Big Bowl VII, Frankfurt

Introduction

Not since the days of childhood summer camps has an event so intensely infused a few days of my existence that I have, after unpacking, been left sitting at the kitchen table in a slight daze thinking ‘did that actually just happen?’ There is often no way to articulate exactly how such events feel or why they had such an impact. We leave them to become part of our nostalgic recollection and allow our facial expressions and demeanour rather than words to do most of the communicating when recounting them. But this is a tournament report, so let me give you some of the facts of the EWP’s (Elite Women’s Project) trip to Big Bowl VII, and you’ll just have to imagine my grin and already wistful tone as you read.

The London Jaguars; pipe dream or inevitability?

Roger Goodell announced earlier this month that plans are in motion for no less than 3 London based International Series games in 2014 (including 2 home games for the Jaguars), plus increasingly unsubtle hints of a permanent franchise in the capital. It is either an exciting or worrying time to be an NFL fan, depending on your perspective.

The motivation behind the NFL's aggressive assault on the international market is not hard to fathom. They have a highly polished, highly successful, highly marketable product - but one that currently is constrained almost exclusively to one country. If they were able to gain a foothold in Europe and the rest of the world the profits and esteem for the NFL would be huge. The failure of NFL Europe caused the league to realised it needs to ship out its A-grade product if they are to achieve their goal of sustained intercontinental and even worldwide interest.

Double Coverage Shamrock Bowl Conference MVP Nominees

It’s been a controversial Shamrock Bowl Conference season in many aspects. The South division especially has seen ups and downs, whilst it has been competitive the demise of both DCU and Cork saw only three teams finish the season, and even then UCD had to forfeit a game.

Premiership North Power Rankings

1. East Kilbride Pirates (3-0)
An away trip to sunny Blackburn for the Pirates this weekend as they look to extend their advantage at the top of the Premiership North

2. Tamworth Phoenix (5-0)
A hollow walkover win for Tamworth denied them their chance of going top of our rankings. They'll regroup until the end of the month, when they play Doncaster in a game that is likely to decide who takes the second seed.

3. Doncaster Mustangs (4-1)
Doncaster are 5-1 this weekend after West Coast forfeit their second game in a row. The Tamworth game on 30th June looms large for the Mustangs

London Blitz @ Ipswich Cardinals VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS