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The Beerleaders made a substitution this week. Ian had to cover work, so Lou’s Mumsy, Helen, finally came off the practice squad after about 4 years. |
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Taking the bus to Glasgow from London is a bit of a problem, as you arrive in town at 7am and cannot check in to the hotel until 2pm! After having some breakfast, we decided to kill some time by finding where the hotel was. When we came back down Sauchiehall Street we were greeted by the biggest player we’d ever seen (yes, bigger than The Fridge in 1997). A huge inflatable player! Great advertising for the Claymores! |
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After sitting in Starbucks for a while, we still had time to kill, so we went to see How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days. Typical rom com fare, but it took us up to check-in time! |
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After a doze and a shower, it was time to head to the Beer Café in Merchant Square, where we met most of the Claymores’ London Posse (“I need you, I need you, I need you on the floor”), and a few of the Fire faithful (most were AWOL and are planning to only go to Scotland for WB this year). |
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Dom introduced Lou to a great new beer, Liberty Ale, which comes from San Francisco. Sadly, we didn’t spot any Samuel Adams in there…hmm…must make a trip to The Beer Shop soon and try to find both of these. |
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A group of us piled across the Square for Tapas served with sangria. It was OK, but Montse is certainly not out of a job yet! Dom Melaragni didn’t order any calamari! Which was a shame. But I probably wouldn’t have mentioned it if her name were Smith… |
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After the Beer Café closed, we had a swifty in the Travel Inn bar. Mumsy had headed for home at this point. Preston was shocked to hear that I was in the hotel bar without being a patron (we were staying at the Premier Lodge). |
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After the Travel Inn bar closed (are you sensing a pattern?), we headed over the road for more drinking at Bourbon St. There were some interestingly shaped women in some equally interesting outfits, and Dom and Lou looked at each other with raised eyebrows more than a few times. |
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Dom clambered up a ladder to get to the DJ booth to request some Scooter, and he didn’t have any!! What do we say to the DJ?? |
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We boogied away to a few numbers, and at 2.45 Lou headed out to get a taxi. |
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Sunday began with a few pre-game drinks in the Clockwork. It was good to go back in there and catch up with some folks who weren’t in town the night before. Christof & Andrea had been out on Saturday night with Ian Dall and Andy & Louise. It sounded pretty messy. |
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We headed over to the backfield, but on the way we picked up something very sexy, a World Bowl XI banner. This was not, for a change, an act of hooliganism. It was a very windy day, and it had blown off its lamppost. If we hadn’t have taken it home, someone else would. And we’d give it a much better home! |
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We met up with more folks at the backfield party, although it was too late to join the TDC Photograph, Mark II. Oh well, maybe at WB. |
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Inside the stadium we enjoyed the luxury of the Gold section, thanks to Roy. Very lovely, comfy seats and great position. |
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The game was a 33-0 shut-out. Poor Rhein Fire couldn’t get a single point on the board. The game started with a Safety, which we hadn’t seen live for a long while. Here as always is the official line or you could check out the FTP’s perspective. |
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There were quite a few highlights on the field. Sadly for Ian, he missed out on a field of wet cheeries! At least two of the cheeries had adopted Dom's trend of wearing their hair in bunches. There was a classic sideline interview with Bernie, the Rhein Fire mascot. It was a little one-sided. Speaking of Bernie, Shuggie and Hamish chased him into the tunnel and later emerged, parading around the stadium carrying his head! He was OK, though. He reappeared later, with a bandaged beak and his wing in a sling. |
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The cheeries celebrate one of the many TDs of the day. |
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Shuggie and Hamish parade Bernie's head around the stadium. |
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The boys leave the field... |
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...followed by a staggering Bernie. |
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After the game, we headed up to the gold suite to catch up with the others. Lou got to snuggle up to Scotland QB Craig Nall and have a photo taken. You never know who might be the next Brad or Kurt! |
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Lou cuddles up to Craig Nall. |
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We sipped our Corrs Light – loosely termed ‘beer’ by the staff at the bar - before being thrown out and headed back to the Clockwork for one more. The other London bods flew home, but we had to go back to Glasgow to get our bus to London. The bus was full of Celtic supporters on the way to Seville. Getting the bus is OK, but it’s pretty uncomfortable. And it doesn’t help when evil members of the FTP text you to tell you that they are already at home in bed and it’s not even midnight! |
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FINAL SCORE: Rhein Fire 0 – 33 Scottish Claymores
Next week…Ian will be doing a double header: Scotland @ Amsterdam and Berlin @ Rhein.
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More photos to follow...
This week we're raising a beer to Preston Cheddarhead, who, despite not actually living in Glasgow, pulled his finger out and organised somwhere to meet the Fire fans on Saturday night.
Read about the Cheddarheads' road adventures at Cheddarheads.co.uk. |
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