A Golden Gay Games

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. :-)