Sharks Win 6-0

We opened our season on Saturday against the Sueca Ricers of Valencia, Spain at our home stadium, El Estadio Santa Maria de las Chapas. We won 6-0 in perhaps the ugliest game of football I have ever been a part of, and yes, that includes B-Team Pop Warner. It's not that the players are unskilled, they are actually very fast and many are very big, however some of them do not understand all of the rules. The referees are also trying to learn, so they don't exactly let stuff go, and this led to about 25 penalties in the first half alone. If someone is lined up in the neutral zone, they call it; there is no letting the small stuff go here. You would have heard a lot of "Let 'em play" shouts back in Dracut, but you have to keep an open mind out here.

On top of the refs, the rain was the worst Marbella has seen in many years. There were puddles about 3-4 inches deep in many parts of the field. I found that out very early into the game when I was tackled and felt like I had been thrown into a pool. Along with the rain was a pretty awesome lightning storm. The game definitely would have been canceled immediately in the states, but that's not how they roll here in Spain. I mean, who gets struck by lightning when there are goalposts all around you? I'm a fan of their logic. There was actually this really cool moment when I was setup in the backfield, waiting for the snap and knowing I was getting the ball. All of the sudden, a huge lightning bolt struck straight ahead in the distance right before the snap. I ran for about 2 yards. Must have been distracted.

The game was a lot of fun though, and despite scoring only 6 points, there were many bright spots. At one point, I drew up half back pass toss pass with AJ, my American roommate from Worcester, as we walked back to the huddle. We ran it a few plays later and I completed a pass to him for a big gain and a first down.

We've spent the last few days designing some new plays and preparing for our game this Saturday in Granada. It's a big one for everyone because they are our archrival. They are also part of the Spanish territory Andalucia, and are the closest team in proximity to us. To add to the tension, the Sharks old coach recently took a position with Granada, and that's added some fuel to the fire for many of the players and coaches here. After hearing about this team and reading about their previous game, I feel very confident going into Saturday and really want to get a win.

My body is just finally starting to recover from last weekend's game and it is now Thursday. The problem here is that many players do no know how to tackle properly, so they just dive at your legs, leading with their helmets. I haven't really been able to walk since the game and my ribs have been hurting quite a bit. But this is football, so I'll stop complaining now.

I must admit, I've really fallen into the Spanish way of life..."I'll get to it later" is truly the way to go over here. I've been trying to write this since Monday, but it just keeps slipping away from me. I'd say as of today I am finally settled in. Its about 1pm and I'm sitting on the back porch and it's about 80 degrees out here, just about perfect. I'm about to head down to the beach with my roommate AJ - things are starting to look up.

We live in the basement the Shark's president. He is an American guy who moved out here with his family a few years back. He's turned the basement into the "Shark Shack" and we've got a great setup down there with separate rooms, a big screen TV, a bar, ping pong table, and tons of space.

Okay. I'll get back to this later. We are going to the beach.