Grangemouth Broncos - March EXTRA Report

CLUB ASKS EVERYONE TO SHELL OUT FOR GOOD CAUSE - 29th March 2003
The Broncos will be raffling an enormous Heroes Easter Egg to raise money for our Club and Scottish Development Squad funds.
Tickets will be on sale from this weekend onwards @ only 50p each.
The Draw will take place on Saturday, 12th April 2003.

FALKIRK HERALD OFFER FAMILY CHANCE TO SEE CLAYMORES - 27th March 2003
In our local newspaper this week you and your family have an opportunity to enter their competition to see the Claymores live in 2003.

FALKIRK SPORTS COUNCIL REWARD BRONCOS - 22nd March 2003
The Broncos have picked up THREE AWARDS in the Falkirk Sports Council Annual Sports Awards.
The Ceremony will take place at Falkirk Town Hall on Thursday, 3rd April 2003 @ 7pm.
Any Parents / Guardians of the Players receiving an Award who are interested in their child (and family) attending the Event of the Year should contact Jimmy Thomson on 01324 718384 or Charlie Ewing on 01324 634092 (only if Jimmy not available) ... WITHIN NEXT 48 HOURS.
All Players should wear Dress Trousers (school ones are fine), Shirt and Tie.

IT'S OFFICIAL ... THE SFFA 2003 SEASON STARTED TODAY - 8th March 2003
The Official SFFA Calendar recognises this day as the start of our campaign for world domination ... okay ... Scotland.
Now the hard work begins !

BRONCO FLAME BOWL 2003
The SFFA have provisionally allocated the 19th October 2003 as the day the Grangemouth Broncos host their FIRST tournament.
A big CLUB effort is required to make it a success ... we hope that everyone (including eager parents) will be as keen as the Committee to show Scotland that we can receive as well as take !

SFFA CONFERENCES ANNOUNCED FOR 2003
Our governing body has just released details for all the Conferences.
Except for the Senior Conference (winner takes all), the top two in each Conference will go through to Finals Day ... where a league of four will be played on a Round-Robin basis with the 1st placed team playing the 2nd placed team in the Final. The other two teams play for 3rd place.
It would appear that the SFFA Finals Day is scheduled for the 4th October 2003.
Click Here for all the latest Bronco information.

BRONCOS TOOK BULLS BY THE HORNS - 8th March 2003
On Saturday morning @ Inchyra Park, the Youth and Senior Bronco Squads took part in a friendly against the Kirkcaldy Bulls.
The Youth Squad won their game (see under Youth) with the Senior Squads having mixed fortunes ... winning one and losing the other (see under Senior).

SFFA LAUNCH THEIR NEW OFFICIAL WEBSITE
The Scottish Flag Football Association are now on The Net ... Click Here to have a look.

SFFA PLAYER REGISTRATION FORMS URGENTLY REQUIRED
If you have not handed back your Registration Form yet ... you need to do this as soon as possible.
To deliver form ... you can e-mail Jimmy on jimmy@grangemouthbroncos.co.uk, Charlie on charlie@grangemouthbroncos.co.uk OR Robbie on robbie@grangemouthbroncos.co.uk to make arrangements.

2003 NFL FLAG FOOTBALL EUROPEAN SCHOOL FINALS IN GLASGOW
The Tournament will take place as part of World Bowl XI on Sat 14th June.
Since the tournament will be held in Scotland for the first time NFL want to include England and Scotland ... therefore the number of countries have been increased from 8 to 9.
There will still be two Groups ... the NFL Europe Group with 5 teams (Scotland, Spain, Holland, England and Germany) and the EFAF Group containing 4 teams. The winner of each Group will play the Final and the 2nd placed team of each Group will play for the 3rd place.
The 2 Group Winners plus the 3rd placed team will advance to the NFL Flag Football World Championship in Japan which takes place in August 2003.
To be eligible for the Glasgow Showcase players must have been born between 1st September 1988 and 31st December 1991.
Time Schedule ... 1st April 2003 Registration Deadline, April 2003 National School Finals and then May 2003 International qualifying games if necessary.
More info ... Click Here.
If still interested contact Jim Burns on 0141-222 3800 or e-mail jburns@claymores.co.uk

