Game Day - Go Honka!

Honka is my team in basketball and football, Blues in ice hockey!
www.tapiolanhonka.fi
http://esporthonka.fi
www.blues.fi
I've told you this already before.

Today is a BIG day for the flagship team of football Honka:
They play the final game against KPV for a spot in higher league - 2nd highest in Finland - for next year. The team was dropped to the 3rd level due to financial difficulties and for the same reason the old management was out.

Today, in less than 1,5 hours:

HONKA - KPV

At Tapiolan Urheilupuisto. I'll be there!!!

HYVÄ HONKA!

From Top to a Flop - or Staying Brave, 2 stories!

Yesterday I came across with 2 stories that were in similar nature;
One day a sportsman on top of the world, fame, glory, success, fans, money and so on.
The second day everything is gone, no more sports, no fans, no glory, no money.

Ice hockey professional Hannes Hyvönen opened a blog where he opens up in his first post, revealing the drastic change from the high fly to the deep dive. As he is a former Blues-man, he is one of the good guys ;o)
The blog of Hannes can be found here.

NBA all-star player and Olympic winner Vin Baker has opened up about his life changes, how he lost over 100 million dollars and getting rid of alcohol etc. Short story of his life change in Finnish at www.Iltalehti.fi can be found from here.

Two different stories, yet quite alike. Hats off to these brave men who speak about their challenging life phases openly. The key is to be honest to yourself, some people do not like it and that is totally OK, we can't please everyone.

On the other hand, if most people tell you that some elements in your behaviour are wrong, there is a pattern with the story, and in addition the actions / words you do or say - or you leave undone / unsaid - lead into similar unwanted results, take a deep breath, talk first to a mirror, then to some good people and think if there is something you should change yourself!

Use the mirror - and not just to see what you have left behind or running away from...!

...Damn I'm still glad I have not needed to follow their path, it would suck to wake up one morning and realize you had it all and you lost it - for one or another reason. 

Hyvä Blues, Hyvä Honka, Hyvä Honka!

Yep, I'm still alive even if my words have not found this site.

The Blues
My home town sports flagship teams in the sports I'm interested in are all in interesting situation. Blues in ice hockey, Honka in basketball and Honka in football (soccer for some of you). Let's bite them one by one...

Unfortunately the Blues are now out from this year's playoffs. JYP from Jyväskylä beat them 4-0 in quarter finals hence no excuses, better team won.

Now the players like Bracken Kearns can focus on their family & kids. I happen to know this morning he was rolling on the floor with his about 2 years old daughter. He apparently was more on top of the situation than Tuomo Ruutu last summer when he lost his kid for a while at Hoplop indoor adventure park in Espoo...

I'm glad I went to the first playoff home game as the 2nd one I missed for a different culture reason, Ystävän Risti concert at church of Espoonlahti, lead by a local music industry 2nd generation legend Ile Vainio.

Tapiolan Honka
My basketball club Tapiolan Honka with long and glorious history has been back in the top league for the 2nd season after a visit at the 2nd highest level. The drop was due to bad financial situation of the separated league team. Now the team is on the last place in the league and the last team is supposed to drop one level down.

But what does the Finnish Basketball Association do?
They decide to expand the league from 11 to 12 teams. It has not yet been (at least not published) how the extra spot will be filled, while my best quess is they will keep Honka up and rise the winner of the 2nd level.

Why to keep Honka even if they should be dropped?
Well, it is the biggest basketball club in Finland with 1000+ juniors and 1 of the 2 teams in the capital area in the league. The other team, Helsinki Seagulls, does not have such junior operations... This is why I'd put my money on Honka playing the league also next year!

FC Honka
Another great club FC Honka with sad stories around the flagship team that has been separated from the main club running the junior operations. The league team lost its place in the league and now they are kicking off a fresh start from the 3rd highest level with new background team (you can follow them at Twitter). The team with mainly young talents completed with some experienced guys willing to take the challenge to boost the club back into the spotlights.

To make a one-man-statement, I will most probably get a season ticket for the upcoming season. The price also should be at the level that I don't mind if I miss half of the games...

So... 3 sports, 3 clubs, 2 names, 3 different situations. I love sports!!!

Now I'm off to watch FC Honka juniors game, missing an overlapping Tapiolan Honka juniors game - which will be covered by another one tomorrow.

Have a sporty weekend!

Go Blues - In the Quarter Finals!!!

My team the Blues from Espoo made it to the quarter finals in the Finnish ice hockey league. They finished at 6th place and since the Helsinki teams Jokerit, the Jokers, were 7th and HIFK finished behind them, I dare to say we are THE #1 in the capital area!

The first Blues quarter final home game is on Saturday March 22nd at 17:00, be there - if you still can find the tickets...

GO BLUES!!!

PS I personally would have been ok without this not-that-surprising "return of the winter" we have today. It's already more than 5cm and more is coming all the time. 

...well, on the other hand it might help out a bit the ski slopes that try to keep operating even here in southern part of Finland all the way to Eastern late April. Currently it doesn't look so good, but for now they are in fairly good shape. Up north in Lapland the slopes are open until May. 

Have a great weekend you all!!!

Winter Walk - or just a Walk...?

Yesterday I had again the pleasure to go for a walk with Mrs. We headed towards the sea shore and it was great to see that we still have some elements of winter in place, like part of the sea was frozen. That is covered with ice so that you can even walk on it.

For some of you it might be shocking news, but last year you were able to drive on it. If you double-click the picture, it should enlarge and you might see the rescue team a.k.a. firemen apparently practicing in case someone breaks through the ice. The water is pretty cold, even though many people have a habit to swim through the winter.

Pay attention to the cover at the end of the pier: That is for the swimmers and hence there is also a water pump that keeps the water open in a small area big enought for a quick dip.

Naturally the beach cafe was open, though we didn't have a break at this one but the other further down the shore.

I've posted a picture from the cafe terrace earlier at summer time, check it out.

Continuing the theme with birds - if you checked the link above - this is what we had along the way.

That place with the ducks, weather and all reminded us both soooo much about Brussels winter. It's not that ofter I miss it, but having so great memories of several walks in the parks and woods it easily comes back in mind. Not to talk about Brussels winter weather being just like that - similar to spring in Finland.

Well, in Finland we have the dog shit revealing when the snow melts away... Unfortunately the sun was hiding behind the clouds when I took the pictures and the end result being all of them having the shade of spring dog poo all over - expect the ice.

To finish off, let's bring in some color, particularly some blue:
The Finnish ice hockey league is getting close to the play-off season. My team the Blues is about to make it in. Dang, they won the league leader Kärpät - the Weasels - on Friday. Ok, on Saturday they played again and Kärpät won it :o)

If the Blues plays strong in the last games and Jokerit - the Jokers - fail, the Blues might even make it directly to the quarter finals with 6th Place.

 

C'mon Blues!