Island (Sports) Life

Greetings from the islands!

Molly McManamon here, I am currently a Senior at Mason completing my 12-credit internship requirement... in style. I'm interning with the Sacred Sports Foundation in Saint Lucia, and island part of the West Indies in the Caribbean. Sacred Sports Foundation is a non-profit organization that aims to empower and involve the youth on the island through sports. Started by two siblings, Delroy and Nova Alexander, Sacred Sports is under the umbrella organization of Sacred Cows PR. Both Nova and Delroy have extensive experience in the world of PR, marketing, and media relations, and now they are conquering the sports world.

Joining me in my endeavors as an intern is Erin Crawford. Erin graduated from the College of Charleston, and obtained her Masters degree at the Citadel. Erin has been an awesome roommate and partner-in-crime. We are two months in, and loving every minute.

Now that there is some background, I'll give you a taste of what we have been doing here at Sacred Sports besides soaking up the rays (which we also do). I have been put in charge of two programs to run and organize while I am here. The first is an after-school soccer (referred to as football from here on out) program with a local secondary school, Sir Ira Simmons. The boys of Sir Ira Simmons have quickly stolen my heart, with each training session. We train Tuesday-Thursday after school, and I am accompanied by a highly touted under-20 national player Dwight Degazon. Dwight and I team up to coach the kids and try to instill some life lessons along the way. Most of these boys can't afford cleats, and sometimes they can't afford regular sneakers or athletic shorts to participate. I have taken to lending out my clothes and shoes to some of the boys for practice. They just want to play, it doesn't matter how they look or what they wear while doing it. The field has definitely seen better days, and with each 10 minute down pour of rain that they island is accustomed to, it doesn't get any better. However, I think the most fun session we've had thus far involved just 12 boys, a massive amount of rain, dozens of muddy shirts and shorts, and one game of football. It is important to note that we aren't just coaching these kids in football, each session we try to incorporate life lessons and team building exercises for the boys. Sport has always been attributed to character-building, which is exactly why sport is the perfect vehicle to promote good decision making for these kids in life. With sky-rocketing teen pregnancy rates, secondary school drop-outs every day, and immense poverty across the island, these kids have experienced more than I have in my lifetime. It is important to give them a constant in their life- even if it is just football. The consistent practice regime, and goal-oriented exercises help to give the boys a more stable environment, even if it is just after-school. I have loved every crazy minute with these boys, they have the biggest personalities imaginable, and an insatiable passion for football.

The second program that I am responsible for is a student-athlete initiative. This is a fledgling program that is still getting off of the ground. We are working hard to lay the groundwork for future generations of student-athletes from Saint Lucia. Basically, we are working to set up a scholarship for student-athletes from Saint Lucia that want to further their education abroad. There are several issues that face students from Saint Lucia trying to pursue their education in the US in particular. Funding is just one in the laundry list of hurdles that students have to tackle before being granted admittance into a US college or University. The unique education system in the Caribbean can be difficult to translate to schools in the US. This is made even more difficult when adding athletics into the equation. The SSF is hoping to set up a scholarship for potential student-athletes to help offset the cost of taking the SAT and applying for the NCAA eligibility center, as well as costs associated with school. This is an extremely important initiative, and I am excited to be helping out, just knowing that I am helping to pave the way for Saint Lucian kids to continue their athletics through education.

When we aren't working, we are taking in all of the sights and sounds Saint Lucia has to offer! This includes lots and lots of sun, markets, and beaches! We have hiked Pigeon Island National Park, a famous landmark on the island, and we have plans to hike the Piton mountains next week. There is plenty to do around the island, and especially in the area we are located (Rodney Bay, if you are curious). The people are unbelievably kind in every way, and so helpful. This would make an amazing spot for a vacation, and it's even more amazing for my extended stay.

