As promised, Der Irlander's new contributors are to give brief introductions to tell you who they are and what they're going to cover for the blog. So to get it underway here's our new columnist Darragh Farrell!
We're back with another entry into the hallowed Guest Article catalogue! Today we get a great inside look at the key differences between two European football leagues, namely the Irish American Football League and its Italian counterpart. As well as that we'll delve into the challenges facing both developing leagues.
Filippo Bertoli, the Lou Ferrigno stunt double, has spent time with both the Dublin Rebels and the Mustangs Trieste as a defensive tackle. As a result Filippo is excellently positioned to give some real insight into the comparable standards and the problems each league faces; both the shared and the unique challenges.
So let's not waste any more time and let's get to it!
Der Irlander is going to take a visible shift in it's prime directive in the coming weeks as we develop the blog into a more usable resource for players looking to reach higher levels; more new features will be added and new contributors will come on board while the usual features will still be relied on to carry the load in a manner of speaking. To that end, here's the next installation for the Interview series.
The interviewee this time has quite an introduction so stick with it! He's only Shamrock Bowl XIX MVP, Dublin Rebels Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator, and starting QB; Mr. Andrew Dennehy!
Dennehy has been at the helm of the Dublin Rebels offense for what opposition might feel is an eternity. A student of the game he has pushed the Rebels out of the stone age of Irish American football and firmly into the iron age, skipping the bronze age completely! If he has his way too he won't be done with the team or Irish American football for a long time yet.
Being the consummate football player he has in the past, and undoubtedly will again, forced other Irish teams to up their game and coaching structure through his seemingly unending passion for football knowledge. So settle down and get stuck into this meaty conversation; there's plenty in there to chew on!
Brian Carter has made quite the football journey. A former teammate of mine from Dublin he proves to be quite the candidate for the Guest Article series as he has played the game at several levels in the states.
A brief bio of his playing career would read something like this: College - Central Washington University, Arena - Yakima Shockwave, Semi Pro - NorthWest Football League with each of the following teams: the Eastside Chiefs, the Snohomish County Vikings and the Eastside Hawks, with whom he was part of a perfect 16-0 season and was a second team all-American wide receiver. Along with all those accomplishments he spent time with the Dublin Rebels and has only recently taken his life to the next chapter, but before I could let him be on his way I had to wrangle him into this reflective piece: enjoy!
Well with this being a blog about an Irishman in GFL2 looking to reach GFL1 we've interviewed the two Irish-born players on the Lubeck Cougars squad this year, so it's only fitting that we get one from the other Paddy in the GFL2 North and so that brings us to Ross McCooey.
Ross has spent the year with the Berlin Rebels playing linebacker as well as spending some time on both sides of the line. With the season now over and the Rebels gaining promotion to GFL1 for next year Ross is on the cusp of becoming the first Irish-born player to set foot in Germany's top-tier division. Let's do this thing!
Okay, as promised I've gotten my hands on some footage from the game last weekend and picked out the best plays from the game. Check out the rest of the article to see how it panned out!
As Der Irlander evolves and continues to try find ways to make the blog more accessible and easier to use we reached out to our HTML wizard Mr. David Fitzgibbon to add in the page dividers now located in the top right-hand corner of the page here.
A seemingly simple addition to the page but one that will make it much easier to find a particular post or feature on the blog. Like a particularly wise retail chain motto once said: every little helps!
As advertised last week we're going to be running a few features this week to tie up the loose ends of the 2011 season. Here's the first of many features this week, a piece on my journey from the IAFL to being on the cusp of being the first Irishman to play in the GFL1. Read on after the jump!
In case you hadn't heard yet the Berlin Rebels defeated the visiting Lubeck Cougars 21-6 on a perfect day for football in Berlin. The teams battled it out in the sun in front of 3,000 fans and the men in black used that home crowd to spur themselves on to victory.
As promised there will be a lot of content looking back on the season coming up this week, starting with an editorial by myself tomorrow morning, be sure to keep an eye out for new content! Until then, here's to the newly promoted Berlin Rebels!
And rather than put on 'We Are The Champions'...since we finished second...here's a different Queen song to keep you occupied until tomorrow!
