Flag Recap March 24, 2007

WEATHER: Perfect. Partly sunny, cool, 70. A great day to play some ball.

GAME: Two amazing interceptions by Demond proved to be the difference in the game played at a high level of intensity. Dark won 49* to 39.

TOURNEY: We are going to have a month-long "mini-tourney" to end the season and I will send an e-mail with details in a couple of days. Basically, we will draft two teams and play against each other, giving it a little more structure. Losers buy the winners drinks.

MVP: Hard to not give it to Demond, with two interceptions, three legit TDs and some acrobatic catches. He made one catch where his feet were planted left and he reached back to snag the ball. A special performance.

OFFENSIVE PLAY OF THE GAME: It was Rory's brilliant catch for a TD on the final drive. I put the ball where only Rory could get it -- high -- but another White receiver drifted into the pattern and in essence became the DB. Rory still snagged it, kept his feet and scored.

DEFENSIVE PLAY OF THE GAME: Demond can get a twofer on this. I sent a receiver on and out and threw the ball to his hands. The ball bounced off the receiver's chest and Demond made a one-hand grab that he secured as he was falling out of bounds. He was able to tap his first foot in for the interception. Almost the same thing happened several drives later. Even I had to applaud and I was the victim!

DAY OF THE QB: No more modesty -- Marino and I threw the ball very well and spread it around so everyone got involved. There were relatively few passes off the mark.

CALL OF THE DAY: Had to be Dark's misdirection shovel pass to Adam that caught White offguard and led Adam to a long TD.

B.S. PLAY OF THE DAY: You all know what it was.

GETTING HIS FREAK ON: Bubba did his best Jevon Kearse imitation with two nice QB sacks.

SOFT HANDS: John made several nice catches and he always makes it look easy. One came in the left front corner of the end zone for a score, another came when he caught a quick pass, then juked a defender to pick up an additional 35 yards.

GO DEEP: Vlad kept coming into the huddle and saying "send me deep." I finally listened to him and the result was a TD. Vlad ran a nice seam route, made a burst on his defender and hauled in the pass.

GO FORWARD!: Dark did a superb job of flag grabbing all day (especially Brent and David), aided by the habit of White players to try and run backwards thinking they were Barry Sanders (or Demond).

COMEBACK: Rory "The Delicate Flower" showed that nickname is a misnomer. He whacked his head hard on the ground and lay there nauseous. Bubba stood above him, gyrating and joking "The start of a Falcon video …" Rory got up and I figured he would center and just stand there. But he ran a route, I threw it high and he had a catch. Two plays later he scored.

GREAT GRABS: In addition to those mentioned above -- Brent made a superb catch on a deep pass from Marino for a TD. … David showed nifty footwork along the back of the end zone for a TD. … Cody showed great reaction by catching a ricochet in the back of the end zone for a score. … Patrick made a beautiful catch leaping and coming down with it along the sideline. … Andrew ran a great route on fourth down and goal, shaking his defender and getting open for the score.

NEXT: We are back March 31, Penmar, noon.

Flag Recap March 17, 2007

WEATHER: A strong winter storm moved out of the Northeast on Saturday as temperatures climbed and began to melt the snow and ice it left behind. Meanwhile, in Venice, it was partly sunny and in the 60s, perfect for football.

GAMES: We had a lighter than normal turnout and played two games. In the first, Dark won 42-24. In the second, White hung on 36-30.

WELCOME: Adam, Marino's brother, was visiting from Washington. A great player and person.

MVP: Because he whined last week, I'll give to Brent, for scoring three TDs in Game 1. All game he made the tough catches, but somehow dropped balls right in his hands. With Brent on offense, it's never a dull moment.

PASSES OF THE DAY: First one was me deep to Marino over Jeremiah, who had good coverage but when the QB makes a perfect pass, what are you going to do? (comments welcome). Second from Marino to Adam, showing some brotherly love.

PICK OF THE DAY: David showed great instincts on a ball that bounced off of Adam's hands (it was a bit high). David managed not only to make the interception, but kept his feet in bounds.

