LA flag football group plays Saturdays at Bernstein High in Hollywood. While we are a gay-oriented group, we accept anyone who loves to play football and have a great mix of people. We have a spring seasons and play pickup in the fall and winter. For pickup, Bring cleats, water, a white and dark shirt, be ready to play hard but leave your attitude at home. E-mail us with questions: kandreeky@gmail.com
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Flag Recap Feb. 24, 2007
WEATHER: The State patrol and the Nebraska Department of Roads closed the more than 270 miles of Interstate 80, because of high winds and drifting snow. Meanwhile, all roads were clear into Venice, where it was sunny and 70.
WELCOME: To Jason and Ari, two Frisbee players who decided to stay and play. They were both terrific players and good people.
GAME: White led 20-0 and pretty much coasted after that in a 38-24 win.
MVP: The nod goes this week to one of our many Longhorns, Patrick. He had three TDs and an interception in a stellar game. Runnerup goes to Ari, with one TD and two interceptions.
DEFENSIVE STANDOUT: Jeremiah lobbied hard for defensive MVP, but it’s hard to give it the losing team (Feel free to post dissenting comments). JJ did have several nice PBUs, I have to admit. I'd have to give the nod to Brent, for solid LB and DB play, including an interception, and some good rushing.
FUN PLAY OF THE DAY: David caught a slant pass from Toby and had two guys coming at him. He wisely held the ball until the last second before tossing it back to JJ, who outran the defense for the score.
LINE OF THE DAY: After White started going backwards on consecutive possessions, Brent played sideline analyst, yelling out his objections. "Just shut up and take pictures!" Cody said.
LINE OF THE DAY 2: After JJ made an excellent catch (yes, that is not a misprint, not am I on crack) over the middle on a pass from Marino, I sarcastically congratulated him for having a hands transplant this week. "No, I finally have a good quarterback throwing me the ball," JJ said.
CATCH OF THE DAY: Have to give it to Cody for his great effort on a deep post. I hit Cody in stride at the 10, but at the last minute Patrick (his teammate) came into the play and whacked Cody hard. Somehow, Cody wound up holding onto the ball while falling and while Toby accidentally stepped on his chest.
TACKLE OF THE DAY: Patrick. See paragraph above.
BALL HAWKS: White had 6 or 7 picks, including one run back for a TD by Brian. Ari led the pack with 2. Brent's was probably the toughest, as he caught it off a carom and while being contacted by the receiver.
BREAKOUT: Vlad came to play today. He had 6 catches, including a nice long TD, and one grab he managed to snag off a ricochet. He also gets the stylish award for the day with his natty ensemble and cool-looking cleats.
CHANGE OF THE DAY: It was only 70 and sunny, but Oren still felt cold enough to change into a long-sleeve T halfway through the game. That's what low body fat does for you.
GO DEEP: Several nice long passes. I hit Patrick and Ari twice each and Cody once for a combined three TDs. Marino found Toby open deep on consecutive possessions for TDs.
GOING BACKWARDS: White tried to get cute on 2 possessions and it cost them. A double-reverse pass wound up for a sack and a 15-yard loss. Then I dropped the next snap and lost 8 more yards. Another trick play lost almost 20 yards.
NOTABLE: Unsung job by Brian for his terrific blocking, that bought me a ton of time. … Jason had a few nifty catches and runs, including one where Cody pulled his shorts since he was dying to know if he wore boxers or briefs. It was more like traditional Fruit of the Loom. … Oren had a nice grab for a 2-point conversion off of Ari, catching the pass while moving backwards and still finding the end zone. … Cody made a Demond-like move on one catch where he stopped, sucked in his hips, and made a guy miss for an additional 10 yards.
WEATHER: Our East Coast friends will groan, but it might have been a bit too hot; high near 80 and sun all day.
WELCOME: A big hello to new player Jonathan, and a welcome back to Bubba and Cody and JB.
GAME: It was a turnover bowl early, as each team traded interceptions. Dark then took a 12-0 lead before I made my first appearance at QB since October. White then outscored Dark 32-6 for a 32-18 win.
MVP: Cody gets the nod. He scored the game-tying and go-ahead TDs on catches and runs, then added a conversion catch. He shifted to middle linebacker and keyed three defensive stops in a row with great pass defense and flag grabbing. And he didn't bitch when we asked him to rush!
