Flag Recap March 22, 2008

PHOTOS: Andrew tries to get away from Gator Mike. To see more photos by Brent, click here. Also, if your photo is not here, e-mail Brent and he can see what he has.

WEATHER: Perfect, 72 and sunny and no wind.

WELCOME: A big hello to new players David and Karl (Jason’s brother).

GAME: Kind of two games. White and Dark were even early, then Dark led by 13, before White made a great rally to pull it out. It did help when Christophe donned White.

BAREFOOT IN THE PARK: Duffy was our first player with a turban and Karl was our first barefoot player. He had a bad blister and took off his shoes. Maybe I should impersonate him. On his first drive minus shoes and socks, he had a great interception that turned the game. He later added a TD.

BIZARRE PLAY OF THE DAY: Ray at QB went deep and Mat for White had the ball in his hands for a pick. But it caromed off and into the waiting arms of Drew for Dark, who took it the distance.

CATCH OF THE DAY: On White’s first drive, Karl went up high on a deep pass and was able to wrestle the ball away from the defender and maintain control into the end zone for a score.

DROPSIES: It was contagious for White. ZS dropped about 3, and JP decided it was only fair to match him. Mat also got in the act, as did JB. The best (worst?) was JP getting 15 yards behind the defense (a shocker by itself), but I made a fatal mistake by hitting him in stride in the hands; drop! All ended well as all these players came up big.

GOING DEEP: We had a lot of deep passes. Drew to Jeff was terrific on one deep slant, as was Christophe to ZS. Mat, Eugene and Drew also got into the act. Nice not to have to worry about wind.

GOOD HANDS MEN: Some terrific catches by Duffy (going low and snagging the ball inches from the ground); Bubba (over the middle); JB (on his patented out); Eugene (down the sideline and over the middle); Brent (on a laser from Drew); Andrew had three great ones including one where he prevented an interception and still made the catch for a first down. One of the best was me, doing a spinning move and keeping my feet in-bounds while catching one from Christophe for a TD.

TRICKERY: The QB pass back to a wideout was a staple Saturday. Dark started with Ray tossing back to Drew, who twice threw TD passes, including one to Ray. White had their own schemes, with me tossing it back to Christophe, who threw a couple of TDs off of it and ran one in. … White also ran a tricky option with me rolling left, getting the LB to commit, then tossing it to JB for an easy score.

SACK MASTER: Mike did a terrific job as rusher, recording three sacks. On the White side, Uhrlacher, Brent, Eugene and ZS got some good pressure but only one sack. Mike is the equal of four men!

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.

Flag Recap March 8, 2008

(Christophe makes a catch in warmups, a sign of things to come).

WEATHER: There was a record 20 inches of snow in Columbus, Ohio, and Cleveland airport was closed. Meanwhile, in Venice, we all had on shades and sunscreen on a gorgeous 70-degree day.

PHOTOS: Have posted some from March 1 here and I will add March 8 to the same batch so keep checking. Thanks to Brent for shooting these!

LEAGUE: Everyone who showed up Saturday (there were 28 of us) is eligible for the league (everyone still has to register and pay). There are three Saturdays left for others to show up, so don’t hesitate; even if you can’t stay for the whole scrimmage you can drop off your forms, signup, run some drills. To play, you must be registered and have played one of the Saturdays.

If you did NOT get the registration forms e-mailed to you, write me or treasurer David Hinders (davidhinders@yahoo.com) and we will get them out.

Since some people asked: Four teams, six-week season, one week of playoffs starting April 12 at Penmar. Cost is $30. We have uniforms (red, white, green and purple) and players will also ref.

There will be a championship trophy, the Castro Trophy, named for Anthony Castro, a beloved player of ours who died in car crash a year ago. For those of you who did not know Anthony you can check out my tribute or the one written about him for ESPN.com

GAME: Our biggest turnout in years and I want to thank everyone for being so patient in subbing in and out. We played almost three hours, so I assume everyone got enough reps. With so many people, I know I will forget a lot in this writeup. Game started close before White pulled away thanks to an all-time performance:

CHRISTOPHE’S DAY: Let’s see, all he did was set a record with 8 eight interceptions, three he returned for TDs. It was kind of surreal at point to see passes fly up and just know he was going to snag it. I think he was the Dark’s leading receiver, pretty good since he was playing for White.

TIT FOR TAT: Christophe also played a little QB and had two picked off by Gilbert, including one where Gilbert brilliantly read the play, sat back and then made a beeline for the ball. Guess it sort of made up for the two Christophe picked off in Gilbert’s short QB tenure, including one run back.

FUNNIEST PLAY OF THE DAY: Leave it to JP to provide some comic relief, Southern style. White had the perfect 2-point play called, one JP and I have run for years (we call it the “$5 play” for inside reasons). He ran the route, the ball was placed right there, but instead of extending his arms to make what we in football call “a catch,” he brought them down to his sides and the ball fell into the void. Seems that Brian, playing defense, yelled “Bugga! Bugga!” and scared JP. “He screamed at me,” JP said as he came off the field.

PAYBACK TIME: Chris is the head ref of the national tournament we play in every year and a lot of us have been dying to flag him one day. We had a chance Saturday when he mugged Eugene on a 2-point try. The whole sideline erupted and I threw my elbow brace to signal pass interference. Of course, being a player, Chris tried to argue the point but his heart wasn’t in it.

