Redemption for me and the team!

Last night team Pislaploki had a "Cup" game, meaning a non league match but equally as important. We played against a team called Eura from another small town here in Finland. Cup games are against the other teams in the league, if you lose then you are out of the Cup league and therefore have more weekends off then the others do. If you continue to win you stay in it naturally. If your team wins the whole thing the club gets money and the title of Finnish Cup Champions. Wouldn't mind winning that title. So, last night was the second cup game the team has played and the first for me. It was a home match, meaning our crowd (which I am loving more and more every home match) was going to be there, perfect! Our gym can hold up to 1500+ people if you packed people in and set up chairs around the court. The court is to the left and the stands to the right. The side lines are up against a wall where the big scoreboard is. At the beginning of every match they turn off all the lights in the gym and spot light each player as they run on to the court. The announcer announces the other team first quickly and then turn up the pump up music and announce us individually at a much slower pace. I am second to come out and am instantly blinded by the spot light, should probably try to not look up at the crowd next time, can't see anyone anyway. Two of  the girls when announced come out and do these intense cartwheels that gets the crowd going a little more. Once that is over we go to the bench and wait for the starting line ups to be called. After the starting 6 are out on the court the match begins. Our crowd never stops cheering for us which is always encouraging. They are the best consistent crowd I have played in front of.

The match went to 5 sets and was up and down with points and performance. We ended up pulling through with a strong last set for the win. Personally I was playing a lot better and was hitting harder. I was playing on the right side instead of outside hitter which I think is a better fit for me on this team. The only thing that was slightly lacking was my defense on the right side, I had never played that position before so it was a little frustrating at times when tips and hits would go down that were mine. But time will help me with that area and I believe that it will get better. Another match this weekend and then to Jyväskylä for some much needed social time with the team at a dance club or bar. Will be a much better night if we win, so lets hope for a W.

1st Game of "my" Season

The first match of the season (for me) was last night against the team HPK (2nd place finish last season). To get to the point, it was a bad game, not just for me but for most of the team. When we stepped on the court it was like some of the players brains flipped off or to panic mode. Personally I played timid in the front row, not hitting as hard as I can and from the back row not swinging smart. My attacking skills lacked big time but my reception and defense wasn't a total disaster. There was no one person to blame in this match since most of the team was more or less not themselves on the court last night. Trying to get used to the new team and players on the court was a little harder then I thought it was going to be. We are all very happy and fun with one another in practice and off the court we click as a team. But during the game last night, it felt like I was meeting most of them for the first time. It was a bit difficult to get into the match when other players were playing scared and confidence levels were low, including my own. However, it was just one match, on to the next, there is no point in dwelling in this last match because it will only mess with our heads for the next match. We need to move on and move on fast, our next match is wednesday. I need to try and find a connection with the setter and also continue to communicate with the team. This is a very different team then the Swedish team I was on last year, but they also have many great qualities as individual players, they just need to apply them in the matches as well as in practice. I know I can play better then how I played last night, I am not worried that we will rise above this match and soldier on. I don't think it can get any worse then last night, we can only go up and forward from here. Wednesday's game will be interesting and hopefully more fun than last nights game. Need to be focused, a lot less nervous, and confident in our play individually and as a team.

The Try Out…

Day 2:

Met the team tonight under heavy jet lagged sedation, feeling slightly dizzy from all the traveling. The girls are nice and welcoming, some were a little shy but warmed up to me after I came out of my zombie like state. I Watched half a practice and they looked legit. I am excited to get into practicing tomorrow, its about time. The team manager is gave me 70 euros for the week while I'm here which was different from any other try outs I have been on. The food here is similar to Swedish food, a lot of potatoes, sauces, salads, and meat (fish, beef, pork, etc). The people here have to learn Swedish and English with English as their second language and Swedish as their third. I thought this was interesting since Swedish people don't have to learn Finnish. Man I wish I grew up in Europe, I would have been at least trilingual. Practice in the morning, hopefully I am rested enough to play to my fullest. Its the second day of a full week ahead of me. There is a game this weekend against the best team in the league so it will be good to see their toughest competition. 

