BeerleaderS: First at all, thank you for taking your time for us!
Shawn Olson: No prob at all.
BeerleaderS: We are glad you do this interview with us.
Shawn Olson: Yeah oh thank you.
Beerleaders: We want to ask you, what happend with the number 4 jersey? I know you answerd this allready one time for us, but ..
Shawn Olson: You mean what happend, why did I choose the number 4, or?
BeerleaderS: No the the large one from ...
Shawn Olson: Oh that one, oh it’s actually in the lockerroom. I’ve kept it, it’s in one of the lockers, I have no idea what I’m gonna do with it, it’s so big that it’s not practical actually ever to put it up anywhere, but it’s so cool that I, ah It’s hard to let go . My friend Art, how´s the receiver coach this year, I showed it to him when he first got here he was like: that is amazing.
So it’s a pretty cool thing, and I have no idea what I’ll ever do with it, probably nothing, but it’s just cool to have.
BeerleaderS: You gonna keep it?
Shawn Olson: Yeah, probably! (laughing)
BeerleaderS: Now can I ask you, why did you choose number 4?
Shawn Olson: I choose number 4, .... why did i choose ....., well probably because of Brett Favre. Brett Favre is another guy that, ... I has had a lot of idols, guys I looked up to as i was growing up. Brett Favre was a quaterback I allways really admired how he played the game. He is a tough guy, he plays injured, he hasn’t missed a game, I think his whole carrier. I like the way he plays, he is a bit of a gunslinger, he takes chances, and things like that, he was a guy that i allways tried to play like and ..... when I was in college I had to decide what number I wanted to be and that was the one I picked, because I was hoping I could play like him.
BeerleaderS: Another question is: what did you think when you heard the first time Mr Smythe will not come back to Austria? What were your first feelings because I think at this moment you knew that you gonna be headcoach?
Shawn Olson: Yeah I think it was one of those things that ahm..., you know a lot of things happen in the off season and the first time we heard that coach Smythe wasn’t gonna be coming back, your first reaction is allways a little bit, ok well what are we gonna do now type of thing, especially someone like coach Smythe who’s been here for so long. We knew that the day to day operations would not change to much, because over the last 3 or 4 years I’ve been doing similar stuff to what I’ve been doing this year. The gameday things will be changing and who’s calling plays, who’s offense are they running, things like that would change a lot and I knew that I had a lot more preassure on my shoulders, obviously someone as succsessful as coach Smythe, who had been here for so long, who basically the fans only knew as the vikings headcoach so there was lot more preassure involved but Chris and myself were very confident and we were up to the challenge and after the initial ....ahm .. shock, and sort of anxiousness of what are we gonna do, it was actually an exciting oportunity for me and I was looking forward to it and yeah I’ve been happy. I mean we’ve loved that he was here, because he was someone that was always a great resource of knowledge and experience and it was allways nice to have someone to lean on, but it didn’t work out that way.
BeerleaderS: And how did you come to gips with beeing a headcoach now?
Shawn Olson: Well I mean co-headcoach and we are three of us that are basically doing different parts of the job and it’s something that i think even for when I was playing in college it’s something that I kind of figured at some point I would be in that position. My last .... I had a different sort of college experience than I think the average player and I had three headcoaches when I was in college for a number of reasons and the last one was an inexperienced guy and I had to take a lot of the responsibility as far as with the offense and so .... I sort I feelt like I was ready for that position ahm over the last say 3 or 4 years, I was actually eager to move on to my coaching aspect of my life and part of my life and get experience and get on the silence to have the freedom to do the things I would like to do and it hasn’t been that hard of an adjustment for me actually.
BeerleaderS: Do you miss to play football yourself?