LUCKY IT’S A SCRIMMAGE: Miguel ran a fake double reverse, where he kept the handoff and had one man to beat, Bubba. Miguel juked left, Bubba moved left and Miguel then scooted right to howls from the sidelines. Afterwards, Bubba joked that in the league, he would have laid out Miguel.

TO’S DAY OF FUN: Brent (aka TO) certainly had a lively game despite arriving late. He made a brilliant catch on a pass thrown behind him for one touchdown, then let one go off his hands into those of New York Mike, who returned it for the score. As a QB his first pass to me was about 10 feet over my head; his second, on fourth down, somehow found its way through two defenders into the waiting arms of Gator Mike for a score. On a conversion, Christophe threw hard across his body (a great pass) that TO then leaped to snag and keep his feet in bounds.

BALL HAWKS: In addition to Christophe’s Pick 8, I also counted interceptions by Brent, Miguel (for a TD), Gilbert (one for a TD); Dan; Gator Mike and New York Mike (for a TD). In addition, Brent and ZS each had nice sacks; after Brent sacked Gilbert I mock yelled to Gilbert that he should be embarrassed to get sacked by someone so old (“I could be your father!” Brent said).

BEST AND WORST TRICK PLAY: All in one. The plan was for a direct snap to Demond, split wide in the backfield. He had three blockers in front and it would have been an easy score, save for one little thing – Jermaine’s snap that sailed over his head.

BEST NEW NICKNAME: I heard Drew and TO refer to Eugene as “Peja,” after NBA star Peja Stojakovic. They do resemble each other and both Peja’s have great hands.

HIGHLIGHTS: There were a ton of nice catches – Joe had at least two including one where I thought he was going to get drilled; Jay also had several down the middle; Drew made two, including a superb TD grab from Christophe on 4th and 18; Uhrlacher had a nice one down the sideline;

Brian and Shon also had a slew of medium-yardage plays; Miguel was Mr. Everything for White, lining up wide, in the slot or the backfield; David had a key fourth down on a pass I threw high to avoid a sack; … David (Dark team) had some nice grabs along the sideline. … JP made up for his alligator arms with a bunch of catches later, including a nice one on fourth down that kept a drive alive. … Gator Mike had his first and second TDs as a player, so he is no longer a virgin. …

Ty had two beautiful grabs, including one where he fought teammate Eugene for the ball and a nice gain (those of us that had Ty on our Fantasy teams were thrilled). … Demond ran a great deep route that got him open by 5 yards on a TD pass from Christophe. …

Duffy and ZS played great games as pass rushers, constantly getting pressure and forcing errant passes. … Gilbert had a brilliant run after the catch on a deep slant for Dan, reversing field three times and outracing Brent to the end zone. … Bobby called his own number and it worked to perfection on a 15-yard post-corner for a score.

Flag Recap March 1, 2008

WEATHER: Kind of weird – cloudy and cool and a bit damp, then sort of clear, then cloudy again. I was cold all game! (cue the whining).

GAME: Also kind of weird. Halfway through we had to move to another side of the park, which stopped the flow and we kept adding and losing some players who were part of another group playing. Dark took an early lead and never looked back en route to a two-score win.

SCHEDULE: We are back Sat. March 8, Penmar, 12:30. League still on for April and look for an e-mail from David as we ramp up registration.

GOING DEEP: We had several great deep passes. Drew was a catching machine on at least three deep ones from Christophe. His best was doing a full extension for the ball while on a full run, catching it and scoring. … Drew also threw some long ones to Christophe and T.O. … On White side, both Cyd (visiting from NYC) and myself connected as QBs, with Jay and Jeff respectively.

PASS RUSH STAR: I was ribbing Brent about his pass rush as I was watching D from the sideline and joked that I could do a much better job; he scoffed. So, I came in and promptly forced the QB to scramble to the sidelines where he threw a fourth-down incompletion. Jim 1, Brent 0!

GOOD HANDS MAN: I was surprised at Eugene’s ability to get open and catch everything since he was wearing what looked like hiking boots. If he gets cleats, watch out!

GOOD HANDS MAN II: Jeff had the best catch on a fastball low and hard from me with a defender getting one hand on the ball. But like David Tyree, Jeff managed to hold on and make the catch.

GOOD HANDS MAN III: Jay showed great concentration on running a go route down the sidelines where he scored.

BEST TRICK PLAY: Let’s see if I get this right – Christophe takes the snap and laterals to Drew who stops and lobs to a wide-open TO for the score.

BEST TRICK PLAY FOILED: Cyd was guarding Drew and saw Christophe at QB smile, so Cyd, being the suspicious type, smelled a rat. Sure enough, at the snap Drew ran backwards and Cyd followed him. Christophe lateraled to Drew, but Cyd was there to nail him for a 10-yard loss and near safety.

BEST RUN WHILE WEARING A TURBAN: It has been great having Duffy come out and he amazed with his ability to catch and run while wearing a turban (is there a gyroscope inside?). His best was taking a short pass as center and weaving his way down field for a score.

BALL HAWKS: Dark came up big on the interception front. David had a two nice ones, giving him three in three weeks, while Christophe and TO each played terrific free safety is snagging one each.