Let Me Tell You About Sweden » Swedish Sport

Friday night at the Bandy

Shane — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:15:04 +0000

At the bandy

What a night! Smiling Bajen faces at last as the first Bandy match of the Swedish season saw Hammarby’s bandy team narrowly beat Broberg 6-5.

Hammarby Bandy

There is something very different about the atmosphere at Bandy. I cannot put my finger on it but I urge all foreigners in Sweden to give Bandy a try. Its very friendly, a mixed crowd, some very funny characters and an exciting sport. Hammarby were losing 5-4 in the last few minutes and they turned it around to win.

Hammarby Bandy supporters

This is actually part of the old stand. The 'old boys' didnt want to leave their old stand so they left a bit of it behind for them!

Of course it wasnt all laughs last night as there were a minute silence for Per Svensson. This was a nice touch by the club and from what I hear Per is going to be sadly missed at the club.

Minutes silence

At half time we were kindly invited into the VIP section of the supporters tent. This was great, they served whisky as well as beer, and even Bandy Coffee which is laced with spirits, just to keep you warm you understand. I had on my long johns and winter socks but it wasnt that cold in the end, it was probably a game too soon for that. I have learned though that in Sweden you never leave anything to chance as far as the weather is concerned.

The boys with the Bandy World Cup

Yours truly with the Bandy World Cup

We watched the second half from the corner really close to the players, the action was intense and some of the challenges seemed bone-crunching.

Hammarby Bandy

After the match we camped in the Southside Pub on Hornsgatan to watch Leicester beat QPR. It was one of those magical nights which wasn’t planned. We left at chucking out time and I was rather tipsy. The boys bundled me out of a cab at Gullmarsplan and I took a rather lovely walk home.

At one point during the football I popped off for a korv and met two Broberg fans, you can see them in the photos, quality guys considering they had lost, turns out they are also Everton fans. Söderhamn is about 300kms north of Stockholm, it only has 26,000 inhabitants and as there is no Hockey or football team then they are fanatical about Bandy.

broberg fans!

Take a look at the rest of the Hammarby Bandy photos, have a look at the characters and if you are an exile in Stockholm then get down to Zinkensdamm one night, you wont regret it.

Football? What Football? Tonight I will be very Swedish and…

Shane — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:07:48 +0000

go to Hammarby Bandy!

Its the first match tonight against Broberg/Söderhamn. I will wrap at warm and go to the game at Zinkensdamm. Last year I went with Miss P and her Dad which was fun. Tonight I will go with my Bajen mates. I am tempted to make some Irish coffee! Its bloody freezing out there.

Tonight we will remember our friend Per Svensson who died in the summer. He served on the Board at Hammarby Bandy and there is a minutes silence for him. A mark of respect thats well deserved.

What the Socialdemokraterna can get away with and Örgryte fans cant..

Shane — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:21:00 +0000

I wrote a few days back how the Örgryte fans were being financially penalised by the Swedish Football Authorites for displaying a poster demanding the release of Dawit Isaak.

The SvFF said it was political and not acceptable.

Imagine my surprise last night when watching Bajen (lose again!!!) to Halmstads BK to see an advertising hoarding with the words ‘Socialdemokraterna’ on it. Nothing wrong with that as such but does that mean if the Örgryte fans paid for an advertising hoarding that said ‘Free Dawit’ then thats ok?

I think we should be told!

Failing the Tebbit Test! Heja England!

Shane — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 10:44:17 +0000

I am sorry to say that Norman Tebbit would have been very angry with me yesterday. I failed the Tebbit Test!

I genuinely want Sweden to do well but last night I had to cheer for England!

What a match, England score in the first minute and were soon 3-0 up. Shocking! At half time I faffed around in the kitchen as I really couldnt see Sweden making a game of it, however as is often the case with England in semi-finals..they played with their eyes already on the final and Sweden launched a stinging counter attack which had England’s young guns on the ropes and it was 3-3. Extra time!

Stuart Pearce must have been in bits at the thought of penalties, we dont have a good record on them. However Pearcey had made the English team practice pens for the last year…the Swedes didnt and it showed as England powered through to the Under 21 final against Germany.

Spare a thought for Sweden though, they really ran England and on the second half performance and probably extra time should have won it.

Still its nice for us to get a bit of luck for a change!

Never mind the Pirates, here comes Spotify

Shane — Mon, 25 May 2009 17:14:48 +0000

Now thats the way to do it!

Here in Sweden there is a lot of debate after the Pirate Bay case, and there is a political party standing in the EU elections called Piratpartiet who are ‘fighting’ for internet freedoms.

Recently a dear friend sent me an invite for Spotify.

Spotify allows you to listen to music on a stream and I am very impressed by it. I have listened to all sorts and my tastes can be obscure. Right now I am listening to Woody Guthrie’s Dust Bowl Ballads. See what I mean?

Its streamed so you dont physically add it your harddrive but its there whenever you want it. Its a Swedish based company and its financed by voice ads. To be fair its not too obtrusive either, one ad every five songs or so. Better than most commercial stations.

