalty Robin Juhlin backed the Crusaders up keeping them out of the end zone after a Cranor pass was intercepted on 4th and goal from the 21 yard line, made worse by a personal foul after the play was over.

The Crowns took advantage of the opportunity by lining up in a new formation from their own 41 that gave them the chance to easily attack the defense's left or right. The first play was the biggest of the day, the Crowns running back raced for 18 yards bringing the ball across midfield for the first time in the game. Tracey quickly adjusted the defense's strategy immediately suffocating the offense of the Crown, a wise and well timed decision by the head man of the Crusaders. Not only prior to the game, but during the game Tracey had the wherewithal to stump the offense of the Crown and deny their advances. The Crowns converted on one 4th down, but their second attempt fell short turning the ball back over to the home team. The Crusaders found it difficult to move the ball, and a false start penalty on 3rd and 3 made matters worse. The next play had the ability to turn the tide for the Crowns, Eli Cranors attempt to make yet another play was not to be, as the Crown defense intercepted his pass and returned it all the way back to the 2 yard line. Starting from the 2 was the only place that the Crowns found success during the game pounding the ball across in one play with 11:37 left in the game.

Momentum stayed with the Crowns as the next possession ended after 3 plays and an Eli Cranor punt of 40 yards. The defense once again was stifling giving up 1 first down on 2 plays and 4 incomplete passes followed by another Crowns punt. With just over 9 minutes left in the game the Crusaders offense re-energized. Moving the ball on the run early in the drive by Eli and Christian Forsman setup the play action pass. On 3rd and 3 standout WR Fredrik Eklund sprinted past the defense and for the second time in the game was grabbed from behind as the ball headed his way. The interference penalty kept the drive alive and Eli and Forsman took turns once again finishing off runs that brought the ball to first and goal at the 4 of the Crowns. Eli ran the ball 2 times, the second time called a touchdown by the refs shooting the Champions up by 2 scores with 3 minutes left in the game. 2 plays later the MVP Fred Ice tagged his second interception on the day leaving the Crusaders one first down away from title town. Three runs later the Crusaders found themselves ahead of the clock with enough plays to finish with a couple of kneel downs and a subsequent rushing of the field preceded by a well deserved ice water bath for the man both behind and at the front of the Crusaders (Tracey also starts at safety), Head Coach Tracey Gere.

The penalties and the turnovers were overcome by an offense that had the resolve to continue to fight despite the mistakes. The mark of this 2011 Championship squad was that it could stare adversity in the face and laugh, as was the case this past Saturday. The Crusaders rushed for 250 yards as a team, 143 from Forsman, and 106 by Eli. The 2 touchdown passes in the first quarter was enough for the Crusaders defense to sit behind and barricade a win. 74 total yards allowed is one of the most astounding performances by a defense in a championship victory that I have ever heard of. The day belonged to the whole bunch of Crusaders and their supporters. This classy bunch of deserving individuals have been a pleasure for my wife Mary and I to have met, and we are most grateful for every second that we have enjoyed being a part of this wonderful family, and Back to Back Champs, the Carlstad Crusaders.

Full game statistics can be found by following this link: Crusaders v. Crowns, and an online replay of the game provided by tv10 may be to follow, check back soon.

Super Series Final Preview

2011-09-21T02:44:00.000-07:00

The Swedish Super Series has been chalked full of great matchups throughout the summer season. Each team played a home and away schedule and the top two teams had set themselves apart from the competition by 2 weeks prior to the regular season finishing. The semi-final was no different as each of the top teams scored over half a hundred and held their opponents to much less. Now we are set with the top ranked Carlstad Crusaders and the second ranked Tyreso Royal Crowns meeting up for the title in Uppsala, Sweden on Saturday for the second time in as many seasons. The neutral site at Studenternas IP will be electric with plenty of media attention closely following this matchup including a live national broadcast that can be viewed in Sweden.

Neither team is new to this game being the 9th final for the Crusaders and the 4th for the Crowns, but both clubs have had a history of disappointment on championship Saturday. The Carlstad Crusaders won the game against the Crowns last season by a score of 37-15 which was the first championship in the history of the club. They had lost 7 finals in 8 seasons prior to that "monkey off the back" win in Karlstad. Repeating as champions has been a goal of this club since the beginning of the season and since being beaten out of the EFL tournament in early May it has been the sole focus. For the Royal Crown, they also boast a solo championship victory in this league having won on the last play of the game in 2001 beating the Stockholm Mean Machine 30-25. They have lost in this game 2 times including last season.

As for the teams playing in this year's final there is not much parity to speak of. The teams split the regular season matchups each winning at home. The Crusaders by 6 in the season opener, and the Crown by 9 in the season finale. As mentioned previously both teams stormed into the final by blowing away the competition in the semi-final. Both teams offer exciting offenses with many big time players at all the skill positions. The Crusaders are led by 2011 Import of the year Eli Cranor at QB and he is surrounded by league leaders in receiving and scoring in WR Fredrik Eklund and RB Christian Forsman. WR Fredrik Isaksson has developed tremendously over the summer to become a true threat in this Super Series proved by his 178 yards and 3 TDs in the semi-final. The Crusaders also have the most physical and skilled offensive line in the league only helping this bunch of athletes display their power. The Crowns, in the same vein, have Canadian Terry Smith at the helm who took over in the second half of the season and his team hasn't lost a game since. His precision and presence as a passer makes him very difficult to defend. WR Carl Kamm has been a terror on the outside all season and recently returned from injury WR Johan Ingerman helps the Crown offense, possibly the most quick strike offense in the league, to have a double deep threat. The most dynamic running back in the series Hampus Hellermark will attempt to get loose on the Crusaders defense, if he can reach the second level his speed is as good if not better than anybody in the Carlstad secondary. The defense of the Crusaders relies heavily on the massive attack brought by the front 6 players who have been disaster for offenses both in Sweden and the two clubs that faced them in Germany and Austria. The secondary has been diminished by injury, but having two defensive coaches has kept this unit afloat as each have played in the secondary and taught others to fill in roles surrounding the missing players. The Crown defense has a very dynamic and athletic group of players in the backfield. They have had the ability to bring pressure in many instances and play matchup coverage that keeps opposing offenses at bay. They will need to find ways to make plays from tight coverage, or provide pressure with minimal pass rush in order to slow the juggernaut that is the Crusader offense.

This game will be highly contested and will provide for a very entertaining afternoon with kickoff set for high noon on Saturday. All those in Sweden should make their way to Uppsala or tune in to the live broadcast on TV10 this weekend.

Media awards in Sweden

2011-09-21T02:15:00.000-07:00

As the championship game quickly approaches it's that time of year to honor those who have worked so hard and played so well throughout the 2011 season. The Catch, an online magazine devoted to Swedish Football has come up with their version of all-Sweden. Then entire list can be viewed by following the link at the right side titled, Super Series News.

The Carlstad Crusaders headlined the list garnering 8 all-Sweden awards including:

Import - Eli Cranor
Running Back - Christian Forsman
Receiver - Fredrik Eklund
Offensive Line - Crusaders O-Line
Def. Lineman - Olof Flemstrom
Linebacker - Johan Bjorn
Rookie - Robin Juhlin
Coach - Tracey Gere

Individually statistically speaking the crusaders led in the offensive categories of:

Passing - Eli Cranor
Rushing - Eli Cranor
Scoring - Christian Forsman
Receiving - Fredrik Eklund

Coach Profile: BD Kennedy

2011-09-20T03:52:00.000-07:00

The tiny town of Blanchard, Oklahoma (~7,700 population) has produced a person that has had such a positive influence on American Football in Europe that the story must be told. Billy (BD) Kennedy has coached for the Arlanda Jets a contender in the Swedish Super Series, the highest division in Sweden since 2005. BD has been coaching for 24 years throughout the United States and most recently in Sweden after finishing his playing career at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas. Before coaching for the Jets, BD coached for the Carlstad Crusaders in Karlstad, Sweden. The Crusader teams that he coached reached 3 Super Series finals as well as winning the 2003 EFAF Cup championship over the Innsbruck Raiders after a 24+ hour bus ride one way to Austria. On top of these club roles, he has held various positions with the junior and senior Swedish national teams over the years. Before coming to Sweden Coach Kennedy was a Graduate Assistant at Baylor University for two seasons, OL coach at Hutchinsson Community College for 2 seasons, and OL coach at Washburn University for 11 seasons.

The Jets this season had a tough onset, but after a resilient second half of the season the Jets finished by winning their final 3 games, outscoring their opponents 58-29. BD mentioned that, "It was kind of fun to see some things come together that Rik (co-coach Rik Parker) and I have been working on since the start of the season." BD believes in building a program from the bottom up, proved by their junior team finishing atop the league during the regular season with a 9-1 record. In a recent interview he commented about how the future is with the youth when desiring to build a long lasting football program.

As a result of the Jets' strong finish in the senior season they have re-qualified to compete in the Super Series once again in 2012, an opportunity for this young team to continue to build a program that rivals the top clubs in Sweden. When asked about the turnaround BD said, "The biggest difference is that we executed the things we wanted to do better. Coach Parker and I work on the fundamentals football on a continual basis. The better we get at the fundamentals, the better we will play. The better we play, the better chance we have to win." His insight and focus made a big difference in his teams big second half.

On top of his coaching duties, BD runs a football class in Arlanda that offers its students the opportunity to dive into theory and practice of football, further developing the sport he loves in Sweden. His dedication and level of involvement rivals that of any other ambassador of the game in Europe and that should be honored.

I recently had the pleasure to ask a few of BD's former players and fellow coaches about their impression of BD and the results were entertaining to say the least proving that BD has had an ability to provide laughter and enjoyment in the lives of many. A former player said, "I've played a lot of sports and have never been around a coach that inspired me more than BD. There is no question about that BD is the best coach I have ever played for. No coach has ever made me feel more special as a person and as a player." I've gathered that BD is somewhat of a story teller from asking about him. One individual said, "Few people have made me laugh like BD. He is a really funny guy to be around and he has tons of stories to tell." Another said, "He has an uncanny ability to remember details and names from things that have happened to him at any age."

I was told by Rikard Borg who played for and coached with BD throughout their careers that BD was such a knowledgeable individual, especially regarding offensive football. He said that one season BD helped play on the developmental team for the Crusaders and that from the center position would stand up and call audibles based on the defense. Rik Parker who coaches with BD in Arlanda also said that, "I would matchup BD with anyone armed with a marker and whiteboard in a battle of O-Line scheming." Other comments that stood out about BD are, "very passionate, very knowledgeable, has an ability to encourage and get people involved, great family man, very sincere and genuine, makes players feel needed, haven’t seen same qualities with other Swedish coaches, the best coach I’ve played for, there is nothing phony about BD Kennedy." The comments were so positive that I really got a sense of how much influence this one person has made while here in Europe.

BD keeps a blog that talks some about living and coaching in Sweden, and one of his former players has said that, "I am trying to follow his blog, which isn't too hard since he is updating it once every millennium. But when there is a new post up there his character shines through and it is really funny to read the stuff he writes. If you have the time, enjoy getting a glimpse into how this remarkable coach has infiltrated a deserving group of football players' lives. The Lineman's Dream.

When prompted about what is in the future for this ambassador, BD stated that, "the future for me is to use my job with the NIU program in American football here, to develop the best players I can. Also, most importantly it holds the birth of my wife & my second child who is due January 31st...and that is the most important thing!! it will also hold a quick trip home to see the family here in a few weeks and I will be attending the OU vs Texas game on October 8 in Dallas Texas. Will be the first time I see it live...so I have to say BOOMER SOONER!!!

I'll leave this wonderful story with one of the numerous entertaining stories that can be told about BD Kennedy. Kalle Flognman a former player of BD's with the Carlstad Crusaders talked about one experience with BD, "Everyone who played for the Carlstad Crusaders during the 2003 season remembers a specific halftime when we played against the Stockholm Mean Machines. I don't remember the exact score at halftime, but I remember that our defense had jumped offsides three times on short yardage situations which allowed Stockholm to score a touchdown late in the first half. We had separate locker rooms for our offense and defense and BD told the offense to go to our locker room and he followed to defense into theirs. Everyone knew that BD would explode in the defense's locker room. And boy...did he begin. Even though there are two showers, a sauna, and two doors that separate our locker rooms it was like BD was in our locker room yelling and it all ended with a huge BANG which didn't sound like a door slamming. It wasn't, it was a massage table that had gone up to the roof and back down. A minute later BD stepped into the offense locker room and I wasn't sure if he was gonna yell at us too. But his first line was "Good job offense." We stepped out on the field in 2nd half, the defense shut Stockholm down and we won the game 22-9."

Congratulations to Coach Kennedy, a great coach and a great man, for the vast influence he has made in the lives of countless individuals both on and off the field.

What does intimidation look like?

2011-09-19T03:19:00.000-07:00

If you had the opportunity to schedule a playoff game at a date and time that would knowingly keep 2 two-way athletes and the coaches from having the ability to show up to the game to play against you, would you jump at that opportunity, or would you take the high road and schedule the game when all of those entities could be involved even though you would have a decreased chance of winning the game? Well, if you are the Tyreso Royal Crowns of the Swedish Super Series you would choose the low road. At least that’s what they did when they altered their Stockholm home game’s kickoff time for their under 19 semi-final competing against the Carlstad Crusaders so that it matched perfectly with that of the already scheduled Crusaders senior semi-final match in Carlstad, 4 hours away. What’s more, they were unwilling to change after having had multiple offers to play this game on another day or time in order to resolve the situation.

One could imagine the fear that must have been the groundwork of making that decision. Coaches Eli Cranor and myself along with the best U19 player in the Super Series in WR Robin Juhlin, and recently voted All-Europe MLB Christian Kuylenstjerna stayed in Carlstad to ensure the victory of the Senior team while the rest of our teammates who had devoted countless hours of physical and mental preparation that spanned the whole summer, from May until this month, headed to Stockholm and fought valiantly in a 25-6 defeat. What difference would 2 players and 2 coaches make… maybe none, maybe a lot, what will forever be unknown cannot be dwelled upon. However, when making decisions that could possibly add an asterisk onto a victory, or worse an asterisk onto a championship; I for one would like to avoid that at all cost.

Carlstad Offense explodes in 54-7 playoff victory

2011-09-18T07:04:00.000-07:00

A heap of nervous energy previewed the ball game yesterday in Karlstad, Sweden. Energy that was about to unload on the incoming Orebro Black Knights. The Knights had made the Super Series playoffs for the first time in club history, and were rolling off of 2 straight victories that had propelled them into the final 4. They were not prepared for the onslaught that Eli Cranor and company had brewing, nor were they prepared for the defensive wall that was put up against their offense. The lone touchdown in the second quarter on a Cody Ladutko pass was one of the only bright spots for the visitors. The Crusaders jumped at the opportunity to display their firepower to a home crowd for the final time in 2011. Eli threw for 329 yards on 22-33 and 6 TD's passing to 4 different receivers. Fredrik Isaksson was the standout on the day hauling in 8 Cranor passes for 174 yards and 3 scores. Despite having similar time of possession statistics, the Crusaders outgained the Knights 32-10 in first downs, and 483 to 145 in total yards.

As a result the Crusaders have earned a spot in the final 2 teams in the Super Series. The Championship game will be played Saturday, September 24th in Uppsala, Sweden a northern area of Stockholm. The competitor is yet to be determined as the 2nd ranked Tyreso Royal Crowns (8-2) face off with the 3rd ranked Stockholm Mean Machine (4-6) today at 5pm in southern Stockholm. Look forward to a preview of the Swedish final sometime later this week. Another place to grab up to date information on football in Sweden is the online magazine, The Catch.

Super Series Semi-Final upon Karlstad, Sweden

2011-09-13T13:59:00.000-07:00

This weekend the Orebro Black Knights in their first year of the top division in Sweden, the Super Series, have the largest task in the history of their organization. Travel to Karlstad and take on the defending national champions and top 10 ranked team in all of Europe, the Carlstad Crusaders. Sounds daunting, but the Black Knights have something going for them. Three weeks ago they sat on the brink of extermination, needing to win two games against the two teams that were directly ahead of them in the standings. All they did is rattle off 2 victories, the first against the Stockholm Mean Machine in a thriller 37-26, then in a playoff to get into the playoffs they beat the STU Northside Bulls this past weekend 28-6. Being a first year team to the top division has it's perks. They have had less expectations than any other team in the league. The way they have finished the season has definitely put them into the zone of having a successful season. Now they have the chance to reach the finals in their first season. Standing in their way, is a team that has beaten them two times this season 30-8 in Orebro and more recently 35-6 in early August at Tingvalla Stadium in downtown Karlstad. The Crusaders scored 399 points in the regular season (39.9 per game) and allowed just 103 (10.3 per game). They boast the leading passer (Eli Cranor), the top two leading rushers (Eli Cranor, Christian Forsman), and the leading receiver (Fredrik Eklund) in the Super Series. The game this weekend will display the top ranked Crusader squad as well as import QB Cody Ladutko spinning the ball to the Black Knight star Johan Stal who played for this very Crusader team just last season during their homerun season winning their first ever league championship. Newly acquired defensive end Kwame Jordan hailing from Louisiana Tech has been a spark for this Black Knight squad, helping bring them to this high point in their organization.

The game this weekend, kicking off at 2pm CET should provide the folks of Karlstad another huge game in the history of football in Sweden. The Crusaders have reloaded their attack after coming off of their first loss in a Super Series game since 2009, due in part to the various injuries suffered just prior to that game. Tune in to the twitter account linked at the right edge of this blog, titled Crusaders live updates, to keep pace with the contest.

A preview of the Swedish Playoffs has been created by www.thecatch.se which is an online magazine devoted to covering Swedish football. A portion of this article have been translated here into English:

Carlstad favorites of another finals

The semifinal between the Crusaders and Carlstad Örebro Black Knights on Tingvalla IP in Karlstad. Crusaders have been the dominant figure in this year's series. But last weekend went Crusaders their first loss in Swedish soil since 2009 when perhaps somewhat surprisingly defeated by Tyresö.

A contributing factor to the loss was no doubt that it lacked two of its best players on offense. Running back # 3 Christian Forsman has rested in recent matches because of a knee injury, while wide receiver # 9 Fredrik Eklund resisted because of a concussion. Forsman's and Eklund's absence meant that Carlstad missing two of the Super Series definitely talented skill players. Forsman has closed its way for 639 yards in this year's basic series and Eklund's Super Series-leading receiver with 777 yards on 43 receptions. Together, the pair Forsman and Eklund made the whole 23 touchdowns. Having them in the game to Saturday is of course a huge addition for Crusaders.

Apart from the matches against Tyresö, both of which were regular stories, has Carlstad been uncompromising in years and have had nothing but secure victories. It has been Sweden's best lines on both offense and defense, quarterback imports # 11 Eli Cranor has played phenomenal all season and the defense looks including # 19 Olof Flemström and # 50 John Bear that no one is let through in the middle just like that. At the back it has experienced foxes # 30 Anders Hjerpseth, # 20 Olof Eriksson and understood multiathlete # 12 Joey Stein. Stein has been with injury problems during parts of the season but showed good form against Tyresö, not least by taking a punt return all the way to touchdown. Nor should we forget about # 23 Calle Morin has done a very nice rookie season in the Crusaders secondary.

Statistically Carlstad has been in a class by itself. Offensive has produced nearly 1,000 yards more than any other team and the defense gives you only up 3.5 yards per play, also a figure no other team can match. They have poured in points during the season despite sporting enough aired all players and playing more conservatively once they decided the matches.

Örebro on a roll

Orebro Black Knights set an ambitious target for the season. The team would go to the finals and although it looked bad for just a few weeks ago the team managed to reach the goal. A very convincing victory against the Stockholm Mean Machines and a clear benefit to the STU in the last round means that Black Knights go into the playoffs with a lot of confidence.

Although Örebro are newcomers in the Super Series, there are plenty of routine in the team. And it was also the team's most experienced players who showed the way to the playoffs. Running back # 46 Anton Källvik was strong in the match against the STU and # 86 John Steel, one of the best receivers in modern times, showed much leadership in Stockholm where he had a great match with several crucial games. Steel played initially in the season a lot on defense but has in recent matches has taken an increasing role in passningsspelet. Other receivers, among them # 5 Gustav Andersson and # 3 Tobias Wahlström has also played well during the year which means that the quarterback # 6 Cody Ladutko has several targets to choose from.

Just Ladutko is another player who is playing better at the end. Ladutko came to Sweden with the high expectations that are always put at quarterback imports but received some criticism for initially not up to expectations. In the last four games have Ladutko however, played much better. For example, he had a completion rate of 59% after a strong summer, compared with more moderate 45% in six games this spring. Ladutko has just thrown one interception after the summer break, a significant improvement compared to the eight he had in the spring.

Defensively, Örebro played well all year and you actually have the series' third-best defense after Carlstad and Tyresö. Defensive line is strong with names that talented # 93 Claes Uneståhl, deserving imports # 7 Kwame Jordan, and especially young forever # 99 Abdel Seidou at 39 yearsold, despite continuing to be a super athlete. Behind the line is # 44 Niklas Persson Gyhlfe had a huge season with 50 tackles.

The problem for the Black Knights is that you must succeed in stopping Carlstad both on land and in the air. In the first meeting dealt Örebro passing plays well and held Carlstad to a season low 145 yards in the air. Crusaders switched on when the running game where they took all of 257 yards. In the second game, the meeting focused on the Black Knights to stop Carlstad running game. They managed and Carlstad took just 77 yards on the ground, but in return the Crusaders found gaps in Örebro pass defense and could be fit for 349 yards. It remains to see how head coach Peter Ericson and other coaching staff intend to solve the task on Saturday.

Bogey in Carlstad?

Given that Carlstad won the previous two games by a total of 65-14 and given the Carlstad fantastic games during the season gets Crusaders understood mega favorites on Saturday. What still makes it, after all, can be match is the mental part. For this Carlstad team it is an unfamiliar feeling to lose and it has happened more than once in the Super Series history to win habit teams end up out of sorts after an unexpected loss.

Orebro, on the other hand, goes to Tingvalla with a confidence that is called to do. They got going, and succeeded against all odds to get to the playoffs. A team of prosperity is always dangerous and the Black Knights would get a good start with early points while successfully stopping Carlstad's powerful offensive, there may be gaps, even in the most experienced and skilled team of Crusaders.