I'll have a lot of season review/round-up pieces for you next week including an editorial piece, round table discussions by the Irish-born players of GFL2, highlights of the game itself, and some more 'What Happened Next?': be sure to stay tuned for all the great content!
Anyway, as the dust settles after the pomp and nonsense of the week's build up
let's kick back with another great addition to the Der Irlander back
catalogue of interviews as we sit down with Irish-born Steve Walsh.
Seems fitting to wind up the week with an interview with Steve who plays defensive end for the Lubeck Cougars. Steve has been with the Cougars since this years training camp and has fought his way into the starting line-up for the mountain lion defence. As the season comes to a close two players on opposing teams took a few minutes out to set aside the rivalry and provide a final nugget of preview for you!
And here we stand once more, ready to delve into my musical taste and discover what track has been deemed better than the previous entrants and named the best song for a potential Berlin Rebels theme song! How excited about this last one are you? Very, right? I knew it! Let's do this!
Third time's a charm! Here we are already on day three of the countdown...is anyone else noticing this week go by faster than normal or am I just excited for the game? Anyway, on with the countdown!
As explained yesterday, but for those that weren't paying attention, I'm putting up a video each day while I count down the top five potential Berlin Rebel theme songs (in this blogger's humble opinion). A fine way to build up to the GFL2 Superbowl! Today we take a look at number four on our countdown!
This is a shameless use of my privileged position as blogger to the masses to demonstrate some team spirit! So basically while we await the GFL2 Superbowl this Sunday I'm going dabble in some just-for-fun build-up!
And so it comes to pass that I'm going to give you the top five songs I think could be used as a theme song for the Berlin Rebels. Bit of craic (crack - Irish for fun) right? I mean who doesn't love the odd random fella getting up on a soapbox and telling you all his opinion on something that probably doesn't apply to you at all!? Nobody that's who!
Check out my snazzy new 'Jump to it!' article link dealy and let's start a mosh pit in the name of football!
Just a quick note for those that might be following the close of the 2011 GFL2 season: if Lubeck win against the visiting (and winless) Cologne Falcons tomorrow, a tie with the Berlin Rebels will be enough to see them through to the top tier next week. Yet another interwoven sub-plot to consider when processing the multitude of data firing at you from your window into the crowded realms of hyperspace.
And just for funsies here's a random music video to get you in the mood for football's equivelant of Holy Week which kicks off on Monday with a mini-series on the blog that'll get you moving! Enjoy the weekend and be sure to check out the build-up and preview features that'll start flooding the blog from Sunday onwards!
Okay, to avoid keeping you all on edge for the entire weekend I decided to put up the answer to the latest 'What Happened Next?' episode today so you can go home and sleep sound for your undoubtedly well deserved weekend. Bravo to you Mr. and Mrs. American Football!
So, without further ado or needless erudition, here's the clip! Enjoy!
The next installment of 'What Happened Next?' is here everybody!
For a bit of fun on a slow Thursday here's a clip from the recent Berlin Rebels vs Troisdorf Jets game. The game was played in heavy rain so there were a number of loose balls flying about the place, see if you can figure out what happened next! Leave your answers on the facebook page and let's see who's the next Sherlock Holmes!
A: Pass intended for a WR is batted into the air,
caught by the RB and turned upfield for a
sprint to the endzone score.
B: LB dives for the pass, inadvertently kicks
the ball back to the LOS where the DE
catches it and runs it in for a defensive score.
C: Pass is defended and richochets into the
umpire's face causing his nose to bleed and
the game to be delayed for injury timeout.
With music by Germany's own Rammstein it's a great way to kick-start the weekend (should we all decide to take a personal day tomorrow that is)! Enjoy!
The Essen Assindia Cardinals have pulled out of the relegation games!
As a result, the winner of the Berlin Rebels v Lubeck Cougars game on September 11th is automatically promoted to GFL1!! That's right, winner quite literally takes all and plays in GFL1 next year!! This is beyond epic people! Think about it while you listen to the below video...chills...honest to God chills......
Football is a sport where the unheralded guys such as the O line will dutifully carry out their assignments without expectation and without praise. A thankless job for the main part since people, being only human, will tend to focus on the runningback bursting through the holes they carve or the QB stepping up in the pocket to launch an 80 yard touchdown bomb.