Shawn Olson: Of course, I mean it’s one of those things, when you play it’s very difficult to step away. I have the advantage of when I finished playing college I had a year where I coached at the University of Calgary and so that was a year what was very difficult for me, because I was at an age where I really still had it in my blood, where I really felt like I could play, I was coming of a disappointment, I thought I was gonna get some opportunities to play professional football and things didn’t work out and so I was really eager to play again. This time around it was a little bit different because I’m little bit older now, I am more ready to get on with my coaching and it’s allways easier when you are not leaving the game. It’s difficult when you go from beeing a player to an accountant, or you know something else, that’s much harder. But for me it’s was good, because I was always involved with football and I think for me it was time. My wife didn’t want me to play any more and you know, I’ve got some injuries and stuff and some aches that have been going on for a number of years. So I was ready, it’s been ok.
BeerleaderS: But there are some moments you sometimes are standing outside the field : Oh, I would like to play !!!
Shawn Olson: For sure, there are always moments, especially like, as a coach you have a lot of control over how a team performes, but you don’t have control over specific players and there are so many times in a game where you see something you’re like: wow, you just have to do this, and it’s always so much easier from the outside looking in then when you are on the field, I am sure there was moments where coach Smythe was doing the same thing as: Shawn what are you doing? So sometimes that’s difficult, but ahm .. it’s not to bad . You just have to trust the people that you’ve put in the positions, to be successful and give them the freedom to do their job.
BeerleaderS: What are your goals for the future? Personal and for the Vikings?
Shawn Olson: My goals for the future at some point, I would like to go back to Canada and I would like to get a coaching job at University level, that’s my ultimate goal. For the near futur and for the vikings I would like to continue the tradition and the success that we’ve had here. I think for me, when I stopped playing college football, my college team went from beeing one of the top teams in Canada to one of the worst team in Canada shortly after. And thats one thing sometimes difficult to see, so I don’t what that to happen here when I finished playing. But I want them to continue the sucess and really before leave I would love to see one of the young quaterbacks that we have here in vienna become a starter quaterback for the vikings. That would be a very good personal achievement for me to be able to help these kids reach their goals and I think we have two or three guys that have the abilitys to do it, it’s just a matter of can they do it on a week to week basis which is always the difficult thing. So that would probably be my greatest goal for the vikings, to continue the tradition and pass on, or give the fans an austrian quaterback, that they can be proud of and cheer for on a weekend. Would be great!
BeerleaderS: The vikings had a great season until now, but I think in your mind, there are sill things you would like to change or to improve in the game of the team, or in the team?
Shawn Olson: I think, as a coach you’re almost never happy. And I think as a player to some degree you have to be like that as well. You always driving to be a little bit better. Ahhh, as a coach it’s a little bit harder because as a player you can have a great personal game and still have things that weren’t done well by your teammates. As a coach you look at the whole picture and so you can have a great outstanding performance by a runningback or an offensiveliner and a quaterback has a tough day or receivers has a difficult day. So you end up stressing out about all the positions, instead of just yourself, so thats a little bit harder and you’re almost never happy, always looking to improve on some level. I think this year out team dynamic has changed a little bit, we are a bit more a running team than we´d been in the past. I would like to see as to able to feel the football a little bit more and to be able to do what we wanna do when we wanna do it a little bit better. Right now there are times where we have to throw the football because we are not running the ball well or we have to run the ball because we are not throwing the football well and as an offensive coach I’d like to be able to dictate when we do what we do. And we´re not there yet, we have our moments when we’re very good, and we have our moments when we’re very bad. We just wanna improve from a week to week basis and hopefully the last few games of the season we can be playing at our best.
BeerleaderS: We hope so too! Many things changed in the team from last year to this year, there are many new members. I know that’s not an easy question, but what do you think about this new teammembers, what do you think about Toby Henry?