Those who get to Tingvalla IP in Karlstad at 17:00 on Saturday night will see if Orebro can cause a real playoff bang.

4th ranked Crusaders of Sweden fall in regular season finale

2011-09-13T13:49:00.001-07:00

The game this past weekend was the first time since early May that the Crusaders tasted defeat by an opponent. 21-12 was the final score in a contest that the up and coming Tyreso Royal Crown have waited for for more than 10 years. Beating the 4th ranked team in Europe most definitely will be a shining accomplishment on their season. The game was hard fought and the Crowns needed to come from behind after the Crusaders scored on a 76 yard punt return on the first drive and Eli had a dazzling scramble making what seemed to be the whole Tyreso defense miss for our second touchdown. Both PAT's were missed giving us the early 12-0 lead that we took into half time. The second half showed some miscues offensively, and rightly so when Sweden's second leading rusher and 3 of the top 12 receivers in Sweden all 4 were on the bench due to injury. The game did not have an effect on the outcome of the season for either team, as each team had already clinched home games for the semi-final. This did not change the mentality of either team as both vied for this coveted victory. Tyreso found some holes in the pass defense finding big plays a couple of times on Crusader missed assignments, then they used a power running attack to reach the endzone. They scored in the 3rd quarter, and took the lead late in the 4th quarter. The Crusaders always had a chance to take the lead until the 3rd TD of the game came with a minute left. The Crown defense had a great gameplan for the offense that they faced by bringing pressure to the running attack and pass protection of the Crusaders and playing a very physical style of pass coverage. The game provided some interest I'm sure for viewers around the league, which will most definitely prove beneficial heading into the semi-final weekend, and the finals next weekend.

What is football in Europe?

2011-09-07T03:00:00.000-07:00

I recently came across this video done by endzonetv, it is a description of european football and how it has progressed.

Game of the week gives 2 teams a shot at playoffs

2011-09-06T00:58:00.000-07:00

Everything in the Super Series has gone according to just about what could be expected this season. All up until this past weekend. The playoffs were all but set, the 4th ranked STU Bulls just needed to sign on the dotted line and seal their fate, but as was the case last weekend, "on paper" and "on the field" are two completely separate things. The 5th ranked Orebro Black Knights needed many things to occur in order for them to reach the playoffs in their first ever season in the top division. The 6th ranked Arlanda Jets beat the STU Bulls, 10-8, for their first win of the season, and Orebro exploded from their 12 points per game average and beat the 3rd ranked Stockholm Mean Machine 37-26. Both of these games had their own level of excitement and each were not decided until late in the game. The Jets scored in the first quarter against the Bulls, after the Bulls scored with less than 5 minutes in the game to take an 8-7 lead the Jets marched down the field in a 13 play drive culminating in a field goal and a huge upset victory. In Orebro, the Knights on their last leg to reach the playoffs battled back and forth with the Machine. The Mean Machine had the ball with 10 minutes remaining and the lead, 26-23 at which point the Knights intercepted a John Russell pass and returned it for the score. They added another score with 4 minutes left and put the game out of reach. The interception was the lone dull spot on an otherwise impressive Super Series debut for SMM quarterback John Russell. Russell threw for 324 yards and 4 touchdowns in his first game wearing Red and Blue. The Knights had not had the chance to triumph in the hard work that they had put forth all season. With close loss after close loss this win finally puts a mark on their season that is so positive and well timed, it may just spark them into the playoffs.

SMM vs. Orebro Highlights

With these results all is prepared for a showdown between Orebro and STU this Saturday for the right to enter the playoffs and travel to top ranked Karlstad. With the top 2 teams in the league, Carlstad and Tyreso, facing each other in southern Stockholm it's hard to believe that could possibly not be the game of the week. However, with the recent turn of events, Orebro will wait at home for the Bulls with kickoff set for 4pm local time. In this week's game of the week, the Black Knights and the STU Bulls each control their own destinies. The newly energized knights led by QB Cody Ladutko and do-everything WR/FS Johan Stal face off with Swedish national team QB Anders Hermodsson and import RB/WR Noah Sandersson.

Stay tuned to find out who will come out of this on top and head to Carlstad to face Europe's 4th ranked Crusaders.

Humboldt State live on TV against Central Washington, and Italy for the weekend

2011-09-05T00:58:00.000-07:00

Another break in the season gave Mary and I the blessed chance to explore more of this extravagant land they call Europe. We had a weekend off before our 3 week chase for the crown of Sweden, and with the weather heading towards winter here in southern Sweden we chose Italy. We flew into Pisa and stayed the night indulging in some of the tastiest pizza and gelato that this world offers. We took an early morning train to Cinque Terra and stayed two days in one of the most glorious and non-commercialized corners of planet earth. Mary and I were offered clear blue water swims and seaside snacks of seafood and pasta, combined with hiking the natural trails weaving their way through Italian mountain vineyards. After enough fun in the sun we turned for Pisa one last time and spent the evening searching the stars underneath the leaning tower. Now we are back in Sweden and prepping ourselves for a regular season final against the #2 team from Sweden, followed by a well deserved home semifinal-game that is the result of 9 straight wins in a recently more competitive league. Tune in later this week for more information on the Super Series.

In other unrelated news my Alma mater, Humboldt State University will be putting on display one of the most unique and simply stunning venues in college football this Thursday night when CBS Sports broadcasts live their contest with Central Washington University from Northern California's gem, the Redwood Bowl. The Bowl is situated amongst the giant redwood trees alongside the California Coast in beautiful Arcata, California. All one can see while entering the stadium at night is the light streaming through the tip tops of these massive evergreens. The Lumberjacks of Humboldt are 1-0 on this early season and beat this same CWU team last season for the first time in 15 years. If you have some free time, tune in at 5pm Pacific Standard Time translating to 2am Central European Time at your local CBS Sports channel or by following this link for online viewers: HSU vs. CWU live

Crusaders 9th win grants them regular season championship

2011-08-28T02:28:00.000-07:00

A torrential downpour in the lake town of Karlstad yesterday and an increasingly competitive STU Bulls team were the latest barriers that stood in the way of the Crusader wave that is rolling through Sweden. For 3 hours prior to kickoff the skies shattered on Tingvalla offering the two teams a 30 minute kickoff delay. The rain ceased long enough for the game to get underway by 5:30. With the playoffs on the horizon, the sense of urgency was heightened. The Crusaders were fighting for the top rank and the opportunity to have the 4th ranked team travel to Karlstad for the semi-final, while the Bulls had the focus of passing the Mean Machine for 3rd place in the league.

The battle started with the Crusader's offense attempting to find alternate ways to move the ball besides its high powered downfield passing game. Running the ball from the shotgun provided minimal yards and completing passes was a challenge in that climate. The Bulls had similar issues, but on top of these issues, they faced the top defense in Sweden (9.1 points per game allowed) led by back to back defensive player of the week in Sweden, Olof Flemstrom. With 18.5 tackles, 7 of which for loss in the past two weeks Flemstrom is playing at an unbelievably high level. Johan Bear, the Crusaders middle linebacker was all over the field on Saturday night. He played a huge role in defending the tricky Bulls offense that comes out with unbalanced formations and reverse schemes.

Both teams endured sloppy offensive play with an overabundance of dropped passes, missed footing, and fumbles. The first legitimate Crusaders' chance at points was negated by an interception in the end zone, but a 3 and out did not harm the home team's winning chances. The empty score was lifted when the star of the game Fredrik Isaksson caught an Eli Cranor pass down the home sideline and outraced the defense for over half the field and the game's first score. Both teams traded punts throughout the first quarter and the early second quarter. The Bulls continued to attack and found themselves near the Crusaders endzone following a couple of big plays. A break in the coverage offered the Bulls a free shot at the endzone which they converted bringing the score to 7-6. The next few minutes showed the Crusaders offense hitting straight at the center of the Bulls defense getting them a first and goal at the Bulls 9 yard line. 4 plays offered no points and the Crusaders had to turn the ball over. 2 plays later the Bulls ball carrier found himself on the ground in his own endzone giving the defense a safety and upping the ante, 9-6. The Crusaders received the ball again with just under 5 minutes in the first half. A good running attack gained a couple of first downs just crossing the Bulls 40 yard line. A well timed play action fake gave Fred Ice a chance to sneak behind the defense and again catch a long Cranor throw. The score gave the Crusaders a bit of breathing room at the break, 15-6.

The beginning of the second half came with some misfortune when 2010 player of the year, and Crusaders RB Christian Forsman left the field with what is preliminarily diagnosed as a knee ligament injury. As a result, younger players showed up and stepped up in a big way. The first big play after Forsman's departure was made by rookie WR Josef Nguzo. As the Crusaders were driving Eli tried the left side from approximately the 25 yard line. Josef slipped behind the corner and after the ball was misjudged by the defender and uncontested Josef whipped his body around just in time to snag the pass and slip 2 feet in bounds at the side of the endzone for a highlight that will not be soon forgotten. Backup running back Nabard Palani, at 20 years old, had a coming out party with 119 yards on 19 carries and 2 TDs all in the second half, an outstanding performance from one of the most humble men you will ever meet. The third quarter was his as he broke off 2 touchdown runs, the first of which he patiently waited behind the big Crusaders line, widened the defense with an outside move and made a vertical cut with extraordinary quickness that put him yards behind the defense. He bolted past the secondary and outraced the rest of the Bulls for the score. The first three drives of the second half, sparked by the running game, provided touchdowns to the home side and pushed the Crusaders out of reach of the Bulls. The 4th quarter gave an opportunity to many of the Crusaders youth players, who have been practicing alongside the A-team, a chance in a Super Series game. The Bulls pushed across one final score with under a minute to play ending the game at 39-12.

The Crusaders finished the game outrushing the Bulls 159-75 with similar carry attempts. The offensive line created the space after some adjustments and the Crusaders backs made the plays happen. Eli finished 10-19 with 162 yards and 3 TD strikes most likely keeping him atop the league passing charts. The Bulls lost the turnover battle 3-1 which made it all the more difficult to win in Karlstad. Converting 3rd downs was abnormally hard on this Saturday as neither team was over 33% in gaining first downs in this scenario.

The win allows the Crusaders the opportunity to host a semi-final match. The regular season finale in Tyreso in two weeks will have no bearing whatsoever, whether win or lose, as to the future of the 2011 season. This will provide some interesting dynamic as to whether or not the Crusaders arrive with their entire starting squad. The bye week ahead along with the unimportant final game will give the Crusaders the much needed opportunity to regroup given the injury plagued season that has been. One thing that must be said about this resilient group of players is that the depth and ability for players to move around has kept this team atop a league that is bringing it's best game week in and week out for the current champs. Depth is something that often brings down good European teams, and this 4th ranked team in Europe has had the ability to battle on.

Tyreso won their game this weekend against the 6th place Arlanda Jets 48-7. The win puts them out of reach of the other teams in the Super Series and they too will host a playoff semi-final match. They will get the 3rd ranked team from the regular season. Tyreso takes a week off this weekend, and will have that regular season finale to sort things out and measure up their new second half roster against the 2011 Super Series Regular Season Champions that they came within a touchdown against back in May.

Game of the Week, GFL

2011-08-24T02:48:00.000-07:00

The Game of the week comes to us from Germany and faces two of the top 12 teams in Europe against one another. As the GFL nears it's playoff selection (3 games remaning), garnering 8 spots to the top 4 teams from each of the two divisions, games become ever more important. A classic matchup between the historically powerful southern Marburg Mercenaries, coached by the highly respected Joe Roman, who have had international wins in years past and have been the top team from the south in recent years and their opponent in this affair are most recently crowned as German Champions, with an undefeated first 11 games of the German season, and ranked 5th on the continent of Europe are the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes. Their only negative mark on the season is the early departure from the EFL in a 20-22 overtime loss to Europe's 4th ranked Carlstad Crusaders of Sweden. Marburg at 10-1 and ranked 12th in Europe this season have only lost to the undefeated Schwabisch Hall Unicorns.

This matchup most recently went to the team from the south, when in the first week of the 2010 season the Mercenaries traveled up to the Baltic and beat the Canes at home 22-19. In this season both teams have statistically performed as well as any team in the league in various areas. The Hurricanes are 2nd in scoring offense (35p/g) and top the league in scoring defense (14p/g), while the Mercenaries are 3rd in Germany in both categories (30, 17p/g). The biggest question mark in this game will be in the ground game. The Hurricanes bash for a league second best 179 rushing yards a game. Behind a big German offensive line runs import running back Michael Andrew (England) who is second in the league in yards per game on the ground. From the Mercenary point of attack they have allowed a miniscule 46 yards per game which is by far the fewest of any German team thus far. Something has to give, and it will for one of these elements this weekend. The multi threat Kiel offense also has an established passing game that is 3rd in the league at 222 yards/game. Import Quarterback Jeff Welsh (Western Michigan) and import wideout Aaron Love (FCS, U of Delaware) have connected tremendously as has German ball catcher Julien Dohrendorf. Marburg's offense fires well also, at 5th in passing and 4th in rushing in the GFL this season. The only rusher to outlast Kiel's Andrew is import ball carrier Joe Clark (Div. II, Augustana) for the Mercenaries who leads the league with 147 yards per game. German QB Joachim Ullrich has reached 4th in the league in both passing efficiency and yards per game.

While both teams have performed well enough to have clinched playoff berths they are both fighting for playoff position and this game will have definite implications for the rankings. Marburg faces the toughest challenge of any German team having to face undefeated teams in each of its last three matchups. This week and next against this Hurricane squad due to a rescheduled game earlier this season, and the regular season finale against the undefeated Unicorns. At 4pm local time the Baltic Canes bring their top 5 team down to Marburg to face last year's south German champs.

Finally, the GFL website has done an incredible job of updating both news and statistics, making writing more enjoyable. All other leagues should use the GFL website as a template.

Europe's 4th ranked Crusaders at home on Saturday

2011-08-22T14:35:00.000-07:00

This weekend the #4 ranked team in Europe have their last home game for the regular season. This game offers the top team in Sweden the chance to clinch the regular season championship and 1st place ranking for the playoffs with still one game remaining on the schedule. The opponent the STU Northside Stockholm Bulls. The Bulls have been on an up and down journey this season. After beating the Stockholm Mean Machine on the road just before summer break, they returned from break having lost their leading deep threat wide receiver to college and their top receiver to a season ending injury. As a result they called upon the help of an import running back in Noah Sanderson. In STU's first game with this offensive system they came up one score short of the Stockholm Mean Machine just two weeks ago. A week off last week gave this Bulls team, known for arriving late in the season and the playoffs with awkward and tricky formations that are often unpracticed by the opposing team a chance to formulate a more in depth plan of attack for the defending champs. With these truths, the game this weekend has the ability to be another challenge for the team on the top, the Crusaders. The Crusaders showed a bit of offensive vulnerability in Stockholm last weekend and are looking for a strong performance, such as the last time they faced this STU team, in order to get back on track. That last performance was about as flawless on offense as can be. 70 points scored by the offensive unit, with a plethora of players getting into the endzone and a rushing attack that offered huge, seemingly effortless gains time and again.

Kickoff is set for 5pm local time this Saturday, simultaneously 8am on the west coast and at 10 in Arkansas for those listeners. Score updates are going to be provided through the Crusaders official twitter account, which is linked to the right of this blog titled Crusaders Game Updates.

A big win over the Mean Machine, most winningest club in Swedish history

2011-08-22T13:58:00.000-07:00

We showed up to Stockholm ready to perform against the most respected club in Sweden when it comes to title defense. Title defense is something that the Crusaders have new experience with having won the Swedish title for the first time in 2010. Title defense is going particularly well with 8 wins and no losses to speak of thus far in league play. This weekend a 28-0 beating of the most jeweled club in Sweden was not as easily earned as it may sound. The game this past weekend was quite different than games past for the Crusaders. The main difference, mistakes with penalties and turnovers kept the Swedish giant at bay for the majority of the first half. Two lost fumbles and many called offensive penalties allowed the Crusaders to only earn 8 points at the break. The defense for the Crusaders was anything but slowed. With recently departed QB Cody Hawkins back home in Colorado the Mean Machine turned to a wing-t offense that while it was unpredictable at times, did not have the firepower to part the Crusader defensive unit. A few first downs was all that the Blue and Red mustered on the day due mainly to the stout front that the Crusaders brought. Time and again there were off white jerseys splitting the offense and making big hits on the left out to dry Mean Machine ball carriers. The one pass that was thrown during the game was intercepted by Fredrik Isaksson, the 7th Crusader defender to mark an interception on the season. Fred Ice also noted after the game that he did indeed intercept 100% of the passes thrown in the contest, but I digress.

The offense highlighted it's second half with a run play by Christian Forsman from the 1 yard line in which he took the ball and bounced to the sideline just dodging two would be tacklers and utilizing a great block by Fredrik Eklund he bolted into and beyond the SMM secondary and rolled down the sideline for a 96 yard TD. 97 yards was endzone to endzone at the Zinken in donwtown Stockholm. Backed up by a stellar SMM punt, the offense created this highlight for the ages most exciting because he scampered all the way down the sideline with his left tackle Thomas Falkelind leading the charge. At 6'5, 270lbs. this large Swede sprinting down the field made for one heck of a blockade. The win was the 22nd in a row in Swedish play for the Crusaders dating back to the championship game of 2009. Beating such a long lasting force in the Super Series at their home stadium is the type of victory that should be one of the most treasured for a club that is on the rise, and it is definitely one of the sweetest victories that I have ever been a part of in Europe.

In the other game the Tyreso Royal Crowns defeated the Orebro Black Knights 20-7. The game was a toss up until the final two minutes when the Crown scored their third touchdown and put the game out of reach. At 1-6-1 the first year club from Orebro has been eliminated from playoff contention. With the TRC win and the SMM loss the Royal Crown have surged forward in their course to have a home playoff game the weekend of September 3rd. At 6-2 they are still 2 games behind the 4th highest team in Europe, the Carlstad Crusaders, and pending a Crusader defeat this coming weekend they may be set up for a share of the regular season title.

Crusaders take to the road in sight of 8th straight Swedish win

2011-08-17T05:47:00.000-07:00

The Carlstad Crusaders, the 4th best team in Europe according to europlayers.com, travels this Saturday to play a 3pm ball game against their adversary, the Stockholm Mean Machines. While the Machine is the most storied club in Sweden this season has provided meager opportunities to celebrate. The Machine are set at 3rd place in Sweden coming off of a hard fought 34-28 victory last weekend against the STU Northside Bulls. At 4-3 the Machine have the inside route to the #3 position in the 4 team playoffs to start mid-September.

The Crusaders on the other hand have been rolling through the Super Series with the only close victory coming in the first week of the season against the Tyreso Royal Crown. With a point differential of 320-70 there are no teams close to winning as well as the Crusaders do. The last time these two teams faced off was in Karlstad before summer break. The Crusaders prevailed in that affair 55-13, working with maximum efficiency having run 43 plays as compared to SMM's 70 in that contest. Nevertheless, this game will be played in Stockholm, a place that has seen more championship victories than any other in the Super Series.

Kickoff is set for 3pm local time, 6am on the west coast and can be followed online by following the link to the right hand side of the blog titled, Crusaders game updates.

Crusaders Ride 35-6 on a Friday night in Sweden

2011-08-12T15:32:00.000-07:00

The Crusaders found a Black Knights squad that was teeming with enthusiasm upon entering Tingvalla on Friday night. The Knights had playoffs on the brain, that's right... Playoffs! Playoffs! With a new import to go with their already developed leader in QB Cody Ladutko, and a recent return at WR this team was ready to roll. Unfortunately for them, so were the Crusaders and the Crusader faithful in downtown Karlstad on a Friday night. The Crusaders jumped to a 15-0 lead early in the first quarter after the defense came out with virtually nothing to offer the team from Orebro. QB Eli Cranor punched the first score in from 2 yards out and hooked up with Fredrik Eklund on a deep scoring try which reminded me of one of my favorite childhood films in which Benny the Jet hit a flyball directly into the mitt of Smalls who was standing in left center with his glove in the air. Eli launched right in front of our sideline. Fredex was streaking well past the defender but the ball seemed to be just a bit too far, as he urged for a few extra full speed paces he looked forward and away from the ball for that split second before the ball lands within a receivers arms. As he looked away he reached out and the ball hit him right in the hands. If a pass had ever been thrown on the target it was this one. Fredrik hauled it in and smoked the defense all the way to the score zone. Two more scoring strikes were granted by the Orebro defense in the form of a 20 yard catch and run by WR Robyn Juhlin and a slant route from Cranor to Eklund with time expiring at the half. Juhlin, pictured at the top, at just 17 years of age is developing outstandingly fast and can rival the likes of Sweden's top ball handlers. A dual sport athlete himself, it's not a surprise that his increased role in the offense has him scoring consistently from game to game. One touchdown was added by the Knights in the form of QB Cody Ladutko taking matters into his own hands and scrambling for the short TD run and another long scoring pass from Sweden's top duo before the affair was settled at 35-6 for the home squad.

Highlights for the Black Knights: Cody Ladutko rushing for 90 yards on 11 carries and an uncalculated number of missed tackles forced. His ability to evade the Crusaders defense on numerous plays made for an exciting offense.

Highlights for the Crusaders: Sweden's most dominating receiver had a blast out game with 3 TD's and 178 yards on 6 catches. Fredex cannot be stopped, your only chance is to slow him down. Head Coach and FS Tracey Gere pulled off a magic trick of an interception when after the receiver caught the ball he immediately stripped it away prior to the reciever's ability to haul in the catch, one handed I might add, and returned it into Knight territory.

A game report can be viewed by following this link: Crusaders Ride 35-6
And official statistics of the battle are showed at the SAFF website following this link: CC vs. OBK 8/12

Finnish Football Reaches Semi-Finals

2011-08-11T07:41:00.001-07:00

The Finnish Football League is down to its final 4 teams, and this weekend will widdle the total to the last 2 for 2011. A long summer season has culminated in a few of the typical finalists from Finland, with a newcomer to the final fiesta players. In the first game Saturday the top ranked Seinajoki Crocodiles who are also the 11th best team in Europe face off with the Lappeenranta Rajaritarit translated to Border Guards. Sunday the 21st ranked team in Europe and last year's Finnish champion the Porvoon Butchers face off with the Helsinki Wolverines from the capitol city.

