Flag recap Dec. 22, 2007

WEATHER: Gorgeous – sunny, 65, a bit windy at Playa Vista.

WELCOME: It was great having Rory play with us again; he is visiting from NYC. He got out of his rental car (got upgraded for free to a white Beamer) and was catching passes a minute later. And it was awesome to have Shari back after a long absence. Loved her SC tattoo

SCHEDULE: We are off on a holiday/NFL playoffs break. Our next game is Jan. 26, likely at Penmar. I will keep everyone posted.

GAME: What looked to be a laugher turned into a thriller as Dark rallied back from 22-0 down to just fall short, 42-40.

CATCH OF THE DAY: Angel made a great over-the-shoulder grab on a long pass from me, keeping his concentration the whole way. Those are tough catches.

BUSTED PLAY OF THE DAY: On fourth down, White shifted to an odd zone, but not everyone got the message. Drew wound up uncovered and Toby hit him for an easy TD.

BUSTED PLAY RUNNERUP: On fourth-and-goal from the 1, Dark failed to cover Shari. I threw it, she had it, bobbled and then lost it. No matter – White held, got the ball back and Shari made a nice comeback to catch one in the back of the end zone for a score.

DISS OF THE DAY: I was telling Angel how good Rory was and early on Patrick got by him for a deep score. “I thought you said he was good,” Angel said joking.

SICK BAY: For the third straight week, Brent was unable to play because of pneumonia. He still was our official photog, though. “Can’t I get away from the paparazzi?” Rory said when he showed up and saw Brent clicking away.

HARD KNOCKS: Mike and Angel became well-acquainted. On one play, they whacked heads (ouch) and on another Mike accidentally pushed Angel’s head into my left elbow (ouch again).

BALL HAWKS: Chris showed the skills of an Ohio State linebacker with a nifty read on a pick; Toby had a pair, looking like a U.T. corner; Rory had one on fourth down to snuff out a drive.

NOTABLE: Jeff made a great catch that Dark ruled was out of bounds, but Jeff showed me the foot mark on the artificial turf that showed he did get the first foot in. Where is instant replay when we need it? … Ramsey was the White 2-point specialist QB, hitting on consecutive passes. … Ramsey and Bubba had a spirited man-on-man affair with Bubba committing defensive PI on one play, and Ramsey committing offensive PI on another.