Shawn Olson: Any year there’s always a group of players that are new, you loose some old friends and someones that you’ve played with for years and you get new members and thats one of the difficult things with beeing a team leader or a coach now. You have to find ways to assimilate these people into the team and to make sure that they feel welcome, so that they can perform and also just make sure that the team chemestrie is maintain, which is one thing that is really really importent to the success of any team. If you don’t have a good team chemestrie, it’s very difficult to be successful. We’ve been fortune the last couple of years to have some good import players and good on the field as well as good off the field, where they fit in with everybody and people like them, and they do their part and they do all the litttle things you need to do to be a good teammate. Toby is a guy, he’s got all the skills in the world, he’s got a strong arm, he can run, he can do all the things you ask of a quaterback. Over the last couple of years he’s played where he probably hasn’t been coached a lot. When he first got here he had some fundamental stuff I needed to work on with him. To Tobys credit he’s done a very good job. Every week I tell him to work on one thing and he works on it. Past week, it was I wanted to see him run the football a little bit more when plays break done and be more of a playmaker and he did that. He had six carries for 30 yards and some big first downs when we needed them. So he’s very good at taking criticism and coaching and translating it on the field the next week. He’s a guy thats awesome, he’s trying to get comfortable and it’s a new offense and that’s one thing that I think the fans don’t realise how hard that is, to step into something that’s completly different from what you’ve done. In general I’ve been very happy with Toby. I think he’s done a very good job, I think you guys as fans can see the strong arm he has, he can really throw the ball deep, you know , and for him it’s just consistency and that’s every quaterback and you see it all over Europe that the quaterback positions is one of the spots, it’s very very difficult to play. I think we’ve gotta go on Toby and I think he’s gonna continue to improve from week to week.
BeerleaderS: We are very interested in Toby, because he’s new, we don’t know so much about him, we want to know a little bit more about him and that’s why we ask now.
Shawn Olson: Of course, now, he’s a great guy he’s one like I said. One of the questions you always have about any new teammate but especially the quaterback position is, how will he fit in with the team. Quaterbacks sometimes have the attitude that they are primadonna, they’re “hey look at me I’m the star” all kind of stuff and that’s one thing I definitely didn’t want in the team, that’s something I belive that is not beneficial and Toby is, he’s fantastic in that regard. He really gets along well, he’s very laid-back, he’s funny, he’s kind a.., he’s a country boy and he’s from Nebraska and you can tell stuff like that, but he’s got a great personality and he fit’s in really well with all his teammates.
BeerleaderS: Do you already know how long you will stay in Austria? What does it depend on?
Shawn Olson: Thats always the question i get from my parents too. (laughing) It’s one of those things my standard answer is always: two years. I don’t know exactly how long it is, I mean my wife is obviously a big component in that, she has a good job, she works at UNO city and that obviously helps. It really depends on situation, commitments I have here, I think in the next year or two Julie and I would like to start having kids, so that plays into it as well. But I mean I think you try to take every year or every two years as a section and try to revalue it and hopefully in two years the vikings still want me here. If they do we’ll aproche from that prespective.
BeerleaderS: Do you feel homesick sometimes?
Shawn Olson: I think, it’s natural to, but it’s not necessary homesick for me because Vienna and Austria is such a .., it honestly is an awesome place to live. You miss your family, and you miss, you know, your friends and you miss ahm, you miss all those little things that there’s no way any foreign country can bring that, you know. Doesn’t matter how great .. , it has nothing to do with the city or the people you know, it’s home to you, and so you do miss that. We go home once a year, we get all fixed and usually by the end of two weeks we’re like: Jesus, I can’t wait to get back to Vienna and get away from all these crazy familie members.
BeerleaderS: That you miss your familie is natural, but do you think of one thing you really miss here in Vienna, maybe some food or, I don’t know?
Shawn Olson: (laughing) There’s a lot of little things I am missing, but there is nothing I can really say that I can’t do without. I mean one of this things is the sports world in north america, any north american guy growing up in the sports world, whose an athlet and follows basketball and this and you allways miss that, especially when you go anywhere out north america because you can’t just flip on the TV and watch a basketball game and things like that. But as far as food and culture and this and that. I mean you can go see a movie here all the movies are the same, you can get everything you need here that you can get back home. There is little things, you know, a praticular typ of cereal, but that stuff dosen’t really matter to me that much. I wouldn’t say theres anything. Family and friends is the only thing I would say!
