Flag Recap March 15, 2008

Photo: Bubba gets more than he bargained for in deflagging Jay.
See all 73 photos from March 15, courtesy of Brent (I added 45 more, some great stuff).

WEATHER: Sunny and cool (59) and very windy, which made things interesting.

WELCOME: Another great turnout – 29 – as we gear up for the league. A big welcome to Ray, Jeff, Tony, Randy and Michael. And extra big welcome back to Marc, who had major knee surgery 2 years ago and came back to play for the first time.

LEAGUE: We now have 41 players eligible since they have shown up one of the last two weeks (though some still have to register and pay the $30).

There are two more weeks to register for those who are still waiting – you must register and show up one of the next two Saturdays to play (even if you have played with us for years). We will draft March 29 and only registered players will be drafted. Teams will scrimmage April 5 and the season starts April 12.

If you need registration forms e-mail me (buzzer7@sbcglobal.net) and I will send them. You can also find them on our website (still under construction). Go to the very bottom of this page:

http://calunited.com/id6.html

I strongly urge people who are on the fence, to register. It will be the first of many seasons and we want everyone in on the debut season.

SCHEDULE: We are playing this Saturday, March 22. We are aware it’s Easter weekend but we have the field and a lot of people say they will be in town (also a great time to register!).

GAME: A thriller. Dark led early and it was tied 12-12. Dark then scored 19 straight points before White rallied for 12 in a row. Offsetting TDs made the final Dark 37, White 30. Dan won by taking the over.

KEY PLAYER: The wind; it was a steady 15 mph for much of the game and gusted to 31 mph at times. It was calm at times and like a Saharan sandstorm at others and made it tough to throw deep balls going one way (of course, Dark never offered to switch directions since they had the wind at their back the whole game!). On one pass Shon was uncovered along the sideline. I threw it to him but a big gust literally flopped the ball right to the free safety (Christophe, who else?!) for a pick.

PLAY OF THE GAME: Dark was pinned back at its 2 and Christophe dropped back to pass. Demond rushed and had his flag literally slip through his fingers for a near-sack (we’ll ignore TO’s takedown of Demond!). Christophe heaved it about 50 yards and a White DB missed knocking the pass down. Jeff, playing very alertly, managed to keep his eye on the ball and snag it for a big gainer that set up a score.

SPINNING WHEEL: One of the coolest plays was ZS catching a pass and then spinning for an additional 20 yards and people tried to grab his flags.

BEST RIGHT TO THE JAW: ZS to me. I went up for a pass and ZS made a play on the ball and his forearm accidentally met my jaw. I did literally see stars and had a headache for a while.

BEST PICK: My vote goes to Shon you read a deep pass well and timed his jump perfectly to make the grab.

BALL HAWKS: I might have forgotten some, but here goes – Dan had two terrific ones; Zach got two, including one on a rebound; Dave also had two, including one that stopped a 2nd and goal from the 2; Michael made his debut memorable with one; Christophe had two more to go with his eight from last week.

WALLET ADVENTURES: I somehow stupidly put my wallet on the roof of my car as I loaded up the equipment at game’s end … and promptly drove off. Fortunately, an hour later I got a call from a woman named Kathryn who picked it up on her walk. Honest people do live! I’m sending her flowers.

SURE HANDS, DEFENSE: Great flag-grabbing does not get a lot of attention, but it’s crucial to a solid defense. Props go to Brenton, David Hinders and Duffy off the top of my head.

SURE HANDS, OFFENSE: Jay made a great grab for a key score for White, where he ran a skinny post, adjusted to the ball and snagged it. … Best long ball was Dan’s great route and catch from Christophe. … Demond was able to adjust to the wind and caught passes high and low for key first downs. … Bubba was the man on one drive where he had three catches, including the drive-ending touchdown. … Ruben ran a great go route in the deep corner for a TD pass from me. … Randy came up big early for Dark on a nice grab. … Jason was Mr. Dumpoff for White, consistently getting nice gainers.

UNDERAPPRECIATED, DEFENSE: The pass rushers who helped set up picks or incompletions – ZS, Brent, Jeff, Bryan, Duffy and Demond.