Holiday and Sunset Soccer

Hey guys and gals,

 

We just got back into training today after a few days of holiday.  Days that for me were spent in Valkeakoski’s gym and my apartment, so not very exciting.  I did however get a chance to do some good workouts so I feel very good heading into these last three games.

 

Even though I didn’t go anywhere, I still did have some fun.  I went out with a few of the guys and had a few beers on Wednesday.  We were just about the only people in the bar, but it was nice to spend time with my teammates, especially the ones I don’t see outside of training that much.  The next night me and the foreign contingent got together and played FIFA 13 and ate pizza.  It was a bit reminiscent of my middle school and high school days, but a great time all the same.  Friday I don’t think I moved off my couch the whole day and Saturday I went for a run.  That was the most interesting thing I did that day.  Holidays are probably pretty glamorous for some soccer players, but for us a holiday is nothing but a few days off.  I’m gonna need to get a lot more assists before I can afford to vacation on islands in the Mediterranean!

 

Today we had our first training back, and in an effort to maximize our holiday time, the training was scheduled for 6pm.  I nicknamed the training “Sunset Soccer” for obvious reasons.  I actually don’t mind training that late (normally we train either at 11am or 2pm).  In Sweden we trained at 5:30pm every day because a lot of our players either worked or went to school during the day.  I thought it made it easier to keep the same routine on game days.  In America we always trained at 9 or 10 in the morning, so when we played games our daily routine was completely different than when we trained.  I always felt like that put us at a slight disadvantage.  Anyway, the training was at 6pm today.  The only problem was that our field didn’t have lights!  As a result we couldn’t train for too long before nobody could see anymore.  A positive though was that my terrible shots that normally get saved were all going in the goal because the goalkeepers could barely see the ball!  I guess there are advantages to Sunset Soccer!

 

After my last post where I mentioned the pimp cup I got from KuPS for being one of the stars of the game, a buddy informed me that I actually had already been named as one of the stars of the game against HJK.  So I thought that the KuPS game was the first time I had earned the award, but it was actually the second game in a row!  Which begs a single question: Where is my Haka Pimp Cup?!

 

Looking forward, we’ve got three games left in two weeks.  The good news is that our last two games are against teams that really have nothing to play for.  The bad news is that we don’t control our destiny, meaning we need Jaro to lose at least one game.  The next game is of course important and will be difficult as we’re playing FC Inter who is competing for the league title.  I’ve seen Inter play a few times and I know the names of a few of their players, but honestly I don’t know too much about the team.  I watched them play Haka when I first arrived 11 weeks ago and they didn’t seem amazing.  Good but not intimidating.  The coach says he has a plan so I’m sure he has a good path to victory for us.  I don’t know what the plan is yet, but I’m fairly certain my role in it will be to, “Run Forest, Run!”

In unrelated news, I got home after training tonight just in time to watch some guy named Felix Baumgartner do a skydive-type jump from the edge of outer space.  I have absolutely no idea why anyone would want to do something like this, and I was nervous just watching him open the door to his little capsule.  You couldn't convince me to jump down a flight of stairs, nevermind out of a small space capsule.  I don't really have anything to say about the space jump, other than that Mr. Baumgartner is insane.

The meme, in honor of US Vice President Joe Biden: