Sunday, April 29, 2012
First game @ Hassleholm Hurricanes
Yesterday was our first game of the season. We traveled about 30 miles to a town called Hassleholm. Their team is the Hurricanes. Hassleholm was an average team last year but has signed a QB out of Canada who is also coaching their offense. Going into the game i knew we would have more speed then them but i was very uncertain how improved they would be and whether their new offense would give our defense troubles.
#5 Sacce Hörnquist(LB)
I was very happy with the focus and energy our team brought to the game. The day started with a 9:00 coaches meeting to choose captains and go over some last minute special team issues. At 9:15 we had a team meeting in the clubhouse and i talked to the guys about staying focused and executing the little things. I knew if they went out and did the small things right the big plays would come. At 9:30 Karsten and Anders had prepared a light breakfast for the guys and we hung out and ate until we hit the road at 10:30. We arrived shortly after 11:00 and after getting dressed we were on the field for warm ups at noon.
When Hassleholm came onto the field they were bigger both in size and in #s then I had expected. I knew that their size could wear us down and scoring early was important. The captains for the game were Ben Hörnquist WR, Phil Juhlin QB, Peter Burén DE, and Sacce Hörnquist LB. I told them if we win the toss we want the ball. Hassleholm won the toss and deffered to us which was their first mistake of the game.
Left #21 Alex Nilsson(DB),
Right #11 Ben Hörnquist(WR)
Hassleholm came out and started the game in a 4 man front running base cover 3. We threw bubble screen a couple times both gaining big yards and then threw a slant on the outside on the 4th play of the game for a 15 yd TD to Semir Sitarevic WR/TE. The Defense came out fired up and on the 5th play of the drive Alex Nilsson came on a safety blitz and rocked the QB causing a fumble and we got the ball back with great field position. A couple plays later Juhlin found Sorin Pandrea WR/RB for a 30 yard pass down to the 1 yard line. RB Anders Larsson punched it in for the 1yd TD.
Hassleholm came back with a nice drive and scored on a QB naked boot keeping the game from being an instant blow out at 12-6. After a poor kick we got the ball with decent field position and on the second play Juhlin found Sorin Pandrea WR/RB again. This time for a 50 yd TD pass. The defense caused another turnover. This time a nice interception by CB Johan Vighagen. Not long after we got the ball back WR Mackan Johnsson found an open zone and was on the receiving end of Juhlins 3rd TD pass. The defense held strong and forced Hassleholm to punt with 3 mintues before the half. Juhlin executed the offense brilliantly and moved the chains down to the Goalline where RB Calle Nielson found the end zone for a 2yd TD as the time expired in the half.
Predators 35 Hassleholm 6 at half.
#22 Anders Larsson(RB)
The 3rd Quarter was much of the same. The defense did their job holding Hassleholm out of the end zone. A lot of the 2nd team defense played most of the 2nd half. I was very proud of them to pitch a shut out for the whole half. The offense came out fast and furious scoring on its first 2 possessions of the half. A 20 yd TD to WR Ben Hörnquist and a 3 yd TD pass to WR Pontus Nielsson. Bring the game to 49-6 at the end of the 3rd Quarter. Everyone got to play and get some experience which was great. 7 different Predators scored TDs and QB Phil Juhlin was named player of the game with 5 TDs and over 300yds passing. I look forward to a great week of practice. Film on Monday and full preactice T/Th with a short skill work out Wed.
#44 Marcus Schön(MLB)
I got to meet the Canadian QB from Hassleholm Luke Balch. He seams like a good dude and we are going to try and hook up wednesday for lunch. All in all i was very pleased with our performance and i know film on Monday will show that there is still alot to work on.
#2 Phil Juhlin(QB) Dropping back to pass.
#26 Johan Vighagen (DB)
#3 Macce "Butterfingers" Johnsson (WR)
Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dumb.
You can figure out which one is which.
#1 Sorin Pandrea(WR/RB)
Celebrates his TD with #78 Sebastian Schön(OL)
#76 Lukas Klang our center in deep thought.
Coach Martin LB and Special Teams assistant coach.
#2 QB Phil Juhlin
#11 Ben Hörnquist(WR) keeping his feet in bounds for his TD in the 3rd quarter.
