IT'S OVER!

We found out a couple of things on June 23, 2011. Firstly, the Hamburg Sea Devils overcame all odds by beating the Frankfurt Galaxy in their home to capture the 15th and perhaps last championship of NFL Europa. Frankfurt simply had no answer for Marcus Maxwell and a straight-up, plain vanilla defense that played its roles so effectively, that QB J.T. O'Sullivan had to run for his life. The vaunted no-huddle K-Gun offense that head coach Mike Jones said "was always in the playbook" took on the look of a run and shoot offense. In the words of former NY/NJ Knights' head coach Mouse Davis and the father of that offense "We couldn't run, and couldn't shoot - anyone". Frankfurt's running game was nonexistent and Hamburg had the answer for every Frankfurt offensive outburst. Hamburg also won one for the man who has stood for all that is NFL Europa - Jack Bicknell, who had to step down at the beginning of the season. Bicknell had coached 14 years in the league and was in the very first World Bowl. As head coach of Barcelona, his Dragons lost to London, 21-0.

All that was a backdrop however, to the rumors swirling around all week. Like buzzards in the arid west, American football pundits had predicted death of the league for weeks. It didn't keep over 48,000 fans from almost selling out the loud and raucous Commerzebank Arena and showing their love for the league. It seemed only a matter of time when at the pre-game press conference the only people at the dais were league CEO Uwe Bergheim and Maik Matischek, the league PR Director. Not a soul from the NFL was there - a most embarrassing situation. It led to one conclusion. Hasta la vista.

The rumors were that NFL E cost the NFL the upwards of half a billion dollars (US that is over the 16 years the league operated. On one hand, you can't blame anyone for wanting to bail on a business losing that much. On the other hand, were they real numbers? Was it fact or fiction? And what to make of a rather delicate situation involving television rights with possible conflicts of interest? What about the expected big pay day for the Dolphins-Giants game in London? What about that 17th game on "international" soil (although most Americans consider Canada the 51st state and Mexico the 52nd state). Then there was the fact that Mr. Bergheim's solution to the gap was so outrageous - 12 teams and a 20+ game schedule, that the owners had no choice. The smell was bad all around and we don't mean New Jersey's chemical factories.

In canceling NFL Europa, the NFL probably killed their chances of going back to Europe for quite some time. Unless Dusseldorf steps up seeking events for LTU Arena, there is no city in Germany that wants the NFL right now. Nor do the 6-12 million German American football fans, not to mention the Dutch, the Swiss, the Hungarians. When most people realize that businesses and not the common fan were able to scoop up London tickets, then the party may be over.

The people who toiled endlessly for the league have been cast out. Their passion but a memory. For the fans, its the same queasy feeling. No more 10-game seasons. No more Sea Devils, or Galaxy or for that matter Fire (both Birmingham and Rhein). How very sad.

And how fitting that the first league game was played at Waldstadion, and the last at Commerzebank Arena, where Waldstadion used to stand. The ghosts of the past were there and will be in the future. Not even Shakespeare could write a tragedy like this.

How sad indeed.