Spotify is an invite only beta test right now (sorry I gave my last invite out today) but its worth trying to get hold of one. I hope they succeed as its a great way of making use of the net and paying royalties to the artists themselves.

Through the keyhole

Shane — Tue, 19 May 2009 16:49:08 +0000

Through the keyhole

I am blogging for the first time from my lovely balcony at my new home. Its a luxury that I really appreciate.

Its a really nice flat and I am very happy with it, yes I need to personalise it a bit and stick some decking on the balcony floor but I am very very happy with it.

I decided to take a few candid photos for you. Sorry Mum I didnt tidy up but I did include a photo of a hoover for you

So its ‘through the keyhole‘ time, no annoying Loyd Grossman though, ’so who lives in a house like this?’…well until I personalise it a bit nobody would have a clue! Still quite a lot of you have asked me for some pics so here goes!

All the furniture was expertly assembled by Miss P! Thanks Emma, I wont forget it and I owe you!

Welcome in!

After a year of a C/O address its nice to finally have my name on the door!

Hoover shot, just for my mum, its no Henry but does a job!

The right hand side of my balcony

Part of the view from my balcony

The balcony canopy

My balcony furniture and where I am blogging from right now

The bedroom

Bedroom furniture

Balcony entrance from my bedroom

The hallway

The sitting room

Still the sitting room!

Sitting room

I love this cupboard, loads of room!

My big kitchen! I love it

My lovely kitchen dining table and chairs.

View from the kitchen window

Compact and bijou bathroom!

More bathroom

Walk in wardrobe!

Bajen självklart!

It’s hard to walk tall when you are small

Shane — Sun, 17 May 2009 19:54:55 +0000

Just got in from my lovely ryanair flight to be greeted with the news that Bajen have beaten Malmö, really wasn’t expecting that one!

Hopefully this will give the players the confidence they need to kick on now and stay in the Allsvenskan. Although its just one match and you cant get carried away this will be a big boost for the team.

I love the DN newspaper headline ‘Tony: Many have pissed on us’, a very frank admission from the Hammarby manager and its not a headline I would expect to see in a British newspaper. I think he is letting off steam as with most clubs I have followed there is a lot of politics going on right now and people have written Bajen off.

Hillsborough remembered

Shane — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 14:25:01 +0000

I know I bang on a lot about football but I have just watched a very emotional interview with two Liverpool legends. You never thought about how much the Hillsborough disaster would have affected the players. I wonder how many of todays multi millionaire football stars would have helped out the way these guys did?

John Aldridge and Alan Hansen remember Hillsborough.

When I get carried away with football I should think back to this interview.

AIK Ice Hockey videos

Shane — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 11:16:52 +0000

As promised here are two videos, the photos didnt come out so well. Really need to get a new camera.

The famous AIK anthem, I still dont think its as good as the Bajen one (Just idag är jag stark) and thats without any bias. What do Djurgården sing?

Welcome to the Jungle. OK very American but come on this is fun right, just like the wrestling!

Södertälyeah!

Shane — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:16:54 +0000

Sorry dear readers, its been a busy work so very little action on the blogging front.

Two new Swedish events for me this week though…

First, Miss P and her dad took me to my very first Ice Hockey game. I had no interest in that sport until I played one of the NHL games on Xbox. It was funny going to a game for the first time knowing all the rules! Icing anyone?

Of course Miss P is a fan of AIK and they were playing Södertälje for a spot in the top league. Apart from sitting far too close to the AIK ‘Black Army’ and hearing too many anti-Söder/Bajen songs I had a good night.

I think its rather ironic that they slag off Söder yet thats where their home stadium is ‘Hovet’ – pronounced Håvet, dont ask!

I rather enjoyed the game but AIK lost 6-2 so Miss P and her pappa werent exactly cheering. I thought it was fairly even to be honest and Södertälje didnt look like a team from a higher league.

The best bit for me was the violence! Not not the AIK fans but the players who waste very little time in wading in and clumping their opposite number!! One player in particular reminded me of my parents old Jack Russell -Sprocket. He was probably the smallest on the rink but was fighting the biggest guy there, this player was like a giant in comparison!

The game was played at Hovet. The last time I was there was to see Lemmy and Motörhead, am hoping to be there soon to see another legend Steven Patrick Morrissey.

I have to say though that I preferred Bandy to Ice Hockey. I do like both atmospheres but I think I like Bandy because its so Nordic. I will definitely go to both sports again but I think I might try and see what its like at a Bajen fans ice hockey match. They play at a much lower level than AIK though so maybe I will see more fighting!

Oh and the second new Swedish thing…

I sold some things on a site called ‘blocket’. The word Blocket is fast entering Swedish vocabulary in a similar way as Google has become an English word.

It was very easy to put up my Xbox stuff though I did get an email back saying I had to say the games were all ‘original’. It only cost 20 SEK which is good value and the guy came around yesterday and bought the stuff. So no more Rock Band for me. Thats a great game which I bought when my mates were over from the UK but its not as much fun on my own. Also there is also this nagging feeling that if I spent more time on my real bass than a plastic one I might actually get good at it…

Photos and video clips from hockey to follow.