Football is unique in that way becuase rarely will anyone willingly take these roles within a sports team since we all like to score and garner the attention! On that note, this week's interviewee seems to be cut from that same mould; Sean Power has just hung up his cleats (at least temporarily) after a career spent humbly driving his teams forward through the development stages. While he busies himself with his newest chapter in life he was good enough to take the time to answer a few questions covering everything from the IAFL to the NFL, and a few other gems just for good measure. Here's what he had to say!
Thank the football Gods! Me and the Berlin Rebels are still alive for the promotion spot behind Hamburg, who beat Lubeck 30-6 while we defeated the Troisdorf Jets 33-14.
As mentioned previously this set of results now means in two weeks there is going to be a showdown for the playoff spot. Lubeck travel to us and the winner quite literally takes all! If anyone's around Berlin you've GOT to check this one out, no questions asked. All the script writers from 'Any Given Sunday', 'Friday Night Lights', 'Remember the Titans' et al combined couldn't have written this one any better! I mean the two teams have been battling for position all season then our pivotal game is postponed due to rain and now it's a decider at the end of the season, I mean come on....somebody copyright this before Hollywood swoops down on the rights to it!!
Anyway, I'll have more in depth preview material over the next two weeks after the body has recovered fully from the game..now if you'll excuse me I'm off to the ice bath! (I'll leave you with this preparatory video until then)
Okay, so for the Berlin Rebels and our aspirations of promotion to GFL1 everygame is do or die. On top of that we also require Hamburg to do a number on Lubeck today or it's all over!
Today is going to be a butterfly inducing battle for the season what with the Blue Devils and Cougars kicking off before us; so we'll know the story a bit better come half-time in our game. As outlined before if Lubeck win today they secure second place and the chance to playoff for promotion, if they lose we still have a shot, a shot that requires us winning out.
So first thing's first, we gotta take care of business, all the while praying to the football fates that they smile down upon us today. That's about the long and the short of it really. So I'll leave you with a quick pre-game prayer I hope you'll join in for.
I know I don't talk to you as often as I should, but please if you're up there, save our season for another game at least Superman!!
Thought it'd be a good way to break up the monotone of my own writing style while providing a good insight to readers on life within the IAFL. Plan is to have notable IAFL players, coaches and alumni to chip in a few words in order to provide a glimpse into the world of the Irish American football scene. With any luck the football Gods may even shine down upon this petit corner of the globel hyper-highway and provide the odd change-of-pace-back guest to spice it up. Very hush hush for now though, just cross your e-fingers for me will you?
Anyway, since these segments hope to illuminate the glamour of the IAFL the first such guest writer is a rather apt individual. As the caption above suggests, he is a two time winner of the MVP award in Shamrock Bowls (2008/09), ladies and gentlemen, boy and girls, the inaugural 'Guest Article' guest writer: runningback for the University of Limerick Vikings, Adrian Garvey!
Mr. Utility for the three-time-IAFL-champion UL Vikings Liam Ryan managed to find some time to remeninisce with Der Irlander and the former adversaries somehow kept it civil enough to get some must-read blogging done!
Oh and yes...as you see below there is a rare collectable Liam Ryan NFL card, which some auction houses might in fact place more value on than a Honus Wagner baseball card once owned by the great one himself; Wayne Gretzky (Google it people).
The inaugural homemade 'What Happened Next?' features a clip from this years Shamrock Bowl between the Dublin Rebels and the UL Vikings. As you saw in the last post there were four options presented to you to help decipher 'What Happened Next'...
A: Defender pile-on on the QB
B: QB wriggles out of the would-be tacklers and runs for a wild TD
C: QB panics and randomly toss's the ball into the air where it is picked off but brought back due to an early whistle
D: Streaker runs onto the pitch and forces referees to halt play.
Watch the video below to find out what actually transpired on that play and be sure to keep an eye out for future rounds of Der Irlander's homemade 'What Happened Next?'!
Ding, ding, ding, we have a new feature on the blog folks! As promised Der Irlander is rolling out new features in the coming weeks and months and while you've already sampled some interview, here's a lighthearted way to kill a few minutes!
