Week 8 - Claymores 23 Thunder 31

WEEK 8 - CLAYMORES 23 THUNDER 31
	Saturday night A trip to Axel Kruse's sports bar to catch the action from Amsterdam where the Galaxy led by Claymore reject Bart Hendricks would come back and win 20-13 and severely lessen our chances of a World Bowl trip.
	The Admirals found many new fans this night. From L to R : Clarky (stuffing his face and drinking some beer coloured water), Coach T-Mac (chewin' on a toothpick) and Coach McCusker (eyeing the GM's drink). The Galaxy win, combined with a Fire win in Spain meant we had to care take of business in Berlin the next day!
	GameDay. The beards we've been growing for a week now are really taking shape! Following the players lead of not shaving until we lose or make WB, we decided to throw away the BIC's last week and the result were pretty amazing!
	One result however didn't completely go against our wishes and we took some time during pre-game to not only taunt Jason Byworth's facial whiskers, but the emblem on his tracksuit! Go Sweden!
	If there is a change in the offense coaches next year - we believe we have found a candidate to replace the current regime. We don't know too much about her to be fair, but her admiration for the two point conversion should make for some exciting football!
	Preston spots the biggest threat to the Claymores winning streak enter the pre game party.
	First Down's Richard Barker in the Anti-Talisman of our team. His record this year is 0-2, and he was present at the Claymores last loss at Murrayfield. All this while the lucky leprechaun that is Ben Saunders sits at home with a perfect 3-0 record this year. We tried to get Barker tossed out but to no avail!
	In the blinding Berlin sun Ian Allen and JJ Moses stop to say hello pre-game. We know Ian must have a heavy heart right now - and we appreciate his dedication to the team to return this weekend to lend team support. Hopefully he'll be back in the line-up next week.
	Here we upstage Thunder head coach Peter Vaas's entrance onto the Power Party stage! The party announcer Frank Seidel recognized us from previous seasons and starts a "Boom Boom Boom Let Me Hear You Say Claymores!" while the poor coach has to wait his turn!

	One advice to the coach. Don't sign autographs with a red pen onto a white bandana while wearing your Khaki Dockers - it leaves a red mark!!!
	We also pulled off a surprise road victory in a "Battle of the Fans", whereby the Thunder fans clapped more loudly for us, than for 2 of their own! For our "efforts" we got Ed E. Jr. the Skoda Bear! Each year we go to Berlin the bear we take home gets bigger - so next week we predict we will be wearing the Skoda Bear mascot's outfit on the plane home!
	Robert Arnaud gives us five! If he was predicting the number of interceptions Scott would throw - he got pretty close ...
	Rob, We issue the following apology. We regret any mention of a Scandinavian nation both before and during the game at the Jahnstadion. It was due to our love of IKEA furniture and any soccer reference was purely coincidental!
	The Party Bus was back - but strangely sat in the end zone all game and we couldn't figure how to get to it afterward. Not much of party bus then!
	We've cheddared and vandalized the wall before but it never hurts to do it again! Parts of the wall still stand behind one section of the stadium.
	With another Fire-Galaxy WB on the cards, sometimes you have to remind yourself that Berlin are the defending Champs!
	Pre-game warm-ups and Coach D appears to be ducking something. No word on the rumour it was errant Dreisbach pass ...
	Pre-game parachutists land on the field at the Jahnstadion. No word on the rumour that one of the game balls they were carrying was an intercepted Dreisbach pass during warm-ups ...
	FTP enjoy some local cuisine pre-game. Read their view of Berlin at their web-site!
	The opening kickoff would set the tone for a crazy day, as James Rooths appears to break free only to fumble the ball! Thankfully we recovered this potential turnover but another one would be on the way soon ...
	A nice first drive featuring some good Whisper gains ended with a Dreisbach INT #1, as on 2nd on goal from the 9 he failed to spot LB Jonathan Jackson covering TE Elliot Carson and the Berlin linebacker jumped up to make the pick in the end zone. The chance to make an early statement was wasted ...
	But we soon got the ball back and thanks to a couple of Thunder personal fouls, plus an offside on a failed Lawrence Tynes FG that gave us a 1st down - we were knocking on the door again. But we failed to hit paydirt (Jackson almost getting a 2nd INT) and Rob Hart continued his perfect season with a 23 yard FG. CLAYMORES 3-0
	The yellow flag was a common sight Sunday as the officials seemed intent on calling every violation in the book and making for a sloppy game. They were having a bit of a nightmare to be honest, and although we were the early beneficies we certainly let them know it!
	Just to state for the record that the officials sometimes got it right. But not often! Here they correctly call offensive pass interference on WR Kenny Christian (#5) for pushing off on CB Hurley Tarver (#40) to make the catch.
	Thanks to a borderline roughing the passer call, our next drive was kept alive and this time Whisper found a way into the endzone! It's been a long time going for #29 - he hadn't scored since Week1. But if anybody deserved reward for his hard work - it is Herbert! CLAYMORES 10-0
	Key play in the 1st half. With The Claymores leading 10-0, Todd Franz makes a diving INT of a Husak pass in Berlin territory and looks to return it, but amazingly the zebras blow it dead! Todd swears it never hit the ground, and we certainly believe him!
	Todd Husak took advantage of this opportunity and brought the Thunder back. He finished off the 15 play drive by handing to Anthony White for a 2 yard score. CLAYMORES 10-7
	In our cruder days we might have captioned this picture with something like "Some players will do anything to get playing time in Coach Tomula's Defensive Line rotation!" But we're more mature than that now and wouldn't suggest anything like that!