Living it up- Island Style

There is more to Sweden than Swedish Fish…

By Jessica Bohince

After spending a weekend in Stockholm, Sweden, I can officially say that is doesn’t “suck” to the dismay of my Finnish friends.  A group of around 14 students left Jyväskylä at around 2:30pm.  We took a 4 hour bus ride to Turku which was Finland’s first capital.  Once we arrived in Turku, we boarded the “ferry” that would take us to Stockholm.  The ship was bigger than the one who took to Tallinn and it had great amenities.  There was a casino, dance club, shows, shopping, and a lot of restaurants.  About have the group decided to get something to eat and just play cards for the night.  We played the game “Spoons” which I hadn’t played since elementary school! I had such a great time! I think a lot of people tend to go crazy on cruise ships with partying and drinking.  It was so nice just to relax, talk, and play cards. 

The next morning we arrived in Stockholm and had to disembark the ship by 6:30am!  I can honestly say that all of us dragged ourselves to the bus.  Our trip coordinator, Mina, arranged to have a bus travel with us and our driver was named Ollie.  Ollie picked us up and we headed directly to eat breakfast.  One difference I noticed about breakfast in Finland, Sweden, and Estonia, is they have the “normal” breakfast foods like eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit, cereal, etc., but they also serve lunch meat, cheese, and vegetables.  I don’t think most Americans think of lunch meat, cheese, and vegetables as breakfast, that’s more like lunch to us.

After scarfing down breakfast, we then went on a bus tour of the city.  Mina, who used to be a tour guide, gave us a lot of information about Stockholm as well as Sweden in general.  Along the way, Ollie pulled over so we could get out a take pictures.  I can see why Stockholm is often called “the Venice of the North.”  Once the bus tour was over, Ollie dropped us off by the Opera house.  We had 4 hours to explore the city on our own.  The group of 14 split in smaller groups because we all didn’t want to do the same things.  My group wanted to do some souvenir shopping.  We browsed the different shops and I found a lot of nice things for my family. 

Once we all “shopped till we dropped”, it was time to eat a late lunch.  We made our way to the bazaar.  I don’t know if that’s what they call it in Stockholm, but that’s what it looked like to me.  There were food and shopping vendors.  Brenda and I decided on BBQ, which was really delicious.  I was shocked at how good it was.  I didn’t think the Swedish would be good at BBQ.  It seems to be such an American thing.  Other people in the group got Italian, Thai, and Greek food. We decided to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful weather.  As we were sitting there, I noticed there were a lot of different ethnic groups. I don’t know if they live in Sweden or were just visiting for the weekend like I was.

When lunch was over, we continued to explore the city until it was 4pm.  Ollie and Mina picked us up from the Opera House then we made our way to the hotel.  The hotel was located outside of Stockholm to what felt like to me the suburbs.  The hotel was very nice and our view was amazing.  Most of the group decided to head back to the city for the evening. Brenda, JQ, and I decided to stay around the hotel for the night.  Little did we know we had an unplanned adventure!

Brenda, JQ, and I decided we wanted to get some dinner.  We checked the hotel menu and there wasn’t anything too appealing, plus it was a little pricey.  We first walked to the local grocery store named Willy’s.  They didn’t have any hot food and we didn’t have a microwave so we left there empty handed.  As we were leaving, we spotted a McDonald’s across the street. We figured we could walk down a little further and cut across the street. Boy, were we wrong!  We walked down the street and went passed a football field where there was a game being played. We continued to walk until we were right across from the McDonald’s.  There were was one major problem; there was a free way with cars speeding past between us and dinner.  We asked a man who was walking on the path how to get McDonald’s  he told us we would have to walk all the back until we reached the hotel and then walk over the designated walking bridge to the other side of the street.  At this point, the hotel looked like the size of my fist, so that’s what I didn’t want to hear.  We thanked him and then decided if we wanted McDonald’s or just go back to the hotel and eat.  I said I was going to McDonald’s with or without them.  I wasn’t going to let McDonald’s beat me!

We slowly made our way back to the walking bridge which I might add was 20 steps from our hotel!  After about an hour and a half, we FINALLY made it to McDonald’s and let me tell you that was the best Big Mac I ever ate.  I don’t think I have ever worked that hard for McDonald’s in my life and definitely made my trip to Stockholm memorable!

