LA Flag Football

We're now at Bernstein High

2009-11-29T15:02:00.000-08:00

For anyone new dropping in here, we now play at Bernstein High School in Hollywood, Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Address: 1309 N Wilton Pl., Los Angeles, CA 90028. Right where the 101 Freeway meets Sunset, next to the Home Depot. Street parking available (field entrance is on the side street directly across Sunset from the Dennys).

To get updates on the schedule, plus news on our spring league, send us an e-mail.

LA Motion, the tournament team composed of players from the league, won Gay Bowl IX in Washington DC.

Follow the 2009 Spring League

2009-04-03T18:06:00.000-07:00

The Los Angeles Flag Football League's spring 2009 season kicks off April 4 and ends with playoffs on May 30.

You can check out the rosters, schedules and results here.

Flag Recap March 22, 2009

2009-03-22T21:29:00.000-07:00

WEATHER: Another great day, which means I should stop with the weather report each week. Why do LA TV stations spend so much time on something that seldom changes?

GAME: White jumped out to a 12-0 lead, Red then scored 24 in a row, then White took over and won by 12.

NEXT: This is the last pickup game of the spring. League starts Saturday at Penmar, all players report by 11:30 a.m. Pickup resumes in September as a lead-in to the Fall league. Thanks everyone for playing this winter!

PICK SIX: We had three passes returned for TDs on nice defensive plays – ZS, Pete and George.

GOING DEEP: Some terrific long passes for TDs, also – Zach from Juan and Marc from Christophe stand out. The best deep pass of the day by Bradley was unfortunately dropped in the end zone by a player whose initials are Z and S.

CATCH O' THE DAY: By new player Ryan who focused on the ball while still dragging his first foot in along the sideline.

PASS RUSH GAMES: It was fun watching Juan as QB being pursued by the likes of Hector, George and Brent. They each got the best of each other at times and each play seemed to take 10 minutes to finish.

HIGHLIGHTS: Congrats to Cyd for catching a TD pass, his first in three years and first from me in years. … Alejandro continues to improve on defense and came up with a couple of nice defensive gems. … Great foot control by Zach on a pass at the back of the end zone. … Welcome to Sky, who scored his first TD on a direct snap. Of course, he almost was tackled right before the goal line when he stopped inadvertently. … No such problem for Marko, who ran into and out of the end zone at full speed after his TD. … Duffy had an awesome sack of me that both of us discussed after the game.

It’s been a highlight for me to write these every week and hope you all enjoyed reading them!

Flag Recap March 14, 2009

2009-03-15T15:30:00.000-07:00

WEATHER: Like a broken record – mostly sunny, mid-60s, great for football. We haven’t had a rain game in two years.

NEXT: We have one more week of pickup and this is the last week to sign up for the league, either at Fubar Tuesday night or next Saturday at Penmar Park.

GAME: Since I went on a jaunt to check out a new field, I missed a chunk, but know that Blue rallied to beat Black, something like 49-36.

BEST CELEBRATION: Jeremy, who high-stepped it in on the last 10 yards of his second TD of the game. He then saw David with his video camera lying on the ground:

Jeremy: “You didn’t get that on tape?”
David: “Battery ran out.”
Jeremy: “Motherf---er!”

AFTER FURTHER REVIEW: Ben tried to suspend the law of physics after we awarded him a 1-point conversion catch that looked to me that it hit the ground. “It hit the blades of grass, but not the ground,” he said. I had forgotten that Penmar grass hovers above the dirt in an unattached state.

On the other hand, Ben had a great catch for a TD pass from Shaun that he juggled first before securing with his feet in at the back of the end zone.

BEST USE OF PYLON: Patrick caught a pass from Drew and raced down the sideline. As he was going out of bounds, he reached the ball at the goal line and hit the cone, which meant it was a TD.

BEST TOUTING OF HIMSELF: When I asked what happened while I was gone, Christophe said, “Juan got juked out of his ass!” By whom, I asked. “By me,” he said.

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS: I forgot to credit Drew with a pick a week earlier and Duffy with a sack. I also forgot to mention Duffy got a good penmanship gold star in the first grade.

BEST HUSTLE: Brenton chasing down and grabbing Marc’s flag at the 2 after a long catch and run. I love the way Brenton screams any time he makes a play.

BEST OPENING GAME STATEMENT: Hector, in his first game, was still learning the finer points of our rush rule. So it caught Jerrod a bit off guard when he was knocked flat on his back by Hector while rushing. But they shook hands and all was well.

HIGHLIGHTS: Brent had a nice long pass and run on a throw from Drew, then added a TD catch on the same drive. … It was fun watching the other Brent (T.O.) guard Ben all day. … Alejandro made a very nice catch over the middle for his first reception in a couple of weeks. … Eugene had a sweet over-the-shoulder grab that helped set up a TD. … Happy birthday to Patrick, who celebrated #33. … Nice pick by Marc on the first drive. ... Terrific quick slant TD pass from Christophe to ZS. … Nice crossing pattern TD pass from Drew to Will.

Flag Recap March 7, 2009

2009-03-08T12:46:00.000-07:00

WEATHER: Hard to complain about 65 and sunny, except the sun did get in my eyes all game.

NEXT: We are back Saturday March 14, Penmar Park at noon.

LEAGUE: There are only two more Saturdays to register for the league, plus our March 17 registration night at Fubar from 6-8 p.m.

GAME: Here we go again. For the fourth week in a row, one team jumped out to a two-TD lead. And for the fourth week in a row, the game suddenly turned and became a nail-biter. Dark beat White, 40-38, on a walk-off TD pass from me to new player Ben (known by his friends as “Paul.”)

SAFETY IN NUMBERS: We had our first safety in memory when Brenton sacked Marino in the end zone. Or at least, Brenton said he sacked Marino, who saw things differently. And since the five of us on the sidelines weren’t watching and the receivers were running routes, we wound up taking Brenton’s word for it. Because he would never, ever, ever stretch the truth (cough).

RARITY: Speaking of Brenton, he caught a TD pass from Marc. That is not a typo! Brenton caught (as in, held on to the brown oval object hurled in his direction, which he normally swats away like it’s an angry wasp) a TD pass. In other news, snow is forecast for Santa Monica late Tuesday.

BALL HAWKS: Had several nice interceptions. Toby made a great break on a pass that he picked off and took back for a score. … Dave Sobel (or Meggett, as we used to call him) had two, including a nifty over-the-shoulder grab. … Marc had a heads-up off a deflection. … and Duffy made a fingertip grab at the goal line inches from the ground.

GO DEEP: We had several deep passes for TDs. I hit Ben twice and Christophe once, while Marino and Demond hooked up for a beauty for White.

MOST INCONGRUOUS LINE OF THE DAY: “I’m going to buy some fruit!” So said Brian on the sidelines during a series as he walked to a street vendor. Fortified with watermelon and unripe mango, he then had three nice catches on the next drive.

LINE I WISH I KNEW WHAT IT MEANT: “I might start loving me some chocolate!” So said Demond after he deflagged Toby. I assume he grabbed some part of Toby that caused him to utter that, but I’ll leave that to your interpretation.

HIGHLIGHTS: Great ball fake and juke by Drew running in for a TD. … Derek made several nice grabs; having a 6-8 guy with hands is hard to stop and it was quite a contrast watching Christophe guard him. … Duffy wants everyone to know that he pitched his softball team to its first win in 18 months. … Head’s up catch for a 2-pointer by Brian on a deflected pass in the end zone. The two teams were a collective 2-12 on conversions. …

Great body positioning and grab by Toby on a high hard pass from me for a TD on fourth down. … Alejandro played his best defense we’ve seen, always being in position and knocking one pass down. … Brent was terrific on the rush, forcing a lot of early throws for incompletions. … Eugene was the main man at center, catching a ton of balls for key completions. … Dark ran a nice quick snap for a score on a direct hike to Ross. … New player Jason started slowly but wound up with several key catches as White mounted its comeback. … My doofus moment came when I called an audible in the huddle, then forgot what the audible call was when I came to the line. Fortunately, Eugene was paying attention and straightened me out.

Flag Recap: Feb. 28, 2009

2009-02-28T19:01:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: A nor'easter headed up the coast is expected to drop six or more inches of snow by Monday morning on most of southern New England, starting Sunday evening, forecasters said. … But in Venice, it was 75, sunny and perfect (and you needed sunscreen).

NEXT: We are back March 7, Penmar at noon. The spring league starts March 28, so start bringing your forms and your $65 fee. I will e-mail forms again this week for those who did not get them. We will also have forms at the field.

GAME: For the third week in a row, one team jumped out to a two-TD lead only to see the game tighten dramatically. Dark held on for a 44-42 win when White failed to convert a 2-point try on the game’s last play.

TD MAKERS: Hope you had these guys on your fantasy teams – Demond scored 4 TDs, Patrick 3, while Christophe threw 5 TDs, Jordan (visiting from Pennsylvania) had 4, Shaun threw for 3 and had 1 TD reception.

BONEHEAD PLAY OF THE DAY: Ross bailed me out since I had nothing in this category until late. It was pretty funny. He made a great catch and run and had the whole sideline clear. He then veered towards the sideline, crossed an orange cone and ran out of bounds. Cyd, chasing him, looked stunned when Ross stepped out. Only problem was that the goal-line cones are yellow and he wound up running out of bounds 10 yards short. Doh!

HEAD’S UP: Best TD came on an interception by Christophe, who then lateraled to Demond a millisecond before his flag was pulled. Demond then weaved his way for a score, getting a great block by Jeremy.

BEST HUSTLE: Demond baited Jordan and broke on a pass for a nice interception. About 99% of the time, Demond scores, but Jordan never gave up on the play and managed to grab D’s flag short of the end zone.

INEPT: There were 14 TDs scored and the teams were a combined 1-13 on conversions.

HIS NEMESIS: Bryan thought I had it out for him. As ref, I took away one interception when his teammate hit the QB’s arm for a penalty. I took away a sack when the QB released the ball right before Bryan got the flag. He was also called for an illegal block on a TD run. And he would probably point out other nefarious deeds I did to him. He needs to learn to bribe before the game.

BEST REASON FOR STOPPING EARLY: Nate: “I’m still hung over from last night.”

BEST REASON FOR NOT SHOWING UP: Yos: He hurt his toe on “a morning back flip attempt gone wrong.”

STAT OF THE DAY: I threw zero incompletions, zero picks and had zero sacks.*

DEFENSE: Despite 86 points scored, there was some great defense. Great sacks by Brenton (2), Brent, and a combo by a White rush that caused the Dark QB to trip and fall on fourth down. … There were picks by Bryan, Demond and Christophe and George should have had one on a deep ball. … Curtis made a great dive to knock down a pass near the end zone. … Juan made a brilliant defensive play in perfect timing to knock a pass away from Demond; that’s a hard play to do and not have it be a penalty. … Twice White got inside the Dark 15 and failed to score.

DULY NOTED: These players demanded their props – Jeremy for his two nice blocks and over-the-middle catch. Drew for his interception last week I forgot to mention. I also forgot to compliment Drew for his work in his junior high school production of “Grease.” Duffy was not here this week, so I was not able to slight him.

NOTABLE: Great move by Derek to get wide open deep for a TD. … Ross, Shaun and Patrick each had nice TD grabs on long post plays. … Marc made a nifty catch and run for a long gainer. … Chris had a ton of catches, several for first downs. … Loved Dave Sobel’s over-the-shoulder grab for a 25-yard gain. … Christophe bought a ton of time and had a tough throw against his body to Demond for a long score.

*: I was on the IR this week and only reffed.

Flag Recap Feb. 21, 2009

2009-02-22T14:22:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: No complaints. Partly cloudy, low 60s. Great for football.

NEXT: We are back Saturday Feb. 28, noon, at Penmar Park. The league start date is tentatively set for March 28 (could be delayed a week pending field issues).

GAME: Back and forth, a lot of great defense. White bolted to a quick two-TD lead before Dark rallied to dominate. A late White rally made it close but Dark scored the final TD to win by nine (spread was 8.5).

CATCHES OF THE DAY: There were plenty. Patrick made a terrific diving grab just inches from the out-of-bounds line in the end zone for a fourth-down TD. Ross made a sliding grab in the end zone for a superb TD. Paul reached back and over while twisting his body for a long gainer down field.

SACK MASTERS: We had a bunch of great sacks. Leading the pack was Brian with three. Cyd had two and forced a pick on a near third one. And somebody, whose name escapes me (sorta tall, Broncos cap), claims he had two, though this could not be verified by independent witnesses.

WACKY PLAY OF THE DAY: Christophe, on fourth down, throwing to Chris, who sees the ball slide off his hands, off the hands of a defender and into the waiting arms of ZS for a score. Just like they drew it up.

FLAG GRAB OF THE DAY: Loved Ross’ hustle in chasing down somebody (forget who), lunging and snagging his flag. A great play where he did not give up on the play.

BALL HAWKS: New player Ben had two picks with nice coverage; Juan had one and played great DB all day. I know there was another but my mind is all fogged up.

TRICKERY BACKFIRES: Dark’s best defensive play of the day was White trying to get the rusher to jump early by hiking the ball on the second “hike!” Try 1: White player false starts, five-yard penalty. Try 2: White player false starts, five-yard penalty. Try 3: White player false starts, five-yard penalty. Try 4: White player false starts, five-yard penalty. Four false starts by three different players.

HEADS UP: The game’s final score happened on a great heads-up play. Shaun throws downfield to Brent who is surrounded by two White players, who are grabbing everything it seems but the flag. Brent sees Drew running behind him, tosses him the lateral and Drew races in. Drew yelled something about how that how the Raiders do it. An odd team to pick considering they haven’t had a winning record since 2002. If it was like the Raiders, Brent’s lateral would have been picked off and taken back by White.

NOTABLE: Great adjustment by Patrick on a deep pass for Shaun he took for a TD. … On the other hand, Patrick looked like a spectator on defense once watching this brown oval object come toward him, stopping to see this object caught by a receiver. … Still not sure how Yos could live in Miami and never have used sunscreen. … Great scramble by Toby on a play that resulted in a nice TD pass to Eugene. … Sorry Dave about jamming my forearm into your windpipe as I rumbled with a pass. You’ll be speaking in no time!

Flag Recap: Feb. 14, 2009

2009-02-14T18:56:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: Perfect. About 60, very sunny, perfect for football. Field a bit slick but overall hard to complain.

GAME: A doozy. Dark got off (I mean in a football sense) to a 24-0 lead then we sort of coasted. White made a furious comeback that saw the score tied 30-30, then 36-36, before Dark scored on the game’s final drive for the 42-36 win.

NEXT: We are back Saturday Feb. 21, Penmar at noon.

TOTAL RECALL: Since we had so many people, there is no way I can remember everyone’s special gem. But that didn’t stop someone from kiddingly bitching that I forgot to mention his sack in last week’s writeup. As if I break down game film after and do a play-by-play. So, for the record, this person did have a sack in the game of Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009 (Year 5769 on the Jewish calendar), between 1 and 3 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

MR. EVERYTHING: Juan had an “OK” day. Let’s see: three interceptions on defense, two receiving TDs, one passing and he ran in the game-winner. I am so glad I started him on my fantasy team and benched Brenton.

CATCH OF THE DAY: Has to go to Brad for his twisting one-hander in the end zone for a score on a pass Christophe threw slightly behind him. The catch certainly got the biggest applause of the day.

BONEHEAD OF THE WEEK: That would be me. I swore Paul had scored on a long catch and run and asked Christophe to let me QB the conversion (having barely warmed up). Who cares, it’s just the conversion? So, I lofted one to Tim and it was short and picked off by Brent. But it was just the conversion, so pick or incompletion … no big deal. What? Paul hadn’t scored and it wasn’t the conversion but a first-and-goal? And I threw a pick? I did not find this out for two series. And someone wonders how I forgot his sack of a week before!

OFF THE BENCH: White was dead in the water and sinking when Shaun decided to show up. He went in as their third QB and promptly ignited them with a terrific pass and great catch by Patrick for a TD. He then led them on five more TD drives to make it a barnburner.

CONVERT THIS: We scored a combined 13 TDs and had zero conversions. Must be a record of some sort.

GOING DEEP: Several really nice deep balls for scores: Christophe to Brad on a pump fake; C to Juan down the middle and Shaun to Toby and Marino each down the seam.

COPPING A FEEL: Funniest play was Jeremy grabbing virtually every part of Marc’s midsection anatomy before finally grabbing his flag. This would be illegal in most Southern states.

WILDCAT: Dark’s winning score came on the Wildcat formation. Juan (in the Ronnie Brown role) took the snap and had Christophe back there in the Ricky Williams role (except he didn't have a bong). Juan faked to Christophe, faked the pass, then ran and whirled in for the score.

BALL HAWKS: Juan, as noted, had three, including two in the end zone. Yos showed terrific concentration by making one and keeping his feet in bounds. Toby got one on a rebound that Brent knocked up, while Shaun made a nice play to get his. I know I forgot someone else’s, so put it in the comments.

NOTABLE: I had about nine catches, several for first downs, and all without making a single athletic move after the catch. My best catch, in the back of the end zone, was called back for some dumb procedure penalty … Alejandro had a key first-down grab late after being teased about dropping one earlier. …

Nice to have Angel back and he had a terrific catch and run on a crossing pattern. … Paul did a great job rushing all day, getting at least one sack and having two knockdowns. … Alan showed some good wheels on two catches out of the backfield for first downs. … Jake was terrific as a receiver for White early on when he was pretty much their offense. … Nice head fake by Shaun on a TD run that tied the score late.

Flag Recap Feb. 7, 2009

2009-02-07T18:11:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: It might have rained elsewhere around SoCal, but it was dry and beautiful down in Venice. Beautiful puffy clouds, loads of sun and pleasant temps. On the way home, heading east on the 10 towards downtown was a gorgeous rainbow.

GAME: I always lose track of the score at a certain point, but it was close throughout. White won and never trailed.

WELCOME: A big welcome to four new players – Derek, George, Yos and Anthony. In what may be a first, all four scored touchdowns in their first game.

NEXT: We are back at Penmar Park Saturday Feb. 14 at noon. In case of predicted rain, check this blog around 11 a.m. Saturday and it will be updated in case of cancelation. At least one player did check the blog update, which was good, but he then forgot to bring a white shirt. One out of 2 isn’t bad.

CATCH OF THE DAY: Had to be Anthony’s on a long pass from Toby. He reached up as he was falling backwards, kept his concentration and maintained possession while hitting the ground. Replay review confirmed it was a catch.

PASSES OF THE DAY: Toby lobbied for this since Anthony got best catch, but I’m not buying. I’ll give it to Christophe for his great escape and throwback across the field on fourth down to Derek for a TD; and to me for my corner fade to Toby for a TD.

MOVE OF THE DAY, OFF THE FIELD: This goes to Duffy, who was hurtling out of bounds towards Brent standing on the sidelines. He then executed a perfect hurdle over Brent’s head as he crouched down and no one was injured.

MOVE OF THE DAY, ON THE FIELD: Demond caught a quick slant pass and Yos got in position, set himself and prepared for what he thought would be an easy flag grab. Wrong! Demond put on the brakes, changed course and Yos had a “WTF?” look on his face as he grabbed air. “I need to put flags on my dog and practice chasing him around!” Yos said.

TRICK PLAY I: Christophe threw to Duffy, who then batted the ball up volleyball style to Derek, who had the catch until Toby came in and knocked it away. I disputed whether it was a designed play since Duffy always bats the ball when he catches it. J

TRICK PLAY II: It was set up perfectly. I was center and was the last guy to the line and was to do a quick snap to Toby. The defense froze and we had them off guard. Except that no one on the offense moved except Toby and I. The best laid plans.

TIGHTY WHITIES: I am still confused as to how Yos could have mud on his hands and up and down his arms and still have a white tank top that looked like it was freshly bleached.

HEIGHT ADVANTAGE: Derek is 6-8 and Christophe made great use of that with nice lob passes that resulted in key catches all game.

BONEHEAD PLAY OF THE DAY: Dave Sobel had two TDs, a conversion, a pick and a couple of sacks, but he did have the “Doh!” play of the day. He caught a pass and had an easy TD, but got confused by the markers and stopped at the 3-yard line. A heads-up Demond ran over and grabbed his flag.

ALEJANDRO’S GREAT ADVENTURE: It was fun watching Alejandro snap the ball in only his third flag game ever. Some of his snaps were like helium balloons and the rusher was almost at the QB by the time the ball reached him. Once, he decided to hike on “down” instead of hike, and once he dribbled the ball backwards to the QB. But he gave it a great try and got better as the game went on. As a receiver, though, he caught about 7 passes and had no drops.

RATE THIS: Demond played a little QB and went 3 for 3 for about 40 yards, 1 TD, 1 conversion and no picks. I ran it through the NFL ratings calculator and it comes out to 154.9 (perfection is 158.3).

NOTABLE: Great pick and runback for a TD by George. … Demond had a really nice grab on a deep go where he caught the ball by reaching over the defender, keeping his balance and scoring. … I had two really funky passes that were still complete. One I kind of skyhooked to Alejandro, the other I threw about 6 inches off the ground to Marino, who made a great catch. …

Brent and Dave were the game’s sack masters and Jeremy also chipped in with one. … Jeremy also had a great long pass catch and run to set up a TD. … Eugene and Duffy tried to one-up each other with TD catches on consecutive drives. … Three catches and no drops for me this week! … Nice catch and long run by Chris for White’s first score. Oxygen was brought in after.

Flag Football on for Feb. 7, 2009

2009-02-06T19:41:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone:
Today's game is on. It is sunny and dry in Venice right now (Saturday at 11 a.m.)
Come on out! Penmar Park.
Jim

Flag Recap Jan. 31, 2009

2009-02-01T13:31:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: In a word – perfect. Sunny, warm, no wind. Made for a fast track and good game.

WELCOME: To new player Cody, who scored a TD on his first drive, and a welcome back to Felix, who last played with us in 1994 (back at Hollywood High).

NEXT: We are back at Penmar Park, noon, Saturday Feb. 7. Interest is high in the league and we now have two fields confirmed, so we have a place to play.

GAME: With Dark up by three TDs, I gently suggested to White that we could start over with a new game. After they practically bit my head off, White then proceeded to score two quick TDs and make a game of it until Dark pulled ahead for good.

THING OF BEAUTY: The prettiest TD came on a pass from Drew to Shaun from about 10 yards out. Shaun went up in the back of the end zone, one-handed it and scored. Very nicely done.

THING OF UGLINESS: My three consecutive drops of balls right in my hand. I was channeling a player from our league who I don’t have to name since everyone knows who I am talking about! :-)

PICK SIX: We had two interceptions returned for TDs. First was Marino’s great read of a crossing pattern that he returned for a score for Dark. Then came Drew, who got one of his own and weaved his way all the way for a score.

BALL HAWKS: In addition to those two, there were picks by Duffy (went low), Shaun and Toby (each went high).

HARD TO CATCH: Christophe played great at QB all game and several times made something out of nothing with his scrambling ability, allowing guys to get open. His best pass in my book was his bomb to Patrick for a nice long TD.

HORSEPLAY: Strangest site was turning around on the sideline and seeing Christophe have Brenton in a headlock. They did have their clothes on, so I imagine it was just a good, old American rasslin’ match, though Brenton did say, “Get me a towel” when it was over.

SACK MASTER: ZS was terrific all day as a pass rusher, getting three sacks against rather elusive QBs. And all without hitting the QB’s arm!

NOTABLE: Great play call by Brent to come into the huddle, call a play and watch it work for a score (Marino goes over the top, Christophe hits him in stride for a score. … Alejandro continues to improve in only his second game, catching both his passes (a higher % than me!). … I did have one TD on a crossing pattern that was thrown at my knees. … Felix has one nice catch and then tripped himself up to make a self-tackle on the play. … Cyd ran a nice misdirection play as QB, one of those that saw the entire defense go one way and a receiver catching one coming across the other way. … Best trickery was Christophe to ZS back to Christophe, a play that worked every time (except for when Duffy dropped one).

Flag Recap Jan. 24, 2009

2009-01-25T15:23:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: It was perfect for football – partly cloudy, then sunny, cool, no rain. Some mud puddles on the field, but otherwise good conditions.

WELCOME: A big hello to Alejandro and VJ, both playing their first game with us. For Alejandro, it really was his first game.

NEXT: We are playing Saturday, Jan. 31, Penmar Park at noon. If you are ever unsure about whether we are playing (and have not received an e-mail), check the blog on Friday -- if there is no update, assume we are still on.

GAME: White led early, then Dark battled back and won by (I am guessing) about 12 points or so. The “over” covered.

PLAY OF THE DAY: Had to be Austin terrific interception return for a TD. He skied high to snag the pass falling backwards, kept his balance and then weaved his way 60 yards for a score, getting some good blocks.

LOSING HIS FLAG VIRGINITY: Alejandro had not played American flag football before and the night before looked up the rules on Wikipedia (he probably knows the rules better than most of us). But halfway through his first game, he was no longer a newbie, making a nice sideline catch. He then added two more in the game.

IT’S OPTIONAL: Great option play by Shaun, who tossed it back with great precision to (I forget who, but he was wearing a dark shirt) for a conversion.

GREAT CONVERSION: White faced a fourth-and-25 after a couple of sacks. Marino threw a nice go pass to Dave who caught it about 2 yards short and, for some reason, stopped. He then lurched forward for just enough for a first.

GOING DEEP: Best long pass of the day was by Christophe, who hit Shaun in stride on a terrific TD play.

BOXERS OR BRIEFS?: One funny play was Brent grabbing Ray’s flag, and pulling Ray’s shorts down in the process. A few plays later, Brent did it again to another player, prompting someone to say, “I didn’t need to see that!”

SLIP-SLIDIN’ AWAY: The field had just enough mud and slick spots to make it hard for the defense to set itself in coverage or rushing. Alas, I don’t think anyone took a tumble in the gunk.