The Crocodiles' hard work has brought them to this astounding position of the top ranked team in Finland after the regular season at 9-1. They have come a long way since 2010's final game in which they lost 30-17 to the Butchers. The Crocs season has been as close as 1 point from being flawless in their single loss of the season 66-65 to the team that they face in the first round, the Border Guards. The Guards finished the regular season at 7-3. They lost to the Butchers twice, this last time by just 3 points and have that monumental win over the Crocodiles, the only team to do so in 2011. The game this weekend will be hard fought and will face a top 11 team in Europe against probably the most fierce 4th place team that any league in Europe can boast. Be prepared for a barn burner in this affair. Read more about the game matchup by following this link: Crocs vs. Border Guards.

Sunday provides another amazing matchup and is a testament to the diversity of the clubs in Finland. Last year, with both clubs from the Helsinki area making the playoffs was a huge feat. The Wolverines are the classic underdog in this scenario. They also have experience in this setting. Not just that they lost in the semi-final last season, but they lost in the semi-final to this very Butchers team in Porvoon to boot. Another year has passed, and here they are again, having lost to the Butchers in the regular season by a single point. The Butchers boast a 21st European ranking according to europlayers.com. Their single loss was back in the second week of the season, probably before the snow was completely melted to the Crocs. Since that game the Butchers have rattled off 8 wins with their closest game being against this very Wolverines squad in a 34-33 victory. Pregame report: Butchers vs. Wolverines.

Each matchup offers us the exciting opportunity to have no idea who is going to be the winner. We could have a rematch of last year's final, or we may have a changing of the guard in Finland. Each team has played one another this season, and surprisingly have played to within 1 point of each other. Watch this incredible series come to a close this weekend by following the score updates on the scores page of the Finnish football Website. Go to the official Finnish football website for more information.

Super Series in full stride towards the playoffs

2011-08-11T07:32:00.000-07:00

The Swedish Super Series holds two contests this weekend that have debatable playoff implications. The second game, considered by myself as the game of the week will kick off in Stockholm on Saturday and will pitt the 3rd ranked STU Northside Bulls against #4 Stockholm Mean Machine. Both teams are at 3-3 and are holding the final two playoff spots with 4 weeks remaining. Positioning is the focus of these two clubs as they battle for the possibility of a home playoff game should they catch 5-2 Tyreso. In the first encounter the Bulls upset the Machine 26-23 in Stockholm in the final game before the summer break. Stockholm and QB Cody Hawkins will look to avenge that first defeat, and gain some confidence back after losing big in Tyreso last weekend. This is the first game back from break for the Bulls who feature a new player in the backfield. RB Noah Sanderson joins the squad with 4 games remaining. He is no newcomer who played for this same Bulls team on the other side of the ball just last season as a linebacker. The home Bulls this weekend will push for the upper hand in the playoff chase, but a resilient and backed up Mean Machine will most certainly come for revenge.

First year team to the top division the Orebro Black Knights sit at 1-4-1 and 2 games behind both the STU Bulls and SMM with just 4 games left before the dismissal rounds. They’ll need to win at least 3 of 4 games and hope for STU or SMM to falter in order to reach the second season. Standing in their way this weekend is Europe’s 4th ranked and thus far untouchable Swedish club the 6-0 Carlstad Crusaders. The first matchup between these teams proved the formidable opponent that the Black Knights are despite their inexperience in the Super Series. Just a 14-0 halftime lead was the smallest lead at the break for the Crusaders against any opponent in Sweden this year. The score was 30-8 in that contest led by a phenomenal Carlstad defense which now has 5 of its defensive backs with an interception in this season which begs the question… Is there anyone who can play in this secondary and not have a pick? Of course, credit for these interceptions is always due in part to the weapon of mass destruction that is the Carlstad defensive line. This wrecking machine with Carlsson, Thelander, Romlin, Asker, Flemstrom, among others rocks the offensive front of the opponent each time out.

Both teams have a different makeup for this contest. The Black Knights have summoned the assistance of former Louisiana Tech defensive lineman Kwame Jordan who most recently has been playing for the arena football team the New Orleans Voodoo. Kwame will most certainly add to a unit that needed some help in the last matchup which allowed over 230 rushing yards by QB Eli Cranor alone. The Crusaders will also have 3 arguably top players at their positions in the league who were not available in the last game in standout WR Fredrik Eklund, all-everything Olof Flemstrom, and myself. Thus, the Friday night kickoff at Tingvalla in downtown Karlstad will hold some more electricity than the last time these teams faced off. Enjoy the game as technologically advanced as we are fit, with the twitter account, a link is provided at the right side of this blog.

The Homestretch.. Games of the Week

2011-08-04T04:38:00.000-07:00

After the summer vacations have been spent, most of the league’s have been granted offseason tickets and bunches of imports have headed back west, what we are left with are the 3 leagues that attempt to keep their players in game condition for the better portion of the calendar year. Despite the length of these seasons, the national players have developed a wonderful ability to stay dedicated and prepared for their chance to hoist the national championship trophy at their league’s finale. Sweden, Finland, and Germany will play into the months of September and October and thus we have 3 game’s of the week to start of what seems to be the “trophy” half of the season.. the homestretch.

A game of the week matchup in Finland pairs two teams at the center against each other when at 3pm on Saturday the Helsinki Wolverines travel to the Jyvaskylan Jaguarit (Jaguars). The 4th ranked Wolverines are at 5-3 and beat the Jaguars (4-5) on June 12th by 14 points. Since that game they have been battled tested, beating the 6th place Northern Lights handily and the 3rd ranked Lappeenrata by more than 30.. but a week before Nate Kmic joined the Border Guards. The other two encounters were a 1 point loss to #2 Porvoon and a 4 point loss to #1 Seinajoki. Jyvaskylan since that June 12th meeting have held firm in their center position of the league having beat the 3 teams below them and lost to the 3 teams above the middle of the road pair. This matchup will most definitely mean more to the Jaguars who are in the first spot out of the playoffs at this point in their season at 5th, and do not have any wins against teams above them in the standings. The Wolverines do not need to drop a game, especially to the team that is just behind them for a playoff spot, being on the road only adds to the drama for all from the capitol city of Helsinki.

2 of the top 3 Swedish teams face off for the second time this season. After a long summer break there are many unknowns as to how Super Series teams are prepared to make playoff runs, but this first week battle between the Stockholm Mean Machines and the Tyreso Royal Crowns will tell a lot about these top teams. The second ranked Royal Crowns at 4-2 did lose the head to head matchup with third place Stockholm by a score of 33-28. In a wild finish there were 2 lead changes in the final 2 minutes of the game, with Tyreso trying for a 2nd touchdown as the clock expired. Tyreso beat 4th ranked STU Bulls most recently by a score of 31-22, and in a most surprising win the same Bulls team beat the Mean Machine in the final week of the first half 26-23. This game has pivotal positioning implications for each of these teams. This will set the tone for the second half and should Stockholm win again, they will have the inside track to a home field semifinal game having beaten the Crown twice. A 5pm kickoff in Tyreso on Saturday evening will let these two Swedish powers loose on one another.

The German Football League provides an interesting matchup this weekend and due to the expansion of the GFL both teams are recently moved up from the second division (Division 1) from last season. A team that is having a plethora of success in its first season in the top division, Europe’s 9th ranked Monchengladbach Mavericks will travel to Dusseldorf Sunday at 3pm local time to check in with the Panthers. At 6-3 in the North division the Panthers are just 1 game behind the Mavs. The teams did face off in late June when the Mavs came away with a close 5 point victory 24-19. The repeat offers the Panthers a chance for redemption. In doing so a victory would grant them one game closer to passing the Mavericks for the 2nd place in the North division and a home game in the playoffs.

For the best results log on to europlayers.com following these games for fast paced score updates.

Unselfishness at it's best

2011-08-03T01:31:00.000-07:00

The summer break in Sweden offers Mary and I the opportunity to have some extra experiences besides engulfing ourselves in the culture of the north. My rookie season in Europe was in Barcelona, Spain where I met some people who have the most giving and selfless hearts in this world. Our hiatus from playing led Mary and I to a vacation down to the Southern country in order for her to meet some of these folks and for me to have a chance to reconnect. While we were there soaking in the Spanish sunshine one of my friends and ex-teammates told us a story that warms the soul while simultaneously feels like a dream come true story for many football fans.
When I was moving to Barcelona straight out of college, in what the general manager Alex Grande recalls as a young man’s mindset, I was focused on what number I would be wearing. Knowing that the starting outside linebacker, Rafa Todoli, wore #2 it was in my ambition to find a way to persuade for him to allow me to wear the number. In Spain it is uncommon for American football gear to be readily available to the players, so I offered to bring Rafa a fresh pair of Nike Speed TD cleats for the season in a swap for the #2. He gladly accepted, we became great friends, I played great in that jersey and he played better in those cleats, and what’s more we both looked great.

Upon visiting Rafa this past week he told me a fascinating story that involves one of the most highly known names in the world of American Football, Mark Sanchez. Last summer as Sanchez was visiting the great Catalan capitol he was introduced to Rafa through an indirect line of friends. Rafa was told by an import friend of his that he was in the “W” hotel, a gorgeous seaside resort that dominates the skyline of Bcn. He asked why his friend was at this hotel, and the reply was that he was with Mark Sanchez. Rafa remembers, “This is Spain, Mark is a common name, Sanchez is a common name, so why is this an important detail.” He quickly learned why this detail was obviously important. Rafa had a lot of connections to the night life of Barcelona and was able to show the group of visitors around town. By the end of the night Rafa had developed a relationship with Mark and offered Rafa the chance to fly to New York and to watch the Jets at home during the NFL regular season.
Rafa knew that he had been blessed with the amazing chance of a lifetime, but what he didn’t know was how special of a person he had met in Mark Sanchez. When he gave the details about when he was available to fly to New York Marks assistant notified him that Mark was going to cover the entire cost of the trip, having Rafa stay at his place in the city. Rafa was able to attend a practice, tour through New York City, view two live NFL games. When Rafa got to the stadium for gameday he knocked on the door of the private Sanchez family box and was welcomed with excitement from Mark’s family. During the incredible vacation he attended the Thanksgiving dinner of the family as well as watching the Jets play the Titans and Bengals. Rafa now receives gear from the Jets when he needs it, and after telling me this story he said, "if you ever want #2 again it is going to cost more than a pair of cleats."

What I loved most from this story was the fact that a high profiled athlete put another person in front of themselves and showed compassion for someone they hardly knew, a story while it does happen is rarely told. Congrats to Mark Sanchez, God shines through you.

A First half Review of the Super Series

2011-07-28T08:09:00.000-07:00

We are a week and 2 days away from the restart of the Super Series after having had 6 weeks of summer break where players had time to visit family, see loved ones graduate from high school, travel, work on their tans (which we've all needed living here), and do countless more activities. With the extra time I have had the chance to write some non action things, one uploaded previously about importing, as well as this blog that will be devoted to the statistical dominance that the Carlstad Crusaders have displayed, as well as a few others to come shortly. Also, I had the chance to lay together a bit of a personal highlight film for those of you who have been seeking such media. I love all my friends and family back in California and we're looking forward to seeing you soon. Another treat is that QB Eli Cranor has taken the time to do the same. What you won't see, unfortunately, is the end of our come from behind EFL victory at Kiel in which we scored 2 touchdowns in the final minutes and overtime to defeat the defending German Champions, because of an unknown error on the part of the home team in that contest.

Follow these links to the online highlights:

Joey Stein, first half highlight

Eli Cranor, first half highlight

A wonderful website that I have heard about all season, but have only discovered just recently spends frivilous amounts of time covering all that is Swedish Football. These guys have done a nice job of reporting the action including commentary from week to week from coaches about the games played. With the intermission they have taken the time and energy to display a comprehensive review of the statistics, both team and individual for the Super Series in the first half and some seriously surprising stats came out. Follow the link at the bottom of this blog to have the full review, but have your web browser's translate button ready, unless of course du tolar svenska.

Congratulations to the top rusher and passer for the first half of the season, that's Eli. After 5 games he has accumulated 547 yards rushing, about 80 yards more than the next best rusher and is leading the league in completion percentage (65%) TD:INT ratio (15:3) and QB rating (178). Huge numbers in his first few professional games have led the Crusaders to the #1 ranking and an unbeaten first half. Much more surprising than these dominating stats is that fact that in Eli's first season as a punter he is leading the league with a 41.8 yard average.

RB Christian Forsman, known locally as Fors and by myself as The Force is the 4th best rusher of the first half. On 6.1 yards per carry, bested only by Eli (9.3) and Hampus Heller TRC (6.8), he has ammassed 374 and an incredible 9 touchdown runs which is almost double that of any other rusher.

The Crusaders boast 4 of the top 13 receivers of the Super Series as well. Leading the way is 2010's Super Series WR of the year Fredrik Eklund. Known more properlly as Fred Ex, he has delivered stellar performances in every match continually creating separation and/or outrunning opponents on his way to the endzone. His 7 receiving TD's and 451 yards receiving in just 4 games (one less than the the other players, due to the Foo Fighters being in Gothenburg) both are tops in the receiving category. Christian Monclair, CF, is ranked 11th in receiving with 167 yards, Fredrik Isaksson, Fred Ice, is 12th with 162 yards, and first year player Robin Juhlin rolls in at 13th with 117 yards receiving at just 17 years of age and only 2 games played this year.

Defensively the Crusaders do not have any standouts in the tackles category with only 3 players in the top 25 and it's leading tackler, CB Olof Eriksson at 18th with 17 tackles. DT Olof Flemstrom is 3rd in tackles for loss with 5.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Kicker Victor Jansson ranks second in points with 19 after having kicked 19/24 PAT's successfully.

The Crusaders as a team have a similar stronghold on the stats when compared to the other clubs in the Super Series. They can be viewed by heading to thecatch.se and see for yourself the disparity of the first half for the Red and Black.

To import or not to import? That is the question.

2011-07-24T05:41:00.000-07:00

Leagues vary throughout Europe allowing between 2-6 Americans on the team roster, and between 1-3 on the field at any given time. So the question has been raised to me many times recently, how many import players is best? A question that is constantly debated throughout Europe. Does it raise the talent level of the national players by having bigger, faster, and more experienced players at practice and facing off with them in the games; or if given the opportunity to play maximum reps will the national players develop quicker. We could teach kids to swim by simply throwing them into a pool, but that develops an immediate risk of them drowning. The players here in Europe need to have a model at first. They need to learn from skilled and battle tested player/coaches that can give them the general knowledge as well as the tips and tricks that will enhance their play, all the while playing and gaining their own experience.

Let’s set up a hypothetical European club that practices twice a week for 2 hours and meets once a week for 1 hour to develop strategically and with skill building. Assuming that you have recruited players that can also coach their position, with one import player the national players get about 80 hours of practice time and 40 hours of meetings in a 5 month season. When you’re allowed just one player the vast majority of the time it will be a QB, so what development does the defense get? Okay, let’s add a second import. We’ll sign a line backer to help increase the defenses ability. This has given our club 80 hours of practice and 40 hours of meetings for a wide range of skills on offense and defense. This is a substantially positive scenario for a club that wants to develop their national talent. Watch what happens when you add a skill player. Most Americans have experience playing both offense and defense from a skill standpoint. A WR/DB can increase the practice hours to 120 and the meeting hours to 60 for both the offense and the defense if he splits his time. He also can get specific with the type of instruction that is being offered to the national players. Therefore, with 3 players even though you take away 3 spots on the field for locals, you can have general and specific instruction and strategy implementation for both offense and defense that with minimal time demands of the players can allow for almost 200 hours of development each year. It also goes without saying that the players do not need to play both sides of the ball to coach both sides of the ball.

Having been involved with 3 clubs in 3 separate nations, my experience is that the number of imports always depends on the club and what fits their individual needs. Some clubs with better youth programs require less influence on the field, but need more coaches; while others need better players to fill into spots to make the team competitive and raise the excitement level of the game in their community so that one day national players can fill those roles. I have to admit that any import player will obviously take away spots for the national players, but the influence that you get for that cost can have long lasting effects on your club. To give a broader perspective on this topic, For the Love of the Game has had the privilege to hear what influential people throughout Europe have to say on the matter.

Alex Grande - L'Hospitalet Pioners (Spain) General Manager

Joe Sturdivant - Catania Elephants (Italy) Head Coach/Safety

Stan Bedwell -Kragujevac Wild Boars (Serbia) Head Coach/Quarterback

Eric Marty - Bologna Warriors (Italy) Quarterback

Rick Rhoades - Graz Giants/Team Austria Head Coach

Ivan Zivko - Danube Dragons (Austria) Head Coach

I’ve developed a small set of questions that each person has graciously answered, hear what the involved say and think of how you would handle it.

Question 1: Does it raise the talent level of the national players by having bigger, faster, and more experienced players at practice and facing off with them in the games; or if given the opportunity to play maximum reps will the national players develop quicker?

Eric Marty: From a development standpoint it really depends on how good of a coach and how accommodating individual imports are. Some imports are not used to or interested in coaching, or are selfish or uninterested in helping their teammates improve. Other guys help alot, especially the players at their positions in technique and football IQ. Imports are absolutely paramount in introducing european players to high caliber football. Euro DB's playing against American QB's have much more a challenge then when they play other non-import Qb's. You could go across the board, but in short it helps the development of euro players.

Rick Rhoades: I do believe that the import players give the national players a standard of play that is a great guide for them to learn from. As they say "a picture is worth a thousand words", and the best picture that European players can get, generally speaking, is from the import players that they play with and against.

Ivan Zivko: Both ideas are valid. Right now our Austrian players are getting better and the difference to imports is getting smaller. Time of the domestic players would always be helpful. On the other hand imports like Sean this year are showing us the difference!

Alex Grande: Well, to answer this question we should decide first if being a good player is a matter of aptitude (athletic conditions) or attitude (mentality). I would say that in Europe we have many good athletes with natural conditions to play football. The most difficult is to find people with the willpower necessary for practicing 3-4 days a weeks, workout in the gym, accepting the discipline and concentration necessary in the game, etc. That’s one of the reasons we bring imports here. All national players want to play like the Americans do. We always say, ‘to play like an American, first you have to practice like an American’. And an American will have always at least 10 years of advantage practicing. So, at the end, they have to take the roll of being models of what a football player is. Of course, there’s no better way to show a national player his limitations than facing off with an American player. We say too, ‘if your able to block one play an American defensive lineman, you will be able to black a national just with one hand.

Joe Sturdivant: The talent level of the national players is definetly raised by having more import players at practice. Competition in my opinion always brings the best out of someone. In Europe, I find a lot of the problem is there is no competition for a position. So the only way for National players to feel like they should get better- is to go against bigger, fast, and more experienced players at practice, so they can see the benefits of competiton. I think football players are the breed to not like getting beat, so if an import comes in and works over a national player, that national player will start trying emulate the import player on and off the field. Having an import player at each position on the field ex: ol, wr, rb- Would naturally put experience in those position groups- in my opinion this would give visual examples to those national players in that group. Its one thing for a coach to talk and try to teach how to do it, its another when someone can show you how to do it.

Stan Bedwell: I definitely believe that having imports raises the level of domestic players. Not only do they get to face more skilled and experienced players in practices and games, they also get to soak in knowledge from them.

Question 2: At which point do you feel that you are taking away positions on the field for national players by bringing more Americans?

Rick Rhoades: I think the only thing that comes into play, in my experience, is when there is an over abundance of dual passport players. Haven't really seen that much. I liked it when we had a total of 6 imports (3 on the field at a time) allowed in Austrian play. To me that was a good number and provided a good balance.

Ivan Zivko: Personally I like to reduce the amount of players in Austria and Europe. I dont see the need for that. I like to give Austrian players a chance. Plus it is a financial issue.

Alex Grande: We normally bring American players to fill free spots, both because there’re few players on that position or because we need a key player for it. We also think in the kind of game we play. We like passing game, so we normally don’t bring running backs, because we have players with the aptitude-attitude necessary for that, at least for the domestic championship. If we had a national player with really good progression in any position, we will never sit him. But this that’s really difficult, especially for the key positions.

Joe Sturdivant: I feel like football is a capitalist sport, only the strong survive. I feel like in some places that I've played, if you show up you survive and start at your position. This leaves very little personal development and self-evaluation for starters on European teams. I feel like if there were 5-6 imports per team, each position group would have an experienced player at each position showing the national players how to get better. But, this all depends on what the team is trying to do. I feel like the European teams need to make a decision, "do we do it for fun" or "do we do it to win," because I've never had fun losing...at anything. If this is just a hobby- then yes American imports take away from national players, but if teams are in it to make money and win championships there is only one way to do that, bring in the best players possible.

Stan Bedwell: Once you get more than two Americans on the field, things can get tricky. It's good to have experienced leaders on the field with college/professional experience in the states, but you do not want to be a team that is dominated by imports. I see too many teams where the import QB is throwing the ball to the import WR 75% of the time. I don't agree with this. While the Americans should be standout players on the field, it's a team sport and I'm a firm believer that all players should be utilized. Championships should be won by the strength and ability of your domestic players.

Eric Marty: I think the way the AFL does it is best. 4 imports - 2 on the field. 9 players on each team must be national players and the best teams have the best 9 national players (not the best 2 imports) but also unlike the IFL American players stay fresh and don't play 150 snaps a game which drags down the quality of play and often puts 3 imports on the field at a time.

Question 3: In your experience, do imports help the national players get better, or do they simply make the team better with their own play?

Ivan Zivko: Mainly they help us out as players on the field. A lot of imports are learning things in Austria. On the other hand there appearance and emotions is carrying on to the own players.

Alex Grande: It depends on each American player. I would say that they (almost) always make the teams better with their play. It’s just a matter of the difference of level they have comparing with the national players average. But they will only help them to get better if they keep their American player ‘attitude’ during all season, and don’t fall in to the national standard rhythm.

Stan Bedwell: As a whole, I'd say yes to both. Of course the imports make their respective teams better. As far as making the national players better, you have to look at it on a case-by-case basis. Some imports come in and do a great job coaching and really work to develop the domestic players. Other imports are coming to just play football and have a good time. In my opinion all Americans should be counted on to do extra work off of the field (film breakdown, game planning, promotions, individual work with teammates/coaching staff, etc.) because they are the only ones getting paid in most situations.

Eric Marty: Good imports make their teams better, their teammates better, and are positive members of their team off the field... But good imports can be hard to find.

