Well I played my first two matches of the season and learned even though my dice luck has improved it seems it won't matter too much. My first match was against an Orc team Prognosis Negative and it went about as well as playing Norse against Orcs. By the end of the game the coach had inflicted 5 casualties including 2 deaths. I lost a Linedwarf and a Blitzer. Now this is the worst set back I have ever experienced starting a new team in a league setting. My worst set back being losing my entire human team to injury in preseason play and having to restart. I did not buy a Apothecary because I figured my AV 9 would give me more milage before injuries happend. I figured the worst would be a serious injury. While I rolled rather well for hitting I never got above a KO on the Injury table. I was dumb struck at the loses. Prognosis Negative ended up winning the game at 3 to 1; I also roled crap for winnings receiving only 20K.

My second match was against Grudge Match, an Underworld team. I was so thankful for this match-up after my loses. I figured that even if the underworld team managed to score some TD's I would make up for by putting the hurt on some goblins. As I have played an Underworld team before I knew what they were capable of. My defensive set up went well I think it was my dice rolling that let me down and ended up in a 1 nothing game after a few turns. Shortly after that I managed to pound the Goblins and some Skaven off the pitch and score some TD's. It turned out to be a good game for me making up for the horrible game 1 and I aquired 70K in money. A journeyman Linedwarf managed a casualty so I bought him instead of a Blitzer leaving me with 20K and I hope to earn enough for a Apothecary next match or if I can get lucky a Blitzer.

Endycarus , coach of Grudge Match, took his loss with grace. Had it been me I would have been visably sore but still managing a thankyou for the game. Then I would go off and brood like a teenaged vampire. I hate it when the bad luck comes down hard but sometimes that is just material for good gaming stories. I like Bloodbowl even though I lose about 60% of my games and I will continue to like it for a long time. Its fun even when it hurts.

With the Excelsiors called back to Eataine to repel a recent Dark Elf invasion, Head Coach Endycarus signed a temporary contract to coach an obscure collection of Skaven and Goblins called Grudge Match. They played their first match against upcoming Lizardman team Pax Britannia last night. We had the rare opportunity to listen in on the coach's side of a long distance communication with Excelsiors quarterback Kolrith.

"I'm sorry to hear that. That's got to be quite a blow."

"Well, obviously it pales in comparison to defense of the homeland. Anyways, I don't really want to talk about it."

"Ha. No, it's not that they're uncoachable; it's more like they're allergic to the ball."

"Actually, the casualty count was better than your game against the Incredibles last season."

"Yes, of course I realize the difference between an experienced Orc team and a bunch of rookie Lizardmen. I'm just saying..."

"Yeah, I know. It seems like every troll the Excelsiors have ever played against was a genius. Retribution did nothing but drool for most of the game. The stormvermin are good, though. Well, were good, in the case of the dearly departed Vengeance."

"Threw an amazing hit, then tripped over his tail trying to get to another skink. Took a pretty serious concussion, just like you did last season, but he could have had plenty more productive years with the right treatment."

"No, there was no 'setback'. The damned apothecary killed him. On purpose."

"I can't prove it, but I heard him grumbling about all the 'work' it takes to keep a Skaven in game condition once he's had his bell rung once. Next thing I know, there's a smell of cooking coming from the locker room and he walks out with a bowl of some kind of rat soup."

"Yeah, I hope you give those Corsairs the boot quickly. I don't think I can get through two seasons of this."

Hammerburg, Dermany: In a game that was so clearly one sided immediately after the Boots opened the scoring at 1-0, where the Malicious Intent pounded the Boots into the ground for 2 halves and claimed the lead for a score of 2-1 by end game, the Boots managed to wiggle out a tie with 6 players on the field with a little help from their fans. Ernst Redrohm, Das Boots only remaining veteran lineman, has this to say shortly after scoring the game equalizer:

"We were simply getting murdered out there all game. Our team hasn't seen a beating like that since we played the Scandinavian Superstars. Oskar and Alfred knocked out for the game early, Pummels and Storm are day to day, and Mauler taken out in a body bag. It was vicious out there today. But our team never backed down. Big Dolf and Franzie continued to hammer the ball all game despite our squad being reduced to 6 players by games end."

