Gifts of the Mind

Things are moving quite quickly here. Not necessarily in the day to day sense of life, but in terms of the experience as a whole, it feels like things are coming to a head sooner than expected. Although nothing of major import really happened this week--there was no cultural trip to a new city, no major event outside of football at which I spent my time--I felt as if the time passed more quickly than it has in weeks before. Part of this could be because of the shortened schedule: from a Sunday game last weekend to a Saturday game with a Friday departure this past weekend. I hope that this feeling is something that continues through the rest of my time here, and I have reason to believe that it will. Not that I necessarily want the end to come just yet; it's simply important that I feel like my time here is well spent, not wasted sitting around at home.

One possibly bad experience ended up turning into something good. On Wednesday after practice two of our teammates invited Mitch and I over to play poker. We thought it sounded like a fun time, so after going home for a quick dinner, we headed over to Lennart's house. En route, while stopped at a light, we were rear-ended. It was startling--for Mitch, somewhat alarmingly I didn't even flinch--and initially seemed like it would present major issues. We were certain the back of the car had sustained major damage.

The major damage.

Thankfully, as the picture shows, there was very little damage and the car was driveable, at least for the immediate future. After exchanging information with the driver that hit us we decided to go to Lennart's for cards anyway, since we were only a few minutes away and Jovi told us that there was no need to call the police. After a few hours of terrible hands and bad betting, Mitch and I both bowed out and headed home. Before this, though, Lennart and Bjorn asked us about the accident, and came outside as we left to see the state of the car. After we told them about the other driver, they began to laugh. It turns out that he is a friend of theirs who they had invited to play cards with us. He claimed that he was busy...busy hitting us with his car, apparently. The ride home was funnier than the ride there, speculating on what our reaction would have been if he had shown up to the house just as we did for the game. 

I said that this accident turned out to be a good thing, and it has: because of the accident, we traded our old car into the sponsor dealership for a different Tiger car so that they can take care of any unseen damage that may have been caused. This new car is just that: a new car. I had struggled with driving the old car; it was very much a bare bones model and the manual transmission was a bit too touchy for me to master with how little I drove it. I was working on it, and getting better, but I wasn't to the point that I felt comfortable driving anywhere further away than around the corner by myself. This new car, however, seems to have a bit more to it than the old one, and I have been able to drive it much more easily than the other. The first morning I had a chance to drive it I took it out along the streets I run on and practiced starting and stopping, and felt more comfortable even on the first shift driving out of the driveway than I ever did in the old car. Since then I've driven in and out of the city a few times, and to the gym by myself...even on the illustrious Autobahn. One of the goals I made at the beginning of the summer is finally accomplished, a goal I actually made almost a year ago for a different car and different reasons: I can finally drive stick. I'm excited for the additional mobility this will provide It makes me think of my dear departed Bampa, who bought a manual PT Cruiser with the intention of teaching all of his grandchildren to drive on it, but had to switch to an automatic before he got the chance. I think I'm the first of us to actually learn. Come on, cousins. We should all learn how if we have the chance.

The game this weekend was the furthest we've had to travel or will have to travel all season. It was in Cottbus, which is in the very east of the country. We left on Friday around five o'clock, and didn't get into the hotel until late. It was a long trip, which I spent reading and listening to music. I think that it took us near to nine hours to get there. Thankfully, we stayed at a nice hotel, with comfortable beds and a big late breakfast and the game wasn't until four o'clock, so we were able to rest and prepare for the game as well as we could at home. 

   The facility our locker room was in is a training facility used by the German Olympic Track & Field team. Needless to say it was nice. 

Before the game, Mitch and I were surveying the field (which was not quite up to spec) when we struck up a conversation with the opposing team's quarterback. He was an American as well, a guy from Boston, which was clear from the moment he opened his mouth. That made me miss my friends from school from Massachusetts. But that wasn't the only thing I took away from the conversation. It was nice to compare experiences with somebody in a similar yet different station. While the three of us are all over here as Americans abroad chasing football and travel dreams, he is having his adventure on the other side of the country from Mitch and I. He was a bit wilder than us and seems to be enjoying his experience immensely. I hope that we have the chance to talk more with the other teams' imports before or after the rest of our games; it's something I was hoping to have a chance to do, to hear more about the other places around the country and the experiences of the other guys like me. 

