Recap Nov. 5, 2005

WEATHER: Can’t ask for more – sunny, calm, 70.

WELCOME: Big hello to John, Steve, Patrick and Tommy. A big welcome back after a long absence to Walter.

RESULT: We had a terrific game (played for 2 ½ hours) with White pulling away at the end for a 50-35 win. Anyone who bet the over is thrilled.

HIGHLIGHTS If I missed your moment of glory, feel free to add it to the comments. Name key: David the QB is Marino, the other David is David; tall Brian is UCLA Brian, the other Brian that Qbed is Puff Daddy.

MVP: Don’t always pick one every week but this one was a no-brainer: John. All he did was intercept 4 passes, running one back for a score. He also had 2 long TD catches. Anyone who had him on his Fantasy Football team is smiling.

PLAY OF THE DAY: The triple reverse pass by White. They tried it once on the drive, but the second leg of the reverse dropped the ball. The second time was the charm. Jim at QB, hands it off to Joe, who hands it off to Brian running the other way, who then gives it to Will heading back the first direction. Will made a great long pass while backpedaling, hitting John in stride for the score. I got so excited I slapped Will on the back and almost knocked his breath out.

CATCH OF THE DAY: An easy one and it goes to David. On a deep ball, UCLA Brian got a hand on it and seemed to knock it away. David was falling down and the ball hit him on the top of his shoe and he plucked it while dropping into the end zone. A tad controversial at the time but we looked at the SkyCam replays later and it was a catch.

TOM TERRIFIC: New player Tommy must have led the game in catches and he snared everything thrown his way. And he hit the ground more than anyone after catch. He also had more nicknames given that he was wearing a bright yellow, #8 Willie Stargell Pittsburgh Pirates shirt. “You guard Pirate Man.” “Who has Pirate Boy?” “Who has #8” …

TEAM SPIRIT: I can always count on JP to buck up a teammate at just the right moment. I called a wide left streak with a flanker out and slot slant. “Just don’t throw an interception like the last time you called that,” said JP, the Terrell Owens of Penmar Park. A suspension is called for!

BLIND ITEM: Sent to the New York Post’s Page 6: What receiver was free-balling it out there, causing one player to say “ring a ding-a-ling” every time he caught a pass and started running? And made missing his flag an adventure.

BLIND ITEM II: What player, I discovered after at lunch, is missing the ring finger on his left hand? It was lost six years ago when he tried to jump a fence and caught his ring on a spike and … you can figure out the rest. Not the most pleasant lunchtime conversation.

LONG AND SHORT: White scored 8 TDs but only 1 conversion. We tried various QBs and they kept throwing the ball out of the end zone (Will even hit the top of the fence). To remedy that, JP went in at QB on the final conversion and, as predicted, did not reach the end zone.

IN A RUSH: New guy Steve was wearing a Bill Romanowski jersey and he sure rushed the passer like him, getting my flag twice. … JP, of all people, also got a sack. … And I was playing blocking back on one play when Tommy came in. He was so fast that I had barely gotten out of my stance when he was already around me and had the QB’s flag. It was Dwight Freeney abusing Jonathan Ogden in the Colts-Ravens season opener.

GO DEEP, YOUNG MAN: We had a slew of long passes for TDs and big gains, incluing two to John, two to Shon (one he actually caught), ones by UCLA Brian, Puff Daddy, Will, Mike, Patrick, Tommy and Horacio.

NOTABLE: Kevin made a great catch, going high and fighting off a DB for a TD. … Joe had a bunch of nice catches for good gains. … Chad came out of his offensive shell with four catches, including one for a TD. … JP called his number (ball hog!) on one TD. … Marino had a ton of great passes, both short and deep, with Tommy and Puff Daddy being his favorite targets. … Great sideline grabs by Shon and Patrick on a couple of plays. … Longest commute award goes to Steve who came all the way from San Bernardino. Now that’s a football fan.

NEXT: We are back Nov. 12. Have a great week!