Saturday, February 28, 2009

Flag Recap: Feb. 28, 2009

WEATHER: A nor'easter headed up the coast is expected to drop six or more inches of snow by Monday morning on most of southern New England, starting Sunday evening, forecasters said. … But in Venice, it was 75, sunny and perfect (and you needed sunscreen).

NEXT: We are back March 7, Penmar at noon. The spring league starts March 28, so start bringing your forms and your $65 fee. I will e-mail forms again this week for those who did not get them. We will also have forms at the field.

GAME: For the third week in a row, one team jumped out to a two-TD lead only to see the game tighten dramatically. Dark held on for a 44-42 win when White failed to convert a 2-point try on the game’s last play.

TD MAKERS: Hope you had these guys on your fantasy teams – Demond scored 4 TDs, Patrick 3, while Christophe threw 5 TDs, Jordan (visiting from Pennsylvania) had 4, Shaun threw for 3 and had 1 TD reception.

BONEHEAD PLAY OF THE DAY: Ross bailed me out since I had nothing in this category until late. It was pretty funny. He made a great catch and run and had the whole sideline clear. He then veered towards the sideline, crossed an orange cone and ran out of bounds. Cyd, chasing him, looked stunned when Ross stepped out. Only problem was that the goal-line cones are yellow and he wound up running out of bounds 10 yards short. Doh!

HEAD’S UP: Best TD came on an interception by Christophe, who then lateraled to Demond a millisecond before his flag was pulled. Demond then weaved his way for a score, getting a great block by Jeremy.

BEST HUSTLE: Demond baited Jordan and broke on a pass for a nice interception. About 99% of the time, Demond scores, but Jordan never gave up on the play and managed to grab D’s flag short of the end zone.

INEPT: There were 14 TDs scored and the teams were a combined 1-13 on conversions.

HIS NEMESIS: Bryan thought I had it out for him. As ref, I took away one interception when his teammate hit the QB’s arm for a penalty. I took away a sack when the QB released the ball right before Bryan got the flag. He was also called for an illegal block on a TD run. And he would probably point out other nefarious deeds I did to him. He needs to learn to bribe before the game.

BEST REASON FOR STOPPING EARLY: Nate: “I’m still hung over from last night.”

BEST REASON FOR NOT SHOWING UP: Yos: He hurt his toe on “a morning back flip attempt gone wrong.”

STAT OF THE DAY: I threw zero incompletions, zero picks and had zero sacks.*

DEFENSE: Despite 86 points scored, there was some great defense. Great sacks by Brenton (2), Brent, and a combo by a White rush that caused the Dark QB to trip and fall on fourth down. … There were picks by Bryan, Demond and Christophe and George should have had one on a deep ball. … Curtis made a great dive to knock down a pass near the end zone. … Juan made a brilliant defensive play in perfect timing to knock a pass away from Demond; that’s a hard play to do and not have it be a penalty. … Twice White got inside the Dark 15 and failed to score.

DULY NOTED: These players demanded their props – Jeremy for his two nice blocks and over-the-middle catch. Drew for his interception last week I forgot to mention. I also forgot to compliment Drew for his work in his junior high school production of “Grease.” Duffy was not here this week, so I was not able to slight him.

NOTABLE: Great move by Derek to get wide open deep for a TD. … Ross, Shaun and Patrick each had nice TD grabs on long post plays. … Marc made a nifty catch and run for a long gainer. … Chris had a ton of catches, several for first downs. … Loved Dave Sobel’s over-the-shoulder grab for a 25-yard gain. … Christophe bought a ton of time and had a tough throw against his body to Demond for a long score.

*: I was on the IR this week and only reffed.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Flag Recap Feb. 21, 2009

WEATHER: No complaints. Partly cloudy, low 60s. Great for football.

NEXT: We are back Saturday Feb. 28, noon, at Penmar Park. The league start date is tentatively set for March 28 (could be delayed a week pending field issues).

GAME: Back and forth, a lot of great defense. White bolted to a quick two-TD lead before Dark rallied to dominate. A late White rally made it close but Dark scored the final TD to win by nine (spread was 8.5).