"We made a lot of mistakes in our defensive plays that cost us ground and cost us the game early on. We were up 1-0 straight away, and then what appeared to be a down and out loss of 1-2. If it wasn't for the intervention by our home fans at the end of the game, and the officials rolling the clock back, we would not have been able to tie the match 2-2. Our fans saved us a loss this game and so we thank them."

In the post-game interview when asked what happened during the match, General Jason has this to say:

"They played like bums. Some Dark Elf festival involving polka and beer was going on over the weekend and those guys were all a beer bigger walking into this game. Our positioning was off, our blocks were weak, and as their (Malicious Intent) hits were the complete opposite this began to snowball which left us down 1-2 and half a dozen players left to go by last play."

"What Ernie, Big Dolf, Franzie, Hans, Magda and Ernst did in the final stages of that match was what I'd been looking for all game. Rohmy, Ernie and the fans pull out a tie which clearly should have been a loss. I'm hoping once they sober up a bit more that they remember what went right in the beginning and late stages of the match and try to apply that to the whole game. But in their defence, those pink knuckledusters that the Malicious Intent players were wearing were giving us problems all game. I'm curious if they are regulation."

"Our next match is the Ratpack. I would have liked to have had a larger squad against the Rats, but the Boots will just have to scramble with what we have - which we've been doing all year, and hopefully continue to stay in contention for the Thunderbowl Play-offs."      

After doing much soul searching (tasty innocent ones are hard to find), Beastiality coach Warpstone has decided not to sacrifice his entire team on the altar of Slaenesh in order to reverse their uninspiring play. Instead, he intends to sacrifice his underperforming veterans on the line of scrimmage!

Yes, after much looking for a scapegoat, Warpstone has decided the problem is with the players and not himself. "I've given 3 seasons of my expertise to these losers," said the fuming Warpstone, " and I want to see results or blood!" Underwhelmed by the performance of his so-called stars, the Chaos Pact coach is now desperately hoping a radical shift towards developing rookies and letting veterans "take one for the team" will help turn around the team's record losing streak of 3 terrible matches. "I'm not going to make the same mistake as BaAl Davis. I'd sooner scrub this season and the next then pretend like this status quo is good enough to ever make the Thunderbowl finals. #$!@ 'em all and let Nuffle decide if this franchise still has legs for another season!"

Sitting at 40 LP after 5 games, Beastiality find themselves far off the pace to qualify for the Thunderbowl for the second season in a row. "We basically need to win 4 out of our remaining 5 matches to have any control over our destiny," added the troubled coach. If failure continues it's rumoured that Warpstone will actively sacrifice on the pitch while recruiting a new team for next season. It seems he's already interrupted his nightly regimine of debauched perversions to hold clandestine talks with prospective Undead, High Elf and even Vampire rookies.

The Boots are back in town: Original article dated January 25th, 2010

Das Watton, Dermany: It was a shock to victims of the Play-off Riots over 2 years ago and fans alike when the High Court of Hammerburg granted time served to convicted Das Boots Adolf Blitzer, Franz Von Pimpin, Oskar Swindler and Ernst Redrohm earlier this morning. In a statement to the press late last night, Judge Reinhold had this to say:

"It is our conclusion that Herr Blitzer, Herr Pimpin, Herr Swindler and Herr Redrohm no longer pose any threat to the TBL or Das Boots management. They have been model prisoners throughout, they have been reabilitated, and we feel that any additional incarceration would be an injustice, not only for themselves but to the fans that supported them. I might add that it is our further conclusion that given the events at the Challenger Series 2 weeks ago, these gentlemen have a higher likelihood of being killed on the pitch then in Das Watton prison."

