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May 29th, 2007, 12:18 AM
http://www.nfleurope.com/teams/story/BER/10197215
Travis Lulay Diary
May 25, 2007
Berlin Thunder quarterback Travis Lulay, allocated to NFL Europa by the Seattle Seahawks, continues his weekly diary by bringing fans up to speed.
Welcome back to the Travis Lulay diary. Just a warning: it's a bit of a somber entry today. I guess you know by now that our trip to Frankfurt didn't go so well, and we lost 35-7.
Obviously, losing at Frankfurt was a tough one. They got a little momentum early, after they returned that first punt for a touchdown. Then, they had an interception, which they converted, and then scored again. Before you knew it, it was 21-0.
http://images.nfl.com/photos/img10197214.jpg
Travis Lulay is working hard to keep his spirits up this week (City-Press).
They had momentum, and they could do what they wanted defensively. It put us in a hole, and you can't do that against a good football team, especially at their place. We had our backs against the wall the whole day, and we just didn't play well enough to win that football game.
Any time you've lost a couple of ball games, the logical thing is to start questioning your ability. Keeping guys focused is a challenge. That's something I try to convey to the guys -- that I am still 100 percent confident in them, and in my own ability to play. As a captain of the team, you try to remind them that we still can be that good football team. We just have to play better.
Bad things are going to happen in the game. When those things happen, you have to find ways to overcome them and continue to stay the course and execute plays. I really think the team mindset is still good, even coming off of two losses.
It's a crazy league -- just about everybody has beaten everybody. So, you never know what could happen going into the last four weeks of the season. We're just going to take it one game at a time. All of our energy right now is on Hamburg, and we'll see what happens from there.
This is a big week for us, to be able to bounce back. I think we had a good week of practice, and I think our attitude is still right heading into this game at Hamburg. We just have to correct our mistakes and get better.
I don't think they look a whole lot different. They showed us some looks going into Week 2 that we hadn't seen from their Week 1 game. At this point in the season though, we have a pretty good idea of what they want to do, and they have a pretty good idea of what they want to do. It's just a matter of being able to execute and make plays on game day.
Hamburg does a pretty good job. They're a pretty sound defensive team. They do a good job of mixing up coverages and fronts. You've just got to be ready for everything, and be able to react to what they do.
We'll play this game without Rich Musinski, who missed last week's game as well with a hamstring injury.
Losing Rich Musinski, you lose a guy who was a team leader and a captain. That's takes a bit of a toll on you. I think Steve Sanders has done a good job stepping into that slot receiver spot, though. He played that a lot in camp, too, so it's just been a matter of us getting on the same page.
Now, we have Ryan Hoag coming back, who started the season with us. He got injured in that first game. But, he was with us all through training camp, and it's good to have him back, especially now that Rich is out. With him, it's just a matter of him regaining his confidence and getting back in the swing of things with the offense. I think he has done a pretty good job of that this short week.
We have some weapons in place going into this game. We just need to find ways to make plays on offense.
On Tuesday, the team took a trip to Sachsenhausen, a former concentration camp, about an hour away from Berlin.
It was a very interesting experience. I think it was well worth the trip. There's a lot of history there, not all good. It's one of those things you don't realize is real until you go there. You hear about concentration camps and the things that happened there, but then you actually see one, and see where such terrible things happened.
It's a pretty humbling, somber experience. I think it was a good thing that we all got to go and see that part of history. It's one of those things that you will remember seeing for a long time.
On a lighter note, it's started to get pretty warm here in a hurry. It's been in the high 70's for the past week or so, sometimes hitting the 80's.
I have to admit, I'm a maritime weather guy, kind of a tweener. It never gets too hot in Oregon, and it's never too cold. In Montana, it's very cold in the winter and very hot in the summer. My ideal football weather is 65 degrees, partly sunny, slight breeze -- VERY slight breeze, like one or two miles an hour.
Right now, it's right about on the warmer side of comfortable. When we were walking around the concentration camp, and even game day in Frankfurt, it was rather warm. But, I'll never complain about it being too warm. We can handle the heat.
Well, I shouldn't say never. I've never had to be in a minicamp in the south. I bet that's hot.
So ... let's talk about the wedding.
We're about six weeks away. The apartment search continues, of course. I have to turn in my tuxedo size. I've been fitted for my stuff, but I'm also in my cousin's wedding the week before. I have to make sure the rest of my groomsmen get fitted, too. I think most of them have been fitted, but I know a couple of guys still haven't. So, I've got to get on them.
The last couple of weeks over here are going to go really fast, too. But right now, we've got four games left. If things play out right, we could possibly have a chance at a fifth game. Then, a few quick weeks off, working out, get married, and head to training camp. That's it!