After dinner we made our way back to the hotel, which only took like 20 minutes, we hung out in our room until we went to bed.  Saturday morning we woke up, had breakfast, and then headed back to Stockholm.  The group I was with stayed together and we decided to go to the Aquarium.  It wasn’t very big compared to other Aquariums I have been to, but it was a great way to spend a few hours.  There was one area that looked like a rainforest.  At one point, a thunderstorm came through with rain.  I have never been to an exhibit where that has happened before and it was pretty cool! I also got to see a Swedish catfish and it was HUGE! Probably the biggest catfish I have seen in person.  Once we were done exploring, we rode around on a boat that takes you to the different islands. It was a great way to get some pictures.  We still had some time left, but not enough to tour anything so he hung out in the park that was next to the Opera House until it was time to meet Mina and Ollie.  The park was beautiful and the weather was again perfect.  At 6pm, the bus picked us up and we headed to the harbor so we could board the ship that would bring us back to Turku.  We stayed on the ship overnight and at 7:35am it was time to disembark and get on the bus for a 4 hour trip back to Jyväskylä.  We arrived back at our flats at around noon and had the rest of the afternoon to ourselves.  It was so nice to be able to relax and have a lazy afternoon!    

The weekend flew by so fast! There is so much to do in Stockholm and a day and half is not enough time to visit everything. I would definitely consider going back to Stockholm in the future, but just don’t tell my Finnish friends!

Salvaging the Ideals of Sport … at least for a day: Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer

By Dr. Nauright

The past couple of weeks have been rife with controversy in sport around the world from revelations about iconic American cyclist Lance Armstrong, to even more evidence of corruption at the highest levels of FIFA and world soccer, to Jim Tressel’s demise at Ohio State University and then some. And while initially we were keeping the blogs of these couple of weeks to the students and their trip, I have felt compelled to discuss a few of these issues along the way.

Today as I write Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer play in the final of the French Open. It is the eighth time they have met in a Grand Slam tennis final. This is twice more than any other pair in history. Although I have had a slight preference for Nadal, it really doesn’t matter to me who wins. Both gentlemen – and I use that in the classic sense of the term – are genuine sportsmen who clearly demonstrate respect and admiration for each other. Between them they have won 26 (one of them will win today) Grand Slam titles There has never been any sandbagging, trash talking or dissing of one by the other. They have wished each other well and have been gracious in both victory and defeat. Any doubters out there only need to watch the trophy ceremonies after the 2007 and 2008 Wimbledon finals, the first won by Federer, the second by Nadal. Each understands the greatness of the other and they show it. Here are two men who have earned $100 million between them in prize money, yet fame and fortune have not corrupted the character of these two giants of tennis who may prove to be the best two players of all-time.

           

Their styles are different, from dress, again watch the walk-on to the court at Wimbledon in 2008, to playing style. Federer is quite, determined, but seems to glide around the court. Nadal grunts, sweats, yells, fist pumps, though none of this is ever aimed directly at the opponent. These two are no John McEnroe versus Jimmy Connors.

            

While the world of sporting ideals appears to be shattered or at the minimum collapsing around us, I hope that sports fans all over the world take time today to watch competition at the highest level achieved with respect, dignity and graciousness. By the time this blog is posted we will know the winner. Perhaps that matters to some beyond the inner circles of the two athletes, however, the real winner today will be sport which has taken such a beating in recent weeks and months due to the greed, hubris and abuse of power especially by those off the courts and fields. I hope everyone takes or was able to take a couple of hours to enjoy what sport should be about. For today at least, sport will be sporting and all that we wish sport would be will be on display, at least for a few short hours…. 

ICE HOCKEY IN SUOMI (FINLAND!), AND HOW WE MET THE NHL's NEWEST SIGNING FROM THE LAND OF THE WORLD CHAMPIONS!

By John Nauright

Finland are the World Champions of ice hockey yet they have fewer registered hockey players than the Province of Alberta in Canada and a lot fewer than the USA or Canada as a whole. They beat their arch-rivals Sweden 6-1 in the final this year to win which made it even sweeter for them. This week we visited the youth hockey club here in Jyvaskyla and the JYP Club, the professional team who plays in the top Finnish League (their local NHL). We learned about how young kids have several pathways to play that allow them to pursue a top level career or just to play for fun from the time they are six or seven years up well into adulthood. Some succeed at the highest levels. When we were at JYP it coincided with the press conference announcing that their star 19 year old defenseman, Sami Vatanen, had agreed to a contract with the Anaheim Ducks in the NHL, becoming the fifth Finnish player to be signed by the team. The students and I met Sami and were able to view his press conference as well as to tour the arena and learn about the operations of one of Finland's leading ice hockey clubs. Sami will play one more season for JYP and then join the Ducks. Keep an eye out for this young player who has already won many awards for excellence in his young career. He is small for a defenseman but he is lightning quick.

