Flag Recap Feb. 2, 2008

WEATHER: The worst freezing weather China has seen in the past five decades has wreaked traffic havoc across central and southern China since mid-January. … Meanwhile, in Venice it was 60, sunny and perfect for football.

SCHEDULE: We are back Saturday, Penmar Park, 12:30 p.m. Also, plans for the league are going very well and the goal would be to start perhaps first weekend in April (I will keep you posted). If you have not already responded, please let me know if you are interested.

GAME: A wild one that seesawed back and forth, with White pulling ahead late to win it by 18.

BIG PLAYS: It was a day for a lot of long passes. I started it all with a long slant that Ruben took all the way. Dark countered with long strikes from Drew to Uhrlacher, David and Mike. T.O. and ZS later got in the act on nice passes from Dan.

ROCK ‘EM, SOCK ‘EM: It was flag football but sometimes resembled tackle. On one play, my jaw collided with some part of Uhrlacher’s anatomy and I knew what a near-knockout felt like. I was the rusher that play but found myself on my knees. After Drew had about an hour to find someone deep, T.O. wondered where the rush was. “On the ground,” I said.

On another play, Chris was basically tackled by T.O., Chris later collided with his teammate JT on another, and Hinders and Gilbert both hit the ground after catches. Bring on the ibuprofen!

MR. THIRD DOWN: Chris must have had about a dozen catches, several of them for key third downs to keep drives alive.

SHORTEST DRIVE EVER: White stopped Dark on fourth down, recording two sacks on the drive. When they took over they had first-and-goal from the half-yard line (they did score), but it was the shortest drive ever.

SACK MASTER: ZS was a pass-rushing machine, along with Brent (healthy after his bout with pneumonia). Someone on White called Brent our “Belichick” since he called the D. Or was that for his camera skills? You can expect his pics to be posted sometime around the start of the Clinton Administration … Chelsea Clinton.

TACKLE OF THE DAY: T.O. rushed Drew on one play and we had this exchange -- “You grabbed my balls!” Drew said. “I was grabbing for the flag,” T.O. said. “There are no flags in front,” Drew replied.

TRICKERY: On one play, I called a double-reverse pass. I handed it off to T.O., who gave it back the other way to Christophe, who became the QB. He threw back across his body to a wide-open T.O., who juked and jived for a whopping 1-yard gain.

HEADS UP: White caught Dark napping on one play and Dan hit me wide open along the sidelines. Knowing I did not have the wheels to score, I yelled for Ruben to slow down and lateraled him the ball and he took it in. Despite what some Dark members claimed, it was not a forward lateral.

GREAT PLAYS: Superb catch by Gilbert on a sideline pass where he battled the defender for the ball. … Two nice 2-point catches by Dan in the back of the end zone, first from me and then from Christophe. … Great spin moves by ZS on one play where he looked like a spinning top. … I had a nice flag grab when I reached out for a streaking Gilbert and wound up with the flag. I seldom make “tackles,” that felt good. … Beautiful pick by T.O. and a tremendous runback 65 yards for a score in what was the game-changing play. … Mike made a terrific catch for two points on a high, hard one from Drew.