Well ... I'm about to go watch some film. Check back next week for another exciting entry in the life of Travis Lulay!
Travis Lulay Diary
May 25, 2007
Berlin Thunder quarterback Travis Lulay, allocated to NFL Europa by the Seattle Seahawks, continues his weekly diary by bringing fans up to speed.
Welcome back to the Travis Lulay diary. Just a warning: it's a bit of a somber entry today. I guess you know by now that our trip to Frankfurt didn't go so well, and we lost 35-7.
Obviously, losing at Frankfurt was a tough one. They got a little momentum early, after they returned that first punt for a touchdown. Then, they had an interception, which they converted, and then scored again. Before you knew it, it was 21-0.
http://images.nfl.com/photos/img10197214.jpg
Travis Lulay is working hard to keep his spirits up this week (City-Press).
They had momentum, and they could do what they wanted defensively. It put us in a hole, and you can't do that against a good football team, especially at their place. We had our backs against the wall the whole day, and we just didn't play well enough to win that football game.
Any time you've lost a couple of ball games, the logical thing is to start questioning your ability. Keeping guys focused is a challenge. That's something I try to convey to the guys -- that I am still 100 percent confident in them, and in my own ability to play. As a captain of the team, you try to remind them that we still can be that good football team. We just have to play better.
Bad things are going to happen in the game. When those things happen, you have to find ways to overcome them and continue to stay the course and execute plays. I really think the team mindset is still good, even coming off of two losses.
It's a crazy league -- just about everybody has beaten everybody. So, you never know what could happen going into the last four weeks of the season. We're just going to take it one game at a time. All of our energy right now is on Hamburg, and we'll see what happens from there.
This is a big week for us, to be able to bounce back. I think we had a good week of practice, and I think our attitude is still right heading into this game at Hamburg. We just have to correct our mistakes and get better.
I don't think they look a whole lot different. They showed us some looks going into Week 2 that we hadn't seen from their Week 1 game. At this point in the season though, we have a pretty good idea of what they want to do, and they have a pretty good idea of what they want to do. It's just a matter of being able to execute and make plays on game day.
Hamburg does a pretty good job. They're a pretty sound defensive team. They do a good job of mixing up coverages and fronts. You've just got to be ready for everything, and be able to react to what they do.
We'll play this game without Rich Musinski, who missed last week's game as well with a hamstring injury.
Losing Rich Musinski, you lose a guy who was a team leader and a captain. That's takes a bit of a toll on you. I think Steve Sanders has done a good job stepping into that slot receiver spot, though. He played that a lot in camp, too, so it's just been a matter of us getting on the same page.
Now, we have Ryan Hoag coming back, who started the season with us. He got injured in that first game. But, he was with us all through training camp, and it's good to have him back, especially now that Rich is out. With him, it's just a matter of him regaining his confidence and getting back in the swing of things with the offense. I think he has done a pretty good job of that this short week.
We have some weapons in place going into this game. We just need to find ways to make plays on offense.
On Tuesday, the team took a trip to Sachsenhausen, a former concentration camp, about an hour away from Berlin.
It was a very interesting experience. I think it was well worth the trip. There's a lot of history there, not all good. It's one of those things you don't realize is real until you go there. You hear about concentration camps and the things that happened there, but then you actually see one, and see where such terrible things happened.
It's a pretty humbling, somber experience. I think it was a good thing that we all got to go and see that part of history. It's one of those things that you will remember seeing for a long time.
On a lighter note, it's started to get pretty warm here in a hurry. It's been in the high 70's for the past week or so, sometimes hitting the 80's.
I have to admit, I'm a maritime weather guy, kind of a tweener. It never gets too hot in Oregon, and it's never too cold. In Montana, it's very cold in the winter and very hot in the summer. My ideal football weather is 65 degrees, partly sunny, slight breeze -- VERY slight breeze, like one or two miles an hour.
Right now, it's right about on the warmer side of comfortable. When we were walking around the concentration camp, and even game day in Frankfurt, it was rather warm. But, I'll never complain about it being too warm. We can handle the heat.
Well, I shouldn't say never. I've never had to be in a minicamp in the south. I bet that's hot.
So ... let's talk about the wedding.
We're about six weeks away. The apartment search continues, of course. I have to turn in my tuxedo size. I've been fitted for my stuff, but I'm also in my cousin's wedding the week before. I have to make sure the rest of my groomsmen get fitted, too. I think most of them have been fitted, but I know a couple of guys still haven't. So, I've got to get on them.
The last couple of weeks over here are going to go really fast, too. But right now, we've got four games left. If things play out right, we could possibly have a chance at a fifth game. Then, a few quick weeks off, working out, get married, and head to training camp. That's it!
Well ... I'm about to go watch some film. Check back next week for another exciting entry in the life of Travis Lulay!