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WORLD BOWL X - PART III (SATURDAY) |
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After Friday's skiing frolics, it was time for football! We headed to the Rheinstadion for the final time to be greeted by Sandra and her box of Vodka Jellies! And the Mad Hatter's WB special! |
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World Bowl Power Parties are pretty mad - suddenly all the people you've met over the last 10 weeks show up at once! You really need about 20 hours to enjoy it properly! |
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Another stage invasion! We support the Pl@net to the end! The reason that Dusseldorf has been the place to be in NFL Europe the last 5 years has a lot to do with the tireless work of Ralph and Thomas who run the PL@net for fans. Because the Fire will move outside the city next year, it's unclear what the role the PL@net will have, but we know the parties will still rage on in Dusseldorf! |
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The view from the stage. There was a massive crowd to say farewell to the Rheinstadion. |
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And then it was time for the clowns to descend to the game. Literally! |
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Part of the pre-game festivities was a re-creation of the previous night outside Knoten Bar! |
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And of course there was "Rocking All Over The World" too! Somewhere beyond the smoke and fire were Status Quo, who were flown in to play a quick 2 song set. |
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More pre-game. It seems to be wherever we sit in a stadium the American Flag is always upside down! |
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And some pre-game stuff that wasn't planned. The stadium security went all "Rock Steady" on any fan who tried to make a general statement on their favourite and least favourite German City! The heavy handed crew basically told fans that they could only get their banners back if they left the game as well! |
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The 2 Claymores who did make the World Bowl! WR Kwame Cavil and LB Mawuko Tugbenyoh were sent to Berlin as injury cover for the game and both would see action. (Cavil making a big catch) |
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And then it was game time! The Fire led by the unimpressiveTee Martin at QB had the best running game in the league, but decided to come out throwing on their first series! |
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And this is what happened! On only the 2nd play, Ontei Jones (#25) picks off Martin and celebrates! |
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That's all it took for Status Quo to leave early!
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Berlin were led by the league's best QB Todd Husak, and immediately threatened moving inside the Fire 30 yard line. But the Fire D held, and Danny Boyd kicked a 47 yard FG to open the scoring. BERLIN 3-0 |
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But it got worse for the Fire minutes later. After a 3 and out from their offense, Berlin caught them blitzing and the league's top WR Dane Looker (#81) scorched them for a 41 yard TD! BERLIN 10-0 |
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Martin was picked off on the Fire's next offensive series and the boo birds descended on the Rheinstadion. Despite getting the ball at the Fire 10 yard line, Husak threw 3 incompletions and the Thunder settled for a 27 yard Axel Kruse FG. THUNDER 13-0 |
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The Fire had already failed on a fake punt in the 2nd Q, when P Dirk Johnson on a 4th and 1 from his own 30 yard line decided to take matters into his own hands and have another go. However he wasn't playing the Claymores this time, and was stopped short. 3 plays later Dane Looker reached over Earthwind Moreland for his 2nd TD! |
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More boos from the crowd as the usual Fire TD horses had to make another lap in Thunder colours! THUNDER 20-0 |
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Half-time and some of the Pyromaniacs take their frustration out on the Rheinstadion turf! The Fire had a chance for a FG at the end of the half, but it was blocked - ending a miserable 1st half showing! THUNDER 20-0 (HT) |
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We tried to give the PL@net a helping hand at half-time, but even they could see the writing on the wall. Where was the so-called MVP of the league Jamal Robertson? He had only 6 yards rushing. |
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The 2nd half looked like it would consist of the Thunder running out the clock behind Anthony White - toward a 2nd consecutive WB victory. |
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In order to keep the crowd entertained, Beaver-Cam made a comeback! |
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However Fire WR Jimmy Robinson wouldn't quit, and after a 26 yard grab put the Fire in scoring range, Tony Taylor scored to bring the crowd to life. THUNDER 20-7 |
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However old men were struggling in the 2nd half - needing posts to hold them up. Later Shuggie would be tied to the railing, in his one man demonstration to stop the Rheinstadion being torn down. It lasted 3 minutes. |
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Preston and Niki show complete indifference at the Fire comeback. A 45 yard FG from Danny Boyd stretched the Thunder lead. THUNDER 23-7 |
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But Martin and Robinson weren't done. And with 10 mins left, Martin found Scott Cloman (#80) for a 2 yard score. The two pointer was no good, but the Fire had got back into the game. THUNDER 23-13 |
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The Legend Lives! Many congratulations to the newly married man! The Thunder tacked on another Boyd FG (this time from 38 yards), stretching their lead with 8 mins to play. THUNDER 26-13 |
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A 51 yard kick return from Robertson gave the Fire a great chance, but Martin inexplicably ran on 4th and 10 and came up short. They did get the ball back, and this time Martin got the ball across the goal line on a QB sneak. However there was only 20 seconds left! THUNDER 26-20 |
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Then Deke Cooper recovered the onside kick to send the crowd into disbelief! Could the Fire steal this game? In a word no. The Fire O-line let Martin get clobbered by a 3 man rush and he couldn't get his Hail Mary pass away! |
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Thunder Win!
FINAL THUNDER 26-20 |
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And the WB trophy is hoisted! Amazingly after the dominance of the Fire and the Galaxy through the years, it is the Thunder who becomes the first team to win back to back championships! All this despite never going better than 6-4 in a single season! |
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Coach Vaas runs over to the Berlin fans to celebrate only to get a call on his handy from a double glazing salesperson. Coach of the Year did a super job with his team, with its never say die attitude. Twice the Claymores could have buried them in 2 weeks, but Vaas made sure his team never quit. |
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Sausage surveys the wreckage at midfield. We gave him an amusing phone call while he was there. Maybe we should have asked him "Are those 2 Fire fans on your left actually dead?" |
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Lesley gives WB winner Kwame Cavil a congratulatory hug! |
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After the game, was another trip to Knoten. For the full scoop on what happened then - please check back in a few days! |
