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It was Lou who was AWOL this week, so Ian had to go it alone. The weekend started with removal men packing all the baggage for his impending move to the UK, so it was straight from Brussels to the ArenA, without passing a bar and without collecting £200. After a very quick round of ‘hellos’ to the Fire and Claymores fans and our token Thunder fans (Karstan and his lady), we headed into the stadium. |
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Although the ticket was for a random seat, Ian still ended up in Block 121. We all stood up and started cheering as the players were introduced. Security then came up to Velcro and asked us all to sit down and keep quiet as we were disturbing the people around us. He asked to speak to the head, who duly turned up with two policemen and asked Velcro to speak with him in the foyer. Meanwhile, five security guys watch over us to make sure we were all sitting and keeping quiet. This was all very amusing to one lady who was sitting with us. Suze Stull was over visiting her Claymores and Admirals friends. |
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The party was rocking in Block 108 for the Claymores, but it was pointed out to us that they had nobody around to disturb. After it was explained that it was farcical that the home fans couldn't get behind the team but the away fans could, with half time fast approaching a plot was hatched to go to Block 108. |
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At half time in small batches we headed round to Block 108. Andy & Louise were in the bar and said the stewards were checking all tickets of people entering 108. And so the Claymores’ human smuggling ring was formed… |
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A Claymore would come out with two tickets in their pocket to the bar and an Admiral would get into the block. Soon most of Triple A were across and the party could finally start for us, albeit too late because we were already trailing by a mile. As we saw virtually nothing of the game the official report is here, or the FTP perspective is here. |
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After the game we all headed back into the bar in the stadium. On the big screen they were showing the start of the Eurovision scoring. Belgium 32 UK 0; this looked like an old Monarchs scoreline. Most of the Fire were driving straight back to Germany, but the Admirals and the remaining Fire fans went back to the Hotel Internationaal bar where a small fan party was organised. It’s a difficult choice between Stongbow and Schlösser... |
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At 4am Ian headed to Velcro’s flat to find Claymore Chris already there. The alarm was set for 7.30, in order to catch the 0904 ICE to Düsseldorf. |
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FINAL SCORE: Scottish Claymores 31 - 20 Amsterdam Admirals |
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Day 2 started with a train ride and a quiet beer. First stop was the station supermarket for the obligatory apfel korn sneakies. The Knoten was quiet at 11330, the only recognisable faces were Eiko, and Anthony and Bernard who had been to Silke and Thomas' wedding in Düsseldorf on Saturday. Departure to the stadium was at 12.30, which left time for just a couple of beers and the now customary ‘pork in a roll’. |
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When we reached the stadium Ian rapped the sneakies in his clothes and told security “only clothes, I'm travelling”. To his horror, the security guy squeezed the clothes and felt the sneakies. He rummaged into every part of the bag every single sneaky was confiscated. Two bad experiences with security in two days. Ouch!! |
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Everybody met around the ‘Bring the Fire Back Home’ tent and Ian treated Dom and H to some Long Island Iced Teas from the cocktail stand. We all proceeded into the game with Ian all alone in his season ticket seat (ahh…). |
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The day got even worse when an ice cream purchased to make up for the sneakie loss was so unfrozen, the entire thing just toppled of the stick onto the seat in front (bigger ahh…). |
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The official game report is here. |
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As the game finished the FTP and Cheddarheads appeared and we started talking beside the trampolines outside the stadium. Before long Dom, Shuggie and Preston were happy bouncing away. Soon we realised that nobody was left at the stadium and after much persuasion got everybody off the tramps and in the direction of the busses. When we got to the bus park we found the busses had gone as we had missed the half hour rule. |
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Plan B swung into action and after establishing which tram platform would take us in the right direction we headed for Gelsenkirchen HBF. There we found lots of Fire fans headed for the platforms and followed them. On the platform we recognised a hat and immediately accosted Nobsi to guide us back to Knoten. When we arrived, after explaining the where the Hell we’d been, Ian joined the host for the night Michael. He was with Annette and Sandra (unsurprisingly, Sonja was already in the Louisiana, as were the Chedderheads and the FTP). |
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Ian with Sandra. In a puff of smoke, Sandra was gone... Photo: courtesy of Sandra Kuttig. |
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...and Anette appeared in her place! |
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Ian wins the 'which side of the photo do you like' argument again! Anthony just smiles. Photo: courtesy of Sandra Kuttig. |
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Player X appeared in the Knoten this week, with several other players in tow. When asked how he was getting used to the alt beer (click here to see how he was coping in Week 1), he said he is “kinda getting used to it”. |
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Markus is confused by Ias's new hat. Photo: courtesy of Sandra Kuttig. |
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At 2am, the Louisiana posse returned and all to soon it was time to retire to Sonja and Michael’s place, Sandra was also staying over. We watched a little of the game before all retiring to our rooms. It was another evil early departure in the morning, but Michael kindly dragged himself out of bed at 8am to drive to the HBF to catch the train home. |
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FINAL SCORE: Berlin Thunder 21 - 28 Rhein Fire |
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This week we are raising a beer to Andy & Louise for their part in the human smuggling in the Arena, to Michael & Sonja for their hospitality (beware, Ian has his eye on your 49ers bear) and of course to Silke & Thomas – happy honeymoon! |
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And if you're wondering where Lou was... |
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...she went to Hammersmith Apollo to see Darius. Here's a piccie to counter-balance all those cheerie shots! Nothing to do with football, but who cares? |
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