We have learned that the Finnish league is a strong one, but that a number of top players go on to play in the KHL (most teams are in Russia) or the NHL. We also learned that the Finnish clubs do better when a player signs with the Russian-dominated KHL than when a player signs with the NHL. JYP is a success story in the Finnish league despite losing a player or two here and there to the larger international leagues. They play in a state-of-the-art small arena by North American standards. It is the smallest in the Finnish League seating nearly 4,700 however there is not a bad seat in the house and everyone feels close to the action. They sell well over 80% of capacity in season tickets in a city of 130,000 which is not too bad at all. Like Canada, Finland's leading sport in ice hockey in terms of attendance, professional organization, and sponsorship income.

The current world champions will co-host the 2012 World Ice Hockey Championships next May playing the opening rounds at home in Helsinki in a group that includes the USA and Canada. It should be an awesome atmosphere and some of our students will be able to be there and work and research on the event in partnership with the Finland School of Sport Business. The Ducks will be opening their regular season in the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki on Friday October 7th against the Buffalo Sabres, just prior to that on the 4th they will play Finnish club Jokerit, the former club of Teemu Selanne. On the 8th the Ducks will play in Stockholm, Sweden against the New York Rangers.

Hockey is becoming more and more of a global sport and Finland is a small but important nation in international ice hockey circles. Some people in the USA may have forgotten that it was Finland that the "Miracle on Ice" team defeated for the gold medal in Lake Placid in 1980 and Finland is always a team to beat in the Olympics and of course in the World Championships. You may not know too much about Finland and hockey unless you follow the NHL or Olympic hockey but their success should come as no surprise once you see how well organized their hockey development programs and clubs are and how they feed both into the professional teams and into opportunities for playing hockey for fun throughout life. Congratulations to Sami Vatanen and to the local clubs here who nurtured his talent.

The Biggest Collision in Wembley As Seen from Estonia

2010-2011 UEFA Champions League: FC Barcelona 3, Manchester United 1

On May 28^th, 2011, there was one of the biggest soccer matches ever in London, England. The final match of the 2010-2011 UEFA Champions League was held in Wembley stadium, London. A total of 76 teams of the 52 European football associations participated in this season of the UEFA champions League. Only FC Barcelona from Spain and Manchester United from England were able to go to final round. The match attracted universal attention because each team has been known as two iconic giants of world soccer. Moreover, each team won the champion title of their national league, which are currently the strongest domestic leagues in the world. FC Barcelona won the champion title of Spanish Première League, and Manchester United won the champion title of English premier league of this season.

            

Unfortunately we did not have tickets to the match, but neither did the hundreds of millions who watched the match in Europe and around the world. The global audience for this game was the second largest in recent history, only surpassed by last year’s World Cup final between Spain and The Netherlands. Like millions of Europeans we gathered wherever we were that day to watch the game in a Super Bowl-like atmosphere though no Super Bowl I have seen seems to have been watched with as much passion or intensity. We were on a side tour to Tallin, Estonia which as you have read is a ferry ride away from southern Finland. When the time came for the match we gathered with hundreds of fans from Estonia and other parts of the world to watch the match – and what a display of soocer brilliance it was, especially from the winning team.

The Argentinian superstar Messi showed why he is the best soccer player in the world. When people talk about the best soccer player of today, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are always mentioned. It was always a hard to choose one player. However, this year Messi has been showing spectacular moves during the season, and he scored 11 goals just in the UEFA champion’s league matches before the final game. Finally, he scored one more goal during the final game, and he equaled Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s record of 12 goals in a single season. In addition, he selected  “Man of the Match” and won the MVP of the whole season.