	Dreisbach INT #2 didn't do any harm. But #3 killed a promising drive at the end of the half, and instead of us extending our lead Axel Kruse kicked a 32 yard FG to tie the scores at the half. HALF-TIME 10-10
	Lawrence and Rob head back for the 2nd half. Notice our careful positioning of banners for easy viewing!
	Flashpoint at Half-time! Shuggie hypotheses to the officials that Franz got screwed and they maybe would have been better off calling it an interception. (Ignore the beer coloured water in Shuggie's hand). We
	Then Back Judge #133 turns to us and retorts "You guys wouldn't know football if you saw it". #133 is Mr. Steve Freeman, the ex-Bills and Vikings player from the 70's and 80's, who is one of the bright young hopes of future NFL officials - being that very rare breed of a ex-player!
	No matter - he had insulted our manhood and we didn't take kindly to it. Players can mouth off to us, not officials. So we spent most of the 3rd Q dishing out some pretty 'strong' verbal abuse at #133!
	Our usual claims of the "2nd Half is Ours" were probably misguided as we spotted the Anti-Talisman take his seat for the 2nd half. Would the Barker curse hold up?
	In a word, yes. At the half we had told punter Aron Langley to stay off the field in the 2nd half. Aron said he wanted just one kick so he could get a 60 yarder. He should have taken our advice as his attempt was blocked (by ex Claymore Bryant Shaw) and returned for a TD by Thunder DB Lelan Brickus. THUNDER 17-10
	But we still had Whisper running tough and remained in the game. #29 was a true Braveheart on this day, after having to leave the field with a bum ankle more than once. But he kept coming back - and he helped us on another penalty assisted drive get a Tynes 32 yard FG. THUNDER 17-13
	And then after an odd call on 4th down by the Thunder in Scotland territory, Whisper found paydirt! Dreisbach had found Dondre Gilliam for back to back gains of 20 and 38 yards to set up this 7 yard scamper that gave us the lead back! CLAYMORES 20-17
	And then it looked like we were ready to go in for the kill. Scott Shields picked up a fumble from Anthony White and ran back 26 yards to the Berlin 4 yard line. With the 3rd Q ticking down, the offense trotted back out on the field to try and deliver a knockout blow ...
	But once again, a horrible Dreisbach pass blew the chance! Trying to hit Arnaud in the flat, he failed to see that the RB was well covered and Sam Young stepped in front to make an easy pick.
	Dreisbach tries to make the tackle and misses! If a banged up Whisper hadn't have chased Adams down it would have been a TD.
	Although our deflated D initially held, they were soon back on the field. The league's top offense finally found its rhythm as Husak drove the Thunder down the field, ably assisted by an awful pass interference call on Hurley Tarver that put the ball on the 1 yard line. Here Jeff Kostrewa catches a 2 yard Husak toss, two plays later. THUNDER 24-20
	The officials must have wanted some serious face time on FOX. The game had 22 flags for 225 yards which would have been a new league record, except that 294 yards had been called the day before in Amsterdam! And no they didn't do a double header ...
	Then the self destruct button was pressed as Rooths fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Berlin this time recovered. Two plays later Husak found the league's leading WR Dane Looker, who had been shut down to this point, for a 22 yard score. THUNDER 31-20
	Interceptions #5 and #6 followed for Dreisbach who set a new league record. Any chance of tying the pro football record was denied for him as James Brown came in for the final series. (Top marks to the Berlin DJ for playing some JB too). With time running out Brown led the team down the field ...
	Where Lawrence Tynes sets up a 41 yard FG with 3 seconds left ... The kick is up and its ...
	GOOD! And we lose! Whoever heard of kicking to lose??? You could argue some about tie breakers, but since we'll never tie Berlin in a WB scenario - what was the point? FINAL THUNDER 31 CLAYMORES 23
	When Dondre and Scott came over at the end we didn't know whether to run or not. We figured the "Sweden" chants might have not gone too well. Apparently Scott was a little heated earlier in the day when Big Mac kept teasing him that Beckham was off to Birmingham, Alabama.
	Shuggie kept screaming at the officials even after the game. "High School Officials" was one popular refrain! (2 of these guys including Freeman are NFL officials) These guys probably thought they had done Scotland a favour calling 161 yards of penalties on Berlin. Wrong!!!
	The stats say it all. Scott D mustn't like Germany too well. His 3 games yielded stats of 85 att 28 com (33%) for 327 yards, 1 TD and 10 INT. That gives you a rating of 0.5!!! In fact Scott is on course to be the lowest rated ever. His 50.6 rating (among qualifiers) is currently below the 52.8 acquired by Brent Pease (91-92).
	Thanks for the Pizza Big Mac! If anything it stopped us taunting the officials for a few minutes.
	And then it was time for the traditional Berlin losing party! First off, congratulate Coach Vaas on a job well done. We also spoke with Richard Kent who was our DB's coach the last 2 years, and had to be happy with 6 pack of picks tonight!
	Then crash the VIP party and eat the players buffet!
	And then congratulate Thunder GM Michael Lang on a job well done, and his Hall of Fame entry this year. The great thing about Berlin is that the coaches and officials really do talk to you frankly about the game - and don't use "Leaguespeak". It makes a welcome change and we appreciated their hospitality once again!