In both instances, I had a victorious feeling. After the Ardmore game, I got to walk off after a winning effort with players and coaches I love and will always remember. In Graz, I got to walk onto the field to start a winning season with players and coaches that I love and will always remember.
On a day that would mercifully see the best weather of my stay here, we scrimmaged in an area that I would liken, geography-wise, to the foothills of the Rockies or the area around Lake Tahoe. Small mountains formed the backdrop to Graz Stadium and our first team outing. The Giants are a member of the AFL (Austrian Football League) and are bigger, more physical, AND have four imports (players from various levels of US football). We have NO imports, are missing our starting middle linebacker, two defensive linemen, and our Qb hasn't been able to practice this week because of his military commitment. No problem.
Adversity; expect it-Welcome it-Overcome it.
So we started of in a pass skeleton / inside run group session against our hosts. In the first four passes, our dbs had broken up or intercepted them all. Nice start. In the inside run part, they gashed us early and then we made some nice plays to make up for them in later down. Our converted offensive linemen held their own nicely and our linebackers made some very strong tackles.
In the first full team scrimmage, they lit up the scoreboard as, in my opinion, we momentarily lost our focus and forgot to apply the things we had learned. After we had a short session on the sideline and reminded everyone to settle down and play technique, we set out to face the Giants in the second part of the scrimmage.
The second part showed glimpses of what we can do as Fritz Limbeck picked off a pass and we held them out of the end zone for the entire 12 play set. Utmost in my mind is the fact that we COULD'VE "thrown up our skirts" and let them run all over us again. But we didn't. We kept fighting and improved greatly.
Later, in the "red zone" portion, we played back and forth with them scoring a few and us stopping a few.
We got out of the scrimmage with no injuries and a good beginning. Next week we face another AFL opponent. This time it is the Salzburg Bulls. We go there so I get to see some more amazing Austrian countryside.
At one point in the 2 hour trip, we were winding our way through the eastern end of the Alps and the lower mountains contained there. I happened to look out my window behind the driver and saw a castle on a cliff, overlooking a mist-filled valley below. Did I just see a castle? No Austrian paid it any mind. It was like they were driving past the McDonald's on the way to OKC or something. No big deal. Just another medieval castle in our land. Built before white people even lived in Oklahoma. Ho-hum.
On the trip back (after a 1 and a half hour post-game meal at guess where? Yep, McDonald's), some of the player near my seat leaned up to hear me answer questions about the states, Oklahoma, Altus, and my past. Some have visited in various parts. None have been in Oklahoma. They know as little about the Sooner State as Okies know about Austria. Fair trade. Now the ones near me on the bus have been subjected to my worn-out stories that have been born-again to a new generation of players.
I posted some pictures from the scrimmage. I have not yet learned how to write captions, but these are pretty much the ME show. We had given Johnathan's camera to one our player's girlfriends and she kept it focused on us. I guess she thought since it was our camera, she would take our picture. Anyway, as I posted them, I realized that a mere 4 months after the happiest game in my 2010 season, I was back in the saddle again. Coaching football again.
Same game; new continent (and still loving it.)
Ciao
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