BALL HAWKS: Austin and Christophe each had two picks, Toby had one, while VJ had a couple of nice sacks (the latter not easy on that field).

HE COULD GO ALL THE WAY: I hit Marino in the middle for what looked to be about an 8-yard gain, but he kept running and Dark kept missing his flag, and he kept going, all the way to the end zone. Of course, we needed a sun dial to time him.

NOTABLE: Austin scoring his final TD running backwards into the end zone. … Cyd’s nice ball handling where he yelled my name like he was going to lateral it to me, the defense stopped and he got a nice gain inside the 10. … Nice having Toby back after taking last season off, and he had one really nice catch where he had to stretch to get the ball, then kept his balance coming down. … Nice receiving day by Uhrlacher, catching most of his over the middle. Weird play was Dave trying to make a catch as he slid near the sideline. The ball in his hands hit the sideline pylon before he had full possession, so we ruled incomplete.

Flag Recap Jan. 17, 2009

2009-01-17T17:20:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone:

We started our winter pickup following a holiday break. Our fall league was a success (details here), and we are gearing up for a spring league. We are always looking for new players, so get your friends to come out. We will play pickup the next several weeks and get the league details out to everyone.

WEATHER: Bitter cold kept its grip today on the Northeast. ... But in Venice it was 75, sunny and beautiful. We all had on shorts and wore sunscreen.

CATCH O' THE DAY: By Brent, no that is not a misprint. He ran a nice slant pattern and Ray put the ball over the LB and it sounded like a giant sucking sound when the ball hit Brent's gloves and stayed on. Cyd threw him the TD on the drive that was all Brent all the time.

HE CALLED IT: The day was getting late and people had to go. On what turned out to be the final play, Brian picked it off and said, "I wanted to get it over with." Yes, he willed the QB to throw the ball high and for the receiver to let it bounce off his hands right to Brian.

DEER, MEET HEADLIGHTS: Brian did QB for four plays, if you want to call it that. White blitzed all four plays and Brian basically kept backing up and up until he threw up a zeppelin. Amazingly, his team caught two of them.

DEEP BALL OF THE DAY: I threw a pass for the first time since tearing my biceps tendon Nov. 1 and it felt good. Had a nice deep pass to Patrick, a great deep route runner, for a TD.

DEEP THOUGHT: Did you all know our flags are gay?

QUEER EYE FOR THE STRAIGHT GUY I: Christophe had to leave to play in a touch football game on an adjoining field. His team color? Pink!

QUEER EYE FOR THE STRAIGHT GUY II: Duffy wore a green turban that matched his green shirt and his green eyes.

TRICKY: White caught Dark with the old quick snap, as Cyd ran it in. It almost fooled me since my hike to Cyd was a bit off.

NOTABLE: ZS had a terrific catch and run on a slant he took down the sidelines. ... Austin showed some nifty moves on a couple of catches where he juked defenders. ... Ray ran a nice fade route to the corner for the score. ... Jake walked the tightrope on a catch he took to the house. ... Best pick and run came from ZS, who showed great hustle all day. ... Great pump fake by Christophe that allowed Patrick to break open on a sideline route for a TD.

NEXT: We are back at Penmar Park, noon, Saturday Jan. 24. The touch league has a permit for 3 fields, so we need to make space near the baseball field. It's long enough but about 5-7 yards more narrow than the league rules. We will make do for now, but will have a better field at Penmar or elsewhere for the league.

LA Fall League Early Details

2008-07-29T17:55:00.000-07:00

We will have a four-team, six-week season starting Oct. 25 and ending with the playoffs on Saturday Dec. 13. We plan on using Penmar Park in Venice, but game times are still not certain.

In September we will have pickup games and also two weeks of a skills session (Sept. 20 and 27). This is not a tryout, since everyone who register and pays can play, but a way for us to determine skills to ensure a fair draft. To be in the league you must register, pay and show up at one of the two skill sessions. We will send another e-mail when registration is open.

The player fee this year will be $60. This is higher than the spring, but necessitated by our need to buy insurance (we estimate that insurance alone works out to about $25 a player), and to pay for use of the field.

We strongly encourage you to send this e-mail to any of your friends that might be interested. We want to grow the league and expand the player pool.

Don’t hesitate to send me questions (kandreeky@gmail.com) or to the contact form on the website: http://calunited.com/

Our plan is to then have pickup this winter and start a spring league in March or April.

Also, we are looking to change the name of the league to make it more L.A.-specific. We are also looking for a logo, so if any of you have design skills we would love to see your ideas. My ability doesn’t go much past stick figures.

Flag Recap April 5, 2008

2008-04-11T11:19:00.000-07:00

WEATHER: Perfect, 65 and sunny.

WELCOME: A big hello to league newcomers Tarik and Lee.

LEAGUE: All who have signed up will hear from your captain. All teams practice Saturday at Penmar, 11 a.m. To see the rosters, go here.

GAME: Well, once Christophe went out it totally changed and White won going away.

BEST WISHES: Christophe suffered a fracture of the tibial plateau (basically the shin area) on Saturday and is out 6 to 8 weeks. We’re all bummed and wish him a speedy recovery.

CATCH OF THE DAY: Karl’s TD grab over Jeremiah was pretty special. JJ had perfect coverage and played it well, but Karl kept his focus and control all the way to the ground.

REF OF THE DAY: Great having Matthew come out and do a bang-up ref job. He is going to be a regular during the league.

DOWN THE MIDDLE: Two great throws and catches came on the Dark team, one to ZS and another to Gilbert. I think Jason and Patrick were the QBs.

OPTION SPECIAL: Demond Zach were great on the option. The best was when Demond sucked in the entire defense and tossed it last second to Zach who streaked in.

TALK ABOUT GAMEY: When Christophe got hurt I switched to dark and the only shirt I had was my Pats’ Drew Bledsoe shirt that had been sitting at the bottom of my bag. No wonder I didn’t get sacked once – the rushers stayed as far away as possible.

BALL HAWKS: Angel led the pack with two great picks, including a sideline number where he kept his balance. Also, Dan had a great grab and return. Can’t remember who else got picks, but there were at least two others.

GRAB BAG: Some real nice flag grabs that saved long gains. Jason got Demond once, Brenton (who claim his draft stock soared – it didn’t) got Zach on one and Tarik made a superb lunge and grab.

HIGHLIGHTS: My best pass was a shot on a slant between two defenders to Demond for a score. … Great sideline grab and run by Uhrlacher for a real long gainer. … Zach caught a short slant from Dan and then turned it on for a long score. … Brian was money on the receiver out all day. … Loved Patrick’s run for a first down where he basically pushed his two blockers out of the way. … Patrick also made a great sack on a trick play, nailing Demond for a big loss. … Brent somehow grabbed every part of Dan’s body on one rush except his flag and it resulted in a long completion. … Karl showed some great instincts on a QB run for a score. … Congrats to Tarik for his first catch that also was a TD. He’s no longer a flag virgin.

Flag Recap March 29, 2008

2008-04-01T11:40:00.000-07:00

WEATHER: A bit breezy but otherwise ideal – sunny and 65.

TURNOUT: Another 24 as we gear up for the league. Welcome to Jonathan and Gordon, both who last played a while ago.

GAME: Dark pulled ahead early and White closed the gap to 29-26 before the rout began and Dark won big (they covered).

NEXT WEEK: 11 a.m. Penmar Park. Repeat – 11 a.m. We have the permit from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. from now on, so show up much earlier than you do now.

LEAGUE: Draft is this Saturday, practice a week later and Game 1 on April 19. You were all sent a separate e-mail on this. League website:
http://calunited.com/

DOWN THE MIDDLE: Dark’s best play was the deep pass over the middle. Christophe hit Dan for two scores and Jay for one and made it look easy.

OPTION: Demond and Jeremiah ran the option play beautifully. Demond scored twice as the QB and on another play J took it to the house for another.

COMEDY OF ERRORS: Some of the White effort would fit in great on “Football Follies.” We had a bunch of dropped passes (Jeremiah was contagious), I threw a couple of brain-dead picks, we even had trouble snapping the ball and on defense it was the “matador defense,” ole! And let them score. The all-timer, though, was Demond’s perfect pass to Dave. He took the snap, looked left, then right, then left and saw Dave wide open. He threw him a nice pass that Dave took for a TD. Only problem was that Dave was playing defense. It was an obvious brain cramp and totally memorable.

PLAY OF THE DAY: Christophe broke containment and rolled right, then fired a rocket to his wideout in the end zone. From out of nowhere Zach flew in as safety and not only knocked down the pass but almost had the pick. Very well done.

TRICKERY: Enjoyed Dan throwing it back to Christophe, who hit Dan in stride over the middle for a TD.

BALL HAWKS: I counted Dave with two, Christophe with 2 and Duffy with one, many coming off deflections. Dark must have been working the trip drill all week.

HIGHLIGHTS: Eugene was one White player not dropping the ball as he made a bunch of nice catches. … Jeremiah showed great speed catching a swing pass and making four people miss. … Best flag grab was by Jonathan, who dove and got Demond (not an easy thing to do). … Zach ran a beautiful route on a post corner for a TD, making the catch while keeping his feet inbounds. … Dan made a great two-point conversion catch going up high over the defender. … ZS had two scores by my count running nice routes.

Flag Recap March 22, 2008

2008-03-25T14:29:00.000-07:00

PHOTOS: Andrew tries to get away from Gator Mike. To see more photos by Brent, click here. Also, if your photo is not here, e-mail Brent and he can see what he has.

WEATHER: Perfect, 72 and sunny and no wind.

WELCOME: A big hello to new players David and Karl (Jason’s brother).

GAME: Kind of two games. White and Dark were even early, then Dark led by 13, before White made a great rally to pull it out. It did help when Christophe donned White.

BAREFOOT IN THE PARK: Duffy was our first player with a turban and Karl was our first barefoot player. He had a bad blister and took off his shoes. Maybe I should impersonate him. On his first drive minus shoes and socks, he had a great interception that turned the game. He later added a TD.

BIZARRE PLAY OF THE DAY: Ray at QB went deep and Mat for White had the ball in his hands for a pick. But it caromed off and into the waiting arms of Drew for Dark, who took it the distance.

CATCH OF THE DAY: On White’s first drive, Karl went up high on a deep pass and was able to wrestle the ball away from the defender and maintain control into the end zone for a score.

DROPSIES: It was contagious for White. ZS dropped about 3, and JP decided it was only fair to match him. Mat also got in the act, as did JB. The best (worst?) was JP getting 15 yards behind the defense (a shocker by itself), but I made a fatal mistake by hitting him in stride in the hands; drop! All ended well as all these players came up big.

GOING DEEP: We had a lot of deep passes. Drew to Jeff was terrific on one deep slant, as was Christophe to ZS. Mat, Eugene and Drew also got into the act. Nice not to have to worry about wind.

GOOD HANDS MEN: Some terrific catches by Duffy (going low and snagging the ball inches from the ground); Bubba (over the middle); JB (on his patented out); Eugene (down the sideline and over the middle); Brent (on a laser from Drew); Andrew had three great ones including one where he prevented an interception and still made the catch for a first down. One of the best was me, doing a spinning move and keeping my feet in-bounds while catching one from Christophe for a TD.

TRICKERY: The QB pass back to a wideout was a staple Saturday. Dark started with Ray tossing back to Drew, who twice threw TD passes, including one to Ray. White had their own schemes, with me tossing it back to Christophe, who threw a couple of TDs off of it and ran one in. … White also ran a tricky option with me rolling left, getting the LB to commit, then tossing it to JB for an easy score.

SACK MASTER: Mike did a terrific job as rusher, recording three sacks. On the White side, Uhrlacher, Brent, Eugene and ZS got some good pressure but only one sack. Mike is the equal of four men!

Flag Recap March 15, 2008

2008-03-17T23:22:00.000-07:00

Photo: Bubba gets more than he bargained for in deflagging Jay.
See all 73 photos from March 15, courtesy of Brent (I added 45 more, some great stuff).

WEATHER: Sunny and cool (59) and very windy, which made things interesting.

WELCOME: Another great turnout – 29 – as we gear up for the league. A big welcome to Ray, Jeff, Tony, Randy and Michael. And extra big welcome back to Marc, who had major knee surgery 2 years ago and came back to play for the first time.

LEAGUE: We now have 41 players eligible since they have shown up one of the last two weeks (though some still have to register and pay the $30).

There are two more weeks to register for those who are still waiting – you must register and show up one of the next two Saturdays to play (even if you have played with us for years). We will draft March 29 and only registered players will be drafted. Teams will scrimmage April 5 and the season starts April 12.

If you need registration forms e-mail me (buzzer7@sbcglobal.net) and I will send them. You can also find them on our website (still under construction). Go to the very bottom of this page:

http://calunited.com/id6.html

I strongly urge people who are on the fence, to register. It will be the first of many seasons and we want everyone in on the debut season.

SCHEDULE: We are playing this Saturday, March 22. We are aware it’s Easter weekend but we have the field and a lot of people say they will be in town (also a great time to register!).

GAME: A thriller. Dark led early and it was tied 12-12. Dark then scored 19 straight points before White rallied for 12 in a row. Offsetting TDs made the final Dark 37, White 30. Dan won by taking the over.

KEY PLAYER: The wind; it was a steady 15 mph for much of the game and gusted to 31 mph at times. It was calm at times and like a Saharan sandstorm at others and made it tough to throw deep balls going one way (of course, Dark never offered to switch directions since they had the wind at their back the whole game!). On one pass Shon was uncovered along the sideline. I threw it to him but a big gust literally flopped the ball right to the free safety (Christophe, who else?!) for a pick.

PLAY OF THE GAME: Dark was pinned back at its 2 and Christophe dropped back to pass. Demond rushed and had his flag literally slip through his fingers for a near-sack (we’ll ignore TO’s takedown of Demond!). Christophe heaved it about 50 yards and a White DB missed knocking the pass down. Jeff, playing very alertly, managed to keep his eye on the ball and snag it for a big gainer that set up a score.

SPINNING WHEEL: One of the coolest plays was ZS catching a pass and then spinning for an additional 20 yards and people tried to grab his flags.

BEST RIGHT TO THE JAW: ZS to me. I went up for a pass and ZS made a play on the ball and his forearm accidentally met my jaw. I did literally see stars and had a headache for a while.

BEST PICK: My vote goes to Shon you read a deep pass well and timed his jump perfectly to make the grab.

BALL HAWKS: I might have forgotten some, but here goes – Dan had two terrific ones; Zach got two, including one on a rebound; Dave also had two, including one that stopped a 2nd and goal from the 2; Michael made his debut memorable with one; Christophe had two more to go with his eight from last week.

WALLET ADVENTURES: I somehow stupidly put my wallet on the roof of my car as I loaded up the equipment at game’s end … and promptly drove off. Fortunately, an hour later I got a call from a woman named Kathryn who picked it up on her walk. Honest people do live! I’m sending her flowers.

SURE HANDS, DEFENSE: Great flag-grabbing does not get a lot of attention, but it’s crucial to a solid defense. Props go to Brenton, David Hinders and Duffy off the top of my head.

SURE HANDS, OFFENSE: Jay made a great grab for a key score for White, where he ran a skinny post, adjusted to the ball and snagged it. … Best long ball was Dan’s great route and catch from Christophe. … Demond was able to adjust to the wind and caught passes high and low for key first downs. … Bubba was the man on one drive where he had three catches, including the drive-ending touchdown. … Ruben ran a great go route in the deep corner for a TD pass from me. … Randy came up big early for Dark on a nice grab. … Jason was Mr. Dumpoff for White, consistently getting nice gainers.

UNDERAPPRECIATED, DEFENSE: The pass rushers who helped set up picks or incompletions – ZS, Brent, Jeff, Bryan, Duffy and Demond.

Flag Recap March 8, 2008

2008-03-09T22:34:00.000-07:00

(Christophe makes a catch in warmups, a sign of things to come).

WEATHER: There was a record 20 inches of snow in Columbus, Ohio, and Cleveland airport was closed. Meanwhile, in Venice, we all had on shades and sunscreen on a gorgeous 70-degree day.

PHOTOS: Have posted some from March 1 here and I will add March 8 to the same batch so keep checking. Thanks to Brent for shooting these!

LEAGUE: Everyone who showed up Saturday (there were 28 of us) is eligible for the league (everyone still has to register and pay). There are three Saturdays left for others to show up, so don’t hesitate; even if you can’t stay for the whole scrimmage you can drop off your forms, signup, run some drills. To play, you must be registered and have played one of the Saturdays.

If you did NOT get the registration forms e-mailed to you, write me or treasurer David Hinders (davidhinders@yahoo.com) and we will get them out.

Since some people asked: Four teams, six-week season, one week of playoffs starting April 12 at Penmar. Cost is $30. We have uniforms (red, white, green and purple) and players will also ref.

There will be a championship trophy, the Castro Trophy, named for Anthony Castro, a beloved player of ours who died in car crash a year ago. For those of you who did not know Anthony you can check out my tribute or the one written about him for ESPN.com

GAME: Our biggest turnout in years and I want to thank everyone for being so patient in subbing in and out. We played almost three hours, so I assume everyone got enough reps. With so many people, I know I will forget a lot in this writeup. Game started close before White pulled away thanks to an all-time performance:

CHRISTOPHE’S DAY: Let’s see, all he did was set a record with 8 eight interceptions, three he returned for TDs. It was kind of surreal at point to see passes fly up and just know he was going to snag it. I think he was the Dark’s leading receiver, pretty good since he was playing for White.

TIT FOR TAT: Christophe also played a little QB and had two picked off by Gilbert, including one where Gilbert brilliantly read the play, sat back and then made a beeline for the ball. Guess it sort of made up for the two Christophe picked off in Gilbert’s short QB tenure, including one run back.

FUNNIEST PLAY OF THE DAY: Leave it to JP to provide some comic relief, Southern style. White had the perfect 2-point play called, one JP and I have run for years (we call it the “$5 play” for inside reasons). He ran the route, the ball was placed right there, but instead of extending his arms to make what we in football call “a catch,” he brought them down to his sides and the ball fell into the void. Seems that Brian, playing defense, yelled “Bugga! Bugga!” and scared JP. “He screamed at me,” JP said as he came off the field.

PAYBACK TIME: Chris is the head ref of the national tournament we play in every year and a lot of us have been dying to flag him one day. We had a chance Saturday when he mugged Eugene on a 2-point try. The whole sideline erupted and I threw my elbow brace to signal pass interference. Of course, being a player, Chris tried to argue the point but his heart wasn’t in it.

LUCKY IT’S A SCRIMMAGE: Miguel ran a fake double reverse, where he kept the handoff and had one man to beat, Bubba. Miguel juked left, Bubba moved left and Miguel then scooted right to howls from the sidelines. Afterwards, Bubba joked that in the league, he would have laid out Miguel.

TO’S DAY OF FUN: Brent (aka TO) certainly had a lively game despite arriving late. He made a brilliant catch on a pass thrown behind him for one touchdown, then let one go off his hands into those of New York Mike, who returned it for the score. As a QB his first pass to me was about 10 feet over my head; his second, on fourth down, somehow found its way through two defenders into the waiting arms of Gator Mike for a score. On a conversion, Christophe threw hard across his body (a great pass) that TO then leaped to snag and keep his feet in bounds.

BALL HAWKS: In addition to Christophe’s Pick 8, I also counted interceptions by Brent, Miguel (for a TD), Gilbert (one for a TD); Dan; Gator Mike and New York Mike (for a TD). In addition, Brent and ZS each had nice sacks; after Brent sacked Gilbert I mock yelled to Gilbert that he should be embarrassed to get sacked by someone so old (“I could be your father!” Brent said).

BEST AND WORST TRICK PLAY: All in one. The plan was for a direct snap to Demond, split wide in the backfield. He had three blockers in front and it would have been an easy score, save for one little thing – Jermaine’s snap that sailed over his head.

BEST NEW NICKNAME: I heard Drew and TO refer to Eugene as “Peja,” after NBA star Peja Stojakovic. They do resemble each other and both Peja’s have great hands.

HIGHLIGHTS: There were a ton of nice catches – Joe had at least two including one where I thought he was going to get drilled; Jay also had several down the middle; Drew made two, including a superb TD grab from Christophe on 4th and 18; Uhrlacher had a nice one down the sideline;

Brian and Shon also had a slew of medium-yardage plays; Miguel was Mr. Everything for White, lining up wide, in the slot or the backfield; David had a key fourth down on a pass I threw high to avoid a sack; … David (Dark team) had some nice grabs along the sideline. … JP made up for his alligator arms with a bunch of catches later, including a nice one on fourth down that kept a drive alive. … Gator Mike had his first and second TDs as a player, so he is no longer a virgin. …

Ty had two beautiful grabs, including one where he fought teammate Eugene for the ball and a nice gain (those of us that had Ty on our Fantasy teams were thrilled). … Demond ran a great deep route that got him open by 5 yards on a TD pass from Christophe. …

Duffy and ZS played great games as pass rushers, constantly getting pressure and forcing errant passes. … Gilbert had a brilliant run after the catch on a deep slant for Dan, reversing field three times and outracing Brent to the end zone. … Bobby called his own number and it worked to perfection on a 15-yard post-corner for a score.

Flag Recap March 1, 2008

2008-03-02T20:56:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: Kind of weird – cloudy and cool and a bit damp, then sort of clear, then cloudy again. I was cold all game! (cue the whining).

GAME: Also kind of weird. Halfway through we had to move to another side of the park, which stopped the flow and we kept adding and losing some players who were part of another group playing. Dark took an early lead and never looked back en route to a two-score win.

SCHEDULE: We are back Sat. March 8, Penmar, 12:30. League still on for April and look for an e-mail from David as we ramp up registration.

GOING DEEP: We had several great deep passes. Drew was a catching machine on at least three deep ones from Christophe. His best was doing a full extension for the ball while on a full run, catching it and scoring. … Drew also threw some long ones to Christophe and T.O. … On White side, both Cyd (visiting from NYC) and myself connected as QBs, with Jay and Jeff respectively.

PASS RUSH STAR: I was ribbing Brent about his pass rush as I was watching D from the sideline and joked that I could do a much better job; he scoffed. So, I came in and promptly forced the QB to scramble to the sidelines where he threw a fourth-down incompletion. Jim 1, Brent 0!

GOOD HANDS MAN: I was surprised at Eugene’s ability to get open and catch everything since he was wearing what looked like hiking boots. If he gets cleats, watch out!

GOOD HANDS MAN II: Jeff had the best catch on a fastball low and hard from me with a defender getting one hand on the ball. But like David Tyree, Jeff managed to hold on and make the catch.

GOOD HANDS MAN III: Jay showed great concentration on running a go route down the sidelines where he scored.

BEST TRICK PLAY: Let’s see if I get this right – Christophe takes the snap and laterals to Drew who stops and lobs to a wide-open TO for the score.

BEST TRICK PLAY FOILED: Cyd was guarding Drew and saw Christophe at QB smile, so Cyd, being the suspicious type, smelled a rat. Sure enough, at the snap Drew ran backwards and Cyd followed him. Christophe lateraled to Drew, but Cyd was there to nail him for a 10-yard loss and near safety.

BEST RUN WHILE WEARING A TURBAN: It has been great having Duffy come out and he amazed with his ability to catch and run while wearing a turban (is there a gyroscope inside?). His best was taking a short pass as center and weaving his way down field for a score.

BALL HAWKS: Dark came up big on the interception front. David had a two nice ones, giving him three in three weeks, while Christophe and TO each played terrific free safety is snagging one each.

Flag Recap Feb. 23 2008

2008-02-26T00:13:00.000-08:00

PHOTOS: David sticks out his tongue after making a catch. Check out this and 29 others taken by Brent.

WEATHER: Our first “wet” game in about three years (and I don't mean the lube). It started dry, then rained enough to wet the field and the balls, then sort of cleared up again. High of 60.

GAME: We had so much fun, we played for more than three hours. White jumped out early and it looked like a blowout at 32-12. Then Dark rallied and forged a 32-32 tie. Dark pulled ahead before White scored once on defense and once on offense to pull it out, 50-40.

SLICKERS: The rain certainly made for some interesting plays and made throwing and catching an adventure. My nice white football shirt needed hot water and extra bleach to get all the dirt out (I had no towel, so used my shirt).

I did like the sly way some defenders made sure the ball stayed slick. I saw Uhrlacher roll the ball about 10 yards at the end of one play, ensuring it would pick up about 2 pounds of water. Brent on White nicely let the ball kind of slide into a small mud patch on another possession. Well done! Balls slipped from hands and players slid all over the place.

One weird play came when I hit Mike in the hands and it skimmed off. I assumed the defender would have equally slick hands, but Peter got both mitts on them and got the pick.

Fumble of the game occurred when Brent told me to take his camera and cover it with a plastic bag. Of course, I dropped it into the mud when he handed it to me. Oops!

GAME CHANGER: The key play in the game was Gilbert’s interception and great runback where he weaved and reversed field to score to put White up for good.

GOAL-LINE STANDS: Each side had two terrific one. First, White stopped Dark on the four tries from the 3. Key play was Jeff’s catch where we could not determine if he kept possession or was down before he crossed the goal line; we had players from each team on the sideline watching and we could not determine what happened so we ruled ball down short. Dark returned the favor when they stopped White from the 3. Key play was Jermaine and Eugene literally seeing eye to eye, when they collided breaking up a pass.

HISTORIC: With his great sliding deep catch, Duffy became the first player to wear a turban to catch a pass. After the play, he went turban-less the rest of the game (see photos). And it was his birthday to boot!

BALL HAWKS: I counted six picks, three on each side – Gilbert and Peter, Jermaine (which he returned all the way on a great return), Mat (on a gimme, but the hardest often to catch), Duffy and Bobby.

