Top of the League

Well, after a 6 hour drive through Bavaria and across Austria to the Slovenian Border, we made it safely to Klagenfurt for our season opener.

The game started out sound, the first play I took a chance thinking they may run play action to start the season. They didn't, but the stunt shutdown the off-tackle power play that they had run. Apparently they were going to try and out tough our 3/4 American Import DLine. Our team speed and size on the DL makes us pretty formidable against the run. The first series was a three & out & just about the exact way I'd like to start the season. Carl & the offense took over and marched down the field with little resistance and we were up 7-0.

The rest of the game (outside of two defensive plays) went according to plan. Carl went on to throw for FIVE touchdowns, a career high.

Here's what our website reported of the game:
-----
HOHENEMS ATOP THE STANDINGS AFTER OPENING WIN!

A successful AFL prelude for Hohenems. The Cineplexx Blue Devils made their case to become generally accepted as a contender on Saturday against the Carinthian Black Lions. This statement was made clearly with 40-7 final score. The Cineplexx Blue Devils step into week 2 (at least until next Saturday) in the unusual position of the front runner.

Play began as planned. The first attack of the Carinthians was immediately stopped, no individual chance to ford a first down was allowed. The Defense showed a very good start, Charles Drake continued the effort on Special Teams with several excellent returns.

The attack formation of the Blue Devils, led by QB Carl Bonnell, could not be threatened by the Black Lions defense. Early in the First Quarter Fullback of Oliver Froehlich scored from short distance to begin the onslaught of scoring. In this manner it continued, the Black Lions could do simply very little against the Devils set. Most successful participant on sides of the Blue Devils was Christian Steffani who has already harmonized well with new QB Bonnell; they combined for four touchdowns.

The troop of Head Coach Mike Kegel began the season with a solid win with many positive beginnings to show. The Blue Devils will have to, however, prove their stance atop the league next saturday with a tough matchup with the Danube Dragons. "Physically, the Dragons bring a tough test and higher calibre of play."
-www.blue-devils.at

SCHWEINSTEIGER
As we made our way back to Hohenems in the wee hours of the morning, just outside of Memmingen, there were four wild boars crossing the Autobahn. The van driven by Stefan Schubert (we were two vans behind) did not have time to react and at about 140km/h (almost 90mph) he slammed into two of the wild boars. They were huge! One put a dent, about a foot deep, in the solid metal frame of the van. Everyone is okay (outside of the boars), but the van has seen better days. That made for a very exciting final hour of the day. As we arrived back in Hohenems, it was 6am and the sun was rising.

Another long, but very productive, day in the books.

& one guarantee for the year, we will not finish any worse than 1-7! :)

---------------------------------------------------
AROUND THE AFL
Cineplexx Blue Devils Hohenems 40:7 @ Carinthian Black Lions
@ Swarco Raiders Tirol 34:12 Danube Dragons
Turek Graz Giants 33:20 @ Raiffeisen Vikings Vienna

AFL STANDINGS
Team GP W L PF PA PCT
1 Cineplexx Blue Devils 1 1 0 40 07 1.000
2 Swarco Raiders Tirol 1 1 0 34 12 1.000
3 Turek Graz Giants 1 1 0 33 20 1.000
4 Raiffeisen Vikings 1 0 1 20 33 0.000
5 Danube Dragons 1 0 1 12 34 0.000
6 Carinthian Black Lions 1 0 1 07 40 0.000

---------------------------------------------------

SCORING SUMMARY

FIRST QUARTER (7:0)
DEVILS TD 2yd run Oliver Froehlich (PAT Michael Kellenberger)

SECOND QUARTER (21:7)
DEVILS TD Pass Carl Bonnell to Christian Steffani (PAT Kellenberger)
DEVILS TD 62yd pass Bonnell to Steffani (PAT Kellenberger)
LIONS TD 3yd run Gregory Jones (PAT good)

THIRD QUARTER (34:7)
DEVILS TD 17yd pass Bonnell to Robin Haas (PAT blocked)
DEVILS TD 60yd pass Bonnell to Steffani (PAT Kellenberger)

FOURTH QUARTER (40:7)
DEVILS TD 17yd pass Bonnell to Steffani (PAT blocked)

EM Buildup

Last night, after practice I swung up to Hatlerdorf to meet up with Niki's friend, Nina, who she met while playing soccer in Imst. Nina is working in Dornbirn as a Sports Marketing trainee and was excited that someone she knew was coming to VorArlberg (for Tirolers like Nina, VorArlberg can be a very remote and lonely place).