Joe Sturdivant: In my experience, with the guys I've been around : Brad Guidry, Chris Osborne, Brandon Langston , Deante Battle, Robert Johnson- all these imports have dedicated themselves to helping their teams by stepping up as coaches. I feel like Americans have had great coaching in the past- and We like to win- only way to win out here is to no out play the other team's Americans but raise the level of the national team players around us. The Americans usually cancel each other out- leaving it to who has the best national players. But, this all depends on the Import players you bring over. If a team does good research on the players they bring over and talk to their past coaches. They will know the type of guy they are bringing over. Lets say a team can bring over 6 imports- and you can play 6 on both sides of the ball. Lets say just 3 of the 6 truly care about the team and are willing to step up and help coach. You still have 3 coaches added to your staff. I feel like the best teams in Europe win because they have the best coaching staffs. This includes the imports.

Because football in my opinion is a game of the mind- if you cant be at the right place at the right time then you will never make a play. If Europe really wants to make their leagues stronger they need to tap into the import market, there are so many US guys not playing football right now that have NFL talent or post college play talent. These guys have valuable knowledge. Make these leagues professional leagues. Raise the level of the talent pool. The national players will get better- they will see the reasons behind- film study, weight training, technique and why its so important. I was never big, fast or strong...but I always found my way to the right place at the right time. As a player/ coach here in Catania- I try to teach that every day- train your mind along with your body.

Rick Rhoades: I think that most Americans that come over here have a desire to help spread the game in a positive way. When this is the case, they are excellent teachers and ambassadors of the game.

As you can tell these professionals have a lot of experience with being or bringing imports, or both. What is interesting is that while their responses contradict at times, they all generally have a consensus around the idea that import players and coaches raise the game play in European leagues. How many to bring? Well that remains to be debatable.

Finals, Finals, and more Finals

2011-06-17T11:48:00.000-07:00

The next two weeks are championship weeks in Europe. 2 national championships this Saturday along with another next weekend and the Eurobowl this Saturday give us plenty of excitement.

The Spanish final sees the most dominant team in recent years back again against a new competitor with a huge history. The L’Hospitalet Pioners ranked 19th in Europe and the top ranked team in Spain face off against crosstown rival the Badalona Dracs. The Pioners look for their 4th title in 6 seasons. They have ran the show this season in Spain. Without a tough road loss to the Madrid Bears they have been unbeaten this year in the country at 9-1. The Dracs have won 5 championshttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhips in their history but none in the past 7 years. The Pioners beat the Dracs twice this season 46-33 in week 2 and again in week 7 but just by 1 point 29-28. This game will most likely be the most highly contested battle of the year for the two teams and for the highest of reward, the 2011 LNFA championship. You can view the game kicking off at 5:30 local time from Montjuic in downtown Barcelona. This game can be viewed online live by going to www.pioners.org and clicking on the link PionersTV.

North of Spain in France the Paris Flash will face the Grenoble Centaurs. The Flash are ranked 12th in Europe and assume their position as the top team in France after a 10-1 season. The Centaurs finished 6-4-1 good enough for 3rd place in local play and broke the 1-1 season tie with the Aix Argonauts by winning 36-15 in the semifinal. The Flash’s only blemish was a midseason loss to the Templiers, other than that they have been flawless including a pair of identical 44-13 wins over this very Centaurs team. History offers the Grenoble squad little chance, but we all know that they play the games for a reason, and you can’t win a championship by destroying the regular season, ask the New England Patriots. Kickoff is set for 3pm local time in the capitol city of Paris. The broadcast can be viewed by following this link: FRENCH FINAL 2011

The Eurobowl final is this weekend. A preview of the game can be viewed by visiting the official Eurobowl Website. The final will be displayed online at 8:30pm local time and can be viewed by following this link: EUROBOWL FINAL

After the buzz of these finals wears off, the Austrian Final will take place. The Austrian Final showcases the same Raiders team from the Eurobowl Final, playing against the Vienna Vikings a team that they beat by 3 after scoring 6 points in the 4th quarter. The last time these two met in Vienna the Vikings won, that was a regular season contest played earlier this year. The final game for one of the top leagues in Europe will be played on Thursday night, June 23rd in the capitol city of Vienna.

A trip to Stockholm gives the Crusaders their biggest win of the year

2011-06-16T03:07:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday Europe’s 4th best team, the Carlstad Crusaders, took their show to the road. Special guests for the affair were Finley and Christie Cranor, loving parents of our Quarterback Eli. For the first time they would play away from Tingvalla stadium in 2011 since the European Tournament. The opponent, the Northside Bulls from upper Stockholm. We left cloudy Karlstad early in the morning and arrived to a Stockholm full of sun and heat. This was obviously going to be a factor in the game since we had not had so much as a practice in heat over 80 degrees. We came out hot and stayed hot, now I’m not referring to the weather, in a 76-8 win over the number 4 team in Sweden. The league’s most dynamic offense continued its assault on Super Series teams and raised their average point per game total to 51 after our first 4 wins. The Defense on the other hand lowered its points given up per game to 14.

Individual stars from this encounter were Fredrik Eklund, scoring 3 times on just 6 catches received. Fredrik Isaksson in relief at quarterback led the Crusaders to 34 points in the second half including a 44 yard touchdown launch on a 4th down play. Christian Forsman brought himself back to the top of the season total in rushing with 171 yards on the ground and added 3 touchdowns of his own to spice things up a bit. Obviously the offensive line did a number on the STU guys to account for the 522 yards of total offense that were amassed.

Defensively the Crusader pass rush, like in the Stockholm game, forced errant passes leading to 3 interceptions and destroyed the entire running game of the Bulls which finished the game with 24 yards on 18 carries, just 1.3 yards per carry. Anders Hjerspeth snagged his second interception on the season and I hauled in my 7th takeaway with my 4th interception of the Super Series. Viktor Jansson came up with a huge forced fumble from his safety position in the 3rd quarter, but it was nullified by an early whistle by the striped fellows. Let’s hope that situation doesn’t occur during a close game. The real hero of the defense was Johan Bjorn, Aka Kenta the Silent Assassin. His 60 yard interception return to the score zone before halftime from his middle linebacker position was the first touchdown he’s scored in his successful 7 year Super Series career.

The story of the Crusaders at this point in the year is definitely the dominance of the line play. The running game of the opponents is not only bad, it’s not evident at this point. This makes pass defense even more simple. Offensively the running game coordinated by Eli and Chris is a steam roller, offering us two of the top 3 rushers in the entire league. One more game before summer break, then we have a 6 week hiatus to regroup and refresh before playing through the league for the second time which for us will include 4 trips to the big city of Stockholm to show the city boys how it gets done out here in the country.

Time to Travel: Denmark and Southern Sweden

2011-06-07T03:16:00.000-07:00

Two weeks off, the Crusaders are 6th in Europe after our first two months of work and in first place in the Swedish Super Series, there’s only one thing to do; take a vacation from our vacation. Fredrik Eklund, the league’s leading receiver offered for the American crew to join him in a trip to the southernmost city in Sweden including a day trip to Denmark.

Our first day was into Copenhagen where we toured the old city from east to west and north to south. Sights including the middle ages Castle, a summer home of the ruler, the little mermaid, a plethora of decorated elephants littered throughout the city, the new port, and finished the day at the second oldest amusement park in the world and Disney’s inspiration: Tivoli. Denmark offered us a day loaded with bright sunshine as well as the big city atmosphere of Europe passing by throngs of people on our way to the popular sights.

Day two put us in road trip mode as we traveled by car from Fred’s home of Malmo up the coast of Sweden through Helsingborg and to the harbor town of Molle. After some beautiful views of the cliffs and both Denmark to the South and more of Sweden to the North in sight we headed back for a picnic lunch by the beach. With any normal tour guide we would have had a simple midday with rocks and sun, but we chose an ex-Army ranger to give us a tour of his country side so we trekked down the side of a mountain to the architectural wonder of Nimis. What started as a sculpture by a Swedish artist became a compilation of tunnels and towers made of driftwood and countless nails. This creation brings you down to the beach in style as you feel like a 7 year old in adventure land choosing between a number of different pathways that all lead to the same great place, amazement. We had a bean salad lunch on the rocks there and hiked back up to the top where we headed back South towards Malmo but stopped at Fred’s mom’s house for a Swedish BBQ and swim in the North Sea. The water was still cold in June, but it did not deter us from enjoying a swim and the burnt energy gave us the appetite to devour an incredible patio barbeque with Fredrik’s family.

The third and final day we stayed in Malmo and hit the beach once again, this time for some beach volleyball where we Americans got to show off our skills besting the Swedes in straight games. We had tacos for dinner and met some of Fredrik’s local friends before we headed for home first thing Monday morning. We made it home in time to see our team being honored for their Swedish championship win last season at the downtown Independence Day festival. A Queen cover band made the event entertaining as well as the light clouds and warm 75 degree weather. We had a great break from the action but now it feels right to be back in game preparation. We face the 4th ranked STU Northside Bulls this Saturday, although they are 2-2 they have provided good contests in both of their losses. We’re on the road for the first time since our loss in Austria and the first time this season in Sweden so that will provide some different scenery.

Head to our facebook to view a lot more pictures of our vacation.

Crusaders jump to first place in Sweden

2011-06-07T02:02:00.000-07:00

We played our last game and then had 20 days between games, so naturally we decided to take a vacation from our vacation and head for the south. There was little time to review our last game in that time, but now that we’re back and getting after another game week I’ve taken the time to review our win over the Mean Machine.

Two Saturdays ago the two biggest punch throwers of the Super Series stood toe to toe. Whenever the top two teams of any circuit meet up undefeated it goes without saying that fireworks are sure to be on display. Which, was the case quite literally during the post game celebration. Europe’s 6th ranked Carlstad Crusaders have two guaranteed games per year that they get to gear up for more than usual. Games that mean more to the players of the Red and Black than just another win or loss on the chart. Playing the Stockholm Mean Machine is an opportunity to renew a vowed unruliness towards the most storied franchise in the history of Swedish football. The fans arrived in groups ready for the only time that they will see the Machine on their home turf in 2011 before the playoffs.

The game unlike the buildup was a one-sided affair. The surprise onside by the home team at the opening kickoff set the tone for what was to be a dazzling display of offensive highlights and defensive crushing blows from the Crusaders. Behind the constant push of the offensive line, Eli and Christian Forsman each had a fabulous day rushing the football. Forse glanced off of would be tacklers time and time again with his bowling ball like approach to running the football. He was led off right tackle at the end of the first drive by an onslaught of Carlstad blockers, 3 of which had carried their defenders into the end zone prior to Christian entering it. The Machine’s answer was negated on their third play as intercepted a curl route and returned it for a score, one of 3 takeaways I would have on the day. All three of which I owe completely to my pass rush as they constantly had the Stockholm protectors staring at their quarterback being rushed, hit, and frustrated within just seconds of snapping the ball. The Crusader pass rush is who we thought they were, a Denny Green parody. These guys: Olof Flemstrom, Carl Carlson, Johan Asker, and Alex Thelander violently attacked the run game and pass drop of the Machine unrelentingly. There were no tackles to be had by the backers or secondary as our front destroyed all attempts to run the ball by the Machine holding them to 60 rushing yards on 27 attempts equating to just under a half yard per carry. We Crusaders scored touchdowns on our first 7 times with the ball including an interception for a score. At the end of the game Olof Flemstrom who you’ll remember from the do it all game he had at Kiel got our team the special teams edge by blocking a punt.

Since this game the Mean Machine and the Royal Crown have each won once bringing their win totals to 3 alongside the Crusaders. The difference is the loss column, where the Crown has dropped 2 games in the first half of the season to SMM and CC, and Stockholm lost to the Crusaders. This is depicted to the right hand side of this blog in the 2011 SAFF standings.

European Football League and EFAF Cup Semifinal's approach

2011-05-27T03:00:00.000-07:00

A glitch kept me out last week with this preview blog. For those of you who didn't catch the action here's the preview followed by a quick review.

The EFAF Cup should give plenty to talk about prior to and following the matchups. With one game this weekend and one game next weekend the anticipation will persist until next Saturday. This weekend the Kragujevac Wild Boars head to France to face the Thonon Black Panthers. The Black Panthers, ranked 7th in France and out of the French playoffs have an opportunity to make up for their lackluster season in league play. A win this weekend could turn the tide and give the Panthers a boost after finishing poorly in France. The Panthers made this game by being the best of 3 in a group with Milan and Prague. The Boars ranked #13 in all of Europe according to europlayers.com and still undefeated at this point in the season in Serbia. A long trip to France should not be an issue since the Boars beat the Blue Devils of Switzerland in the first round of the cup tournament by a large margin. The high powered offense’s lowest output in 5 games was 39 in their third matchup. The rest have been over 50 points scored including a 74 point game in their last contest.

The Boars went 27 hours by bus one way to get to France and despite what was reviewed as a one sided refereed contest the Boars got the win 35-22. They'll await the winner of the Blitz and Gold Diggers for the final to be played in mid June.

The presumably tougher semifinal pits two of Europe’s top 21 teams against each other, the London Blitz from the UK against the Sollerod Gold Diggers of Denmark. The 19th ranked Blitz have 2 wins and a tie in league play but have been flawless defensively in this tournament. Beating Valencia and Amsterdam without surrendering a point is an astonishing feat to have accomplished. The Diggers will have their hands full trying to find a seam in the Blitz defense. If anyone will score on this defensive machine it will be the #9 ranked team in Europe. The Diggers have scored 130 points in 2 games in this tournament this year beating St. Ouen of France and Coventry in England. The Gold diggers are also undefeated in Danish play at 3-0 and having beaten each opponent by an average of an amazing 58 points per game. This game played in England’s capitol is sure to not disappoint. But you will have to wait until next weekend when this game kicks off June 4th.

The European Football League comes to a final four this weekend also. Europe’s top 4 teams will face off against each other. The official Eurobowl website gives us a beautiful preview that could not have been prepared better. Check it out by following this link and clicking read more on the article at the top of the page: EFL Semifinal’s 2011.

The Innsbruck Raiders scored 6 points in the 4th quarter to come from behind and beat the Vienna Vikings 13-10 in west Austria on Saturday night. The Berlin Adler came from further back down by 21 to the Graz Giants and finished with a 32-30 victory in Berlin on Saturday. June 18th the Adler will face for the second year in a row an Austrian club at the EFL championship, the Eurobowl.

National Games of the Week plus Player Profiles

2011-05-18T07:25:00.000-07:00

Here's what's on tap for this rendition of For the Love of the Game. I've chosen a few matchups to be tagged as the games of the week and I have had the honor to interview two of the best import players in Europe to talk about these exciting matchups as well as a President from a Sicilian club. These games have playoff and rivalry implications amok. Check out the short setup that I've prepared for each game, including an interview of one important player that will have their hand in each of the games. Side note: bare with my amateur and low budget resources as I try to continue to provide colorful media with what I've got. Enjoy.

Italy
In Italy the Bologna Warriors come up against one of their biggest tests since racing out ahead of the rest of the league by beating the Parma Panthers. The 18th ranked team in Europe according to europlayers.com at 6-0 will face the Catania Elephants of Sicily. The Elephants, last year’s Italian runner up, have an impressive resume this season starting at 4-2. They lost a barn burner to the Panthers in game 1 and rattled off 4 in a row before losing to the Rhinos from Milan last weekend. With just 3 games left in the regular season, this late season matchup of the top team and the 4th ranked team from Italy have serious playoff implications. To spice up this preview, we've been blessed with the chance to hear from President and Offensive Coordinator (two very fun hats to wear) of the Catania Elephants, Davide Giuliano. Here's what Davide has to say about the upcoming contest.

FTLOTG: Is it surprising to see the Warriors out in front of everyone at this point in the season?

Davide: No, it is not a big surprice. They have hired three very good american players, a few very good italian players from other italian teams and these moves brought to their outstanding organization, coaching staff and team those little things they needed to succeed. Not a big surprise though, they are working hard to get where they are.

FTLOTG: Coming off of a loss at Milan, what changes will the Elephants make to bounce back against the country's top team?

Davide: We have suffered an enourmous amount of injuries this present season, we are missing our two best italian receivers and a couple of key players on offense, this is making our season a little hrder than expected, we are not a quitting team anyway and we will fight to get back to the right track soon. Next game will be very hard, it seems like we will be fighting till the end to earn a playoff spot.

FTLOTG: The league in Italy is so close with 8 teams within just 3 wins of eachother, what has caused the most competitive leage in Europe in 2011?

Davide: We have put in a lot of rules to make it like it is, capping the number of import players, in our league whoever has not learned to play football in italy is considered as an import, and I mean wherever also if he is of italian birth, beside this we are allowed to make only three single changes on our import list and this limits a lot the chances of richer teams to make BIG moves douring the season.

Austria
A short ride north of central Italy to the town of Vienna gives us our second game of the week. The crosstown rivals Vienna Vikings and Danube Dragons square off for their annual reunion. The Vienna Vikings, Europe’s most storied franchise has been pounded by the Dragons in the past few years. The 11th ranked Dragons have won 5 straight against Europe’s #2 Vikings. The Dragons are a game behind the Viks in the AFL standings prior to this regular season finale. The Vikings host the Dragons at Hohe Warte Stadium with kickoff set for 3pm on Sunday. Both teams play with national quarterbacks and have a throng of talent surrounding them. Thomas Haider, the Dragons signal caller, has had a statistically amazing first season as an AFL quarterback which should lead to his opportunity to be calling the shots at this summer’s World Cup of American Football for Team Austria. If the Dragons pull this one out, they’ll jump the Vikings in the AFL rankings by virtue of the head to head win. The Vikings have a chance to have a home playoff game by winning this weekend. In preparation for this kickoff listen to what import linebacker Chris James had to say about playing abroad and facing the Dragons.

Sweden
In the way north of Europe, Sweden has a faceoff of the last two undefeated teams. At 2-0 the Carlstad Crusaders and the Stockholm Mean Machines each have a chance to take the early lead in a long summer season. Both teams have had the same opponents in each of their first two wins the Arlanda Jets and Tyreso Royal Crowns. The parity of the teams is displayed by the scores from their first two games. Europe’s 6th ranked Crusaders won 40-7 and 34-28, while the Machine won 34-6 and 33-28. Kickoff at Tingvalla stadium in Karlstad at 5pm local time should be met with a plethora of anticipation. Two American quarterbacks in the game face eachother as well. Eli Cranor and Cody Hawkins lead two of the best offenses in the country. Since leaving the Eurobowl tournament the Crusaders have one focus for the rest of the summer and that is the Super Series.

France
Dropping down to France two of the top 21 teams in Europe have to pull off a last ditched effort to lengthen their seasons. The Spartiates L'Amiens, ranked 18th in Europe have to take drastic measures to have the chance to defend their French title from 2010. It's the 11th hour and this club at 5-4 has to beat the Black Panthers the 21st ranked team, this weekend in order to stay alive in the French championship. The Panthers have reached the semi-final of the EFAF Cup tournament, but sit at 4-5 entering the final weekend of the regular season. This is a must win for a club that has enjoyed a lot of success in recent seasons in France. When facing off head to head this weekend the extension of the 2011 season will be up for grabs. Keep a close eye on this one, most of the French definitely will.

Crusaders look for Swedish win #2

2011-05-14T01:43:00.000-07:00

The Carlstad Crusaders, ranked 6th in Europe, have just suffered their first loss of the season. It came in the quarterfinal of the Eurobowl tournament, the American Football equivalent to the Champions League for soccer. After exiting the tournament the Crusaders focus turns solely to the Super Series. The first opponent in the path of a team seeking a championship repeat is the Arlanda Jets. The Jets have started slowly this season at 0-2 losing to Stockholm and Orebro in the first two weeks of the Series. Carlstad at 1-0 in the Swedish play beat last year's runner-up the Tyreso Royal Crowns in a thrilling game that lasted until the last snap with the final score being 34-28. Arlanda will need to display a wide variety of offensive strategy in order to move the ball against an internationally battle tested Carlstad defense. Likewise, the quick firing Crusaders offense has not only faced, but has also shocked teams abroad including the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes when the offense scored twice in the last 2 minutes and overtime to win the game against the reigning German champs. Tingvalla provides the optimal venue to watch American Football in Sweden. This Saturday one of the top ranked teams in Europe displays its power. Follow along with the twitter account located in the other football links, titled Crusaders Game Updates.

Final 4's in 2 tournaments are set

2011-05-12T03:30:00.000-07:00

Eurobowl
This year’s final 4 in the Eurobowl will be exactly the same as last year, but not all of this year’s teams had to face the same barriers as last year. The Vienna Vikings and Berlin Adler each reached last year’s final after coming out of the group stage and beating teams that had byes into the quarters. This year, every team that was offered a bye and a home game in the quarterfinal took advantage of the rest and the home crowd with wins in this weekend’s games.

Up north in Berlin the Adler beat the Danube Dragons of Vienna 35-25 keeping last year’s Eurobowl champ and the only remaining non Austrian club alive for at least one more round. Last season they beat two Austrian clubs on the way to the EFL crown, this year they’ll have to top that, beating 3 clubs if they will be at the top again. With the Graz Giants beating the Carlstad Crusaders they will face the Adler of Berlin. The Adler will host the game on the 28th of May in north Germany.

In Innsbruck, Austria the Raiders had a fairly easy game against the French Champions, the Spartiates from L’Amiens. The last time the Raiders saw a French team it was a 2009 Eurobowl win against the Paris Flash with American stars like Jason Johnson and Matt Epperson running the show. A shutout in this game was negated only by a 3rd quarter score from the French team, with a 41-6 final. This win sets them up against cross country rival the Vienna Vikings. The Vikings won the first matchup against the Raiders 28-24 earlier this season at home. In their quarterfinal, The Vienna Vikings knocked off the Calanda Broncos, a team that paid more for wins this year than any other with their influx of imports. It got them close, but didn’t get them the edge as they lost 15-12 in Vienna last weekend. The Raiders outbid the Vikings in order to have the semi-final played in Tirol.

EFAF Cup
In the EFAF Cup we’re down to 4 teams as well. Pool A was the only one that turned out to have any resemblance of competition. The Thonon Black Panthers of France, the Prague Black Hawks from Czech Republic, and the Milan Rhinos of Italy each beat each other once. The Hawks won and lost by 3, the Rhinos won by 3 and lost by 10, while the Panthers won by 10 and lost by 3. By rule the Panthers having the best point differential in the group will advance to play another day. The Panthers have come out of this group after losing the first game in the group. As a result, we must rewind to the previous blog interview with the head coach of the Panthers in which Larry Legault said, “We've had a rough start to our season here in France; we need to improve in several phases of play if we expect to be at all competitive in the EFAF Cup.” They obviously got it together, and as a result will be headed to the final 4.

