Britbowl Report

A report on the game can be found at Coventry Evening Telegraph

Britbowl

The final of the 2009 Britbowl was played yesterday at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster. For the third year running the two teams were the Coventry Jets and the London Blitz. This year the Blitz came out on top - winning 26-7.

It was an excellent game - both teams played hard. Once I find any videos online or press reports I will post links here.

American Football in Britain

This weekend defending champions, the Coventry Jets, will - for the third year running - meet the London Blitz in the Britbowl final. Unlike last year, when I was at the Labour Party Conference in Manchester, I will be in Doncaster to cheer on the Jets.

If you are interested in following the great game in the UK - there's an interesting blog called "British Football Online".

The new NFL Season

The new season has begun. For information on the Washington Redskins you can visit the Redskins website. There is also information available at NFL. If you, like me, are outside the USA, you can subscribe to Gamepass, which allows you to watch all games and some of the associated TV programmes online - and for a limited period afterwards. A great advantage when the time difference makes watching live a little awkward. (Having said that, I didn't intend to stay up to watch President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress on Thursday morning - but woke up just as proceedings began - rather worrying that I have this inbuilt body clock atuned to Washington).

It's unlikely that I will be in Washington during the season - but I can watch the Coventry Jets in Britbowl - and look forward to doing so. It will be played at Doncaster’s Keepmoat Stadium on Sunday September 27th.

Washington Redskins

The US preseason games are now in full flow. As regular readers of this blog know there are three teams I follow - two in the UK [Coventry Jets & Milton Keynes City Pathfinders] - and the NFL team - Washington Redskins (who else could "WASHminster follow?].

The Redskins media guide - which has details of rosters; player biographies - and much more - is available at http://www.redskins.com/gen/articles/2008_Media_Guide_16723.jsp

Superbowl

Earlier this week I posted an entry about an aspect of American culture - which has had a big impact in the UK - Jazz. Britain and the US have shared many great things in the past - and I very much appreciate this cultural interchange. My other great love of things originating in the USA (apart from the US Constitution and Congress) is American Football.

This Sunday is Superbowl XLIII (wouldn't it have great if it could have been '44' as that number is being celebrated so much this month). The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the Arizona Cardinals in Tampa Bay. Details of the match are available at

http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/43

http://www.tampabaysuperbowl.com/index.htm

If you are in the UK you can watch the game live from 11pm Sunday to 3am Monday on BBC1 - and highlights will be shown on BBC2 from 7pm to 8pm on Monday.

and if you can make it to Bar 87 in the Isle of Capri Casino, Ricoh Arena, Coventry - the Coventry Jets are hosting a superbowl party. http://www.cassidyjets.com/newsresults.php?newsid=456&gameid

BritBowl Videos

If, like me, you missed seeing the game live - videos have been uploaded via YouTube. I enjoyed watching, I hope you do too.

Champions

Coventry Jets won the BritBowl final. Victory was snatched at the end of an exciting game against London Blitz - in the final eight seconds. The score was 33-32.

http://www.bafl.org.uk/artman2/publish/BritBowl_46/Jets_win_a_thriller.asp

Congratulations to all players and coaching staff!

BritBowl XXII

This weekend there will be a feast of American Football at the Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster. The British season runs through the Spring and Summer - and this is the climax. As I am in Manchester for the Labour Party Conference, I won't be able to go (last year I did manage to get to BritBowl) - but I have been promised regular updates from friends who will be in the Keepmoat Stadium.

BAFL have a website with all the details of the weekends games. http://www.bafl.org.uk/artman2/publish/BritBowl_46/index.asp and scores will be posted there. I recommend a visit - even if you can't get to Doncaster.

The weekend will conclude with the BritBowl XXII game itself between the Coventry (Cassidy) Jets and the London Blitz. These two teams met in last year's final - though as a Jets fan, I'm hoping the outcome will be different. I'm sure it's going to be a great game - but good luck Jets!!!

The teams websites are

Coventry Jets: http://www.cassidyjets.com/

London Blitz: http://www.londonblitz.com/

Coventry Jets Through to Britbowl

The Jets won a tightly fought semi-final to gain a place in this year's Britbowl. Bristol Aztecs played an impressive game - scoring four touchdowns. The drama continued into the last seconds of the game. Bristol are to be commended for putting up such a determined fight, and Coventry to be congratulated for making the national final again.

Britbowl will be played at the Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster - over the weekend of 20th/21st September. This weekend festival of American Football reaches its climax with the National Championship – BritBowl XXII – at 4:00pm on Sunday. Sadly I will miss the game due to my attendance at the Labour Party Conference in Manchester (but my heart will be 73 miles away in Doncaster!).

The National Championship game will pit the Coventry Jets against London Blitz.

Further details about BritBowl can be found at http://www.bafl.org.uk/artman2/publish/BritBowl_46/BritBowl_XXII_at_the_Keepmoat.asp - on the website of the British American Football League (BAFL).

Coventry Jets - Further Change of Venue

Another change has been necessary -

Cov Tech RFC, Mitchell Avenue, Coventry, CV4 8DW

Here's a google map link: - http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&saddr=&daddr=52.391787,-1.569328&hl=en&geocode=&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=16&sll=52.390412,-1.567376&sspn=0.010332,0.013711&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=16

Coventry Jets

The weather in Britain has been appalling - not just over the whole "summer", but particularly in the last few days. Driving between Birmingham and Nottingham a little while ago was a nightmare because of the driving rain.

As a result the Britbowl Semi-Final I mentioned in Thursday's blog has been moved to the Old Coventrians Rugby Club.

The address is: - Old Coventrians Rugby Football Club, Tile Hill Lane, Coventry, CV4 9DE

Here's a link to google maps: - http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&saddr=&daddr=52.403937,-1.557269&hl=en&geocode=&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=16&sll=52.404034,-1.55451&sspn=0.010329,0.013604&ie=UTF8&ll=52.404383,-1.555831&spn=0.005164,0.006802&z=17

If you can make it - it should be a good game!