FC Barcelona proved they are the current best soccer club team of the world. With new manager Guardiola, FC Barcelona becomes a best current team of the world. They absolutely try not to show themselves on the field. They always work as a team. Especially, the center midfielder Xavi and Iniesta combination conquered the field by passing to each other. The percentage of ball possession of each team in the game was 63% by FC Barcelona and only 37% to Manchester United. In addition, FC Barcelona’s success 662 passes out of 772 attempts (86%), however, Manchester United was only able to make 301 passes out of 419 attempts (72%). All the statistic results showed how well the FC Barcelona’s players controlled the match on the field.

Manchester United couldn’t win the battle of revenge. The two teams met in the 2008-2009 UEFA champions league’s final match. On May 27^th, 2009, Manchester United lost the match 0-2 in Stadio Olimpico, Rome. They had been waiting for two years to have their revenge. They finally got the exact same situation to take their revenge on May 28^th, 2011. Unfortunately, the manager and the players couldn’t do anything to win. Although the 1-1 tied scored by Wayne Rooney of Manchester United in the first half, they lost the match 3-1 because of the two goals by David Villa and L. Messi in second half of the match.

The biggest European soccer match was ended with FC Barcelona raising the Champion’s Trophy. Sir Alex Ferguson, the team manager of Manchester United, admitted the that FC Barcelona was the best team he has ever been matched against. After the match, FC Barcelona’s players rejoiced their victory while raising their champion cup, and we also celebrated their victory in an English pub in Tallinn, Estonia. I don’t understand any Estonian, yet we all understood the magic of the Barcelona team that night and did not need anything but the language of soccer to express our feelings. Of course some people were supporting Manchester United, but even they had to admit that Barcelona were easily the better team and deserved to win.

I’m going to Tallinn, Estonia…You’re going to where!?

By Jessica Bohince

After I posted on Facebook that I would be visiting Tallinn, Estonia, most of my friend’s responses were, “Where is that?” To be honest with you, I really didn’t know where it was either before the trip.  I knew it was south of Finland and that was pretty much it. Most Americans don’t think of Estonia when planning a vacation in Europe, but after two days of exploring the “Old Town”, I can now say I know where it’s located and that I would definitely recommend putting it on your places to travel list!

Tallinn is the capital of Estonia and is located along the Gulf of Finland and is roughly 50 miles south of Helsinki.  A small group of students (some from George Mason University and San Jose State University) embarked on a whirlwind weekend trip to this forgotten city! We left campus by bus and headed over to the City Center, which is the main shopping area in Jyväskylä, for a quick bite to eat.  Most of us ate at McDonalds; I know! I know! Out of all the places to choose, we chose McDonalds, but it tasted just like home!  After lunch, we headed to the train station and departed to Helsinki.  The train ride was about 3-4 hours.  We kept ourselves occupied with laptops, iPods, iPads, and a hilarious game of “Finish the sentence.”  Once we arrived in Helsinki, we headed to the ferry that would take us to Tallinn.  Ok, when I heard “ferry” I thought of a medium size boat with maybe a snack bar, but the boat we took was no ferry, it was a cruise ship! There were multiple levels, shops, cafes, and even a dance floor.  I was so excited! I had never been on a cruise ship before.  We settled into our cabins and then headed to the deck to take photos of the beautiful scenery.  The view we had was absolutely stunning! After we had taken about 100 pictures each, we went down to the lounge area to hang out.  The group ended up sitting right next to the karaoke area and of course some of the group decided to participate.  Daniel performed “Macho Man” and for not knowing most of the lyrics, he was pretty good! His dance moves really put the performance over the edge! 3 other girls and I performed “Tearin’ Up My Heart” by N'SYNC and we killed it! Way to go Brenda, Shell and Jessica! After we finished the song, it was getting pretty late and we decided to head to our cabins because we had an early morning ahead of us.