CATCHES OF THE DAY: There were plenty. Patrick made a terrific diving grab just inches from the out-of-bounds line in the end zone for a fourth-down TD. Ross made a sliding grab in the end zone for a superb TD. Paul reached back and over while twisting his body for a long gainer down field.

SACK MASTERS: We had a bunch of great sacks. Leading the pack was Brian with three. Cyd had two and forced a pick on a near third one. And somebody, whose name escapes me (sorta tall, Broncos cap), claims he had two, though this could not be verified by independent witnesses.

WACKY PLAY OF THE DAY: Christophe, on fourth down, throwing to Chris, who sees the ball slide off his hands, off the hands of a defender and into the waiting arms of ZS for a score. Just like they drew it up.

FLAG GRAB OF THE DAY: Loved Ross’ hustle in chasing down somebody (forget who), lunging and snagging his flag. A great play where he did not give up on the play.

BALL HAWKS: New player Ben had two picks with nice coverage; Juan had one and played great DB all day. I know there was another but my mind is all fogged up.

TRICKERY BACKFIRES: Dark’s best defensive play of the day was White trying to get the rusher to jump early by hiking the ball on the second “hike!” Try 1: White player false starts, five-yard penalty. Try 2: White player false starts, five-yard penalty. Try 3: White player false starts, five-yard penalty. Try 4: White player false starts, five-yard penalty. Four false starts by three different players.

HEADS UP: The game’s final score happened on a great heads-up play. Shaun throws downfield to Brent who is surrounded by two White players, who are grabbing everything it seems but the flag. Brent sees Drew running behind him, tosses him the lateral and Drew races in. Drew yelled something about how that how the Raiders do it. An odd team to pick considering they haven’t had a winning record since 2002. If it was like the Raiders, Brent’s lateral would have been picked off and taken back by White.

NOTABLE: Great adjustment by Patrick on a deep pass for Shaun he took for a TD. … On the other hand, Patrick looked like a spectator on defense once watching this brown oval object come toward him, stopping to see this object caught by a receiver. … Still not sure how Yos could live in Miami and never have used sunscreen. … Great scramble by Toby on a play that resulted in a nice TD pass to Eugene. … Sorry Dave about jamming my forearm into your windpipe as I rumbled with a pass. You’ll be speaking in no time!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Flag Recap: Feb. 14, 2009

WEATHER: Perfect. About 60, very sunny, perfect for football. Field a bit slick but overall hard to complain.

GAME: A doozy. Dark got off (I mean in a football sense) to a 24-0 lead then we sort of coasted. White made a furious comeback that saw the score tied 30-30, then 36-36, before Dark scored on the game’s final drive for the 42-36 win.

NEXT: We are back Saturday Feb. 21, Penmar at noon.

TOTAL RECALL: Since we had so many people, there is no way I can remember everyone’s special gem. But that didn’t stop someone from kiddingly bitching that I forgot to mention his sack in last week’s writeup. As if I break down game film after and do a play-by-play. So, for the record, this person did have a sack in the game of Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009 (Year 5769 on the Jewish calendar), between 1 and 3 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

MR. EVERYTHING: Juan had an “OK” day. Let’s see: three interceptions on defense, two receiving TDs, one passing and he ran in the game-winner. I am so glad I started him on my fantasy team and benched Brenton.

CATCH OF THE DAY: Has to go to Brad for his twisting one-hander in the end zone for a score on a pass Christophe threw slightly behind him. The catch certainly got the biggest applause of the day.

BONEHEAD OF THE WEEK: That would be me. I swore Paul had scored on a long catch and run and asked Christophe to let me QB the conversion (having barely warmed up). Who cares, it’s just the conversion? So, I lofted one to Tim and it was short and picked off by Brent. But it was just the conversion, so pick or incompletion … no big deal. What? Paul hadn’t scored and it wasn’t the conversion but a first-and-goal? And I threw a pick? I did not find this out for two series. And someone wonders how I forgot his sack of a week before!

OFF THE BENCH: White was dead in the water and sinking when Shaun decided to show up. He went in as their third QB and promptly ignited them with a terrific pass and great catch by Patrick for a TD. He then led them on five more TD drives to make it a barnburner.