BeerleaderS: Now, I go on with a question we asked everyone we had a spotlight with: What’s your favourite drink?
Shawn Olson: My favourite drink? Hm, my favourite drink, I have to say: a nice cold beer! (laughing) honestly, I like a lot of things, and I know it’s the BeerleaderS and stuff but really there is nothing that can beat a nice cold beer after a long day and stuff.
BeerleaderS: Now you know why we are the BeerleaderS.
Shawn Olson: I agree, I think after I finished coaching I’m gonna be a Beerleader!
I do like wine as well, but you know wine you can have one or two glasses and then,…. beer you can have six or seven (laughing).
BeerleaderS: And another question we asked everyone: Would you tell us your most embarrassing experience during a football game?
Shawn Olson: Most embarrassing experience during a football game? Hm, that’s a tough question! There has been a punch of experiences, I don’t know how embarrassing. There’s definitely, I think I probably hold the record for the longest sack in the history of football, I got sacked for 40 yards one time my first year in Vienna, which was pretty embarrassing. I still take a lot of grief from the coaches on that one. I mean, there is a number of stupid plays and you end up doing things like that, but as far as embarrassing. Nothing that really jumps on my mind, there’re some stupid things I’ve done in the past. I remember one time, in college I had a difficult time audible with a mouthpiece in my mouth and so I got the bright idea, I don’t need a mouthpiece; I’ll just play football without a mouthpiece. And so my first game, I went to a small town called .... who had a very good football team at that time, and three plays into the game I scrambled and played football a little bit ahm, I played quarterback like a linebacker, I liked to hit people. I ran and a linebacker was coming up, I put my head down and hit him and got up and I was like wow that really hurt and, hmm what’s going on, a big chuck of my back tooth was broken out, and split it out and ok that’s probably why you wear a mouthguard. So if that’s not stupid enough two weeks later I did the same thing again and would you know, the exact same thing happened. I don’t know many embarrassing things, but that’s pretty stupid. (laughing)
BeerleaderS: Yeah, that’s why you say people are learning by pain.
Shawn Olson: (still laughing) Yeah by pain
BeerladerS: That’s one of these stories.
Shawn Olson: Football players don’t learn easily. That’s for sure! (laughing) oh, actually I have another embarrassing one I just remember, I don’t know if you wanna know that, but ..
BeerleaderS: Of course, we want to know everything!
Shawn Olson: In 1997 we won the Vanier cup, which is the national championship in Canada and I was a second year quarterback that year and we sort of had a fairytale season and went all the way and we won it. In about the second half for some reasons sometimes I have a problem where I have to go to the bathroom really bad after halftime, usually I go to the bathroom before I go on the field and five minutes in and I just have to pee really bad. As you know there is no way to pee when you’re in a stadium for starters, you’re on the sidelines and you are the quarterback, you just can’t go to the bathroom and come back, because could be interception or some. For basically, probably would seemed like a day, but it was about an hour and a half, I had to hold going to the bathroom. Very difficult when you being hit and stuff to hold going to the bathroom. So we won the Vanier cup, as soon it was over, there was a number of reporters coming and asking for interviews and I had them like: no I can’t. I have got to run and I run like past them, into the bathroom, went to the bathroom came back out there and: what’s wrong, what’s wrong and I was: (with low voice) I had to pee really bad. That’s was, ahm they thought that was pretty funny and it actually made it into some of the newspapers. So which isn’t so cool. So I’ve got a baby bladder. (laughing)
BeerleaderS: So another question, completely away from that again, is: What do you think about the Austrian Football League? How week or strong it is? I think it’s very hard to compare with North America.