We watched the second half of the Austria vs. Netherlands (Holland) soccer match. Typically, Austria should be blown out in the game but when I got to Nina's they were already up 3-1 (The Dutch had just scored to bring them within 2). All of Austria was getting pretty excited, I could hear people on the bus riding up on the phones talking about it. However, as the night went on, the Dutch proved to be simply too much and tied the game up in the 83rd minute, and then took the lead only three minutes later. It was heartbreaking to see an underdog on the verge of a historic win, watch it slip slowly away.

Either way, meeting up with Nina was a great thing; I've got a local that I know & trust living only 15 minutes away (by bus) which is always a Godsend when you are living half a world away from home.

Tonight is our final practice before our season opener in Carinthian. We had a page spread in the local paper yesterday, I'll try & attach it above.

Oh yeah, GO COUGS!!!!

Elementary

Today I was able to help teach some football at a local elementary school. It was really fun to get into the gym and pass on our passion for the game. I think quite a few kids caught the gridiron bug, we even signed some autographs afterwards.

The main reason for the PE experience is to advertise our minis tryouts (junior football/elementary aged kids) that are on Friday and gain some exposure going into the season.

I think it really went over well and that the girls almost got more hooked than the fellas. We'll see, either way we put a good foot forward to the community.

Another few inches of snow this morning. I videotaped some of our drive to the school and will try and get that online tonight.

Snowbowl

Well, it has snowed for the last 6 days in Hohenems. None moreso than today; I awoke to an inch & a half of white stuff on the ground, went into Dornbirn but got lost on the way to the trainstation. Along the way I said good morning to a young preschooler who was shocked and scoldingly told me "gar nix Morgen! Sch'mittags DU! (It ain't morning; it's already midday, you!). There's something wonderful about the upfront nature of the VorArlbergers, much like going to NYC or something.

I finally got to Dornbirn just in time for the noon lunch hour (in Austria/Germany shops close down so that their workers can go home or to a restaurant for lunch, many for two hours). So I window shopped for an hour (in blizzard conditions) before finally getting back to the cell phone store to purchase a pre-pay phone. Great deal, got it for 45euro (something like $70US - could be more with how the dollar is falling in value). Either way, it was great to get that settled and the freedom of having a phone opens me up to getting away from the house more often (living with two married couples can be draining to a guy who dearly misses his wife & child).

But the big news of the day, really, is that I finally was able to coordinate our defense. Luis did a lovely job installing the defense, and I think we've got an able body of players to compete for a league title. On top of that we practiced in the snow. First I worked with the Junior team (high school aged kids), not many showed up due to the weather, but we got a good workout in. After that the AFL1 team worked through a crisp 2 hour workout with little complaining of the freezing weather. I was really excited that Mark Falger, a former Austrian player of mine, has taken on the role of Defensive Line Coach. I think it presents a new era Austrian football: experienced, highly qualified & gifted Austrian coaches teaching the game to Austrians. I must say that I am very proud to have offered him his first coaching position. He brings the same enthusiasm & spirit of the game to the kids while improving their technique and overall game. Eventually more experienced Austrians will be confident enough to take on the role and the game will take on a more distinct Austrian flavor.

On top of that, a player for Carinthian just publically guaranteed a victory over us on Saturday. Our guys are responding appropriately: a more focused and crisp practice followed that comment.

The rest of Austria calls us the International Team because we have a crazy combination of Swiss, German, US, and Austrians on the team. We are predicted to be the dark horse of the league, many are afraid to put us near the top with Tirol & Vienna, but are hesitant to put us in the bottom with Danube & Carinthian. I think with the systems we have in place, and the solid group of imports who are gelling with the Nationals well, we'll be a very tough team to deal with.

