Unselfishness at it's best

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.