Once again, our roster was almost comically depleted for the game. It was the perfect storm of bad circumstances, what with injuries and outside commitments and the deterrent of a nine hour busride into the East. I think we had nineteen completely healthy players, and due to league rules, were forced to dress quite a few injured players, and two coaches who haven't played all year. Due to this, we had only one wide receiver at full strength and more than a few defensive players sidelined. I was set to play offense, defense, and every special team. To start the game, I didn't leave the field until halfway through the first quarter, when some of the defensive guys decided to play through their injuries. Offensively, we were confident we could play well, but with the short-manned squad and an opponent that boasted two Division I level imports--including a MLB who was All-Pac 12 Honorable mention at Oregon--we knew it would be a fight.

Pregame focus with a prayer

  

The game started close, and at the end of the first quarter the score was 14-13, with us leading. I was thankfully getting some rest, playing defense sparingly. After that first quarter, however, our offense exploded. We scored 14-0 in the second quarter, 7-15 in the third, and then blew it open in the fourth, 21-0. I felt great running, both between the tackles and with getting myself out into open space. Going into the game, we knew that the running game would be a major focus, but we had no idea just how successful it would prove to be. I've finally recovered something that had been just out of reach for me in my first few games in Europe: improvisation. In my opinion, that is the most important part of a running back/playmaker's skill set. The ability to turn a play that has been run the same way hundreds of times into something special while remaining within the parameters of the play is absolutely essential in a top-flight player. Sure, it's nice to be fast, or strong, or shifty, but those are only factors of this improvisation I speak of. A running back can be faster than everyone else on the field, but if he can't put himself into empty space, this speed goes to waste. A player can bull through a line and run other players over, but that strength is useless in the open field. And I've seen plenty of shifty guys juke and cut their way into the sidelines, or worse, big hits from players they thought they had embarrassed ten yards earlier. It takes a mix of all of these things along with vision, smarts, and the knowledge of how the play works to be able to be truly improvisational. Anyone can have big plays and touchdowns on trick plays that confuse or fool the defense. It takes this improvisation to be able to run a play that usually results in a four yard gain for a sixty yard gain and a score. On Saturday, I felt like I had all these factors, with of course the help of a staunch offensive line and a lackluster defense. 

That said, here is the ridiculous statline from Saturday: 19 rushes for 333 yards, 4 TDs, 2 of which came on runs of 65 and 69 yards, along with another 68 yard run that I was tackled on the two yard line; 5 receptions for 97 yards and 2 TDs. All in all, I scored 6 TDs and had 7 plays in which I gained over twenty yards. It's quite safe to say that statistically this was the best game of my life. Defensively I had one pass break up and a near interception, but I would be lying if I said that I think I played all that well. Thankfully I'm more of a running back than a safety. The best part of it all is that we won the game with a total team effort, 56-28, with guys playing out of position, coaches playing, and everyone contributing somehow. The win led to a long, raucous ride home, with an emphasis on long: my head didn't hit the pillow of my bed until 5 AM Sunday morning. I was more tired than any game I can remember, and that sleep was much needed.

Postgame win talk

Outside of the game, like I said, nothing much has happened. I'm closer to planning my trip to Ireland, and I think I have finally decided on the range of dates for that. I've found some really good deals on airfare, so here's to hoping that works out. Hopefully, next post will contain the details of my booked trip. Sadly, this Thursday would have been the Brand New concert I had bought tickets for an age ago while I was still at school, but alas, the concert was cancelled in July. I'll have to have a particularly Brand New-centric playlist for my Thursday workout in lieu of the show. It's odd that this week has finally come; back when I bought the tickets August 22 was an unimaginable future away. And so it has been. I could never have imagined that this summer would have turned out as it has. 

Poor, lonely, unused ticket.

Although I've kept my intellectual activities at a minimum, moving from the third Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire book to the fourth on the bus, I did have a moment where something I read took hold of me this week. I've never had a favorite poem, but now I do. I'd first heard it in the unbelievable film In Bruges, possibly my favorite movie of all time, in the form of a song by The Dubliners. It's been one of my favorite songs since I first saw the movie. In the film the song is used at a pivotal moment and is the most affecting use of music I have ever seen in a movie. I was listening to the song this week, and researched it, and learned more about the poem. It shook me. It's called On Raglan Road, by Patrick Kavanagh. Worth reading, and listening. 

Next week, I look forward to another game, travel, and the promise of the Emerald Isle. 

*This weekend, the Tigers were very active on social media, and uploaded videos of some of the plays of the game onto the team Facebook page. If anyone is interested in seeing some of these, they can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/gotigers.de