CONVERT THIS: We scored a combined 13 TDs and had zero conversions. Must be a record of some sort.

GOING DEEP: Several really nice deep balls for scores: Christophe to Brad on a pump fake; C to Juan down the middle and Shaun to Toby and Marino each down the seam.

COPPING A FEEL: Funniest play was Jeremy grabbing virtually every part of Marc’s midsection anatomy before finally grabbing his flag. This would be illegal in most Southern states.

WILDCAT: Dark’s winning score came on the Wildcat formation. Juan (in the Ronnie Brown role) took the snap and had Christophe back there in the Ricky Williams role (except he didn't have a bong). Juan faked to Christophe, faked the pass, then ran and whirled in for the score.

BALL HAWKS: Juan, as noted, had three, including two in the end zone. Yos showed terrific concentration by making one and keeping his feet in bounds. Toby got one on a rebound that Brent knocked up, while Shaun made a nice play to get his. I know I forgot someone else’s, so put it in the comments.

NOTABLE: I had about nine catches, several for first downs, and all without making a single athletic move after the catch. My best catch, in the back of the end zone, was called back for some dumb procedure penalty … Alejandro had a key first-down grab late after being teased about dropping one earlier. …

Nice to have Angel back and he had a terrific catch and run on a crossing pattern. … Paul did a great job rushing all day, getting at least one sack and having two knockdowns. … Alan showed some good wheels on two catches out of the backfield for first downs. … Jake was terrific as a receiver for White early on when he was pretty much their offense. … Nice head fake by Shaun on a TD run that tied the score late.

Saturday, February 07, 2009

Flag Recap Feb. 7, 2009

WEATHER: It might have rained elsewhere around SoCal, but it was dry and beautiful down in Venice. Beautiful puffy clouds, loads of sun and pleasant temps. On the way home, heading east on the 10 towards downtown was a gorgeous rainbow.

GAME: I always lose track of the score at a certain point, but it was close throughout. White won and never trailed.

WELCOME: A big welcome to four new players – Derek, George, Yos and Anthony. In what may be a first, all four scored touchdowns in their first game.

NEXT: We are back at Penmar Park Saturday Feb. 14 at noon. In case of predicted rain, check this blog around 11 a.m. Saturday and it will be updated in case of cancelation. At least one player did check the blog update, which was good, but he then forgot to bring a white shirt. One out of 2 isn’t bad.

CATCH OF THE DAY: Had to be Anthony’s on a long pass from Toby. He reached up as he was falling backwards, kept his concentration and maintained possession while hitting the ground. Replay review confirmed it was a catch.

PASSES OF THE DAY: Toby lobbied for this since Anthony got best catch, but I’m not buying. I’ll give it to Christophe for his great escape and throwback across the field on fourth down to Derek for a TD; and to me for my corner fade to Toby for a TD.

MOVE OF THE DAY, OFF THE FIELD: This goes to Duffy, who was hurtling out of bounds towards Brent standing on the sidelines. He then executed a perfect hurdle over Brent’s head as he crouched down and no one was injured.

MOVE OF THE DAY, ON THE FIELD: Demond caught a quick slant pass and Yos got in position, set himself and prepared for what he thought would be an easy flag grab. Wrong! Demond put on the brakes, changed course and Yos had a “WTF?” look on his face as he grabbed air. “I need to put flags on my dog and practice chasing him around!” Yos said.

TRICK PLAY I: Christophe threw to Duffy, who then batted the ball up volleyball style to Derek, who had the catch until Toby came in and knocked it away. I disputed whether it was a designed play since Duffy always bats the ball when he catches it. J

TRICK PLAY II: It was set up perfectly. I was center and was the last guy to the line and was to do a quick snap to Toby. The defense froze and we had them off guard. Except that no one on the offense moved except Toby and I. The best laid plans.

TIGHTY WHITIES: I am still confused as to how Yos could have mud on his hands and up and down his arms and still have a white tank top that looked like it was freshly bleached.

HEIGHT ADVANTAGE: Derek is 6-8 and Christophe made great use of that with nice lob passes that resulted in key catches all game.