DEFENSIVE STANDOUTS: Jeremiah and Toby lobbied hard for a co-award, and they have a point. JJ went from P.U. a week ago to PBU today, while Toby picked off two passes and have many knockdowns.
BEST ARM OF THE DAY: Has to go to Rory for successfully retrieving two of our footballs from a tree by throwing a measuring-tape that was shaped like a spear.
BEST NICKNAME: Bubba calling Jermaine "Barkley" after one catch.
BALL HAWKS: Let see, there were a lot of them. Brent had a key one near the goal line; Shon had one; Toby had two; JB had one; David had one. None, though, were returned for scores.
CATCH OF THE DAY: Has to be Rory on a deep ball from Toby. Rory went up high against a defender and managed to snag the ball and maintain possession as he hit the ground.
CATCH OF THE DAY 2: Goes to Shon for his great grab on a fourth and long for a first down.
CATCH OF THE DAY 3: Jermaine, for keeping possession and his feet inbounds on a deep out.
HEADS UP PLAY OF THE DAY: David, who had to scramble as the ballw as hiked 5 feet over his head. The ball bounced up into his arms, and he made a great play to complete a pass to Jermaine. So it was strange that two plays later he threw a pick to Brent where it looked like Brent was the intended receiver.
GO DEEP: Three nice long TD passes – David to Shon down the middle; me to Toby along the right sideline; and me to Rory in the right seam.
COMEDY OF ERRORS: On my first drive we were rusty. JJ dropped a shovel pass, Rory hiked the ball over my head and I dropped the ball running, turning maybe a nice gain into a 1-yard loss.
NOTABLE: Dark complete two 4th-and-10s on one drive on passes to Shon and Patrick. … JJ had several nice gains on a slant pass over the middle and a couple of swing passes. He can shake his booty when he needs to. … Bubba looked fierce on one pass over the middle where he screamed as he hauled it in; sure scared me. … Ouch of the day was Rory and Joe getting their feet tangled on a pass rush. … Rory's rushing made a big difference in forcing Dark to throw short, and he was aided by great LB play on one drive by Cody and Sheri. … My man caught zero passes (of course, my man never had any passes thrown his way).
WEATHER: The National Weather Service said Parish, NY - about 25 miles northeast of Syracuse - reached a milestone early Saturday with 100 inches of snow during the past seven days. Meanwhile, in Venice, so much for any rain. Sunny, calm, 70. Perfect.
WELCOME: A big welcome to new players Jermaine and Vladimir. Welcome back to Matthew, who hadn't played since last summer and is now off to work in China for 9 months. And a big welcome to our visitor Cyd, glad he wasn't in NYC this winter weekend.
GAME: White won a shootout, 56-49, with tons of big plays.
MVP: It's an easy one – Tommy, aka "Pirate Boy," eating his MVP crackers (above). We actually had two games but Tommy scored three TDs so quickly that we called the first one and started a second one from scratch. Tommy scored on a 65-yard pass on the first play, then ran back an interception on the next drive for his second. He was equally the star in Game 2.
TRICK PLAY OF THE DAY 1: The old hook-and-lateral, last perfected by Boise State. I took a short pass from Cyd and waited a second for the tacklers to converge. I then tossed it back to Cyd, who had a head of steam. He headed down the sideline and scored.
TRICK PLAY OF THE DAY 2: On a 1-point play, Brent took a very short pass from Cyd. The defense converged and Brent lateraled it back to Tommy who ran in easily past the befuddled defense.
REGGIE BUSH TAUNT OF THE WEEK: Marino and Jeremiah had been tussling all day (in good fun). A play after JJ knocked a pass down while Marino futilely claimed PI, he got his revenge. He snagged a hard pass from Toby and turned back pointing the ball at JJ while still running. "I'll pay the $5,000 fine," he said.
PICK OF THE DAY: Cyd had one but it was a beaut. He ran halfway across the field and grabbed the ball low. He managed to keep his feet in bounds as he went up the sidelines for a score.
RECEIVER OF THE DAY: Marino gets the nod as he made a bunch of nifty grabs and had a couple of scores, including a couple of catches while lying on the ground.
Runnerup was Toby, who did a number on his defender, who shall remain nameless. "6-2, 200 pounds! You can't stop him!" Toby yelled once.
TD MAKERS: Tommy led the pack with at least 5. I had 3 (not a typo!), including a 65-yarder. Jermaine also had 3, including a great grab as he was close to running out of the end zone.