Those of you that know the old BBC game show "Question of Sport" will be familiar with the premise of this feature, basically it's Der Irlander's homemade version of the 'What Happened Next?' round. For those that may be unfamiliar with the concept, in the video below is a segment of a play which will freeze-frame before the pivotal moment of the clip, your job as 'contestants' is to see if you can figure out, from the possibilities provided at the start of the video, What Happened Next. Easy! Once I feel sufficient time has passed (or enough views have been hit) I'll put up the video showing the play in full so we can find out the answer (24-48 hours later).
The inaugural homemade 'What Happened Next?' features a clip from this years Shamrock Bowl between the Dublin Rebels and the UL Vikings. Play is in the second quarter and it's 3rd and long. Enjoy!
In case you didn't notice, Der Irlander has just gotten a snazzy new haircut...that is to say the page has been given an overhaul in an attempt to make it easier on the eye and more importantly, to make it more user-friendly. The content and future features won't be changed, just the way we present them to you!
Below is a youtube video with suitable music taken from the movie 'Tron Legacy' to unveil the new design to; stick it on there and tell us what you think of the new layout! (Seriously though, what a track for football highlights, right?)
As mentioned in an earlier post Der Irlander is starting an interview series with an ex-teammate, now divisional rival: Lubeck Cougars DB Darragh Farrell. Darragh managed to tear himself away from the Cougars long enough for me to interrogate him somewhat, and this is what I got out of him...
Der Irlander has now landed in Facebook's alottment of cyberspace!!
Perched firmly atop the internet's favourite social networking tree the blog can now reach your beloved friends and families that much quicker since not everyone has fully discovered the great reach of the Blogger network!
Tell the extended families and let's grow the Der Irlander audience!
Danke!
For those of you that haven't already noticed the 'Like' option just added to each post here's a URL for the auld copy'n'paste!
Sure it's only pre-season but after the complete drought of the off-season I think most, if not all, football fans are elated with the smallest sample of top-tier action. Stop me if I'm wrong...
Some surprising results already though, Kansas City failing to score a point was an upset I would have thought with the league leading rusher and the architect of Arizona's Superbowl run: Todd Haley. The previous Superbowl teams Pittsburgh and Green Bay lost as well, can't say I would have guessed that either! But sure they have three more games to figure it out so we'll let them away with it....for now.
On the other end of the spectrum there are some not so surprising results; San Fran remain ineffective with Alex Smith (I won't lie, being a Rams fan I enjoyed seeing it (apologies to any 9ers fans that read this!)), the Bills are still the Bills, New England are still Bill Belichick's team, Detroit are filled with optimism as usual (just wait until Stafford gets knocked out for the season), and finally Curtis Painter....is still Curtis Painter, by which I mean he has stepped into the Jim Sorgi role of perpetual back up who plays Peyton Manning's pre-season games by throwing more INTs than TDs. Still, at least they have a solid third stringer in Dan Orlovsky....oh....
Okay, the fodder is done with, now to the big boys: the GFL2 post-season picture!
This auld Paddy got to see the fine German countryside as the team whizzed past the high speed train windows on the way to Cologne. Early start and an early finish to the day yesterday was made easier by the Berlin Rebels getting out of the wild west with a 23-0 shutout victory. A win's a win so we'll take it.
Anyway, with the Lubeck game being rescheduled to the end of the season it could end up being billed as a down to the wire, winner takes all play-off decider. Without meaning to sound trite and clichéd: epic.
Of course this depends on a few things though; we (the Rebels) have to win against Troisdorf in two weeks when they visit Berlin from the west, the Cougars would have to lose to someone (I'm looking at the Hamburg Blue Devils who are after a perfect season after they narrowly escaped our clutches...twice.....shudder). If those two things happen that last game will be a belter, so be sure to follow the closing games of the GFL2 season!
So, while we all busy ourselves with the NFL pre-season ushering in an actual NFL regular season let's not take our eyes off of the intense battle for promotion to the GFL1! If either the Lubeck Cougars or Berlin Rebels get to the top German division it will mean a huge milestone for Irish-born American football players!
Slán for now!
PS: Interview with Lubeck Cougars Irish-born defensive back Darragh Farrell should feature on the blog next week, will make for some interesting rivalry reading!
Okay so the holiday hiatus is over and I'm back on the beat! You can rest easy once again good citizens of football city!