The Kragujevac Wild Boars of Serbia won their one game matchup offering them a chance to play the Black Panthers in the semi-final. The London Blitz, England, won their two games in their pool by a total of 88-6, while the Sollerod Gold Diggers of Denmark won their two matchups by a whopping 130-16. The Gold Diggers and Blitz will face off later this month for a chance to play in the EFAF Cup Final.

The Eurobowl sun has set for the Crusaders (postgame interviews and photos)

2011-05-08T14:44:00.000-07:00

A quarterfinal birth in the EFL was a phenomenal accomplishment for the Crusaders, and it was definitely uncharted territory for this group of guys from a rural town in south central Sweden. We traveled to Graz, Austria on a chartered plane in which members of the team paid out of their pockets in order to have this opportunity, for the love of the game you must be thinking… Correct. Arriving in Graz was met by feelings of nervous energy, mostly because despite the daunting task of playing an organization with much more history in competitive games we felt that we belonged on this stage and also that if we played well we could make history by earning a spot in the last 4 of American Football in Europe. The weather was perfect, sunny skies and warm Austrian air greeted us as we stepped off of our chartered aircraft at the Flughafen Graz. Graz had done a remarkable job of greeting us including one corner of one endzone emblazed with blue and a yellow cross as well as the Swedish flag flying next to the Austrian one across the field from where the players entered.

The game kicked off and we knew we were matching up against one of Europe’s top teams quickly as the Giants scored on a long passing play by their 4th year veteran quarterback Chris Gunn (North Alabama) after just a couple of minutes. As we were headed back the other direction for a rebuttle I incurred a small setback in the form of a hyperextended knee while being tackled after my second catch of the drive. The pain kept me from being able to walk off the field, with assistance I made it to the bench. We scored 2 plays later on an off tackle running play by our Swedish national running back Christian Forsman. The next 15 minutes were sort of a blur, not because of head injury, but because I was trying to find someone in the stadium that knew the proper way to tape a knee with resisting extension. After an Austrian EMT gave it a shot I tried to move, but that wasn’t the ticket, neither was a knee sleeve. Not until our General Manager, Rikard Borg, former running back for the Crusaders came down from the stands did I have the slightest urge to continue playing. He confidently made braces out of flexible tape to ensure that my knee would not continue to extend, thus allowing me to run with minimal pain.

The Giants had scored twice more and we were into the second quarter at this point down 21-6. As I re-entered I found our offense moving the ball quickly down the field in order to catch up until their defense made a huge play. One Giant in particular LB Gavin Romanick from Western Oregon University, a friend of Jon Apgar's, who you should remember from the 2009 Danube Dragons, played a great game defensively. I caught an Eli Cranor pass over the middle of the field and took off for open pastures. I realized soon after catching and running that I did not have the juice in my legs that I am used to, partly because of the injury, partly because of the 3 rolls of tape on my knee I assume. Gavin caught me from behind and punched the ball from my grasp giving it back to their high powered attack. They moved the ball, as they did most of the first half, with Chris Gunn avoiding our rush and finding receivers open down the field. Scoring again made our trip to Graz seem like a disaster. The Giants were ahead of us 28-6, things were spiraling out of control, and the worst part was that we did not feel that we were an inferior team, but that we were making mistakes and they were playing great football.

At this point Eli went to work. He started surveying the defense with the help of Coach Chris Vicory and implementing a plan that sparked our offense. Eli turned on his second God given abililty, to run with the football. Our offensive line gave him the protection he needed to surpass the first wave of defense and he did the rest by outrunning the second level guys time and again for big chunks of yardage for the remainder of the game. Simultaneously he took a “quit screwing around approach” to our passing game. He said to me, “Go outside, let’s burn em deep.” On a 1st down play I lined up as an outside receiver, and on a go route saw the ball come up sky high and tracked it down in front of a Graz defender for about 45 yards. The next play, wanting to keep up the momentum, Vic called in a double pass that Eli seconded. Our new import, Javid Shoemaker, who played quarterback for the Crusaders from 2005-2007 was the perfect candidate for this double pass. Eli zipped him a behind the line of scrimmage pass and I raced behind the defense to be covered by just one guy as the ball got put up into the air. Javid gave me the perfect opportunity to make a play despite a defender staying right in the area. He tossed a pop fly that I rose and grabbed regardless of having a pass interference call on the defender for a touchdown, infusing excitement and hope back into the eyes of my teammates. We weren’t able to stop Graz yet again as they went up 34-12 just before halftime, but at this point our offense was rolling.

We instituted a 2 minute drill in which Eli hit a multitude of receivers, quite similar to the before the half drive against Kiel. We neared the endzone when I thought of a play that Eli had put into the gameplan earlier that week which I’ve loved in the past. I offered the idea to him between plays and he called it. I ran a crossing route in which a deep defender came after me from behind. Eli passed the ball on target giving me the chance to stop in place after the catch, with a spin move made the defender miss at which point I took off for the remaining 12 or so yards to the goal line. Again, a play that would have seen me cruise into the end zone in the past gave me a chance to display my tackle breaking ability because I had to knock into 3 defenders on my way into the endzone. Our halftime score, 34-18.

A halftime defensive approach given to us by our head coach Tracey Gere was to help contain their mobile quarterback by having each of our interior players work harder at their individual responsibilities giving Gunn less areas to move towards. This paid off as he was more pressured and was less able to evade the rush and throw the ball to receivers after they had broken their primary routes. Our defensive front produced several quarterback hurries and even a couple of sacks. Their first half total was cut into 1/5 as they only scored one time in the last 24 minutes. Offensively we scored once in the 4th quarter as Christian Forsman, the 2010 player of the year in Sweden, scored for the second time in the game on a short running play from their goal line. We had other opportunities that did not provide points, an interception on their one yard line as well as a dropped pass on 4th down near their 30 yard line, as well as missing an extra point and every two point conversion were the difference in points in the game. On another day the Crusaders may have been the team to win, but this wasn’t the day.

As a result the Graz Giants move forward to the semi-final of the tournament which will be played later this month. For the Crusaders, our international season is finished, our attention turns to repeating as champions in Sweden. For the remainder of the summer we have 9 more games in the regular season along with a 6 week summer break and a chance to play in the Swedish playoffs, starting this weekend at home against the Arlanda Jets from the Stockholm area.

A swedish report of the game with postgame interviews by myself and Eli can be viewed at this link: vf.se

Football Austria had great coverage of the game and postgame interviews of myself, Chris Gunn, and Coach Rick Rhoades along with a photo stream of the game can be viewed at: Carlstad Crusaders at Graz Giants FA.com

Giants and Crusaders, kickoff 4pm CET

2011-05-06T10:04:00.000-07:00

Photograph courtesy of Football Austria

We are now hours away from kickoff in Austria, just less than 21 to be precise. The 3rd ranked Graz Giants await the 5th ranked Carlstad Crusaders in 1 of 4 European tournament games scheduled for this weekend. Kickoff occurs at 4pm local time which translates to 7am on the west coast. There are a couple of courses of action that you can take to be a part of this international contest. The twitter account, crusaders2010, which is linked to the right hand side of this blog will be updated throughout the affair. Unfortunately what was going to be an amazing look at the event was cancelled, because the European Federation of American Football played their corporate card and placed a royalty fee on the independent company, LGSports, that planned to volunteer their services to broadcast the game in two languages. As most teams are still loaded with players that play to pay, that are suiting up weekend after weekend for the love of the game there is no form of checks and balances for the governing body (EFAF) that puts on the games. As a result, the game will occur without giving the opportunity to thousands of deserving fans worldwide to view it and subsequently feel more enthused about the leagues, the teams, and the players that play this great game.

An alternative option would be paying to be an insider to Football Austria. Football Austria is a media leader in Europe for coverage of American Football. They will have a live stat tracker, 1 view webcam, and broadcast in German. To become an insider you are required to pay an annual fee of 39.90 euros. This typically is an option for individuals who are interested in the teams in Austria. You can get to the webpage by following this link: Football Austria. Football Austra will also give updates via their facebook and twitter accounts. A link to each of those can be found at the bottom of their website.

EFL Quarterfinal is at hand

2011-05-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

The Eurobowl is back in session this week putting 8 European teams on a pedestal. Three games on Saturday and one on Sunday will provide excitement for the entire weekend. The Austrian Football League definitely has a stronghold on the chance for a crown with half of the teams remaining being from the AFL. The picture above depicts which direction each of the teams are traveling this weekend. The teams on the left side of the picture are the teams that did not reach this round. Along with the 4 Austrian clubs, there are 3 reigning national champions from France, Sweden, and Switzerland as well as Germany’s runner up from 2010.

#4 Danube Dragons @ #10 Berlin Adler
Saturday the Danube Dragons head north to face the Berlin Adler. The Adler are the reigning European champions after beating 2 Austrian clubs last season on their way to the title, so this is old hat for the Black and Gold. They started this season with a 48-41 loss on the road to the Hurricanes in Kiel, then a 17 point loss to Swabisch Hall, but got on the winning track just last weekend against the Mavericks in a 16-0 shutout. Their opponent, the Dragons hailing from Vienna, won the Austrian league last year, but were ousted in this round of the European tournament. This season the Dragons have had success in Austria starting at 2-2. They also reached this round playing in the group stage against fellow AFL participant the Prague Panthers. The Dragons beat the Panthers in their season opener offering them the chance to head to Germany.

#6 Carlstad Crusaders @ #3 Graz Giants
Also on Saturday the Carlstad Crusaders (Sweden) fly down to Graz, Austria to face the Giants of the AFL. The Crusaders made it out of the group stage by beating the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes 22-20 in Overtime. After that match the Crusaders hung on to a close win over the Tyreso Royal Crowns in Karlstad. The Giants lost in the semifinal of the Eurobowl last season against the Vienna Vikings. A quarterfinal matchup with Sweden’s top team will be a challenging contest for the 3rd ranked team in Europe. At 6th the Crusaders have an interesting challenge facing for the second time the 3rd ranked team on the continent.

#8 Amiens Spartiates @ #2 Innsbruck Raiders
Thirdly on Saturday the Innsbruck Raiders of the AFL host the Spartiates L’Amiens from near Paris, France. The Raiders were a semifinalist in this competition last year giving them the bye to the quarterfinal this time around. They fell at the hands of the Berlin Adler in Innsbruck, and look to get back on track with their first EFL game of the year. The Spartiates won their first title in France last season giving them an invite to the group stage. In 2 games, a home and home series, against Spain’s Badalona Dracs the Spartiates amassed over 120 points. In France thus far the Spartiates are ranked second at 5-3 behing the Paris Flash. The Spartiates will have their hands full in Tirol this weekend as the Raiders are coming off of a 28-0 win over fellow AFL powerhouse, the Dragons.

#5 Calanda Broncos @ #1 Vienna Vikings
Lastly, but not leastly, Europe’s #1 ranked team the Vienna Vikings defend their homefield against the Calanda Broncos of Switzerland. The Broncos made it out of the group stage by defeating the Pioners de L’Hospitalet (Spain) and the Parma Panthers (Italy). The Broncos are the European Football equivalent of the New York Yankees this season with a reported 14 import players. You gotta do whatcha gotta do in this competition when you’re facing teams from Austria and Germany that have an immeasurable advantage with their national talent pool being much greater than a smaller country such as Switzerland. The Broncos could possibly be the best team to come from the group stage, and a matchup with the top team in Europe will definitely tell all. The Viks, rich with winning games in this tournament, lost last year in the Final to the Adler of Berlin by 3 small points. In Austria they have started 4-1 their only loss coming at the hands of the Giants in a 21-14 loss in early April. The Vikings take a short break from that grueling AFL schedule to compete internationally.

There will be a brief report later this week as to how you can view and/or see live stats for most of these games. Stay tuned.

Crusaders are live against Tyreso, follow the link to view the game

2011-04-29T08:55:00.000-07:00

The Super Series in Sweden lights up this weekend. In a rematch of last year's championship battle the Tyreso Royal Crowns travel from the greater Stockholm area here to Karlstad to face Europe's #6 ranked team. The Crusaders jumped 5 spots from 11 to 6 after last weeks win in Germany against the reigning German champions. The Crusaders are also the second highest ranking team outside of Austria at this point in the late spring. Kickoff is set for 5pm local time which translates to 8am Saturday on the west coast.

As a special treat the game will be broadcasted live on the internet with 6 different camera angles for a fee of 129 Swedish Kroner, which is roughly converted to $20. You can follow the link below to arrive at the appropriate website. A couple of notes if you decide to witness this incredible contest. You should not use internet explorer because it won't work. Download some other internet browser. Also, close other programs that are being used simultaneously due to the large amount of power that this broadcast will require.

Enjoy the second installment of the Carlstad Crusaders with many of the same names, QB Eli Cranor goes for his second straight win in his rookie season in Europe, while the top notch Crusader defense attempts to prove its ferocity against a well know rival in Tyreso.

LIVE FEED OF CARLSTAD VS. TYRESO 5pm KICKOFF LOCAL (8am WEST COAST)

Crusaders prevail in the EFL, 22-20 in OT

2011-04-25T08:57:00.000-07:00

About 7 months removed from their first ever Gold Medal as the Swedish champions the Carlstad Crusaders arrived in Germany for one of the biggest contests that any Scandinavian club had ever faced. A bus ride, an overnight ferry across the Baltic and a 5 hour wait was what the Crusaders nervously endured prior to their premier match of the 2011 season. The trip to Germany was a reward for the Championship run in 2010, a group stage game in the biggest American Football tournament this side of the Atlantic. Due to regionally decided matchups we were facing the highest ranking club in the group stage, Germany’s reigning champion, the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes.

The same Kiel team had beaten the Berlin Adler their adversary in the GFL North Division 48-41 in the German season opener, offering their fans what turned out to be a false sense of security heading into a game against a team from Sweden. A German club had never lost to a Swedish club since at least 1994, so the reigning champs who had put half a hundred on Berlin in the opener won’t have any problem… At least that’s what the local German media implied with this quote translated to English by google, “Anything but a victory (for Kiel) with two touchdowns difference would be a great surprise to the Swedes and could almost be counted as a small victory.” One thing we can learn from this episode of absurdity is to not place high value on non-credible German websites. The thing that the Kiel team, fanbase, and the aforementioned local media did not account for was that this Swedish club was comprised of some of the gutsiest and most electrifying farmers that Sweden has ever seen. The Carlstad Crusaders practice an average of 2 times less per week, meet together an average of 2 times less per week, and had 6 less coaches in khakis and polos on the sideline (3 of the 4 Crusader coaches suited up for the affair). But when push comes to shove, as was evidenced April 23rd, 2011, passionate willpower and determination combined with brute strength and cunning athleticism can trump any amount of filmroom preparation and on the field walkthrough-talkthroughs.

The game started out in dismay for the home side losing 20 or so yards by going backwards in each of their first 3 plays. The teams traded punts throughout the first quarter, as well as constant crushing battles between the players in the box. Both sides had oversized defensive players that defied the laws by being able to both deliver big impact and subsequently run after the football. One player in particular who impressed was a young Swede from Ostersund in the northern country who I had met only days prior to suiting up with him, because his hometown was 8 hours drive from our practice facility in Karlstad limiting his time to workout with the team. Olof Flemstrom provided the physical nature to time and time again toss German offensive lineman to their knees and dismantle their inside running game shedding blocks and making tackles. As if that was not enough, when his defensive duties were over he traded sides to the offense to play no other position than wide receiver. In my 13 years of football I have never seen a player display so much versatility to play interior defensive line and wide receiver with such ease as Olof did against Kiel on Saturday. Returning to the game, the first quarter ended with some big plays overshadowed by a plethora of penalties from both sides and the score 0-0.

The second quarter was much of the same, both teams moving the ball gaining first downs, but penalties and a couple of interceptions, 1 per team, disallowed either team to get on the board. Until late in the quarter on a long passing play did the stalemate break. The Canes quarterback Jeff Welsh (Western Michigan) laid a flawless pass right between our corner and myself that the German receiver hauled in for a 58 yard score. Our offense replied with efficiency, starting with the ball at our own 20 yard line with less than 2 minutes on the clock. QB Eli Cranor generated maximum efficiency spreading the ball to multiple receivers between Ted Olanders, Fredrik Isaksson, and Sweden’s 2010 receiver of the year Fredrik Eklund as we traversed the strong Kiel defense battling what seemed to be a ringing in one’s ears due to the decibel level produced by the home fans. With about 30 seconds left, Eli called a WR screen pass to Eklund who utilized his blockers perfectly giving our left tackle Thomas Falkelind the opportunity to destroy a German corner allowing Eklund a free pass to a walk in TD. The extra point screamed wide left which was fine by us heading to the dugout down 1 at the half. A good kick return to the 50 and a 15 yard penalty breathed opportunity into the Deustch offense that had been utterly bogged down the entire first half despite that long TD score. Their very athletic import receiver, Aaron Love (U of Delaware, FCS) who retrieved 4 TD passes from Welsh in the Berlin game 2 weeks prior, had successfully been nullified and would continue to be covered well by our athletic secondary made up of myself, our head coach Tracey Gere, Swedish national team caliber corners Olof Eriksson, and Victor Jansson, and Norwegian talent Anders Hjerpseth. Only Germans would score on this day, which was a focus point for our coverage team during the week of preparation. Another penalty… yes two penalties in the last 30 seconds gave the Kiel team the ball within our 15 yard line. Welsh delivered another winning throw to the same receiver giving Kiel an 8 point separation at the break, 14-6.

During the halftime the thought had crossed my mind that since multiple players on our squad were playing in all three facets of the game; offense, defense, and special teams, that keeping pace with the German champs would be difficult. This idea proved to be incorrect when time and time again our fast paced no huddle offense combined with our efficiency of converting 4th down plays (an unofficial 6/8 times) had the Green and Orange huffing and puffing and trading players on and off and on again. During the 3rd quarter we nearly had a backbreaking turn of events when on 4th down from our own 10 yard line our daredevil tactics had finally caught up with us. An incomplete pass gave Kiel the ball with just 10 yards to score. On third down, as the 3rd quarter clock expired and the teams switched sides the Kiel quarterback was flushed from the pocket by our rush giving him only one chance to desperately sling the ball to the back of the end zone, which is where I was waiting. With quickness, I undercut the receiver and stole the ball back for our team in the form of an interception, my second of the game.

The final quarter saw the very strong Kiel defense continue to offer us minimal yards in the running game and covering our passing scheme quite well as we struggled to move the ball down the field. We found ourselves nearing their end zone, but were held to a 4th down play and during a timeout Eli and I conversed about how to approach the situation. We decided on a go route by myself to the wide side of the field where we would have maximum room for error. I got behind the corner who was covering, and Eli launched what I like to describe as a “money ball” over the corner and under the safety that I lifted and snagged just inside the goal line. As was described by a couple of our guys over ice cream in downtown Kiel on Sunday, the Kiel faithful went from a screaming, rampaging mess to an abrubt silence after that catch. Needing a two point conversion Eli and Chris Vicory, our OL and co-coordinator dialed up a play that Chris had drawn earlier in the week that baffled the unprepared Kiel defense and left one of our receivers uncovered. 14-14 would be the end of full time score.

I jokingly offered to the officiating crew at the overtime coin toss that we were having too much fun and we’ve decided to continue playing if that’s alright with them. The white hat responded, that we’ve come a long way and we may as well get our travel’s worth. We lost the coin toss after I went to the “heads” well one too many times (winning it at the start of the game, but not in OT) so we would start on the offensive. A slow start ensued when their stud defensive end Derrick Ford (Arizona State) sacked Eli for their one and only quarterback sack of the game backing us up for a 2nd down. I must digress here to describe how large, no pun intended, our offensive line stood during the day. Our gentle giants matched themselves against a pair of American defensive ends and a middle line backer from Finland, Efe Evwaraye, who were absolute animals. Speed and power combined between this triangle of import stars from Kiel, yet Eli was offered time to throw on a large percentage of his drop back passes pointing to one obvious conclusion; our O-Line is a man wreaking crew. I tip my cap to these guys for being the oil in our engine and offering me and the other skill guys a chance to find the creases in the Kiel defense. On 2nd down Eli dialed up a corner route for myself that was again placed with archer-like precision only feet from outstretched defender’s hands, dropping effortlessly into mine. This gave us the ball on their 2 yard line and after denied tries to run inside the tackles by their stout front we called a fade play on both sides at 3rd down. Eli looked my way just as I had beat the corner. I raced to the corner of the endzone and caught the pass prior to doing the tap dance in the corner uncontested. Our side erupted, but the excitement was not yet over. Head coach Tracey Gere signaled in another gutsy call to go for two in the form of Chris Vicory addressing our offense saying, “We’re on the road, we’re gonna beat em right here, Tracey wants to go for 2.” Without hesitation our play was decided upon and executed when Eli found Carl Carlsson in the back of the endzone, who is described as… “If Sweden had to choose one man to defend it’s country, they would choose Carl.” –Chris Vicory. And I do not disagree. Kiel had their chance to even the score. After a great run by their British import running back gaining a first down they were stifled. On 3rd down a penalty was flagged by our pass coverage that allowed them the ball at our 1 yard line. A false start backed them to the 6, but they were able to convert the score on a short passing play after 2 tries to bring the score to 22-20, at which point the cliché defensive stronghold, on the goal line, in overtime, during the two point conversion, to win the game ensued. Welsh dropped, looked left, back right, tried Love at the goal line and a split second break on the ball by Anders led to a perfectly timed shove in the back, a dropped ball, and a whole bunch of guys and gals in red and black storming onto the field to the shock of the home team.

As stated in an earlier blog, the guys on this team not only perform on the field, but they also continue to hold a humble position that the German team was an immense opponent and that despite our mistakes we overcame the adversity presented to us. The win allows us the chance to travel to Graz, Austria to face the Graz Giants in 2 weeks in the quarterfinal of the EFL tournament. Stay tuned to a fun summer from southern Sweden.

Pictures of the event can be found by clicking this link. Video is soon to follow.

