Week 3 - Claymores 9 Galaxy 16

WEEK 3 - CLAYMORES 9 GALAXY 16
	*Cue booming NFL Films voice of John Facenda:* "The road to World Bowl X is a long, winding and slippery road ..." Thankfully Shuggie who had slipped and sustained knee injuries in Week 2 was back in the lineup this week as we marched into Frankfurt!
	Also back in the lineup at the Waldstadion's' Waldparkplatz this week were BBQ's! A ridiculous decision in Week 1 to ban them by the city council, had led to confusion and arrests but thankfully the matter was sorted and the BBQ fumes could be snorted once more!
	Head chef Harry was back on form, and a magnificent feast was cooked once more! We believe Harry to be behind the rumoured move of the Galaxy to his hometown Stuttgart if they can't sort their stadium issues out!! We
	Surely this can't be the official 2004 Olympics web site can it?
	Move over Mad Hatter - the original crazy headgear guys have a new model for 2002! Fanclub Galactic Storm have been supporting the Galaxy for all 10 years, displaying a great mixture of outfits and hats every season. This year they have a revolving globe, with flashing lights on each city that ever hosted a WLAF/NFLE game!
	And of course the Galactic storm know how to Feed The Poorscottishfans! Catch up with FTP matters here!
	Galaxy followers were still delirious over last weeks drubbing of the Dragons. Here Marc shows off the score, and not a biblical reference. Marc will be doing the tripleheader this weekend - Good Luck!
	Then Galaxy fan Mike, who usually supplies us "Vodka Lemon", had us instead drink large quantities of gin for the "Queen Mum". We're not much of royalists but a drink is a drink! Then the fun really started ... when Preston suggested to one of Mike's friends that Shuggie needed a paint job ...
	Step One Big Yellow Stripes! (Step 1a was thinner yellow stripes). At this stage it looked ridiculous.
	Step Two Colour in rest of face Red! (Important not to laugh at this key stage which was tough for all those watching).
	Step Three Suits you sir! (The artists pull it off - an amazing achievement all round!).
	Are you ready for some football? It's the man in the cheddar mask!
	The rest of our Waldparkplatz day was spent trying to walk over to the buses at the other side, which we never managed, as there were plenty of "sneakies" to be snuck! Here Shuggie assists FTP Debbie in the downing of one such sneakie.
	Then it was time to join the Power Party!
	Even with much boisterous singing and dancing the paint job remained unscathed!
	And then it was time for a picture for the family album! Hi Mom!
	Scott isn't snorting into his beer in a laughter fit at the sight of the painted clown. Instead he is sobbing into his pint as news of Rowelle Blenman's hamstrings have come through and #21 will play (for 1 play) and break Scott's all-time record.
	Do not adjust your sets. It is indeed Steelers RB Jerome Bettis, Titans RB Eddie George and one very excited Skoda Bear! The RB's were here as part of the days tribute to the Armed Forces (our 3rd tribute in 3 weeks).
	Claymores get another pipe band playing as they enter the field. Maybe this is why we keep losing?

	Rowelle did indeed get his "one play" and bowed out with the new record. (Despite what the official stats say!)
	Early on, Whisper is in great form again, churning up the yards in the 1st quarter. But once again the passing game failed to complement him, and the Galaxy starting keying on him as the game progressed.
	Our D kept top rated passer Joe Hamilton on his toes for much of the 1st half. Once again, a safety (this week Earl Riley) was guilty of dropping an easy INT on the Galaxy 1st drive that would have been huge.
	This young blonde tried to fool us as being as Scottish but we just weren't buying the ginger wig! Still
	Then it happened ... Junior Robinson goes down and the Claymores medical staff trots on the field. But Doc Wilson isn't here, and his mammoth consecutive games streak is over ... "DOCTOR WHO!" (P.S. Junior was OK)
	Still reeling from the Doctor controversy, we were unable to film "The Touchdown" with a steady hand. A 36 yard pass to Jimi Redmond on 3rd and 12, set up this 1 yard Curtis Alexander dive. We did a pretty reasonable job on D vs. the league's top rusher too, despite this. GALAXY 7-0
	The zebra signals "Incomplete Pass". There would be lots of these on this night as our passing futility reached a new low. (4 of 23 completed). The only time the league has seen worse - the Claymores weren't even conceived! (In 1992 the mighty Montreal Machine once completed 3 of 24 passes in a game).
