At the Tageszeitung, we feel it’s time to evaluate our favourite team. The first season was succesful for sure, but how successful? And what players performed and whom did not? To do this we have enlisted Günther and Hertha, who have followed the team closely this season. Günther, where do you want to start?

Günther: Well, you know, when Coach Vatn put together his team, he knew early on that he wouldn't have all the talent that he wanted. Accordingly, he divided the team into three groups of players, which he designated the hitting team, the ball-handling team and the linemen. He then decided to prioritise the hitting team in the first season, and placed most of his talent in this group. I think we should start with this group, which consists of Friedrich and the four blitzers.

Hertha: Yeah. He drafted three of these "hitting" players; Vick Ballard to be the one to use sidestepping to penetrate the defensive line and be the sacker; Markelle Martin to leap over the defensive line when desperate and to use his speed (+MA) to hunt down catchers, and Turbin to be the running back and otherwise bring down as many as he could. In addition he put in two local talents, Dietmar Althoff to be the slugger and Friedrich Dunkelhelm with his immense strength to be the linchpin of defense and offense. I think we can pretty much say that the sucess of the team has depended upon these five player's performance. And you have the numbers, Günther?
Günther: We could start with the casualties vs Block rate. Here Dietmar is the best, with 8 casualties (3 kills and 2 perms) in 102 blocks. Turbin has 6 casualties in 94 blocks, Martin 3 casualties in 94 Blocks and Friedrich 3 in 101 blocks. Finally, Vick has only managed 2 casualties in 110 blocks.

Hertha: What, do you think, Günther, are those good numbers?

Günther: I think they are fair. If we for example compare within the division, the Vikings star blitzer, Eric Kendricks, has 6 casualties in 122 Blocks (over two seasons) and Wolfskins blitzer Sean Taylor has 4 casualties in 122 blocks. However, top blitzers like Raymond Clay Childress jr. of the Griffins has 13 casualties in 151 blocks, Lee Ray Salmon of the Grizzlies (ogre) has 11 casualties in 79 blocks and Don’t’a Highhtower a staggering 24 casualties in 119 blocks.

Hertha: Why do you think it varies so much?

Günther: The main difference is probably in the way they are used in the game. Griffins and Carroburg are the most hard-hitting teams in the League, and they send their blitzers out to kill, particularly the best opponent players. Many other teams use their blitzers more to take out crucial supports and protect and clear the way for their catchers, and some teams use their blitzers for scoring, such as Jace Amaro for the Grizzlies, who has 9 TDs and 7 completions, and James Hanna for the Wolfskins, who has 5 TDs and 1 completion. In comparison Carroburg blitzers have only 2 TDs, one each on Ballard and Martin. And of course, if you have enough talent you can do both, like the Patriots!

Hertha: Yeah. And speaking of that, I heard that Markelle Martin is leaving the Crimson shirts behind because he is dissatisfied with his role in the team, and want to score more goals. Do you think there is something to that?

Günther: Definitely. Coach Vatn has been adamant when it comes to leaving the ball to the ball-handlers. The hitting teams has another task, and that is to hit other players as often and hard as they can. Thus Martin scored his single TD when Inga broke the rules and engineered a fantastic set-up to get out of a tight situation in the away game against the Grizzlies. Martin told me later that he thought scoring was what he wanted to do, but it probably would not have happened with Anders as the quarterback. He is totally loyal to Coach Vatn's gameplan, whereas Inga is more of an inspirational quarterback, who grabs the chance when she sees it. On the other hand, Coach Vatn designed the game plan for season 1 (season 2 for DLE, but season 1 for Carroburg...) based on the scarce number of talented players. He has promised early on that with more talented linemen and catchers, they can take over some of the role the blitzers have played as hitters and safety, so they are free to be more of a scoring threat as well as hitters. Martin knew this, so even though he envisioned a more goal-scoring role, he must have known that that such a role would be in the cards for season 2, and particularly for Martin with his superior speed. So I think that even if Martin felt that way, that could not have been the whole reason for moving to the Sharks.

Hertha: Right. Any other overall comments, Günther, or should we start with the evaluation of the individual players?

Günther: I think we are fine with the overall comments. Our readers and viewers are smart enough to understand the context that the hitting team has performed in this season from what we have already explained. Why don’t you start with Friedrich, Hertha?

Hertha: You know, Friedrich is the kindest person in this team, and a gentle soul. Unfortunately, these qualities are not the best for this sport. He simply do not get into the mayhem required of blood bowl players, and that’s a fact. Or maybe we should say that coach Vatn has not managed to make him sufficiently aggressive.”

Günther: You’re right there. And linked to the fact that he lacks Guard skills to back up his teammates and is not good at Break Tackle so he can extract himself from current engagements to rush to where he is needed, he simply gets bogged down with some insignificant but heroic linos which he won’t hit hard enough to get free of.

Hertha: Yeah. Ironically, his best game this season was against the Wolfskins, which was probably the worst game the team played… There at least he was dishing it out…

Günther: Nevertheless, we have decided to rate him a three on the dice.

Hertha: And we sincerely hope that he will do better for the Buccaneers next season, so he can shine like the great guy he is!

Günther: Dietmar, however, is a local guy who gets a five this season, which makes him the best of the hitting team. He has been hard hitting, particularly in the second half of the season, and has three kills and two perms on his 8 casualties this season. That’s a high rate of permanent damage.

Hertha: But he still can’t match the real hard-hitting blitzers, so that’s why we have given him a five.

Günther: Yep. His best match was against the Unicorns, where he caused three casualties (2 kills, but one saved by the APO), but he has been useful at other matches too. And other teams takes him seriously, too, as he tends to be a foul magnet… Vikings, for example, took him out of the game in the second turn of the match, when their dirty player IK Enemkpali fouled him.

Hertha: For which he was promptly ejected from the game, as I remember…

Günther: That’s right, but I don’t think that the Vikings coach felt hat he had been shortchanged, particularly since Althoff had already managed to kill their back-up quarterback Adrian Peterson!

Hertha: And another five is given to Robert Turbin. This cityboy comes originally from the Altdorf slums, but he got a lucky break and a sponsor and managed to go to the Blood Bowl Academy in Bretonnia and took a new name. He still remembers some tricks from his life on the streets, though.

Günther: He certainly do. And he transformed 94 blocks into 6 casualties. Not bad for a player who do not have a very Mighty Blow. His prize casualty was drafted lineman Chris Mohr, who was killed in the second round game against the Skar Bay Sharks.

Hertha: And his Tackle skills makes him a favourite to blitz catchers with or without the ball. Those elusive catchers are otherwise hard to get with their Dodge skills.

Günther: Martin deserves only a four this season, though. He managed only three casualties, but has numerous KO’s and a number of important tackles of ballcarriers. And the one TD in the second game against the Grizzlies, of course.

Hertha: Yeah. He leaves for the Sharks after this season, though, and we hope he will do well there.

Günther: And that he will have a chance to score more TDs. The smile on his face when he scored the TD in the Grizzlies game was heartwarming to see for any lover of the game!

Hertha: And finally, Ballard scores a meager three as well.

Günther: That’s right. Two casualties and 1 TD is simply not a good enough performance for an experienced blitzer like Vick. He has been kept on the team, though, so coach Vatn must have plans for him in the next season. Maybe we will see him shine?

Hertha: One can always hope. That was all for today, and we will be back tomorrow for an evaluation of the ball-handling team. Stay tuned…

Brought to you by Hertha Wendlinger and Günther Schiele, Carroburg Tageszeitung