Inga looked once more on the timer and grinned. This was well in hand. Less than a minute minute left, and Monk’s stumble on the leap had secured the 2-pointer for her team. Luzie had picked it up and handed it over to Nadja, and her team captain was now in secure zone, just waiting for the clock to count down before she ran in the winning touchdown. She had just checke on Allen, who was carted away to the Temple for healing, when Biryukov went down in a mass of Greenskin players. And there came Monk, of all players, with the foul. Effective, but not good enough, and even the ref could see that. Monk is out. Nadja can setp inside the goal line, and the game is over!

The players and supporting staff rushes to the CCC goal zone. Inga goes with them. She can hear people screaming in joy and realizes she is one of them. She hugs all the players she can. A small-framed young woman gets a firm slap on her scrawny shoulders. “Well done, squirt!”, Inga says. Ann-Katrin Lexer grins at her. “You got another perm tonight, and earned the title as most fouling player of the season! And I even hear you are on the short list for a pro bowl appearance!” “Sure f*?%&&? It’s because I’m so damned good!” Inga approaches red-haired rookie Sofia Kreuzberg. “Did you enjoy yourselves?” Sofia nods. “Oh yes. Greatest time of my life!” Inga smiles. “Good. You come with me, and you will get your minutes of fame on the CabalVision!” Sofia gulps. “Me?” Inga nods and waves to Luzie Scholl as well. “We are going to meet the press!” On her way to the Press Zone with Luzie and Sofia in tow, she remembers to give her thanks to another player. “Lavrentij, you big oaf. You ended second in the Ironman list! Well done!” The big ogre turns towards Inga. “’O wun?” “Bunkley of the Avalanche!”, Inga says. “Ah’ kill ‘Im next season then, and be Da Boss!” Inga grins. “Sounds like a good plan, Lavrentij!”

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Hertha: “Well done, Inga! This was a happy ending to the season, right!”

Inga: “Can’t complain! A victory over the Greenskins in their own lair. Doesn’t get much better than that! And it took us above the 12 points I had promised as well!” She looks sideways at Günther.

Günther: “I noticed. But why do we have to follow CCC on the road to experience these victories? You are 5-0-3 away, but only 2-0-6 at home this season?”

Inga: (shrugs) “Maybe the team is still a bit shy with the fans… Anyway, we will fix it next season!”

Günther: “You did well this season, especially when we realise that the team started out as #31 on the ranking.”

Inga: “I know. And if not for the loss of Tatyana to a failed apo, we would have ended #8 in team value rank. And we are satisfied with the midseason trades. Those brought us Kosar and Wolfe, and that means we have the team we need for next season, except for an agile catcher and a new sidestepper to replace Tatyana. But we have four picks and some saleable players, so I think it will work out.”

Hertha: “And who have you brought for us to interview this time?”

Inga pushes the young rookie forward. “This is Sofia. I thought it timely that you talked to a rookie, to get their take on Blood Bowl”

Hertha: “Well, Sofia. What is it like to be out there for the first time?”

Sofia: “Well. What can I say? I was ecstatic when I was asked if I wanted a game for the CCC as replacement for Tatyana, and I knew I had to say yes. It’s a chance you don’t get often when playing amateur Blood Bowl. But then, when you get out there… boy, it’s… well… you really wonder how you could end up in this crazy situation. With CCC playing offense in first half, I was only watching, but as second half started, I had to get out there. So I was standing there on the LOS waiting… with Eldrid to my left and Luzie to the right and the rest of CCC behind, I felt really, really small and alone. Greenskins filled the LOS with all their big guys. And I have to say, that Skullsmasher ogre to my right looked like a mountain, and Carradine to my left not much smaller. And then right opposite of me Shane Ray. And I really felt like running but all I could do was to feel numb and hope to all the Gods that Shane would be the one to hit me. And then, as I remember, they made a quick snap and Ray moved to my left and a big mountain shadowed the sun right in front of me. And then I’m hit in the side and go down. It’s Kendricks and not the mountain, thank God. I get up on my feet and Nadja screams at me to hold Skullsmasher occupied while the team tries to cut off the four Greenskins to the right of Skullsmasher. Yes, maam! And thank you very much! And it’s nt that he is twice as big as me… On jelly legs I wait for the hit, but the mountain boneheads! I am helped out of his range by a hit on Kendricks, and then the team comes back to help me and Nadja screams at me to hit the ogre. But damn, where do you hit such a mass of muscle? I can’t even reach his shoulders… I opt for the knee, and hit it with all my power. The knee dodsn’t come off, sad to say, but at least he goes down! And in from the side comes Lexer with the foul! She fails, though, and is sent off by the ref. I managed to stay in the game that half, amazingly enough. It’s… I guess it exhilarating as nothing else, and at the same time you are scared shitless all the time, watching nervously around for the next deadly threat to your existence.”

Hertha: “But you will say yes next time you are asked as well?”

Sofia: “Oh yes. It gets in your blood!”

Günther: “How do you think she did as a rookie, Inga?”

Inga: “Excellent. She managed to stay on the field the whole half, and had three blocks, two of which were successful and one of them gave Lexer a chance to foul their ogre. You can’t expect more than that.”

Hertha: (to the third woman in the group): “And then we have Luzie. Tell us how you took control of the situation that led to the 2-0 TD for the CCC!”

Luzie: “It was at the end of the second half, with us leading 1-0 but Greenskins holding the ball with Monk as ballcarrier. We had managed to surround him pretty well, though, and even had our rookie here marking him down. I managed to fend off Diggs, but was brought down by Thomas Logan. But I could see Allen holding his own against Carradine and the Skullsmasher boneheaded his blitz and Monk was forced to try a leap to get out of it. Allen managed to grab his trouser leg, though, and brought him crashing down, and I could see the loose ball just in front of me. With Kolskegg and Goode combining to push Logan away and with Skullsmasher boneheaded, the ball was free as well. I must admit I had planned to foul Monk. With Lexer and Borchers out, I have that responsibility, but Nadja screamed like a banshee: “Get the ball, Luzie!” So grab the ball I did, and handed it over to Nadja who ran like crazy towards the Greenskins goal line. And that was it. ‘skins might have been able to take her down, with a lot of luck, but they didn’t even bother to try. Guess they thought losing 2-0 is no worse than losing 1-0. Instead, they took down Lavrentij, but failed to foul him out of the game, and Nadja could run in the 2-0 TD unopposed.”

Günther: “That was your first pickup and handover as a pro, correct?”

Luzie: (laughs)” Well, you would know, of course. I’m usually out of the game that late in a half, so you’re probably right! It felt good nevertheless.”

Hertha: “You have taken some hits this season. Will we see you next season?”

Luzie: “I’m ready, but the decision is not quite up to me…” she looks guardedly at Inga.

Inga: “I can confirm that, yes! We will get a replacement for Tatyana that will take Sofia’s place, and we might replace Eldrid if we get a good enough offer. And Kolskegg may be traded, but the other 13 stays for next season.”

Günther: “And how well will you do next season, Inga? Can we expect play-offs?”

Inga: (laughs) “We can talk about that when the draft is finished!”