Not long now! Less than a few hours remain until 256 coaches hammer refresh enough times to answer the burning questions. 'Did I get in?' 'Who did I get?' 'Who's next if I win?' 'Who did _he_ get?'. The expectation is almost the best bit!

Despite not being a massive Major fan (I'm sure a few of you are expecting a rant), I've always had a bit of a soft spot for the FC. In my first year on FUMBBL, I was a certified n00b. Way longer than most of you reading this were. Naive, a poor coach, a poor team builder. However, news of the 'big one' got through to even me, and I remember getting up at 7am for a Quick Start Tournament (as was the way in those days) to try and progress my n00b Orcs to the main FC draw. They were my first (and one of my worst) ever team on FUMBBL, and I distinctly remember wondering how the things I was doing on the pitch were generating these new noises I'd not heard before (I was too n00b to understand emotes, random /hurts confused the crap out of me). As Kalamona dispatched my n00by team with ease (as I remember it), I just felt happy to have had a go. Nice to have played an albeit small part in the bigger picture.

Later that week in a normal [R] game, I remember being asked if I could play a game (as normal), but only if I could play quickly, since the coach that offered had a QST coming up. 'Sure' I said, and oddly enough, the quick Orcs I was expecting to connect to the client morphed into slow, slow Khemri. Despite being really rather n00bish, I managed to squeak a tie. I totally forgot about the game until a few weeks later I saw those slow Khemri on a jammy run through the main draw, and my interest sparked again. I was their final warm-up! How weird. That year was full of good games. Boo's Lizzies, Torso's Orcs and PeteW's eventual winner Woodies made each and every game they played interesting, and I actually remember setting an alarm so I didn't miss the final. Unheard of for me before or since to care about an [R] game that much. How things could have been different if I'd stuck the boot in more on those Khemri, or indeed denied them that 30k and those spp. Who knows what would have happened? I guess Majors are full of 'What if?'s, with the draw and onfield dice being arguably more important than how you coach as you progress. My favourite ever FUMBBL experience also came from the fifth FC, Zerkalo attempting to Naama phil78's Woodies in this game was perhaps the most fun I've ever had with my trousers on. When phil's two remaining Woodies stuck it to those Rotters and progressed via coin toss, I'm pretty sure my speakers exploded.

Last year was just as fun; but for different reasons. The nature of a 512 team draw means that it's all about the upsets. That first week was crammed with interest and fun. I remember being at the NAF World Cup in Nottingham for a drink, and having narrowly escaped Emphasy dressed as a pirate holding a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale (a frightening prospect!), 5-7 hardy FUMBBL coaches leant over Angie's shoulder as she pressed 'go' on the biggest tournament we'd ever seen. 'Who've I got?' 'Who've you got?' 'Who's HE got?'. I recoiled as I'd drawn a Major finalist from earlier that year, but managed to stick around until round 3, which was nice with a so-so team. The year of the upset was great to spectate, Spubbbba, Azure and Zombificus stand out in my mind as WIL'ers I followed as they pw3ned fancied opponents with [L] honed skills. Spubb's victory over a pre-tourney favourite was perhaps the best game of all to watch in the whole thing. The interest perhaps didn't hold as long as it had the previous year, as the other half of the big draw seemed to open up a bit and get a bit predictable as it wore on, but it was still the only Major I remember getting interested about all year.

So what of 2008? Birthday teams hover over the draw, ready to dust off the cobwebs and mount a serious challenge. Perhaps they'll all be drawn in the same section, who can say? We can but hope! Will we have 256 or 512 coaches? It doesn't feel like the marketing machine has ground out 512 this year, although I stand to be corrected. I'm looking forward most of all to that first week, where 'games' is awash with the plucky poorer races trying (hope against hope) to dispatch 'ready' Orcs and the like. Most will fail, but for those that progress, the scalp will be heavily cheered.

So good luck and have fun in the FUMBBL Cup. Enjoy the feast of BB, and remember, you'd rather be lucky than good. Especially when it comes to the draw! :D

And if you're one of those coaches that's not sure if they're going to enter still, I recommend you throw something at it. Sure, you may crash out first round, but it's nice to be a part of it. You never know, you too may play a future finalist, and wonder, 'What if?'.