The Roundup - 30th March to 12th April 2020
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| History is made as the first ever English language pesäpallo podcast is published |
The big stories
Sasu Toikka of KPL reaches a very different semi-final during the Coronavirus lockout
With no pesis being played, in particular the much anticipated KPL v PattU semi-final in this year’s Halli-SM, it came as quite a surprise to many to see KPL’s Sasu Toikka reach a semi-final that could actually take place.
In Ice Hockey, the season ended abruptly without a champion being crowned. Instead, the teams decided to settle matters by way of ePlayoffs using the NHL 20 console game. With each team being able to chose their players freely, KooKoo (Kouvola’s hockey team) saw the opportunity to draft Sasu for their playoff run. The ePlayoffs allow fans to get some form of closure on what has been a very exciting season. The rounds will be single elimination games, culminating in the final on 25th April 2020.
Sasu’s quarter-final was held on 11th April 2020 and KooKoo won their game against Ilves to advance to the semi-final on 18th April 2020 against HIFK.
EUR 20 million to be made available to support sports clubs and support physical activity
In its supplementary budget, the Finnish government responded to the emergency being felt in the sports community. The supplementary budget provides support of around EUR 20 million for the club and organisational field, which has been in difficulty as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Mikko Salonen, CEO of the Finnish Olympic Committee, is pleased that exercise and sports were taken into account in the supplementary budget.
“The exercise crisis package is correct in principle. Building it was a responsible act on the part of the government and especially the Minister of Sports Hanna Kosonen (middle) in this difficult situation. It must now be ensured that support is quickly obtained on the field, especially to ensure the vitality of the clubs”
Mikko Salonen - translation by Google
In previous posts on this blog, I have highlighted the impact that the Coronavirus has had on pesäpallo (and indeed many other sports). With the cancellation of the first month of the Superpesis season, there is a catastrophic dent in all teams’ finances. It is estimated that the economic impact is in the region of EUR 40 million for all clubs and therefore the EUR 20 million is clearly not going to be a cure-all for the situation; however, it is so greatly needed, in particular when there are so many competing interests in society that have been impacted by the virus.
Salonen reminds that state action alone is not enough.
“In addition to public support, there is a need for innovation and perseverance, which clubs and other actors in sport and sports have already shown. Municipalities should also build emergency aid packages for physical activity. They can consist of, for example, wage subsidies, abstentions from renting space and targeted monitoring...
I encourage everyone to think of ways to support their own company. In this way, we have a direct impact on the fact that mobility, community, health and sporting experiences can be promoted even after the crisis has been overcome.”
Mikko Salonen - translation by Google
Teams hope to boost cash by auctioning player’s jerseys
A number of teams have grouped together across various sports in Finland to auction player worn jerseys in order to boost finances and weather the storm. The auction runs until 6pm (local time) on 24th April 2020 and features jerseys from Juha Puhtimäki, Joni Rytkönen.
In addition to this, Vimpelin Veto has launched its own auction for jerseys exclusive to its players. The auction will run until midday (local time) on 27th April 2020 and features a number of game worn jerseys from Vimpeli’s biggest names.
PattU’s Blog stories cover 9 stars of the game
If you read any of Valtteri Karjula’s fantastic articles of 5 PattU players earlier this year, you will know how exciting it was when PattU announced that the series would be extended to cover even more players. The full series now covers 9 stars of PattU, each one is an exceptional read and really paints a portrait of each person. I highly recommend reading the series and getting to know PattU better - you never know, they could just surprise you when 2020 regular season gets under way!
The full series (in Finnish) can be found at the following links:
Topi - http://bit.ly/2HpcFZn
Sami - http://bit.ly/2vvpxKT
Tirsa - http://bit.ly/3bwsNGx
Juuso - http://bit.ly/39whhsO
Jari - http://bit.ly/37sOZOi
Ädny - https://bit.ly/3dDmHVM
Pave - https://bit.ly/2wGnOUd
Misi - https://bit.ly/2yvhoaL
Jusa - https://bit.ly/34uqbpD
Documentaries
If you are still itching to watch some pesäpallo and have gone through all of Antti Haapasalo’s twitch broadcasts, then last weekend delivered some much needed relief. Ruutu looks at JoMa’s 2018 and 2019 championship years in a documentary series and is a great watch for any fan to see how the humble but up and coming JoMa overcame KPL to win their first ever championship.
As I am writing this, the Superpesis YouTube channel has added a documentary on the modern games most well-known and successful Lukkari (pitcher), Toni Kohonen and his 2005 championship with Kiteen Pallo -90. Can you guess what I will be watching later?
Superpesis Roundup Podcast
The blog has been a little quiet recently (as some of you may have noticed), this was not just due to the lack of big news stories but as a result of a lot of work that was going on behind the scenes. Finally all the organisation and planning has come together and the first ever podcast about pesäpallo in English has been published!
I want to thank my co-hosts Ron Bronson and Mikko Pirhonen for their involvement and look forward to many more episodes. The podcast will be published each month and look at all the latest results and news in Superpesis, as well as focus on specific aspects of the game to help non-Finnish speakers understand the game at a deeper level.
The podcast is likely to have some special bonus episodes in the coming weeks covering the very basics of the game.
You can check out the podcast on most platforms at the moment (we have received iTunes approval since originally publishing this post) alternatively it can be accessed here:
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