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Brenden, Brenden12@aol.com
Nuff Said...Ed
Ron H.
But what could you do with a football team? Oh yeah sell them to London they could do with one Ed
Maybe they took your advice Doug and started playing Madden '97 to improve their skills. Not long after, the defense really started improving, and offense is continuously getting better. If it is Madden that's done it, maybe I should go to the try-outs for next year!
Ron H.
Well I do believe Madden '97 to be a great game! Ed
( Sing to the tune of the "Icthy & Scrathy Theme" from "The Simpsons" )
We win, we win
We win, win, win, win, win
Win, win, win, win, win, win
We're now at ( Put current record here after we
win )
Signed by a Claymore fan that thinks that Atle Larsen was our savior.
Yet another song! Are we musical or what.... DON'T answer that. Ed
Scott Couper to be renamed as St. Scott!!
Brilliant catch against Rhein gave us a memorable but undeserved victory!!
It makes up for 1995!
Ronald McEachen
It certainly does. Possibly even more so, if you take into account Boris Cheek's little contribution to our game in Duesseldorf last year.
It just confirms what I've been saying all season ... Scoops IS our best receiver. Alan
AL LUGINBILL IS A WIMP! I cant belive he was swearing at his team ever since he lost his precious TOWEL during last Sunday's game. WHO CARES! AT LEAST WE WON AT HOME! That game last sunday was REAL FOOTBALL! It was played in the mud and Siran Stacy was GREAT! We play Rhein Fire this Sunday at Rheinstadion in Dusseldorf. It's do or die time 4 us, cuz we lose, ITS OVER 4 US! And Levi's predicitons stank. Who thinks the Admirals can beat the Claymores by 10 points? NOBODY! I have a football computer game and I created a World League with the six current teams and four hopefuls 4 expansion....IF THAT EVER HAPPENS! Th only drawback is that there is no Siran Stacy, no Spence Fischer, no Scott Couper, no Yo Murphy, and THANK GOD, NO GARY PARKER! Finally Gary Parker actually made a kick! How can a 5" 6' player actually make a kick? I DONT KNOW! I was watching the game when Parker went on the field to attempt a PAT, and I said, "This is not rugby or the other kind of football. Get the ball through the posts and over the crossbar and I would be happy"
Signed by a Claymore fan who still cant belive that Gary Parker actually made a kick!
I have to stand up for Al Luginbill here. I think he's a great character,
some of his outbursts are classics, especially the one that "Sounds of the
World League" caught when we played Amsterdam in the Olympisch Stadion
last year. He actually had to be restrained by some of his players last
week from having a go at a line judge over a dodgy ball-spot.
Parker's kicking has certainly been patchy, but he seems to be improving
nonetheless. He got another two against Rhein last night.
As you say, a big victory, and if that doesn't spur us on to get to Barca,
I don't know what will. - Alan the Other Editor
Dear Sir,
I have a new theory on the decline of the Claymores.
As a third year veteran, who has attended every home game thus far, I have no doubt that the the reason for the crap performances is the complete lack of Budweiser in the back field party!
I mean, what self respecting American football player is going to play for a team that sells weak Danish beer?
It is so bad that I find myself able to go into the beer tent at 2pm and buy a beer without queueing. I say. Honestly. This is a completely unnacceptable position.
Please use your influence to rectify this position.
Great page, pity you're all too scared to sing wannabee though. :-)
Justin Whiteoak
Since I don't drink it doesn't effect me at all ! Just be glad there's beer there at all. However I'm begining to wonder if it should be available after the game to drown away sorrows...
And We did send someone to sing it !
Doug, this one's for the reason I was telling you about on 4. Silly e-mail thingy.
"I mean come on a 5-6 player in ANY position in a pro game?"
Well, one of my favourite guys used to be Mark McMillian, now with the Saints. He's a 5 year vet out of Alabama, allegedly 5-7 (ha!) 148lb, 28 years old. He had 2 interceptions last year with the Saints, which is good, considering.
Care to review your opinion?
Well Andy we've had words about this on the e-mail.... But let us just say it's the exception to prove the rule.... find me 10 more examples playing at the same time as Mark McMillian and I'll relent.
From : Ron E Hatstand
Re : Pride !
Doug,
I note the point you made in your match report for the game against Rhein, about the team's lack of spirit. I too sensed this, but it's not a new Mel Gibson film they need to watch. If they want to watch something to inspire them to better performances, all they need to do is put on the 1996 season video.
The players may have changed since, but every single Claymore of 1997 could learn a lot about team spirit, hard graft and what it requires to be a Claymores player from that video. They can have a loan of my copy of it, if they want.