WHERE WAS PATRICK: He did not show and Demond said it was because he was still licking his wounds after losing the 50-yard dash a week earlier.
OUCH OF THE WEEK: David jammed his fingers on the ball trying to grab a pass in the ground. It hurt even watching.
LOOKING FOOLISH: Demond caught a short pass and was headed my way. "Come on, D!" I yelled. Of course, all I grabbed was air. The next victim was Brent, and J had to run across the field to make the tackle. "All those who Demond made fools of raise their hands," J said. Brent and my hands shot up immediately.
OFFENSIVE P.I. OF THE WEEK: Toby gets the nod for his takedown of J, who was guarding him. The swim move was OK, it was the WWF-style hook and push that wasn't. Must have been why Toby was 25 yards in the clear. Of course, on the play before J mugged Toby, so all's fair in love and flag football.
HIGHLIGHTS: Vladimir trying to avoid the paparazzi (aka Brent). Vladimir did have a nice back-of-the-end-zone catch for a score. … Matthew got into the end zone early on one of his patented stretch-the-ball-across-the-plane moves that Brent has copied. … On one of Tommy's TD, I knew it was a score when I heard a defender yell "Shit!" That's always a bad sign for any defense.
WEATHER: Locals in the small Siberian village of Pudinskoye woke up on Wednesday and they immediately noticed something rather strange: the snow falling from the sky was orange. The only orange we saw in Venice was the flags as it was perfect – sunny, calm and 72.
WELCOME: A big welcome back to Al, aka Foxy. He brought his big smile and long arms back for the first time in a while. And another welcome to Shon and Joe, playing for the first time this season.
GAME: It was a game of fits and starts, some great defense, some quick scores and a lot of action. White wound up with a 44-30 win.
COMMENTS: People are often suggesting I write this or that, but there is a comments section if you feel I've missed anything. Feel free to contribute.
MVP: There were several deserving (Eric and Rory come to mind) but it has to go to Demond. He had two brilliant TDs and one great interception.
DEFENSIVE STANDOUT: Jeremiah lobbied for this but anyone who waltzes in a third of the way into the game doesn't get the nod. I'll give it to David Hinders. He played a great LB and had one interception, forced a second by batting the ball and batted a third.
HIGHLIGHT REEL 1: Demond's first score. It was fourth and 10 from Dark's own 2 and they went for it. Marino hit D with a 10 yard pass that he took the remaining 68 for a score, juking and cutting several times. Even White had to applaud.
HIGHLIGHT REEL 2: Demond's second score. On a 6-yard completion, he ran another 55 yards with everyone in hot pursuit. "Break their ankles!"" JJ screamed as he watched D twist defenders around.
HIGHLIGHT REEL 3: Rory made a positively brilliant grab down the right sideline where he went up against two defenders, made contact with the ball then secured it as he was falling down, with JJ draped all over him.
HIGHLIGHT REEL 4: The best throw-pass combo came from Toby to Eric. Toby launched one that was a great strike and Eric accelerated under it enough to snag it with his fingertips and take the rest of the way.
HIGHLIGHT REEL 5: Came after the game when a race was held between Patrick and Demond. A 50-yard dash for bragging rights. Patrick was in the race for a while before D pulled ahead and won by a couple of yards. Brent has visual evidence above (click image at top for larger view).
BRUISER: Rory was a mess after the game with scrapes, cuts and bruises over his arms, legs and knees. It all came courtesy of him hitting the ground on several catches. "You're just trying to be ghetto for your date tonight!" someone (JJ or D?) said. (Rory tries to knock ball from Jim, but the clutch receiver hangs on. Click image for larger view).
BALL HAWKS: There were a lot of picks, so if I missed yours post it in the comments. Marino snagged two, and Eric, Toby, Demond, David H., Dan and Patrick. Eric took his back for a score.
LATERAL WOES: Dark never did get the pitch back right. On one play, Marino had the first down when he tried to pitch to JJ, but the ball fell behind the first-down marker. I caught one pass and made a beautiful toss to JJ, except he was 2 yards ahead of me, making it illegal.
NOTABLE: Nice grabs on plays by Joe (David just missed knocking it down), JJ, David Hinders, Kevin (on a great seam route); me (going low for a first down), Ramsey (he even kept his feet!). … Nifty TD pass from Toby, where he rolled left and looked like a run, then he shoveled it forward into the end zone to (?) for a score. … Foxy made several nice PBUs as a DB (ask JJ to translate).