BONEHEAD PLAY OF THE DAY: Dave Sobel had two TDs, a conversion, a pick and a couple of sacks, but he did have the “Doh!” play of the day. He caught a pass and had an easy TD, but got confused by the markers and stopped at the 3-yard line. A heads-up Demond ran over and grabbed his flag.

ALEJANDRO’S GREAT ADVENTURE: It was fun watching Alejandro snap the ball in only his third flag game ever. Some of his snaps were like helium balloons and the rusher was almost at the QB by the time the ball reached him. Once, he decided to hike on “down” instead of hike, and once he dribbled the ball backwards to the QB. But he gave it a great try and got better as the game went on. As a receiver, though, he caught about 7 passes and had no drops.

RATE THIS: Demond played a little QB and went 3 for 3 for about 40 yards, 1 TD, 1 conversion and no picks. I ran it through the NFL ratings calculator and it comes out to 154.9 (perfection is 158.3).

NOTABLE: Great pick and runback for a TD by George. … Demond had a really nice grab on a deep go where he caught the ball by reaching over the defender, keeping his balance and scoring. … I had two really funky passes that were still complete. One I kind of skyhooked to Alejandro, the other I threw about 6 inches off the ground to Marino, who made a great catch. …

Brent and Dave were the game’s sack masters and Jeremy also chipped in with one. … Jeremy also had a great long pass catch and run to set up a TD. … Eugene and Duffy tried to one-up each other with TD catches on consecutive drives. … Three catches and no drops for me this week! … Nice catch and long run by Chris for White’s first score. Oxygen was brought in after.

Friday, February 06, 2009

Flag Football on for Feb. 7, 2009

Hey Everyone:
Today's game is on. It is sunny and dry in Venice right now (Saturday at 11 a.m.)
Come on out! Penmar Park.
Jim


Sunday, February 01, 2009

Flag Recap Jan. 31, 2009

WEATHER: In a word – perfect. Sunny, warm, no wind. Made for a fast track and good game.

WELCOME: To new player Cody, who scored a TD on his first drive, and a welcome back to Felix, who last played with us in 1994 (back at Hollywood High).

NEXT: We are back at Penmar Park, noon, Saturday Feb. 7. Interest is high in the league and we now have two fields confirmed, so we have a place to play.

GAME: With Dark up by three TDs, I gently suggested to White that we could start over with a new game. After they practically bit my head off, White then proceeded to score two quick TDs and make a game of it until Dark pulled ahead for good.

THING OF BEAUTY: The prettiest TD came on a pass from Drew to Shaun from about 10 yards out. Shaun went up in the back of the end zone, one-handed it and scored. Very nicely done.

THING OF UGLINESS: My three consecutive drops of balls right in my hand. I was channeling a player from our league who I don’t have to name since everyone knows who I am talking about! :-)

PICK SIX: We had two interceptions returned for TDs. First was Marino’s great read of a crossing pattern that he returned for a score for Dark. Then came Drew, who got one of his own and weaved his way all the way for a score.

BALL HAWKS: In addition to those two, there were picks by Duffy (went low), Shaun and Toby (each went high).

HARD TO CATCH: Christophe played great at QB all game and several times made something out of nothing with his scrambling ability, allowing guys to get open. His best pass in my book was his bomb to Patrick for a nice long TD.

HORSEPLAY: Strangest site was turning around on the sideline and seeing Christophe have Brenton in a headlock. They did have their clothes on, so I imagine it was just a good, old American rasslin’ match, though Brenton did say, “Get me a towel” when it was over.

SACK MASTER: ZS was terrific all day as a pass rusher, getting three sacks against rather elusive QBs. And all without hitting the QB’s arm!

NOTABLE: Great play call by Brent to come into the huddle, call a play and watch it work for a score (Marino goes over the top, Christophe hits him in stride for a score. … Alejandro continues to improve in only his second game, catching both his passes (a higher % than me!). … I did have one TD on a crossing pattern that was thrown at my knees. … Felix has one nice catch and then tripped himself up to make a self-tackle on the play. … Cyd ran a nice misdirection play as QB, one of those that saw the entire defense go one way and a receiver catching one coming across the other way. … Best trickery was Christophe to ZS back to Christophe, a play that worked every time (except for when Duffy dropped one).