BRONCOS MOST WANTED
The Broncos would love to encourage more boys and girls in the Central Belt of Scotland to come along and find out about Flag Football ... the NON-CONTACT version of American Football.
Novices or experienced ... all will be made most welcome.
If you are interested then Inchyra Park, Grangemouth on Saturday mornings from 10am until 12:30pm is the place to be !
Alternatively e-mail Charlie Ewing on charlie@grangemouthbroncos.co.uk for more details.

HAS YOUR BRONCO SQUAD NUMBER CHANGED ?
With the arrival of the new Bronco tops some of you may have changed your shirt number ... if you have ... please could you let Stephen know so that he can update your Player Profile for 2003.
You can e-mail Stephen on stephen@grangemouthbroncos.co.uk

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU ... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU !
Many Happy Returns to Jonathan Ewing, Gavin Edwards, Scott Appelbee, Peter McAllister, Alan Davidson and ... Coach Alan Taylor.
They ALL celebrate their birthday this month.

CALLING ALL FITNESS FREAKS
Just a gentle reminder that if you wish extra fitness training Coach Thomson is the man to see. You can find him at Grangemouth Stadium most Tuesdays ... everyone most welcome !
You can e-mail Jimmy on jimmy@grangemouthbroncos.co.uk

WEBSITE NUMBERS FOR FEBRUARY
The Broncos Website received over 1600 visits this month and over 9650 hits.
One record was broken ... 57 daily average visits (previously 55).
We would like to thank all our visitors.

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No news is good news

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No news is good news

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BRONCOS WIN FRIENDLY AGAINST BULLS - 8th March 2003
The Youth Squad as a whole performed very well today against the Kirkcaldy Bulls.
Mark Drummond had to perform Captain duties due to the absence of 2 of the Broncos more experienced players.
All 3 offensive drives resulted in TDs ... Blair McTague with 2 TDs and a big long TD from Alan Martin. New boy Steven Miles scored with a 1pt conversion ... his first for the Club.
QB Michael Craig threw for all the points and had a very impressive game.
Broncos Defense stopped the Bulls 1 out of 3 with on form, Alan Martin, making most of the defensive tackles.
Final Score ... 19-13 to the Broncos.

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OAPs LOSE IN NFLE KICK-OFF CLASSIC FINAL - 29th March 2003
On Saturday, the Seniors travelled to Forthbank, Stirling to take part in this Claymores tournament.
The Seniors played very well and were rewarded with a place in the Final after winning three of their four Group games.
The Kirkcaldy Bulls were the opposition and proved too strong for the disappointed Broncos.
For more information ... Click Here.

A CAPTAINS ROLE AS BRONCOS WIN AWAY - 23rd March 2003
On Sunday, the old gits travelled to Airdrie for a friendly against the Raptors.
The Seniors only managed to initially muster five players - Jimmy Thomson, Stephen Cumming, John Myles, David Mooney and Allan Ogilvie - but as if by magic Captain Claymore arrived to assist the old-timers in recording a heroic 28-27 victory away from home.

SFFA SEEING DOUBLE BRONCOS THIS YEAR - 10th March 2003
For the first time ever ... two Senior Bronco teams will be participating in the SFFA Senior Conference due to ever increasing numbers @ Camp Inchyra.
More game time for everyone ... do they know how unfit we all are ?

BRONCOS HAD MIXED FORTUNES AGAINST BULLS - 8th March 2003
On Saturday, 2 Senior Squads took part in a friendly against the Kirkcaldy Bulls @ Inchyra.
Squad B lost the first game 36-12 against a full strength Bulls Squad and Squad A won the second against a depleted Bulls Squad who had just finished playing Squad B.
The Bulls showed that they are more than capable and will be no push-overs in the SFFA Senior Conference this year.

