It was a very hot day in Carroburg as our favourites wished the League number one Sharks welcome. And what a welcome it turned out to be! Our crimson shirts bashed, fouled, passed and ran the league leaders off the field in a manner that it is a long time since we saw in Carroburg. At the end of the day, the goal score was 2-0 and the casualty score 5-3. The win brings our heroes on par with the Vikings, although it should be said that the Vikings have one less game played. If there was any sad overtones to tonights victory, it had to be Kosar’s smashed hip and the death of LOS hero Karolina Jaroslawska. We turn to our reporters on the field to get more of the details!

----------------------------------

On the field is Hertha and Günther, along with the familiar figure of Inga Dedekind, head coach of the Carroburg Crimson Cascade and two players, a short, stocky female and our very dear big guy Friedrich Dunkelhelm, who looks bigger and fiercer than ever!

Hertha: “That was some match, Inga! What are your thoughts, knowing that you just beat the league number one, the Sharks, and even made it look easy!”

Inga: (grinning) “Ah, well, winning against a team like the Sharks is never easy. Rictor has done amazing things with that team. But all the margins were on our side tonight. That, and the fact that CCC always plays at its best when the opposition is hard. I’m sure Günther has noticed that we tend to win or draw the hard matches and lose points when we are favourites.”

Günther: “I have, so that leads me to the question, do you still think you can get CCC to a play-off this season?”

Inga: (laughs) “ I had big hopes for last season, but they melted away along with the team losing 5 key players around midseason. This season, I had expected 19 points, and hoped that that would be enough to get into play-offs as a wild card, or possibly as the winner of the division. That looks hard, but not impossible. I’d say there is about 30% chance that we will get to the play-offs, but we need at least six more points in four matches to do it.”

Hertha: “How will the casualties you took tonight affect the chances?”

Inga: “One must expect some losses. Karolina was a firstrounder and a good prospect, but we had not managed to develop her yet, so it could have been worse. Kosar, on the other hand… Permanently reduced speed is no good thing for a quarterback. We will have to look at that to see if can change our game a little.” She hesitates, then pulls forward the short, stocky woman. “It should not be a big problem, when we have rookies with a debut like Christine here tonight, though.”

Hertha: (to the stocky woman, who seems a bit shy, but extremely happy) “Oh yes. One half, starting in LOS, and then you pick up a loose ball and runs in a defensive touchdown. That’s not for every rookie to do, is it Christine?”

Christine: (laughing) “I haven’t seen that done on CabalVision, that’s for sure!”

Hertha: “So, what on earth makes a young woman volunteer as a rookie in one of the most violent sports of them all?”

Christine: “It’s the adrenaline rush. Standing there and just knowing that this is going to be one exhilarating adventure. And then actually managing to do something useful in that chaos of rushing bodies. I’m happy I did not have to start in the first half, though. The heat before the sun went down was just totally repressive!”

Günther: “Why don’t you take us through your TD?”

Christine: “Well, We were ahead with 1-0 after the first half, but in the middle of the second, Josh tried a run for the end zone. Kippenberger was down on the ground, but he dodged away and managed to stun Josh and steal the ball, and run with it, with Amara as cover. Riley hit Kippenberger and got him down, and Doctson picked up the free ball, but struggled to dodge away from Goode. Unbalanced, he stumbled on until he crashed to the ground while failing to go for it. The ball landed just in front of me, and I picked it up. I had to survive a blitz by Bentley Shane, but managed to push him down with help from Friedrich here, and then I was free and could run the ball to the second TD. Sharks got hit by a double take out from Najee Goode and that broke their fighting spirit. The three remaining players laid down and there was no opposition to the goal.”

Hertha: “You are not a big woman. How does it feel to meet up with these big brutes on the field?”

Christine: “Well, I’m 5’6” and Serguei is like 6’6” and big as a barndoor. He was just to the right of me in the LOS at the start of the second half, and it feels like, well… It’s almost like you know for sure that you are soon going to be picked up and broken in two like a stick.” She shivers. “Better not to think about it. So I just look at their feet and keep clearly in my mind that when those feet move, I need to backpedal as fast as I can to get out of their range, hard as it is. And then the ref blows the whistle and they hit you, and I was fast enough moving backwards to turn it into just a graze. But you know, it happens so fast you hardly have time to think. Just to act.”

Günther: “And with the injury to Kosar, you will be the one deciding the plays in Volksgrad against the White Wolves. How will that be?”

Christine: “Gosh. I haven’t had time to think about that, but you are right. Well, actually, you are probably not right. I guess the plan is to use Angelina as back-up quarterback, or…?” She glances towards Inga.

Inga: “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it!”

Hertha: “Right. And then we have the big guy. How do you enjoy being a legend, Friedrich?”
Friedrich: “Uh… Great. Just great!” He grins… sort of…

Günther: “We have seen you starting to blitz these last games. One brilliant blitz against Fred Bruschi in the last game against the Wolfskins, and tonight your takedown of ball-carrying Duke Riley, stunning him and picking up the ball when Griffo was pushed onto it.”

Friedrich: “Uh. Yeah. I like blitzing. And Inga has given me a free role now that I have gotten my strength back.”

Hertha: “So why did you not run the ball to a TD?”

Friedrich: “Uh… well... that must be because Najee and Bernt and Javorius and Oton were all gone from the field and me is the only strong guy left to fight all them Sharks, and its so hard to fight with a ball in your hands!”

Günther: “Well done, Friedrich.”

Hertha: “And then we look forward to next week’s match in Volksgrad, where the White Wolves is one of the main competitors for a Wild Card spot. A victory is needed. Will you be there to help the Crimson shirts?”

Brought to you by Hertha Wendlinger and Günther Schiele of the Carroburg Tageszeitung.