Week 2 - Claymores 10 Fire 13

WEEK 2 - CLAYMORES 10 FIRE 13
	Dusseldorf. Magical Kingdom of Alt Beer. The place where football dreams are vanquished, and livers vanish. Yes it was time to go on the road again, under the delusion that we might just win in this city again!
	A night spent in the Altstadt is like no other. It begins harmlessly enough, with a few Schlosser's to begin, then slowly degrades into "sneakies". Here, First Down, courtesy of Richard "Why did that b'stard Webster send me here?" Barker provides corporate hospitality to Preston. Cheers!
	But sadly there is always a price to pay the next morning. Here try and match the media with their beverage - (A) Andy C and (B) Barker with (1) Schlosser Alt and (2) Pepsi. *Answer: Doh! A1 and B2 and we won't even mention what we were drinking!*
	Spirits are eventually lifted in every sense, when "our boys" Big Mac and Ian Allen show. Showing our talent for matching things, we even got them in the right place for the picture with our banner. The players were staying at the Renaissance again this year, scene of many of our past minor indiscretions.
	Then it was off to the Rheinstadion where the Fire had already brought in a collection of heavy duty vehicles for another demolition job on the Claymores Offense. The miniature girls in front are the FTP. Read how they got on this week at their web-site.
	It will never catch on ... and thankfully didn't. However the chin strap remains an interesting feature we could use someday!
	This was a great idea, albeit with a minor alteration. From the top of a giant Schlosser Alt was fired a series of T-shirt for fans to catch throughout the Power Party. Our suggestion: Replace the T-shirt with Schlosser...
	The Clowns were back in town ... Good to see "Doodlesack" (the German piper and drummer) again. They played for the team coming on the field inside the stadium which was pretty cool.
	H enjoys our newly appointed post of Alt Waitress. And yes, the tray came home with us. Nobody leaves Dusseldorf empty handed (except the Claymores Offense perhaps)
	Another tribute to the FDNY this week too, with several members special guests of the Fire all weekend.
	Opening kickoff, and a dream start. Hurley Tarver clobbers Jordan Younger and the ball pops right to London Dunlap who is tackled at the Fire 27. (What is it about London special teams and Week 2? Last year he recovered a muffed punt in Amsterdam). We were poised to make a statement on offense ...
	Shuggie and Dom look on as the statement is "not good" and sets the tone for the day. First Dreisbach hits Fire CB Earthwind Moreland in the back with a hopeful lob into the end zone. Then after scrambling for a 1st down, he throws a potential TD to Fire LB Maugaula Tuitele who thankfully drops it.
	Thankfully we get a chance to get Rob Hart on the field, and kicks a 28 yard FG! 3 points is pretty big in this kind of game! CLAYMORES 3-0
	Then when the Fire O finally got the ball they went 3 and out when Scott Shields missed an easy INT that may have gone for big yards too. Another good opportunity went amiss ...
	Scott was having a miserable 1st half (3 of 11 for 15 yards 2 INT). This attempt got batted down. Previously on our 2nd drive, after some nice Whisper running, Scott threw a pick in the end zone this time to Greg Brown. It looked like WR Jason Byworth was running a different route on the play and wasn't the last time we thought this of one of his WR's!
	Maybe he was dazed after hearing the Lions had taken Joey Harrington in the NFL Draft. If so he should have gone and seen the man on his right - THE DOCTOR! It was an opportunity we would rue as a 10-0 lead might have killed the game against the also struggling Fire offense.
	In the 2nd Q London Dunlap flattens Tee Martin and the ball comes flying out, and Harley Turver recovers to complete their fumble recovery sweep. Tee Martin? We told you he was a fumbler in camp and he has 6 already - well on the way to beating the record of 21 (set by Knights QB Jeff Graham way back in 1991)
	After Scott threw his 2nd pick on the next play, Fire O finally got going behind the running of Jamal Roberson (#25). Although they missed a FG on that drive, the next one netted them a Manny 36 yard FG to tie the score. They might have got another just before half-time if they understood "clock management"
	Half-time CLAYMORES 3 FIRE 3 We thought it was a good omen when Shuggie lost the constant fight with gravity on his way to deal with the constant fight against nature. We were 1-0 in Germany with cut knees ...
	And there's the constant of Shuggie and Yvi during a Fire-Claymores game with the constant bellowing from Preston of "NO CHANCE". We can report nothing got kissed better ...
	But half-time was stolen again by the entertainment. This year it was the turn of the 'legendary' Guildo Horn. (He was Germany's Eurovision entry in 1998 - we watched him perform 4 years ago after another loss at this stadium on the big screen after the game. It was chaos).
	He may be balding, he may be in his 50's but the man can flat out scissor kick with the best of them! We recall that he failed miserably in 1998, but his legend still grows. His song was called "Guildo Hat Euch Lieb". We translate for you below ...
	Here Guildo leaps onto the fence for the 2nd verse. Who's that eager young fan in the foreground racing down to meet his boyhood hero? Why it's Shuggie!
	But it appears the clown is too late as security whisks Guildo away!
	But Shuggie was not be denied, and he tracked him down. In fact he managed to eat a piece of pie from Guildo Horn which was in Guildo Horn's mouth at the time!
	Then camera man Preston joined in! It was a bit of a Eurovision weekend, although the event is weeks away. Preston was rudely awakened by the sight of the Slovenian entry on TV on the Saturday morning, which is as they say, different.
	The pie! The chorus!The c *"Guildo Loves You* So even if you're sad He'll come over and sing you a song Guildo Loves You"

	lan Allen can't understand it. Nor can can he understand why our offense just flat disappeared in the 2nd half. The only good thing you can say it was better than 125 yards of offense we managed in week 2 last year! At least we got 186 yards this year!
	Maybe Big Mac not starting was the key! No #72 again swapped in and out with Matt O'Neal but we want Big Macs all the time! Still
	Once again we showed we can't tackle Fire punters (after the Rodney Williams incidents). Dirk Johnson rambled 36 yards instead of being tacked for 15 yard loss and it was the biggest play of the day. 5 plays later Tee Martin hits Jimmy Robinson for a TD and it's 10-3. Another Dreisbach INT minutes later set up another FG and the game began to slip away ... FIRE 13-3
	Then it was time to "Break out the Tight Ends!" First Dreisbach hits TE Elliot Carson for 9 and 10 yards. Then after a Whisper 31 yard run, he hit Carson again for 5 yards to the Fire 6 yard line. Where was Fontana?
	In the end zone of course! After a PI call put the ball on the 1 yard line, and Whisper couldn't get in, Scott rolled out and hit Stevan Fontana for his first Claymores TD! FIRE 13-10
	With our D wearing down, Roberson found some holes up the middle D, but Manny missed a 32 yard FG. With time ticking down we had one final chance to get down the field, but any hope we had was dashed when Scott threw his 4th INT of the day to Adam Sadler. (The Waterboy?)
	FINAL FIRE 13 CLAYMORES 10 What can you do? You shake hands with the Fire GM, congratulate him AGAIN, and try and arrange VIP transport to the Altstadt ASAP.
	The saving grace of any Dusseldorf weekend. Where brain fragments relating to the game, and liver fragments belonging to your body can be disposed of safely. See you again at the World Bowl!
	There was also some fun to be had at Louisiana Bar. One of our new recruits appeared to be ex Fire LB Vince Bradford who took a shine to us. There was also a ton of Claymores players in the bar commiserating, and to see how they were we refer you to the ClaymoresFTP site!