On Saturday, May 28^th we left the ship, which was named the Viking Xprs, at 7am.  The group headed to the Radisson Blu Hotel Olümpia via bus.  We arrived at the hotel and ate breakfast and I must say it was so good!  There were many different choices and I didn’t eat anything I didn’t like.  After breakfast the group had a scheduled bus tour.  We loaded on the bus and were off the explore Tallinn! Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable about the history of Tallinn and also where to take great photos.  We visited a Russian Orthodox Church, a palace, the venue of Tallinn Song Festival, plus many more.  Once the tour concluded we explored the Old Town on our own.  Our tour guide recommended Peppersack for lunch so that’s where we went.  It was a medieval restaurant and the food was amazing! It was a little bit pricey, but worth every cent.  For the rest of the afternoon the group toured the city.  We did some shopping and watched a few street performances. While we were in Tallinn, there was a Festival going on so we were able to experience the shows and see the handmade crafts. 

The group decided to head back to the hotel after all of our feet started to hurt, plus the Champions League Final between Barcelona and Manchester United would be coming on at 9:45pm. This football match is like the Super Bowl and the Europeans take their football very serious as I learned that at the Aston Villa Match. We deiced to watch the match in hotel Pub.  There was a mixture of fans from both teams, but the Barcelona fans were more vocal. During the match, I realized once again that football is more technical than I thought.  There is more to it than just trying to kick a ball into a net. Barcelona won the match which made most of group and bar extremely happy.  After the match I headed upstairs to get some sleep because we had a long day of travel ahead of us.

On May 29^th we left Tallinn, Estonia.  We toured the city a little more and stopped at a local donut shop one our tutors recommended. I’m so glad we stopped there! It was a great way to end our trip. We headed to the Viking Xprs around 3pm and landed in Helsinki around 7pm then left on the train for Jyväskylä around 8pm.  We arrived back to our dorms at 11:30pm.  The weekend flew by and the Old Town is something I will always remember.  The history of the city is very much alive and you experience it when you are there.  So the next time you are thinking of planning a European adventure, do not forget about Tallinn!     

The Importance of Being...

By Dr. Nauright

We are in Finland learning about sport and event marketing and the students had a great trip to Estonia that you will be hearing about shortly. While learning about how to promote sport and sporting events, we are learning more and more about the operation of sports organizations.

Right now, the news is full of the “crisis” in FIFA, the governing body for international soccer. Only a day after the splendid performance of Barcelona in dominating Manchester United in the Champions League Final at Wembley in England, FIFA’s press conference reporting on its internal investigation of bribery and corruption was covered live around the world. The current state of play is that the head of the Asian Football Confederation and Vice President Jack Warner of Trinidad have been temporarily suspended and we are told they have a case to answer. Warner has claimed he has many revelations to make.

All of this has left the current FIFA President Sepp Blatter running unopposed for another term as President of what is arguably now the most significant sporting organization in the world and certainly the largest for a single sport. We have learned, however, that whatever the issues it will be resolved within the FIFA “family.” Stay tuned if you haven’t been until now.

Good or bad, soccer is news around the world. I think we are beginning to see glimpses of this in the USA. Large countries with excellent infrastructure such as the USA, UK and Australia lost their bids to host the World Cups in 2018 and 2022 in favor of Russia (where the upcoming Winter Olympics are said to be six times over budget) and Qatar, a small oil-wealthy Arab state. Allegations of corruption surround Qatar winning the 2022 bid are rife, though nothing has been proven for certain at this stage. Whether you are pro or anti FIFA, there is no denying that its presence is felt from small communities in Africa to large arenas in Japan and everywhere in between.

That sport makes the news time and again for scandals: of corruption (the International Olympic Committee in the 1990s and now FIFA); doping (The Tour de France at least since 1998); or for bad behavior of players. Surely those who hold the reigns of power cannot remain convinced for much longer that any of us exist with our eyes closed to the wider world of sport. This is not to say that we can or will “overthrow” the current power structures in world sport, but, even while appreciating the positive impacts that sport makes in society, we should continue to pressure sports organizations and officials to work for the good of sport more than for the good of themselves and to create a more positive sporting environment for all. Thankfully the following story was a feature on Lorna Thorpe, the teacher in Jamaica who inspired Usain Bolt and many others to enjoy running. Bolt has used his success to give back to the school and to support its athletic and other programs.

Watching hundreds of Finns out walking and playing sport this evening on a beautiful blue sky summer’s evening as well as the inspiring story from Jamaica reminds me that we as humans love to move, to play, and to enjoy the physical universe. Suddenly those scandals seemed further away, and there is a lake around every corner to see… 

Jyväskylä: The grain village of Finland!