On top of that, my Berlin Rebels got back to work after some soccer hooligans called our game due to a bit of rain! Pfft! Wouldn't want to tear up their precious field...it may uproot a rough patch of dirt that could chafe their skin when diving all about the place! Anyway, rescheduling it to the end of the year will make for a good atmosphere when those mountain lion folk come down here, or at least I hope it will. How cool would it be to battle for the playoff spot on the last day of the year? Steve Sabol couldn't write that any better!
Anyway, if you didn't know the Berlin Rebels went up to Hmaburg to take on the undefeated Blue Devils in front of around 2,000 spectators; a fun venue to be sure but the fact that we lost 21-7 was somewhat disheartening to be honest! The worst part is that after going up 7-0 we were in charge really until a broken play went 40 yards fro a TD before the half...lady momentum is a fickle expletive as I'm sure you all are well aware of!
Anyway, after the long trek home and getting to bed at 3:30am or something it hit me; my dream of being the first Irish-born player in GFL1 took a beating. Given where we stand in GFL2 it's a tough road to GFL1, and we'll need favours from other teams.
So, here's hoping! But as I've said before, I won't begrudge my old team mates in Lubeck for getting there first if they should, but let's not get ahead of ourselves jsut yet! ;)
Glad to be back an I have some interesting interviews/features planned for the near future, so stay tuned!
No I'm not talking about losing out on the chance to play in GFL1 already, I'm talking about my Dublin Rebels earning the right to play in the Shamrock Bowl again this year!
Once again the boys in black have fought through their own adversity and clawed their way into the title game, and wouldn't you know it, they're up against the old enemy, UL Vikings. Gongrats to the Vikes for getting this far without a loss, commendable. They've an impressive program and are very well organized thanks to a good coaching set up (arguably the best in the IAFL) and having the majority of their roster centred in one locale is a big help too. Kutos to you lot.
The Rebels (who long ago stole my affections from any team I would ever play for) have suffered this year, I know from personal involvement that they've lost key players to foreign teams, retirement, injury, and that old bugaboo, travel. I honestly didn't expect them to get to the game, but that Rebel tenacity shone through again and I couldn't be happier! I only wish I could be there to help the guys, even just to cheer them on...sigh...
Anyway, it should be a heck of a game, these two have been trading blows in the final for what seems like an eternity! For those of you outside of Ireland that might follow along, pay attention to the quality of palyers on these two squads, I'm sure there'll be someone who could be of use to your team....
Well, the American football world championships finished today in Austria and boy they came to a close with a great round of games! I've been saving up my blogging energy for this moment, so here’s a rather large capsule review of the final few games and an extra helping of Irishman rant to get you through the tournament hangover. Enjoy.
Friday:
Austria 48 | 10 Australia
Home field advantage.
Well, this was the weakest game of the final round clearly, or at least the one with the widest margin of talent to the untrained eye.
To be fair to Australia I think they did better than the score line would suggest. No, honestly I do! Stay with me here. Now some might view the following points as excuses but I’d rather you take them as considerations for the final equations. 1) They had the unfortunate task of going against the host nation who hadn’t won a game before this, and in front of their home crowd they were desperate for a good performance. 2) They were they odd ones out in a brutal group. Did you see who they had to face? The USA, Mexico and Europe’s best; Germany! I’m almost surprised they could field a team after that! And hell they made a fight out of it at times.
I was very impressed when they came out for the second half with a no huddle offense and got their TD, a shrewd coaching move. Pity the Austrians were just in the mood to vent some frustration. The power running game was excellent and it set up big passing plays perfectly.
Big shout out to my former teammate Austrian FB/RB Florian Hiess; key blocks on two rushing TDs and a score of his own too. Way to run hard!
Japan 17 | 14 Mexico
The battle for bronze.
This was always billed to be a very entertaining game and it didn’t disappoint. It was the first time I got to take a proper look at the Mexicans and by the beard of Zeus they were impressive!
I had seen the Japanese before and was expecting their typical well organized, well disciplined style of play. The fun part of this game for me was the complete contrast in style from their opponents. The Mexicans were big, bad-ass, and a little bit bonkers! It was a lot of fun to watch these mammoths run about the field with reckless abandon.