Europe's #3 team falls at the hands of the Carlstad Crusaders

2011-04-24T00:21:00.000-07:00

Surprised, I was asked after the game? Hardly at all. Our players played huge after a riveting pregame speech by QB Eli Cranor which offered us the possibility of dropping a team that was proclaimed to have been much more superior to us. These guys matched up against 7 German National team players and 6 imported players flawlessly not allowing the German Champs to have anything more than a long TD pass over the head of myself and a fluke TD before halftime in which penalties practically handed them the score. The biggest thing our team had to overcome was playing in front of a magnificently loud North German crowd. Not being able to hear the snap count could have posed a problem for a lesser team, but these savvy football players from Karlstad, Sweden handled it flawlessly by averting to a silent snap count that had never been practiced. After the game the position that was taken by the home team was that their mistakes led to our victory. Quite the contrary is a better version of the truth which can be attested to by about 3,000 Kiel fans. Both teams played spotty at times, but the Carlstad Crusaders were the team that made plays time and time again in crucial situations garnering us the well deserved victory. I am extremely proud of the humble nature of my team who all feel that this victory is one of the greatest international victories in the history of football in Sweden. Lastly, the Kiel organization and fan base are some of the most classy people I've come into contact with. Our travel and accomodations were taken care of by Kiel and they were truly first class, only to be outdone by the Kiel fans chanting of... Cru-sa-ders, Cru-sa-ders, Cru-sa-ders after their team fell at our hands. Classy bunch of folks.

Full game report to follow upon returning to Karlstad later this week, along with a preview of the Swedish premiere next Saturday at home with a rematch of last year's Swedish championship between these Carlstad Crusaders and the Tyreso Royal Crowns.

An article retrieved from the Hurricanes official website telling the story of the Crusaders EFL win.

Eurobowl: Our turn

2011-04-18T12:56:00.000-07:00

The final weekend of the Eurobowl opening stage is coming to us this weekend with 4 national champions from last season vying for the last 2 spots in the quarterfinal. The Calanda Broncos (Switzerland) and the Parma Panthers (Italy) have started off great in their respective leagues. They are ranked by the European Federation of American Football at numbers 9 and 10 in all of Europe with the Swiss team slightly edging the Italians. These two teams have one common opponent this season each beating last year's Spanish champs in the last two weekends. The Panthers won 34-20, while the Broncos won 42-0. The Broncos head to north Italy this weekend for a final game between two teams who are each on a path for big success on the European stage. Kickoff is listed at 9pm at Stadio XXV Aprile Parma. Whichever team wins here will travel in early May to face the Vienna Vikings of the Austrian Football League(AFL).

Much north of there in a vastly different arena at 3pm on Saturday the Baltic Hurricanes from Deutschland face off with the Carlstad Crusaders from Sverige. These teams are ranked in the top of Europe as well. The Hurricanes garner Europe's #3 ranking and host the 11th ranked Crusaders. This matchup has been highly anticipated proven by the publicity provided by the official eurobowl website with the story "The race for Eurobowl is on", as well as the countdown posted on the Kiel Canes website. The Hurricanes have started off the season with a bang by beating the Berlin Adler in a rematch of the final game of the German football league from last year. The Crusaders had a promising showing against the Vikings of Oslo, Norway, in an exhibition game last Saturday, but this will be their first appearance of the 2012 season in competition. The winner of this matchup has the opportunity to travel to Graz, Austria to play the Giants of the AFL.

This game can be followed with live updates to the twitter account: Crusaders 2010. The link to this is set to the right in the Other Euroball Links as Crusaders Game Updates.

The preview of the game provided by eurobowl.com can be found temporarily here.

In the EFAF cup group play continues. The Cougars of St. Ouen (France) face off against the Cassidy Coventry Jets (England) after the Cougars lost to the Gold Diggers from Denmark in their opening game. The Jets have yet to compete in this tournament. Secondly, on the coast of Spain the London Blitz of the UK face the Valencia Firebats (Spain). The Blitz have the opportunity to move to the next round with a win this weekend as they beat the Amsterdam Crusaders heartily a couple weeks back. The third and final game of the cup challenge takes place in the capital of the Czech Republic when the Prague Black Hawks face the Milano Rhinos of Italia on Sunday. The Hawks like the Blitz can move to the semi-final with a win this weekend after they beat the Black Panthers of France 16-13 in their first game. The alternative to each of them winning and moving on would be losing and leaving their fate to the final weekend of the EFAF cup and two other teams defining their destiny.

Landed and off to work

2011-04-16T02:35:00.000-07:00

So we made it to Sverige and had a very busy week of preparing for practice, setting up our apartment, shopping, practicing, filmwork, and a little entertainment. The biggest surprise so far has been the level of deliciousness of the food. Those that claimed the food would be less satisfying were blowin smoke, because we eat lunch each day at a local restaurant, Ditt Matstalle, and they've cooked a versatile spread that rivals the food I've tasted in both Austria and Spain. So as we get further and further into this trip we can be sure that the food will be one of the high points rather than something that would potentially hold us back.

Hit rewind and we'll see how the trip over was. The flight from San Fransisco was nothing short of entertaining. We asked for champagne to celebrate the occasion, the flight attendant quickly responded that they don’t offer champagne on our deck, and followed it up by mentioning to us (in his british accent) that we should have, “tried a little harder in school.” And then closed with a hearty chuckle. We made it to Heathrow airport in one piece, a little for the weary and relaxed until excitement bursted when an identical match of harry potter saundered past. Mary mentioned, “he even had his little thing tied right here (motioning to where his string met at his throat) and the rest was flowing like a cape.” (no photo for evidence).

Landing in Sweden was not what I had anticipated. There is a vast amount of open farmland interspersed with large groves of evergreens. Not a single mountain as far as the eye could see. The weather was pleasant enough for us to take off our jackets while toting our excess bags, after all… we are American, from one terminal to the next. This was an extremely promising situation, because Mary and I had been adopting the mindset that we would be overly cold for the next month or so, with the remainder of the snowmelt in southern Sweden. Our general manager Rikard Borg met us at the airport and gave us a ride home.

Now that we are abroad, this blog has two focuses. On the one hand, it is a chance for me to provide an insight into what living and playing in Europe is all about from an individual perspective as well as covering as much of the action and interviews of players and teams throughout Europe.

Eurobowl/EFAF Cup happening all over Europe this weekend

2011-03-31T12:40:00.000-07:00

This coming weekend will be littered with competitive international games that include 10 different teams from 9 nations competing in 2 separate tournaments.

EFAF Cup In the EFAF Cup one game from each of the four groups will be showcased this weekend. The Thonon Black Panthers (FRA) are matched up with the Prague Black Hawks (CZH). The Panthers have had a rough start to the season (2-4) and will need to turn things around to make this competitive. The Hawks on the other hand, don’t know what they’ve got having this their first game of the 2011 year. Further north, fellow French contender the St. Ouen Cougars (FRA) travel to Denmark to meet the reigning Danish champs the Sollerod Gold Diggers (DEN). St. Ouen has competed well in the French league starting out 2-3-1 and competing against the top teams, while the Gold Diggers get their feet wet in this contest being their first game. Lastly, the London Blitz (ENG) toil with the Amsterdam Crusaders (NED). This is the season opener for the Blitz, and as for the Crusaders a first week loss in their league was followed up with 3 wins before this international matchup. Each of these squads is playing in its first tournament game of the season meaning a win sets them apart from the rest of their group.

Also in the EFAF Cup, but in a different scenario are the Kragujevac Wild Boars (SRB) who face the Hohenems Blue Devils (AUT) for a one game battle to move on. They play on Sunday the 10th in western Austria. Kragujevac has started out hot this season at 2-0 and defeating what was promised to be their best Serbian competition the Belgarde Vukovi this past weekend. The Blue Devils are in the same boat winning their first 2 games in the Swiss league.

Eurobowl As for the EFL, the tournament is well underway as we already have two squads that have proceeded to the quarterfinal, while two teams were sent packing. The Badalona Dracs (Spain) were not able to match up with the Spartiates L'Amiens (France) losing each contest in a home and home by more than 50 points. In Central Europe the Prague Panthers (Czech Rep.) traveled south to Vienna to play the Austrian Champs, the Danube Dragons. In a more contested affair the Dragons beat up the Panthers 33-16 on the back of national QB Thomas Haider's 4 TD passes in his first ever start at the senior team level. Haider, pictured left, was a standout WR for the Dragons before getting the nod at QB this year. Playing with him in 2009 gave me a glimpse into how much talent he has both on the gridiron as well as on the tennis, basketball, and volleyball courts. He is truly an all around athlete. If he develops quickly this season and gets the ball to the stable of athletes around him, the Dragons will contend for the #1 ranking in Europe. The Dragons will face Berlin on May 7th and the Spartiates will play Innsbruck the same day for the quarterfinal of the Eurobowl.

The first game of this tournament for two other teams will be provided on Saturday when the Parma Panthers take the short trip west to Barcelona to face the Pioners de L’Hospitalet. The Pioners have wreacked havoc starting an unparalleled (8-0) in Spanish play, but playing on the European stage is a whole other beast. The Panthers are off to a 2-1 start in the Italian Football League losing to Catania in the first week, but have won the last two games in convincing fashion including a 62-35 beating of the Ancona Dolphins this past weekend, a team that beat the Catania squad in week 2 suggesting that the Italan league will be quite competitive.

IFL While we're on the topic of Italy, the Bologna Warriors dominated the Bolzano Giants 64-35. You'll remember the Warriors from QB Eric Marty's Player Profile here on For the Love of the Game. The Warriors are now the only unbeated team in the country with their QB leading the way. The game was close at halftime, but the Giants could not keep up with the better team from Bologna.

Swedish Super Series Begins at the weekend

2011-03-30T19:58:00.000-07:00

The top league in Sweden has to have the raddest name of any league throughout Europe. The 6 teams in the top division compete in the Super Series. The Super Series has been dominated by one name over the past decade, The Mean Machine from Stockholm. The nation’s capital and biggest city housed the most dominant team in Sweden winning 7 of the 10 championships in the first decade of the 2000’s including back to back in ’08 and ‘09 until 2010 when the Carlstad Crusaders put an exclamation point on their perfect season defeating the Tyreso Royal Crowns 37-15 in the Championship. Swedish football can be most defined by the sheer size of the players. The size of the offensive and defensive lines mirror that of division I caliber teams in the United States. Before this past summer when the Germans took over the European crown, the best football nation in all of Europe was Sweden, as they took the European Championship just 3 years prior under the tutelage of BD Kennedy, current head coach of the Arlanda Jets. Four of the Six teams in Sweden hail from Stockholm and surrounding areas with a 3 hour drive on the E18 highway west to the lake town of Karlstad hitting Orebro on the way. These teams will frequent this itinerary throughout the late spring and summer.

The Carlstad Crusaders had a memorable and unstoppable 12-0 season in 2010. One opponent player was quoted recently by saying that, “the only line in Sweden that can block the Crusader’s D-Line is the Crusader’s O-Line.” If this is any indication of what 2011 will be like, it’s going to be a blackout. The team from the west heads into their first ever season as the defending national champion. This squad was as “on the cusp” as it gets, earning second place in the Super Series in each of the last 7 seasons. That’s right, 7 years in a row as number 2, how sweet it was last September when these guys hoisted the trophy. Not only did the Crusaders dominate the Swedish competition last year, but they also made moves on the international stage. Beating the Sollerod Gold Diggers (Denmark) and London Blitz (UK) brought the Crusaders to Switzerland for the final of the EFAF Cup. A torrential downpour kept them off the scoreboard except for a field goal in a 17-3 defeat, their one and only of the year. 2011 appears to be a year for the record books as the national talent has only improved and the Crusaders have hired 3 Americans for the season. QB Eli Cranor of Ouchita Baptist (Div II) and myself will play and coach and are joined by Chris Vicory, Humboldt State (Div II) as an offensive line coach and running game coordinator. Tracey Gere is at the helm after running the defense in recent years which had just 3 games out of 15 last year giving up more than 15 points. The Crusaders started it off with a group stage victory against the current German Champions the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes on April 23^rd. The Crusaders season will get VIP treatment on this blog due to obvious reasons.

Nobody could compare to the Crusaders in Sweden last year, but a team that has no shortage of glory days is the Stockholm Mean Machines. Their 6-4-1 season was not indicative of the talent level of this team. They started the season as reigning champions but lost a close decision to the Crusaders in the opening game. After that date the team rattled off all 6 of their wins in dominating fashion. Then, what looked like a well oiled machine took a turn for the worst and ended up breaking altogether. A tie score against the Northside Bulls segwayed into 2 losses. First at Arlanda and then at Carlstad to end the regular season, compounded by a season ending 28-21 loss at Tyreso in the semi-final. Things kind of fell of the wagon for the Machine in 2010, but a fresh start and a fresh face at quarterback makes all that feel like yesterday. Cody Hawkins of the University of Colorado will signal call for the Machine this year and returning head coach Robert Johansson both will definitely help to instill the winning ways back to Stockholm. Pay special attention to the week 4 matchup between Stockholm and Carlstad, the weekend of May 21^st.

Another team that is vying for the title in Sweden is the Tyreso Royal Crowns. At 6-6 last year the Royal Crowns did not produce as well as planned, but still came up one win from magnificence in late September. The Royal Crowns had lost twice to the Crusaders and Mean Machine before beating the Machine 28-21 in the semifinal game. This feat of winning the third encounter was almost accomplished a second time in the title game, but the Royal Crown fell short at the hands of the Crusaders. This year the Crowns will attempt to separate themselves from the rest of the league and prove that they can hang with the big boys.

The Arlanda Jets, named perfectly for the Arlanda airport in Stockholm, had a tough year coming in at 4-6 overall in 2010. The Jets split with the Bulls, beat Djurgardens twice (a team that has disbanded since the 2010 season due to a player shortage) and had a season highlight win against Stockholm at home in the second to last game of the season by a score of 28-21. To complete a turnaround this season will take a large amount of resolve, and some great playing from the players out East. This team has a shining light in head coach BD Kennedy. Coach Kennedy has been working hard to instill popularity and increase skill level of the youth in the Stockholm area. The future is obviously in the youth, and Coach Kennedy has his priorities set right. Coach Kennedy is also not more than 4 years removed from a European Crown coaching the Swedish national team to the promised land. For the Jets in 2011, anything can happen as General Douglas MacCarthur put it, “A general is just as good or just as bad as the troops under his command make him.”

The next team to portray is the STU Northside Bulls. The young organization, started in 2006, hails from exactly where the name implies, the north side of Stockholm. The Bulls finished 4-6-1 splitting the season matchups with Arlanda, and showed that they could battle the top teams beating first the Tyreso Royal Crowns 28-25 on the road and later tying the Stockholm Mean Machine as an away team. Reaching the semi-final game was a short lived thrill after a 40-0 thumping from the champion Crusaders was placed on their plate. 2011 already shows promise. The Bulls have hired Canadian linebacker Andrea Bonaventura. Bonaventura played at the University of Calgary who were finalists in 2010. He was named defensive player of the year twice in Canada. He’ll add skill and knowledge to the already building Northside squad, who boasts 2 junior national championships in just 5 seasons. Swedish national team QB Anders Hermodsson runs the show for STU.

The final team to compete in the 2011 Super Series are the Orebro Black Knights. The Knights, recently moved up a division from division 1 to the Super Series this offseason. They waste no time in displaying their intentions by signing American QB John Cody Ladutko for this year. Ladutko played at Averett University (Div.III) in Charlotte, NC. He was a prolific passer in his two seasons playing for Averett and brings these skills to the table for the newcomers to the top division. Orebro joins Carlstad as one of two teams not from the greater Stockholm area. They are situated nicely in between Carlstad and Stockholm, which just about guarantees that one aspect of their transition into the SAFF will be free from turmoil, the travel.

The Super Series kicks off on May 30^th with what is consistent for many of the leagues throughout Europe, a rematch of lasts year’s title game between the Carlstad Crusaders and the Tyreso Royal Crowns. For your viewing pleasure, check out this video that was created by enperiEntertainment displaying this very championship game last season.

SM Final Senior 2010 from enperiEntertainment on Vimeo.

Germany Gets Going

2011-03-23T21:49:00.000-07:00

The German Football League 1 has the highest level of play in Europe which is justified by their utter dominance as a nation at the European Championships this past summer. The German side won every game in the tournament on their way to qualifying for the World Cup of American Football to be played later this summer. The GFL1 is also one of the most competitive leagues. There have been two teams at the top, Kiel and Berlin, in the past few years, but many teams have had their time to shine as the league’s elite. The Braunschweig Lions have the most German wins with 7 and had spent 11 straight years going to the title game from 1997 to 2008, while the Berlin Adler and Dusseldorf Panthers combine for the second most GFL championship wins with 6 apiece. The Hamburg Blue Devils also won back to back to back national titles from 2001-2003, all three against the Braunschweig Lions. The league is split into north and south with 7 teams in each division. The top 4 teams from each division in the regular phase square off in a traditional 3 win and you’re crowned playoff structure. Much more background information on the GFL can be found by following this link: German Football League Info, as well as checking into the league’s website here: German Football League Official Website.

GFL North

Kiel Baltic Hurricanes 14-1 The Hurricanes dominated the scene in 2010, their only loss was an early season blunder to the GFL South champs the Marburg Mercenaries. Their road to glory consisted of wins against Stuttgart, Dresden, and a 17-10 win over the Berlin Adler who had beaten Kiel for the GFL title the year prior. In 2011 the Canes will play be one of two German teams playing internationally competing in the group stage of the Eurobowl against the Carlstad Crusaders (Sweden). To assist the national talent the Canes have resigned quarterback Jeff Welsh (Western Michigan) and have picked up DL Derrick Ford (Arizona State) and a European veteran as well. European imports for the Canes are LB Efe, Evewaraye from Finland and RB Michael Andrew of Great Britain.

Berlin Adler 12-3 The Adler beat the Vienna Vikings with a 50+ yard field goal to win the European Crown, only to have their dreams of a dual championship stripped away by the team from Kiel in October. They are back for another year to try for two trophies, competing in the GFL and already in the quarterfinal of the Eurobowl playing the winner of the Prague Panthers and Danube Dragons in May. The Adler have acquired three Americans for 2011, quarterback Clint Toon from Texas State (FCS), DB Michael Gardier of Kutztown (DII), and RB Tory Cooper by way of Citadel (FCS) Cooper played last season for the Innsbruck Raiders in Austria.

Dresden Monarchs 7-7 Dresden had a .500 season last year in the regular phase but lost to the top two teams the Canes and the Adler by just 1 point apiece in one encounter. They reached the playoffs and won a game upsetting the Unicorns from the south in a 56-45 affair before being ousted by the Kiel Canes in the semi-final 14-0. Linebackers Pat O’Neil and Adrian McCoy or on staff to help the defense and raise the level of play for the offense.

Braunschweig Lions 4-7-2 The once dominant Lions have recessed to a 4 win season, but had some of the closest encounters either tying or losing by less than 3 in 5 different games. The Lions reached the playoffs despite their dismal record, yet they faced the GFL South’s top team the Mercenaries and got bullied 31-21 in the first round of the playoffs. In response to the underperforming 2010 the Lions have hired a slough of imports. Americans Sean Cooper RB, Jabari Johnson RB, and Andre Starks DL will team up with Europeans Santtu Ayravainen LB from Finland, James Andersen TE from Great Britain, and finally Robert Lome OL from Great Britain.

Assindia Cardinals 4-7-1 The Cardinals had a modest season last year, but it is tough to compete in Germany’s top division. 3 of their 4 wins came against teams that have dropped from GFL 1, but they did beat the Monarchs which was the highlight of the season. The Cardinals have not announced any import signings for the next season.

The Dusseldorf Panthers and Monchengladbach Mavericks are the two newcomers to the league this season. The GFL has an interesting way of rewarding the teams that compete well in the lower division, GFL 2. The top 2 teams in the GFL 2 each year play a one game playoff against the worst 2 teams in the GFL 1. Whoever wins the game will be in the GFL 1 the following year. This season, the league expanded offering 2 teams a spot to move up a division and these two teams were the teams to get the nod. They will replace the Berlin Rebels who finished 3-7-2 last season. The Panthers have signed WR Estrus Crayton (USC) who is a 7 time GFL champion.

GFL South
Marburg Mercenaries 10-3 The Mercenaries had a very exciting season in 2010, including a 22-19 victory against the eventual champs in game 1, the only win of its kind last year as the Canes finished 14-1. The Mercenaries put up big numbers week after week and beat the Braunschweig Lions in the first round of the playoffs before collapsing against the Berlin Adler in the semi-final 17-6. For 2011 the Mercenaries have signed LB Sergio Villasenor University of Reno and Joe Clark RB Augustana (DII) along with WR Ryan Bass and Athlete Rocky Ciasulli who has had a stellar European career in multiple countries.

Schwabisch Hall Unicorns 9-4 The oddly name Unicorns glided through the season in 2010 with a very high powered offense. They lost twice in the regular season to the Adler from the North but by just 3 and 7 points. They beat the Mercenaries the Southern Champs once and beat the Cowboys back to back weeks by a total score of 94-0. The Unicorns only scored less than 20 twice and scored more than 40 points 8 separate times. A 56-45 playoff loss to Dresden was a disappointing end to a very productive year. The Unicorns have a set of imports to add to the talented group from last year in QB Aaron Boehme of Linfield College (DIII) in Oregon, DL Paul Nishizaki, DB Bruno Michitti, and WR Justice Joslin.

Plattling Black Hawks 5-7-1 The Black Hawks had a promising beginning to the 2010 season. They were 1 game above .500 after 9 games at 5-4, but slipped to 5-6-1 in the last 3 weeks of the regular season losing to Marburg and Schwabisch Hall and tying Braunschweig. A playoff game against the North’s #2 team the Adler was not to be kind, as they lost 17-3 ending the season on a 3 game losing skid. The Hawks have signed QB Adam Hazel from Menlo College (DIII) in California.

Stuttgart Scorpions 4-8 The Scorpions were another team with a rough to go year losing twice as many times as they won. They beat the Cowboys twice and the Black Hawks once, but made the last spot into the playoffs from the South. A showdown with top ranked Kiel could have very easily been a debacle, but the Scorpions almost pulled off what would have been an earth shattering upset when they lost 23-21 to the Canes in the first round. The Scorpions are hiring QB Danil Polk for this season, Polk played at Campbell University (FCS) in North Carolina.

Munich Cowboys 3-9 The Munich Cowboys have played more GFL games than any other club. Their storied history dates back to the 80’s, but 2010 was unkind to them. They lost big in most affairs, 2 of the 3 wins came against a team that has been dropped to the GFL 2. Their only measureable win came against the Stuttgart Scorpions mid season beating them 17-15 at home in Bavaria.