#87 Semir Sitarevic(WR/TE) Celebrates the first TD of the season.
Predator Faithfuls. They packed Hassleholm's stadium. It felt like a home game.
#5 Sacce Hörnquist(LB)
I was very happy with the focus and energy our team brought to the game. The day started with a 9:00 coaches meeting to choose captains and go over some last minute special team issues. At 9:15 we had a team meeting in the clubhouse and i talked to the guys about staying focused and executing the little things. I knew if they went out and did the small things right the big plays would come. At 9:30 Karsten and Anders had prepared a light breakfast for the guys and we hung out and ate until we hit the road at 10:30. We arrived shortly after 11:00 and after getting dressed we were on the field for warm ups at noon.
When Hassleholm came onto the field they were bigger both in size and in #s then I had expected. I knew that their size could wear us down and scoring early was important. The captains for the game were Ben Hörnquist WR, Phil Juhlin QB, Peter Burén DE, and Sacce Hörnquist LB. I told them if we win the toss we want the ball. Hassleholm won the toss and deffered to us which was their first mistake of the game.
Left #21 Alex Nilsson(DB),
Right #11 Ben Hörnquist(WR)
Hassleholm came out and started the game in a 4 man front running base cover 3. We threw bubble screen a couple times both gaining big yards and then threw a slant on the outside on the 4th play of the game for a 15 yd TD to Semir Sitarevic WR/TE. The Defense came out fired up and on the 5th play of the drive Alex Nilsson came on a safety blitz and rocked the QB causing a fumble and we got the ball back with great field position. A couple plays later Juhlin found Sorin Pandrea WR/RB for a 30 yard pass down to the 1 yard line. RB Anders Larsson punched it in for the 1yd TD.
Hassleholm came back with a nice drive and scored on a QB naked boot keeping the game from being an instant blow out at 12-6. After a poor kick we got the ball with decent field position and on the second play Juhlin found Sorin Pandrea WR/RB again. This time for a 50 yd TD pass. The defense caused another turnover. This time a nice interception by CB Johan Vighagen. Not long after we got the ball back WR Mackan Johnsson found an open zone and was on the receiving end of Juhlins 3rd TD pass. The defense held strong and forced Hassleholm to punt with 3 mintues before the half. Juhlin executed the offense brilliantly and moved the chains down to the Goalline where RB Calle Nielson found the end zone for a 2yd TD as the time expired in the half.
Predators 35 Hassleholm 6 at half.
#22 Anders Larsson(RB)
The 3rd Quarter was much of the same. The defense did their job holding Hassleholm out of the end zone. A lot of the 2nd team defense played most of the 2nd half. I was very proud of them to pitch a shut out for the whole half. The offense came out fast and furious scoring on its first 2 possessions of the half. A 20 yd TD to WR Ben Hörnquist and a 3 yd TD pass to WR Pontus Nielsson. Bring the game to 49-6 at the end of the 3rd Quarter. Everyone got to play and get some experience which was great. 7 different Predators scored TDs and QB Phil Juhlin was named player of the game with 5 TDs and over 300yds passing. I look forward to a great week of practice. Film on Monday and full preactice T/Th with a short skill work out Wed.
#44 Marcus Schön(MLB)
I got to meet the Canadian QB from Hassleholm Luke Balch. He seams like a good dude and we are going to try and hook up wednesday for lunch. All in all i was very pleased with our performance and i know film on Monday will show that there is still alot to work on.
#2 Phil Juhlin(QB) Dropping back to pass.
#26 Johan Vighagen (DB)
#3 Macce "Butterfingers" Johnsson (WR)
Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dumb.
You can figure out which one is which.
#1 Sorin Pandrea(WR/RB)
Celebrates his TD with #78 Sebastian Schön(OL)
#76 Lukas Klang our center in deep thought.
Coach Martin LB and Special Teams assistant coach.
#2 QB Phil Juhlin
#11 Ben Hörnquist(WR) keeping his feet in bounds for his TD in the 3rd quarter.
#87 Semir Sitarevic(WR/TE) Celebrates the first TD of the season.