Shawn Olson: Very difficult, it is really hard to tell. I think the big thing, it’s the same thing when I first came over, that there’s such a wide variety of ability in the League. You have starters and stuff, some players on every team that are very very good but then you have some guys who are just learning how to play football. So that’s difficult. I think the Vikings and the top teams in Europe would probably be competitive at a third division college level. I think you see when we have college teams come over from the states that usually the Vikings do very well against them, you know sometimes we win, sometimes we loose, but it’s an equal competition. I think the Austrian Football League is getting stronger every year, and I think that, I like to think, and I don’t know if it’s true, but I like to think that the Vikings as an organisation are driving that improvement. I think you saw this year we beat four German teams and kicked five German teams out of the EFAF which I think the Austrian people and the Austrian Football League should be very proud of. And I think it’s a sign that skill wise and football ability wise Austrian teams and Austrian players better across the country which is very important and you know you can make in cases sure that the AFL is now the strongest league in Europe with the results from head to head competition. I think it’s getting better and every year it seams to improve and you see teams that. .. Graz Giants are competitive this year; Innsbruck Raiders are very competitive as they has been the last years, Hohenems improved a lot, so I think it’s good football and I think the fans are enjoying it this year because there is no so many 56:14 games where it’s boring, you know there are some games that are interesting until the end, which is important.
BeerleaderS: What do you think about next weekend? About playing against the Mean Machines?
Shawn Olson: It’s gonna be a difficult task. Any time you’re playing a team outside Austria you don’t know what you’re getting into really. You can see them on film, but they are playing people you haven’t play you don’t know what the competition is like. I think we gonna get a typical Scandinavian team, lot of big guys, strong guys, I think they’re gonna be well coached and I think that it’s gonna come down to which players execute the game plan a little bit better, but I think it will be a good game. You know, I mean they beat some good teams this year and I hope it will be a good show for the fans and we expect a win of course and we expect to play well and offensively we hope to put a lot of points on the board and our defence will take care of their end of things as they have done all year, but should be a good game and we’re excited. We like playing teams from different countries because, hopefully, when we beat them makes us feel good about ourselves, so.
BeerleaderS: If we win, would you like to play against the Raiders or the French team.
Shawn Olson: We would like to play against the French team, not because we think that they’re an easier match up, but Chris and I was joking about this after we played the raiders last time, there’s a good chance that we can play the raiders again four times this year. Football’s one of those sports you shouldn’t play a team eight times in two years. So I mean, we really don’t care who we face. I think we match up well against both teams, I think the French team will pose some difficulties for us, as far as speed and athletically ability in skill positions. The raiders pose different difficulties for us, because they know what we do and we know what they do and any time you play a team in football four or five times a year the chances of loosing one by accident like happened to us two years ago, go up, so I mean we prefer to play Paris and maybe Innsbruck again in the Austrian Bowl, but it would be kind of wired to play Innsbruck in the Austrian Bowl again and next week again in the Euro Bowl.
BeerleaderS: We would prefer the Raiders, because it’s not so far. When the Vikings play in Paris we would go to Paris as well, but thats a long way to go.
Shawn Olson: I would prefer it was in Vienna (laughing) and then it doesn’t matter, we’ll see, but you never know.
BeerleaderS: Ok, so what do you think about the BeerleaderS?
Shawn Olson: I think the BeerleaderS are crazy (everybody is laughing) I think they are crazy and I think they are awesome! I mean the one thing about Vienna and the Vikings are the fans in general, but I mean you have groups of fans that are just amazing and it’s something that you don’t get in any other football team all over Europe, it’s something that you don’t get a lot of times in professional football and college football and guys come every year, import players that played football at major university sometimes, division two, division three in Canada to a men every single one of them always say, the fans are amazing. And you know it’s very true, the fans are what make playing in Vienna so special and what make standing on the sidelines and hearing how loud you get with only 4.000 people, it’s amazing. I think the BeerleaderS are one of the leading groups of these type of fans that make playing in Vienna so amazing and I am glad that you guys are on ground, I am glad you are interested in football and I am glad that you guys have such a blast being at football games and cheering for your football team because it makes our lives better.
BeerleaderS: The next question is somehow in the same direction: How important are the fans for the players on the field?