Ron H.
I'm sure that they've all seen enough videos this season... perhaps they should all be playing Madden 97 or similar. Then again that didn't help David James did it.....
Aparentley, the Claymores just seem to be the doormats in the 1997 World League season after 3 weeks. WE ABSOLUTLEY STUNK UP THE JOINT TODAY! We are not playing like the defending World Bowl champions, we are playing like the Claymores of old. 1995 THAT IS! Is this becoming a pattern? It seems to go like this: bad season, good season, bad season, etc..., etc... I didnt even bother watching the 2nd half of the game since they are so PITIFUL! This time, im going to direct my anger to two bone-headed people. a.) THE BUFFALO BILLS. Where do the Bills belong? LOSER VILLE! Bwah-hah-hah-hah-hah. Why? Because they have lost 4 straight SuperBowls in a row! b.) Spence Fischer. He has never heard of the following: Allen Degraffenreid, Scott Couper, and Yo Murphy. That is why he is so DUMB! Why wont someone post up a sign on Fischer's lawn saying: "Spence Fischer: The No. 1 reason the Scottish Claymores are stinking up Scotland!" Im sorry to offend a player allocated from the MIAMI DOLPHINS, no less! Even the termites at my house are grumbling over the woes of the Claymores. Also, all of my friends are deaf-mutes over the World League. They have never heard of it! Maybe they should have a lesson titled "World League Basics 101"! And in closing, tell the STUPID "celebrity kickers" to take a hike to pro kickers!
Signed by the most out of breath Claymore fan after screaming incessantley during the game.
We could do you with you at the Game to help with the noise then.
But on to your points. a) Buffalo .... well scape goats they are no longer due to.... b) Spence Fischer. Sorry here Brenden but I have to disgree. Fischer did throw the ball and threw it well over 200 yards and not a int (nor a TD I know). He did find DeGraffenreid and the rest (even Cooper but by the it was too late). No I'm sticking by Fischer he seems to have a confidence in his passing game that Barr doesn't. As to Spence "Stinking up Scotland"... you saw the game right ? You didn't sort of notice that the defence gave up HUGE plays ?
{humour mode on} Right then young man thanks for the input but we do ask you behave yourself in future ! Remember the golden rules here at Blunt Views :- MIAMI can do no wrong, MIAMI allocated a good QB, MIAMI are the best, MIAMI will win the Superbowl AGAIN before Buffalo come close, MIAMI are Brilliant... there you go, so stop bashing Spence Fischer. Do something constructive get your friends, your neighbourhood, nae even your whole town and State for that matter to watch the WLAF and support MIA.... (ahem) the Claymores.{humour mode off}
Oh as for the kickers we think we've solved the problem for the Claymores Gary Parker Simply shrunk in the wash. I mean come on a 5-6 player in ANY position in a pro game ?
Hi, Douglas.
Nice to meet you last week. See you again at the Rhein game.
In the meantime, a couple of gripes.
a) The price of donuts is up by 10p to 70p - what a rip-off.
b) No Buds - it isn't American football without Buds
c) What happened to the half-time raffle? The idea was that when you hand
over your ticket stubs, the address &name written on the back of one section
goes into the draw. It didn't happen. Yet another organisational botch-up by
the administration. If it did happen, where was the announcement of a winner?
Is it possible that the whole thing is a con?
d) We lost - and the team was rubbish. It wasn't even as if Barcelona was a
World Bowl quality team, it's just that we certainly weren't.
However, I am a season ticket holder, so I'll be back in spite of it all.
Brian Mathieson
Well we didn't managed to find Brian but after Bob went up to sing wannabe a Claymore... (you just wait folks before the end of the season that Will be the NEW Claymore team (Ahem)) we can understand you hiding away.
As to your gripes
a) It's a disgrace I know I say to all donut
eaters bring your own !.
b) Since I don't drink - although this season might yet drive me
to it doesn't effect me ! (Remember folks DON'T DRINK AND
DRIVE)
c) Well the general plan when it comes to the Claymores is when
in doubt of why something went wrong blame an administration
error. I've seen how the inside of the Claymores office
works..
d) Well at least we'll beat London (please please please please
please please please.....)
This is the first year I don't have a season ticket.... Perhaps
I do have psychic powers ?