Predator Faithfuls. They packed Hassleholm's stadium. It felt like a home game.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Big News In Kristianstad
I got a phone call yesterday from a # i did not recognize. The man on the phone introduced himself as Andreas Jemn and explained that he was the sports reporter for the Kristianstadbladet. The newspaper her in Kristianstad. We spent about 10 mins chatting answering his questions and then their photographer came out to our practice and took some photos. Today i woke up to a text from one my players asking me if i had seen the article in today's newspaper. Here it is:
Here is a translated version from the Internet. Swedish does not translate very smoothly to English so a lot of the pronouns are wrong and there are some things that you kind of have to read between the lines.
http://www.kristianstadsbladet.se/sport/article1622716/Lyfter-Predators.html
Lift Predators ...
Lyrics: Andreas Jemn Published April 25, 2012 9:18 Updated April 25, 2012 10:15 Kristianstad.
From San Diego to Kristianstad, here is the Predator's new super coach. John Walker comes directly from the American university football. Now he is giving back Kristianstad stardom. "Here's ambition and ability," says Walker. Last year, missed Kristianstad Predators advancement. But this year the club will be better prepared and loaded to take the step up.
- Super Series is the goal of the season, and we have a good team, says John Walker . He came to Sweden a month ago. After several years as coach of the USA , he was eager to try something new.
- I have been practicing for 13 years and a friend who had been in Austria told me about side europlayers.com , says Walker. There were several European clubs who were looking players and coaches from the USA.
- I saw Kristianstad Predators and started talking with Tyson Guillen , and now it feels just right, says Walker. He has strong track record at the American professional circus and myself have played the university football in California .
- I'm the center of the University of San Diego and then I coach and have been doing it ever since, says Walker. He has received a record short time for adaptation to Sweden.
- I came a month ago, it has not been much time for other than training and work, says Walker. He goes from being a trainer in sunny California in a U.S. giant sports to bet their career on a dwarf sport in Sweden.
- I think it's exciting football in Sweden, more and more, this is a very interesting task, says Walker. Tyson Guillen am very pleased with his American enlistment. Predators are so excited to decorate up an entire salary to his trainer.
- This is interesting, we have an experienced and good coach who has been at the college level, he says. Walker has started to become familiar with the surroundings.
- I think that Kristianstad is a nice city.
Here is a translated version from the Internet. Swedish does not translate very smoothly to English so a lot of the pronouns are wrong and there are some things that you kind of have to read between the lines.
http://www.kristianstadsbladet.se/sport/article1622716/Lyfter-Predators.html
Lift Predators ...
Lyrics: Andreas Jemn Published April 25, 2012 9:18 Updated April 25, 2012 10:15 Kristianstad.
From San Diego to Kristianstad, here is the Predator's new super coach. John Walker comes directly from the American university football. Now he is giving back Kristianstad stardom. "Here's ambition and ability," says Walker. Last year, missed Kristianstad Predators advancement. But this year the club will be better prepared and loaded to take the step up.
- Super Series is the goal of the season, and we have a good team, says John Walker . He came to Sweden a month ago. After several years as coach of the USA , he was eager to try something new.
- I have been practicing for 13 years and a friend who had been in Austria told me about side europlayers.com , says Walker. There were several European clubs who were looking players and coaches from the USA.
- I saw Kristianstad Predators and started talking with Tyson Guillen , and now it feels just right, says Walker. He has strong track record at the American professional circus and myself have played the university football in California .
- I'm the center of the University of San Diego and then I coach and have been doing it ever since, says Walker. He has received a record short time for adaptation to Sweden.
- I came a month ago, it has not been much time for other than training and work, says Walker. He goes from being a trainer in sunny California in a U.S. giant sports to bet their career on a dwarf sport in Sweden.
- I think it's exciting football in Sweden, more and more, this is a very interesting task, says Walker. Tyson Guillen am very pleased with his American enlistment. Predators are so excited to decorate up an entire salary to his trainer.
- This is interesting, we have an experienced and good coach who has been at the college level, he says. Walker has started to become familiar with the surroundings.
- I think that Kristianstad is a nice city.