Day 3 and 4:

Had a full day of practice today and I didn't totally suck! Yess. The team was preparing for their game this weekend so I was put on the B side for obvious reasons (not on the team yet). I had an ok practice but was exhausted after the morning session. Two of the teammates came back to the team apartment with me, once there, I decided to check out and take a nap, they understood immediately just by looking at me, ha! The night session was a bit of the same but with more attacking and blocking. I was on top of my blocking but a little weird with my attacking. It will come to me, not to worried about that. After the night session I collapsed into bed done with the first day, satisfied for the most part. Saturday was a blur, got up at 7am to get to the bus that was to take us to Salo which was 6 hours away. Their bus seats were 2 and 2 half way to the back then came a queen sized bed, then a table with wrap around style booth seating. Two TV's on board and a microphone at the front (which the coach used often right before we would stop for the bathroom or food, or both). We stopped a couple times through out the trip, getting to Salo a little early. The gym was huge with grand stands on either side of the court. These guys were Finnish  Champions 3 times in a row, I would have expected nothing else from this team but to be grand. Salo was everything they were said to have been, big, tall, and really good. Their team consisted of 4 or 5 national team players and this one Russian chick who is a beast (towering at around 6'7, maybe taller) opposite hitter. Our team lost to them in 3, the first and last sets were the best out of the entire match. It was a good fight for how good the other team was, but maybe give them a little more run for their money next time. The drive home was mundane with a lot of sleeping.
                                                                                                                                                                               Home Gym

I walked around town yesterday (sunday our day off) which took me about 5 minutes down the main stretch. There are 2 supermarkets, an alcohol store, some small shops, 2 gas stations and a few kebab restaurants. There are around 5, 000 people in this town. Not a whole lot to do around here so traveling and getting out of town as much as i can would be on my list of priorities. There are a few beautiful lakes surrounding the town which is nice since we are not totally land locked. This wouldn't be a bad place for me to live for about 6 months. I believe this place will teach me to conserve money, since there aren't to many places for spending temptation. Also it would be a good place to really work on getting healthy and my travel writing. Yes I miss being home but if I can make some good money out here then I will be taking home a lot more then I bargained for salary wise. Plus there is

a city about an hour and a half away that we can always go to on weekends off to get out of the town. Wish it was warmer but I am happy to be playing at all right now. 

Day 5: 

Today was a regeneration day. The two other foreigners and myself were supposed to go to the pool to swim but one of them was sick so we didn't end up going. Instead we had weights at 6:30. I followed their program (sort of) and biked for cardio. It was a doable work out plan so I think I will be able to keep up. Other then the weight lifting, I pretty  much sat in the apartment and either emailed or watched TV until practice, boring I know, but if I had played in the match on saturday Im sure I would have been relishing in the fact of getting most of the day off. 

Day 6 and 7: 

                                                                                                                                                              Walk from the team apartment   

Had morning and afternoon practice. Both went better then the days before. Feel like I am getting my stride back, a little slow at first unfortunately, but it is coming around. The apartment I am staying in right now is a bit drab and is serious need of some much needed character. If a contract is produced, I will hopefully get my own place and make it my own for the time that I am here. Starting to get soar from all the work outs and weight lifting, so excited about that! 

After the 7th day of my try out I was asked to stay after the night session practice to talk details of a contract (yey!!). They (the manager, sponsor, and coach)  asked me what my feelings were about the team and the situation. I told them that I would like to play for them this season and that I respected the coach and the players. They also asked if I would be able to step it up a level and play harder during matches, I answered them with a very confident "Yes". I was still a little weird after all the traveling and time difference, which they understood, so hopefully I will show them that I can bring more to the table. The coach realized that how I was practicing was not exactly what I was showing on the video I gave to them. This was true however I am just starting to get back into the swing of things, so give me a little time and it will come, I always do come around. After the chat with the coach, manager, and one of the sponsors, we decided that the manager would write up a contract and email it to me and my manager Juraj to look it over and make sure it was everything we had discussed. After I talked to my manager about everything, we would finalize details and most likely say yes to the deal....