By Ahad Rashid

We landed at Helsinki Monday at mid-day to begin our journey through northern Europe. From the airport we took a bus to the train station and took a train to Jyväskylä (yi-vas-kula), where we will spend most of our trip in Europe. Jyvaskyla means grain village, it is also the capital of central Finland and the second largest city on the Finnish Lakeland.  When we arrived to Jyväskylä we were met by our student tutors who are taking care of us while we are here and help us with what we have to do while we are here and coordinate our afternoon and evening activities. The tutors are awesome! They speak English very well and are extremely helpful as well as very knowledgeable about the city. We had the full travelers experience on our journey by taking a plane train and multiple automobiles to get to Jyvaskyla. The first thing we did in Jyvaskyla after our 8 hour journey was to eat at Hesburger in the Jyväskylä train station, this is the Finnish version of McDonalds, but tastes better.  After that we took the city bus to our KOAS student apartments, there our tutors helped us get situated in our rooms and taught us everything we need to know about where we are living including the sauna. (Which is a big thing to do here!) After that we went to the local grocery store to buy our essentials while we are living here, everywhere you go here you are surrounded by nature. To put it another way, I heard one professor say that Finland is a place “where there is a lake around every corner.” The Landscape is absolutely stunning and very green. However, I think the coolest part about Jyväskylä is that there is about 19 hours of daylight here each and every day in the summer! It is truly amazing to be able to see the sun at 10:45 at night and for it to still not be dark at midnight. This is also one of the most efficient and punctual cities I’ve ever been too. The buses are never late and energy is saved because their lights have sensors and so do their escalators so when nobody is using them you are not wasting any power.

The following day after our arrival we had our orientation and the first day of our classes, the great thing about the classes are that they are in the morning and this gives us the rest of the day to explore and do activities in Jyväskylä. After our first day of classes we had lunch and went to the city center to visit the church in the middle of Jyvaskyla’s downtown area. After that we went to the museum of central Finland and saw all of this area’s history from Jyväskylä’s founding date in 1837. After that we went to the museum of Alvar Aalto who was a very famous and talented Finnish architect from Jyvaskyla who designed many buildings in this area. After the two museums we met up with the other students from California who are here and went to Alan’s Pizzeria and had reindeer and moose meat pizza, which was an awesome and surprisingly yummy experience!  The next day after class our amazing tutors set up a bus tour for us and Thursday after class they have set up a boat trip around the gorgeous lakes of Jyväskylä, which will make for excellent photos.  I love Jyväskylä so far it’s a beautiful place with great people; I’m looking forward to the next two and a half weeks we will spend here in Jyväskylä. As Dr. Nauright said, at least so far, Suomi Rokka!  

“We’re Up, You’re Down”: An Unusual and Awesome Day at Aston Villa Football Club

By Dr. Nauright

There’s much more to the Premier League than Man U, Chelsea and Arsenal who seem to dominate the headlines, and of course win the championships of recent years. There are several teams with historic success that have huge local, regional, national, and even global following. We were lucky to see two of those teams in action on Sunday, May 22.

That day the AIS was hosted by Aston Villa Football Club for the last Premier League match of the season at Villa Park. As Daniel mentioned I am rather partial to The Villa having followed them since 1980. It has been a few years since I was able to get to Villa Park for a match so naturally I was excited to be there. Villa exceeded themselves, however.

For those of you who don’t know, Aston Villa Football Club is in Birmingham, England. It was founded as a program of the local Methodist church in 1874. It’s leader, William Macgregor founded the English Football League in 1888. Villa was the dominant club of the next 15 years and continued to be successful periodically after that. Villa won the Football League championship in 1980-81 and followed that up with victory in the European Cup (now Champions League) in the 1981-82 season, becoming only one of four English clubs to win the title along with Manchester United, Liverpool and I’ll bet some of you didn’t know the fourth – Nottingham Forest.