Fan pressure for the release of the Boots had been strong throughout their imprisonment, but had reached a frenzy in the last 4 weeks leading up to TB22 when word came out that TB had opened up the Challenger Circuit, and that the Boots would be granted a day pass to participate in the TB Challenger Circuit. For a month almost 3 thousand Boots fans have camped outside the High Court of Hammerburg, marching throughout the day with placards and sandwich boards, and sleeping in a labyrinth of tents that have completely blocked off the downtown core streets of Perceval and Lohengrin. Efforts by Elder Police to clear the area have been largely unsuccessful due to the large number of children in the tent city, where rubber bullets and tear gas would be normally employed.

Speaking to fans for the first time in over 26 months outside of the steps of the High Court of Hammerburg immediately upon release, Adolf Blitzer shadowed by his fellow Boots inmates had this to say:

"It has been a long time since we last spoke back in the summer of TB18. Much time has been wasted while we languish for 4 Thunderbowl seasons, but unlike all the other untermenschen, we are Dark Elves, and the passage of time to us is as harmless as wrestle. Our victory over the Lucky Charms a fortnight ago and the completion of my book, Mein Block, during my incarceration in Drakenborg and Das Watton stands as testament that the Boots have not been idle whatsoever during our absence in Thunderbowl. The goal of Thunderbowl glory is still the same. It is simply our destiny."

"And throughout our imprisonment we could always count on our little Booties to back us up and the movement. Das Boots have suffered enormously throughout our initial campaign in TB16 through to our last season in TB18, but we are now taking a new direction outlined in Mein Block to crush the mortals. See you all on the sidelines in 2 weeks and we thank you for your continued support. Love live sacred Dermany."

General Jason attended the release of the players and exchanged hugs and hand shakes with the 4. Although he declined to go to the podium after Blitzer to speak to the fans, he did say this to the media after Adolf Blitzer's insinuation that the Boots would be returning in TB23 and what was the fate of the Steel Dragons that he had coached for the last 3 seasons:

"The annoucement for the Boots return was one that senior management at Hammerburg TBL was planning on making later this afternoon. Adolf Blitzer kind of let the cat out of the bag but we'll forgive him - after all he's thought of nothing else for the last 2 years. It is the feeling of our General Manager that Hammerburg TBL is better served with 2 strong franchises operating in the B Division. Steel Dragons is practically everything we wanted the franchise to be. Other then bringing a couple more rookies up to speed and solving some new problems with our Deathroller Truckapiller - seems he's only getting the plays half the time, the club in solid."

"Das Boots on the other hand has been reduced to a Challenger Circuit only team and this is something the Hammerburg TBL wants to salvage and rectify. They have a lot of great talent in Adolf Blitzer, Franz von Pimpin, Erwin Rumble, Ernst Redrohm and others, and they want to further build on this core and bring the rest of the team up to speed over the next season or two. Steel Dragons will for now play in the TBL minors, along with the Graveside Gorys, until Hammerburg TBL wishes to bring them up to the show in future. It has always been a pleasure coaching those boys."

Mick Jogger - star Runner of the Steel Dragons was reached for comment immediately following the announcement:

"Why Hammerburg TBL is resurrecting a bunch of arrogant, pointy-eared hasbeens is beyond me. Management - who can understand them? Despite our 23 wins this team is still lacking a breakout post-season which we hope to achieve once these haughty-headed tea-sippers get drummed out again. The guys in our locker room deserve it. I met Adolf Blitzer at the TBL Awards after-party once, back when he was still dating Hanna Rock, and man is that guy an asshole."

"In the meantime we will play in the Challenger Circuit until we return to the show. Good luck to General Jason on behalf of all the players of the Steel Dragons and we look forward to the day when we return with him to TBL B-League and onto the Thunderbowl final."

Sports analysts and coaches alike in the weeks leading up to the High Courts decision were skeptical that the Boots can return to prominance in a bash heavy B-League. Only time will tell.