ACRONYM OF THE DAY: From Jeremiah, Mr. PBU. As a pass rusher he knocked down the pass and gets a PBD (pass batted down).

MOVES OF THE DAY: Rory constantly befuddled his defender (whose name is withheld to protect his reputation) by brilliantly running the stop and go for several TDs.

JET LAG: Rory spent a month in Australia and just got back and you could tell early. The first pass to him – clunk. On the second pass, he didn't even get a hand on it (a first). After that he was his usual reliable self.

BEST NICKNAME: Brent, who has dubbed Rory "The Delicate Flower." He can explain.

HIGHLIGHTS: Jeremiah ran a great deep slant route and was able to make the catch and stay in bounds. … David made a nice sliding catch on a deep ball. … Brent's best was probably the one that bounced off his chest, went forward and he grabbed and was able to run it in. … Easiest pick was by Rory, who played middle linebacker, did not move an inch and had the ball thrown his way. … Brian totally turned me around on getting open deep for what became a TD. … Jeremiah made a nice grab in between two defenders for a first down. … Adam showed nice speed on several passes, including a nice deep one down the sidelines.

NEXT: We are back March 24, Penmar at noon.

Recap March 10, 2007

WEATHER: Yawn, it's gets boring – 70, sunny and clear.

GAME: A see-saw affair for most of the contest before Dark pulled away to win a shootout by about two TDs.

NOTE: They are reseeding our normal field so we will be playing on the next field over for the next few weeks.

WELCOME: Andy was walking his dog near the field and stopped by to play. He was quite good, save for one pass he'd love to try and catch again.

MVP: It was a tough week to pick one but I guess the nod goes to Ray, who had a bunch of nice grabs and a few scores. Runnerup would be Marino as Dark QB, who threw really well, but then again I was the one rushing him throughout (which means he had a lot of time!).

BRENT LOBBIES: He e-mailed me after the blog entry went up after seeing my photo comment below: "With 3 TD's and and INT, and no MVP -- how am I to know who to concentrate on for the photos??!"

PLAY OF THE DAY: For its perfect execution had to be Marino beautiful deep ball to Andy for a long gain. Hit him in stride and he made a nice catch.

SCREWUP OF THE DAY: I asked Mike to rush and told him to get 5 back and go in. I meant 5 yards but he thought 5 seconds, so when the ball was hiked he started going "1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi …" I got so distracted yelling at him to go in, I forgot to cover my man, David Hinders, who snagged the ball and ran down the sidelines for a score.

HANDS OF THE DAY: I give Jeremiah a lot of grief on this blog for being Edwards Scissorshands, but he had several nice catches. I may have stumbled across a secret – throw it when he's not ready. Three times I threw the ball right before he was making a break or looking up and he caught the ball in self defense each time with a startled look on his face.

LUCKY PICKS OF THE DAY: Dark got two gifts, courtesy of White receivers not securing the pass, and instead flinging it forward into the waiting arms of defenders (Ray and Brent).

DEBATE CLUB: There was more yakking Saturday than at your average U.N. meeting and we could have used Ed Hochuli's services. "That's what happens when you get three brothers on the field at the same time!" Bubba said.

CATCH OF THE DAY: Cody made a brilliant grab on fourth down to keep a White drive alive. I was getting pressure from Brent on the rush and had to throw it quickly. Cody was blanketed by Marino, so I threw low to his outside. Cody reached out, grabbed the ball and secured it with Marino draped all over him for the first down.

CATCH OF THE DAY 2: Goes to Bubba, who showed great concentration on hanging on to a high slant in the end zone on fourth and goal for a TD.

BUTT SHOT OF THE DAY: On consecutive plays, Brent caught the pass and had his shorts pulled down by JJ. Three players got snow blindness while watching.

PHOTOS: Wonder where last week's are? Brent must think this blog is a monthly!

