Flag Recap Jan. 24, 2009

WEATHER: It was perfect for football – partly cloudy, then sunny, cool, no rain. Some mud puddles on the field, but otherwise good conditions.

WELCOME: A big hello to Alejandro and VJ, both playing their first game with us. For Alejandro, it really was his first game.

NEXT: We are playing Saturday, Jan. 31, Penmar Park at noon. If you are ever unsure about whether we are playing (and have not received an e-mail), check the blog on Friday -- if there is no update, assume we are still on.

GAME: White led early, then Dark battled back and won by (I am guessing) about 12 points or so. The “over” covered.

PLAY OF THE DAY: Had to be Austin terrific interception return for a TD. He skied high to snag the pass falling backwards, kept his balance and then weaved his way 60 yards for a score, getting some good blocks.

LOSING HIS FLAG VIRGINITY: Alejandro had not played American flag football before and the night before looked up the rules on Wikipedia (he probably knows the rules better than most of us). But halfway through his first game, he was no longer a newbie, making a nice sideline catch. He then added two more in the game.

IT’S OPTIONAL: Great option play by Shaun, who tossed it back with great precision to (I forget who, but he was wearing a dark shirt) for a conversion.

GREAT CONVERSION: White faced a fourth-and-25 after a couple of sacks. Marino threw a nice go pass to Dave who caught it about 2 yards short and, for some reason, stopped. He then lurched forward for just enough for a first.

GOING DEEP: Best long pass of the day was by Christophe, who hit Shaun in stride on a terrific TD play.

BOXERS OR BRIEFS?: One funny play was Brent grabbing Ray’s flag, and pulling Ray’s shorts down in the process. A few plays later, Brent did it again to another player, prompting someone to say, “I didn’t need to see that!”

SLIP-SLIDIN’ AWAY: The field had just enough mud and slick spots to make it hard for the defense to set itself in coverage or rushing. Alas, I don’t think anyone took a tumble in the gunk.

BALL HAWKS: Austin and Christophe each had two picks, Toby had one, while VJ had a couple of nice sacks (the latter not easy on that field).

HE COULD GO ALL THE WAY: I hit Marino in the middle for what looked to be about an 8-yard gain, but he kept running and Dark kept missing his flag, and he kept going, all the way to the end zone. Of course, we needed a sun dial to time him.

NOTABLE: Austin scoring his final TD running backwards into the end zone. … Cyd’s nice ball handling where he yelled my name like he was going to lateral it to me, the defense stopped and he got a nice gain inside the 10. … Nice having Toby back after taking last season off, and he had one really nice catch where he had to stretch to get the ball, then kept his balance coming down. … Nice receiving day by Uhrlacher, catching most of his over the middle. Weird play was Dave trying to make a catch as he slid near the sideline. The ball in his hands hit the sideline pylon before he had full possession, so we ruled incomplete.

Flag Recap Jan. 17, 2009

Hey Everyone:

We started our winter pickup following a holiday break. Our fall league was a success (details here), and we are gearing up for a spring league. We are always looking for new players, so get your friends to come out. We will play pickup the next several weeks and get the league details out to everyone.

WEATHER: Bitter cold kept its grip today on the Northeast. ... But in Venice it was 75, sunny and beautiful. We all had on shorts and wore sunscreen.

CATCH O' THE DAY: By Brent, no that is not a misprint. He ran a nice slant pattern and Ray put the ball over the LB and it sounded like a giant sucking sound when the ball hit Brent's gloves and stayed on. Cyd threw him the TD on the drive that was all Brent all the time.

HE CALLED IT: The day was getting late and people had to go. On what turned out to be the final play, Brian picked it off and said, "I wanted to get it over with." Yes, he willed the QB to throw the ball high and for the receiver to let it bounce off his hands right to Brian.

DEER, MEET HEADLIGHTS: Brian did QB for four plays, if you want to call it that. White blitzed all four plays and Brian basically kept backing up and up until he threw up a zeppelin. Amazingly, his team caught two of them.

DEEP BALL OF THE DAY: I threw a pass for the first time since tearing my biceps tendon Nov. 1 and it felt good. Had a nice deep pass to Patrick, a great deep route runner, for a TD.

DEEP THOUGHT: Did you all know our flags are gay?

QUEER EYE FOR THE STRAIGHT GUY I: Christophe had to leave to play in a touch football game on an adjoining field. His team color? Pink!

QUEER EYE FOR THE STRAIGHT GUY II: Duffy wore a green turban that matched his green shirt and his green eyes.

TRICKY: White caught Dark with the old quick snap, as Cyd ran it in. It almost fooled me since my hike to Cyd was a bit off.

NOTABLE: ZS had a terrific catch and run on a slant he took down the sidelines. ... Austin showed some nifty moves on a couple of catches where he juked defenders. ... Ray ran a nice fade route to the corner for the score. ... Jake walked the tightrope on a catch he took to the house. ... Best pick and run came from ZS, who showed great hustle all day. ... Great pump fake by Christophe that allowed Patrick to break open on a sideline route for a TD.

NEXT: We are back at Penmar Park, noon, Saturday Jan. 24. The touch league has a permit for 3 fields, so we need to make space near the baseball field. It's long enough but about 5-7 yards more narrow than the league rules. We will make do for now, but will have a better field at Penmar or elsewhere for the league.