Talked to Juraj about everything and he said the contract looked good and he thinks I should sign, I agree. I emailed the manager with the final addition to the contract and after that was added I would sign as soon as they wanted me too. I'm pretty excited and anxious to sign....After practice tonight (Thursday) I went upstairs to a meeting the board members of the club was having. There were around 12 people sitting around this one table staring at me, ready for any answers to their questions. This was a first. I answered all their questions with a confident smile but my palms were shaky and a bit sweaty. I told them I was going to sign the contract with my LA Lakers pen, because we won the championship this year I thought it might be lucky, guess we will see ;) They all smiled and laughed when I explained to them why I was signing with the pen.   After all questions and comments were said I stood at the head of the table where the president of the club signed and then stood up for me to sit down and sign under my name. With the Lakers pen I made my mark, looked up, smiled and then stood up to applause and welcoming eyes from the group sitting around the table. I felt like a real professional at that moment. I left the gym tonight feeling rejuvenated and happy, I am back on a team again with a group of girls I have come to like over the past few days. I think that this season will be fun and also a time to learn and grow more as an individual and a player. So I am here to stay! :) Will be back in the states mid April, until then you can follow myself and the team online at 

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=fi&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mestaruusliiga.fi%2Ftilastot%2Fnaisten-tilastot%2F

Long web page but it will direct you right to where you want to go. 

                                                                                                                                                        New team, new number, new jersey :)

 
                                   Lake in the town.

Took maybe a day and a half to get cleared to play this weekend. Everything happens fast out here when people want it to. Its when they are not sure about things or they don't want things to happen is when it is slow. Plus I was on top of everything from the moment I signed the contract. The only tricky part about it all was getting medical clearance for my asthma medication which was on the list of drugs players were not allowed to take (another first). With my parents help (thank you so much!!) I was able to get the paper work all filled out and ready to go the very next day. So all was cleared and ready by Friday afternoon. I got my jerseys (numero dos!!), team warm ups, and winter jacket (couple sizes to big, I look like a gangsta). Tomorrow is the game and I am excited and a bit nervous. I want to impress and show them they made a good decision bringing me on. The team has already expressed that they are glad to have me and could really use me this season, but I want to show them that they were right in signing. Tomorrow is the day to do it. We play the second place team. We have watched video already and know what they are and aren't capable of, so I think we are as ready as we can be right now. Cross your fingers for us and hopefully I will have good news after the game! 

Helsinki and the 3 1/2 hour ride to Pihtipudas.

Exhausted from the 10 hour flight from LAX I instantly fell asleep on the 2 and a half hour flight to Helsinki. Once we touched down, I immediately hit the bathroom, been holding it for a while. Going to the bathroom may have been a mistake because when I came out there was no one around from my flight. Thankfully the signs to baggage claim were in three different languages including english. I got to passport check and myself and four other people were the only in line. The manager and the statistics man were there to pick me up. The drive to the small town that may be my home was 3-4 hours drive. We got to the apartment around 4am. I was so tired but at the same time wide awake. Two movies later I was asleep. Woke up this morning to falling snow. From the beach to the snow of course, what else. Which apparently is weird weather for them at this time of year. Just my luck, some more weird unexpected weather. 

Departing US of A, next stop...Finland

"Hey! You sound like your from London!"

Waiting at the gate in LAX, I am anxious to hear what seat I have for the 10 hour and 20 minute flight before me. Since I am flying stand by and am preferred business class, I am hoping for the best. I ask the guy at the desk how its looking, he tells me that everything is full in business but coach looks promising. I accept this turning away excited that I am even going to make the flight at all. I call my mom who is looking at the list of non-revs listed and sees that my name is now on the cleared list. As we talk continually, she suddenly stops our conversation to tell me that there are three seats left in business because one just upgraded to first, there might be a chance that I get into business. The women behind me on the list of non- revs is waiting for first, so we think nothing of it, until she is assigned a business class seat. My mom in an uproar, tells me to go to the desk right away, I do. I had to hang up on my irate mother in order to talk to the man at the gate. I ask him why the women below me on the list who was also waiting for first got a business class ticket when I was ahead of her and also waiting specifically for a business class ticket. All he could say was "oops", with some rapid typing in between and then a ticket handed to me that said business class and my seat number. I was in!! The woman behind me was then handed a coach ticket in the row directly behind the last row of business class. Victory! It feels like I have won the lottery with this seat. Now I can semi-relax, knowing that I will be fed and have access to a seat that lie almost flat so I can sleep. I board the plane and get settled in to a middle seat in the last row of business class, yesss! 

