Sorry I'm a little late getting on here.  Last week was our first game week, so there was a lot of stuff going on.  In the earlier days of last week, we were doing a lot of football stuff.  I spent a lot of Monday, Tuesday, and and Wednesday, either practicing, running hills, lifting weights, or game planning /meeting for our opponent that week.  At times it feels a little bit like college football did, except when you show up to practice and like half the team isn't there because they had a tough day at work.  I will not lie, this has gotten to be a little frustrating at time.  Coming from our football background, Ian and I are used to taking football as serious as someone would take their job.  We're used to competitive practices, a lot of effort, and being screamed at for making mistakes is pretty standard.  We had like 14 teammates over to our apartment on Tuesday night to watch film of our scrimmage, and also to prepare for our opponent for the first game.  We cooked pasta for everyone, some other teammates brought beers, and it was a very successful team get together.  However, our Wednesday practice sucked ass.  We had a pretty low attendance, and it was just a very lazy, let's get practice over with, kind of vibe.  As a former player, and now current coach, I did everything I could not to start yelling at the team pick shit up!  I just have to keep reminding myself that these guys work all day, they're tired, and they only get two practices a week to prepare for something that colleges in the states take a week to prepare for.  That practice didn't go so well, and it showed in the game.

The following day (Thursday) was May 1st, which is a big holiday out here.  No one works, and every city is responsible for putting up their Maibaum (May tree).  In the morning, Ian, Coach Dixon, and myself drove down to Fursty and watched the men put up this gigantic tree in the middle of the city.  It was pretty crazy.  The tree is HUGE and there are people sitting and watching all around.  The spot for the Maibaum happens to also be the city's Beer Garden, so everyone was up early drinking beers!...Free beers that is!  We enjoyed a cold Hellis while we watched the traditional raising of the tree take place, but then had to hurry home to get ready for our teammate's (Lukey Dohrmann) wedding day!  Not only was it my first German wedding ever, but it was just the first wedding I had been to since I was a little kid.  The ceremony started off in this Catholic church where both Lukey's parents and grandparents were married in.  I didn't understand a thing, but it seemed like a pretty traditional Catholic wedding.  The Dohrmann family is very well known, and what I would call the most involved family in the Razorbacks organization.  That being said, the wedding was pretty damn big.  The church was filled past capacity, and EVERYONE from all levels of the Razorbacks was there.  After the ceremony, we drove over to the monastery for the after party.  They served delicious food, played great music, and had plenty of dancing and small games all night!  It was really a beautiful event from the top to the bottom, and I'm sure it must've cost the Dohrmann's a pretty little penny, but it was well worth it. Everyone had a blast, and we stayed til 2 in the morning just chatting and hanging out with everyone.

Friday we concluded our week of preparation for the game, and after practice we headed up to the Frulingsfest (spelling) to enjoy some Bavarian tradition!  We each got our liter of beer and enjoyed Bavarian songs, dancing on tables, and some excellent traditional Bavarian clothing that I have no idea how to spell (pronounced Lei-der-hosen).

Saturday morning was definitely a football day.  We went to the Juniors (14-18 year olds) game in Munich and watched them win 25-0.  Then, we drove to Starnberg (one of the most expensive areas to live in Germany) and watched our week two and week three opponents play.  After that, we came home and enjoyed some Italian food at a local restaurant with coach, and then went and had some dessert at a Greek spot.

Sunday, the whole team showed up at the field at 10:45 for a 3:00 game.  I'm used to relaxing and getting in the zone before football games, but here in Fursty, you work.  The whole team was busy either painting the field, carrying/setting up tables, setting up sound equipment, sweeping off sitting areas, etc. for a good hour and a half before we ate our pregame meal.  I thought that was really cool to see all these guys work so hard after working so hard all week.  They're grinders out here.  Anyways, we ate, got suited up and played a football game.

We played in great weather here in Fursty.  There were about 650 fans, which feels pretty packed at our small stadium.  In the past, Fursty has been like a 1930's old school football team who punts on third down and runs the ball 95% of the game.  The fans for sure enjoyed watching a 52-43 shootout to open up the season.  Our offense was nasty.  We started the game by throwing a pick and giving them a short field.  They scored making it 7-0.  We came back and put up 27 unanswered, and were up 20 points with a minute left in the half.  On 4th down with them punting us the ball.  It seemed like we would go into the half with a huge lead, and be able to put the game away quickly.  The punter ran for a first down on a fake punt, and with 8 seconds left in the half they scored making in 27-14 going into the half.  They came out and scored on their first offensive drive of the second half, making it a one score game.  From that point on, there was a lot of offense, and really shitty defense.  We exchanged scores back and forth, and with a little bit of luck, we were able to pull out a victory.  The game was long, and for me, playing both ways was really tough.  Ian and I were both very beat up, and it's Wednesday, and I still don't think I will be able to practice today because of a bruised leg.  I had 125 receiving on 10 catches with 2 tds.  I also had a 75 interception return Td.  Ian threw for 340, 4 tds, 1 int, and rushed for one td.  Afterwards, we drank beer at the field til about 10, and then went to a friend's house to relax.  It was a tough win, and our defense has to get better this week!  I will update you guys again on Sunday or Monday.  Take care everyone!

Evan