Villa finished second in the first season of the Premier League and was sixth the past three seasons before this one. The club is owned by Randy Lerner who also owns the Cleveland Browns. This season was a bit of a struggle, but with an away victory over Arsenal the week before, Villa was assured of avoiding relegation. Villa’s two biggest rivals, however, were fighting for their life on the last day, most notably the hated Birmingham City.

We had a behind the scenes tour, sat on the players’ bench, and learned how a Premier League match operates. Then we were invited into the season ticket holders pub/restaurant in the old Holte Hotel next to the ground (stadium). The Holte End is the stand where the hard-core fans – the ones who sing and chant the most – sit. We then found our seats with perfect sight lines of the whole field and opposite the Liverpool fans. There were some 3,000 there for Liverpool and they certainly made themselves heard, singing constantly during the match. Indeed, Liverpool, I must confess, probably have the most vocal support.

What was really strange was that the Villa supporters were rather quieter than usual and largely ignored the Merseysiders’ singing. Why? Because, for the first half of the match and then some, Birmingham City was ahead in the battle to avoid relegation. Villa scored during the first half and this was greeted with delight. The stadium erupted, however, when Tottenham scored against City pushing them into the bottom three and into a relegation position. The 40,000 Villa fans all stood up chanting “We’re Up, You’re Down” and other shall we say less savory chants. Then Birmingham equalized and the mood changed again. All the sudden we heard “C’mon you Spurs” as the Villa crowd urged on Tottenham, just in case the sound carried the 90 miles or so down to London. In other words, the majority of effort by the home fans had nothing to do with either team playing at Villa Park on the day! Not sure that would ever happen in the States. After a dramatic end in which the battle was unclear, Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) narrowly escaped, while Birmingham, to the delight of the Villa fans, was relegated to a lower league along with Blackpool and West Ham.

For its part, Villa, 1-0 winners, finished the season a respectable 9^th in the League while Liverpool ended up 6^th. Not a bad to end the season for Villa with wins against Arsenal and Liverpool. I am excited to have helped create several new Villa supporters, but the real thanks goes to the Aston Villa staff, fans, and players. Our students were well looked after by a club that prides itself on local engagement and community. I confess that to see Villa defeat Liverpool for the first time since 1998 was also pretty special.

And while the world is a huge place, it can be a small world too! On the way home, I ran into one of our former American Model of Sport students from Denmark, Jacob Madsen, who was also at the match (though he was supporting Liverpool as do many people in Scandinavia).

This weekend the students will get a new global soccer experience watching the Champions League Final between Barcelona and Manchester United from Estonia. Meanwhile, we have arrived in Finland greeted this morning with beautiful sunshine and we have twenty hours of daylight! It is hard to beat Europe in the summertime especially at the beginning and end of summer when there is good soccer to be found as well!

London Calling

By Daniel Zimmet

A motley crew of Mason students departed on the latest AIS sponsored study abroad course last Thursday night. After a sleepless flight (at least for me) over "the pond" we arrived at London Heathrow airport.  Even though we were tired, we had to take advantage of being in London!  After dropping our stuff off at the hotel, we headed to The Chandos, a pub in Leicester Square, where I had the famous fish and chips.  For the 3 days that we were there I had fish and chips for 3 different meals.  After lunch we went on a Double Decker bus tour. The weather was awesome and people came out of the woodworks to enjoy it. There is so much history in London, which made every second of the tour enjoyable.  The following day we went to see the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace, up close.  This was definitely my favorite thing we saw while in London.  For such a big ceremony and tradition to take place each and everyday is remarkable. (Talk about event management skills!) On our final full day in England we went to see Aston Villa play Liverpool in the Premier League. It was the last round of matches for the season.  Villa won 1-0 which obviously made Dr. Nauright very excited, as well as Villa's new fans among us.  The singing and commitment to various clubs is nothing like the commitment we have to teams in the states. "We're up, and you're down, we're going up, you're going down" was frequently sung throughout the stadium as Villa's arch-enemy Birmingham City were relegated to a lower league for next season. Liverpool's 3,000 fans could be heard singing throughout the match whether ahead or behind. I definitely did not grasp how much soccer means to Europeans until I saw it first hand.  We are off to Jyväskylä, Finland now, where we will be studying.  Can't wait for the next chapter on this trip!