BIZARRE PLAY OF THE DAY: Rich, in his first game, certainly made it interesting on a key fourth down. He dropped the snap, then picked it up and started running. He lost his flag, but White basically stood there (Rich was down if he was touched), so Rich kept running untouched for a long TD.

BIGGEST WASTE OF ENERGY: Dark picked off a conversion attempt (the ball is dead), but the interceptor kept running, as did two teammates to block and two White players chasing him. They ran more than 80 yards each for nothing, so at least got their cardio in.

QUITE A RUSH: The pass rush all day on a slick field helped their defenses. The two Mikes (one on White, one on Dark) were terrific and frequently caused passes to be thrown a split second early. Mike (White team) also had a nice yell when he got a sack.

HIGHLIGHTS: Brent made a great catch and run on a center screen that he took down the sideline for a long TD that iced the game. Kudos to Jay for a nice block. … Miguel showed great speed and skills on several catches, the best being a fourth-down TD grab where he caught the ball on a rebound. … Gilbert had a superb run for a score when he played QB; he had a burst that blew by everyone. … Best long pass was me to Gilbert on White’s first play (before it got wet) for a long score. …

Jay had several nice grabs, the best being a long deep slant where he didn’t score and I yelled at him since he is on my Fantasy team and cost me points (insert joke here about “Jay” and “Fantasy” being an oxymoron). … Christophe had a beautiful catch where he went up high in the rain and snagged it. …

Best flag grab was David on Miguel, getting a loss on what could be been a long gainer. … Josh had two nice grabs in the end zone from Gilbert, the second where he just managed to get his feet in. … Angel was key to White as a swingback, with several nice catches and runs. Just hope his neck is OK after he was accidentally drilled by Bobby. … I had a nice catch and spin move that set White up for a score (and also ran for three first downs). …

Flag recap Feb. 16, 2008

2008-02-17T18:12:00.000-08:00

PHOTOS: Zach (wearing Brent's cleats) goes high for a pass in the end zone. More photos from Brent can be found here.

WEATHER: It might have been frightful elsewhere but the weather was delightful in Venice – sunny, calm and 70.

SCHEDULE: We are back Saturday Feb. 23, 12:30 p.m. Penmar.

GAME: A real thriller. White jumped out early and led by 10. Within three plays, Dark had grabbed the lead. White then reasserted itself and pulled ahead again, only to see Dark rally. White held on, 58-56, when Dark failed on a 2-point conversion on the game’s final play. Congrats to whoever bet the over.

BIZARRE PLAY OF THE DAY: In a day of strange plays, hard to top Mat’s. He played DB and the pass was thrown right to him. He had the ball for a millisecond, then bobbled it and sort of flung it forward, into the waiting arms of Patrick, who gladly took the gift and ran it in for the score. Mat made up for it with a great interception two series later where he stole the ball from the receiver.

BOMBS AWAY: We had a ton of long plays. Gilbert got into the act on two great deep routes and catches from Christophe and Drew. He has terrific body control… Zach ran a terrific post-corner that got him behind the defense for a score. … Mat went deep twice early for long TDs. … Patrick made most of his big catches on seemingly tipped passes, then he spiked it the ball to mock Brent, who said he would only get going when the clock hit double zero. … Jeff ran two superb post routes for long scores.

FANCY FOOTWORK: There were several really nice grabs by players who not only had to get the ball but also keep their feet inbounds. JT had one that helped set up a TD. Jay had several where he managed to make key first downs. ZS had a great grab where he went high over the always tough Gilbert and managed to get it and reach over the pylon.

GREAT D: Hard to say there was a ton of D in a 58-56 game, but there were terrific plays. David made a great read at MLB that resulted in him getting a pick. … Mike had several awesome pass rushes, including on the last play that forced a throw and preserved White’s win. … Brent also made a great read and react at LB that got him a pick. … Mr. Heads Up was Christophe, who was in position on a pass that ricocheted off a White player and into his hands for an easy pick six.

WEIRD PLAY CALLS: Still not sure why Dark tried a direct snap that resulted in a 1-yard QB run on 4th and goal from the 15. The videotape Belichick gave White totally tipped them off! … Honorable mention goes to the two White option plays that resulted in a 5-yard loss and a 3-yard gain.

GREAT MOVES: T.O. was great all day starting in the backfield and finding gaps. He made a great move and spin on a short pass he took for what turned out to be the clinching TD. On a couple of shovel passes he turned nothing into something both times for nice gains.

FASHION NOTE: Zach borrowed Brent’s cleats and promptly drove home with them on. Brent is holding Zach’s sneakers as ransom.

HIGHLIGHTS: Great pass by Christophe to Jeff from about 6 yards; White had good coverage and he really fired it in. … TO made a great leaping grab for a 2-pointer where he kept the ball despite getting hit by the DB. …

Brent made several key catches as center. The best was where he snagged the ball, and in the surprised words of TO, “showed some athleticism” by avoiding the flag grab and racing for the TD. “You know, Gilbert, I’m old enough to be your grandfather!” Brent said to the guy who missed his flag. … Zach mirrored Brent by doing something similar on a short pass that he took 55 yards for a score. …

Drew did a great job avoiding the rush most of the game and stepping up to make big throws. … Nice heads up play by ZS to keep running his route when I was in trouble on a blitz. He kept moving and wound up breaking free for a 2-pointer. … Props to Gilbert for sacking me after I taunted him that there was no way he would sack me.

Flag recap Feb. 9, 2008

2008-02-10T23:08:00.000-08:00

PHOTOS: Eight posted so far here, including a great three-photo sequence showing Ty catching a tipped pass. All photos by Brent. Photo above shows Gilbert catching a pass that was perfectly laid in there by his QB. :-)

WEATHER: Perfect. Sunny, 75, calm.

WELCOME: Ty is one of those guys who’s been on the e-mail list for a while and he finally ventured out. Once Brent got him some cleats he was just fine.

SCHEDULE: We are back Feb. 16 at Penmar Park, 12:30 p.m.

GAME: White pulled away in Game 1, we retooled and White held on for a 6-point win. Both games featured some terrific performances.

BIZARRO WORLD: I have been playing a long time (insert joke about me schooling Knute Rockne once) and saw three plays I never have witnessed before. First was this: Dan throws to Chris, ball hits him in the hands, Brent immediately grabs flag. Chris bobbles the ball and gains control minus his flag but untouched. He runs into the end zone. We debated whether or not it was a TD and gave them a first down instead.

Our national rules say that you can't grab a flag until a runner has possession of the ball, so I have changed my mind and now think Chris was live until touched. No matter, Dark scored the next play.

Play 2 came when Brent and Gilbert rushed Chris at QB. Brent batted the pass into the air and Gilbert snagged it and ran it back for a TD. I have never seen that happen in a flag game. But, amazingly, a few series later, ZS did it one better, knocking Gilbert’s pass into the air as a rusher, then grabbing it and running it back.

PLAY OF THE GAME: Great having Demond back and he shined all game with multiple TDs. His best came on a short out that I was trying to complete for a short gain. I thought I had overthrown him, but he put it into another gear, made the catch, then high-wired it down the sidelines for a score.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Along with Demond, Gilbert came to play. He had four interceptions and at least four TDs. On his most amazing pick, he pulled a David Tyree and outwrestled the receiver for the ball on the way down. His best catch came when I was rolling out and threw it up hoping; Gilbert went high snagged the ball and pulled it down for a first down. After Gilbert had another pick playing deep safety down the middle, ZS (on the other side) said, “Maybe we ought to stop doing that.”

GAMER: Brent is still recovering from a nasty bout of pneumonia, but you wouldn’t know it from the intensity he showed and how hard he played. He had no trouble barking out defensive calls and managed to get his usual zingers in.

PRETTIEST PLAY OF THE DAY: A beautiful pass from Dan to Christophe who ran a great go route. The ball was laid in there perfectly and Christophe caught it in stride and ran it in.

TRICKERY: We ran one fun play from the Dark 1. Demond was in the backfield and I was at QB. I then walked sideways to tell Gilbert something. The plan was for Brent to hike it immediately to Demond, but Brent waited until I basically walked to the Santa Monica Airport and the snap to Demond didn’t fool anyone. He still managed to get in anyway.

RUMBLING, BUMBLING: Loved the catch, spin and run David made, where about three guys missed his flags and he gained 20 yards. He had several grabs during the game even though he was kept back to block.

BALL HAWKS: Gilbert led the parade with four and Jay had two (including one for a TD). Dan (playing Game 1 for White) wound up with three, including a great one where Brent shifted him from DB to LB and he read the play perfectly.

COLLISION COURSE: Roughest play (though not intentionally) came on a long pass down the middle to Angel. Gilbert went up and managed to time it so he batted the pass away. Both came down awkwardly but both bounced up and got back up.

QUITE A RUSH: The key to White’s defense was the great pass rushing by Mike, Brent, Demond and Gilbert. On at least two picks, the rushed pass was caused by pressure. Gilbert also had the quickest sack ever, but it does help when you line up on the line of scrimmage and not 5 yards back!

TOUGH GUYS: Gilbert also plays tackle football Sunday with friends and he invited anyone. The only ones who appeared interested were Christophe and ZS. “We have health insurance now,” Christophe said.

HIGHLIGHTS: Great 2-point catch by JT in the corner of the end zone, where he lost momentary control then regained it. … Two great sideline catches for a TD and conversion by ZS, where he showed great balance. … Great routes by Gilbert on two TDs – one on a post corner where he turned the DB around, the other on a deep slant where he saw there was no safety help. … Loved Christophe yelling “Oh shit!” when Gilbert did a stop and go and Christophe, playing DB, did only a stop. …

Demond got about as wide open as a receiver could on a play where Mike played him short and was expecting DB help, but no one was playing DB and Demond basically walked in. Ty had several nice grabs on sideline route but missed the deep ball he was begging for all game. Next time. … Lamest block by me on ZS, doing my best matador imitation which caused a sack … Lamest tackling by Jay, who basically stood and watched the receiver catch the ball in front of him and then not pursue. “My legs are jelly,” he said by way of explanation. … Mike (Dark team) also had several nice catches and runs despite primarily being a blocker.

Flag Recap Feb. 2, 2008

2008-02-03T14:36:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: The worst freezing weather China has seen in the past five decades has wreaked traffic havoc across central and southern China since mid-January. … Meanwhile, in Venice it was 60, sunny and perfect for football.

SCHEDULE: We are back Saturday, Penmar Park, 12:30 p.m. Also, plans for the league are going very well and the goal would be to start perhaps first weekend in April (I will keep you posted). If you have not already responded, please let me know if you are interested.

GAME: A wild one that seesawed back and forth, with White pulling ahead late to win it by 18.

BIG PLAYS: It was a day for a lot of long passes. I started it all with a long slant that Ruben took all the way. Dark countered with long strikes from Drew to Uhrlacher, David and Mike. T.O. and ZS later got in the act on nice passes from Dan.

ROCK ‘EM, SOCK ‘EM: It was flag football but sometimes resembled tackle. On one play, my jaw collided with some part of Uhrlacher’s anatomy and I knew what a near-knockout felt like. I was the rusher that play but found myself on my knees. After Drew had about an hour to find someone deep, T.O. wondered where the rush was. “On the ground,” I said.

On another play, Chris was basically tackled by T.O., Chris later collided with his teammate JT on another, and Hinders and Gilbert both hit the ground after catches. Bring on the ibuprofen!

MR. THIRD DOWN: Chris must have had about a dozen catches, several of them for key third downs to keep drives alive.

SHORTEST DRIVE EVER: White stopped Dark on fourth down, recording two sacks on the drive. When they took over they had first-and-goal from the half-yard line (they did score), but it was the shortest drive ever.

SACK MASTER: ZS was a pass-rushing machine, along with Brent (healthy after his bout with pneumonia). Someone on White called Brent our “Belichick” since he called the D. Or was that for his camera skills? You can expect his pics to be posted sometime around the start of the Clinton Administration … Chelsea Clinton.

TACKLE OF THE DAY: T.O. rushed Drew on one play and we had this exchange -- “You grabbed my balls!” Drew said. “I was grabbing for the flag,” T.O. said. “There are no flags in front,” Drew replied.

TRICKERY: On one play, I called a double-reverse pass. I handed it off to T.O., who gave it back the other way to Christophe, who became the QB. He threw back across his body to a wide-open T.O., who juked and jived for a whopping 1-yard gain.

HEADS UP: White caught Dark napping on one play and Dan hit me wide open along the sidelines. Knowing I did not have the wheels to score, I yelled for Ruben to slow down and lateraled him the ball and he took it in. Despite what some Dark members claimed, it was not a forward lateral.

GREAT PLAYS: Superb catch by Gilbert on a sideline pass where he battled the defender for the ball. … Two nice 2-point catches by Dan in the back of the end zone, first from me and then from Christophe. … Great spin moves by ZS on one play where he looked like a spinning top. … I had a nice flag grab when I reached out for a streaking Gilbert and wound up with the flag. I seldom make “tackles,” that felt good. … Beautiful pick by T.O. and a tremendous runback 65 yards for a score in what was the game-changing play. … Mike made a terrific catch for two points on a high, hard one from Drew.

Flag football back Feb. 2

2008-01-23T16:22:00.000-08:00

We are playing again Sat. Feb. 2, Penmar Park, 12:30 p.m.

Bring your own water, cleats, and a dark and white shirt.

Here are directions:

From LA: 10 west, exit Lincoln Blvd. west. Go left on Rose and we're at the corner of Penmar and Rose.

Shortcut:
10 west, exit Bundy SOUTH. Turn right on Ocean Park, left on 23rd (which becomes Walgrove). Turn right on Rose and left on Penmar.

Flag recap Dec. 22, 2007

2007-12-27T13:34:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: Gorgeous – sunny, 65, a bit windy at Playa Vista.

WELCOME: It was great having Rory play with us again; he is visiting from NYC. He got out of his rental car (got upgraded for free to a white Beamer) and was catching passes a minute later. And it was awesome to have Shari back after a long absence. Loved her SC tattoo

SCHEDULE: We are off on a holiday/NFL playoffs break. Our next game is Jan. 26, likely at Penmar. I will keep everyone posted.

GAME: What looked to be a laugher turned into a thriller as Dark rallied back from 22-0 down to just fall short, 42-40.

CATCH OF THE DAY: Angel made a great over-the-shoulder grab on a long pass from me, keeping his concentration the whole way. Those are tough catches.

BUSTED PLAY OF THE DAY: On fourth down, White shifted to an odd zone, but not everyone got the message. Drew wound up uncovered and Toby hit him for an easy TD.

BUSTED PLAY RUNNERUP: On fourth-and-goal from the 1, Dark failed to cover Shari. I threw it, she had it, bobbled and then lost it. No matter – White held, got the ball back and Shari made a nice comeback to catch one in the back of the end zone for a score.

DISS OF THE DAY: I was telling Angel how good Rory was and early on Patrick got by him for a deep score. “I thought you said he was good,” Angel said joking.

SICK BAY: For the third straight week, Brent was unable to play because of pneumonia. He still was our official photog, though. “Can’t I get away from the paparazzi?” Rory said when he showed up and saw Brent clicking away.

HARD KNOCKS: Mike and Angel became well-acquainted. On one play, they whacked heads (ouch) and on another Mike accidentally pushed Angel’s head into my left elbow (ouch again).

BALL HAWKS: Chris showed the skills of an Ohio State linebacker with a nifty read on a pick; Toby had a pair, looking like a U.T. corner; Rory had one on fourth down to snuff out a drive.

NOTABLE: Jeff made a great catch that Dark ruled was out of bounds, but Jeff showed me the foot mark on the artificial turf that showed he did get the first foot in. Where is instant replay when we need it? … Ramsey was the White 2-point specialist QB, hitting on consecutive passes. … Ramsey and Bubba had a spirited man-on-man affair with Bubba committing defensive PI on one play, and Ramsey committing offensive PI on another.

Recap: Dec. 15, 2007

2007-12-15T20:07:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: It’s cold and snowy in much of the country, but in Venice it was perfect for football – 65 and sunny. Drew was still cold.

WELCOME: Great having two new players – Chris and Ryan. Each got a bit dirty, which means they survived their football baptism.

GAME: White jumped out to a 24-0 lead, Dark rallied to within 30-20, then White pulled away for the win.

SCHEDULE: We are playing Dec. 22 at Playa Vista Sports Park, 12:30. We are then off until Jan. 26 for a holiday, NFL playoffs break.

DIFFERENCE MAKER: Well, Ruben certainly made his presence felt. He caught a long TD on the game’s third play and added another later. He also snagged four interceptions, returning two for scores. Glad I have him on my fantasy football team.

NO RESPECT: Brent was out there shooting photos but not playing since he’s still recovering from pneumonia. Did he get any sympathy? Hell, no. On one play, with Brent snapping away near the huddle, someone yelled, “Hey sicko, get out of the way!”

TRICKERY: Dark ran a cool play for a successful 2-pointer. Shaun took the snap, faked a handoff to T.O. (Brent), then tossed it back to Drew, who threw it back across the field to T.O. who was wide open and walked in.

RUBY SLIPPERS: That’s what Patrick spiffy new red cleats looked like and it’s hard to argue with the results he had with them. His best was a on a hard slant I hit him on, where he made several moves after the catch and ran it in about 55 yards for a score.

SPIN CYCLE: On one rush, Bubba tried to get around David who was blocking by doing a spin move that was less than successful. “A spin move? Nice try, Freeney,” David said during the play.

BEST FAKE OUT: Shaun at QB was running right and faked a pitch left. Not sure if Ryan was wearing a jock strap, but if he was Shaun faked him out of it for a nice gainer.

BEST DIVINE INTERVENTION: Kevin (the one from Arkansas) got toasted on a deep pass and thanked the heavens when the receiver dropped it. Someone up there likes me, he said to that effect.

NICE DEBUT: Ryan said he hadn’t played football in years but it was hard to tell. He had a sack, some great flag grabs and several nice catches, including one he took for a TD. He even completed a pass.

GOOD HANDS MEN: Ramsey was awesome all game, making catch after catch. His best was an over-the-shoulder number he had from Drew for a TD. And in a shocker – he actually made a few grabs and did not hit the ground after. … I usually always play against Kevin (SC Kevin) so it was nice to have his great hands and moves on my side for once. He came up big several times.

IRONMAN: T.O. got up at 6:15 and did an aerobics and abs class, which he followed up with weightlifting, all before playing 2 ½ hours of football.

MVP: A round of applause to L.A. Motion alum Rory, named MVP of the fall season in the NYC gay flag football league. He will be out Saturday to play with us.

HIGHLIGHTS: Best pass of the day was my bomb to Ruben; it was a nice throw and he ran a great route and had a terrific catch. … Chris was a really good pass rusher, but Bubba robbed him of his glory when they both rushed and Bubba came up with the flag on the sack. … Jeff made a great move on a stop and go he wound up taking for a touchdown. … Doug had the best catch and run with players missing his flag. One would grab and miss but Doug would stop, then start up again when he realized he had his flag. … Mike was similar on his nice long TD run when about four guys missed his flag. …

Great having Ray back and he responded with 3 TDs, including a nice deep ball late in the game. ... Best flag grab was Hinders stretching, diving and keeping TO from busting a long one. … Cool White play was a hook and lateral – me to Ruben to Kevin (SC) to Mike for a 20-yard gain. … Best miraculous recovery was Drew who yelped in pain when he accidentally had his ankle stepped on, but stayed in the game and kept playing. Hope it didn’t swell up overnight.

Recap: Dec. 8, 2007

2007-12-10T20:34:00.000-08:00

JP, eyes wide shut, makes the game-winning catch (click image for larger view)

BRENT'S PHOTOS: Many more from our games of Nov. 17 and Dec. 8.

WEATHER: It was a lovely day for football, though a bit on the cool side (60), with some stiff breezes. We played on the soccer field at Penmar and had zero water and little mud to speak of (so why did some of the regulars not show?)

SCHEDULE: We are playing Dec. 15 at Penmar Park and Dec. 22 at Playa Vista (with a special guest appearance by Rory, who is home for the holidays).

GAME: White took an early two-TD lead and wound up winning by that margin, 52-38, though Dark got into a groove and kept coming on.

AN ADVENTURE: Andrew (the lawyer from Cal) was the player you didn’t want to take your eyes off of since you had no idea what was going to happen.

He scored White’s first two TDs, the second on a great stop and go pattern. Then he got in the holiday spirit and started giving. I hit him perfectly in stride and he kind of shoveled it forward without securing it, it was caught by Uhrlacher (Drew) who took it for a Pick Six. The funniest play came when instead of knocking down a Dark conversion attempt he decided to go an interception; he made a nifty one-handed catch but then nearly sent it flying to the receiver standing there. JP almost had a fit.

SWIVEL HIPS: Mike rushed a lot for Dark and for some reason my slow ass kept avoiding being sacked. He must have missed my flag a dozen times, one more reason I slick it up with silicone before we start.

CATCHING MACHINE: As much as it pains me to say so, JP made a ton of big catches. The best was the game’s last play when he reached back behind the defender in the end zone and snagged what turned out to be the game-winner.

MOVES, NO MOVES: Patrick has great speed and quickness and it was on display on several plays. On one, it looked like he was about to run out of bounds when he suddenly stopped, changed direction and sprinted for a score.

In contrast, JP has all the moves of a bulldozer. He would look like he was about to go out of bounds, stop … then fall out of bounds anyway.

GAME OF INCHES: On one play, David came thisclose to getting sacked and threw the ball. Jeff came thisclose to picking off the pass but it went just past his hands to Drew, who came thisclose to stepping out of bounds but kept his feet and scored.

ALL THAT FOR NOTHING: On one play, Patrick caught a 7-yard pass, then decided to reverse field and run backwards, then sideways, then forward. He probably ran 30 yards total until his flag was grabbed and wound up with a 0 yards gain.

PAINFUL: Brent did not play for the first time in ages. He contracted pneumonia and was in great pain. He did come out to shoot some pics but he was really laboring. A month ago he lost the hearing in one ear and thinks the pneumonia was caused by the oral steroids he took. Hope he’s back soon!

NOTABLE: Catch of the day by Jeff, extending and reaching out for a key 10-yard catch on third down. … Drew scored back to back TDs for Dark, one on a catch and the other on an interception return. … Chris made a great adjustment on a ball behind him in the end zone but could not quite bring it in. … David and Patrick made a great QB-WR tandem, constantly burning White. … Weird play of the day came on a TD grab by Patrick. Andrew had his back turned and it seemed as if the pass went through his legs into the arms of Patrick laying on the ground. It exemplified what a wacky and fun day it was.

Recap: Dec. 1, 2007

2007-12-04T15:03:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: By our standards it was cold! Sunny and 57, but very windy with gusts reported up to 26 mph. A great day for a running game, except we can only run once per possession (what idiot thought of that rule? Oh, it was me).

WELCOME: No first timers, but a welcome back to Doug and Kevin, who last played a year ago.

SCHEDULE: We are at Penmar Dec. 8 and Playa Dec. 15. We will play Dec. 22 site TBA. We are off Dec. 29 (holidays), Jan. 5-12 (NFL playoffs) and Jan. 19 (a lot of our guys our in a basketball tournament).

GAME: White led from the start and moved up 28-12. Then Dark rallied late to cut it to 28-25, forcing White to score on final drive. White was successful and pulled it out 34-25.

EVERYONE KNOWS IT’S WINDY: The wind really played havoc with the passing game, causing balls to flutter, die and sail. There were eight intereceptions, two each by Toby and TO the new Brent, not be confused with our old Brent, the photog). Also ones by Drew, Kevin, Brent and Drew (#23).

On one play I was certain I had overthrown Patrick only to see the ball die in midair and be picked by Drew. On another, I thought I had overthrown Mat but the ball wound up hitting him perfectly in stride for a score. A fun day to play DB.

TD MAKERS: Mat and TO each had two scores. Mat ran a nice corner route for his first score, then really accelerated on a deep pass for his second. TO totally faked out the DB on snagging a bomb from Drew, and was heads up on what was our …

… FLUKY PLAY OF THE DAY: Toby was free safety and looked in possession to grab a pick. Then the wind took over, sailing the ball farther than Toby thought. He got his hands on it, then it ricocheted out into the waiting hands of TO for the score.

WHICH NICKNAME IS MORE ACCURATE?: On one play, JP made a great flag grab on TO, holding him to no gain. “Great grab, wussy!” I thought I head one of White defenders say. “Wussy? He said Whiskey!” JP said. Apparently, our Southern players were talking alcohol (shocker) and JP said he preferred whiskey. But I prefer wussy.

NOW WE KNOW I: In case you were wondering the relationship between Kevin and Doug, it was answered on this play. Kevin was toasted on a deep pass for a score and Doug, on the other team, started teasing him. “I know who’s not getting any tonight,” Kevin said.

NOW WE KNOW II: Standing on sidelines, one learns some trivia. Chris was born Christmas Day, as was Patrick’s brother, and Mat is going to Argentina for two weeks of fun.

TRUE TO THEIR SCHOOLS: We had players from Cal (Bryan and Andrew), Ohio State (Angel and Chris, the ref), Penn State (me) and Texas (Toby).

CLUTCH DRIVE: White put together the key drive that salted the game away, abandoning the deep pass because of the wind. Hinders had tow first down catches, including a nifty slant pattern for 12 yards. Toby made a big catch on third down, Mike and Drew caught some and I ran it in for the clinching score from about 6 yards out.

TACKLE OF THE DAY: Drew threw a long pick to Toby, who started weaving and darting his way back. You could tell that Drew was not going to let him score and he ensured it by literally grabbing Toby’s shirt and hanging on until he got his flag.

COOLEST PLAY: The Dark one-point conversion option. Shaun took the snap, faked it in the belly of TO, then optioned it out to Drew. The defender was still looking at Shaun as Drew easily ran by him in the end zone.

MR CLUTCH: Mike was terrific all day – he had two sacks and numerous pressures as a rusher and made several big catches, and caught a shovel pass for a TD.