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CLAYMORES FAN OPEN DAY BIG SUCCESS - 30th March 2003
This season the Fan Open Day took place on Sunday at Hampden Park, Glasgow.
Hundreds of fans flocked to our National Stadium to get their first opportunity to meet the Claymores 2003 Squad.
Fan Clubs and Sponsors got to meet their adopted players and the rest of us started our autograph collection early.
As usual a great PR event ... Sunday just can't come quick enough for the fans AND the players
... Go Claymores !

BOB DOESN'T LIKE MONDAYS ... SO SUNDAY IT IS !
Boomtown Rat, Bob Geldof will be entertaining the Claymore Fans @ our first game against Berlin Thunder on the 6th April.
Hopefully our number one hairdresser, Yubrenal Isabelle, will be on hand to allow our trendy youngsters the opportunity to have a haircut just like Sir Bob ... fashion does go in cycles !
Also lined up to make appearances @ the Claymores Pre-Game Parties are ... on Week 2 - The Cheeky Girls, Week 3 - Tippi, Week 4 - Lemar from Fame Academy and lastly ... Week 5 - Mis-Teeq and Ainslie from Fame Academy.

WEEK 9 ... AFL RESULTS - 30th March 2003
For all this weeks Arena Football results ... Click Here.

BOWL TEMPTS FISH ?
According to his own website ... Fish and his Band are apparently going to be at Hampden on the 14th June.
They have agreed to sing 'Caledonia' before the start of World Bowl XI ... and also plan to make an appearance during the Street Party on the day before in George Square, Glasgow.

CARDINAL SMITH HOPES TO BRING MORE THAN PEACE TO ARIZONA - 27th March 2003
The Arizona Cardinals hosted a Press Conference on Thursday to welcome the NFL's All-time Leading Rusher ... Emmitt Smith to the team.
Smith has agreed terms on a 2 Year Contract.

RHEIN FRANCHISE ALL FIRED UP AS THEY RECEIVE BOWL TWICE IN THREE YEARS
As part of the deal with Schalke the World Bowl XII in 2004 will be held in Arena AufSchalke ... the new home of Rhein Fire.

NFL SAY NO TO OVERTIME CHANGE BUT YES TO ONSIDE KICKS - 26th March 2003
Not enough votes were gained to change the NFL rules on OT to the same as NFLE.
A slight change for onside kicks was however passed ... now when a trailing team goes for an onside kick in the last 5 minutes of a game they will not get the opportunity to re-kick from 5 yards further back if the ball does not go 10 yards or is touched illegally ... thus taking away the reward of a second chance for an illegal play for teams using the onside kick late in a game trying to get another possesion.

CLAYMORES ANNOUNCE STAYERS AND GOERS - 24th March 2003
The Claymores Coaching Staff have selected their Regular Season Roster for the 2003 Campaign.
The Squad does include Scots ... Scott Couper, Jeff Nicolson and Stuart Hare.
However, the Claymores have re-assigned four players from their Training Camp Squad - OLs Joey Slaten to Rhein and Jeff Grzeskowiak to Amsterdam, English WR James Brazier to Berlin and WR Todd Elstrom to FC Barcelona.
TE Nate Bandy, WRs Michael Jennings and Kenyatta Morgan, LBs Jason Kazar and Gary Davis and CB DeRon Tyler have all been released.

CLAYMORES FAN CLUB DRAFT - 24th March 2003
The draft took place on Monday via a conference call from the Claymores Camp HQ in Florida.
Full List ... Click Here.

NFLE 2003 TRAINING CAMP SCHEDULE - 23rd March 2003
Final Scrimmage of Camp on Sunday against the Amsterdam Admirals was cancelled due to torrential rainstorms hitting Tampa.
For more details on their completed schedule Click Here.

