Recap Feb. 18, 2006

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.