The flight was bumpy, but I was able to get in at least 2 hours of sleep. The sleeping aide didn't help as much as I thought it was going to. I watched numerous episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (pretty damn good I thought). I began to watch Grown Ups but fell asleep less than half way through the movie. We were given Bose earphones for the flight and now I am convinced those earphones are the only way to go. They completely lock out the sound of the planes jet engines, people talking, coughing, snoring, or babies crying. It was amazing! We touched down in London town a little past schedule but not by that much. I got through security again, checked in on British Airways transfer gate and then headed out into the terminal. Heathrow is huge! I think I may have walked close to 1 mile from the flight gate to the transfer area. The shoes I was wearing, unfortunately were not the best walking attire in that airport. I ended my final steps to the transfer gate looking like I had gained a little hitch in my step. 

I am glad to be back in Europe but my trip has not even begun. Once I arrive in Helsinki, I am to look for the team stats guy and the President (not of the country of the team) in Pislaploki jackets. My eyes are half open now, I can only imagine how I will look, feel, or respond to them when I get there. I just hope I don't get into the wrong car with some strangers and end up in the middle of nowhere. I have a feeling I might do a little bit of sleeping on the drive to the small town which is around 4 hours away from Helsinki, lovely. I am to stay in the team apartment in the small town. Luckily a friend and teammate will be around the corner from the apartment. Stomach is growling and I need to head to the gate soon, so until next time. 

Puerto Rican Adventures 2010

I took the red-eye from LAX to San Juan, Puerto Rico on a saturday night. With maybe two hours of sleep I was restless and wide awake. Looking out the small airplane window, I saw a flash of light that I knew was not from the planes light system. Quickly realizing that what I had just seen was a lightning storm up ahead, I immediately hoped we were not going to be traveling through it. Luckily we were able to go around the aggressive storm, however I had the perfect seat for the show. Watching the flashes of light from above wondering how bad it really was on land, we were high above all the chaos while the moon was shinning on the tops of the dark ominous clouds. Up ahead I saw what looked like a city blanketed with light clouds. My eyes were playing tricks on me though, I then realized I was looking at the beginning of the sunrise through a window in the sky. Once again I had scored the best seat in the house for this particularly spectacular sunrise. I waited and watched as the sky on the horizon turned from deep dark blue to light powder blue. Five minutes later other colors began to appear. Different shades of orange and red were seeping into the picture perfect sunrise, this part of the world was waking up. I still couldn't see the actual sun, but I knew it was coming, with the way the colors changed in the sky, it was close. Huge rays of light were sprouting up on the blurred horizon. The anticipation was starting to get to me, every time I thought the sun was going to break up over the clouds, I was wrong. After five miss judged sun sightings, it finally rose above the clouds, forcing me to squint hard and shade my eyes in order to look in that direction. The way the suns rays danced on top of the clouds, I felt like what I was witnessing wasn't real, like I was looking at a painting. The day had finally arrived for American Airlines Flight 238. 

I arrived in San Juan at 9:15 in the morning. I was exhausted but my adrenaline kicked in when I realized who I was going to see at the arrival gate. My best friend Scott is a USA national Coast Guard, stationed in Puerto Rico (one of a couple reasons as to why I decided to go). I made my way outside and was instantly hit with a breath of hot, wet air. First words out of my mouth to Scott "its hot as balls out here!" truth. It must have been about 85-90 degrees the day I got there. After an awesome hug from Scott, we jumped into his terrifically air conditioned truck and headed for the base and the beach. What I noticed while driving around in PR was the illusion of the not so smooth roads. It may look like they are nicely paved with little pot holes and cracks, but that is just because you are racing along at incredible speeds. Puerto Ricans are crazy drivers, yes, but not as crazy as German drivers. I would place them 2nd to the Germans. A friend told me that the law's in PR were more like suggestions or guidelines. They are there, but most people usually don't follow them, so you need to be on your game when driving at all time, especially during heavy traffic or late at night. The Coast Guard base was right in the middle of San Juan directly on the beach. We then immediately changed and headed to the beach close by. It was a sunday so people were out and about everywhere. The beach we went to was beautiful yet small, the water was like bath water, I loved it. While there I decided to call college friend Alejandro who is from Puerto Rico and lived close by. Since Scott had to go back to work, Alejandro took me to another beach away from the tourist trap that is San Juan, where we drank beers and updated each other on our lives. After about an hour on the beach we ended up at his friends place inland for some more beers and BBQ. It was great meeting his friends but as I sat there listening to them talk, I realized I had no idea what they were saying. They spoke so fast, it was very hard to keep up at all, so I gave up and opted to taking pictures. Later that night Alejandro took me to one of his favorite restaurants for dinner. I told him to order anything traditional to Puerto Rico. When our meal arrived, there was a baked whole fish (including the head, teeth, and eyeballs), rice, sausage in red wine sauce, beans, and chicken mofongo. The fish was crazy good, sausage in red wine was amazing, rice and beans were standard, and the mofongo was my favorite. Mofongo is mashed up plantains with chicken, beef, or seafood in the middle. I wish I could have eaten the whole thing but plantains are very filling. Alejandro was surprised and excited to see that I loved everything he ordered. I was happy and full when we left. 

