15.000 fans in crimson shirt are screaming themselves hoarse as Cascade finally ousted the Vikings tonight. The just finished game had 2 players banned, 10 players injured and 5 TDs. Can Blood Bowl be more intense than this? And since 3 of the 5 TDs were by the Crimson Cascade, they managed to win against the Vikings for the first time in four trys. Down on the pitch is Günther and Hertha, and who have you managed to bring with you tonight?

Hertha: ”We are standing here with tonights biggest hero, TJ Graham.” A tall, lanky guy with tousled brown hair blinks owlishly at the audience. “TJ, your two TD’s in three turns in the second half sank the Viking’s longship tonight. How does that feel?”

TJ: (in his northern Marienburg drawl) “Great! Just great! After they scored their equalizer little less than midways in the second half, we could see that they were not set up against a one-turner. Guess they thought we wanted to grind it on for the 2-1 win. But Anders set me up, the long pass from him was good and Booom, we were ahead 2-1. And then I think they became a bit too confident. With half of a half left, and 11 vs 9 on the field, they took it a bit leisurely, setting themselves up for a blitz by us lead by rookie blitzer von Meyer, who stunned Robert Griffin, while I ran into position to pick up the ball. Caught it, and then got Zach (Fulton) in the face, who promptly battered me down. Tuel caught the loose ball and tossed it to Davante Adams. I was down and surrounded by three Vikings, but Cody came running and tied down both Zach and Tuel, so I could blitz Davante without interference. Got him down, popped the ball loose and then dodged away from Zach to pick it up and get the TD!”

Günther: “Which made 3-1 Cascade with only three turns left, and the game was over for the Vikings. Well done, TJ, and we also heard you have been on a training program to learn blocking? Are you going to be more of a fighter now?”

TJ: “Not really. Coach Vatn still only want to let me out for the one-turner, but he believes blocking skill allows me to combine with Cody (Guard catcher) to blitz a hole in the opponent line, which is better than trying to dodge through. Greatly increases the chance to score when we can set that up.”

Hertha: (turning to a grinning Inga) “Inga, you were banned early in the second half, after fouling McCants. Your first time banned, if I recall correctly?”

Inga: “For sure. But we needed McCants out of the game to decrease their chances of a one-turner, and I was the only one available whose role could be handled by someone else, so… Too bad Billy didn’t cover it up better, though…”

Hertha: “But you got McCants off, and he never came back from KO for the rest of the game.”

Inga: “I know! He’s a whimp. Anyone who can’t handle a boot in the face, has nothing to do on a Blood Bowl field!”

Günther: (somewhat surprised) “When did you turn so bloodthirsty, Inga?”

Inga: “Rannveig taught me well, but I think the citation is actually from Crazy Crawford.”

Hertha: “Cascade was hemorrhaging players tonight. I counted 7 players injured at the end of the game. With Mitchell on the sideline and you banned, there were only 7 active player at the end of the match. Did you ever feel that this would never work out?”

Inga: (hesitates) “Uh… I guess I was a bit down when Ballard was injured and Manfred killed in the first two turns but you quickly get over that kind of thing. Once the game is on you only concentrate on what is the best you can do. And we got some breaks, such as when Stephen Hill got injured trying to dodge Crazy Crawford as he attempted a one-turner to end the first half, and then again when they were too complacent in the second after TJ scored a one-turner, allowing us to set up the successful blitz. They even let us blitz a second time after the 3-1 TD, and we were pretty close to getting another defensive TD, but the Vikings managed to just hang in there as Tuel picked up the ball and made the pass. “

Günther: “One game left, and Cascade still need one more point to secure the play-offs. Can you get that against the 49ers, Inga?”

Inga: “Of course we can. But 49ers is not likely to just lay down and let us score. It will be another tough fight, and 49ers have a full squad with many quality players.” She grins. “But so do we! I look forward to it!”

Günther: “And we also! So get yourself down to the Pool next week, to watch the Crimson shirts play for the wild card spot!”

Hertha: “And, if you are the type, don’t forget the concert extravaganza put on by Crimson Cascade players and cheerleaders the night before. The rumours are that Inga and Vick Ballard will be singing, and the show is advertised with great costumes, great music, touching lyrics and funny speeches.”

Günther: (to Hertha, somewhat concerned) “Are we going?”

Hertha: “We certainly are! I would not miss it for the world! And it’s time for you to get multicultural, my momomaniac football friend!”

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