To my esteemed football colleagues, excuse me for writing this in English, as I mean no disrespect to the German language, but I want to be perfectly clear in my comments and therefore I will use my "Muttersprache"
As any true football knowledgable person knows, a team's record is not always an indication of the team's success or failure. The Böblingen Bears are proud of the successes and forward progress we made in 2008 and will continue to make as a complete PROGRAM both on and off the field for the years to come. We accomplished the things we wanted to accomplish whether our record indicated it or not. However, for those that like to point out records, I would suggest you look at the 2007 Miami Dolphins who went 1-15 and had the worst record in the entire NFL but then in 2008 the 'phins finished with a record of 11-5 and won the AFC East ahead of the NE Patriots who had just gone 16-0 the year before! Or how about the '98 Ravens who went 8-8 and didn't even make the playoffs but then came back the next year in '99 to win the Super Bowl! Or even closer to home, what about the Munich Cowboys who were relegated to the 2. BL after the 2006 season, but then bounced back to GFL after one year and even finished in 3rd place over two teams that were far better just a few years earlier? Simply put, the past is not an indication of the future -- especially in football.
We are also proud that our athletes believe enough in themselves and their teammates that they feel we can and will be a leading team in the 2009 Verbandsliga. Those are the kinds of athletes we want and the type of people we love to have in our program. Athletes that believe in themselves and that have confidence in their teammates are always welcome in our program because you can never judge heart and effort with simply a record. We will never punish our athletes for being confident!
At the end of the day, we would rather build our program with positive thinking athletes than negative ones. But personally speaking, unlike others I would never post a message in a public forum saying that I think another team is better than mine and therefore I would suggest that instead of trying to berate any Bears athletes for sticking together and displaying self-pride, maybe you should applaud them for their dedication to the team and their "never-quit" attitude and love for the ever-growing Bears FAMILY.
Lastly, for some reason there seems to be an awful lot of negativity towards the Bears at times from certain clubs. Let me make this perfectly clear, we have ZERO tolerance for rumors or other such nonsense regarding our program so if you request any clarification on the status of our club we simply ask that instead of posting unverified information call or email us directly and we can surely clear it up for you.
As always, we appreciate and welcome the continued support of those that TRULY love the sport of American Football and want to see it advance in spite of those negative individuals that are constantly trying to tear down the efforts of other teams in the region that seek to increase the regional visibility and fan support for American Football. Stay tuned for a lot more from the Bears in the coming months -- both on and off the field.
Mit sportlichen Gruessen,
Lawrence Wesley
Abteilungsleiter
Böblingen Bears American Football
www.boeblingen-bears.de