Hästveda Camp
Well its been a while since i have posted. I have been very busy trying to get ready for our first game. Which is this Saturday April 28. The weather here has been pretty lame. A lot of cold and windy days. I think there has maybe been 3 nice days since i have been here. But the forcast for the weekend looks awesome. 18 degrees and sunny. Thats 65 degrees F. It has mostly been between 8 and 10 degrees. So mostly in the 40's.
We had a camp/retreat for the team last weekend. At a small lake in a town called Hästveda. I have some pictures of the grounds and cabins. I wish i would have gotten some pictures of practice but i forgot to bring my camera to the field. Basically it is a 3 day camp for the youth program and cheerleaders. They go up Friday and come back Sunday. I kept my team at home Friday and we practiced at the Stadium early Saturday morning and then drove up to Hästveda. About a 40 min drive. There we had our players run drills for the youth kids during there practices Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. In between practices we would either get some conditioning in or Film sessions in. It was Awesome to see our guys coaching the little guys. It was a lot of fun. I got a lot of great comments about the camp. I had suggested that we bring the Senior team up and have them coach. They had never done that before. It was a great step in solidifying the program as a whole and bringing together our fan base to really support us.
Saturday night we had a big camp fire and made Smores. I was the the camp story teller. All the kids asking me about America and Football in America. It was a fun night. And the fire kept me warm.
Benjamin Hörnquist. He is a Wr and Captain on Offense. He is a very fun guy to be around and was by the far the best coach of the weekend. He had the little guys fired up. I am sure it is a great memory for those kids.
On the left; Sebastian Schön and Tim Hermansson our 2 Tackles. Both only 18 and play on the Junior National Team.
On the right is Tyson Guillen. He is the GM and the one who hired me. He is also from Sacramento.
We had a camp/retreat for the team last weekend. At a small lake in a town called Hästveda. I have some pictures of the grounds and cabins. I wish i would have gotten some pictures of practice but i forgot to bring my camera to the field. Basically it is a 3 day camp for the youth program and cheerleaders. They go up Friday and come back Sunday. I kept my team at home Friday and we practiced at the Stadium early Saturday morning and then drove up to Hästveda. About a 40 min drive. There we had our players run drills for the youth kids during there practices Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. In between practices we would either get some conditioning in or Film sessions in. It was Awesome to see our guys coaching the little guys. It was a lot of fun. I got a lot of great comments about the camp. I had suggested that we bring the Senior team up and have them coach. They had never done that before. It was a great step in solidifying the program as a whole and bringing together our fan base to really support us.
Saturday night we had a big camp fire and made Smores. I was the the camp story teller. All the kids asking me about America and Football in America. It was a fun night. And the fire kept me warm.
Benjamin Hörnquist. He is a Wr and Captain on Offense. He is a very fun guy to be around and was by the far the best coach of the weekend. He had the little guys fired up. I am sure it is a great memory for those kids.
On the left; Sebastian Schön and Tim Hermansson our 2 Tackles. Both only 18 and play on the Junior National Team.
On the right is Tyson Guillen. He is the GM and the one who hired me. He is also from Sacramento.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Saturday, April 7, 2012
First Full Week of Practice
This week has been very busy. We had a full week of practice. Monday i spent most of the day at the clubhouse working on playbooks and i had scheduled some player meetings for some guys to come by and pick up their playbooks and catch them up to speed on the offense. I stopped at the Willy's on the way there and grabbed a 6 pack of Corona, a lime, and a bag of peanuts for my day in the office. The beer here is expensive. $11 for a 6pack of Corona. The local beer is like $9.
Tuesday was another shorter practice but Wednesday we had a full 2 hour practice. Thursday we split up. The defense met at the clubhouse for film and i split the offense up into two sessions. I had the WRs and QB come for an hour work-out and then the Linemen come for the second hour. We got a lot done this week. I have spent most of the week consumed with work. Doing practtice plans and loading film during the day and practice in the evening. I wanted to build a good foundation for what i want our guys to do during practice. There are times that each position group will have to spend some time on their own during practice. So my main goal this week was to give them some good drills to do for those short periods of practice when i am with another group. Luckily each position group has a very good leader and who also coach's at the youth level. I can count on them to get some quality work in for the times i can not be there with them.