That night I stayed at Scotts house in Vega Alta, a nice suburb about 30 minutes from San Juan. We rolled up to a 4 bedroom two story house at the end of a coldasack. Since Scott had to work all the next day, I met up with three of his friends from the Coast Guard. They took me to a beach they go to often. It was partly sunny that day but extremely warm so getting right into the ocean was priority for all of us. Two of them started a hand stand contest that lasted for about 20 minutes and was highly entertaining and a bit dangerous at times since they were crashing into one another every so often. Lucky for Scott, his Chief let him off early so we were able to hang out that night. He decided to have a small party where I met some more of his friends and co-workers over a competitive game of beer pong, which we unfortunately lost by one cup. Slightly hung over and wondering where I was, Scott went to work around 5:30am. I decided to get up, feed the cat Scott was babysitting and clean his place in preparation for our three friends who were getting there that night and early the next morning. Once scott came home after work, we both decided to collapse on the local beach near Scotts house for the day. The ocean water was slightly cooler then the beach in San Juan but still like bath water. That night we picked up our 3rd member of the Puerto Rican crew, Kim. She told us that she will probably never come back to PR since she thought they were going to die on the flight coming in. The next morning the rest of our group arrived, Tom and Vince. They too commented on how the flight was a little rough, quoting Tom "The landing was rough, we hit the ground pretty hard. The man sitting next to me who said nothing through out the whole flight sort of screamed." Apparently this time of year, its difficult to fly because of all the weather, something I should have known but didn't. 

The adventure began that day at the local beach near Scotts house. We were in and out of the water, snorkeling, and drinking Corona's. One of Scott's Coast Guard buddies had an underwater camera which I instantly fell in love with and took a few pictures. After the day at the beach we ended up going home and crashing on the couch with Guitar Hero and some good home made food. Earlier that day we went to Costco to buy the weeks food. That was a genius idea since going out to eat every night would add up financially. The next morning we got up early and headed to Charco Frio, a popular hiking trail that heads at a waterfall with a pool of deep water and two tree swings. Along the way we trudged through deep mud, slippery tree roots, and steep inclines. We finally made it to the pool under the waterfall. All was so beautiful, however there must have been some young juvies that had just been there because there was a huge mound of trash to the right as we walked past to the water. That was the hardest thing to see, was all the trash around such a beautiful area. knowing it probably wouldn't be picked up for a while or ever was disheartening. Disregarding the trash as much I could, we began to play in the water and on the tree swings. Tom jumped off the tall rock formation with a small yell on the way down. After we had had enough of the tree swings we headed a little further up the waterfall to another high cliff that Tom, Vince, and Scott all jumped from. Having a pretty big fear of heights, it looked way to scary and high for me so Kim and I both decided to bail on that idea. I decided to conquer my fear though and jump from the smaller rock formation by the pool, the one Tom jumped off of earlier. They had to do a count down for me to encourage my jump. I was scared but I did it, I couldn't believe it, but I guess you do more daring things when your around people you trust. The five of us trekked back not by trail but by river, weaving, slipping, and swimming our way back. Note of caution, go slow when walking on the river rocks and boulders, they are ridiculously slippery, we had a few nasty falls on the hike back. In total the hike took us around 35 minutes there and 45 minutes back. Driving home we were all exhausted but felt great after the long hike. 