SOMETHING OLD AND SOMETHING NEW - 18th March 2003
WR James Brazier and LB Jason Kazar have been added to the Claymores Roster.
Brazier returns after spending the past two weeks with Berlin Thunder ... whilst Kazar, a recent signing by the Kansas City Chiefs joins fellow K-State College team-mates Carter and Tyler.
Claymores Roster 2003 and Roster Dodgers.

BENOIT ... IS ... PLAYING ARENA FOOTBALL ... HONEST GUV ! - 18th March 2003
Claymore Jermaine Benoit has been signed by Los Angeles Avengers of the AFL.
Jermaine joins fellow Claymore Scott Dreisbach.

ISSY SCISSOR-HANDS OFFERS SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND - 18th March 2003
The Final 2003 Claymore Squad can expect to see more cuts during their stay in Bonnie Scotland ... courtesy of Yubrenal Isabelle ... who is a qualified hairdresser and has no intention of putting away his scissors at the end of the month.
No doubt he will be making a guest appearance on ... The Salon ... to advertise the World Bowl and the new Beckham hair-style ... The Bowl Cut !

NATIONAL FAVOURITE TO RETIRE AFTER 2003 SEASON - 18th March 2003
Rowelle Blenman will call it a day at the end of his 9th NFLE Season.
The 35 year-old who has played more games than anyone in the NFL Europe League is giving up after seeing his best friend and business partner, Aden Durde, having to sacrifice his American Football dreams for the Health Club business they both started in January and have already acquired over 300 members.
A World Bowl Ring would be a nice warm-down !

DUANE FREE ... FREE AS THE WIND BLOWS ... FREE AS - 17th March 2003
Claymores CB Duane Hawthorne who played with Dallas and San Francisco last season apparently has paid a Free Agent visit to Rams Park, home of St. Louis ... we await developments.

CLAYMORES ANNOUNCE CHANGES TO ROSTER - 17th March 2003
Two players, LB Chris Ball and WR David Thompson have been placed on Injured Reserve (IR).
Unfortunately TE Giovanni Toccagino has been waived.

EARL HOPES TO LIVE THE LIFE OF RILEY IN CANADA - 17th March 2003
Claymore Earl Riley has signed with Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL).

PERFECT SEASON REQUIRED ANOTHER STIRLING PERFORMANCE - 16th March 2003
Stirling are now hoping to be the first team in Scotland to bring home a Bowl in 2003 after beating Staffordshire Stallions 20-15 @ Stirling University, Gannochy Sports Pavilion on Sunday in the Northern Conference Final.
The Stirling University Clansmen had battled their way to the Northern Conference Championship of the British College League (BCAFL) with a perfect 8-0 season ... the first Scottish team to have made it to the Conference Final in 6 years ... the last team being the Glasgow Tigers in 1997.
Stirling will now travel to Derby on the 30th March 2003 to face Hertfordshire (who won 49-18 against Southampton) in College Bowl XVII.

INDOOR FOOTBALL UNDERWAY - 14th March 2003
The NIFL ( National Indoor Football League) 2003 Season has started.
List of NIFL teams ... Click Here.

CROWELL BECOMES AN ADMIRAL - 14th March 2003
Punter Jeff Crowell has been re-assigned by the NFLE to the Amsterdam Admirals leaving Miami Dolphins-allocated Kevin Stemke as the lone Punter on the Claymore Roster.

DRAGONS RELEASE KORY BLACKWELL - 14th March 2003
The New York Dragons of the AFL have just released Claymore Kory Blackwell.
It seems as though Coach Todd Shell doesn't like former Claymores, after releasing Steve Papin last week.
If Kory is a Free Agent then it would be great to see him back at the Claymores.

BALLARD NEWS IS MUSIC TO OUR EARS - 13th March 2003
The Indiana Firebirds of the Arena Football League have re-signed Claymore QB Jim Ballard to a Free Agent contract.
Terms for the deal were not disclosed.