Friday was a chill day. I watched a couple movies and ordered in a Falafeltallrik (Falafel on top of fries covered in hot sauce). I watched John Carter it was ok. That night i went out to a pub with a couple players. We went to Biljardkompaniet which is "The Billiard Company". It was a good night out. I went with Ben our top WR, Sorin he is a very good Slot WR/RB, the QB Phil who is also an American, and an Olineman named Kavai, an asian dude that has yet to be at practice do to work. We played America vs Sweden in pool and i think it came out pretty even. Both sides sucked very badly. This super drunk Swedish chic talked to me for like 40 minutes in Swedish the whole time. I told her i had no idea what she was saying but after a while i just let her go for it. The only thing she would say in English was that she was "very very very bad" at pool. Eventually she stumbled on to the next table. At the end of the night there was almost a drunken fight between a couple guys. I assume it was over a girl cause there was 1 girl involved. Typical though just some shoving and pushing waiting for someone to break it up. Which the bouncers did and sent everyone on their way. I was bummed though. I always enjoy front row seats to a fight.
This is Ben. He plays WR and also coaches the youth WRs. The guy photo jacking behind us is Sorin. Sorin is a slot WR/RB. He also coaches the youth level. Both Ben and Sorin work for Tyson(the GM) at Contact Sports. A sporting good store that specializes in Football, Lacrosse and Hockey.
Tuesday was another shorter practice but Wednesday we had a full 2 hour practice. Thursday we split up. The defense met at the clubhouse for film and i split the offense up into two sessions. I had the WRs and QB come for an hour work-out and then the Linemen come for the second hour. We got a lot done this week. I have spent most of the week consumed with work. Doing practtice plans and loading film during the day and practice in the evening. I wanted to build a good foundation for what i want our guys to do during practice. There are times that each position group will have to spend some time on their own during practice. So my main goal this week was to give them some good drills to do for those short periods of practice when i am with another group. Luckily each position group has a very good leader and who also coach's at the youth level. I can count on them to get some quality work in for the times i can not be there with them.
Friday was a chill day. I watched a couple movies and ordered in a Falafeltallrik (Falafel on top of fries covered in hot sauce). I watched John Carter it was ok. That night i went out to a pub with a couple players. We went to Biljardkompaniet which is "The Billiard Company". It was a good night out. I went with Ben our top WR, Sorin he is a very good Slot WR/RB, the QB Phil who is also an American, and an Olineman named Kavai, an asian dude that has yet to be at practice do to work. We played America vs Sweden in pool and i think it came out pretty even. Both sides sucked very badly. This super drunk Swedish chic talked to me for like 40 minutes in Swedish the whole time. I told her i had no idea what she was saying but after a while i just let her go for it. The only thing she would say in English was that she was "very very very bad" at pool. Eventually she stumbled on to the next table. At the end of the night there was almost a drunken fight between a couple guys. I assume it was over a girl cause there was 1 girl involved. Typical though just some shoving and pushing waiting for someone to break it up. Which the bouncers did and sent everyone on their way. I was bummed though. I always enjoy front row seats to a fight.
This is Ben. He plays WR and also coaches the youth WRs. The guy photo jacking behind us is Sorin. Sorin is a slot WR/RB. He also coaches the youth level. Both Ben and Sorin work for Tyson(the GM) at Contact Sports. A sporting good store that specializes in Football, Lacrosse and Hockey.
SNOW!!!!!
I woke this morning. (Saturday) and i looked out side and saw this:
The first snow of my trip. It has been very cold this week but it has also been very sunny. Its not snowing very hard, as the sun comes out i doubt it will last long. Everyone here has been complaining about having bad weather for the holiday weekend. Most everyone here gets a 4 day weekend for Easter. (Fri-Mon) I am thinking about taking the train to Malmo on the west coast or maybe to Copenhagen for the day maybe Monday.
The first snow of my trip. It has been very cold this week but it has also been very sunny. Its not snowing very hard, as the sun comes out i doubt it will last long. Everyone here has been complaining about having bad weather for the holiday weekend. Most everyone here gets a 4 day weekend for Easter. (Fri-Mon) I am thinking about taking the train to Malmo on the west coast or maybe to Copenhagen for the day maybe Monday.
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