The Saarland Hurricanes and the Weisbaden Phantoms are the two teams in the South that have moved up from last season. These two replace the Weinheim Longhorns who had as bad of a year as you can have finishing 0-12 on the year. The Hurricanes from the South have a long way to go to match up with the Canes from up in Kiel, but they’ve selected a large group of imports to help them out with that, Americans Shaun Walker LB, Antwan Smith QB, and Torrance Brown will join with Europeans Xavier Andre DB Great Britain, OL Branco Mutic, and OL Valdimir Uzelac. These teams have the opportunity to shine on Germany’s biggest stage in 2011, a feat that hasn’t been attempted by the Hurricanes in 4 years and one that has never happened for the first time contender Weisbaden Phantoms. Keep a close eye on these last two teams in the GFL South this year.

The GFL gets started with a rematch of last year's final between Kiel and Berlin on April 9th. Take some time before then to learn about all things GFL by following this link: German Football League info You can also get all the updates all season long by heading to the GFL Website. To get geared up for the GFL take a look at this highlight of the German Champs best of 2010:

And because that's not enough, check out this highlight video of the Berlin Adler winning the Eurobowl against the Vienna Vikings from WienTV.

Crusaders get it started

2011-03-22T11:08:00.001-07:00

Today was the first day of the Carlstad Crusaders official preparation for 2011. The anticipated season premier in north Germany is just under 5 weeks away. Players and coaches joined together for an opportunity to dust off the pads and get crunching again just 5 days before QB Eli Cranor joins the group. An exhibition game is scheduled against Norway's Oslo Vikings in 3 weeks which will be a great chance to test the system before heading to Kiel on April 23rd.

The Austrian Season Awakens

2011-03-21T18:41:00.000-07:00

The Austrian Football League, known locally as the American Football Bund Osterrich is one of the most competitive football leagues on the continent of Europe. Each year there are 4 teams who vie for the coveted title to be Austrian Champs. The clubs in this league have become so deep and strong that they have been dominant in international play for almost a decade. Having 3 out of 4 teams already in the quarterfinal stage by way of reaching last year’s semi of the Eurobowl tournament is a loud statement, not to mention the 4th of those teams won the AFL crown in 2010. This leads to one of the most unique and exciting seasons in Europe. With more financial capability, the quality and the amount of imports that show up in Austria every year is phenomenal. This review will try to prove just how talented this year’s import class will be. The most exciting thing about tuning into the AFL 2010 is that you never know what’s going to happen. If the previous few years are any indication, sparks are gonna fly when these squads line up against eachother. One thing that I need to discuss prior to you reading the analysis is that the majority of the teams in the AFL compete as well in the EFL also known as the Eurobowl tournament. Both will be described below, but try not to lose sight of the fact that these teams compete in 2 separate competitions, offering each of them the chance to win two titles this year, the AFL and EFL crowns.

The first team to describe is the 2010 Austrian Champions. For the first time in club history, the champs in 2010 were the Danube Dragons. This team who previously played 20 minutes outside of Vienna, Austria (to play in Vienna for the first time this season) is one of the fastest rising clubs in all of Europe. Not 4 years ago they were in Division 2 in the AFL and have had record setting years each season culminating in last summer’s dream championship run. A regular season win over Innsbruck at home marked the highlight of the season for the team until their rematch and subsequent victory over the Raiders on the road in Innsbruck for the 2010 AFL title. The Dragons relied heavily on a much improved defense in 2010 giving up 26.6 points per game, which was down from 40+ the year prior. The stout defense along with another prolific offense led the Dragons to a 7-1 season in Austria. They finished 2-1 in the Eurobowl after having beaten the Belgrade Dragons (Serbia) and the Thonon Black Panthers (France) by a total score of 123-21, fell 3 points short on a last second lengthy field goal in southern Austria to the Graz Giants. Ironically the Giants were the only team to have beaten the Dragons in 2010, they did it twice but never had the chance to face the Dragons in the AFL playoffs. Head Coach Ivan Zivko and the rest of the Dragons look to improve upon last year’s season, hoping to win not only the Austrian title, but the Eurobowl crown as well. They’ll have their hands full playing against the Prague Panthers in the group stage with a possibility of facing last year’s European champs the Berlin Adler in the quarterfinal. To assist in this challenge they’ve hired James Canetti, a veteran of the AFL having played for the Graz Giants in 2009, and then the Lazio Marines of Rome in 2010. Canetti, a defensive lineman who I know quite well from my 3 encounters against him in 2009 will be a huge presence on an already improved defense.

The Innsbruck Raiders finished a honorable 5-3 in the AFL, but just 1-1 in the EFL tournament. Losing to the Dragons in the 4th week of the season was their first loss, but they followed it up with a 55-13 crushing of the Valencia Firebats (Spain) in the quarterfinal of the EFL. 2 weeks later they had defeat on their hands again this time to the eventual winner of the Eurobowl, the Berlin Adler. After having their dreams of European Champs shot, they lost big at home for the second week in a row to the Graz Giants in the final week of the regular season, but bounced back in the semi-final of the AFL with one of the most contested victories that I have ever witnessed beating the Giants in double overtime 58-51 having to come from behind several times in that game. A disappointing end to the year was their 3rd loss on the season and second on to the Danube Dragons 28-21 at home in the AFL title game. The same day that the Berlin Adler (Germany) lost their GFL title to the Kiel Hurricanes (Germany) Shuan Fatah was announced new head coach of the Innsbruck Raiders. Coach Fatah obviously comes to west Austria highly credible after having won the Eurobowl crown with the Adler in 2010 and came up one touchdown shy of winning the GFL against Kiel. Not only do the Raiders acquire the coach of the Adler (german for Eagles) but they got QB Kyle Callahan and RB/WR Talib Wise. Callahan from Union College in Kentucky and Wise from UNLV both were prime time players in 2 games in Austria beating the Raiders and the Vikings in international play in 2010. They’ll have their chance to dominate Austrian battlefields once more in 2011, suiting up this time in the Black and Silver. Joining them as an import is German native Daniel Schober who played at Laval University in Canada before spending time in NFL Europe and playing in the GFL. Schober, a defensive back, will add to the already talented group of Austrians that play for the Raiders. Lastly, DB John Clements of New Hampshire (FCS) will be on to help the secondary. This season as always can be a very successful one for the Raiders. Qualifying for the semi-final of last year’s Eurobowl gains them an automatic quarterfinal bid in this year’s tournament. They’ll play the winner of the Amiens Spartiates (France) and Badalona Dracs (Spain) later this spring.

The Vienna Vikings have one of the most glorified histories of all European clubs. 4 European championships and 7 AFL titles are both unmatched records by any other clubs in Europe. Losing in the quarterfinal of the 2009 Eurobowl forced the Vikings to come from group play in 2010 which was highly unprecedented for this storied organization. They did so with a vengeance, beating the Bolzano Giants 35-0 and the Badalona Dracs 24-0 in their group carrying that momentum into the quarter and semifinal where they beat the Paris Flash on the road and Graz Giants in Graz. Their Eurobowl run ended with a field goal on the final play of the championship game by the Berlin Adler kicker, keeping them from a successful return to glory. In 2010 the Vikings were semi-finalists of the AFL. The only two teams that the Vikings didn’t beat in Austria were the two finalists the Dragons and Raiders. The Dragons had their number winning 28-3 in the last week of the regular phase and 31-24 in the semi-final. 2011 looks to be an electric year for the team from Vienna. Joining an already stellar coaching staff with Chris Calaycay and Skip Albano will be Offensive Coordinator Jordan Neuman. Neuman comes to Vienna after having 2 year’s of the best offense in Germany coaching the Schwabisch Hall Unicorns. The Vikings are one of two teams who play with a national quarterback, meaning that they do not import a ball handler. This offers them the opportunity to be very versatile in their import selections. For 2011 they have announced three new players to add to the returning stars, LB Chris James, Central Washington and WR Chauncy Calhoun. Lineman Brandon Collier, UMASS (FCS) and Dusty Thornhill RB/WR who spent time playing for the Unicorns along with coach Neuman in 2010 will help the Vikings mount a return to Austrian and European excellence this year. Thirdly they will employ RB Tony Hunt who spent time with the Philadelphia Eagles after being drafted in the 3rd round out of Penn State. They’ll have a bye to the quarters of the Eurobowl to face the winner of the group from the south, Pioners de L’Hospitalet (Spain), Calanda Broncos (Switzerland), and Parma Panthers (Italy).

The 4th powerhouse of Austria hailing from the south part of the country is the Graz Giants. The Giants have been on the cusp of championship games and wins each year, winning their last title in the AFL final in 2008. In 2010 the Giants were nothing short of dramatic. Half of their games came down to 7 points or less in the end and they only won one of those contests. With the ball bouncing their way a couple of times, they could have been the team to raise the trophy multiple times. They were the only team to beat the Austrian champion Danube Dragons, and they did it not once but twice both in the regular season and in the EFL quarterfinal. Their seasons ended in the semi-final of both the Eurobowl and the Austrian playoffs to the Vikings in the EFL and the Raiders in the AFL in a double overtime thriller. Head Coach Rick Rhoades is returning for another season along with 4th year veteran QB Chris Gunn. Gunn has been one of the most productive imports in Austria over his 4 year span making plays on the ground as well as through the air. To add to the excitement is the signing of Charles McCrae, WR from Copiah Lincoln in Mississippi and defensive end Ben Bianchino from division II Washburn. McCrae is a two-way athlete who will make plays in all aspects of the game. He played last season in Finland with the Helsinki Roosters, helping them to the semi-finals while racking up a massive amount of yards. Along with vying for the AFL trophy the Giants are positioned in the EFL quarterfinal already and will face the winner of the Carlstad Crusaders (Sweden) and Kiel Hurricanes (Germany) at home in early May.

The Salzburg Bulls and the Carinthia Black Lions are the two underlings of the top 4 teams. In recent years there was a middle division that linked the AFL and Division 1 in Austra. This will not be the case this season. The Bulls, logically named for the biggest product coming out of Salzburg besides the Sound of Music soundtracks, Red Bull, were a newcomer to the top division in 2010. They had a tough year at 0-6 but boasted the top rusher and receiver in the league statistically. For 2011 they have hired quarterback Dustin Hawke Willingham (Fort Scott DII) and linebacker Nick Garratt (USC). These two players will undoubtedly make a huge impact in the AFL, but the question remains, what will there be supporting them? The Black Lions finished 2-4 last season coming away with a huge win against the Graz Giants which was definitely the highlight of their season. They beat the Vienna Vikings in 2009 and came within 1 yard of possibly beating the Danube Dragons in the playoffs, which proves that they can compete against the big boys. What will 2011 have in store, only time will tell.

Another team that must be mentioned due to the amount of success they have been having in recent years is the Czech Prague Panthers. The Panthers have an interesting position as they are transitioning into the AFL. Last year they played in both the Austrian and the Czech leagues. They were 3-3 in Austria losing to the Vikings, Raiders, and Giants and 0-1 in Eurobowl losing to the German runner up Berlin Adler. These losses do not mean that they are not contenders, they won the 2009 EFAF Cup, and recent signings of American imports prove that they are ready for action again this season. The Panthers have picked up Ryan McManus, a quarterback from Wake Forest and offensive lineman Jason Fiacco of Northern Iowa (FCS). To coach these guys the Panthers have hired Steven Cash, a very successful high school coach in Florida who has been to Europe before coaching the Salzburg Bulls in 2010. The Panthers won the EFAF Cup in 2009 before entering in the EFL in 2010 and now again in 2011. They are matched with defending Austrian Champion the Danube Dragons in the first round which will be a winner take all event to face the current Eurobowl champion Berlin Adler in north Germany in early May. Watch for the Panthers to be alive in the AFL in 2011.

The Austrian Football league will be chalked full of excitement all spring and early summer kicked off this past weekend with the Vikings stomping on the Bulls 65-7 and the Panthers beating the Black Lions handily 36-6. Keep an eye out for much more of this can't miss action right here on For the Love of the Game.

Italy's intro does not disappoint, Stylish Spanish finale

2011-03-21T17:27:00.000-07:00

As an American I know that there is factual evidence that the Spanish and Italians are predisposed to being very exciteable people as evidenced by the embedded photo. They also know how to have a good time. With these two statments in mind, I can only imagine what it looked like this past weekend in Parma, Italy and Barcelona, Spain as these two leagues dropped two heart wrenching finales on our plate. The top two teams in Italy battled to within 3 points and a hail mary attempt, while 2 of the top three in Spain ended the game with a difference of just 1 point.

The three imports for the Catania Elephants (1-0) made their presence known scoring early and often for the Sicilians in their 54-51 rebuttle to last year's IFL champion Parma (0-1). The young national quarterback Thomas Monard did his part to help the team attempt a come from behind victory, but the threat was neutralized in the red zone just prior to what would have been a go ahead and winning touchdown.

Ifleague.it Report of the game (In Italian)

HIGHLIGHT of the Catania - Parma game

In Spain, the second encounter of 2 of the international contending teams was a thrilling affair. The L'Hospitalet Pioners (7-0) took a 23-7 halftime lead that was nullified by 2 third quarter touchdowns from national running back Nordi Moussa. The Badalona Dracs (2-4) scored first in the final quarter taking a 28-23 lead after 21 unanswered points. After an interception in the endzone with 3 minutes to play WR John Sheffield scored his second touchdown on the day with just under a minute to play and stole the win away from the Dracs.

Pioners.com Report of the game (In Spanish)

Player Profile: Eric Marty QB Bologna Warriors

2011-03-07T18:56:00.000-08:00

The Italian Football league begins in less than 3 weeks. A preview of the season can be viewed at For the Love of the Game: It's gonna be a heated Italian Battle. To make sure that we've covered as many angles as possible, For the Love of the Game was blessed to have 2 time national champion quarterback Eric Marty on the show to discuss what it's like to have such extraordinary success in his first 2 seasons as a quarterback in Europe, and a little bit about what we can expect from the land of pizza, pasta, and mafia. Take the time to watch this entertaining interview, and do not miss out on seeing Eric's personal website , offering you a chance to read his blog and view highlights of one of the most winningiest quarterbacks in Europe.

Spain and France updates, and a word from Belgium

2011-03-07T18:28:00.000-08:00

Lot’s of action across the continent continued this past weekend as the Spanish have gone once through the league and France is 4 weeks in. Below you can view each of their standings at this point in the season, which will be described thereafter.

1. Pioners L'Hospitalet 5-0
2. Valencia Firebats 4-1
3. Las Rozas Black Demons2-3
4. Badalona Dracs 2-3
5. Osos Rivas 1-4
6. Barcelona Búfals 1-4

In Spain, the Pioners continue to wreck havoc tearing into the 6th placed Bufals 44-0 putting them at an undefeated 5-0 halfway through the season. The Valencia Firebats stayed put at #2 after a highly contested 42-33 win over the 1-4 Osos Rivas Madrid. The surprise win of the weekend were the Black Demons beating the Badalona Dracs on Saturday by a point to claim the tie breaker over them and the #3 seed at the midway point.

1. La Courneuve Flash 4-0
2. Aix Argonautes 4-0
3. St Ouen Cougars 2-1-1
4. Grenoble Centaures 2-1-1
5. Elancourt Templiers 1-3
6. Thonon Black Panthers 1-3
7. Amiens Spartiates 1-3
8. Nice Dauphins 0-4

The Flash stayed unbeaten beating the Dauphins by 20 at home. Alongside them are the Argonauts who came away with a 1 point victory over last year's French Champs the Spartiates. The St. Ouen Cougars and Centaures from Grenoble tied, keeping them tied at the 3 and 4 spots. While the Templiers got their first win of the year over the Black Panthers. Two of the three international competitors from France currently find themselves at the 6th and 7th ranks in the country one month prior to international play, which is by far the most shocking truth to the 2011 season in France. This provides some insight to the competitiveness that the league offers this year.

Away from the season updates and an announcement from just north of France. The Belgian Bowl, to be contested on June 4th has recently been promoted by John Van de Mergel, the Belgian Bowl event coordinator and President of the FFL (one of the two leagues in Belgium). The West-Vlaanderen Tribes (FFL) has won the title a record 7 times since 2000, and since 2006 five times in a row, with the past three seasons having unblemished records, try that on for size ’72 Dolphins. The first ever Atlantic Cup, another international European Federation of American Football (EFAF) competition like the Eurobowl and EFAF Cup was played in Brussels in 2009 and inagurally won by the Tribe of West-Vlaanderen. You can keep tract of the season/scores at the below mentioned websites of each conference. Be sure to visit the Belgian Bowl Website and Facebook Page of the Belgian Bowl for video highlights and more info.

website of the Flemish Conference
website of the Walloon Conference

This month more football action ensues when Italy, Switzerland, and Austria each kick off their 2011 seasons.

2011 EFAF Cup Preview

2011-02-24T20:57:00.000-08:00

International play is one of the most fascinating features of the European Football season each spring and summer. The best clubs of Europe from the preceding season are offered the opportunity to not only represent themselves in combat, but their countries as well. The Eurobowl tournament has already been introduced showcasing national champions from 8 separate countries. The second tier tournament that sees just as much, if not more, competition is the EFAF Cup. The EFAF Cup has been played since the merger of two other European tournaments in 2002. None of the teams who are in the competition this season have won an EFAF Cup tournament, therefore a first time champion will be crowned later this summer. 9 countries and 11 clubs are represented in this year’s field spanning from the breathtaking British Isles across Central and Southern Europe to southeastern Serbia. This tournament is a good variety of champion teams from smaller leagues in smaller nations to 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place teams from larger leagues. 8 of the 11 teams this year were either national champions or runners-up in their respective nations in 2010. The parity of the competition is evidenced by the fact that only one club has repeated as champion since the beginning of the contest. The teams are placed into groups and begin the tournament in the Group stage. Groups of 3 will all play one another the winner determined by 2 wins or best point differential in the event of a 3-way tie. Hohenems and Kragujevac will play one game in Austria on April 10th, with the winner advancing to the semi-finals.

In Group 1 (seen on the map in Green) we see the only team that has had the opportunity to play in an EFAF Cup final in the entire field. The Thonon Black Panthers (France) lost the 2009 Cup final to the Prague Panthers. After a year playing in the higher level tournament in 2010, the Eurobowl, the Panthers are back to display their international firepower against last year’s runner up in the Czech Republic, the Prague Black Hawks, and the Milan Rhinos of Italy. The Hawks 2010 Czech finalist, and Rhinos will have an opportunity to show that they are ready to be regarded as tournament teams to be reckoned with.

The Hohenems Blue Devils (Austria) and Kragujevac Wild Boars (Serbia) face off in Group 2 (seen on the map in Blue). The Blue Devils and Wild Boars are used to international play. The Devils have been competing for the past 2 seasons in the Central European Football League (CEFL). They also played their entire 2010 schedule in the Switzerland Football League despite the fact that the team hails from the westernmost part of Austria, Voralberg. Kragujevac got into this tournament last season and produced a worthy team, unfortunately they were grouped with the eventual champion in the first stage the Swiss Calanda Broncos. After beating Rome, the Broncos handed them their out card for the tournament 45-20.

The third Group (seen on the map in Red) gives us a showdown of 3 western European nations in England, France, and Denmark. 2 of the 3 teams from this group battled in last year’s EFAF cup. The St. Ouen Cougars from outside of Paris lost in the semi-final of the French national championship, and were 1-1 in last years competition beating the Amsterdam Crusaders (Netherlands) and losing a 5 point game to the Blitz of London (England), which would have advanced them to the next round. The Sollerod Gold Diggers (Denmark) won their second national championship in a row last season, but were a 1 and done team losing 26-3 to the Carlstad Crusaders of Sweden in the group stage. They bring their 1st place attitude to this tournament once again. Finally, from England, last year’s runner-up the Coventry Jets round out Group 3, and bring both EFAF and EFL experience to the tournament.

Group 4 (seen on the map in Purple) has to be the most competitive of all of the groups, at least on paper. There are 2 national champions and one runner-up from 2010 in the group. The Amsterdam Crusaders lost twice in the EFAF Cup last year, but turned that around by rattling of 6 wins in a row including the national championship of the Netherlands in July. The London Blitz, who beat the Jets in the English championship game, also won twice in this very stage of last year’s EFAF Cup beating the Crusaders of Amsterdam and the Cougars of St. Ouen before being ousted by the Crusaders of Carlstad (Sweden) in the semi-final. The Spanish runner-up Valencia Firebats played a step up last season in the Eurobowl tournament climbing out of their group stage in that tournament by going 1-1 against the Bergamo Lions (Italy) and the Elancourt Templiers (France) having the best point difference among the three. They finished international play at the hands of the Innsbruck Raiders (Austria) in the quarterfinal of the EFL. This year they should have success in the lower tournament, but a tough draw with 2 league champions in their path may spell disaster.

Whatever is to occur, expect a lot of excitement this Spring surrounding one of two highly contested international football competitions known as the EFAF Cup. In order to understand a bit more about this thrilling international competition, For the Love of the Game has been blessed with the opportunity to correspond with two successful head coaches in the following interviews.

Enjoy these brief interviews, and enjoy the EFAF Cup as well.

Stan Bedwell, Head Coach / Quarterback, Kragujevac Wild Boars

For the Love of the Game: Stan you take over a team that you were a part of a couple years back, traveling to Austria for a 1 game winner take all situation. What do you think of the Wild Boars' setup?

Stan Bedwell: The setup could be a bit better, because we are the only team in EFAF Cup without a home game and we have a long trip ahead of us. At the same time, we know that we are just one win away from advancing to the semi-finals. I guess it all depends on how you choose to look at it. Regardless, we are very excited about traveling to Austria and playing the blue devils. We have a lot of respect for their entire organization and we're looking forward to a competitive game on April 10th.

For the Love of the Game: The team finished 1-1 in last year's tournament, losing to the champions in Calanda in the group stage. What do you think the chances are for a more experienced group of Boars players this season?

Stan Bedwell: We believe that we have just as good of a shot as anyone else in the tournament. Right now excitement within our program is at an all-time high. We are practicing 4-5 days per week and averaging 60+ players. The work-ethic and dedication of our domestic players is really inspiring. In addition, we have added two excellent imports in Jeremy Payton (Arizona State) and Bryan Payton (Oregon State). They are both doing a great job and our players are feeding off their enthusiasm. I will not make any predictions for the tournament, but our team will prepare and expect to win each time we step on the field.

