Week 10 - Claymores 27 Dragons 24

WEEK 10 - CLAYMORES 27 DRAGONS 24
	The usual Friday night out in Sitges brought another great welcome party organized by John and Montse and John in Paddy's Bar where the Cheddars staged a famous table soccer victory over FC Sheila!
	Then we hit Tito's for some more jumping about where Mark was enjoying a stag weekend out here. On a related note, Shuggie got hit by a bunch of hens the next day and ended up wearing a dress ... again! After Tito's we had some traditional Med Sea football and eventually returned to our beds ...
	Saturday brought light at the end of tunnel as we made the bus ride up to Olympic Stadium for the final time. The 2-7 Dragons siesta defense gave us a super chance of breaking the Catalan curse once and for all!
	The 10 game photo for 2002. From left to right: Shuggie, H, Dom and Preston. To find out how the FTP girls liked Barca, please click here!
	Mad Hatter has promised us he'll be in the picture for 2003! This week the Dogs got let out on vacation!
	After forcing the Dragons to go 3 and out, James Brown led the Claymores downfield on an impressive 13 play 74 yard drive, which ended with a Herbert Goodman 1 yard TD. It was Whisper's 5th TD of the year, and the drive saw him add to his league leading rushing total. CLAYMORES 7-0
	But the Dragons fired right back with a 8 play 65 yard dive, ending when Richmond Flowers caught a 19 yard TD from Ted White. ALL TIED 7-7
	It looked like the Claymores only needed two plays to score on their next drive when Kevin McKenzie bolted down the right sideline - but his 38 yard catch and run was ruled out of bounds at the 1 yard line and he was hopping mad about it!
	After Whisper lost 2 yards and an incomplete pass, James Brown fired his first TD pass of the year to a waiting TE in Stevan Fontana. CLAYMORES 14-7
	A good first half however threatened to go sour, when Richmond Flowers caught his 2nd TD (a 61 yarder from 3rd string QB Mike Watkins), and then James Brown was intercepted on the Claymores next drive.
	But the D held, and the Claymores went 90 yards in 10 plays in only 2:38, with JB hitting 5 straight attempted passes for 69 yards (with 2 clock spikes in between). That got the O to the 1 where Whisper got his 2nd score of the day, with 44 seconds left in the half. CLAYMORES 21-14
	James Brown's 1st half performance was brilliant. 16 of 24 for 208 yards and 1 TD. Although it was against the Dragons record setting defense (311 points on the season - a new low), it really is a shame Gene didn't call on him earlier in Berlin when the wheels came off Dreisbach. Scott stayed safely on the bench on this day.
	Normally we get pissed on in Barcelona - this year was no different. At half-time this Dragons fan decided that climbing the stairs to the toilets was too much trouble and decided to walk over to our section and relieve himself here instead. We've never seen Clarky and Webby smile so much all year! Where was Rocky Steady when you need them???
	If anybody wants our banner we'll put in on e-bay next week! CLAYMORES 21-14 HT
	The shoot-out in Spain, slowed down in the 2nd half, mainly when the Dragons decided to put Joe Germaine in at QB. He did however lead them to a 32 yard FG from Jesus Angoy, and then after Lawrence Tynes hit a 44 yarder, the Dragons put White back in at QB. CLAYMORES 24-17
	And the results were impressive as White got the Dragons knocking on the door, and they tied the score with 4th and goal TD from White to Bob Zagorski. 24-24, 6:37 left
	But JB led the Claymores back downfield again, with a 20 yard strike to McCready before scrambling for 9 yards on 3rd and 4 to the Dragons 27. When the drive stalled, Tynes lined up for a 37 yard FG, but Matt O'Neal bounced the snap. Thankfully Aron Langley made a great hold and FG was good! CLAYMORES 27-24
	This is why it's tough to win out here - even the scoreboard is against you!
	There was still 1:51 on the clock however, so any celebratory Mexican Waves by the Claymores front office (led by a bronzed Scott Couper) were premature!
	But on 4th and 7 from the Claymores 44 with 44 ticks on the clock left it did indeed look over - as Ted White's deep pass was picked off by James Rooths at the 4 yard line!

	But this Catalan curse is strong. James decided to go for a run upfield with ball, despite anxious screams from the noisy traveling Tartan Army (some 30 strong). Although James isn't from the Earl Riley school of lateraling, he clearly shares the same daredevil approach as he decided to leave the pigskin on the turf for a few seconds!
	But thankfully before Andy Colvin could do any more damage to another TV set at home, James had the presence of mind to dive on the ball! We win! CLAYMORES 27 DRAGONS 24
	Come on Brazil! Rob enjoys our jabs after another England soccer team win. Big kudos to Rob though - he finished with a perfect season as he hit all 20 extra points and 10 field goals. His 100% in field goals is a new standard (with a minimum of 10).
	A big hand shake to the Ian Allen and the O-line, who not only blocked for the league's rushing champ but only gave up 6 sacks all year - a great achievement. Also farewell to Kevin O'Neal after 3 yards as RB coach who is leaving to take up a scouting job in the NFL. Good luck for the future Kevin!
	There ain't no better joy than a road win! Big Mac and the boys get excited!
	When we asked Coach D to do his dry cleaning for him, he must know us too well as he implied he wouldn't see it again! Obviously this didn't bother Mike Deal who gave Shuggie his sweat ridden polo shirt and shorts!
	Speaking of which, Mike Deal is getting a head start for 2003 - he was already scripting plays after the game! Either that or some more washing instructions for Shuggie ...
	We did suggest to Rob that seem have an awful lot of cleats for a barefoot kicker - but he assured us they were going to a good cause!
	Preston insists to Whisper that he's won the rushing crown, but #29 has a few doubts. He was insisting he had only 37 yards (he must have only seen the 1st half stats) - but he had in fact had 72 to give him 877 on the season. With the German opposition fading, he ended up winning by 44 yards - a super achievement!
	And one to go and celebrate! Big Mac assured us he was going to have a big night out. We trusted him on this! Thanks for the oven gloves #72, and we hope to see you in Pittsburgh later in the year!
	So it was back to Sitges for some victory champagne! The box in the picture is Marco Martos's that did contain his annual retirement trophy. However somebody switched it for some fruit! The upshot is is that we made a deal with "Speedy" - he will play 4 more years, and we do the same and retire on the same weekend in 2006!
	O Flowers of Sitges ... Richmond and John post game. The Cowboys allocated WR had a super 2nd half of the season that will surely see him on the All-NFL Europe team. Preston had to keep reassuring him that voting was this week and not last week as he'll probably need his 141 yards and 2 TD performance to count
	And of course, the traditional post game Tito's. Our new best friend this year was Ted White - who we've decided is the best player in the Galaxy. Ted, who was much maligned two years ago ended up winning the passing crown in 2002, and his sweet revenge in the Waldstadion 3 weeks ago was a loss Frankfurt never recovered from.
	After a hard night - Sunday was spent chilling out in Sitges. It's a beautiful place to spend Week 10 and wind down the system ...
	But then we went and ruined that by going to Calella, and dropping back into Ralf's bar - an old friend of ours. He laced us with drinks and we missed our last train back to Sitges ... again! Big oops! As was the blatant drinking of Diebels Alt - not good when you're supposed to be going to the Schlosser brewery in 2 days!!!