BONEHEAD PLAY: Drew (#23) wore a white shirt under his MJ jersey. On one play I looked saw white and thought, “Gee, my guy’s wide open.” I promptly threw him the ball, which is gratefully returned 20 yards. I need to take a color test.

BIG PLAYS: Angel made a great catch on a deep pass from Drew for a TD. … JP showed some great moves (I know, it is amazing) on a third down catch that he ran in for a score. He caught the pass, then juked out the defender (who was probably more shocked than anything), cut back to his right and scored. … Patrick had several big catches, consistently getting a lot of YACs.

Flag recap Nov. 24, 2007

2007-11-25T23:30:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: Perfect for football – 72 and sunny and calm.

PHOTOS: Me scoring a TD. More also at the bottom. Thanks to Brent.

SCHEDULE: We are back at Playa Vista, Dec. 1. I will send a reminder.

WELCOME: A big welcome to Brent, who had been living in San Diego. A big welcome back to Dan, who works most Saturdays. And a big welcome as a player to Chris Sauers, our favorite ref who played for the first time.

GAME: One of the most bizarre we had in a long while. In the SEC this week, Arkansas beat LSU 50-48 in 3 OT and Tennessee beat Kentucky 52-50 in 4 OT. At Penmar Park, White came back from deficits of 26-6 and 38-20 to win 58-56 in 2 OT, our first OT game in years.

White, on its last possession, scored to make it 44-42, then converted the 2-pointer to send it into OT. In the first OT, each team scored and did not convert. In the second, White scored and converted to go up 58-50. Dark scored a TD, then missed the 2-pointer and we all finally went home. Whew!

CREATIVE: Dark certainly ran more inventive plays. Shaun was usually QB, but he often did faked it to Brent (new Brent) and tossed it back to Dan, who became QB. They made a ton of big plays off that formation.

BEST CATCHES: A tie – Patrick sent the game into OT with a beautiful catch for the 2-pointer that tied it. Toby threw it a bit high in the back of the end zone but Patrick stretched as far as his 5-9 frame would allow, secured the ball and tapped his toes in before falling down.

I, yes that is not a misprint, scored White’s last TD when I went up in the back of the end zone for a pass from Patrick and held on despite being jostled and semi-somersaulting to the ground. My hamstring is still pissed.

SACK MASTER: Bubba played like a rusher reborn, sacking me three times for losses. He called himself Gilbert Brown, but played more like Dwight Freeney.

TD MAKER: For a while, Toby was White’s entire offense and he did it on defense. He made two great picks that he ran back really long for TDs. In addition, he had several big catches and some nice passes.

DAN THE MAN: Dan was maybe the best player in the game. He made a ton of catches and had several TDs and also had two interceptions.

BLAME GAME: Patrick got, shall we say, “toasted” a few times and each time we would hear White team Brent scream “Chainsaw!” (Patrick’s nickname). So on one play Brent was awfully quiet when a pass hit him in the hands and was intercepted. We were all hoping Patrick would scream, “Brent!” Brent made up for it by catching the game-winning 2-pointer on his knees (a preferred position).

HUSTLE AND FLOW: Two plays illustrate why it is important to keep playing. On one, Brent (new) was racing for a score when Brent (photog) kept chasing him, finally tackling him at the 2. On the next play, Toby picked off the ball and ran it back for a score.

Later, Dan picked off a fourth-down pass in the end zone and White all just stood there. Dan just started to run and kept running for a TD.

BALL HAWKS: In addition to two picks by Toby and Dan, Shaun also got two and Patrick one.

FACE: Patrick lined up to throw a 2-pointer and Bubba laughed and said “pick.” Patrick then threw it over his head to Toby for the score.

NOTABLE: Hinders made a nice pylon run for a successful 2-pointer, then got wide open for a long gainer later. … I made a catch over my shoulder and amazingly outran the pursuit for a 50-yard gain. My Achilles is not happy. … Chris scored twice late on nice routes in the end zone, and also threw for a 2-pointer. … Dark team Brent consistently got open and turned short passes into big gainers. … Chris had his first penalty called on him when Bubba flagged him for offensive PI. … A nice sideline grab by Jeff on a key late drive. … And how did Patrick get so open on that one pass from Toby? Was Patrick covering himself? ... Best flag grab was Hinders twisting grab of Patrick's flag that saved a huge gainer. ... Ouch -- Dan bet $400 and laid 38 with the Patriots at 8-1 odds.

Click photo for larger view:

Flag Recap Nov. 17, 2007

2007-11-18T18:18:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: Serbia's Euro 2008 soccer encounter with Kazakhstan was postponed due to heavy snow in Belgrade. Wimps! But in the real "football" played in Playa Vista, it was 72 and sunny. A perfect day on the best field we have ever played on.

WELCOME: A big welcome to Bryan, and a big welcome back to Matt, Mike Karsh and Ruben (one of my all-time favorite players).

GAME: White made a few early stops and wound up winning going away. Can't recall the score but White did cover.

NEXT: We are playing Nov. 24 (enough people said they are in town) and are at PENMAR. There is no youth events that day and we wanted to reserve Playa for Dec. 1.

PLAY OF THE GAME: I had underthrown Patrick on two previous streaks, and was not going to let it happen again. He ran a great pattern down the right side and I threw it as high and hard as I could. The ball hit him in the stride in the end zone. (Click photo left for larger view of the play).

BAD BREAKS: Drew completion % suffered when he had some great passes fall into, then out of, receivers' hands. People who had Drew as their Fantasy QB are not happy. And most of these happened when Drew was throwing downhill, so there (the field is flat but Dark insisted we switch sides so they could go downhill).

DRIVING NEAR MISHAP OF THE DAY: Coming off one of the off-ramps onto Slauson, I was too busy reading the driving directions and looked up to see traffic stopped ahead. Thank heavens for ABS brakes! At the field, Mike (Brent calls him "Beefcake") said, "Was that you that almost rear-ended me?"

SURPRISE RECEIVER OF THE DAY: Brent is having a hearing issue with his right ear (we all hope it's temporary), so we are not sure if that's why he ran such crisp routes and made several terrific grabs. Someone suggested it readjusted his sense of balance, ie, giving him one!

GREAT GRABS: Loved Drew's catch down the middle deep on a pass from Sean. … Ruben made a superb catch on a deep corner pass in the end zone for a score. … Ditto to Toby on a sideline TD grab. … Bryan scored in his first game on a nice crossing pattern from Drew.

NICE MOVES: Patrick made some nifty cuts after he caught a shovel pass and weave his way into the end zone for a score. … Matt also showed some wheels after catching a dump off and getting a nice gain.

DEE--FENSE: Gator Mike made a nice play to sack me early in the game … Patrick, Matt, Angel and Beefcake Mike made a great tandem in the White blitz scheme. … Best interception was Patrick, who caught the ball seven yards deep in the end zone and ran 87 yards back for the game's last score. "I'm done" he moaned as he lay on the turf after the run … Ruben, Sean and Drew also had picks, and Drew caught his as White was going uphill, so it was easier.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

Back Nov. 17 at Playa Vista

2007-11-14T23:35:00.001-08:00

Hey Everyone:

We are back this Saturday at beautiful Playa Vista Sports Park (directions below).

All you need to do is bring a white and dark shirt, cleats and water. We are not charging a field fee.

Directions:
6200 Playa Vista Drive, Playa Vista, 90094

From LA, this is a good shortcut and will avoid the 405:

-Take La Brea South, top of the hill in the oil fields Right [west] on Stocker.
-Deadend shortly - left [south] on La Cienega.
-First exit right [west] on Slauson.
-Past Fox Hills Mall, just past Sepulveda, a slight left [west] on Jefferson.
-Just past Home Depot, left on Playa Vista Drive, off of Jefferson for 3 blocks until you dead end. Don't be fooled by the smaller field right on Jefferson by the entrance.

We played Nov. 10 but since I did not do a writeup right after, I've forgotten most of what happened. Kudos to new player Ray, though.

Flag Recap: Nov. 3, 2007

2007-11-03T18:05:00.000-07:00

(note: click on photo for larger image. MORE PHOTOS HERE. All taken by Brent)

PROGRAMMING NOTE: We are playing back at Penmar Park Nov. 10 since Playa is not available. We are back at Playa Nov. 17.

WEATHER: It will snow in the high sections of the Eastern Anatolia in Turkey and northern side of the Black Sea region. But in Playa Vista, it was sunny, calm and 75. Perfect for football.

WELCOME: We had a great turnout and game and a lot of new players. We had Andrew (tall), Andrew (red shorts) and Andrew (lawyer), to go along with Andrew (Urlacher). We also had Mike (from NYC, just moved here) and Mike (from NBC). And Sean, who played for the SD Sharks in the tournament (his fakeout of Toby was a classic). And Jeff and Angel and John.

GAME: A back-and-forth thriller that saw White pull it out 42-38 on the game's last play.

FIELD: A big thanks to Brent for securing us Playa. It is very hard to find field space in LA on Saturdays and this was a beautiful field to play on. Playa will only let us reserve one event at a time, so we will be week to week depending on how busy Penmar is. (Note: If anyone knows of any available fields in the LA area, let me know).

QB SHUFFLE: We had five guys play QB; Andrew (tall), Dave and me for White; Toby and Sean for Dark. By my count, all threw TD passes.

BEST TATTOO: Hard to beat Angel's "O" for Ohio State on his upper back.

GUTTY: The heroic performance goes to JP, who played with a painful case of planter fasciitis (or is it Planters Roast Nuts?). Doctors are talking amputation, yet he was out there with nary a complaint (roll eyes). He so inspired us all that players were weeping. After the game, Bush announced he was awarding JP the Congressional Medal of Freedom along with Alberto Gonzales, another failed lawyer.

TRICKERY: There were several cool plays called. Dark did a backwards pass from Toby to Sean, who then threw a 2-point conversion to Peter(?). White did them one better -- Jim to Dave to Drew (tall) to ?? for the conversion. Drew (tall) also called a nifty play, recalling Jay Novacek, the Cowboys tight end. Mike (NYC) dropped to his knees as if he had fallen, then got up and was open in the end zone for a score. Of course, Mike almost forgot to get up. Patrick called his own number for the game-winner, recalling Wes Welker of the Pats. He ran a route along the line of scrimmage, then turned up the sidelines. Drew (tall) hit him in stride and the game was over.

BALL HAWKS: There were 2 picks in the game -- Mike (NYC) caught one off a tipped pass and took it back 50 yards to set up a score. Drew (red shorts) caught one off a long pass attempt.

SACK MASTERS: John had a sack of me that was a great flag grab; Mike (NYC) had one as did Patrick off a corner blitz.

HIGHLIGHTS: Peter had several nice catches, including one TD. The best was his grab over the middle for about 20 yards. … Angel did a great job catching passes off the center spot, grabbing about five in that formation. … Jeff got totally open on two long bombs for scores and he had a couple of other nice long-gainers. … Toby hit Sean on a great strike across the middle for a TD, throwing a laser that Sean hauled in. … Dave was clutch all day and he had one TD where he got lost and I basically just had to shot-put him the ball. … Andrew (lawyer) showed great concentration hauling in a tipped pass in the crowded middle for a conversion. … I hit Drew (tall) on a nice deep slant that he hauled in for a long gainer. … JP had a nifty catch and run along the sidelines, though I am not sure playing in a walker is allowed. … Brent even got into the scoring circus with a catch from Sean in the back of the end zone. … Mike (NBC) is no longer a virgin after catching his first pass. … Andrew (Urlacher) had one of those catches where he stopped thinking his flag was grabbed, then slid into the end zone.

Thanks everyone for playing and looking forward to next week. Our plan is to play through the winter and then have a league.
MORE PHOTOS HERE.

Flag Football Nov. 3 at new field

2007-10-31T11:29:00.001-07:00

Our regular Saturday flag football games start this week at 12:30. AND WE HAVE A NEW FIELD!

With kiddie soccer and football, Penmar is not avaialble right now (we might be back there later). For at least the next two weeks we are at the Playa Vista Sports Park (directions below).

It is a beautiful synthetic turf field, brand new, totally flat and no dirt or divots. And it's free, and we have a permit (thanks to Brent). As their site says: "The Playa Vista Sports Park is truly state-of-the-art. For example, the synthetic turf at the John H. Henschel Soccer Field is made from polyethylene to prevent burn wounds caused by sliding."

All you need to do is bring a white and dark shirt, cleats and water. We are not charging a field fee.

Directions:
6200 Playa Vista Drive, Playa Vista, 90094

From LA, this is a good shortcut and will avoid the 405:
Take La Brea South, top of the hill in the oil fields Right [west] on Stocker.
Deadend shortly - left [south] on La Cienega.
First exit right [west] on Slauson.
Past Fox Hills Mall, just past Sepulveda, a slight left [west] on Jefferson.
Just past Home Depot, left on Playa Vista Drive, off of Jefferson for 3 blocks until you dead end. Don't be fooled by the smaller field right on Jefferson by the entrance.

Or you can Mapquest or Google Map it

Flag Football Back Nov. 3

2007-10-21T22:28:00.000-07:00

Keep your pants on! Our regular flag football games are back Saturday Nov. 3.

Recap April 28, 2007

2007-04-29T00:20:00.000-07:00

The above pic is one of 52 taken from games in April. Almost all were taken by Brent, though he shows up in one (as rare as seeing Bigfoot). Check out the complete gallery.

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WEATHER: Beautiful, 75 and sunny, with a slight breeze.

GAME: Dark took an early two-touchdown lead, then White stormed back and won by 10.

CAMEO: Nice special guest appearance by Kory, whom I've known for years but who had never played.

FINALE: Saturday was the season-ender. Thanks to everyone who played this season. It was a blast and we had a lot of great blog fodder. We will be back in the fall (though six guys from Boston might be out in June, so look for a special game announcement). A special thanks to Brent who made sure we had the field every week (field space in LA on Saturdays is at a premium).

OFFENSIVE MVP: Have to give it to John aka JB. He had three TDs and a bunch of nice catches. He seemed to have a habit of skirting down the sideline, barely staying in-bounds on his scores. He also had his shirt torn in about four places.

Contenders for the award were Brian (some great grabs) and Jeremiah, after his bathroom break.

DEFENSIVE MVP: A tie this week to Jeremiah for corner play and Dave, who had two nice picks. Brenton looked better than most Broncos pass rushers by actually getting a couple of sacks.

PLAY OF THE DAY: David Hinders made a great pick on a play that turned the game around for White. The White D coordinator on the play should take a bow for switching from a man to a zone.

CATCH OF THE DAY: Shon gets the nod on this one. Dave threw a nice fade pass into the corner of the end zone and JJ had good position, but Shon used his body well and secured the ball while sliding and staying in-bounds. Shon also gets most color-coordinated for the day.

BEST USE OF A BATHROOM BREAK: JJ couldn't catch a break, a cold or a plane in the first half. On one drop of a sure TD he came back to the huddle and shrugged his shoulders. After another player bobbled one, JJ said, "You got Jeremiah hands." But then he took a break to take a piss and came back lighter and transformed (he must have stolen someone's hands). He wound up catching everything in sight and twice toasted his defender for long TDs.

SWAN SONG: It was last LA game for Joe, who is going back to his native Boston this summer. Fittingly, he scored his team's last TD on a nifty dump pass over the middle. We wish Joe well!

QB RATING TIME: JJ was 1 for 1 for 20 yards on a nice toss to Oren off a reverse; that's a QB rating of 118.75. JB was 1 for 1 for 35 yards and a touchdown, for a perfect rating of 158.3. Because this is a positive blog, we will not compute Brian's rating, but I thought someone said it was "Rex Grossman-in-the-Super-Bowl-like."

BALL HAWKS: Dave led the pack with two sweet grabs off of deflections. Joe also had one, as did Brent and Hinders.

HIGHLIGHTS: Brenton made a terrific over-the-shoulder catch to set up a score. … Hinders looked like Algae Crumpler on his TD snag on a deep pass. … Brent showed some great hands making a grab on a pass thrown behind him. … Brian always makes receiving look effortless as he showed with his myriad catches. … Oren showed some nice wheels in taking a shovel pass for a first down. … Kory had a nice catch, so no longer can he say he's a flag football virgin. ... JB's best was his crossing route where he hauled in a fastball from me for a score. … Brian did a nice job of copping a feel on Oren as he pretended to try and tackle him.

NEXT: Have a happy summer everyone!

Recap April 14, 2007

2007-04-15T22:24:00.000-07:00

WEATHER: While the East Coast was bracing for a major storm, we had the usual clear weather, a tad cooler (65) but great for football.

GAME: Dark started out like gangbusters, taking a 20-7 lead. Then White strung together three straight stops and scored 38 of the next 44 points. Final: White 59, Dark 46.

OFFENSIVE MVP: A tough call, but have to go with Zach, with four TDs (three on offense). His best was his streak where he made a move and got open for a long score.

DEFENSIVE MVP: John, aka JB, had two picks. The first was a brilliant grab almost one-handed as he was falling to the ground and was the defensive play of the game. The other was a jump ball that the wind pretty much held up.

LINE OF THE DAY: It was JB's rather high shriek as he attempted a pass off a trick play and the ball slipped. "Don't put that in the blog," he said, thereby ensuring I wouldn't forget.

LINE OF THE DAY 2: "Like something you'd see in a Falcon video." It would not raise an eyebrow if uttered by Bubba or Brent. But by Marino? Hmmm, guess he's been doing some research on "method acting" for the institute.

CLUTCH PLAY 1: Best fourth-down conversion by Dark was a 4th and 10 out pattern from Marino to Demond. Great route, great pass, great grab.

CLUTCH PLAY 2: Best fourth-down conversion by White came on a 4th and 15 TD pass from me to Zach. I threw a hard pass and Demond came within an eyelash of knocking it away, but the ball found the seam, Zach made a great catch and ran the rest of the way.

CATCH OF THE DAY: Honors go to Bubba for his nifty TD catch that saw him knock the ball up while covered by 2 defenders then secure it for the score.

CATCH OF THE DAY 2: I will give a nod to myself for my catch along the back of the end zone for a 2-point conversion from Puff Daddy. I managed to twinkle-toes my feet in while catching the ball with one hand.

MOVE OF THE DAY: Demond got a shovel pass and I was in perfect position (or so I thought) for a tackle. But one zip to the right and I grabbed nothing but air.

MOVE OF THE DAY 2: Patrick did a classic stop-and-go route that froze his defender on the stop part and left Patrick wide open for an easy score on the go part.

LA ALUM SHINES: Rory is in New York for a few weeks and played his first game in the NY league. His team won 50-6 and Rory had three TDs and seven sacks. But do they know his "Delicate Flower" nickname?

TEAM DAVID: There were five Davids on the Dark team today -- Marino, Hinders, Bubba, Meggett and Novell. Thank heavens for nicknames!

BALL HAWKS: In addition to JB's two picks, Demond also had two, including one for a score. Zach made a superb read on his pick that he ran back, while Meggett and Patrick also had one each.

HIGHLIGHTS: Meggett had a ton of big catches and three scores, including a couple of terrific sideline grabs. … Brent had two more sacks, including a key one early in the game that was followed up by a fourth-down sack by Patrick. … Great sideline presence by Puff Daddy on a short TD catch. … Oren looked nimble and quick on a shovel pass that he took for 15 yards (but we need to work with him on the deep ball). … Unsung job by Hinders on the pass rush for the second week in a row (yes, I read the comments!) … JB is consistently a great receiver, and frequently bailed me out of jams. … Bubba needs to wipe the lube off his hands before rushing me from now on.

SCORING:
White (59): Zach, three TD catches, one interception for a TD (four TDs); Patrick, two TD catches, one 1-point conversion; Brent, one TD catch; Puff, one TD catch; JB, one TD catch and one 2-point conversion; Me, one 2-point conversion, eight TD passes.

Dark (46): Demond, two TD catches, one interception for a TD (three TDs); Meggett, three TD catches, one 1-point conversion; Bubba, one TD catch; Hinders and Novell, one conversion each. Marino: Six TD passes.

NEXT: We are back April 21, Penmar.

Recap, April 7, 2007

2007-04-08T23:13:00.000-07:00

This pic is from March 31. To see the rest of the photos taken by Brent, click here.

WEATHER: From an AP photo: With the Washington Monument in the background, cherry blossoms are covered in snow after a spring storm brought snow to the area Saturday. The only blossoms on a 70-degree day in Venice were on the Delicate Flower.

GAME: We played football and had a college basketball game break out. White beat Dark, 62-59, in Game 2, taking the lead on the next-to-last drive and finally making a defensive stand to hang on. It was a wild one.

OFFENSIVE MVP: Well, Demond was great and scored five TDs, but, believe it or not, he does not get the award. It goes to Rory, who scored seven TDs, a record, including six on offense and one defensive return. Not bad for someone with a sore hamstring.

DEFENSIVE MVP: Come now, in a game with 121 total points, the idea of a defensive MVP is kind of silly. Yes, Jeremiah played well at corner, but his team gave up 62 points and made one stop (when I basically made Marino the intended receiver on a pick). The nod goes to Brent, as a pass rusher and LB, for doing a good job of pressuring the QB. Any dissenters can reply in the comments!

CATCHES OF THE DAY: Two stand out. The first was by Demond, who made a twisting grab on a deep slant, then kept his balance and ran in for a score. The second was Rory's brilliant effort, going up high against double coverage for a long gain.

VERSATILE: Everyone knows Jeremiah goes both ways, but even on the field? Since White was initially short players, he came in and scored a TD on a crossing pattern. As a Dark player, he got himself two more. He will get a cut of both the winners' and losers' share.

PASSES OF THE DAY: Marino and I had a combined 18 TD passes and dozens of completions. My best was on a deep post to Patrick, who made a superbly timed leap to make the catch and score. Marino's fave was one that an unnamed former Texas Longhorn dropped even though it hit him in stride.

LINE OF THE DAY: White defense had just made a great stop on fourth down. On the first play on offense, I promptly threw an interception and walked back off the field. "You must really have wanted to get back to the sidelines," Brent said as he passed me by.

RULES 1: To answer some burning questions: a DB can grab the arms of a receiver ONCE the ball has hit the receiver's hands. From our rulebook: "If the ball has been touched by A or B, restrictions end for all players." Note: The defender can still be called for unnecessary roughness, especially if there is any contact with the head.

RULES 2: "2.16.1. Hurdling is the runner jumping so that both feet leave the ground at the same time. The runner may not hurdle to be deflagged. The runner may step over an opponent who is lying prone."

RULES 3: "A defensive player may not intentionally push or block a runner who is near the sideline."

RULES 4: "4.4.2. A defensive player may not hold, push, or knock the runner down in an attempt to remove the flag. It is best for the defensive player to attempt to grab only one flag at a time. Attempting to grab more than one flag at the same time may be considered illegal blocking if it appears that the deflagger is attempting to obstruct the forward progress of the runner."

HIGHLIGHTS: Jeremiah running a quick slant, making the catch(!) and running the rest of the way for the score. … Andy making a clutch fourth-down catch to keep a White drive alive. … Oren snagging a pass a split second after looking up and realizing the ball was heading his way. … Darren scored twice for Dark and had several key catches. … Peter did his best Dallas Clark impersonation on a slant pass for a key first down.

SCORING: With so many points, I was not able to keep track of all the back and forth. It was close the whole way, with neither team having more than a three-point lead.

WHITE: TDs -- Rory (7), six receptions, one interception return; Patrick (2), receptions. JJ (1), reception. Conversions: Peter (1), Oren (1).

DARK: TDs -- Demond (5), receptions; Darren (2), receptions; JJ (2), receptions. Conversions: Drew (1), Hinders (1), Darrin (1), I missed one.

NEXT: We are back April 14, Penmar.

Flag Recap March 31, 2007

2007-04-01T15:12:00.000-07:00

WEATHER: Not a cloud in the sky, sunny and 70. Ideal.

GAME: Our first game of the min-tourney/mini-season was terrific. White won 44-30, in a high-scoring game where the two key plays came in defense. Scoring summary at the end.

PHOTOS: Brent takes terrific sports photos, as the 2 above demonstrate. Click on the image for a larger view.

WELCOME: A big welcome to Brenton, a huge Denver Broncos fan, for which he will be forgiven. He is also a producer on Tyra Banks' show, a name that got Rory all atwitter. He is also our second Brenton, which means we must be living in some sort of alternate universe.

OFFENSIVE MVP: A co-award goes to Rory and Peter. Rory made great catches all day in traffic, and wound up with 1 TD and 1 2-point conversion. Peter was a fantasy sleeper, with five catches and two second-half TDs.

DEFENSIVE MVPs: Kind of hard to give them to the losing team, but Jeremiah would harass me all week (phone calls, dead birds in the mail, making me listen to the Texas fight song) if I ignored the fine job he and Demond did as corners for Dark. They were both terrific and each picked me once.

KEY PLAYS OF THE GAME: Two defensive plays by White turned the tide. The first came in the first half when Zach made a pick at free safety and weaved his way down the sideline for a TD. The second came on the first play of the second half when Rory got a pick deep in Dark territory, setting up White for a quick TD.

PLAY OF THE DAY: For sheer fun it was hard to beat Demond catching a 10-yard slant from Marino, then racing the remaining 55 yards, leaving two rather fast defenders in the dust.

MOVE OF THE DAY: Jeremiah caught a short pass and Peter was closing in. J kind of jump-slid left, and Peter was grasping air.

FLAG GRAB OF THE DAY 1: Me, who grabs one flag a century. This one saved a TD as Jeremiah had caught a pass and had nothing but space in front of him. I grabbed and -- amazingly -- the flag was in my hand.

FLAG GRAB 2: Bubba made a superb play and sniffed out a shovel pass to Zach by grabbing his flag at the 1 for no gain.

