Introductions: Darragh Farrell

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!

Darragh Farrell

Guest Article: The Italian's Job

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!

Filippo Bertoli, DL (#65), Mustangs Trieste

Interview: Dublin Rebels QB Andrew Dennehy

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!

Andrew Dennehy, QB, Dublin Rebels

Guest Article: American Football in Ireland?

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!

Brian Carter, WR, Eastside Hawks, 2003

Interview: Berlin Rebels LB Ross McCooey

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!

Ross McCooey, LB, Berlin Rebels

Rebels v Cougars Highlights

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!

For promotion to GFL1

 

New Navigation Buttons!

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!

That's all folks (for now)!

Slán.

2011 Season In Review

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!

2011 Berlin Rebels

Quick update...

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!

Interview: Lubeck Cougars' Irish-born DE Steve Walsh

The final piece before the 2011 GFL2 apocalypse!

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!

Steve Walsh, DE, Lubeck Cougars

GFL2 Superbowl Build-up: SHOW YOUR COLOURS!

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!

GFL2 Superbowl Build-up: SHOW YOUR COLOURS!

Number two already?! Creeping ever closer to the big game and boy-howdy have I got a good one for you today?! (Yes I do).

GFL2 Superbowl Build-up: SHOW YOUR COLOURS!

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!

GFL2 Superbowl Build-up: SHOW YOUR COLOURS!

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!

GFL2 Superbowl Build-up: SHOW YOUR COLOURS!

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!

An intrguing nugget...

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!

What Happened Next? - And the winner is....

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!

What Happened Next? - 01 Sep 2011

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!