Their physicality and attitude made them out to be the bad boys of the tournament, unfortunately for them however I think it was living this image with a little too much vigour that ultimately shot them in the foot. There were a lot of penalty flags thrown throughout the tournament but there seemed to be a few extra ones in this game. Too many poor decisions by the Mexican players at key points in the game that just weren’t necessary. Still, I’ll admit that may have rattled the Japanese, who knows, that could have been their gameplan?
The game was kept close to the last seconds of the game (blocked field goal anyone?) and was a very exciting chess match to behold, and after the results these two teams churned out against European counterparts it was another reminder of the gap in levels between the continents.
Saturday:
Germany 21 | 17 France
A scrap for European supremacy (don’t mention the you-know-what....).
Familiar foes took to the field to try and claim the title of Europe’s best. Germany were always expected to be here if we’re being honest, however France pulled somewhat of an upset when they took out the host team to get into this fixture, so they weren’t about to go quietly into the night.
This was an excellent competition featuring some great play from both sides in all phases of the game. It started as a battle of field position as both teams probed and felt the other out, a cagey game to begin with. But it was great to see one team go the length of the field and score only to have the other calmly come back and march right back down the field for a response.
There always has to be a winner though and I think we can all agree that the killer moment was that amazing 90-yard touchdown for Germany; once that went in the French seemed to surrender any hope of pulling back in front. To their credit though they fought back for a field goal and put it on their defence to get them one more shot at a win but darnit those efficient Germans weren’t to be denied. A masterful 4 minute drill was run as they combined runs, passes and some frustrated French penalties to kill the clock.
Even though the Germans won both teams should be proud, that was one of, in fact no, it was the best game of the tournament I felt.
USA 50 | 7 Canada
Turns out it’s true: Team America do in fact police the world.
Well it is their game so we’ll let them have this one.
It wasn’t the exciting game it was supposed to be but by golly it was an impressive performance from the boys in blue. From their first drive they let everyone know who was in command as they calmly and quickly marched down the field and got into the endzone. Now, to Canada’s credit they went right after them with a great play action and pass: the QB and RB sold it brilliantly, the receiver made a great move and was wide open and given a free pass to the endzone, the crowd swelled with anticipation, and then he dropped it.
Sadly that wasn’t the lone snaffoo for the maple-leafed ones as they fell victim to that most irritating fumble through the endzone touchbackspritely dash by the American signal caller pretty much untouched to paydirt. Then the tournament new boys took a safety rather than risk punt when the U.S. defence decide to knock it up a notch...BAM! 16-0. Some learned folks might say that was a good decision so as to get better purchase on the ensuing free kick rather than a cramped punt from under the shadow of the goalposts, but not so much when the opponent proceeds to take the ensuing drive right back down to the goal line and walk it in again.
Canada did their best to be fair, their first few drives as I mentioned could have garnered points, but if they were ever going to have a chance to win this one they were going to have to play perfect on every snap of the ball, in every phase of the game. Sadly this didn't happen. After those first two drives things took a sharp turn down the slippery hill of defeat, and as they realised things weren’t going to go their way frustration began to show and as a result flags began to fly with a bit more frequency.
Poor guys, after casually striding past Austria they got knocked violently back to reality. Once the big boys took a 30-0 head start they clearly stuck it into cruise mode.
The Canadians had some good individual plays throughout the game I'll concede, and they even managed to get a score before the half on a decent catch and run, so good on you guys....but then the states decided to lob one up into double coverage as time expires and miraculously nab another cheeky score.
Sheesh, hard to keep up with all these scores, can only imagine how the poor scoreboard operator coped!
Anyway, I’m not even going to go into the second half because it’s inhumane, at 37-7 by the end of the second quarter you start to realize who's going to come out on top. So, commiserations to the new blood Canadians and an emphatic hats off to the undisputed heavy weight champions of the world; they made it look so easy.
Closing Thoughts
What a great tournament! Well done to all involved, from the players and coaches, to the TV crews, cheerleaders, performers and event staff, it was such a fantastic occasion and a worthy event for the game we all love! Well done I.F.A.F. and well done Austria, give yourselves a pat on the back; bravo!
I loved watching the games and seeing what’s out there in terms of level of play, it was inspirational to me, while at the same time downright terrifying! The USA, Canada, Mexico and Japan are so unbelievably beyond the reach of us Europeans it’s kind of sad, but then what did we honestly expect? Still, I found myself green with envy while watching all the guys having a run out in the name of their respective countries at that level.