PASS RUSH OF THE DAY: Brian looked like Dwight Freeney on one play where he batted the pass 10 feet in the air, forcing Marino to play DB and knock it down.

HIGHLIGHTS: Patrick and Demond each made nifty, shoe-top catches, Patrick for a first down and Demond for a TD. … Rory's best was his TD catch where he skied to pull the pass in. … Andrew also had 2 TDs for Dark, including a nice catch and sprint down the sideline. … Brenton is no longer a football virgin, making his first two catches. … Jermaine had to leave early for a date but wound up with a nice pick to end the first half.

SCORING SUMMARY
White 44, Dark 30 (Halftime: White 22, Dark 12):

White (44): Jim TD run (Rory 2-pointer catch from Jim); Rory TD catch (Patrick 2-pointer); Zach int. return; Peter TD catch (Patrick 2-pointer); Peter TD catch (Zach 2-pointer); Brian TD catch. TD passes: Jim (4).

Dark (30): Andrew TD catch; Demond TD catch; Demond TD catch; Andrew TD catch; Hinders TD catch. TD passes: Darren (1); Marino (3).

NEXT: Game 2 is Saturday April 7, Penmar.

Flag Recap March 24, 2007

2007-03-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

WEATHER: Perfect. Partly sunny, cool, 70. A great day to play some ball.

GAME: Two amazing interceptions by Demond proved to be the difference in the game played at a high level of intensity. Dark won 49* to 39.

TOURNEY: We are going to have a month-long "mini-tourney" to end the season and I will send an e-mail with details in a couple of days. Basically, we will draft two teams and play against each other, giving it a little more structure. Losers buy the winners drinks.

MVP: Hard to not give it to Demond, with two interceptions, three legit TDs and some acrobatic catches. He made one catch where his feet were planted left and he reached back to snag the ball. A special performance.

OFFENSIVE PLAY OF THE GAME: It was Rory's brilliant catch for a TD on the final drive. I put the ball where only Rory could get it -- high -- but another White receiver drifted into the pattern and in essence became the DB. Rory still snagged it, kept his feet and scored.

DEFENSIVE PLAY OF THE GAME: Demond can get a twofer on this. I sent a receiver on and out and threw the ball to his hands. The ball bounced off the receiver's chest and Demond made a one-hand grab that he secured as he was falling out of bounds. He was able to tap his first foot in for the interception. Almost the same thing happened several drives later. Even I had to applaud and I was the victim!

DAY OF THE QB: No more modesty -- Marino and I threw the ball very well and spread it around so everyone got involved. There were relatively few passes off the mark.

CALL OF THE DAY: Had to be Dark's misdirection shovel pass to Adam that caught White offguard and led Adam to a long TD.

B.S. PLAY OF THE DAY: You all know what it was.

GETTING HIS FREAK ON: Bubba did his best Jevon Kearse imitation with two nice QB sacks.

SOFT HANDS: John made several nice catches and he always makes it look easy. One came in the left front corner of the end zone for a score, another came when he caught a quick pass, then juked a defender to pick up an additional 35 yards.

GO DEEP: Vlad kept coming into the huddle and saying "send me deep." I finally listened to him and the result was a TD. Vlad ran a nice seam route, made a burst on his defender and hauled in the pass.

GO FORWARD!: Dark did a superb job of flag grabbing all day (especially Brent and David), aided by the habit of White players to try and run backwards thinking they were Barry Sanders (or Demond).

COMEBACK: Rory "The Delicate Flower" showed that nickname is a misnomer. He whacked his head hard on the ground and lay there nauseous. Bubba stood above him, gyrating and joking "The start of a Falcon video …" Rory got up and I figured he would center and just stand there. But he ran a route, I threw it high and he had a catch. Two plays later he scored.

GREAT GRABS: In addition to those mentioned above -- Brent made a superb catch on a deep pass from Marino for a TD. … David showed nifty footwork along the back of the end zone for a TD. … Cody showed great reaction by catching a ricochet in the back of the end zone for a score. … Patrick made a beautiful catch leaping and coming down with it along the sideline. … Andrew ran a great route on fourth down and goal, shaking his defender and getting open for the score.

NEXT: We are back March 31, Penmar, noon.

Flag Recap March 17, 2007

2007-03-18T22:57:00.000-07:00

WEATHER: A strong winter storm moved out of the Northeast on Saturday as temperatures climbed and began to melt the snow and ice it left behind. Meanwhile, in Venice, it was partly sunny and in the 60s, perfect for football.

GAMES: We had a lighter than normal turnout and played two games. In the first, Dark won 42-24. In the second, White hung on 36-30.

WELCOME: Adam, Marino's brother, was visiting from Washington. A great player and person.

MVP: Because he whined last week, I'll give to Brent, for scoring three TDs in Game 1. All game he made the tough catches, but somehow dropped balls right in his hands. With Brent on offense, it's never a dull moment.

PASSES OF THE DAY: First one was me deep to Marino over Jeremiah, who had good coverage but when the QB makes a perfect pass, what are you going to do? (comments welcome). Second from Marino to Adam, showing some brotherly love.

PICK OF THE DAY: David showed great instincts on a ball that bounced off of Adam's hands (it was a bit high). David managed not only to make the interception, but kept his feet in bounds.

ACRONYM OF THE DAY: From Jeremiah, Mr. PBU. As a pass rusher he knocked down the pass and gets a PBD (pass batted down).

MOVES OF THE DAY: Rory constantly befuddled his defender (whose name is withheld to protect his reputation) by brilliantly running the stop and go for several TDs.

JET LAG: Rory spent a month in Australia and just got back and you could tell early. The first pass to him – clunk. On the second pass, he didn't even get a hand on it (a first). After that he was his usual reliable self.

BEST NICKNAME: Brent, who has dubbed Rory "The Delicate Flower." He can explain.

HIGHLIGHTS: Jeremiah ran a great deep slant route and was able to make the catch and stay in bounds. … David made a nice sliding catch on a deep ball. … Brent's best was probably the one that bounced off his chest, went forward and he grabbed and was able to run it in. … Easiest pick was by Rory, who played middle linebacker, did not move an inch and had the ball thrown his way. … Brian totally turned me around on getting open deep for what became a TD. … Jeremiah made a nice grab in between two defenders for a first down. … Adam showed nice speed on several passes, including a nice deep one down the sidelines.

NEXT: We are back March 24, Penmar at noon.

Recap March 10, 2007

2007-03-10T18:42:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: Yawn, it's gets boring – 70, sunny and clear.

GAME: A see-saw affair for most of the contest before Dark pulled away to win a shootout by about two TDs.

NOTE: They are reseeding our normal field so we will be playing on the next field over for the next few weeks.

WELCOME: Andy was walking his dog near the field and stopped by to play. He was quite good, save for one pass he'd love to try and catch again.

MVP: It was a tough week to pick one but I guess the nod goes to Ray, who had a bunch of nice grabs and a few scores. Runnerup would be Marino as Dark QB, who threw really well, but then again I was the one rushing him throughout (which means he had a lot of time!).

BRENT LOBBIES: He e-mailed me after the blog entry went up after seeing my photo comment below: "With 3 TD's and and INT, and no MVP -- how am I to know who to concentrate on for the photos??!"

PLAY OF THE DAY: For its perfect execution had to be Marino beautiful deep ball to Andy for a long gain. Hit him in stride and he made a nice catch.

SCREWUP OF THE DAY: I asked Mike to rush and told him to get 5 back and go in. I meant 5 yards but he thought 5 seconds, so when the ball was hiked he started going "1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi …" I got so distracted yelling at him to go in, I forgot to cover my man, David Hinders, who snagged the ball and ran down the sidelines for a score.

HANDS OF THE DAY: I give Jeremiah a lot of grief on this blog for being Edwards Scissorshands, but he had several nice catches. I may have stumbled across a secret – throw it when he's not ready. Three times I threw the ball right before he was making a break or looking up and he caught the ball in self defense each time with a startled look on his face.

LUCKY PICKS OF THE DAY: Dark got two gifts, courtesy of White receivers not securing the pass, and instead flinging it forward into the waiting arms of defenders (Ray and Brent).

DEBATE CLUB: There was more yakking Saturday than at your average U.N. meeting and we could have used Ed Hochuli's services. "That's what happens when you get three brothers on the field at the same time!" Bubba said.

CATCH OF THE DAY: Cody made a brilliant grab on fourth down to keep a White drive alive. I was getting pressure from Brent on the rush and had to throw it quickly. Cody was blanketed by Marino, so I threw low to his outside. Cody reached out, grabbed the ball and secured it with Marino draped all over him for the first down.

CATCH OF THE DAY 2: Goes to Bubba, who showed great concentration on hanging on to a high slant in the end zone on fourth and goal for a TD.

BUTT SHOT OF THE DAY: On consecutive plays, Brent caught the pass and had his shorts pulled down by JJ. Three players got snow blindness while watching.

PHOTOS: Wonder where last week's are? Brent must think this blog is a monthly!

NOTABLE: Nice grabs in the end zone for either a TD or conversion by Brent and Hinders. … Great goal-line stand by White, stopping Dark on four downs in a series that started on the 1. Cody's sack was the key play. … Enjoyed seeing Ray trying to spin away from JJ on one play, only to have the latter yell "Don't try that on me!" as he grabbed his flag. … Words that have power: Andy was wide open on a perfect pass from Marino that would have scored. "Drop it!" I said as the ball hit his hands. Doink! Incomplete. … Mike showed some nice wheels on several passes, especially the quick slant he got down by game's end.

NEXT: We are back March 17 at Penmar, and Rory is back after gallivanting in Australia for a month.

Flag Recap March 3, 2007

2007-03-04T14:56:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: Much of western Iowa remained at a standstill with highways closed by heavy snow and blizzard conditions. Meanwhile in Venice, we were all wearing sunscreen as it was clear, sunny and 75.

WELCOME: Mat was on my e-mail list for two years and finally came out, bringing his friend Mike along. It was great to have them both, though they were both hobbling by game's end.

GAME: White jumped out to an early 12-0 lead as UCLA Brian quarterbacked a game for the first time. He started like the good Rex Grossman and ended like Grossman of the Super Bowl, and Dark pulled away to win by 20-something.

PHOTOS: Here is a link to photos taken a week ago.

OFFENSIVE MVP: Has to be Cody, who scored four TDs, and made some moves that were reminiscent of Demond. He had it going on. That new faux Mohawk has made him more streamlined.

DEFENSIVE MVP: There was no one worthy enough to win the award this week.

CATCH OF THE DAY: Mike made a brilliant grab along the sideline for a first down on a pass from Brian. He was running out of room and slid as the ball was arriving, and managed to cradle it in-bounds before his knee hit the line.

JUST KIDDING: I had to pull Jeremiah's chain. He was the Defensive MVP for great coverage all day, with a slew of PBU's and one nice interception. And he didn't even have to lobby for it.

RATINGS GAME: Oren threw two passes today, the first he's thrown with us. He was 2 for 2 for 35 yards. That translates to an NFL QB rating of 118.75. Not bad.

TRICK PLAY OF THE DAY: White caught Dark napping on defense and made them pay. The ball was spotted and Dark was in position, but the defenders were still trying to sort who was where. Since the offense never has to wait for the D, White hiked it quickly and Shon was open by 20 yards for an easy TD from Brian.

FOOLED HIM: Mat called his own number on one TD over his friend Mike. He ran out about 7 yards and yelled "ball!" Mike stopped on a dime as I pumped faked, and Mat then took off. I hit him in stride for an easy TD.

DROPSIES: At the start my Dark receivers must have had a lube party before kickoff. Drop. Drop. Drop. Slip slide … They finally kicked it into gear and made some terrific grabs.

VOICE COMMAND: I had JJ ahead of Brian for a deep pass into the end zone and put the ball in a perfect spot. "He'll never catch it!" Shon yelled and sure enough, drop!

GO DEEP: Dark hit several deep passes. My best long ball hit Mat in stride in the end zone from about 35 yards out. On another one, Cody made a terrific catch down the seam, catching the ball high and running in.

BALL HAWKS: Dark made several nice picks. JJ had his on a deep pass, Mat picked off two, including a one-hander, Cody snagged one, while Oren caught one low as White had the ball goal-to-goal at the Dark 2.

HEADS UP: Joe was in the perfect spot to catch a pass that ricocheted off of a teammate and a defender before he caught it in the back of the end zone.

SAY WHAT?: This happened at dinner later at an Italian restaurant. Cody had never eaten gnocchi, and wanted to know how it was prepared. "I need to ask the waitress how they make that granola," Cody said.

NOTABLE: Cody made a move that literally caused Shon to fall on his ass, eliciting gales of laughter from his team, as Cody made one of his TDs. … Peter had two terrific defense plays on conversions, ranging back and knocking passes away. … Brent had the best sound effects as he was rushing Brian, though he never was able to get his flag. … Oren had two nice catches, one on a conversion, the other on a slant. … JJ's best catch was along the back of the end zone for a 2-point conversion, as he went up high and held on. … Mike has a very nice sliding grab in the corner of the end zone for a TD.

NEXT: We are back March 10. See you then.

Flag Recap Feb. 24, 2007

2007-02-25T14:59:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: The State patrol and the Nebraska Department of Roads closed the more than 270 miles of Interstate 80, because of high winds and drifting snow. Meanwhile, all roads were clear into Venice, where it was sunny and 70.

WELCOME: To Jason and Ari, two Frisbee players who decided to stay and play. They were both terrific players and good people.

GAME: White led 20-0 and pretty much coasted after that in a 38-24 win.

MVP: The nod goes this week to one of our many Longhorns, Patrick. He had three TDs and an interception in a stellar game. Runnerup goes to Ari, with one TD and two interceptions.

DEFENSIVE STANDOUT: Jeremiah lobbied hard for defensive MVP, but it’s hard to give it the losing team (Feel free to post dissenting comments). JJ did have several nice PBUs, I have to admit. I'd have to give the nod to Brent, for solid LB and DB play, including an interception, and some good rushing.

FUN PLAY OF THE DAY: David caught a slant pass from Toby and had two guys coming at him. He wisely held the ball until the last second before tossing it back to JJ, who outran the defense for the score.

LINE OF THE DAY: After White started going backwards on consecutive possessions, Brent played sideline analyst, yelling out his objections. "Just shut up and take pictures!" Cody said.

LINE OF THE DAY 2: After JJ made an excellent catch (yes, that is not a misprint, not am I on crack) over the middle on a pass from Marino, I sarcastically congratulated him for having a hands transplant this week. "No, I finally have a good quarterback throwing me the ball," JJ said.

CATCH OF THE DAY: Have to give it to Cody for his great effort on a deep post. I hit Cody in stride at the 10, but at the last minute Patrick (his teammate) came into the play and whacked Cody hard. Somehow, Cody wound up holding onto the ball while falling and while Toby accidentally stepped on his chest.

TACKLE OF THE DAY: Patrick. See paragraph above.

BALL HAWKS: White had 6 or 7 picks, including one run back for a TD by Brian. Ari led the pack with 2. Brent's was probably the toughest, as he caught it off a carom and while being contacted by the receiver.

BREAKOUT: Vlad came to play today. He had 6 catches, including a nice long TD, and one grab he managed to snag off a ricochet. He also gets the stylish award for the day with his natty ensemble and cool-looking cleats.

CHANGE OF THE DAY: It was only 70 and sunny, but Oren still felt cold enough to change into a long-sleeve T halfway through the game. That's what low body fat does for you.

GO DEEP: Several nice long passes. I hit Patrick and Ari twice each and Cody once for a combined three TDs. Marino found Toby open deep on consecutive possessions for TDs.

GOING BACKWARDS: White tried to get cute on 2 possessions and it cost them. A double-reverse pass wound up for a sack and a 15-yard loss. Then I dropped the next snap and lost 8 more yards. Another trick play lost almost 20 yards.

NOTABLE: Unsung job by Brian for his terrific blocking, that bought me a ton of time. … Jason had a few nifty catches and runs, including one where Cody pulled his shorts since he was dying to know if he wore boxers or briefs. It was more like traditional Fruit of the Loom. … Oren had a nice grab for a 2-point conversion off of Ari, catching the pass while moving backwards and still finding the end zone. … Cody made a Demond-like move on one catch where he stopped, sucked in his hips, and made a guy miss for an additional 10 yards.

NEXT: We are back March 3, Penmar.

Flag Recap Feb. 17, 2007

2007-02-17T20:45:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: Our East Coast friends will groan, but it might have been a bit too hot; high near 80 and sun all day.

WELCOME: A big hello to new player Jonathan, and a welcome back to Bubba and Cody and JB.

GAME: It was a turnover bowl early, as each team traded interceptions. Dark then took a 12-0 lead before I made my first appearance at QB since October. White then outscored Dark 32-6 for a 32-18 win.

MVP: Cody gets the nod. He scored the game-tying and go-ahead TDs on catches and runs, then added a conversion catch. He shifted to middle linebacker and keyed three defensive stops in a row with great pass defense and flag grabbing. And he didn't bitch when we asked him to rush!

DEFENSIVE STANDOUTS: Jeremiah and Toby lobbied hard for a co-award, and they have a point. JJ went from P.U. a week ago to PBU today, while Toby picked off two passes and have many knockdowns.

BEST ARM OF THE DAY: Has to go to Rory for successfully retrieving two of our footballs from a tree by throwing a measuring-tape that was shaped like a spear.

BEST NICKNAME: Bubba calling Jermaine "Barkley" after one catch.

BALL HAWKS: Let see, there were a lot of them. Brent had a key one near the goal line; Shon had one; Toby had two; JB had one; David had one. None, though, were returned for scores.

CATCH OF THE DAY: Has to be Rory on a deep ball from Toby. Rory went up high against a defender and managed to snag the ball and maintain possession as he hit the ground.

CATCH OF THE DAY 2: Goes to Shon for his great grab on a fourth and long for a first down.

CATCH OF THE DAY 3: Jermaine, for keeping possession and his feet inbounds on a deep out.

HEADS UP PLAY OF THE DAY: David, who had to scramble as the ballw as hiked 5 feet over his head. The ball bounced up into his arms, and he made a great play to complete a pass to Jermaine. So it was strange that two plays later he threw a pick to Brent where it looked like Brent was the intended receiver.

GO DEEP: Three nice long TD passes – David to Shon down the middle; me to Toby along the right sideline; and me to Rory in the right seam.

COMEDY OF ERRORS: On my first drive we were rusty. JJ dropped a shovel pass, Rory hiked the ball over my head and I dropped the ball running, turning maybe a nice gain into a 1-yard loss.

NOTABLE: Dark complete two 4th-and-10s on one drive on passes to Shon and Patrick. … JJ had several nice gains on a slant pass over the middle and a couple of swing passes. He can shake his booty when he needs to. … Bubba looked fierce on one pass over the middle where he screamed as he hauled it in; sure scared me. … Ouch of the day was Rory and Joe getting their feet tangled on a pass rush. … Rory's rushing made a big difference in forcing Dark to throw short, and he was aided by great LB play on one drive by Cody and Sheri. … My man caught zero passes (of course, my man never had any passes thrown his way).

NEXT: We are back Feb. 24, Penmar.

Flag Recap Feb. 10, 2007

2007-02-11T00:07:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: The National Weather Service said Parish, NY - about 25 miles northeast of Syracuse - reached a milestone early Saturday with 100 inches of snow during the past seven days. Meanwhile, in Venice, so much for any rain. Sunny, calm, 70. Perfect.

WELCOME: A big welcome to new players Jermaine and Vladimir. Welcome back to Matthew, who hadn't played since last summer and is now off to work in China for 9 months. And a big welcome to our visitor Cyd, glad he wasn't in NYC this winter weekend.

GAME: White won a shootout, 56-49, with tons of big plays.

MVP: It's an easy one – Tommy, aka "Pirate Boy," eating his MVP crackers (above). We actually had two games but Tommy scored three TDs so quickly that we called the first one and started a second one from scratch. Tommy scored on a 65-yard pass on the first play, then ran back an interception on the next drive for his second. He was equally the star in Game 2.

TRICK PLAY OF THE DAY 1: The old hook-and-lateral, last perfected by Boise State. I took a short pass from Cyd and waited a second for the tacklers to converge. I then tossed it back to Cyd, who had a head of steam. He headed down the sideline and scored.

TRICK PLAY OF THE DAY 2: On a 1-point play, Brent took a very short pass from Cyd. The defense converged and Brent lateraled it back to Tommy who ran in easily past the befuddled defense.

REGGIE BUSH TAUNT OF THE WEEK: Marino and Jeremiah had been tussling all day (in good fun). A play after JJ knocked a pass down while Marino futilely claimed PI, he got his revenge. He snagged a hard pass from Toby and turned back pointing the ball at JJ while still running. "I'll pay the $5,000 fine," he said.

PICK OF THE DAY: Cyd had one but it was a beaut. He ran halfway across the field and grabbed the ball low. He managed to keep his feet in bounds as he went up the sidelines for a score.

RECEIVER OF THE DAY: Marino gets the nod as he made a bunch of nifty grabs and had a couple of scores, including a couple of catches while lying on the ground.

Runnerup was Toby, who did a number on his defender, who shall remain nameless. "6-2, 200 pounds! You can't stop him!" Toby yelled once.

TD MAKERS: Tommy led the pack with at least 5. I had 3 (not a typo!), including a 65-yarder. Jermaine also had 3, including a great grab as he was close to running out of the end zone.

WHERE WAS PATRICK: He did not show and Demond said it was because he was still licking his wounds after losing the 50-yard dash a week earlier.

OUCH OF THE WEEK: David jammed his fingers on the ball trying to grab a pass in the ground. It hurt even watching.

LOOKING FOOLISH: Demond caught a short pass and was headed my way. "Come on, D!" I yelled. Of course, all I grabbed was air. The next victim was Brent, and J had to run across the field to make the tackle. "All those who Demond made fools of raise their hands," J said. Brent and my hands shot up immediately.

OFFENSIVE P.I. OF THE WEEK: Toby gets the nod for his takedown of J, who was guarding him. The swim move was OK, it was the WWF-style hook and push that wasn't. Must have been why Toby was 25 yards in the clear. Of course, on the play before J mugged Toby, so all's fair in love and flag football.

HIGHLIGHTS: Vladimir trying to avoid the paparazzi (aka Brent). Vladimir did have a nice back-of-the-end-zone catch for a score. … Matthew got into the end zone early on one of his patented stretch-the-ball-across-the-plane moves that Brent has copied. … On one of Tommy's TD, I knew it was a score when I heard a defender yell "Shit!" That's always a bad sign for any defense.

SCHEDULE: We are back next Saturday, Penmar Park.

Flag Recap Feb. 3, 2007

2007-02-03T19:36:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: Locals in the small Siberian village of Pudinskoye woke up on Wednesday and they immediately noticed something rather strange: the snow falling from the sky was orange. The only orange we saw in Venice was the flags as it was perfect – sunny, calm and 72.

WELCOME: A big welcome back to Al, aka Foxy. He brought his big smile and long arms back for the first time in a while. And another welcome to Shon and Joe, playing for the first time this season.

GAME: It was a game of fits and starts, some great defense, some quick scores and a lot of action. White wound up with a 44-30 win.

COMMENTS: People are often suggesting I write this or that, but there is a comments section if you feel I've missed anything. Feel free to contribute.

MVP: There were several deserving (Eric and Rory come to mind) but it has to go to Demond. He had two brilliant TDs and one great interception.

DEFENSIVE STANDOUT: Jeremiah lobbied for this but anyone who waltzes in a third of the way into the game doesn't get the nod. I'll give it to David Hinders. He played a great LB and had one interception, forced a second by batting the ball and batted a third.

HIGHLIGHT REEL 1: Demond's first score. It was fourth and 10 from Dark's own 2 and they went for it. Marino hit D with a 10 yard pass that he took the remaining 68 for a score, juking and cutting several times. Even White had to applaud.

HIGHLIGHT REEL 2: Demond's second score. On a 6-yard completion, he ran another 55 yards with everyone in hot pursuit. "Break their ankles!"" JJ screamed as he watched D twist defenders around.

HIGHLIGHT REEL 3: Rory made a positively brilliant grab down the right sideline where he went up against two defenders, made contact with the ball then secured it as he was falling down, with JJ draped all over him.

HIGHLIGHT REEL 4: The best throw-pass combo came from Toby to Eric. Toby launched one that was a great strike and Eric accelerated under it enough to snag it with his fingertips and take the rest of the way.

HIGHLIGHT REEL 5: Came after the game when a race was held between Patrick and Demond. A 50-yard dash for bragging rights. Patrick was in the race for a while before D pulled ahead and won by a couple of yards. Brent has visual evidence above (click image at top for larger view).

BRUISER: Rory was a mess after the game with scrapes, cuts and bruises over his arms, legs and knees. It all came courtesy of him hitting the ground on several catches. "You're just trying to be ghetto for your date tonight!" someone (JJ or D?) said. (Rory tries to knock ball from Jim, but the clutch receiver hangs on. Click image for larger view).

BALL HAWKS: There were a lot of picks, so if I missed yours post it in the comments. Marino snagged two, and Eric, Toby, Demond, David H., Dan and Patrick. Eric took his back for a score.

LATERAL WOES: Dark never did get the pitch back right. On one play, Marino had the first down when he tried to pitch to JJ, but the ball fell behind the first-down marker. I caught one pass and made a beautiful toss to JJ, except he was 2 yards ahead of me, making it illegal.

NOTABLE: Nice grabs on plays by Joe (David just missed knocking it down), JJ, David Hinders, Kevin (on a great seam route); me (going low for a first down), Ramsey (he even kept his feet!). … Nifty TD pass from Toby, where he rolled left and looked like a run, then he shoveled it forward into the end zone to (?) for a score. … Foxy made several nice PBUs as a DB (ask JJ to translate).

SCHEDULE: We are back Feb. 10, Penmar.