Im angry over the loss to the Dragons. If the world league says we're no. 2, it is a real black mark in the scottish claymores organization. I was screaming at everybody because i was attending some kid's 5th birthday party and having "breakfast & claymores". Remember the Armchair GM that would blame all the losses in the season on ex-claymore qb Jim Ballard. also my friend, Daniel was rather glum after the loss. That loss is very important in our chances in hosting World Bowl 97'. And we will really will stink up Murrayfield Stadium like it has never stunk before if we lose to the Monarchs later in the season. I might only be in the 7th grade in the States but i think the claymores MUST improve a whole lot if they want to make it to the World Bowl.
signed by the most irate of Scottish Claymore fans living in the States.
Well thanks for the input but I've got bad news... Murrayfield did indeed stink out due to the Claymores back in the nightmare 1995 season !
As to blaming Jim Ballard ? Don't blame him... it's BUFFALO we blame (why couldn't they send over an O-lineman ?).
You are reading the words of a die-hard World League fan, having been one since it first started in 1991. I watch the games each week on FX here in the States and I must say that the fans in Scotland and Frankfurt put some of our NFL fans to shame.
One of my most prized posessions was a tape of World Bowl '91 between London and Barcelona. I got chills when 63,000 fans sang out "We Will Rock You." For the time I had it, I would watch it over and over againg, even though I knew the outcome. the tape was erased, but I can still remember certain moments as if they happened last week.
I was sad to see the NFL shut downthe North American operations, especially in Montreal. Had the NFL shown some foresight and spent a little extra of the cash they got from the networks and corporate sponsors to change their stadium names, they could have capitalized when baseball went on strike in 1995.
Some here say that spring football won't work. Nonsense. If Major League Soccer can draw 15-20,000 fans a game, why not a WL team--and the latter is certainly more exciting than the former. And there were a few USFL teams that managed to draw a croud. I know the players were of "top-caliber," but that's beside the point. Spring football thrived for a while.
[Just a thought: What if the NFL had bought the USFL in 1986, turned it into a Spring-Summer feeder league, launched a European conference in the USFL in 1991 and THEN renamed it the World League? A much happier ending, wouldn't you say?]
In a perfect world, I'd love to see the NFL try again in North America with six teams: Alabama, Cleveland, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Montreal and possibly one team in either Mexico City or Monterrey. (By the way: Is the WL expanding in '98? If so, where? I'd love to know the answer to that question)
Anyway, your page is funny and very well done. And I really liked the "Wannabe" take off. To all of you fans in Europe, a WL fan in the States urges you to keep the faith and get out there and support your teams, win or lose. And who knows? Maybe someday, we'll all get together at Murrayfield to see a Chargers/Claymores Super Bowl. One can dream, right?
Kierre Daniels
Charger Fan
We've been hearing plans about a new Spring League in the US which could lead to serious problems with the WLAF. However it might just spur on the NFL to boost the WLAF as The next best thing to NFL status.
Your comment about Soccer is valid. Personally I belive it's only for the best that Soccer is doing well in the USA and in return Europe should enjoy Football. But sadly over here there's too many negative ideas about American Football by xenophobics who are closed to new ideas
One last thing a Claymores Chargers World/Super Bowl would be great. Just as long as it's not Miami Vs Claymores I can support the Scots... However Buffalo Vs Claymores....... That one I'd give a lim to watch as long as the Claymores won. (And any more from the Buffalo fans about us picking on their team..... and it's outside in the car park with jackets off !!!! (joke there for the humour impared - eg NFL bosses))
i thought there would be a major change in the uniforms for the 1997 season. the only change i saw is that the claymore is shorter and they have darkened the blue. i saw that while i was watching the game on fx in the united states. also, i hate the new rule stating that a national kicker MUST attempt all the field goals within 35 yards. i saw the scottish kicker's control was off on ALL of them. i dont know why suzuki put their logo on the helmets and jerseys of all of the Admiral players. is american football turning into the other football because of corporate sponserships on the uniforms? i was also watching the Barcelona-Rhein game and i saw Skoda cars put an ad at Rheinstadion. i dread that the NFL-CFL partnership cause of 2 things. a.) The 2 leagues might have to merge, and b.) the CFL has a longer field and season than the world league. we are going to be doomed because of this marketing disater! and keep up the good work!
signed, A very concerned Scottish Claymores fan living in America
A number of points there to be addresed. Uniforms and sponsorships are a tricky set up I wasn't aware of the move by the WLAF to put logos on shirts until I saw them. It could be just a sign of the times.
As to the CFL-WLAF possible deal well It's going to take a while to sort out. Don't panic yet.
The Kicking rule does need to be addressed. Howcome Phil Alexander was such a good kicker and no-one else from the UK seems to have followed his lead ? I think the problem is the signing of Celebrity Kickers not Professional Kickers.