HUNT HOPES NOT TO HAVE A ROUGH RIDE IN CFL - 13th March 2003
Reggie Hunt has signed for the Saskatchewan Roughriders joining fellow Claymores Bernard Russ and Paul McCallum.
Other Claymores in the Canadian Football League include - Khari Jones @ Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Marcus Crandell @ Calgary Stampeders, also Luke Fritz and Kwame Cavil who are both @ Montreal Alouettes.

THE KICK-ERS ARE GOOD ?
Jeff Crowell (Punter), Kevin Stemke (Punter) and Brian Holmes (Kicker) all join our veteran Rob Hart (Kicker) in Scotland for 2003.

IS THE WORLD READY FOR DARIUS PANACHE ?
With the Pop Idol already involved with the Claymores ... you would not bet against Darius playing some part in the World Bowl activities.
The only threat would be if he can't keep up with the five hundred mile walk by another Scottish twin band.

WHO LET THE DAWG BACK ? - 6th March 2003
Chris Ward is back in Training Camp after being approached by Coach Tomsula.
The D-Line will be stronger now that one of the original Dawgs is back in town.

START SPREADING THE NEWS
The New York Jets will play @ Washington in the NFL's season opener on the 4th September, the second straight year the league will begin its schedule on a Thursday night.
The rest of the season openers will take place on Sunday and Monday (7th / 8th Sept).

CLAYMORES THINK OF A NUMBER - 5th March 2003
NFLE have allocated the following shirt numbers to the potential Claymores of 2003 ...
Click Here to see the full list.

BROWN FEELS GOOD ... LIKE WE KNEW THAT HE COULD ! - 5th March 2003
NFLE has announced that QB James Brown has now been assigned to Frankfurt Galaxy from the Claymore Roster for the 2003 Season.

SCOTT TO PROVE A POINT IN AFL - 5th March 2003
The Los Angeles Avengers have signed Claymore QB Scott Dreisbach as back-up to Tony Graziani.
Scott replaces Ryan Helming who fractured his right foot.

DID SOMEONE CALL FOR A PLUMMER ? - 5th March 2003
QB Jake Plummer has signed with Denver, giving the Broncos an experienced young QB to replace Brian Griese (who has been given permission to seek a trade).
Plummer spent six seasons with Arizona and had been a target of the Broncos for a long time.

MR HUMPHREY'S NO LONGER FREE - 5th March 2003
Claymore Jay Humphrey has signed for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The second-year OT signed a one-year contract earning the minimum wage of 300,000 US Dollars.

CLASH OF THE TITANS
Claymores Blaine McElmurry and Kevin Daft, who both have fewer than four accrued seasons and received no qualifying offer or no minimum tender from the Titans are able to be signed immediately with no rights of any type held by their old club ... there is no signing deadline applicable.

DONDRE IN QUANDARY
San Diego Chargers made qualifying offers to five Exclusive Rights Free Agents including Claymore Dondre Gilliam in late February ... we await developments.

CLAYMORES DO DALLAS
It is rumoured that the Cowboys have sent out a minimum right-of-first-refusal tender to their Restricted Free Agent QB Clint Stoerner ... and apparently James Whalen has just recently signed a one-year minimum deal for the 2003 season.

SIGN OF THE TYNES - 4th March 2003
Ottawa Renegades of the Canadian Football League announced on the the signing of import Kicker Lawrence Tynes to a one-year contract with a Club Option for a second season.
Tynes returns to the Renegades after joining the club as a Free Agent on the 5th September 2002.
The 24-year-old Florida resident played eight games for Ottawa last season, handling the kickoff and placekicking duties for the Renegades.

NASN FREE TASTER OF ARENA FOOTBALL - 4th March 2003
On Tuesday @ 8pm, NASN gave Sky viewers a free peak at the Arena Football League ... where a few Claymores are now applying their trade.