NOTABLE: Nice grabs in the end zone for either a TD or conversion by Brent and Hinders. … Great goal-line stand by White, stopping Dark on four downs in a series that started on the 1. Cody's sack was the key play. … Enjoyed seeing Ray trying to spin away from JJ on one play, only to have the latter yell "Don't try that on me!" as he grabbed his flag. … Words that have power: Andy was wide open on a perfect pass from Marino that would have scored. "Drop it!" I said as the ball hit his hands. Doink! Incomplete. … Mike showed some nice wheels on several passes, especially the quick slant he got down by game's end.

NEXT: We are back March 17 at Penmar, and Rory is back after gallivanting in Australia for a month.

Flag Recap March 3, 2007

WEATHER: Much of western Iowa remained at a standstill with highways closed by heavy snow and blizzard conditions. Meanwhile in Venice, we were all wearing sunscreen as it was clear, sunny and 75.

WELCOME: Mat was on my e-mail list for two years and finally came out, bringing his friend Mike along. It was great to have them both, though they were both hobbling by game's end.

GAME: White jumped out to an early 12-0 lead as UCLA Brian quarterbacked a game for the first time. He started like the good Rex Grossman and ended like Grossman of the Super Bowl, and Dark pulled away to win by 20-something.

PHOTOS: Here is a link to photos taken a week ago.

OFFENSIVE MVP: Has to be Cody, who scored four TDs, and made some moves that were reminiscent of Demond. He had it going on. That new faux Mohawk has made him more streamlined.

DEFENSIVE MVP: There was no one worthy enough to win the award this week.

CATCH OF THE DAY: Mike made a brilliant grab along the sideline for a first down on a pass from Brian. He was running out of room and slid as the ball was arriving, and managed to cradle it in-bounds before his knee hit the line.

JUST KIDDING: I had to pull Jeremiah's chain. He was the Defensive MVP for great coverage all day, with a slew of PBU's and one nice interception. And he didn't even have to lobby for it.

RATINGS GAME: Oren threw two passes today, the first he's thrown with us. He was 2 for 2 for 35 yards. That translates to an NFL QB rating of 118.75. Not bad.

TRICK PLAY OF THE DAY: White caught Dark napping on defense and made them pay. The ball was spotted and Dark was in position, but the defenders were still trying to sort who was where. Since the offense never has to wait for the D, White hiked it quickly and Shon was open by 20 yards for an easy TD from Brian.

FOOLED HIM: Mat called his own number on one TD over his friend Mike. He ran out about 7 yards and yelled "ball!" Mike stopped on a dime as I pumped faked, and Mat then took off. I hit him in stride for an easy TD.

DROPSIES: At the start my Dark receivers must have had a lube party before kickoff. Drop. Drop. Drop. Slip slide … They finally kicked it into gear and made some terrific grabs.

VOICE COMMAND: I had JJ ahead of Brian for a deep pass into the end zone and put the ball in a perfect spot. "He'll never catch it!" Shon yelled and sure enough, drop!

GO DEEP: Dark hit several deep passes. My best long ball hit Mat in stride in the end zone from about 35 yards out. On another one, Cody made a terrific catch down the seam, catching the ball high and running in.

BALL HAWKS: Dark made several nice picks. JJ had his on a deep pass, Mat picked off two, including a one-hander, Cody snagged one, while Oren caught one low as White had the ball goal-to-goal at the Dark 2.

HEADS UP: Joe was in the perfect spot to catch a pass that ricocheted off of a teammate and a defender before he caught it in the back of the end zone.

SAY WHAT?: This happened at dinner later at an Italian restaurant. Cody had never eaten gnocchi, and wanted to know how it was prepared. "I need to ask the waitress how they make that granola," Cody said.

NOTABLE: Cody made a move that literally caused Shon to fall on his ass, eliciting gales of laughter from his team, as Cody made one of his TDs. … Peter had two terrific defense plays on conversions, ranging back and knocking passes away. … Brent had the best sound effects as he was rushing Brian, though he never was able to get his flag. … Oren had two nice catches, one on a conversion, the other on a slant. … JJ's best catch was along the back of the end zone for a 2-point conversion, as he went up high and held on. … Mike has a very nice sliding grab in the corner of the end zone for a TD.

NEXT: We are back March 10. See you then.