It really grinds my gears that the Irish national program is a whisper at the best of times, I mean I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever get the chance to represent my country at that level and that depresses the expletive out of me! So all of you who participated in the games and national programs I hope you appreciate what a great moment that was!
Anyway folks, that’s all I have to say about all that, will be back with more posts next week. Until then I’ll leave you with this celebratory video for the American football world champs....America.
The team came together for the first time after the break this evening and boy I tell you those sweaty buggers were a sight for sore eyes! I'm under no illusion that there's still a long way to go, but that long way is crammed into one calendar month of solid GFL2 football mayhem!
So, in the immortal words of Celebrity Deathmatch referee Mills Lane: "LET'S GET IT ON!!!"
Good to see the guys again and get back to the field I must say, especially since there’s been an influx of players and therefore an increase in competition for positions. Any player worth his salt will thrive from competition. There’s nothing like a guy nipping at your heels to light a fire under your ass, I know that from my years in Dublin.
Now I know from what I’ve just said I’ve implied I felt someone’s breath on my neck in Dublin but if I’m being honest, which I am as always faithful reader, after my first two years I got somewhat complacent and pretty secure in my role with the team. It sounds horribly arrogant I know, and I’m rather annoyed I’ve just posted it here, but that’s the way it was; I learned the playbook inside out knew the reads etc and just played and got stuck on a plateau, but that worked for the Irish league. Here in Germany, the pressure to earn and keep your job has taken a violent upswing as many of you will no doubt already know! But that’s awesome! I’m forced to dig deeper and find new levels of play somewhere down there in my gut just to hang on: love it.
Again, any player in Ireland or in developing leagues considering getting out there and playing at higher levels, I implore you to make like a Nike advert and just do it! You can see in the world championship in Austria that the U.S., Candanavia and Japan are leaps and bounds ahead of us Europeans, and it’ll stay like that until we get more players competing at better levels.
So, on that sombre note I shall leave you all to a pleasant evening...
If you've read my first post, or the blog's subtitle for that matter, you'll appreciate that no Irish player has played at GFL1 to date and that it is a huge personal goal of mine to be the first to do so. Well, this plotline is a bit like a pig bullied in the piggy schoolyard because it has an extra twist its tail.
Mentioned in my article on Irish players in GFL2 (http://www.europlayers.com/News.aspx?NewsId=417) there are three former teammates on the Lubeck Cougars squad, two of which are Irish-born, and yes, these are the same Cougars locked in a battle with my Berlin Rebels for a spot in the promotion playoffs.
So, some dastardly antagonists have been thrown against your beloved protagonist! That's me by the way.
This hasn't soured me on those guys though don't worry, far from it...I'm not THAT petty! I'm proud of the guys working hard up the in Lubeck, it just means that the uphill struggle of trying to get myself into GFL1 has been turned into an uphill race between me and those two boyos up in northern Germany...I warned you this blog would be compelling!
So, with the GFL2 teams currently getting back to work after the season break we build up towards the pivotal match on July 30th against Lubeck, a lot at stake; especially pride! We'll see over the closing few games of the season if I, or any Irishman for that matter, can help the team over the hump and into GFL1.
Can you contain your excitement? Neither can I! I'm teetering on the edge right now as I simply write about it!
Talk to you after training next week: plenty to discuss then no doubt!
Preying on my thoughts last night was the fact that before January of this year I had no real clue that I, a lowly Irishman, could play American football on the continent and hope to achieve the dizzying highs of the GFL.
This is really just a shout out to the lads back home in the IAFL or in any small country league that's just emerging now.
Dare to step outside your comfort zone, and if at first you don't succeed; try harder damnit!
I know from playing against them all, and from the odd success story here and there, that a number of players in the IAFL could play at higher levels and I'm sure other developing/amateur leagues are the same. And if you do decide to take a risk and jump up a few levels, go for broke while you still can. Get on to europlayers.com and get yourself and your skills out there.
When I first started looking for teams I set the ceiling pretty low to be honest, I was looking for teams that weren't too far ahead of where I was already because quite frankly I was scared of failing, both myself and my coaches. A realisation dawned on me however that I was young enough to shoot for the top, so why the flip not?