An article describing Stan's accomplishments in more detail can be viewed by following this link: Stan Bedwell a true football traveler.

Larry Legault, Head Coach, Thonon Black Panthers

For the Love of the Game: Is it difficult for the players to put a halt on their aspirations to win a national championship for a week and play in an international tournament? What's more important to the players, French Title or an EFAF Cup Title?

Coach Legault: The european contests add flavor to our schedule. Discovering new opponents and travelling to interesting cities are a bonus for our players and volunteers. I can't really rank the competitions but I would venture a guess that the French Championship would still mean more to the guys.

For the Love of the Game: A win in the Eurobowl in 2010, what can we expect from the Panthers in the EFAF Cup, a tournament that the team reached the finals of just 2 seasons ago?

Coach Legault: We've had a rough start to our season here in France; we need to improve in several phases of play if we expect to be at all competitive in the EFAF Cup.

For the Love of the Game: The Panthers Opponents, Rhinos Milan and Prague Black Hawks were 4-4 and 5-4 in 2010 with no international competition between the two teams. Does the previous experience give the Panthers an edge?

Coach Legault: Teams can change so much from one year to the next - for better or for worse. It's almost impossible to accurately anticipate a team's level of play without any previous direct competition. A team may have a modest won-lost record but play in a superior league; or they may have benefitted from several key transfers and have recruited three outstanding imports; or their budget may have doubled! It's just so difficult to evaluate these things. Previous experience in these competitions can help but only if you have the same nucleus of players. I would also add that it helps if you're on the road (travel experience) but it doesn't make that much of a difference when you're at home.

Crusaders get stronger (and bigger)

2011-02-15T22:56:00.000-08:00

I’m very excited to announce that two player-coaches have made decisions to join the Carlstad Crusaders for the 2011 campaign. The announcements were relayed from General Manager, Rikard Borg; one last week and one this week. Daniel Holmgren and Chris Vicory, both offensive linemen, are going to be two huge additions to the team for the Eurobowl tournament and the Super Series (Swedish Football League).

Holmgren, originally from a small Swedish town about 350 miles north of Karlstad on the Gulf of Bothnia, was voted top offensive lineman in Sweden in 2010 after a highly productive year both playing O-line and acting as the offensive line coach. After his successful season he was offered a job to play for the Bern Grizzlies of Switzerland, and an opportunity to be co-offensive coordinator. Due to unforeseen circumstances Bern was unable to meet their end of the contract, and as a result the Crusaders landed one of the best players in the country for another year.

In addition to Holmgren, Chris Vicory has agreed to the terms of a contract and signed up to coach the offensive line and coordinate the running game strategy in conjunction with QB, Eli Cranor, and has the opportunity to play in the Eurobowl tournament due to the difference in import regulations in international play. Vicory enjoyed two successful seasons playing Offensive Line at Humboldt State University and immediately following his senior season joined on the staff, led by head coach Rob Smith, as a graduate assistant. Vicory’s endless ability to dominate tasks, and his natural talent for understanding the game of football are what landed him this job. Personally, he is a wonderful guy to be around and as a result will be a superb addition to the ranks this summer.

Holmgren and Vicory will prove to be two intricate additions to an already high-quality lineup that the Crusaders have. Two things are for certain with these transactions, the Crusaders just got a whole lot bigger and a whole lot better.

French play is underway

2011-02-10T17:00:00.000-08:00

France has been on a rapid rise across Europe as prime developer of real American football talent. In the summer of 2010 France made it to the final of the European Championships losing to Germany after having beaten Sweden and Great Britain. Recent International success for the clubs in France is testimony to the development of the league as well. Paris and Thonon runners up in 2009 EFL to the Swarco Raiders from western Austria and EFAF to the Prague Panthers display the impact that French teams are having on the competitive European scene. This year expect more of the same with the French Champions L’Amiens Spartans playing in the Eurobowl, and the 3rd place team Thonon Black Panthers and 4th place St. Ouen Cougars in the EFAF cup.

Going 11-1 last year and winning the championship of France were the L’Amiens Spartiates hailing from about an hours drive north of Paris, France. They have added to their ranks a former St. Louis Rams player in Sebastian Sejean. Sejean started his career in Amiens, spent 4 years at Canada’s Laval University before joining the Rams practice squad in 2008. Alongside Sejean will be longtime European football veteran, QB Perez Mattison. After finishing his career at East Carolina Mattison brought his game to Europe. He is entering his 10th season in France, has thrown for over 15,000 yards and 100 tds making him one of the most prolific players in the league this year. He’ll also be handling playcalling duties for the Spartans. The 2011 Spartiates are going to be on a new journey searching for more of last year’s luster both in repeating the French title win, and for the first time in the Eurobowl. They’ll face last year’s 3rd place team in Spain, the Badalona Dracs, who thus far look to be much improved starting the season 1-1 including a 50 point drudging of the crosstown Barcelona Bufals. The only team to beat the Spartiates in 2010, the St. Ouen Cougars in the last week of the regular season 13-22. Florian Thiery reported to europlayers.com that in France, 2011 looks to be the year of the Spartan once more.

Also reported on europlayers.com the Paris Flash lost the French title last season for the first time since 2005. Along with their 5 year reign atop the French 1st division, they had also risen to the #2 ranking in Europe once, losing to the Innsbruck Raiders in the 2009 Eurobowl final. The Flash won’t be around this season to represent international excellence as they have elected to forego the Eurobowl and EFAF tournaments; however, they will be very much in the hunt to rise to the top of the league in France. Finishing 7-5 last season is not the dominance that we’re used to seeing from the Paris squad. They went 1-2 against the Thonon Black Panthers, but beat them when it counted, in the playoffs. They had a tough time against the other two title contenders in France going a totoal of 1-4 against Thonon and Amiens, but a perfect 6-0 against other French teams. Looking for more in 2011 the Flash have revamped the offense with the signing of head coach Camron Olson and QB Lyle Moevao, as well as bringing in a stout LB in John Breza. Olson, former coach at Southern and Western Oregon helped lead the Innsbruck Raiders as the QB/WR coach to the 2010 Austrian Final and EFL semifinal. Lyle Moevao, a quarterback from Oregon State, and Breza from Western Oregon (D2) are two signs that the Flash mean business in 2011, more specifically want that trophy back.

Another main contributor to the competition in France will the the Thonon Black Panthers. This southeastern French club finished 8-3 in 2010 losing to the Flash in the semifinal 6-28 after having beaten them twice in the regular season by 12 and by 5 as well as entering the playoffs on a 4 game heater (winning streak). Internationally the Panthers found debatable success last year beating the dragons of Belgrade 55-0, but losing big to the dragons of Vienna just a few weeks later. Imported players for 2011 will be Fred Wells, WR from Northern Michigan (FCS). This is his second season for the Panthers proving that he fits in well not only on the field but socially as well. He scored 11 times last year gaining 919 yards by reception. A second receiving threat is Chris Bergeski a wideout from Southern Connecticut State (D2). This is his first trip over the Atlantic, and should be a highly productive one playing opposite Wells. The Panthers will be a force in 2011.

The St. Ouen Cougars had a fair 6-5 French season in 2010. They competed internationally as well but came up short of their goals losing to the Amsterdam Crusaders by a score of 27-14. This season the Cougars have signed QB Kevin Craft of UCLA and OT Chris Werden from Elon University (FCS). Both players have been highly advertised signings who each drew looks from NFL teams last spring. They’ll help the Cougars compete in France, and for another year in the EFAF cup. The Cougars are slated to play the Sollerod Gold Diggers of Denmark and the Cassidy Coventry Jets from Great Britain later this spring.

The Aix-En-Provence Argonauts finished the year 4-6 in 2010 and have brought back QB Adam Kruse for a second stint in France. A graduate of the University of Mary (D2), Kruse played in Finland before joining the Argonauts last year. Also on the team is O-lineman Jonathon Bower a Canadian from McGill University in Montreal. He’ll play both offensive and defensive line for the Argonauts this spring and summer.

Last year the Elancourt Templars were one of two French clubs to win nationally and internationally finishing 6-4 in France and 1-1 in Eurobowl play. They beat the Bergamo Lions of Italy 29-3 and lost to the Valencia Firebats of Spain 35-18 missing out on the quarterfinal round by virtue of a tie-breaker to the Firebats. Key wins inside the French region were against Thonon and St. Ouen as well as losing to the Flash and Spartans by 5 points each.

The Nice Dauphins (Dolphins) and Grenoble Centaurs round out the league this season coming off disappointing 3-7 and 1-9 seasons. Nice has added QB George Hines, North Carolina A&T (FCS) and O-lineman Doug Palmer from East Carolina while the Centaurs have yet to announce any signings for 2011.

An automatic update for you as the French league kicked off this past weekend. The Centaurs have matched last year’s win total coming up with a 28-14 win over those very Dolphins of Nice in the first week. The Flash beat the Cougars from St. Ouen by a point, while the Argonauts and Spartans dominated performances against the Panthers and Templiers. Much, much more can be expected from this and other leagues as we continue on For the Love of the Game, 2011 European football.
After a week off last weekend the Spanish league enters its 3rd week of play with the undefeated Pioners facing this year's expansion club the Las Rozas Black Demons (1-1) from a suburb of Madrid. The Firebats (1-1) are at home in Valencia against the traveling Bufals from Barcelona (0-2). While the Badalona Dracs (1-1) play host to the Osos (Bears) Rivas (1-1) also in Madrid. These two teams will identify themselves either in the top half or the bottom half of the league following this game.

Pioners atop the early LNFA

2011-01-30T12:45:00.000-08:00

2011 LNFA League Standings

1. Pioners de L'Hospitalet 2-0
2. Badalona Dracs 1-1
3. Osos Rivas 1-1
4. Valencia Firebats 1-1
5. Las Rozas Black Demons 1-1
6. Barcelona Bufals 0-2

Okay, I know that 2 weeks into any season is very early to tell how a team will fare, but in this year's LNFA the Pioners de L'Hospitalet have beaten the 2 best teams from last season by 26 and by 13 points in the Firebats and Dracs respectively. This league is very competitive with 4 teams being tied at 1 win and 1 loss apiece, but the Pioners have had a huge burst to start the year. I conducted a special interview with two of the main reasons for this hot start, Marc Sola and Willy Grande.

Both players play for the Spanish national team, a national all-star team that competes against other countries in European Tournaments. Marc is the running back for the team and has been a big reason for back to back 40 point games in 2011, while Willy is the captain of the team and captain of the defense playing one of the biggest roles on the team while being one of the smallest players. Here's a short interview with the two of them describing their thoughts of the aftermath from the first 2 weeks.

1 MINUTE HIGHLIGHT FROM THE FIREBATS GAME

ANOTHER 1 MINUTE HIGHLIGHT FROM THE FIREBATS GAME

View the replay of the Dracs game in it's entirety here (after a short highlight of FC Barcelona):
RETRANSMISSION OF THE DRACS GAME FROM XS-ESPORTS

It's gonna be a Heated Italian Battle

2011-01-27T20:42:00.000-08:00

The Federazione Italiana di American Football also known as the Italian Football League (IFL) will kickoff March 20th with the rematch of the 2010 Superbowl between the Parma Panthers and the Catania Elephants and based on the following description will be an exciting challenge every week for the 10 teams that are suiting up for the Italian Championship run. A very interesting fact for you is that the past two championship games have seen 4 different teams, Bolzano, Lazio, Parma, and Catania. What’s more there has been a different Italian champion each of the past 3 seasons, offering us a variety that not many other countries throughout Europe can present. One wild development in the IFL for 2011 is the dispersement of the Bergamo Lions. The Lions have been the favorite in Italy since 1998 winning 11 titles in a row and 12 total. During that span they were European champions 3 seasons in a row, a European dominance factor that has not been matched outside of Austria and Germany. It’s not far fetched to suggest that many of these players will be playing in the IFL, but for new teams in 2011.

Before we get it started take some time to check out all of the news of the IFL at the Official website of the Italian Football League. www.ifleague.it

Last year’s eventual champion finished the season with a 9-1 record in Italian play, but also was one of the four international contenders for the Italian League in 2010. Coming up just short of the EFAF title game in a 41-21 loss to eventual EFAF Cup winner, the Calanda Broncos of Switzerland, they redeemed themselves in late June beating the team from the south, Catania in the Italian Superbowl. The Panthers are of course the famed team portrayed by John Grisham in his novel Playing for Pizza. Set for another Italian run and lining up this year in the top international competition, the Eurobowl, the Panthers are on the hunt for history.

The Catania Elephants hail from the southernmost portion of the country on the island of Sicily, just to the southwest of the toe of the boot portion of Italy. The Elephants have been on one of the fastest rises to fame that I have experienced as a fan of European football. Not 3 years ago they were near the bottom of the league, and just last year had a breakout season finishing 8-2 and coming up just short of their first ever IFL title to a Parma team that they had beat forcefully in the regular season 51-30. With one of the most productive offseasons of all of Europe thus far the Elephants have landed 3 players who have been highly successful throughout Europe in their careers. Joe Sturdivant, DB SMU, and Brandon Langston, WR Grand Valley State, join the team after helping the Marburg Mercenaries of Germany win the southern division in 2010. Rob Johnson, Texas Tech, will play quarterback after having 4 successful seasons in Finland winning the Finnish championship twice. Watch out for this southern power in 2011.

The Bolzano Giants made it to the semifinal in 2010 and came up 1 point of beating the eventual champion Parma in a 21-20 struggle. CJ Cavness, a linebacker from the University of Houston has joined the squad for the season and will try to help lead the Giants back to the promised land where they were just one year prior winning the 2009 IFL championship with Eric Marty (mentioned later) at the helm.

The Milan Rhinos are one of two teams that will fight for the familiar faces that the Bergamo Lions (outside of Milan) have lost for the season. Milan has elected to suit up not only in Italy, but internationally as well entering the 2011 EFAF Cup and will play games against the Thonon Black Panthers, France, and the Prague Black Hawks, Czech Rep. Milan finished 4-4 last season, but did not go out without a fight losing to both Parma and Catania, eventual championship contender and winner, each by a 7 point difference. Reinforcing themselves, the Rhinos have signed ex-Cal Poly quarterback Jonathan Dally for this year. The Seamen of Milan are the other team that will vie for the personell that Bergamo is losing for the year. The Seamen did not compete in the 2010 IFL and will have their hands full playing in the same town as the Rhinos.

The Emilia Hogs and Lazio Marines both ended last season with 3-5 records in the IFL. The Hogs had one of the most electric losses in Football history at any level in a outrageous encounter with the Catania Elephants that ended with the score 75-70 in favor of the Elephants. They have also hired two very successful coaches for 2011 in Tee Thompson, Head Coach, and Brian Cain, Defensive Coordinator, who should help to make improvements on what the Hogs had to offer in 2010. The Marines were not one year from winning the IFL in a disappointing 35-21 loss to Bolzano in 2009 when they recorded their 3-5 season. The 2011 season is a new adventure with anything in store, this could be the year for the team from early civilization in Roma.

The Bologna Warriors had a tough 2-6 year in 2010, but have already made it clear that they are on the quest for the title by hiring 2 time champion QB Eric Marty. In 2009 Marty’s rookie campaign he led the Bolzano Giants (aforementioned) to the top of the IFL, following it up with an encore performance in 2010 winning the Austrian Championship for the first time ever with the Danube Dragons. This season Marty will be the decision maker and play caller for the Warriors and will look to add on to the 30+ points averaged per game by the Warriors last year.

Rounding out the league are the expansion Bologna Doves, and the Ancona Dolphins 0-8 in 2010. Both teams will need to do a lot of work to keep up with the highly competitive field of the IFL, on the road to the Italian Superbowl…. coming this Summer.

For your entertainment you can view here the 2010 IFL plays of the year in anticipation of this exciting Mediterranean contest.

Spain kicks it off

2011-01-21T17:33:00.000-08:00

The long awaited 2011 season of European American football kicked off this past weekend in the westernmost country of the Continent in Portugal and will slowly spread north through central Europe into Scandinavia as we progress towards May. The Galiza Black Towers beat Bracara Warriors 45-20 in the opening match opening the floodgates for a spring and summer filled with action that can’t be missed. This weekend is the XVII season opener in Espana, and the Copa de Espana will serve as one of the most contested trophies on the continent this year. All teams have a revamped set of imports, and have made a lot of progress with the national talent as well.

The Big 4 of the league have loaded rosters for this season, some of the more notable signings Sean Bedford, a lineman from Georgia Tech suiting up for the Osos (Spanish for Bears) in Madrid and Chad Upshaw, from the University of Buffalo and former NFL wide receiver who will play for the Badalona Dracs. Last year’s national title game was between the Pioners de L’Hospitalet and the Firebats of Valencia.
The firebats have a QB/WR duo from south of the border of the U.S. in Rodrigo Perez and Oscar Rodriguez hailing from Mexico among many other European imports I’m sure. Finally the Pioners, a team you’ll remember well from my 2008 experience where we won the XIV Copa Espana over the Firebats 36-17. The Pioners have their usual lineup of QB/WR/LB. Andrew Robinson former Orangemen QB will be connecting with John Sheffield, a WR fresh out of college from Yale University. His counterpart and college teammate Paul Rice will be the headline of the Pioners defense that has been a torture for opposing teams in the past few seasons.

The sport itself is gaining in popularity as the European Junior Championships will be played in Southern Spain for the second consecutive summer this coming July. Don’t just let me tell you all about it, as an added bonus on ‘For Love of the Game’ is the commentary of the man who makes decisions for the Pioners, General Manager, Alex Grande. He describes his thoughts on the upcoming season.

SPANISH 2011 SEASON OPENER LIVE BROADCAST PIONERS V. FIREBATS Saturday 8am Pacific Standard Time

Lastly, I'd like to enhance your online savyness for those of you who would like it. If you click on any link on this blog it will divert you to that link and you will leave the blog. However, if you hold the Control key (Ctrl) and click on any link it will open that link in a new tab and you will not lose your place on the blog site. Just a little way to make your blogging experience a little easier.

2011 Eurobowl coming in April

2010-12-17T14:05:00.000-08:00

The 2011 Eurobowl competition (EFL) has been set for about a month now. This tournament is held in conjunction with each of the individual countries national league seasons. It is the american footabll comparison to the Champions League in soccer. The participants vie for the coveted Eurobowl trophy. The invitees are the top 1 or 2 seeds in each country from the previous year. This year there are 13 participants from 8 different nations.

There are 9 teams entered into the group stage, with the winners of each group to face a semi-finalist from last years competition (shown in the top left of the picture) who are awarded automatic byes into the 2011 quarterfinal round.

In group A the Danube Dragons (my former team in 2009) and last year's Austrian Football League (AFL) Champions will face the Collectpoint Prague Panthers from the Czech Republic capital of Prague. The Dragons and Panthers last played in the EFAF cup, Europe's B-League tournament comprised of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place teams from the previous season, in which the Panthers won a decisive victory. The winner will face last year's Eurobowl champion and Germany runner-up the Berlin Adler.

Group B is where I'll be this season. There are a lot of similarities between these two group members. The Carlstad Crusaders, 2010 Swedish champs will play in their second ever EFL tournament
game, coming up just one win from an EFAF championship last summer, against the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes of Germany. The Canes are playing in their first ever european tournament game, and are coming off their first ever German National Championship (GFL) defeating the Berlin Adler last October. The winner will travel to Graz, Austria to face the Giants who were semi-finalists last season in both the AFL and the EFL.

Group C has yet another first timer in the match in the Spartiates L'Amiens who are from approximately 2 hours north of Paris, France. They won their first ever French title last season and are excited, based on my conversations with their head coach to defend their title and compete in the EFL. Their opponent is the only team in the Group stage who was not a champion the previous year. The 3rd place team from Spain, the Badalona Dracs, who have a storied history in this
tournament will be the target and have a great shot at making even more history for Spain which has had recent success in this tournament. The winner of this game will head to Innsbruck, Austria to face the Swarco Raiders Tirol who were the runner-up to the Dragons in the AFL last summer.

Group D is the only traditional group with 3 teams. Each team will play one another, with the winner being decided by 2 wins versus opponents or the best point differential in the event of a 3-way tie. The L'Hospitalet Pioners (my former team in 2008) won their 3rd Spanish title last season and competed well in the EFAF cup winning their second ever game in european competition. Their opponent to the east will be the Parma Panthers, the same team that John Grisham portrayed in his book Playing for Pizza. The Panthers won the Italian title last year and are looking to make a name for themselves on this grand stage. Just north of Italy is the last and final participant in the EFL group stage, the Calanda Broncos.
The Broncos enjoyed a perfect season last year winning the Swiss championship and the EFAF Cup over the Carlstad Crusaders. The winner of the group will travel north to face the Vienna Vikings, last year's runner-up in this very competition and semi-finalist in the AFL.

Interestingly enough, all 4 of the teams who have automatic byes in the EFL this year were beaten in their own national leagues last season. All 3 Austrian teams by the Dragons, and the Adler by the Canes of Kiel. Each year is a new adventure, and it all kicks off again this coming April. Stay tuned.

Quarterback Signing

2010-12-17T11:09:00.001-08:00

The quarterback for the Crusaders has been designated. Eli Cranor from Division 2 Ouchita Baptist has decided to join the team for 2011. He is just completing his double major bachelor's degree in English and Political Science. I've had correspondence with him, and he is outwardly excited about not only the opportunity to continue his football career, but to be explorative in living in a new country and a new culture.

He's brings to the team the physical skills being a dual threat player that can rival any athlete, as proven by his college highlight film ELI CRANOR 2010. On top of that Eli will add his expertise in game strategy helping run the offense and help coach the junior team. The official announcement can be found on the homepage of the Crusaders website linked to the right in the "Other Euroball links" section.

Side Note... You might want to find your internet browser's translation button. It will prove to be quite useful when reading future reports about our team on the team and opponent's websites.

Here we go again

2010-12-13T22:48:00.000-08:00

Here's what I've got to kick this thing off. At the bottom of this blog you will find links to multiple highlight films from my previous years in Europe. To the right you'll find a list of the teams in the SAFF in standings form, a list of links that will help you stay current on the 2011 season in Europe, as well as a list of links for the teams that the Crusaders will face this year.

Up and coming soon will be some reports from around Europe with players and coaches who will help answer the question as to why American Football is becoming so widespread across the continent.