February 2001
The XFL begins.

March 2001
The XFL is already is on death watch. Preston is at his 3rd training camp - this time in the new surrounds of Tampa. He starts watching Tampa Bay Storm Arena games during this time.

April 2001
New coach Gene Dahlquist wins his debut against the Galaxy at home, but a shocking offensive performance in Amsterdam the next week ensures no "2-0 Baby".

May 2001
The Week 5 encounter in Dusseldorf sees the Cheddarheads finally get to meet German techno legends Scooter, who are Cheddared. A magnificent half-time show inspires the fans, but not the Claymores who can only score 3 points in a 10-3 loss.

The same game also sees us debut the "Cooking With Gus" chef hats, in tribute to back up QB Gus Ornstein who we were campaigning for more playing time.

June 2001
With a key Week 7 game in Berlin tied 10-10 at the half, we sneak into the team tunnel and try and inspire the team. We lose 27-19. Despite this, we sneak onto the field at the 2 minute warning using Fire Pl@net passes. Later in Axel Kruse's Sports Bar we meet John Jurkovic. It's a great night.

Week 9 in Barcelona. Gus finally gets some meaningful playing time but the Claymores lose again 26-7 running their record in Spain to 0-7. Despite this, we sneak on the field at the 2 minute warning using Fire Pl@net passes.

Week 10 see Scott Couper's retirement game (or so we thought). #81 catches an early TD as an inspired performance see the Claymores beat the Fire 34-21 ending their WB hopes.

Lastly this month WB IX takes place in Amsterdam where the Berlin Thunder are surprise winners 24-17 over Barcelona. The Trench Crew ensure the fans have a great weekend as the Admirals front office fail to organise events on a scale to the previous German World Bowls.

The XFL folds this month too. Boo hoo.

December 2001
We're back in the US, this time ticking off cities by air, We land in Nashville and take in further games in New Orleans, The Bay Area (2 NFL games in one day), Arizona and finally Las Vegas, where we spend Christmas. The tour is known as Viva La Santa!

Tampa 2001 - New training camp site

Dusseldorf 2001 - We meet Scooter

Berlin 2001 - All smiles with John Jurkovic after another road loss.

Barcelona 2001 - Cooking With Gus (actually Gus's brother)

World Bowl IX - Thunder win in Amsterdam surprising the Dragons 24-17.

San Francisco 2001 - Viva La Santa!

March 2002
Shuggie joins Preston in Tampa this year for training camp, which includes a scrimmage at Raymond James Stadium. We meet Big Mac for the first time. Preston predicts Herbert Goodman will lead the league in rushing, which he does. He also says the Dragons look strong. They finish 2-8.

April 2002
Week 1 sees the Claymores thump the Dragons 45-17 and hopes are high.

By halftime of Week 2 in Dusseldorf the bubble appears to have burst and Shuggie consoles himself by eating some pie from German Eurovision legend Guildohorn. We go on to lose 13-10.

May 2002
The Claymores return to Murrayfield in Week 4, but can only muster a record low 60 yards of offense versus the Galaxy in a 14-10 loss. They probably won't be invited back.

A late Dondre Gilliam TD in Amsterdam sees the Claymores break their road losing streak 16-13. It had reached 8 games (including WB 2000). It is Gene Dahlquists 1st road victory. Also significant is our cheddaring of Bill Maas during the game.

The following week, we write a First Down column recalling these historic events. We vow not to shave until we lose again.

A 17-13 home win over the Admirals see us mount a 3 game win streak - our 2nd longest in team history. Facial hair is becoming a problem.

June 2002
Back to back losses to Berlin in Weeks 8 and 9 end our WB hopes, but we can finally shave again. The loss in Berlin see Claymore QB set a league record with 6 interceptions. The home game see us attend our 50th straight Claymore game as Cheddarheads.

In Week 10 we finally win in Barcelona at the 8th attempt 27-24 led by back up QB James Brown.

World Bowl X sees the Thunder beat the Fire 26-20. It's an emotional day in Dusseldorf as it's the last game to be played in the Rheinstadion.

September 2002
Our US Tour sets a new standard for number of games, with 8 NFL and college games attended in 12 days covering 2,500 road trips. It's called the Figure of Eight because of the shape of the route. We start with the NFL's historic Thursday night opener in New York, and take in further games in Syracuse, Buffalo, New England, Akron, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Washington, DC.

November 2002
Shuggie goes to further NFL games in San Francisco and Seattle.

Tampa 2002 - Big Mac meets cheddars
(photo credit: photo-stock.co.uk)

Dusseldorf 2002 - Shuggie eats pie

Amsterdam 2002 - Bill Maas cheddared!

Berlin 2002 - The years have taken their toll

World Bowl X - Thunder beat Fire 26-20 in last ever game at Rheinstadion

Cleveland 2002 - Who let the dawgs out?

 Click here to go back to the main menu!