Entry #3 - My journey - Sport - Split SeaWolves - 1st Finals Ever

Hi fellow Steemians, I am continuing my journey and this time I will try to describe you about the feelings and mentality of the sport (Am. Football). Also, I will try to demonstrate you my perspective and how I felt about my first Finals with my new Team.

If you want to read about my first time being a SeaWolf and playing the first game, feel free to read Entry #1 and #2 here:
https://steemit.com/blog/@whack.science/entry-1-my-journey-sport-split-seawolves
https://steemit.com/blog/@whack.science/entry-2-my-journey-sport-split-seawolves-1st-season-ever

I recommend you to read those 2 entries if you want to feel this story more. Consider this a trilogy until the 4th entry :P. Anyway, let me tell you about this one, I know you can't wait! :P

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CLEAR EYES, FULL HEARTS, CAN'T LOSE

Let me introduce you to American football, the sport which will firstly display to you your character and then give you a chance to build it up. There is no between in this sport, there are no left and right, up and down, there is only one direction. And, it's STRAIGHT FORWARD!. American football will show you your EGO, it will give you a chance to fight with it or you're just gonna quit. It seems like a simple explanation, but it's not. Sometimes simpleness is not that simple

This is the core of the mental side of the sport

Let's get this straight and much more real :) If you're not from the US, you're probably used to football (soccer). In football, it's acceptable to have these kind of players that have no work rate or they're not playing for the Team. If they're playing attacking positions and they are not fighting for the ball and not helping defense, we can say this behavior is normal. BUT, BIG but... In American football, if you're not gonna give more than 100% for your teammate you're not gonna win the game, what is less painful. What is really painful is if you're not working your ass off for your mate, he's gonna get tackled (hit) and maybe injured. So, if you don't want to see that, and believe me injuries happen a lot here, you're not gonna accept your behavior. It really shows you that there is no between, as I said earlier...

Ego brain, man-made shame

What this sport will also show you is your EGO. Yeah, I know nobody wants to hear or read about their Ego, but this is life and it's one of the reasons I adore Am. football. If you're not fighting your Ego you're not growing, it is simple life logic. Ego is our worst enemy and it can deceive us easily. Once you let it go you start to give your ALL to your teammate, and this should be your first goal to achieve when you start playing this beautiful sport.

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THE FIRST FINALS EVER

It was late September, it's the day we play our first final game. I was trying to sleep last night but guess what, I couldn't. Adrenaline was pumping through my whole body, I even had goosebumps. I played in a lot of competitive matches in few different sports, but I never felt this way. This was CRAZY!! I finally took my equipment, or should I say my weapons, and I set out for the field. It was not our field (still 5 years later we don't have our home), we barely rented it from Rugby club Nada. There were so many problems with renting the field we almost canceled the game.

Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno

Arriving there, I found out my teammates are pumped up as I am. It was like a movie for us. We are in our first finals ever and most of us don't even know all the rules LOL. Wish I could explain this more vividly but we were clueless and ready to die for each other! Simply as that, and believe me if you ask anyone now would they do it, I bet they would say yes! After a while, we went to our locker rooms and we started preparing for the game. From putting your pads on to reading your Playbook, talking to your brothers and preparing mentally for the game. It felt like we're playing SuperBowl :)

After the coach told us his last words before the game, we left our locker room and got surprised. There were about 300-400 people in the stands. We were amazed by the support we never thought we're gonna get. People barely heard about us but since the field was in the center of the city, people were amazed and stayed to see what is happening there. And we gave them the show.

The game was tough and we made it tougher

We were playing the 2nd quarter and it was 0:0 still. We had our chances and they had their ours, but we were even. Maybe it was the mix of our madness and the supporting of the fans that made us play a little better, so we managed to go to half-time with 0:0 score. We were so lucky but still, we never celebrated, we were more concentrated on the W. We just wanted to take that win for ourselves and for fans.

Second half started well, we were so excited

The first play in the second half we scored a touchdown. I was really lucky to get that chance to score the first touchdown in my city in the history of the sports. I was a wide receiver on the right side of the pitch and my route was Slant. This is a simple route to gain a few yards and get a safe 4-5 yards. At first, it seemed like that, because my quarterback threw me a ball a little in front of me, so I needed to catch the ball with one hand and put it in another. I was lucky or skilled enough to do that and I didn't lose my speed so I managed to escape my guard and run all the way to touchdown zone.

my TD is at 0:43 and my best catch ever is on 1:51 mins, and one catch at 2:24 and 2:41

We didn't score the extra point and we were 6:0 ahead. We couldn't believe this is happening. Our fans were ecstatic and so were we, but that only lasted for 5-6 minutes, when Sarajevo scored a touchdown and extra point. We were down 1 point and we knew we need to turn it up! We did our best and we scored another Td after a run. Run game is for me the art of moving and knowing. It needs the whole team to cooperate to succeed. We thought this is it! We are getting this win. The city will celebrate a new champion. It's 12:7 for us, and the end of the game is near. We need to give our best!

I tried to juke him but he was faster

As the game was getting closer to the end, Sarajevo Spartans were really getting better and better wanting that win as we do. Unfortunately for us, that happened. They scored a TD after a pass play on Fly route. Fly route is when a wide receiver runs in a straight line trying to overrun his guard. This route is a deep threat route and it cost us our victory this time. Sarajevo also scored an extra point and they brought the game to an end with 12:14 score.

The Team is the Team, when they lose and when they win

We were a bit down but we got big support from our new fans from the stands and it really made us positive. It was a day the city of Split will never forget. It was the day Split SeaWolves knew the future is bright for them, and it was and it still is ;)

After we took our medals we stayed with our fans talking and trying to tell them more about our mission and American football. We tried to demonstrate why are we playing this sport and why it's not a problem to get hit by some 260lbg guy. It was a beautiful day I cannot forget even if I wished to. It was the day I said I want to play here until my health allows me.

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This was our first season, our first journey into the rough unknown. It made us better and stronger and we continued our adventure. I will start to talk about our second season in my next entry. Hope you found this interesting.

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Sources:
All photos are Original Content

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