Here it is, the main event. Official qualifiers for the FUMBBL Cup had begun. The main stadium rose up around me with a majestic splendor. Well, maybe splendor isn't the word for it, but it rose up around all the same. It was hard to get to the press box (have you ever been caught behind a crowd of zombie tourists? Infuriating!), and I was already missing the first matches. Actually, games had already been going on all over town, but I was in the main stadium because that's where the big draw was. The returning champion Nandorins recieved home field advantage, and so got to play their match on the main field. Unfortunately, I was missing the whole thing! I argued with an orc staffer about my credentials (more like a sausage-on-stick and some candy floss - ed) while history was being made not a hundred feet away -

Relative unkown Scientia Adeptio defeated the champs in a 2-1 nailbiter.

Word of each new development came rushing up the stairs and out of the press box. All the while I stood by helplessly, unable to witness this great moment. When the final whistle blew, I knew my reputation was on the line. In a run to make any wood elf catcher or orc blitzer proud, I squeezed, fought, and bribed my way right into the arms of stadium security.

All was not lost, however, as when I was released from lockup two days later, I stopped by the nearest pub, and by Nuffle's good graces, there was my target - the now-famous coach known only as Phil.

TNT: First off, congratulations on your victory. I'm sure no one expected the Nandorins to go out so early. Maybe you should change your name to the Giant Killers. Or maybe the Nandorouts.

Phil: Thanks , I like the idea of the Nandorouts, I think I might use that if I make a high elf team, if no one else does first. I think Scientia deserve to keep their heritage as it is in proud memory of their (few) achievements.

TNT: At any rate, how did you feel when you saw that you had drawn the Nandorins in the qualifier?

P: To be honest I was really delighted to see the draw. I didn’t enter expecting to win the qualifier, it was more just for the fun of participating in a major tournament and if possible, playing a match against one of the more famous teams around. Drawing the defending champions in the opening game certainly falls into that category.

TNT: And what did you think of your chances going into the match? Did you do anything special to prepare?

P: Going into the match I was really just hoping for a few good handicaps that might mean I could make a close match of it. On the other hand, I was quite worried about how many of my players would be fit to play. It was fairly obvious I was going to have to rely quite heavily on the 2 wardancers to stay competitive...

With the Nandorins having a 16 elf roster, it was always going to be difficult to ever get them below 11 players, although they didn’t have any particularly strong elves or talented guards, which I think is really where I was going to have any advantage.

All my preparation had really been in just getting the squad to meet the entry criteria and ensuring that I could field around 11 players. That in itself is an achievement for this team.

TNT: Is there anything specific you remember about the match? A turning point, or any spectacular plays or brilliant strategies?

P: I must say I can’t really remember too many fine details about the match but I think Nuffle definitely favoured the woodies in a pretty major way. On the opening kick off, we blitzed and got the ball straight away, although it left the ball carrier too open, and we just had to hope the Nandorins didn’t manage to knock him down.

But what I remember most is that both my touchdowns came from the Nandorins failing to complete short passes that they would normally expect to pull off effortlessly. So I guess the score could easily have been 3-0 the other way.

Even after such a good first half I thought the match had turned when they managed to score the equalising TD at the beginning of the second half. It wasn’t really until the second missed pass that I really entertained any serious thoughts about pulling off the victory.

TNT: How did you feel when the final whistle blew and you realized you had done it? Did you feel good about your chances in the rest of the qualifier? And the Cup?

P: I think I was in shock, I couldn’t really believe I’d pulled off such a great win. There were also a couple of congratulation messages from other coaches, which was pretty cool. I guess it just shows that no match is decided before it begins as Nuffle can do strange things. The win also pushed my 'Spike!' Magazine Coach Rating up above 150, which was a nice bonus.

With regards to the rest of the qualifier I wasn’t really hopeful for that, my next opponent hadn’t been decided, and no offence to Topper, but I think most people expected Vancouver Forest to win their match against Body Like a Battleaxe and I didn’t think Nuffle could favour me so heavily again against a much stronger woodies team.

TNT: Body Like a Battleaxe ended up winning that match and playing you in the next round. Did this change your mindset, or your plans in any way?

P: As it turned out I didn’t have much time to think about playing the humans as we played our match immediately after the end of their first game. The one thing that had been pointed out is they lack any good tackles, which you would expect to be a slight disadvantage against any elf team.

TNT: Body Like a Battleaxe defeated you in that match. Do you have anything to say about that match, or the team?

P: What a team! In both of their matches so far, they have really done a great job of getting the opponent off the pitch. As mentioned before, this is without any tackles. There was only one casualty in our match, but the dugout infirmary had a steady stream of elves flowing in and out. For most of the second half it felt like I had only 3 or 4 players. Somehow though I had a last second attempt to force the tie to overtime and with a few good knockouts, anything would have been possible. But really well played to Topper, as I had few serious chances to get the ball off his team and best of luck to him in the qualifier final.

TNT: Any final words?

P: I’d just like to wish good luck to all the coaches still in the Cup. Especially to Topper and K. Foged, who I believe will be entering the Nandorins into one of the Quick Start qualifiers, which is how they got into last years finals anyway. They look to have been training hard since their defeat. I don’t think anyone can really bet against them still being the one team standing when all the dust has settled. Then again, I’d put my money on Ultimate Superheroes and their lucker of a coach.

Sam Walkerson is a reporter for TNT. His articles have appeared in Spike! Magazine and This Old Castle