Shawn Olson: I think, like I said it, it separates the Vikings from every other team in Europe and it separates playing for the Vikings as being desirable. I mean every player that plays against us at some point what’s to be a part of it, or asks, hey you know what you have to do to get here. We had five or six players after the team USA game who said, hey what do you have to do to get here and stuff. I mean there´s two compounds to it, I think organisation is one because players always wanna be involved in something that’s professional and organised and how’s driving for success and having success but I think players are performers to some degree and it’s so much more fun, it makes you feel so much more imported in what you’re doing and how your training is more imported when you’re playing in front of people that are enjoying what you are doing. I think it’s like I said. Bergamo for four, five years was undefeated , but those players I don’t think have any idea what it’s like to play football in Europe as the players of the Vikings have because, you know Lance Gustafson and I was talking to him and he’ll never forget his time here! Some of that players in Bergamo or some of these other places, hey it’s football in a foreign country, you’re playing in front of 200 people and you go home. It’s not the same and I think it makes the hole experience over here better and I think, it, … not just the import players, the Austrian players too. It’s fantastic. They’re appreciated in what they are doing, and they put a lot of time in it and that’s great. It’s an awesome situation, it really is. I am glad, you know, four, five years ago when I choose Vienna over Braunschweig I didn’t realise what a good decision I’ve made then. Now it’s clear and the fans are a big reason why.
BeerleaderS: Wow, thank you. Now our last question: Did you realise what happened before charity bowl game? What do you think about our ..
Shawn Olson: The samba dancers? (laughing)
BeerleaderS: No, I mean ..
Shawn Olson: No, I didn’t see them, I just hear about those.
BeerladerS: No, I mean what do you think about our check, about what the BeerleaderS did, the 1.000,00 Euro we gave?
Shawn Olson: I didn’t see or hear about that at all.
BeerleaderS. No?
Shawn Olson: I am totally oblivious, what happened?
BeerleaderS: We are playing flag football and during the year, we did some fun-games and there we sold bowle and sold these silicon ….(showing one of the bracelets)
Shawn Olson: Oh cool!!
BeerleaderS: and so we collected 1.000,00 Euro for the Charity Bowl,
Shawn Olson: wow, that’s awesome, that’s amazing
BeerleaderS: and we would like to know if the team or you realised what happened?
Shawn Olson: I can’t speak for the team, as a coach sometimes you’re so removed of everything outside the football arena, cause you’re so focused before the game. I think that’s amazing because I mean, it’s so easy for people that are involved with something to not do anything; it’s the easy way to do it. You guys don’t have to raise money and I think it’s amazing when people take time and afford to do something for,.. something that’s not for them, it’s for someone else. I think it’s amazing that you guys where able to raise 1.000,00 Euro which is a lot of money. I mean, I think the hole charity bowl was around 8.000,00 Euro and that’s a big chuck of money. It’s good, because it sets an example for other people too and other people, I think are more willing to say: hey, you know, the BeerleaderS and the Cheerleaders and everybody is doing their part, so why can’t I do something. I think it’s good, it’s adorable for anyone to do that for charity. It’s really cool for a group that’s doing something for fun, to realize hey there’s a little chance to get something back to people that maybe aren’t so fortunate. I think that’s awesome, it’s great; I didn’t know that at all, that’s cool!
BeerleaderS: So thank you that you took your time for us!
Shawn Olson: No prob, that was fun, hopefully I gave you something that is useful
BeerleaderS: Of course, there where many things we didn’t know I think.
Shawn Olson: weak bladder, that’s the big thing.
BeerleaderS: So, that’s the reason why we are doing these things,
Shawn Olson: No, that’s cool.
BeerleaderS: Because so you have a chance to tell us something.
Shawn Olson: No, that’s cool, any chance,.. I mean you guys are awesome already, I always feel you guys are just after games and stuff, but it’s cool to know that people are interested in what’s going on with the Vikings.
BeerleaderS: Of course we are!
Shawn Olson: Little small part of that, but, no, that’s great. Good, awesome.
BeerleaderS: Thank you very much.
Shawn Olson: Thank you very much, any time, if you guys need more help, just let me know.