Well, things don’t always go as planned …. The Thun Tigers fell today in 
the First Round of the Swiss playoffs. Well, today the better team won. The Bern Grizzlies just made more plays than we did and were able to pull away after a 20-20 first half tie.
Really there are many things that we can point to that lead to our demise. But, I’d rather concentrate on the effort our Tigers put forth. There was no 
shortage of “want to” in our guys. They did play their asses off … no one can complain about that.
But, we just made too many miscues and untimely penalties and the well-coached Bern team just took advantage of every one of them. That is the separation in games played by pretty much equally talented teams.
On defense you could see the Tigers hustle to the ball … guys jumping 
over opponents and trying to get in on a play only to have someone miss a tackle allowing a large gain. Then, we would have a chance of a tackle in the backfield only to slip and “Wiff” on hitting the running back.
Plus, they are a well-organized team with talent at every position. So, you miss a tackle and the Grizzlies were going to take advantage of it. From the sidelines we would harp on keeping contain on
the QB on passing downs. Then we would have someone make a great pass rush move only to see the QB scramble away to the opposite side … yeah you guessed it – we lost contain.
On offense our always powerful running game behind Simone, Sidney and Alex ran behind Isaac and his mates up front. They certainly controlled the line of scrimmage and our ball carriers were fabulous reeling of big run after big run.
Again, this is no disrespect to our opponents. The Grizzlies have a bunch of talent all over the field. They made plays to take advantage of our
missteps. But, that is the way of playoff football – it’s winner move on and loser – you go home.
They move on due to their better game day performance and we have to now retire to the sidelines as our season comes to an end.
I spent some time at the famous and popular Thun Tigers’ Grill after the 
game. Meeting and greeting our team, friends and families, the referees (who did a great job), and our opponents.
***These grills hosted by the home teams here in Switzerland are just a great idea. Think of a concession stand in the US but one that stays open well after the game to make sure the opponents are able to buy hamburgers and beer before they trek home.***
I was also able to visit with the coaches of the winning team and some of their players as well. As hard a fought game as the teams played there was a lot of very positive interaction between everyone. It was fun to see John Jordan (the Grizzlies’ head coach) and his staff members.
The cool thing about these interactions is you can compare notes and share thoughts about the game. This is a really neat thing about the barbeque set up (and the beer of course) after the games in Switzerland.
You can eat, drink and just unwind by reliving the game with an opponent … but in a productive manner that can be helpful to both sides.
As the season is now over for the U19 team … I can turn my focus to the U16 team and the “Erste Mannschaft” for the remaining time I have here in Switzerland.
Our “First Team” is undefeated and leading our side of the table. (Tomorrow we play in Geneva against the Whoppers). The U16 are also undefeated and preparing to play in another week (The Geneva Seahawks on the road).
Just wanted to take a second and thank all of the U19 players … the coaches and friends who have made this (mis)adventure of mine a great one. Can’t say enough about how lucky I have bee to work with the football staff lead by Arne as head coach, Chris “Chief” Warzecha (MD), Stefan, Peter, Andy, Bradley, Martin, Alain and Alano.
The players … well thanks for helping me along the way. Also thanks for sharing all of your stories with me and forgiving me for my lack of Swiss German!