Anyway, that's all I wanted to say to anyone reading this, have the guts to bet the house and go for it all. No guts, no glory.
Preachy and self-righteous I know but hope it speaks to somebody out there.
Carpe that diem people.
PS: In case you needed any more inspiration here's possibly the most rousing song of all time!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2ZShmt19uQ
With the first post of the 2011 'Hard Knocks For The Hard Of Hearing' blog, the author selects you, the reader, from wherever you are. Yes, this is an American football related blog folks and you have just been drafted to it. My heartfelt congratulations to you dear reader.
Anyway, I suppose I should start with how I got to this point and how the blog came to be. There's a lot to cover but it's the first post so we're all playing catch up, the rest won't be as long-winded, don't worry. So without any further pomp or ado, here you have it:
My name is Ross McCooey, a born and raised Irishman. I discovered American football some years ago back home in Dublin, Ireland and after getting bored with rugby and karate and anything else I tried I turned to the gridiron. Six fantastic years as a linebacker with the Dublin Rebels later and here I find myself sitting in Berlin with the Berlin Rebels, go figure!
The six years I spent with the Dublin Rebels were through college and some rather unsatisfying jobs, but football was always there to relieve study stress or work anxiety. I lived and breathed Rebels football. I played linebacker primarily but one season I lined up at 10 different positions: all across the OL, fullback, runningback, tight end, and even split out wide as a WR...no kidding (granted it was to block but it still counts)! From the moment I arrived at the rookie meeting I could tell that bunch of raggamuffins would provide a suitable theatre for my pent up sporting exploits.
Six years there covered a lot of achievement; three Shamrock Bowl titles (Irish championships fyi), one of which they decided to name me as MVP for, two gut-wrenching lost finals, and an appearance at the Atlantic cup. Oh, and the only two recorded perfect seasons in Irish American Football League (IAFL) history. A lot accomplished looking at it in a few lines.
After last year's perfect season and after talking to some of the guys on the team it dawned on me: I'm 24 and in an office job I can't stand that if I'm not careful will suck me in for my entire life. A jailbreak screen was called. Plan was to get onto europlayers.com and see if I can get out of Ireland and see how far I can climb in football while I still can.
Plenty of interest in my services which was rather gratifying to be honest. Talked to teams about finding the best possible fit for me and my future plans and goals. To be honest I figured I wanted to go to Germany to play in what is regarded as the most competitive league available in Europe, but GFL1 didn't even register on my scope. That was until the Plattling Black Hawks of GFL1 South came calling. I won't bore you with any details but suffice to say it fell through at the last minute, crushing my newly sprouted visions of GFL1 glory. C'est la vie, n'est ce pas?
I wasn't too worried though to be honest; having gauged interest (with a little help from a fairy godfather) I knew I'd find a higher level of play that could handle me. The Berlin Rebels were just that. A former teammate from Dublin was now coaching the DL for the German chapter of the men in black and that with the prospect of living in Berlin to play in GFL2 was a good sounding deal to me.
Thanks to the debacle with previous plans I had unfortunately missed some games by the time I arrived but I was eager to get stuck in against the league leaders Hamburg. I must tell you that my pre-game nerves were off the chart, a lot was riding on my performance. Now, the sharper reader may have figured this out already but I managed to play well enough to stick around. Two more games under my belt against Magdeburg and Cologne and I've handled myself reasonably well I'd say. Critiquing myself I would say I dipped after the high of the first game but brought it back a bit in the third.
However, the big kahuna is coming: July 30th against Lubeck. Not only is it huge because of playoff implications but there are also five former Dublin Rebels participating in the game. In fact, doing a preview of the importance of this game for europlayers.com ( http://www.europlayers.com/News.aspx?NewsId=417 ) brought about the inception of this blog. As I wrote the closing paragraph of that piece the significance of what's at stake set home; no Irish player has played at GFL1 to date.
Having come so close with Plattling I may have been reeling, I won't lie, but when life hands you lemons...and so on. It's a huge personal goal for me to be the first Irishman to play in GFL1 and this blog will chart my, and the Berlin Rebels', battle to go from GFL2 to promotion through the second half of the season. Hopefully you'll find it compelling, exciting, and at times, humorous.
Until the next installment; you stay classy planet Earth.
