Diggin' dem Danes

Two consecutive posts featuring a conjugation of the verb, "to dig." Completely unprofessional. I'm sorry and promise it won't happen again soon. This is a quick story but pretty funny and sums up Amerikansk Fodbold in Danmark quite nicely.

I wrote yesterday about our scrimmage with the Gold Diggers and mentioned they are a top notch team with some really great coaches. Today, their head man, the esteemed Kim Ewé, was kind enough to stay over and work a bit with the defensive backs during our practice sessions. While I was busy not coaching the offensive line (Tuesday ...), Kim was working on ball skills with the DBs and offering the type of insight that allowed him and his team claim the Mermaid Bowl (Danish Championship) last season.

After the morning session, I got the chance to talk a bit more with the man and since I told him I'm writing a blog and the possibility exists he might actually read it, I will be kind with my folllowing analyses ... maybe. We ate lunch and found we shared a passion for baseball players charging the pitcher's mound. He brought up an episode of "Pros vs. Joes," featuring former Atlanta Braves ace and everybody's favorite bigot, John Rocker and his ability to zip a high fastball within inches of an unsuspecting journalist's (the "Joe's") head. Upon finishing our sandwiches, Kim played a joke on me that I'm not going to write about at this moment in anticipation that I will play this same joke on another unsuspecting American at a later time.

After the afternoon pracitce, I got to chat with Kim some more and we discussed the experiences he has had with American imports in the past. He gave me some good advice about where to visit when I have free time (not that I'd take his advice after his antics earlier in the day). After talking for a while more, I was able to discern that the man has an undeniable passion for the game of football, as do all the Danes I've dealt with thus far. Moreover, I could tell Kim really knew his stuff and the reason why is actually quite simple.

Just as the impressionable youth of today learn lessons playing XBox Live that greatly outweigh anything learned in grammar school, Kim forged his passion for American football playing an Atari game that sounded an awful lot like "Tecmo Bowl." He went on to say that he didn't understand it very well at first but kept learning more and more as he continued practicing with it. Soon Kim outgrew his 8-Bit inspiration and moved on to the real deal, joining a team in Copenhagen. He said one of the hardest things back then was adjusting to the physicality of the game. One of the ways he worked on this was naturally, by hitting the ice rink ... with his football equipment on.

In the hopes that he and his teammates could learn something from a local hockey team about the finer points of contact athletics, Kim took his lumps (literally and figuratively). After getting whomped around by the unruly skaters, Kim soon learned to translate this to the gridiron. I have spoken with many in the Tigers family and all agreed that he is widely regarded as one of the top Danish wide receivers to have played the game. You can't make this stuff up.

We parted ways, exchanging information, maybe looking to meet up later in the year with the American imports coming to the Diggers. Perhaps by then I will have thought of proper retalliation for his lunchtime shenanigans. In the interim, Kim and his men will look to conquer the National League once more and his story serves as a great example of why I am very glad to be here in Denmark.