Flag Recap Jan. 27, 2007

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

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.