START SPREADING THE NEWS - 4th March 2003
New York Dragons of the AFL have released Claymore Steve Papin.

BAYNE FELINE GREAT - 4th March 2003
Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL have signed Claymore Chris Bayne.
Chris played with the Atlanta Falcons (1997 and 1998) and with the Claymores in 2000.

SANFORD TO SEE ARENA ACTION - 3rd March 2003
Detriot Fury of the AFL have activated Claymore Sulecio Sanford from the Injured Reserve List.

UNITED WE STAND AS BECKHAM BECOMES NEXT BUCS KICKER ? - 3rd March 2003
The City and Business Page of todays Daily Express mentioned that Malcolm Glazer (Owner of Super Bowl Champions Tampa Bay Buccaneers) has paid about 9 million pounds for a 2.9 percent stake in Manchester United Football Club.
Some see it as the first step towards closer ties or a even merger between the Red Devils and The Bucs.
What next ... Roy Keane on the D-Line ... 15 yard penalty for face masking or roughing the passer (or any other player that tries to invade his space) OR maybe David Golden Balls Beckham going for the extra point ... lets face it he would get paid more in the NFL !

NALL IN COFFIN AS KYLE McCANN'T PLAY WITH CLAYMORES
Former University of Iowa passer Kyle McCann, another Free Agent allocated to the Claymores earlier this week, has been re-assigned to FC Barcelona Dragons after the arrival of Craig Nall from Green Bay.

PREPARATIONS ALREADY UNDERWAY FOR NFL EUROPE 2003
For all the Fixtures Click Here.
For the League Table and Results Click Here.

TIME RUNNING OUT ... BUY YOUR WORLD BOWL 2003 SEASON TICKET NOW !
If you wish a good seat for World Bowl XI why not book your Season Ticket NOW ... before it's too late !
Just Click Here to make that first move.

WILL YOU SCOUP SCOTT'S CLAYMORES 2003 JERSEY ?
Thanks to the First Down, Scott Couper's sponsorship will be offered as a prize to one lucky reader, with FD donating the sponsorship fee to the charity of Scott's choice, Cancer Research UK.
Look out for competition details on the Claymores Website.

WHAT'S THE LATEST NEWS COMING OUT OF DENVER ?
For all the latest news on The Broncos ... Click Here.

WHERE TO FIND ALL THE LATEST NEWS ON MY FAVOURITE NFL TEAM / PLAYER IN 2003
For your team ... www.nfl.com/teams and select 'News' option from the list of teams.
For your player ... a good starting point would be www.nfl.com/players.
For example, The Rams exciting new QB, Marc Bulger can be found under B.

NFL COACH MOVEMENTS IN 2003
For all the latest news ... Click Here.

SCOTTISH CLAYMORES 2003 NFL EUROPE LEAGUE SCHEDULE
Week 1 Sun, Apr 6th, Berlin Thunder @ Hampden Park, 3pm
Week 2 Sun, Apr 13th, Frankfurt Galaxy @ Hampden Park, 3pm
Week 3 Sat, Apr 19th @ Rhein Fire
Week 4 Sun, Apr 27th @ Berlin Thunder
Week 5 Sun, May 4th, FC Barcelona Dragons @ Hampden Park, 3pm
Week 6 Sat, May 10th @ Frankfurt Galaxy
Week 7 Sun, May 18th, Rhein Fire @ Hampden Park, 3pm
Week 8 Sat, May 24th @ Amsterdam Admirals
Week 9 Sat, May 31st @ FC Barcelona Dragons
Week 10 Sun, Jun 8th, Amsterdam Admirals @ Hampden Park, 3pm
Week 11 Sat, Jun 14th World Bowl XI @ Hampden Park, 5pm
Click Here.

WHERE DID MY FAVOURITE NFL TEAM FINISH IN 2002 ?
If you want to know Click Here.

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