Flag Recap Jan. 27, 2007

2007-01-27T21:16:00.000-08:00

IN HONOR: This game was the toughest a lot of us had ever had to get ready for, occurring less than a week after our friend and teammate Anthony was killed. People shared, shed tears and even laughed a bit as we remembered him. He was a special part of our group. We had a moment of silence prior to the game. It rained on us at a game for the first time in more than two years, prompting Rory to say," Anthony's pissing on us." Knowing the love and affection behind the remark, I had to smile. The game was played with a heavy heart but a generous spirit.

Anthony's story has touched people all over the country. A woman in Arizona with a gay son wrote today: "I read about Anthony … And I’ve been walking around the house with such a heavy heart, crying off and on ever since. I cannot believe the terrible pain I am feeling, the loss feels so close, almost as though he were my son. But I’ve never met him and now he is gone."

WEATHER: Our first mud game in more than two years. Drizzling and cold, about 57. The only sensible person was David Hinders' friend, who watched from the car.

It was so muddy that the bright orange bag we use as a marker was rendered a dark brown, so much that it blended into the ground. "Where's the first down?" someone asked me on one play. "It's that brown lump about 7 yards away," I replied.

GAME: A three-hour affair that went back and forth, with Dark pulling away for what turned out to be a comfortable win.

MVP: A tough choice but it goes to Zach. He had three TDs, including one nifty catch and run for one, and a brilliant interception and runback for another. I still don’t know how he managed not to slip once.

SKATING CONTEST: That what it looked like on one play where Brent rushed and D. Hinders blocked. Both were slipping on the mud but it looked choreographed like an ice-dancing routine.

MUDDERS: The most valuable piece of equipment were the sticks around the field that people used to clean their cleats with. I hit the ground once when Ramsey and I got tangled up; it took two people to help me up since it was so slick. Receivers regularly caught a pass and kept going in a straight line since cutting was hard. Patrick made a nice catch on one long pass and would have scored until the mud made a tackle.

GOOD HANDS MEN: Despite the slop and slick ball there were a lot of great catches. Rory made several, including a terrific sliding grab in the end zone; Ray caught a beautiful deep ball from Dan for a long score; I went up high along the sidelines to grab one; Marino stayed in stride on a super throw from Toby for a TD; Brent made a nifty finger-tip catch before he slid out of bounds on one play.

BALL HAWKS: There were several picks due to the weather. Darren had two (I think), one set up when Luis tipped the ball while rushing; Rory also had two, while Zach, Toby, Marino and Ray each had one.

WEIRD PLAY OF THE DAY: Dan threw it to somebody in the end zone and Toby had the interception in his hands, until he collided with a teammate and saw the ball caught on the ricochet by Ray on the other team for a score.

WEIRD PLAY 2: Marino ran the option on a 2-point conversion. He rolled right, pumped and took off. He was easily going to score yet for some reason stopped and threw a pass ... 8 yards past the line of scrimmage.

QB RATINGS: Marino threw a lot of nice balls, but also battled the elements. Dan started hot then it caught up with him. Toby was 2 for 2 in scoring drives, silencing his critics (you know who you are). Patrick came in for one series and promptly threw a pick. We took pity on him and gave him a mulligan. Three plays later he tossed another pick.

WHERE WAS THE DEFENSE?: On one series, White faced a 4th-and-25 and yet converted on a long pass from Dan to Kevin (who always has a way of getting open).

NEXT: We are back Sat. Feb. 3, Penmar.

Flag Recap Jan. 20, 2007

2007-01-20T18:28:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: The Midwest was hit by a major snowstorm, while in Venice there was no snow (this isn't Malibu) but a somewhat chilly 62 and partly cloudy; very nice football weather.

WELCOME: To new players Randy and Troy. Randy pooh-poohed it when I told him he would be sore the next day ("I do spinning," he said) but at game's end admitted I was right.

GAME: Back and forth throughout, with Dark finally pulling away 50-38.

MVP: Hard to deny Toby, despite his lobbying for the award. He caught TD passes, had an interception for a TD and even threw a TD pass.

PLAY OF THE DAY: For its sheer beauty as a pass and a catch, hard to beat Dan's long TD bomb to Ray, who caught it on the end of his fingertips and kept on going.

CLONE: Toby, the big Steelers fan, pronounced himself Kordell when he went into QB. His first few passes certainly looked like Kordell (low and in the dirt) but Kordell is more gay.

ON TARGET: David threw a lot of nice balls as Dark QB, though he must have felt like Phillip Rivers vs. the Patriots on the first few plays – drop, drop, drop. When did Eric Parker start playing flag football?

TRICKY: White pulled off two hook-and-lateral plays in honor Boise State. Me (still playing receiver and not QB) took the first one and tossed it back to Brent for a nice gain. The second one was cooler, with me basically batting it back to Dan (White's QB), who got about 15 yards out of it.

MAKING A STAND: White's defense did not cover itself in glory, but on the last drive it made a terrific goal-line stand, when Dark failed to convert on four tries from the 2.

HIGHLIGHTS: Really nice catch and run by Sheri on a TD grab, catching the ball in stride. … Ray made a nice one-handed grab for a long gainer that set up a score. … I had a nice long grab in the corner of the end zone for a score. … Randy did a good job of getting lost in coverage on one play for his first score in our group. … Troy1 made a terrific over-the-shoulder catch, while Troy2 had several catches in traffic. … Embarrassing moment was me catching a pass, then faking out Troy2 with a move. I have no moves. … Our sack master today was Sheri, who snagged Dan three times for large losses.

SCHEDULE: We are back Jan. 27, noon.

Flag Recap Dec. 30, 2006

2006-12-30T18:06:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: Gorgeous – sunny, calm, not a cloud in the sky, near 70. A great way to end the year.

GAME: A thriller that saw Dark hang on to win, 30-26.

SCHEDULE: We are off the next two Saturdays and are back Jan. 20.

MVP: Have to give it to Ray, for his three interceptions that turned the game for dark.

PLAY OF THE GAME: For its humor value – Toby was guarding Ray and went up to the line for the play. Ray stuck out his hand in what Toby thought was a friendly gesture. Ray timed it perfectly and yanked Toby back as the ball was snapped and ran right by him. It was poetic justice as Ray dropped a perfect pass down field.

BEST NICKNAME: Brent somehow came up with calling Rory "Orchid," as in delicate flower after Rory would grip his hamstring the two times he was beat. "Yes, I'm a succulent," Rory said. "You can say that again," Brent said.

BEST MOVE: Patrick made a great stop and go move that left the defender yelling "Oh, shit" and left Patrick wide open for an easy TD from Marino.

LAST TD OF THE YEAR: Yes, I will take the honor. The play was for me to sell the block and flare out in the flat. Dan read it perfectly, hit me with a short pass and I ran 60 yards (believe it or not) for a score. It helped that Patrick missed my flag.

BALL HAWKS: Dark wound up with four total, led by Ray's three. Peter also had a key pick on a long pass attempt.

HIGHLIGHTS: Oren came up with several nice grabs, his best being one he caught in traffic near the goal line. … Patrick made a terrific grab on a fourth-down TD. The ball hit his hands and started to slip away when a defender's hand knocked the ball back into Patrick's body enough for him to haul it in. … Good hands men on White were Rory and Toby, who consistently came up with big catches. … Brent also had several nice grabs and would have gained more yards if he remembered where the sideline was. … I had another lateral after a catch that led to an additional 15 yards; the next time I caught one I faked the lateral and gained 10 more yards after the defense stopped. ... Tip of the hat to Marino for calling a nice game at QB with no picks and several nice fourth-down completions.

Happy New Year!
Jim

Flag Photos Dec. 2 and 9, 2006

2006-12-26T18:47:00.000-08:00

Brent took some terrific photos during two games in December. Check out the complete set here.

In addition, Brent has posted some images from our final game in May. Click here to check them out.

Above is photographic evidence that I can do more than just throw!

We are playing Sat. Dec. 30.

Recap Dec. 16, 2006

2006-12-16T23:42:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: I am not sure how many people didn't show up thinking it was pouring rain. In Venice, we had a 10-minute cloudburst before we started, then it was great the rest of the way. The field was fine and we even had some sunshine. In the future, when in doubt, show up. It was a bit chilly by LA standards but we wound up playing 2 ½ hours.

SCHEDULE: We are not playing Dec. 23. After getting enough commitments, we will now play Dec. 30, but I will send a reminder. Also, Brent promises some photos on the blog in the next couple of days.

WELCOME: This is from a week ago, when I wasn't there, but a big hello to Mike, whom Brent named Rugby Mike.

CATCH OF THE DAY: Has to go to Toby for his great grab and concentration. He was near the right sideline and had to simultaneously secure the ball, while "dotting the I" in keeping his first foot in.

PLAY OF THE DAY: Patrick decided to QB a series and he didn't exactly remind anyone of Peyton Manning. However, on 4th-and-long he managed to avoid Brent's rush and heave a deep pass to David, who got past the defender for a TD.

WEIRD PLAY OF THE DAY: I caught a pass and tried my version of the spin move as Ray was trying to make the tackle. However, my spin move needs work and I lost control of the ball. David happened to be hanging around and the snagged the ball for a turnover.

SECOND CHANCE: Marino, playing linebacker, made a nice pick on a play, but the QB was ruled sacked. So two plays later, he stepped in front of the receiver and got an interception that counted this time.

GRANPA MOSES: That's what Brent called me based on the way I shuffled after my first catch. It was chilly and I was tight, which is as good an excuse I can muster.

FROSTBITE? It was in the upper 50s and felt cold, so it was weird when Sheri took off her receiver's gloves and the tips of her fingers were white.

HIGHLIGHTS: Sheri had several nice grabs, including one nice slant she took in for a TD. … Brent showed some good hands on several plays, then used his patented stretch the ball technique for a couple of scores. … I made a very nice catch running a deep slant near the sideline. The ball was a tad low and I stretched out and made the grab. … Ray made an outstanding catch for a touchdown, despite tight coverage from Toby. Both went up for it, and Ray was able to use his body position to haul the ball in. … In addition to his catch of the day, Toby was big all day as a receiver. Even when he drops one he looks good doing it. … Patrick got what turned out to be the game-winner on a nice pass from David that Patrick secured and sprinted into the end zone.

Hope everyone enjoys their Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate!

Recap Dec. 2, 2006

2006-12-02T18:17:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: Not sure it could be any more perfect – sunny, 75, no wind.

GAME: After not being sure we'd have a turnout because of USC-UCLA, but we got 17 and had a thriller. White rallied from a 24-6 deficit to nip Dark, 34-32. White tied the score on a TD reception by Brent, them took the lead on David's pass to Toby for the 2-pointer. Dark then drove down inside the White 5, but was unable to get into the end zone.

WELCOME: A big hello to Ray, Sean, Darren and Alex. And a big welcome back to Peter.

MVP: A rare award to a defender but Brent deserves it. He was awesome rushing the passer and changed the game. I counted five sacks and numerous other pressures. He often beat double-team blocking ("That guy's fast!" said one after Brent got around him).

CATCH OF THE DAY: Ramsey can never catch the ball and keep his feet, but he still is able to hold on. His best was on a TD over the middle on a pass from Sean. Ramsey caught the ball while falling backwards and still held on.

PLAY OF THE GAME: Jeremiah got everyone's attention on his 60-yard catch and run. Of course, the defense was stunned that he actually caught the ball in the first place. Once they recovered, they could not catch him as he changed direction and sped away from Patrick (aided by a nice block by Toby).

CLUTCH PLAY OF THE GAME: Despite falling short, Dark came up with a key play that kept the drive alive. Facing 4th-and-10 from their own 15, Sean found Andrew down the sideline for a 60-yard gain down to the 5. One of the White players – I think Jeremiah – made the tackle, in what turned out to be a key grab.

BALL HAWKS: Kudos on a couple of nice picks. Ramsey read the ball on a pass in the flat, snagged it and ran in about 30 yards for a score. Patrick made a terrific grab to get a pick and ran it down deep inside White territory to set up a score.

BEST LINE: Sean was complaining that Brent, as pass rusher, was raising his arms in his face (a totally legal play at any level of football as long as he doesn't hit him). "I've been playing longer than you've been alive!" Brent said. "Really?" Sean said. Not too far from the truth.

HIGHLIGHTS: Darren made several nice grabs, including one for a TD. … I had both a TD and a conversion as I continue playing receiver. … Mark continues to be a terrific flag-grabber, an art I have never mastered. … Ray was solid on both sides of the ball, and had several sweet catches. … Nice hookup on a long sideline pass from Puff Daddy to Toby. … David did a nice job at QB in leading White back once he got settled. … I have finally realized how hard it is to grab Peter's flag once he catches it. It's like trying to tackle a freight train.

SCHEDULE: We are playing Dec. 9 and 16. NOT playing the 23rd. I will get a head count prior to Dec. 30. NOT playing Jan. 6 or 13 (NFL Playoffs).

See you then!
Jim

Recap Nov. 25, 2006

2006-11-26T15:22:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: Heavy snow fell overnight in parts of Western Washington, but much farther south in Venice, it was 68, sunny and beautiful.

WELCOME: A big hello to newcomers Luis, Andrew, John, Mark and Jordan. Were you guys sore the day after?

GAME: It was back and forth for a good while, but Dark broke it open midway through the second half to pull away, 48-34.

MVP: Have to give it to Dark QB Anthony, who scored on all but one of his drives and had no picks. Of course, he only threw me three passes – all of which I snagged -- despite me being open all day. J Ah, it’s fun to bitch like a receiver for once.

PLAY OF THE GAME: Have to give it to Eric, Mr. Heads Up, for catching a TD pass that first ricocheted off the hands of Luis into Eric’s arms. Eric was a difference-maker, with three TDs and some great defense.

SCORING MACHINE: Brent often sits on offense to allow others to play, but he made most of his chances, with one TD catch and two 2-point conversion catches.

BALL HAWK: A nice job on a key goal-line interception by Cody, who made the catch, then kept his feet inbounds. Duly noted: Jeremiah was open on the play, but the pass was a bit overthrown.

FASHION PLATES: Best footwear award goes to Jordan and Mark, who wore identical bright red soccer cleats.

HUMEROUS PLAYS OF THE GAME: Have to give it to Troy, who needs to perfect the art of the center snap. He sent two of them 5 feet over Puff Daddy’s head.

CATCH OF THE DAY: Goes to Jordan on what was a busted play. It happened on the first snap that sailed over Puff’s head. He was able to pick up the ball and heaved it down the middle of the field. The ball hit Jordan in the hands as he was falling backwards and he held on for a long gainer.

PLAYS OF NOTE: Best pass was Anthony’s rocket that resulted in a 58-yard TD play to Eric … Rory, after falling over a sprinkler head early, made several nice grabs, the best being a 35-yarder down the middle where he went up high to get the ball … I had a very nice grab on a rainbow from Luis near the sideline, where I was able to make the catch and keep my feet in-bounds. … Dave was a clutch receiver for White all game, with several first-down grabs and a TD. … Mark showed a nice proclivity for flag-grabbing, an essential art that few do well.

LAUNDRY NOTE: Mark – you left your shirt at the field, and it has been freshly washed.

LOST IN TRANSLATION: Jeremiah asked Eric why he hasn’t played lately. “I’ve been on the DL,” Eric said, causing laughter. He still doesn’t know the meaning we all assumed. Google it.

SCHEDULE NOTE: We will play Dec. 2, 9 and 16. We are not playing Dec. 23. We might play Dec. 30 if there is enough interest. We are not playing Jan. 6 and 13 (NFL playoffs).

See you Saturday!

Jim

Recap Nov. 11, 2006

2006-11-14T21:42:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: A bit chilly by Venice standards – mid-60s and breezy. At least it was better than western Wisconsin, which got 17 inches of snow.

GAME: It went back and forth, with Dark holding on 37-31, when White came up short on its last drive.

MVP: Believe it or not it was me (by vote) and NOT as a quarterback. My shoulder is still sore from being drilled in a tournament a month ago, so I played wideout. I had a slew of catches, including one Marvin Harrison-lite effort along the sideline and a fourth-down pass that went 40 yards for a score. And I knocked down two passes as a rusher. Even Cody was impressed. Patrick was also terrific, with two long TD catches and two picks, while Oren had his best game ever on offense.

BEST T.O. IMPRESSION: Brent was so open on one play – literally 20 yards – that he stopped for a second thinking the play had been whistled dead. After running in for the score, he then lie down and used the ball as a pillow like T.O. Only Brent's not as gay as T.O.

'I WAS AFRAID:' Those were Oren's immortal words on one play where Jeremiah caught a pass and started motoring. As he headed towards Oren, Oren did the wise thing and got out of the way to avoid being run over.

GET THAT MAN SOME HANDS: That describes Jeremiah's receiving day, or lack thereof. Just ask Anthony, his QB. "I don’t like you," Anthony moaned after one drop.

BIG PLAYS: We had three long TDs within 4 plays. Oren got open deep on a fourth down and made a long catch and run; next play for White went deep to Jeremiah for a score (yes, he hung on); and two plays later for Dark, Patrick got even on a bomb from Marino.

BEST HAIR: Sheri loses out this week to Cody's Mohawk.

WELCOME BACK: Nice to see Brian "Puff Daddy" come back after his foot injury this spring. Living up to his nickname, he snuck in a smoke prior to the game.

CURRENT EVENTS: "What a great day Tuesday was!" someone said about the election. "What happened Tuesday?" a player, who shall remain nameless asked. "Are you serious? Don't you read the papers? Don't you watch TV" Jeremiah asked incredulously. "No," came the reply. I think this player did know Bush was president.

NEXT: We are back Saturday Nov. 18, noon.

Flag Recap Nov. 4, 2006

2006-11-04T19:09:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: Lake effect snow is still coming off the east end of Lake Ontario Saturday morning. Lake effect squalls are expected to drop 1-4" of snow throughout the day. Meanwhile, in Venice is was a gorgeous 72 without a cloud in the sky.

GAME: A great opener to the season saw Blue beat White by about 12 (though I can't remember the exact score). Welcome to new players Rodney, Carlo, Troy, Jonathan and Mike, and Sergio (in his cameo appearance).

OVERALL MVP: Have to give the award this week to Cody, who played liked a man possessed and with a new haircut. He scored three TDs and made some superb catches and runs. He was just trying to show off for Anthony.

OFFENSIVE MVP: Rory was brilliant with his new eyes (he had Lasix about a month ago), making several spectacular catches. The best was when he went very high while falling backwards. "My ass is killing me," he said, but he did hold on for the score.

BAD MOON RISING: The funniest play came when I took off on one run with Cody in hot pursuit. He first grabbed my shorts, then pulled my briefs but missed my flag as I continued to run half nekkid. "There's a lot of white there," Cody said, while Toby and Rory simulated a gagging sound. I'm gonna wear a chastity belt next time.

FALL GUY: Nice to have Ramsay back, though I imagine he's plenty sore today. He must have hit the ground at least six times as passes came at him high, low and in between. But he was able to walk off the field and headed for the nearest whirlpool.

BALL HAWKS: Mark and Toby each grabbed two interceptions, Cody got one. Mark's first was spectacular as he caught the ball almost one-handed while falling backwards at corner. I gift-wrapped one of Toby's by basically making him the intended receiver; I looked a lot like Ben Roethlisberger on that one!

BEST LINE: Mark wanted to know when we were going to stop. "The tequila I had last night started here (points to his mid-stomach) and is heading here (pointing up higher). Brent wound up calling him Tequila when calling out defensive signals.

BEST HAIR: Sheri gets it hands-down. Very colorful and well-done!

GOOD HANDS PEOPLE: In addition to Rory and Cody, there were a lot of nice catches. Kevin was his usual reliable un-Raider self with key grabs, including a pivotal fourth-down catch on a nice lead by Marino; Rodney made a superb shoe-string catch on a long pass; Ramsey made like Dallas Clark in going low and snagging a pass on one series and going high for another. Of course, he hit the ground both times; Anthony went high and showed strong hands on a comeback play where the defender was trying to wrest it away; Toby looked like Hines Ward on a tough catch and run down the sidelines.

NOTABLE: Marino made more like Vick on one TD run and on a 2-point play, where he optioned it to Sheri for the score; Anthony looked solid on QBing a TD drive, throwing a laser to Mark for a score; Carlo was a great hustler on the pass rush, continuously flushing Marino out of the pocket; Brent made his usual great flag grabs at MLB, keeping 3-yard completions just that.

NEXT: We are back at Penmar Park, Nov. 11 at noon.

Have a great week!
Jim

Flag Football Back This Week

2006-10-31T10:43:00.000-08:00

We are back Saturday, Nov. 4. Here are the basics:

--Games start at noon at Penmar Park in Venice.

--Bring your own water, cleats, $5 for field fees and a dark and white shirt (you will be assigned to one team based on shirt color).

We have a permit but a softball group plays before us, so don't worry if you come and you see them. There is plenty of space to stretch and warm up.

Here are directions:

From LA: 10 west, exit Lincoln Blvd. west. Go left on Rose and we're at the corner of Penmar and Rose.

Shortcut:
10 west, exit Bundy SOUTH. Turn right on Ocean Park, left on 23rd (which becomes Walgrove). Turn right on Rose and left on Penmar.

A Golden Gay Games

2006-07-23T21:39:00.000-07:00

Team Outsports, with eight of its 12 players from the LA Motion based in Venice, won the men's gold medal in the competitive division at Gay Games VII in Chicago.

The team: From LA: Zach (#22), Matthew (8), Rory (20), Jeremiah (29), Anthony (10), Mike (55), John (5) and me (7). From NYC: Cyd (#27, a lot of you know him from his LA days), Paul (21) and Corey (1). From Minnesota: Former NFL player Esera Tuaolo (98).

A recap:

WEATHER: Brutal. Monday it was 95 and humid with a heat index of 105. People were warned to stay inside. Tuesday was better, with highs in the upper 80s but still humid. Wednesday was sweltering early, then it cooled off later as a thunderstorm threatened. No one should EVER bitch again about where we play, where it's always 72 and breezy.

GAME 1: Boston 21, Outsports 20
What the headline would have been in the morning papers:
"Heat Fries QB's Brain"

We lost a tough one when I channeled my inner Brett Favre and threw a weird pass that was tipped and picked off at Boston's 2 with two plays remaining. I should have run the ball instead. We made a great rally to take a 20-14 lead, led by Jeremiah's brilliant 60-yard run off a shovel pass on third down. Corey had 11 catches as center and repeatedly bailed us out. Two plays before the pick, I hit Zach for a 50-yard gain, which was all for naught.

It was the first time all of us played together and it showed in the first half. But it told us we had to play every play like it was our last. It turned out to be a blessing.

GAME 2: Outsports 25, San Diego Toros 7
What the headline would have been in the morning papers:
"Outsports D as Stifling as Heat"

We pretty much dominated this one and I (the "immobile QB") even ran for one score. Zach made a great move on a corner fade for one TD and the defense started to jell. Cyd took a 5-yard out pattern and made three guys miss for a 25-yard score. Paul made a nice inside move and got up high (he's 6-6) for a score. We were glad to end the day 1-1 and get somewhere cool.

Game 3: Outsports 27, Chicago Flames 20
What the headline would have been in the morning papers:
"Good to the Last Stop"

Imagine the Bears-Packers or Raiders-Chiefs and you get a sense of the intensity anytime a team I quarterback plays the Flames. Matthew's nose was badly bloodied (and maybe broken) when a Flame delivered a nasty and cheap forearm to the face that the ref missed.

The game got added fuel when the Flames' quarterback Will Ward told USA Today (yes, a national newspaper mentioned gay flag football), "I hope [Tuaolo's] not ashamed to be on the team that wins the silver (medal), because we're gonna win it all."

Not that we needed motivation, but the comment got us intensely focused … until the first drive, when the Flames marched down in four plays for a 7-0 lead. We settled down and the score was 20-20 heading into the final two minutes. Then the real fun began.

On fourth and 8, I fired high to Anthony, my go-to guy all last season. He made a catch that Cyd correctly described as "sick." He went up, took the ball from the defender, cradled it in his right arm, used his left to balance himself on the ground and stop his knee from touching, then ran forward an addition 10 yards. The Chicago defense could only shake its collective head. Two plays later I hit Zach for a 30-yard score and a 27-20 lead.

Chicago would not quit and they got down to our 2-yard line with one play left. Rory, our rusher, took away the first option and forced a pass to the center, who turned to reach the ball across the end zone. But Cyd was in perfect position and he grabbed the flag a half-yard short (I was watching down the sidelines and the call was correct). Players on both teams erupted, us in joy and the Flames in disbelief; a couple of Chicago players acted like Grade A jackasses, dropping f-bombs on the officials. The win was so sweet, especially when Chicago wound up not even medaling despite starting 2-0.

GAME 4: Outsports 39, Sixth Street Knights 23
What the headline would have been in the morning papers:
"A Perfect Six-Pack"

This stat sums up this game, a playoff quarterfinal: We had six drives and six TDs. Everything we did worked, whether they played man or zone. A lot of the Knights were familiar to many of us: Shon, Superstar, Joe, Bubba, David Hinders and Brian (out with a bad ankle). I asked Shon at the coin toss if he had his $5 for field fees and he said, without missing a beat, "I'll bring it next week."

The tone was set on the first play when Zach picked off the Knights' QB. Anthony had another great catch for a TD, while Rory was a treat to throw to as flanker. As he was all tourney, Corey was awesome; I think he had about 45 total catches and five TDs in the six games. Plus, he ran the 1-point conversion to perfection.

GAME 5: Outsports 35, San Diego Toros 7
What the headline would have been in the morning papers:
"Heading to the Finals"

One of the semifinals. We were totally dominating in this one. We scored on 5 of 6 drives, and Matthew made a great play to grab an interception that got us down to the 2 on one drive. Corey, remembering Boston, would always tell me to be careful once we got inside the 5 (no duh!), and I made sure I ran over him on a short TD run. :-)

Cyd (badly swollen calf) and Paul (bad heel) were heroes, playing awesome on defense despite the pain. Rory continued to be a star, making one beautiful 60-yard catch and run where he made three cuts.

