Porvoo Game Memories

There are certain moments in every game you take away with you.  The most special of them are little things that no one else sees, that you tuck away in your "treasure chest" of memories of this experience.  There were a number of them on this evening, but none that made me smile more than the "little drummer boy" who toted the bass drum onto the field for the Tyrolean band.  I remember thinking to myself how cool that was, and how lucky I am to be in this atmosphere!  Here are some more great memories:

PREGAME FESTIVITIES

First defensive captain Mario Rinner emerges from the helmet with the Raiders flag...

... and then "here come your SWARCO Raiders!"

Eurebowl games are all about national pride.  Against the Finnish, the Raiders were representing Tyrol and all of Austria! 

The National Anthems were played by a Tyrolean band in full uniform.  They kicked butt!

Matt took this toss on the final drive of the game for a first down that helped us officially run out the clock.  Final Score: RAIDERS 31, BUTCHERS 13.

GATORADE DUMP!

Offensive line coach Nick Johansen was laughing when head coach Santos Carrillo got soaked with the traditional gatorade bucket.  Little did he know there was still a little left in the bottom...

Gonzalo goes for the dump...

... and FULL SOAK!!!  (Why is it that defensive linemen are always the ones carrying on this tradition?)

POSTGAME FUN!

Posing with my WAG!  (WAG stands for "Wives And Girlfriend" and is a term liberally used by the British soccer tabloids.  Posh Spice was the original WAG to David Beckham, and so Matt & I thought it would be a good idea to keep the trend going by giving Christie and Ashley their own WAG Shirts!)

It was awesome to share the game with Christie and Lynn!

5 to the 6... posing with kicker Robert "Blitzy" Balzinec after the game.  Blitzy has battled a knee injury this season, but always kept a positive attitude.  He returned to the line-up yesterday and was 4-for-4 on extra points and hit a clutch field goal at the beginning of the second half.  ATTAWAY BLITZY!

Postgame interview with Austrian Television station ORF.

AWESOME RAIDERS HAIRCUT!!!

After each game a few players are brought to the VIP section to do an interview for the couple hundred fans in the 

All my answers were in English...

Santos was asked about facing the Paris Flash in the EuroBowl.  Obviously, we have been focusing on this game and I'm sure Santos has yet to begin preparing for them.  So without a direct answer to the question, he talked about our team and the season in general.  His answer lasted a few minutes, so when it came time for the hosts to translate his answer into German, their only response was, "Santos said lots and lots of stuff... let's PARTY!"  It was a classic T.I.A. (This is Austria) moment!

Signing autographs for some future SWARCO Raiders!  I credit a lot of our team's success to the Raiders' strong youth program, which teaches our young players the game while introducing them firsthand to the gameday atmosphere of our senior team. 

I was asked a number of times by the media after the game about what this win meant to me and what are my feelings heading into the EuroBowl.  Of course I told them I was excited about 15 times, but even more than that, the opportunity to compete for a EuroBowl championship is truly one of the main reasons I decided to play for the SWARCO Raiders this season.  It has been a privilege to play for such a strong organization and with such hardworking, dedicated coaches and teammates, and we will do everything in our power to bring the EuroBowl trophy back to Innsbruck for the second year in a row!

~ J. Twice