Recap May 20, 2006

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!