GAME 6: Outsports 26, New York Bad Apples 13
What the headline would have been in the morning papers:
"On Golden Pond"

The game almost did not come off as Gay Games officials ordered everyone to stop because of an impending storm (even though it was not raining). Had the game been postponed until Thursday we would have had to forfeit since people had built their travel plans around a three-day tourney. Fortunately, the tournament director interceded and let us play. As it turned out, it never rained and the weather was the best for football all week.

We started sluggishly and New York grabbed a 7-0 lead. Then the cavalry arrived. Rory and Paul missed the first two series because of a basketball conflict and it was a relief to see them come down the hill as we started our second drive. Rory put on his jersey and promptly went 60 yards on a short slant. We scored on a 5-yard pass to Zach, where I rolled right, suckered the LB and threw over his head.

We trailed 7-6 at half, but the second half was ours. I hit Anthony on a clutch 15-yard TD slant pass on fourth down, and three plays later Zach made the defensive play of the tournament. He grabbed a pick at midfield, then put it into another gear, racing down the sidelines for a score with Jeremiah as an escort. It gave us an 18-7 lead, but NYC came right back in four plays to make it 18-13 with three minutes left. We needed one more drive and got it.

On second down I spied Rory breaking left and threw it high figuring only he could get it. The NYC defender went up to make a nice play on the ball with Rory behind him. Rory reached around, plucked the ball away with both hands, spun and ran 10 yards. The defender was so flustered he whacked Rory in the face for an additional 10-yard penalty.

Three plays later, with two minutes left, we won the gold. I hit Corey on a 5-yard out, figuring to keep the clock moving. But Corey wanted more. He got around the corner, then managed to stay two yards inbounds as he ran down the sidelines. When he crossed the goal line we all erupted and realized we had achieved our goal.

NOTABLE:
Efficient: In our last 21 drives of the tournament, the offense scored 17 times. After the Boston game, I threw 19 TDs, ran for three and had only one pick. The receivers were superb, especially since they had to go both ways. We did not punt once.

Teamwork: The most beautiful thing about the team was zero drama. Everyone played their role and we needed all hands on deck with the heat, number of games and injuries.

Sight to behold: It was fun watching Esera, all nearly 300 pounds of him, running the shovel pass. He kept wanting to do it, even when it was third and 10.

In a rush: Our rushers were superb, led by Rory and Paul, with a lot of others contributing. Not a lot of sacks, but constant pressure. Cyd, Matthew and Jeremiah did a wonderful job coordinating the defense.

Stiff D: Six times teams got inside our 15 and came away empty handed.

Ball hawks: Anthony and Zach led the way with three picks each, Cyd and Matthew one. Jeremiah had no picks but his man defense on Matt, this incredible NY receiver, was heroic.

Thanks to everyone who played this past season in Venice. We have a lot of talent our here, our games are very competitive and the competition allows those of us playing in tournaments to be ready for other teams. We resume in the fall. :-)

Recap May 20, 2006

2006-05-23T15:55:00.000-07:00

PICTURES: A group from this past week is below the writeup.

WEATHER: Perfect for football – sunny, a light breeze, 72. With the season ending, it marked the first time in years that we did not have one rain game, even though it threatened many times.

GAME: A see-saw affair early, then White jumped ahead and held on for the win. The first TD of the game was scored by Demond, the last of the season by Jeremiah, though on the latter he and Zach spent 2 minutes arguing if the goal line was straight since Zach swore JJJ was short. Ah, memories!

Before getting to Saturday's action, some quick season-long awards:

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: I am going with Anthony, who played his first season. He is a very talented player, as we all saw, even when he's bored and yawning all the time. In addition, he drove from Banning each week, a 2-hour drive. And he showed up early, compared to a lot of guys who wandered in late despite living 10 minutes away. But especially, Anthony is a great role model for people coming out. He's 18 and was out to his high school football and wrestling teams, never an easy thing to do. He did it because he wasn't going to hide who he was. My favorite story was when he was taunted by a fellow wrestler who had problems with Anthony's orientation. A challenge match took place and Anthony won via a quick pin; talk about facing somebody.

SPECIAL THANKS: To Brent, for securing us Penmar Park during the season. Finding Saturday field space in LA is extremely difficult, but Brent booked the field by paying upfront (which is why I collect the fees each week as a way for him to get paid back as quickly as possible). Plus, Brent never complains about what team he's on, what the score is and he always takes breaks to allow others their share of playing time.

SATURDAY HIGHLIGHTS:

GREAT GRABS: We had several superb catches. One of the best was Sheri on a key first-down grab. I threw is way hard and high, yet she stuck her hands up and came down with the ball. … Anthony excelled on a terrific leaping catch along the sidelines. … Demond made at least two great one-handed grabs that are routine for him. ... JJJ made a beautiful burst to haul in a long pass from me. Oh, wait, that was the one he dropped!

LAND RUSH: Three sacks of note. First was Peter's (picture below), who finally didn't let my swivel hips fool him. JP had a nice sack of Puff Daddy on a blitz for a big loss. And Brent made a sensational grab and he flew by me, reaching out to get the flag.

SPEED KILLS: Demond made two of his patented TD plays. On one, he caught a pass in the flat, made his defender miss, then weaved his way down field for the score. On another, he ran from right to deep left and caught a great pass from Puff Daddy, never breaking stride for a TD.

JJJ showed his other gear when he took a direct snap from center, made one cut left and blew by defenders for a score.

WHOSE BUTT? On one play, a receiver went up, made a nice catch and started motoring left. JJJ said he wasn't sure who it was until he saw "the white skin and the butt and knew it had to be JP." Photographic evidence below.

NO IDLE THREAT: Peter made a great catch in the corner of the end zone for a conversion. On the same play, Brent, as blocker, basically horse-collared JJJ who was rushing. Peter looked at me and said: "If you call my catch back for holding, I'll murder you." OK, no penalty!

SUNDAY, BLOODY SUNDAY: On one play, Anthony made a grab over the middle and tried to evade Peter. Only, his shoulder met Peter's face with the result being Peter holding his bloody nose on the sideline for several minutes.

NEW NAME: Brent kept calling Jay "Chicken Wing," since before the game he ate chicken wings and the grease made his hands slippery. No wonder my fingers smelled a bit fowl.

GATOR BAIT: Will JP ever live down his wimpy attempt at a reception on his first offensive play? He stopped as if he just saw a mouse, retracted his arms and the ball fell for an incompletion. "Oh, that's gonna be in the blog," he moaned. You got that right.

PACKING SOME HEAT: JJJ was badgering me to throw one to him on a slant and make sure I threw it hard. I did my best Elway impression and he looked stunned as the missile came towards him. Putting his hands up more in self defense, he nonetheless made a great grab.

NOTABLE: Oren made two nice plays on offense. On one, he caught a wide receiver screen and followed a great block from Anthony into the end zone for a score. On another, he showed a flash of Barry Sanders, in evading tacklers and gaining an additional 10 yards. … Zach made a beautiful read on a pass over the middle that he picked off. … Dave made a big play on a long pass from Puff Daddy for a score. … Cody really shined as a receiver, being much more aggressive and making several nice catches, though he did have a habit of hitting the turf. Cody also had a nifty interception along the sideline. … The coolest play of the day was a conversion from me to JP. He ran an in route, then broke out and I threw it on his break, hitting him right before the pylon. A super pass and catch. JP caught a ton of balls after his alligator arms incident, a lot of them in traffic. Shame can be a great motivator!

THANKS: A big thanks to everyone who played this season! It was awesome and we will resume our regular games in the fall. See you all around!

May 20 Photos (Click Image for Larger View)

2006-05-23T15:48:00.000-07:00

Recap May 6, 2006

2006-05-07T00:55:00.000-07:00

WEATHER: Thunderstorms packing 80 mph wind gusts and heavy rain uprooted trees, toppled power lines and damaged buildings in parts of Texas. Meanwhile, in Venice it was its usual boring sunny, slightly breezy, 70-degree day.

SCHEDULE NOTE: We are off May 13 (field not available). We are back for our season finale May 20.

WELCOME: A big hello to new players Bart and John, both of who fit in well from the start. You are welcome back any time.

GAME: A barnburner that saw Dark hang on for a 38-34 win over White, in a game with tons of big plays, weird plays and what-were-they-thinking? plays.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME: A joint award to Bryan and Toby from Team Dark. Each scored on offense and each had an interception return for a score, in what proved to be the difference. Bryan gets the nod for the cool heart-speckled boxers we saw after he lost the top of his shorts, while Toby managed to keep his pants on so we never spied if he was boxer or briefs or freewheeling it.

CATCH OF THE DAY: Rory made a brilliant catch and run on a deep ball that he somehow wrestled from Zach while on a dead run.

DEFENSIVE PLAY OF THE DAY: Toby on his pick that he took back 80 yards. Brent wondered why I didn't go all Roethlisberger on Toby on the return, but I felt that sticking my foot out wasn't the most sportsmanlike thing to do ("I would have done it," Toby said).

HEADS-UP PLAYS: We had a rash of balls being knocked up into the ai by the defense and still caught by the offense. Brent had one grab on a pass from Patrick that was swatted into the air and Brent made a heady play to snare it.

Brent was on the opposite end when he knocked one away only to see Anthony swoop in and catch it off the carom.

Toby got into the act when Jeremiah did the tip drill, only to see the rest of the defense stand there like the proverbial slack-jawed yokels, allowing Toby to catch it.

The coolest was one to Rory in the back of the end zone, that Zach hit with tremendous force only to see Rory catch it with his hands barely moving.

QB RATING: Patrick threw four passes on conversions off of wide receiver back passes. He went 3 for 4 with two conversions and no picks. A 130 rating, though one of his passes went to me for about two yards.

CONTROVERSY: We had three plays in dispute that were basically solved by saying: "You get this one, we'll take the next." The first saw John catch a pass and weave his way on 4th and 15. White said he gained 15 yards, 6 inches, Dark said it was more like 13 yards.

This led to Dark getting the next call. I ran for a first down and alertly tossed back to Rory, who ran for a score. First, Dark said my flag was off (wrong). They then said I threw it forward (wrong again). But they got the call, negated the TD and three plays later Toby picked me off for a score in a 12-point swing and the biggest sequence of the game.

White got the final call, when Jeremiah was called for flag-guarding when he went low on a score.

The game film was Fed-Exed to the NFL Saturday night and league officials came back with these rulings:

--The 4th-and-15 play. Using GPS technology and lasers it was determined that John gained 15 yards, 1.8765 inches. We know how many of you obsess about exact inch counts. First down.
--On Jeremiah's flag-guarding. Bill Clinton was consulted and he said, "It depends on what the meaning of 'flag-guarding' is."
--On the lateral back to Rory. "We sincerely apologize for a total miscarriage of justice." the league said in a statement. "We have fired the officials involved – Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles and Helen Keller."

BEST RIP: I called one defensive series for White and it led to a quick score for Dark. Said Toby, "Jim will set up a defense an offense can score on." Not sure if I should be insulted or complimented.

CATCHING MACHINE: John might have led the game in total passes caught; he had a bunch, most of them on slants. His best was a key fourth down catch where he went low and caught the ball while hitting the ground.

FINANCIAL REPORT (Sponsored by Ditech): Zach – "I owe for $5 from the last game … so I'll bring up $15 in two weeks." Uh, guess this means you didn't bring money this week? Very JP-like of you.

HONORS: A shoutout to Marino for calling a great game at QB. He had a lot of nice passes and kept throwing left with success. I recall nice passes to Zach on middle/slants, long passes to Toby and Bryan for scores and several nice connections with Anthony. For good measure, David also ran for a score.

ARE WE BORING YOU? Every time I looked over to Dark's right side of the defense, Anthony was yawning. Or coughing.

PRODUCTIVE: Patrick was his usual offensive force. He scored once on a great effort on a deep slant, another time when he totally made the defender bite and set up a third score with a terrific grab low near the right pylon.

BEST MOVE: On a key fourth down and goal from the 2, White did a direct snap to Jeremiah. It looked like two Dark defenders had a chance, but JJJ literally ducked under the arms of one and slid by the other for the score. Very Vince Young-like.

NOTABLE: Best shovel pass was Peter taking a short pass and gaining 15 yards. … Oren ran a nice pattern and stayed with the play in catching a TD pass. … Bart had several nice grabs for White, but we need to teach him to keep running until his flags are off. … Rory was also an offensive force down the middle, making a bunch of nice catches. … Zach played a nice DB for most of the game, constantly staying with his receiver. … Patrick had pre-Vaselined his feet to prevent calluses, breaking his pledge to allow Brent to do it.

Recap April 22, 2006

2006-04-23T22:31:00.000-07:00

WEATHER: For the 7th consecutive Saturday, rain was forecast. For the 7th consecutive Saturday, it was dry in Venice. Peter woke up in cloudy, drizzly Burback, ignored sunscreen and wound up a nice shade of pink.

SCHEDULE: We have three weeks left this season – April 29, May 6 and May 20. We are off May 13 (field not available).

GAME: Hard to tell who won since people kept coming and going (insert double entendre here). So we'll call it a victory for all!

MVP: Gotta give it to Dan this week. He gets traded from Dark (0 passes thrown his way) to White and promptly scores on his first play, He scored twice more, threw a TD pass (to me, of all people. You should have seen my spike!) and snagged an interception. Payback's a bitch.

EDWARD SCISSORSHANDS: This applies to a lot of us today. We dropped the ball more than Donald Rumsfeld planning Iraq. Doink! One sequence summed it up: Dan went into QB. His first pass hit me in the hands in the end zone. Drop. His second hit Jeremiah in the hands in stride. Drop. His third hit Toby in the hands in the end zone. Drop. Toby smartly blamed me, saying my moving to WR disrupted the receivers' mojo.

MARATHON MAN: Toby's training for the San Diego Marathon, so he ran 18 miles before playing. "My legs are gone," he said at the end.

MEDICAL REPORT: Patrick wound up with terrible blisters after the game and everyone gave him their favorite remedy. Brent suggested slathering his feet with Vasaline before playing, prompting Patrick to say: "OK, Brent, I want you to rub Vasaline on my feet the next time before we play." Brent's eyes lit up.

BLOCK OF THE DAY: Marino hit Patrick with a short slant pass and he began motoring. Over from one side came Peter, from the other JJJ. The two met and JJJ knew what a 7.9 earthquake feels like. "Illegal pick!" he screamed, until he realized he had been drilled by his own teammate.

BALL HAWKS: Some nice picks today. Marino got one on a nice read on the ball; Dan had his as mentioned; Mike made a nifty grab of one as linebacker and Toby wrestled the ball away from Brent on another.

MAKE SOME NOISE: It is funny to hear the sound Brent makes when he drops a pass; JJJ says it's his "Southern Belle" coming out but it's more like it's the air being expelled from his lungs since he tends to catch the pass with his chest. So, after being needled by JJJ, Brent enjoyed going over to him after he dropped a couple and needling him back. Snap!

GO DEEP: Best long pass was the Jim to Mike connection on one of the first series. A nice route, good throw and catch and the score.

NOTABLE: Peter had two nice TDs, including one on a deep slant made a possible by a nifty play fake by Marino. … John made a superb grab in the deep right corner of the end zone, getting body position, going up for the ball and setting his feet in bounds. … Some of the Dark defense was curious, especially the "no-rush" version. I'll take 8 seconds to throw any day. … Lamest block was by me on Mike's interception. It was my Southern Belle moment. … Toby made a nice move on a fake corner then slant for a TD. ... John said JJJ looked like Donna Summer in juking and jiving after one catch.

Recap April 8, 2006

2006-04-09T15:44:00.000-07:00

WEATHER: Couldn't have been better. Sunny, clear, slight breeze, near 70. Ideal football weather. A great turnout that saw us play nearly three hours.

GAME: Back and forth early, Dark took control and went up 30-20. Then White's defensive coordinator, JP, left and Dark was held scorless the rest of the way as Jim took over. White scored six consecutive TDs and won 62-30.

I happily called JP with this news and, being the talented lawyer he is, put forth a good rebuttal. He pointed out that Zach also had to leave, which took away Dark's fastest player. A fair point. But the jury bought my argument for why White excelled in JP's absence. It's the novel ABS legal theory – Addition By Subtraction.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME, OFFENSE: Rory was excellent, scoring three touchdowns and catching virtually everything thrown his way. His best was a superb effort on a deep pass that he caught in stride over a defender, then kept his feet and eluded two tacklers in the end zone. … I'm giving myself the second nod. White scored on 10 of 11 drives and had no turnovers. Plus, I had to deal with both JP AND Anthony on my team, TO Squared.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: Brent gets the nod with his five sacks. Sure, he did get called for bull rushing once and tomahawk-chopped Anthony's arm when he Qbed, but he did a terrific job overall.

WARDROBE MALFUNCTION: Anthony had another pair of shorts ripped, this time by Zach who grabbed for his flag and came up with a piece of cloth instead. We had to delay the game a bit as Anthony, as one player said, "was changing his skirt."

TIP DRILL: Nice job on the game's only interception as Anthony deflected the pass into the waiting arms of Rory.

QB RATING TIME: Mike played a bit of QB for White and completed 2 of 3 passes for 70 yards, 1 TD and 0 interceptions. That translates to a 149 rating (perfect is 158.3 but I made sure he wouldn't obtain that by dropping the only pass thrown to me!).

WIDE OPEN BUT: We had several busted plays where receivers got wide open … and promptly dropped the pass. But Dark did score on one such play on a nice pass from Marino to Dan ("Marino Dan." Like that!).

DULY NOTED: A few plays that didn't count but are still worth mentioning. Zach made a great leaping grab along the back of the end zone but came out of bounds by a foot. … Cody made a great grab in the corner of the end zone, with one foot in and one touching the cone. Dark ruled the cone was the first foot, so denied Cody the catch. … Bubba had his first interception in ages taken away on a legit defensive holding call on the other side of the field.

OUCH: I've learned to not do a hard leg workout on Thursday, play nearly three hours of football on Saturday, then get in my car and spend 45 minutes in traffic. I finally got out of my car at the speed of a 175-year-old tortoise that has just taken Ambien.

BEST EXCUSE FOR MISSING LAST WEEK: Rory – "I was in London."

WORST EXCUSE FOR MISSING LAST WEEK: JB and Mike: "We looked out and thought it was raining." Said of a day where we needed sunscreen.

GOOD LINES: "Brent carries the ball like he's carrying a preemie." Anyone who has seen Brent run with the ball knows what it means. … "Wadda mean good defense? The ball hit me in the hands and I dropped it." – JB about Mike.

CALL A SURVEYOR: We kept having disagreements on ball spots, some of which were quite humorous. My favorite was when one Dark receiver caught the ball and fell backwards … and the ball was promptly spotted 5 yards forward by his teammates; I think you can only defy the laws of physics on "The Matrix."

HIGHLIGHTS: Marino was on all day, with many nice tosses and play calls. His favorite was a nice hard slant to JB that hit him in stride for a big gain. … Zach made a nice move in getting a step on Rory and beating him to the ball for a score. … The longest shovel pass of the day went to Peter, who rumbled about 30 yards before finally being caught. …

Kudos to David, who always stays home on defense, is an excellent flag-grabber and reliable receiver. … Two great routes by Patrick for scores – one on a slant, then pivot to the corner; the other on a great stop and go that froze the defender. … Dan had a solid game at receiver, including one nice long pass for a score. … Easiest score of the day was on a post to Anthony. White stacked the right side and Dark left Anthony in single coverage and left the inside wide open. … Anthony joined Rory with 3 TDs on the day. … Nifty move and catch for a score by JP, who managed to keep his feet in bounds while falling. … Nice MLB by Bubba, who twice knocked passes away on fourth down.

Recap April 1, 2006

2006-04-02T00:13:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: For the fifth week in a row rain was forecast, and for the fifth week in a row it was bright, sunny and beautiful. Matthew was so convinced it would be cloudy that he didn't bring sunblock. I learned my lesson and applied it before leaving the house.

GAME: White led from the start and won by about 2 TDs, the key (as at any level of football) being turnovers.

MVP: Has to go to Eric, with four (yes, four) interceptions, including one he took 3 yards deep in the end zone and ran back. He also had two offensive TDs, and was so excited by his MVP win that he tried to leave with his flags still on.

CATCHES OF THE DAY: Three tie for the honor. First up was David's great concentration and catch near the sideline on the 2-point conversion. He caught it at the 1 and had the presence to reach across for the score.

Second goes to Jeremiah (JJJ), for his wonderful leaping grab along the back of the end zone. Like Montana to Clark.

Third was Patrick catch along the sideline, where he did what is becoming routine – going up high, getting body position and catching the ball while falling on his back. These catches for him seem to happen at least once a game.

OVER THE TOP: A nice passer-receiver combo was Puff Daddy to Matthew. PD made several nice deep passes and Matthew made some marvelous catches. We won't say (cough … JP) who was guarding Matthew on those plays.

BEST COMMENT: On one play, Eric caught a pass and was streaking down the sidelines when he was tackled by Patrick (not just flag-grabbed, but tackled). "Hell, I'll take the 15-yard penalty," Patrick said.

BEST BARRY SANDERS IMITATION: Cory caught a pass across the middle and weaved right, then left, then right, then left again for a score.

BOO: To the 5 people who told me they would show up, and stayed away. Afraid of a little perceived rain?

BEST RIP OF JP: From David after one play: "JP, you gonna be on the new Queens of Comedy?"

BALL HAWKS: Eric led the way with four, with three coming on back-to-back-to-back passes. JJJ had one (he also caught a pass as a defender on a 2-point conversion and tried to claim it was an interception. Nice try!). JP also played great on defense, with two picks, including one run back for a score. He also deflected a pass that Eric picked off.

FINANCIAL NEWS: JP finally paid up.

Recap March 25, 2006

2006-03-26T12:17:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: Nice and cool, partly cloudy, 65. Great football weather; too bad we had one of those days where a lot of people couldn't make it. We did play back on the old field that has been reseeded.

THE RATINGS GAME: Bubba threw, I think, maybe his first 2 passes ever. One was on a wide receiver throwback that he tossed to me (it went about 4 yards) and I amazingly ran in for a score (with the lamest spin move ever). Bubba's rating was a perfect 158.3. Then his second pass was intercepted. His rating: Still a not-bad 95.8.

CATCH OF THE DAY: Patrick (or "Texas Chainsaw" as Brent calls him) was able to make it out and he didn't disappoint with two great grabs. One came in the end zone on a long pass where he slid to grab it; the other on a nice adjustment along the sidelines.

TIP DRILL: A nice example of defensive coordination came when Kevin was able to deflect a pass into the air, and Peter came down with it.

NOTABLE: Bubba was both Antonio Gates and Edwards Scissorhands on the same drive. He made a great over-the-shoulder catch for a first down with a defender draped over him. A couple of plays later, he dropped one right in the breadbasket (must be taking lessons from JP). …

Best reaction to a dropped pass came from David, who short-armed a long pass from Puff Daddy. "Alligator arms!" David said about himself as the ball hit the turf. … My right big toe has learned a valuable lesson: Never punt a football when you have no clue how to. Ouch! …

Best huh moment came when Brent, calling out the defense, told someone to "guard the Munchkin," meaning Patrick. "Munchkin? I weigh more than he does!" Patrick said. …

Best topical reaction came from Brent, when he called out the play beforehand to his defensive mates, yet they didn't respond and White scored. "That's like the Russians giving Saddam the war plans and he didn't listen!" …

Great back of the end zone grab by Kevin, who caught the ball even though he was forced out by Brent. … New player Jesse had little time to get in the flow as he hurt his groin and was done on the second possession. Hope he heals quickly. …

Game was ending and Dark failed on a fourth-and-2. So they were given a fifth down to make it. No good. A sixth down. No good. Finally, David made the completion on seventh down and it was over!

Recap March 18, 2006

2006-03-18T23:17:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: The gods continue to smile on us. It rained in LA Saturday night but earlier in the day in Venice, it was beautiful if windy and on the cool side (low 60s). But great football weather and a dry field.

GAME: It started even and was tied 12-12, until White took control and went on to a solid win. Notable were both teams going a combined 0 for their first 10 on 2-point conversions.

MVP: Goes to Toby, for a terrific game on both sides of the ball. He ran great routes, had a slew of catches, several scores and was the total shutdown corner on defense.

RUNNERUP: Peter, who made a bunch of key catches, at least 2 TDs and had several PBUs on defense.

BEST EXCUSE FOR SHOWING UP LATE: Rory, who got up in the middle of the night to take allergy medicine and took a sleeping pill instead. Doh!

GAME WITHIN A GAME: Anthony brought his "friend" Cody, who was a totally cool guy. We ended the game thinking Cody had bested Anthony in TDs, 2-1, but we forgot one: It was the weird play where I threw a hard pass that bounced off of Anthony's hands, into the air and back into his hands for a 40-yard score. So neither has bragging rights.

BEST IRONY: JP excitedly tells me before the game that he saw the eye doctor that morning and that one of his contact lenses had a weak prescription. Of course, his new, improved vision will make him a better receiver, flag grabber, lover etc. First pass from Puff Daddy to JP. Hits him in stride in the end zone. You can guess what happened. Made my day.

WORST LUCK: Peter, who had two big plays nullified on reallyclose calls. The first came when I ran for about a 5-yard gain. At the last second, I lateraled back to Peter, who ran down the sidelines for a score. But Dark ruled my flag was grabbed prior to the lateral. The second came on a wide receiver pass that Peter completed for a long TD. Again, Dark said Peter's flag was grabbed as he was passing. Both were super-close and fun plays nonetheless.