Dear Blunt Views,
I really must protest at the standard of play from Mr Kaaioheloh(FB)against the Admirals on Saturday.
We do not pay good beer money at Chambers Bar (Hostelry to the Gentry) Glasgow, to see Mr K NOT drop a ball all night!! Where is the fun? What has happened?
Always an excellent blocker, and the potential to be a great RB, is he now reaching his potential?
As for Clays/Admirals game, do we not see the pattern from last year? The opposition play a good 1st quarter, show all their silverwear, nothing happens, they have nothing in 2,3 & 4th quarters to show. Ipso Factocllapse!!! Also SIMPLE football WORKS!!! Run, Screen Pass, Run, Middle pass, Run, Hail Mary etc etc.
The Clays are back!!
Ronald Claymore
Well I've been informed by Mr Kaaiohelo's Brother that last year was a one off and that Jared is a much better footballer. We said we'd give praise where we should and have done so following Jared's brilliant game
Firstly, congrats on getting a review posted so quickly.
Congrats also on picking Jared Kaaiohelo as the Blunt View Spoon of the match. He thoroughly deserved such a high accolade, for his block on Dickerson's TD run, if nothing else. However, there were a couple of things which I disagreed with, in particlular the performance of the offense in general, and Dave Barr in particular.
Ask anyone involved in football, and they'll tell you that a good offence is a lot harder to put together from scratch than defence. Where defence is all about reacting to situations, offence is all about timing. The right people have to be in the right place at the right time, something which can only be achieved through extensive practice and playing time. Traditionally, then, early season games are more likely to be defensive slogs rather than highscoring shoot outs. Even in the NFL, where they spend months preparing for the season, this is evident in the first couple of games. What chance then for the World League teams, who have only a few weeks to prepare and gel as a team. So you can't judge the offence on this one performance.
Which brings me on to the subject of Dave Barr. The fact that he beat out a DOLPHINS QB not withstanding, I felt you were a little harsh on the guy. It could be argued that most of the throws he made were short, and the amount of pases caught in the backfield reflect this. However, for the reasons detailed above, this was almost inevitable. Deep passes require perfect timing (the Admirals found this out a couple of times, when receivers were overthrown) And maybe this wasn't there. The TV cameras actually picked out Allen DeGrafenried running into another Claymores received, so the blame for a lack of long passing offence can't really be laid totally at the feet of the QB. Sky's commentary team felt that the numbers he posted for the game wouldn't have represented a bad day for an NFL QB, and I personally felt he had a good game. For someone who hadn't played competitively since 1994, he settled quickly and most of the decisions he made were decent. Another thing that impressed me was the way Barr wasn't afraid to scramble when he had to. This was one of the reasons why Barr was given the starters job in this game, as scrambling wasn't one of Spence Fischer's strong points (again, according to the Sky commentary team).
The offensive system being employed also contributes to how good or bad a player looks. The Claymores this year are operating a West Coast offence, ahich basically emphasises spreading the ball around a number of players, and tends to focus specifically on short passes. You said that Barr was "only really connecting with Yo Murphy" but the Sky stats showed at least 6 players made receptions on the night, and Couper caught 2 or 3. (I tried to get some official stats for the game from the Claymores site, but its unreachable, and has been all day)
Changing tack completely, I have to say I agree with your views on the special teams. This was something that really let the side down, right from the poor coverage on the opening kickoff. Gary Parker clearly still has a long way to go (remember Hastings was perfect for the first half of the season last year) but and although he may have the better leg, and be a better long term prospect, Gronroos is the man with experience, and deserves to kepep the national kicking job for the moment at least. Fischer's performance at punter wasn't too good, especially when compared to the NFL allocated Admirals punter, but then hes supposed to be a QB.
Defensively, the Claymores looked solid, with James Logan and George Coghill, as well as the entire D-line being standouts. However there were a couple of times when Israel Byrd was beaten deep, and if the ball hadn't been overthrown the result would have been very different. This could be an area of concern in the coming weeks as the offences improve.
At the end of the day, the team did enough to win the game, and thats what matters. Its 8 days until the next one, and no doubt changes will be made. The possible return of Siran is obviously the big question (after this game, do we need him??) but there are a couple of others. But I feel good about this team. Solid lines. Good backs and receivers, and a good D. Could we be back in Edinburgh for the World Bowl???
--Richy
Well I stand by my comments about Barr. I just don't think he has that spark yet to lead the offence. Perhaps it was first game nerves.
Richy here is now a member of the BV Editorial team and his reviews of games will be added to the Results page from now on.