Sharks Press Conference Room:

The chatter and noise fill the room as the gathered reporters and Cabalvision operators stand about discussing the DLE and recent results.

“Quiet please. SShhhh. Can people take their seats please. Quieten down please. EVERYBODY SHUT THE F*** UP AND SIT DOWN!!!!!!!”

Everyone turns to face the stage to see a red-faced unkempt Halfling glaring out at them.
“Now that I have your attention can you all sit down and be quiet, show some respect. Mr. Wing”

“Thank you Mr. Flatfoot”. A tall, well dressed gentleman steps up to the lectern. He has close cropped hair and a spiffing well-oiled moustache, clearly a well-kept man.
“Thank you all for coming today, I know this press-conference is long overdue so I shall get right to it. My name is Mr. Wing and I am the Franchise Owner and Head Coach for the Skar Bay Sharks.”

There are some murmers and whispers among the assembly, **unheard of**, **ridiculous**, **it will never work**.

“I must apologise first for the lack of news and press opportunities so far from the Sharks but we have only just finished refurbishing the press office and just last week finalised the hiring of our PR and Media team.”
“I would like to express my thanks to the DLE Commissioner for accepting the Sharks application to join this great league, it was a long process not without a couple of road blocks that we had to navigate, but we are here now and very grateful for the opportunity.”
“Now that the formalities are out of the way I’m sure you must all have questions you would like to ask so I now open it up to the floor, ask away.”

There is a clamour amongst the reporters, questions and hands being thrown up. Mr. Wing points out to a grizzly looking man with a notepad which has clearly seen better days and looks to have been chewed along the edges.

“I be Yarek Nur, Ye Olde Worlde Gazzette. Owner an ‘ead coach is unheard of, un-natural, whit are you doing both fir? Did ye struggle t’ find a coach due t’ the Sharks bein an amateur outfit?”

“Thank you Mr. Nur. But I think you will find this is a very professional outfit. No expense is spared on our training facilities or in our stadium. We aim to provide the best opportunities for our players to improve and to provide the best Blood Bowl experience in the land for our fans to enjoy. As for being owner and Head Coach it was simply down to the fact that I could not find anyone I trusted to organise and lead the squad we have assembled. I assure you I am no rookie in this matter. My father and his father before him coached the Sharks as an amateur outfit. The Sharks have always been in my life and from my earliest memories I recall my Grand Father and Father taking practice, going to matches, talking tactics. I may not technically have coached a team on my own but I have been around Blood Bowl long enough to understand it and see how it all operates. I have every confidence in my abilities and my players. Going 2-0 in our first two games was no fluke, I assure you. Next question… you there, with the milky eye.”

“Toby Tanner, Sports Tri-weekly. Congratulations on a great start to the season, do you think it will continue, can you make the Play-offs?”

“Mr. Tanner, thank you. Yes, we have made a great start but that is down to the hard work of my players and a great pre-season. We have won 2 games, we know that does not make us world beaters so we will continue to take it one game at a time, where that takes us we shall just have to wait and see.”

Tanner follows this up “You mention your pre-season, you certainly surprised everyone with your draft trading and pick choices, can you explain your thinking and do you think it has worked out?”

“A great question Sir. After studying the rosters for the teams that took part in Season 1 it was clearly evident that most teams rested their hopes on 3 or 4 highly trained professional athletes but then there was drop off in quality throughout the rest of the squad. As was saw at Remas, an injury to one of these specialist players can seriously affect your chances of competing throughout the season, something they never really recovered from as shown by their low league position. I decided to go for a full team of 16 experienced players that can all do a job and bring different skills and attributes to the field. Sure that meant a slight drop in quality, we would have loved to have a Donte Hightower or Sammy Watkins in our team but if they get taken out there are only inexperienced rookies left to fill that gap, whereas we have experience and depth to cover every position. You could see this in our second game against the Cascade, 2 players missing from the game due to injury but the squad stepped up and put in a great performance, especially the Defence who to a man stood their ground and were magnificent. We currently lead the Injury table, nobody else has suffered like we have, but the results show that my draft policy was the correct one. Next question.”

“Bobby Banner, Sports Bi-Weekly. You said previously that no expense is spared but can you assure the fans that there are adequate funds in place to pay for all the state-of-the-art facilities, the stadium and players?”

“I can assure you Mr. Banner that money is not an issue. I will not divulge all my business dealings but I am a very successful business man, we have great sponsorship deals and merchandise agreements in place.”

Another voice pops up from the back of the room “If you have tho much money why ith there a thmell of thmoke lingering in thith room if it hath jutht been refurbithed?”

“Ah, yes, I was wondering when that would be mentioned. Where to start… Some of you may not know but the Sharks applied for DLE membership before the start of season 1, we were to be one of the founding members and the only representative for Bretonnia. Our initial application was accepted, all financial checks done, the stadium and facilities had been awarded the necessary Safety Certificates and insurance policies in place. This process was long and very thorough and about a week before the Draft process was due to start all that was left to do was to hand in the final draft of the League Contracts and certificates. That unfortunately was when the main offices went up in flames.

Fortunately the local night watchman spotted the fire and raised the alarm quickly. The main office and the stationary cupboard were destroyed but thankfully the quick reaction of the Anti-Fire Auxiliary was able to contain the fire to those two rooms before it could spread and only some smoke damage in adjoining rooms including this one and praise Nuffle, nobody was hurt.

All the paperwork was destroyed but the damage to the office and building structure would have rescinded our Safety Certificate so we had to formally withdraw our application and wait for the DLE to expand, fortunately we did not have to wait very long. “

“Do you know for thertain what thtarted the fire?”

“The Anti-Fire Auxiliary Accident Investigation Officer believes that it was started deliberately. Our team of Private Investigators are on the case but so far have not managed to catch the culprit, although we do have several leads to follow.”

“Pavel Lokren, Spike Magazine!. You mentioned that you were to be the representative for Bretonnia, with the Brionne Buccaneers being given that spot after your withdrawal, do you think that they had anything to do with it?”

“Mr. Lokren that is a pretty big accusation to suggest, but no… I do not know or wish to consider that they would stoop so low as to sabotage our inclusion in the DLE but given the fact that they now occupy our place and managed to jump in at the last minute when nobody had ever heard of them and the fact that they are currently involved in an image-rights dispute with Averheim with regards to the use of the very similar team badge and the “we had it first” debate, I can see why you would maybe make that logical jump.”

“Sorry, So are you saying that you think the Buccs are involved??”

“No Sir, I did not say that or even imply that they were involved, just pointing out that they seem to court controversy. If that is all the questions for today, I shall bid you all Good Day gentlemen. Mr. Flatfoot, please escort them out.”