BEST PIN: Anthony on Jeremiah (Triple J). While White was waiting on defense, Triple J tackled Anthony, not realizing he's a high school wrestler. A quick reversal ensued and a pin. Had this been "real" wrasslin, Triple J would have smashed a chair over his head.

BALL HAWKS: Four excellent interceptions – Anthony's beautiful one-hander while going out of bounds. … Brent's great play to wrestle the ball from Matthew near the goal line. … Matthew making a superb MLB play by leaping high to catch a pass. … Marino, who read me perfectly on the last play of the game when I went to Anthony.

Worst non-pick: Triple J, dropping one in the end zone, prompting Toby to say: "If I would have known you were going to drop it, I would have picked it off."

BEST LONG BALL: Triple J ran a nifty inside slant route and I hit him stride for a very long score. He does have wheels.

BEST CATCH: Marino made a great adjustment and showed excellent concentration on a slant across the middle that he snagged from PD despite Anthony making a diving attempt for the ball.

HIGHLIGHTS: Peter ran a nice wheel route down the left side for a score. … Brent had a nice play where he caught a pass, then had several guys miss as he raced for a score with Triple J as an escort. … Oren played his best defensive game of the day and also wound up with some nice catches for key first downs (I like Triple J's nickname for him: "Big O") … Brian Rubin had one of his patented catches, stop (thinking the flag was off), everyone yells "Go!" and he gains another 15 yards. … My best pass was a strike into the wind that hit Anthony in stride across the middle for a long gainer. … Cody beat Anthony for his second score, leaving him on the turf on a crossing pattern. Not bad for a swimmer.

NEXT: We are playing Saturday March 25. See you then!

Pictures From Feb. 18, 25 and March 4

2006-03-12T23:27:00.000-08:00

This is just one of 150 shots from recent action. Thanks to Brent for these great images.

Click here to be taken to our Flickr page.

(Click on the image above for a larger view)

Recap March 11, 2006

2006-03-12T23:20:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: OK, all you weenies who failed to show because you're afraid of a little rain – it was so sunny in Venice that I got a bit of a sunburn since I forgot my sunscreen. It was about 60 and sunny most of the time. We literally got about 15 DROPS of rain total. The field was in perfect shape and it was classic football weather. But our rain-o-phobes stayed away and we had a smaller than normal turnout. We still had a blast.

GAME: It was all offense, with Dark beating White, 64-63. White was a 2-point underdog, so they covered, and we hit the over. Dark won it on the last play, with the difference ultimately being a conversion. We played a long time and no doubt we'll all be sore.

MVP: Everyone who showed up and ignored the weather forecast.

WEIRDEST PASS INTEREFERENCE CALL EVER: JP called it on Anthony – "He grabbed my nipples!"

GUESS THE QB RATING: I'll hide the identity of this passer, who played a couple of series early on and went 0 for 4 for 0 yards and 2 interceptions. What would his NFL quarterback rating be? Answer below.

CATCHES OF THE DAY: There were a ton (I would hope so with 127 points being scored). The best was Anthony's one-handed grab on a wheel route that Dark called out and White called in (we had a do-over). It was beautiful. … JP had several, including one that he caught off his shoetops, kept his balance and scored. … Peter's best was a great over-the-shoulder grab along the sideline. … Brent's was simply holding on to the ball, which he did for two or three TDs. … Brian's was on a nice slant over the middle for a big first down. … David's came on one series where he caught three passes for all his team's yardage.

EXCUSES: JP was in rare form. First, he was recovering from the flu. Then he was tired. Then it was either wearing gloves or not wearing them (it was hard to keep track). About the only one he didn't use was that the sun got in his eyes. And, to boot, he was the only one who didn't pay me (typical for a high-priced lawyer).

HIT OF THE DAY: Inadvertent, of course, but Brent and David, collided while both were on defense. Brent's shoulder blade hit David flush in the solar plexus and he went down for a moment.

MR. EXCITEMENT: You never know if Brent will catch the pass or not. He had several drops of nice balls (most from me, the bastard!), then came on at the end and was snagging everything. He's as reliable as the forecast.

PAGING WILLARD SCOTT: The weather service predicted a 100% chance of rain at game time. They were only off by 100 points.

FASHION STATEMENT: JP wore this funky looking white headband because "My ears are cold!" As Anthony said, "It makes him look even more like a special-ed student."

EXTREMES: While JP was freezing, Brian was sweating as if it were 95 degrees. He blamed it on doing two hours of yoga beforehand.

QBs: Big hat tip to Puff Daddy and myself for tons of nice passes. His best was one he dropped in over Anthony in the end zone to Brent. Mine was a beautiful long pass into the wind that hit Anthony in stride.

COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD: Jeremiah – Toby has your portable EMS machine and will bring it next week. … Someone last week left a Patagonia fleece pullover and I have it with me. … Good news on Puff Daddy's dog, who was hit by a car two weeks ago. She is on the road to recovery. A week of vet bills: $8,000. Knowing your dog will make it: Priceless.

ANSWER: Our mystery QB's rating was 0. Very Ryan Leaf-like.

NEXT: We are back next week, March 18.

Recap March 4, 2006

2006-03-06T19:46:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: In Venice it was lovely – 65 and sunny, but the field was a tad slick from the recent rain. That was better than New England, where several inches of snow fell, with parts of Vermont getting more than a foot.

GAME: Another thriller, won by Dark 38-34, in a game that saw a couple of lead changes.

MVP: Last week I was harangued by JP to give him the award and this week it was Jeremiah (through some act of the gods, the both of them have never played the same week). J suggested … demanded … that it be awarded to him and Zach. It's not a bad choice, especially since Jeremiah didn't drop a pass (yes, get up off the floor!) Jeremiah had one pick, one TD and several passes defended (he used the college term PBU, for passes broken up). Zach had two picks, two TDs and a 2-pointer. Hmm, Zach is higher in the key categories, so why are we sharing it? :-)

DEFENSIVE MVP: This was a no-brainer and goes to Kevin. He made one brilliant interception at the goal line and had about a billion flag grabs, and seemed to anticipate every play. Though I'm not sure how PBU's he had!

CATCH OF THE DAY: Goes to Marino for his brilliant corner fade grab in the end zone on fourth down with a defender having good position. A major league play.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Brent got twisted around on one pass and the ball hit him in the chest and bounced off incomplete. He gave kind of a high-pitched "Oooooooh!" as it fell, causing Zach to say: "It knocked the Southern woman out of Brent, like he had the vapors." Cracked us all up.

BEST DEFENSIVE PLAY BY AN OFFENSIVE PLAYER: Eric made a nice catch along the sidelines and was about to turn up field when he was knocked out of bounds on a nice hit by Walter … who was also on offense.

BEST MOVE: Anthony ran a great route on what started as a post and wound up as a deep out for an easy TD. He was money all day.

BEST LONG BALL: Andy threw a nice deep strike to Jeremiah, who snagged it and scored. Runnerup was David H.'s nice move down the sideline on a 30-yard TD strike from me.

BEST LATERAL: Kevin, after his pick, was about ready to be tackled when he alertly pitched it back to Jeremiah, who gained an additional 15 yards.

BEST RICHOCHET: Brent was heads up in grabbing an interception of a pass that bounced off the receiver's chest.

HIGHEST QB RATING: Peter went 1 for 1 for 10 yards and a 2-pointer to Zach. That translates out to 147.9.

HIGHLIGHTS: Let's hope Marc's knee is not too bad. He's always been terrific to have out there and he made some terrific plays, including one where he did a fair imitation of Barry Sanders, juking and swerving. … A great grab by Rory, going high to make a catch in the end zone on fourth down. …

Best run was by me, who shocked everyone by gaining about 20 yards, though I gentlemanly didn't run Jeremiah over. … Eric came up big all game, making several fourth-down grabs and numerous passes over the middle. ... Zach showed some nice quickness on a short shovel pass he took in for a score. …

Toby made a sensational grab, giving up his body on a twisting grab for a score. … Nice sack by Rodger on one play and great pass bat-down by David H. on a rush. … Worst Brett Favre imitation was my lazy underhanded pass to Zach that was fortunate not to be picked.

NEXT: We are back next week, March 11. See you then!

Recap Feb. 25, 2006

2006-02-26T16:10:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: Newfoundland's capital city, St. John's, virtually shut down Saturday after a fierce blizzard pummeled it with snow and powerful winds. Penmar Park was quite a contrast, 72 and sunny and calm. The only wind came from JP flapping his gums.

GAME: An odd defensive struggle in part, but White led from the start to win going away 40-18. Dark won the turnover battle but never got its offense on track.

NEXT WEEK: This is simple – we are playing next week, rain or shine (no rain forecast as of now). Enough people said they will play regardless that we will dispense with any watching the weather. Show up and play or be a wuss. J

WELCOME: A big hello to Jason who was literally driving by and asked if he could play. He coaches Pop Warner in Santa Monica and said it was fun not to be playing with 9-year-olds. I said some of us act like 9-year-olds at times, but that's another matter.

A big welcome back to Dan, who hadn't played in years, and to Marc and Demond, both making their first appearance in months since they were sidelined by injuries. They looked like they hadn't missed a beat.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Stabbing pains are shooting through my wrists as I type this. I would much prefer being shot in the chest by Dick Cheney or sit in a small room with Scott Hamilton yelling about double toe loops. But, honorable man that I am, I have to give this award to JP.

He called a terrific game as defensive coordinator, leading White to many stops. On offense, he caught numerous passes and had a couple of touchdowns. Of course, on one play where I rushed the passer and batted the ball away he criticized me because if I hadn't hit the ball he would have had an interception! Those shooting pains in my wrist are back.

BEST EXCUSE FOR NOT SHOWING UP: Zach, who was 40 minutes out on his way back from Big Bear until a friend realized he had forgotten his wallet and they had to turn around.

BEST EXCUSE FOR DROPPING A PASS: "I was hung over." – Toby, who spent all night at a Mardi Gras party.

BEST GOAL LINE STAND: Dark had a first-and-goal at the White 1 and was held. Best plays were Oren knocking away a pass on third down and Demond stopping Marino short on a fourth-down run.

OFFENSIVE FORCE: Anthony had about a hundred catches, or at least it seemed that way, many of the leaping variety. He added three TDs along the way for good measure.

CATCH OF THE DAY: Rodger made a brilliant over-the-shoulder grab on a nice pass from Marino for a long gainer. Of course, they picked on Jason on his first play ever, so it was a nice initiation.

RUNNERUP: The hangover made Toby less than his usual stellar self, but he was brilliant on one over-the-shoulder catch where he got his first foot in and kicked the pylon with the second for the score.

WEIRD TD OF THE DAY: Marino hot Brian on a medium pass, and Anthony grabbed at the flag but missed. Brian, assuming he was down, stood still until his teammates yelled in unison "Go! Go!" Brian then ran the length of the field and survived a diving last-gasp attempt by Anthony for a score.

HIGHLIGHTS: Key fourth-down TD by white came on a flanker to the back of the end zone pattern to from me to JP, which he caught. … On another play, I threw the ball as JP broke and he barely looked up in time to make the catch. … Brent made a very nifty catch on a fourth down, extending his arms to bring in the ball. … Dan was terrific at middle linebacker, but he needs a bit of work on his interception technique. … Jason showed some nice bursts of speed on a couple of short passes. … Demond was very effective as a situational pass rusher, getting at least one sack and forcing several incompletions. … It was great seeing Oren swat one away from Brent, since Brent's always giving him shit at their gym. And was I the only one who saw Brent grab and hold Oren around the collar as Oren went out on one pattern?Throw the flag! … Nice defensive game by Marino, with two picks and several great flag grabs.

See you next week.

Recap Feb. 18, 2006

2006-02-20T00:19:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: More than a quarter-million homes and businesses still lacked power across the Northeast on Saturday as temperatures plummeted following a storm with hurricane-force wind gusts. While the weather looked bad in Venice, it turned bright and clear and it was gorgeous for football. Anybody who stayed away thinking it was going to rain is a wuss!

GAME: Well, we hit the "over" quite easily, while White taking the lead early and holding on over Dark, 62-52. We played for 2 ½ hours and each team had 13 possessions. A barn-burner!

PLAYERS OF THE GAME: First one goes to Bryan, who scored four times with some great catches and runs. Second slot to Eric, with three TDs on some equally great plays. JP wanted to be considered for his defensive play-calling, but having your squad allow 52 points isn't a recipe for MVP on most planets.

WACKY PLAY OF THE GAME: I threw a long one to Rory, and by the time it was grabbed by David (Marino) playing DB about six people had their hands on it. Rory actually had the catch until Marino's knee met his head. I think Toby, Brent and Patrick also had shots at it.

LAME PLAY OF THE DAY: Patrick forced me to call this play by that title. White faced a third-and-1 and I threw a pass to JP at center that traveled about 2 feet. Toby went up to make a play, JP bobbled the ball with his flags still on, and he evaded Toby's tackle and went the rest of the way for the TD. I prefer to think of it as a 50-yard strike from me!

CATCH OF THE DAY: Has to go to Patrick. Marino threw a nice pass that was just a tad long. Patrick went up, made an in-air adjustment and caught the ball on the way down.

BOMB OF THE DAY: The best was my stop-and-go to Bryan, who ran a great route, caught the pass in stride and scored.

BALL HAWKS: In addition to the above wacky pick, we had five others. I got one on the game's best defensive calls, where I backed up into coverage and had JP rush. The result was an interception. Take that, JP! … Marino had two nifty ones, including one I was certain he could never catch up to to grab. … Dave was Johnny-on-the-spot, grabbing a pick off of a rebound. … Eric played like a center-fielder and grabbed his, while Patrick made a great read on an out, knocked the pass in the air, caught it and ran it back for a score.

STUMBLING, BUMBLING, FUMBLING: Brent took a shovel pass and made a nice run for a first down, then lost his balance and went sprawling forward, fumbling the ball when he hit the turf.

THE FACTOR RETURNS: With JP back, it certainly is never dull. He made some great defensive calls, got one sack and knocked a pass down on another. On offense, he was his usual pain in the ass in the huddle, trying usurp my play calling like the high-priced corporate lawyer he is. For some reason he was not pleased when I said he ran like "a 50-year-old woman" after making a nice grab then getting caught from behind. I should have said he ran like Harry Whittington with Dick Cheney's buckshot in his chest. He wound up with 2 TDs, but on the game-clinching score to Bryan over the middle, he complained that I "overthrew him as usual" since he ran underneath Bryan. Priceless!

HIGHLIGHTS: Some great grabs in the game. Rory went up high to make a super catch on a long pass. … Puff Daddy on one series had four catches, including a nice over-the-middle snag for a score. … Kevin got open a bunch in the second half for two scores and several catches. … Eric was terrific on the slant patterns, scoring a couple of times on nice routes. … Toby made an awesome move on Eric on a stutter and go for a score, so much so that Eric grabbed him and called himself for PI while the ball was in the air. … There was also some really nice blocking on White shovel passes, which often goes unsung. … Bubba may have set a record for getting hurt and taking himself out of the game. "But Jesus doesn't get hurt," Eric said. "Black Jesus does!" Bubba said.

NEXT: We are back Feb. 25 at the same time and place.

Recap Feb. 11, 2006

2006-02-12T16:01:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: The National Weather Service said 26.9 inches of snow had fallen in Central Park, the most since record-keeping started in 1869. In Venice, where it was 75 and sunny, 26.9 fewer inches of snow fell. Cyd picked a great weekend to visit LA and play with us.

GAME: It was a classic. Dark sprinted out to a 30-12 lead, then White scored 24 consecutive points to grab a 36-30 lead. At the end, Brent's TD catch on what amounted to the final play allowed Dark to salvage a 42-42 tie (Dark missed the 1-point conversion that would have won the game). We would have played OT but we had already been out there 2 ½ hours and too many people had to go.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: A tough choice this week, but I have to lean to Patrick, who made a series of spectacular catches. His best came on a twisting, over-the-shoulder grab falling down on a pass of about 30 yards. Great stuff.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: Got to give this one to Brent, who was terrific at MLB. He thinks I'm patronizing with my praise (I only patronize Zach, if you ask him), but we also know that Brent is solid. His best play came on a well-designed hook-and-lateral by White on a 2-point conversion. I threw a 5-yard pass to Matthew, with Brent guarding him. Matthew then tossed to Zach coming around the corner and it looked like a sure score. But Brent played off of Matthew and snagged the flag short of the goal.

WORST BIG BEN IMITATION: That would be me, for my diving attempt on a QB run near the goal line. My knee still hurts. Did I get in? Like Big Ben's run in the Super Bowl, who knows? I thought I got the ball over, but others said my knee came up short. Dark graciously gave me the TD (out of sympathy?). But since it was third down, I'll echo what Roethlisberger told David Letterman: "We were getting ready to go for it on fourth down anyway, so we would have found a way to get in."

KEY PLAY OF THE GAME: Zach ran a great route on a wide receiver slant, and I got the ball there on a key 4th-and-18 that keep the White rally alive. Zach had griped about being a "decoy" earlier in the game (uh, we had only run about 5 plays then), but he came up big.

NEWS FLASH: For the second week in a row, Jeremiah didn’t drop a pass. Oh, no, snow is forecast for Venice!

MY KINGDOM FOR A CONVERSION: To underscore the importance of after-touchdown conversions – White scored seven TDs (Cyd and Eric two, me, Oren and Brian Rubin) but zero conversions. Dark had six TDs (Toby, Puff Daddy, Patrick, Dave, Rodger and Brent) but made three 2-pointers.

WELCOME BACK: It was great having Cyd out from NYC this weekend and it was like old times. He made three key fourth-down catches, scored twice and did a great job rushing. His "duel" with Jeremiah was pretty much a bust, though, since J refused to play anything but left CB, while Cyd moved around on offense (White's not stupid!).

ZEBRA TIME: We instituted a new penalty system, where one team was awarded the first close call (the other team the next one, etc.) on any play where we simply couldn't agree. It worked pretty well. Dark did not use its call on my TD run, but did on a play where Cyd got a first down but Dark said he never had control of the ball. What's odd, is that Cyd DID catch the ball (he took three steps before losing it) and my play was so close it could have gone either way. Not a perfect system, but better than what we had.

LONGHORN TIME: How it is that playing in SoCal we had three Texas Longhorns (Patrick, Jeremiah and Toby) on the same team? They're everywhere, like weeds!

HIGHLIGHTS: Toby used great concentration on his TD catch on a pass that Zach got a hand on and seemed to knock away. … Puff Daddy played well at QB with many super throws and he even had a TD run. … Dave played solidly both on offense (a TD and a conversion) and defense. … Kudos to Rodger for a great block that sprung Brent on his TD. … Nice catch by Chris on a TD that was called back on a ticky-tack offsides call on a player on the opposite side of the field. Boo! … Oren may have found a new niche as a blitzer, as he regularly got good pressure on a delayed rush. … Jeremiah played great at corner all game, though we did one long pass against him with a shot downfield to Zach.

SKED: We are back next Saturday, Feb. 18.

Feb. 4 Photos

2006-02-05T11:54:00.000-08:00

Click photo for larger view. Game notes below photos.

Recap Feb. 4, 2006

2006-02-05T11:48:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: Turkey received rain and snow coming from central Mediterranean and the Balkans on Sunday. Meanwhile, Turks with satellite dishes were watching the football action in Venice, where it started a tad foggy before turning clear and 72 with no wind. Perfect.

GAME: A 2 ½-hour thriller that went back and forth. White finally prevailed, 38-32, on Anthony's third TD, in a game where there were only a handful of defensive stops. Well played by all!

PLAYER OF THE GAME: I'll give this one to the Dark fourth-down offense. They converted 9 of 10 fourth downs, including two of 20 yards. Now, a cynic might want to fault White's defense, but since this blog is spun positively, we won't mention it! David (Marino) did a great job on that down, as did his receivers. In contrast, White seldom went to a fourth down, mainly because of their amazingly efficient (and modest) QB.

TOUCHDOWN MAKER: Anthony led the way with three TDs, two on shovel passes and a third on a great grab in the corner of the end zone that was so clearly in, it was amazing that Dark even challenged it.

HIS SENIOR MOMENTS: We needed Jeremiah to start the game and he was taking his sweet time. He then came on the field but forgot his flag. He went back to do something else ("He's putting on his nails," someone quipped), then came back on the field … and still had no flag. An hour later, we started.

DEFENSIVE PLAY OF THE GAME: Bubba made a brilliant flag grab on Anthony on a fourth-and-1 that stopped White on the Dark 3. Black Jesus becomes The Freak!

NOT FOOTBALL, BUT FUNNY: Bubba passes on this great clip from South Park of Tom Cruise "stuck in the closet." Check it out.

HUSTLE OF THE DAY: I hit Columbia Brian (one of our three Brians, and he went to that fine university) on a long slant that looked like a sure TD. But Patrick came from the other side, timed his dive perfectly and made the grab (not bad, considering Patrick twisted his ankle on the first play of the game). Brian did catch a TD pass a couple of plays later.

CONTROVERSY: Oh, for replay. Brian (Puff Daddy) made a great deflection of a pass that was heading to the ground. Zach dove and got his hands under the ball (or did he?) for a pick. Eventually, after the U.N. Security Council met in emergency session, Dark conceded the interception, which was sporting of them. Either way, Zach made a brilliant play.

ASSESSMENT OF THE DAY: "I didn't drop a single pass all game!" Jeremiah said after. He had about a half-dozen catches, only one that was bobbled (see photo above), and a nice TD in the back of the end zone. Wearing stick-em instead of lube will work every time.

MOVE OF THE DAY: Jeremiah was still in wonder on Toby's great move and catch on him. Marino threw a great pass, Jeremiah had wonderful position, but Toby still made the catch. He then walked over and handed Jeremiah the ball. Well done!

LONG TIME: It was great having Matthew and David Hinders back after a long absence. David had some nice grabs, including one where he tumbled like a Bulgarian acrobat. Matthew, meanwhile, made several catches, including a great one where he bolted between two tacklers and tumbled into the end zone.

GOOD HANDS MEN: Bubba made a great snag of a 2-pointer between two defenders. He was more aggressive than Jack Abramoff hustling an Indian casino. … Columbia Brian made a brilliant catch off a nice 2-point pass from Puff Daddy, going up high and spiking it out of the air (see 2nd photo above). … Zach became Air Zach on going quite high over the middle to haul one in.

NOTABLE: A heads-up play by Patrick on getting a TD on fourth down. The ball was batted up instead of down at the goal line and fell right into Patrick's hands as he ran behind in the end zone. … Columbia Brian was an awesome pass rusher, garnering about four sacks and showing great flag-grabbing skills. … Brian Rubin was clutch on several fourth downs and had a nice grab for a TD. … I liked Peter's catch for a first down in the middle of traffic. ... I thoroughly enjoyed the Walter and Jeremiah battle when we played man. They spoke more than they played, which made it all the more enjoyable. … A great call by Dark on a 4th-and-10 shovel pass to Walter that caught White flat-footed for a first down.

SCHEDULE: We are back Saturday Feb. 11, same time and place.

Recap Jan. 28, 2006

2006-01-29T22:22:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: A heavy snow warning is in effect for the Cascades and much of Eastern Washington and northern Idaho, with as much as two feet of snow predicted in the Cascades by Saturday night. … In Venice, 2 fewer feet of snow was expected as the area saw brilliant sun, a cool breeze and a high of 65.

GAME: A thriller, as White rallied from 14-0 down to win by 6.

FYI: They are reseeding our normal field, so we are playing on the next one over until it is done.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: A tough choice, again, but I will have to go with Toby. He made a bunch of catches, including about a half-dozen on fourth down against a solid defender. He also made a brilliant over-the-shoulder catch in the left corner of the end zone for a score.

GOOD HANDS MEN: Some terrific catches. The best was Peter’s sliding effort in the end zone, snagging the ball inches off the ground. Also notable was Eric’s similar sliding grab on a 2-pointer, and Anthony’s nice reach on a long pass from David (back in his aqua Marino shirt).

WACKIEST PLAY: My pass to Jeremiah that hit him in stride, then ricocheted off into the waiting arms of Andy, who was somehow alert enough to snag it. I loved when people immediately said, “Write that up in the blog!”

WACKIEST PLAY RUNNERUP: An interception on a shovel pass. Ball hits receiver, ball bounces out and ball is caught by Walter.

WWJD: In this case, Black Jesus (aka Bubba, aka DJ) looked more like Antonio Gates. He had one touchdown where he caught the ball, had two people miss (I know, hard to believe) and walked into the end zone. On his second score, he grabbed a bullet over the top. He also called a defender for holding him, prompting someone on Dark to wonder, “How can Jesus be held?” Too metaphysical for me!

PASS THE SHOVEL: Dark’s most effective play turned out to be the shovel pass (not “shuffle pass” as some NFL announcers say). They ran it over and over and White never stopped it. Eric scored on at least one of them.

NOT RELATED TO FOOTBALL BUT INTERESTING: Check out this blog post from a guy and his friend who went to In ‘n Out in Vegas and ordered a 100x100. Yep, 100 burgers with cheese between one bun. Gross! Total calories: 19,490.

DEFENSE: Top defensive plays were Walter’s two interceptions, Eric’s pick off a deflection and Brian (Puff Daddy’s) on a good read. In addition David registered about five sacks on a great pass rush.

OUCH: Jeremiah played with a tight quad and on one play was sent sprawling on a chuck. He made a key catch for a big first down late in the game where he was shuffling more than running… Andy had his toe stepped on and was hobbling. … Some DBs had their pride hurt on some passing plays.

NOTABLE: I was nimble enough on one play to avoid the rush and buy a few extra seconds that resulted in a long TD to Andy. … Roger played solid D and ran a nice route to get open for a score. … Peter led the game with receptions with, it seemed, about 20. … I loved one Ohio State fan (Walter) playing against two from Texas (Jeremiah and Toby). The UT guys won this one, too!

SCHEDULE: We are back Feb. 4, same time and place. The day before the Super Bowl.