Who knows though, I can't wait to have our first test Saturday. Well...yes I can; I've got a few things to clean up before then.

Either way, great day all around.

Arrivee

After watching the sunrise at Seatac Airport in Seattle, the sunset in Philadelphia, and the sunrise again somewhere over France, I finally have arrived in Europe. The flights were long, but I had good company. A nice couple on the Philadelphia flight who were headed to Paris for the first time (Surprise 10th Anniversary gift for his wife), and a Swiss man heading home to St. Gallen, a town near Hohenems on the Swiss side of the Rhein. The fly into Zurich was beautiful and I wish I had my camera out to take pictures of all the Euro 2008 stuff in the airport. Italy plays France (repeat of the '06 World Cup finals) in Zurich for a first round matchup. I can't wait.

Markus Falger (Fak), a former player of mine in Innsbruck, picked me up at the airport and drove me home to Hohenems. I met several of the imports and team owner Christoph when I arrived. Christoph has two kids who are pretty neat, but very aggressive. I think Keegan may get along with Kevin who is almost 3. We'll see though, they have very different personalities the two of them.

Since arriving I have had a chance to get acquainted with the town, grab some groceries (everything will be closed until Tuesday to observe Easter) and some essentials for my room. I will buy a cellphone on Tuesday; the store closed just before we got there.

After getting slightly situated, Carl & I hit the gym for a workout. Carl focused on his bench while I got in some light bench, heavy triceps & a bit of core. Not bad for a quick 35 minute workout. I plan on doing some legs and bicept tomorrow along with some cardio. It was snowing on our way back to the trainstation in Dornbirn (we workout at EasySport in Dornbirn, the town just north of Hohenems).

Stayed up until 2am tonight, to chat with Keegan via Skype and watch the Cougs put it on Notre Dame.

From what I hear, our team should fare pretty well. The offense, coordinated by flatmate and OC/QB Paul Troth (former QB & Graduate Assistant at Eastern Carolina) looks to be refining things for our upcoming games. The defense, which I will be heading, seems to have most of my base package installed, but for a few refinements. On Tuesday I'll have a pretty good idea of how we'll fare defensively during the game this Saturday versus the Carinthian Black Lions (who have GUARANTEED victory, bleh).

Wishing you all a very Happy Easter & hugs from afar!

www.bonnelladventures.com

I officially have my own domain name! I will be making some updates and have bonnelladventures.com up and running here in about two weeks. In the meantime it will simply forward here to www.bonnelladventures.blogspot.com.

I will add more to the blog: field trip, finishing up my Master in Teaching degree, the countdown to Friday's departure, etc in the coming days.

8 Days to go!

It has been a very hectic week; getting everything ready for the move abroad. The biggest project is preparing a highlight video for Carl to give to the scouts at Friday's Pro Day at UW. Carl is already in Austria, training away at the Olympic facility and practicing with the boys. He's getting some experience looking at things from a coach's perspective and I think learning alot more about the game.

Tell me what you think about the DVD cover (above I credit a lot of the ideas to a VW Rabbit DVD that we got while deciding between the new Rabbit and the '06 Golf).

This weekend I went to Portland for the Nike Football Coach of the Year Clinic. I connected up with a lot of good friends and former coaches (Oregon's Robin Pflugrad, new Enumclaw HC Don Bartell, Kentwood HC Rex Norris & clan, as well as several others). But the highlight of the weekend was Pete Carroll of USC. I've studied some great coaches in my day, but I think Carroll's style hits the modern game right on the button. Some of the things he said really struck a chord with me, one in particular: "If your reciever goes out there and runs the wrong route or break or something, don't ever say 'I never taught him that!' Bull****! I don't ever want to hear that; you [darned] well taught him that, because you sure as [heck] didn't coach him not too!"

I am a proponent of accountability in my players and he lives it through taking the worry off of the players and placing the blame directly on himself and his staff. I adore this in him and will take it with me this summer and wherever I end up in the fall.

Other than that, I've only got a few days of Student Teaching left, which is exciting. I'll be on a field trip to the Museum of Flight with 170 seventh graders tomorrow...pray for me! eek! ;)