	This was our scoring offense for the night! Lawrence Tynes (left) booted his 1st points of the season with a 42 yard FG after a 56 yard kick return from James Rooths. It capped a sterling 10 play 5 yard drive that featured 5 incomplete passes! (Rob would get into thr act later). GALAXY 7-3
	We've ruined many of Wayne's pictures through the years, so it is fitting he does the same here. We'll even give him a free plug - find all his great work here. Dreisbach in the meantime was struggling. How much were his ribs affecting him?
	We did actually get the ball in the end zone, but alas the ball lay there dead as a result of another incomplete pass. This was just after Dondre Gilliam had hauled in a 40 yard bomb in the dying seconds of the half. With no time left in the half, Tynes slotted a 37 yard FG. GALAXY 7-6 (HT)
	Half-time was a joke after the Guildo Horn magic of week 2. We had had no idea who the big dude in the apron was - maybe Chef from South Park?
	Gene must have figured it wasn't going to be our night after events at the start of the 3rd. Hurley Tarver comes up with an INT, the big play we were needing on D. But on the next play, Whisper fumbles and the ball squirts backward. Dreisbach trying to protect his ailing ribs fails to cover up the ball, and the Galaxy recover and gain a net 26 yards from the turnover! (and a FG) GALAXY 10-6
	It's during moments like these that even the most diehard of Claymores fans wonders "Why?". As in "Why the hell do we keep traveling all these miles to watch a team that cannot win on the road!" Here FTP Dom suffers these momentary thoughts, but a quick round of beers get us all back on track!
	And look who is on hand to get the beers in and rally the troops - Front Office! While buying a good sized round get some plus marks, to be a Hall of Famer like Jurko, you need to then drink them from several glasses yourself and not spill a drop!
	Scott joined us too, in the hunt for our passing offense. We looked everywhere but couldn't find it! We're still waiting for the first reception from a national player this year ...
	How the mighty have fallen! Poor Scott is reduced to shouting encouragement through the fence at our players! A further Galaxy FG stretched the lead to 13-6. After suffering a sack, Dreisbach stayed seated on the bench as our offense took the field in the 4th quarter ...
	So then it was time to "Take it to the Bridge!" with James Brown! We heard later that the call to bench Dreisbach was not a coaching call but a medical call. Not a bad first road trip for Doctor Who - benching our #1QB!l But it was the right call - Scott was in agony on the sidelines.
	Then JB "Got on down" for 29 yards and then 14 yards to set up a Rob Hart 32 yard FG. By this stage we'd given up ever seeing a completed pass again!l GALAXY 13-9
	Shuggie instructs the drunken Americans (who were more interested in watching cheeries and pretty obnoxious actually - out of place in NFLE) not to celebrate an apparent Alexander TD as there is a flag on the field. However Ola Kimrin slots a 37 FG with less than 4 mins left to increase the lead. GALAXY 16-9
	There would be no miracle comeback however. JB hits his first pass for 19 yards to Gilliam, but gets carried away with his 2nd attempt and its picked off to effectively end the game. James seemed stunned by his poor choice, and stood motionless for a while after the game ended ...
	Jason and Flick come over to say thanks after the game. We know this road losing streak is tough on the players, but it ain't much fun for us either so we do appreciate moments like these. FINAL GALAXY 16 CLAYMORES 9
	After ages spent trying to crash a party, any party for refreshment we found stadium security pretty tight. Thanks Whisper for trying to help, and thanks GM for succeeding. The Claymores side was pretty down as you'd expect, so we took the cameras next door and after flashing the Galaxy GM's lady friend (at her request we should add) we gave Coach Graber our traditional greeting - but warned him that next week we were going to kick ass!