editorials	letters	features	contact	links

As the London/Birmigham/Bristol Monarchs travel north to Murrayfield to face the Scottish Claymores passions will run high between the two sides. That is the Monarchs Fans and the Claymores Fans. The whole point of the battle will be lost on the teams playing for their adopted nations. A few will understand, the veterans who have been there before, the nationals and perhaps even the coaches. But not enough. The Rivalry isn't up to much because we don't have the same team from last year that lost to the Monarchs. The Monarchs don't have the side of 1996 who were swept by the Claymores. A few faces return but that's not the team.

By the end of the game there should be little doubt in the players minds as to what the game means to the fans. Yet what good is that if we cannot have those same players back next year ?

I think that many will agree with me that it was no coincidence that 1996 was not only the year after 'Braveheart' but the year of the best Claymores team in history. The players had been taken to see the Film before the beginning of the season. For better or worse they all found something to relate to being Scots from that film. They wanted to be Scottish, they had a cause other than to get a fat contract back in the NFL. It also helped that Gavin Hastings was on the side bringing I'm certain a level of intensity which would have come close to Scott Cooper's and Ben Torriero's when discussing the game against the Monarchs.

For this game above all others in the NFLEL Calendar is supposed to be a grudge match. One where there is no question of not putting the boot in. Where not only defeat but also total humiliation of the opposition are in order. A game where running the score up is not demanded but expected. Were insults are thrown which would make even Al Luginbil blush. In the end there should be blood on the grass, points on the board no player able to stand for lack of energy.

But it won't be. To a group of American's it's someone else's fight that they have been drafted into. You could say that NFLEL is Vietnam, some of the players want to help the locals and are fighting for a cause (to bring football to the world) but the vast majority the rest of the players are on a tour of duty. They just want to go in play the game and get out back to the USA where they can get a better life. It shouldn't be that way.

Too many of the players don't treat the league as important in it's own right. They are only there to get into the NFL. It's practice, it's moon lighting. The real job is with the NFL. This is a mess of the NFL's own making. We don't have career NFLEL players. We have one-shots, failures, drop outs. Those who are only here to make it big - not because they WANT to be here. The moment they have a sniff at the big leagues off they go. Leaving the European fans jilted at the alter. Stupid rules about only playing 4 years in the league and then getting kicked out are ridiculous. Suggesting that NFL Allocates are automatically in a team too is stupid. A veteran who has a shot at making a 5th year is barred from taking part, not because he is beat out of his spot - that's just bad luck, but because another 'BIG' team decides that their player should get to play. Imagine the scenario that a 5th Year Veteran manages to start ahead of 2 NFL allocates. That means he is BETTER that the players in the NFL. So why don't you sign HIM ? Sure we'd lose a solid veteran but it's only fair if he's good enough. How many allocates this year have taken the roles of would be 5 year veterans and then failed to be as good as the Veteran ? How many of those Allocates are then cut from the NFL ?

That breeds mercenary attitudes. That brings poor teams, that means the Fans are deprived of a good team. So what is the solution on the game front - how do you create rivalry, better teams and better product ? Four simple changes in the rules.