Friday was my favorite day in PR. We woke up early and started our drive to this spectacular cave. What was interesting about this particular cave was you started your hike at a gas station. Pass a stolen gutted car rolled on its side, and then around a corner to two caves, one is worth seeing and the other, not so much. We lowered ourselves down the rickety steps and slippery rocks into the first part of the cave. Note: wear shoes not sandals. Once inside you wind your way around a few turns and end up in an open cavern, the ceiling slightly covered with bats who fly and chirp all the time, especially when you flash your lights on them. Scared that one of them was going to swoop down onto my head and give me rabbis, we moved through quickly, ducked around a couple more rock pillars and into another large cavern. This time however, the cavern had an opening with a spectacular view of the valley below. If you walked to the mouth of the opening and looked out what you see is amazingly gorgeous and calming. It was a 200 to 300 foot drop to the valley floor. There was a river running through a small village, brown from the rain we kept receiving three or four times a day.The green on the mountains across from the cave was a deep green color and the sky was slightly cloudy, showing just enough sun through the opening to snap off some great silouetted shots. After sitting for a little looking out at the view of the valley before us, we packed up and left the same way we came in. We stopped for a minute in the bat cave and Vince took some cool pictures of us turning the flash lights on and off in the dark. With the long exposure, the pictures turned out really great, illuminating the spots where the light hit. Once back at the car, we headed to Crash Boats beach on the west coast of PR near Rincon. The beach was the more beautiful beaches we had been to while in PR. At this particular beach there used to be docks and piers for military boats a long time ago. Now the piers were in ruins and the docks were dry. We were told that there was a lot of snorkeling and diving to be had near the pilings. Unfortunately the sun was behind clouds so visibility was short, plus we were with out fins and the current was strong and a little on the dangerous side so we decided to not take any chances getting pushed up against the pilings. Still we enjoyed the water and the boats stacked on the sand to our right. Tom, Vince, and I decided to do a short but heavy work out on the beach that almost made me vomit but I finished right along side the two firefighters. We left the beach around 5pm, sleeping in the car on the way home. We needed a lot of rest because that night we were headed to La Placita, a local bar scene, like Hermosa Pier but with many more bars and rowdier people. 



We headed out to La Placita around 9pm that night and met up with my PR friends and Scotts Coasties at a bar called El Rubi. The place was decorated with 1940's style pin up girls dressed like the Chikita Banana woman and tinker bell painted on the walls. There was a stripper pole placed right in the middle of the small dance floor and a big bar in the front with a patio area on the side. The reggae tone music blared and as the Don Q shots set in, we began to dance. The stripper pole was to be had by all of us. Tom attempted an upside down manouver a few times and unfortunately failed, he wasn't worried though, he knew we would be back and he would try again. The next destination was Fat Tuesdays around the corner. Once there we were ripping it up on the dance floor and on the bar. After we left Fat Tuesday, successful we headed back to El Rubi for some more dancing and attempts at the pole. We headed home around 2am and were all in bed by 4am, exhausted. Saturday was a lazy day filled with movies and sleeping. We decided to go to San Juan later to walk around and the boys bought cigars. Kim and I also went to a popular restaurant "Raices" for some amazing mofongo.

Sunday morning was upon us to fast. The airport was where we said our sad goodbyes to Scott. I wish I could have stayed longer to have gone island hopping and seen Rincon, but I have a feeling I will be back again some day in the future. 

The Tables Have Turned...

After looking at an email from the manager of the Finland team, its official, I am scheduled to get on a flight Tuesday the 12th getting into Helsinki the next night. They want me to try out for up to 14 days. I told them that I would be able to get myself most of the way there (to London) and so they decided that would be great and paid for the rest of the way. This try out is a little different then some I have been on. They will be giving me a little pocket money every day and also lunch and dinner will be provided. I hope I am what they want in a player and a proper contract is negotiated. If all goes well, I will be there until April. I am excited but trying not to get overly excited since I am not even there yet. Once I board that plane here at LAX, I will be pumped and ready to go. I looked at the weather yesterday and the temperature is a chilly 45 degrees! Good bye California weather, hello Scandinavia. I think after living in weather like that for over 7 years now I am pretty used to it. We will see how freezing it gets, knowing me it will probably be the coldest winter they have had in 80 years!