We're now at Bernstein High

For anyone new dropping in here, we now play at Bernstein High School in Hollywood, Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Address: 1309 N Wilton Pl., Los Angeles, CA 90028. Right where the 101 Freeway meets Sunset, next to the Home Depot. Street parking available (field entrance is on the side street directly across Sunset from the Dennys).

To get updates on the schedule, plus news on our spring league, send us an e-mail.

LA Motion, the tournament team composed of players from the league, won Gay Bowl IX in Washington DC.

Follow the 2009 Spring League

The Los Angeles Flag Football League's spring 2009 season kicks off April 4 and ends with playoffs on May 30.

You can check out the rosters, schedules and results here.

Flag Recap March 22, 2009

WEATHER: Another great day, which means I should stop with the weather report each week. Why do LA TV stations spend so much time on something that seldom changes?

GAME: White jumped out to a 12-0 lead, Red then scored 24 in a row, then White took over and won by 12.

NEXT: This is the last pickup game of the spring. League starts Saturday at Penmar, all players report by 11:30 a.m. Pickup resumes in September as a lead-in to the Fall league. Thanks everyone for playing this winter!

PICK SIX: We had three passes returned for TDs on nice defensive plays – ZS, Pete and George.

GOING DEEP: Some terrific long passes for TDs, also – Zach from Juan and Marc from Christophe stand out. The best deep pass of the day by Bradley was unfortunately dropped in the end zone by a player whose initials are Z and S.

CATCH O' THE DAY: By new player Ryan who focused on the ball while still dragging his first foot in along the sideline.

PASS RUSH GAMES: It was fun watching Juan as QB being pursued by the likes of Hector, George and Brent. They each got the best of each other at times and each play seemed to take 10 minutes to finish.

HIGHLIGHTS: Congrats to Cyd for catching a TD pass, his first in three years and first from me in years. … Alejandro continues to improve on defense and came up with a couple of nice defensive gems. … Great foot control by Zach on a pass at the back of the end zone. … Welcome to Sky, who scored his first TD on a direct snap. Of course, he almost was tackled right before the goal line when he stopped inadvertently. … No such problem for Marko, who ran into and out of the end zone at full speed after his TD. … Duffy had an awesome sack of me that both of us discussed after the game.

It’s been a highlight for me to write these every week and hope you all enjoyed reading them!

Flag Recap March 14, 2009

WEATHER: Like a broken record – mostly sunny, mid-60s, great for football. We haven’t had a rain game in two years.

NEXT: We have one more week of pickup and this is the last week to sign up for the league, either at Fubar Tuesday night or next Saturday at Penmar Park.

GAME: Since I went on a jaunt to check out a new field, I missed a chunk, but know that Blue rallied to beat Black, something like 49-36.

BEST CELEBRATION: Jeremy, who high-stepped it in on the last 10 yards of his second TD of the game. He then saw David with his video camera lying on the ground:

Jeremy: “You didn’t get that on tape?”
David: “Battery ran out.”
Jeremy: “Motherf---er!”

AFTER FURTHER REVIEW: Ben tried to suspend the law of physics after we awarded him a 1-point conversion catch that looked to me that it hit the ground. “It hit the blades of grass, but not the ground,” he said. I had forgotten that Penmar grass hovers above the dirt in an unattached state.

On the other hand, Ben had a great catch for a TD pass from Shaun that he juggled first before securing with his feet in at the back of the end zone.

BEST USE OF PYLON: Patrick caught a pass from Drew and raced down the sideline. As he was going out of bounds, he reached the ball at the goal line and hit the cone, which meant it was a TD.

BEST TOUTING OF HIMSELF: When I asked what happened while I was gone, Christophe said, “Juan got juked out of his ass!” By whom, I asked. “By me,” he said.

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS: I forgot to credit Drew with a pick a week earlier and Duffy with a sack. I also forgot to mention Duffy got a good penmanship gold star in the first grade.

BEST HUSTLE: Brenton chasing down and grabbing Marc’s flag at the 2 after a long catch and run. I love the way Brenton screams any time he makes a play.

BEST OPENING GAME STATEMENT: Hector, in his first game, was still learning the finer points of our rush rule. So it caught Jerrod a bit off guard when he was knocked flat on his back by Hector while rushing. But they shook hands and all was well.

HIGHLIGHTS: Brent had a nice long pass and run on a throw from Drew, then added a TD catch on the same drive. … It was fun watching the other Brent (T.O.) guard Ben all day. … Alejandro made a very nice catch over the middle for his first reception in a couple of weeks. … Eugene had a sweet over-the-shoulder grab that helped set up a TD. … Happy birthday to Patrick, who celebrated #33. … Nice pick by Marc on the first drive. ... Terrific quick slant TD pass from Christophe to ZS. … Nice crossing pattern TD pass from Drew to Will.

Flag Recap March 7, 2009

WEATHER: Hard to complain about 65 and sunny, except the sun did get in my eyes all game.

NEXT: We are back Saturday March 14, Penmar Park at noon.

LEAGUE: There are only two more Saturdays to register for the league, plus our March 17 registration night at Fubar from 6-8 p.m.

GAME: Here we go again. For the fourth week in a row, one team jumped out to a two-TD lead. And for the fourth week in a row, the game suddenly turned and became a nail-biter. Dark beat White, 40-38, on a walk-off TD pass from me to new player Ben (known by his friends as “Paul.”)

SAFETY IN NUMBERS: We had our first safety in memory when Brenton sacked Marino in the end zone. Or at least, Brenton said he sacked Marino, who saw things differently. And since the five of us on the sidelines weren’t watching and the receivers were running routes, we wound up taking Brenton’s word for it. Because he would never, ever, ever stretch the truth (cough).

RARITY: Speaking of Brenton, he caught a TD pass from Marc. That is not a typo! Brenton caught (as in, held on to the brown oval object hurled in his direction, which he normally swats away like it’s an angry wasp) a TD pass. In other news, snow is forecast for Santa Monica late Tuesday.

BALL HAWKS: Had several nice interceptions. Toby made a great break on a pass that he picked off and took back for a score. … Dave Sobel (or Meggett, as we used to call him) had two, including a nifty over-the-shoulder grab. … Marc had a heads-up off a deflection. … and Duffy made a fingertip grab at the goal line inches from the ground.

GO DEEP: We had several deep passes for TDs. I hit Ben twice and Christophe once, while Marino and Demond hooked up for a beauty for White.

MOST INCONGRUOUS LINE OF THE DAY: “I’m going to buy some fruit!” So said Brian on the sidelines during a series as he walked to a street vendor. Fortified with watermelon and unripe mango, he then had three nice catches on the next drive.

LINE I WISH I KNEW WHAT IT MEANT: “I might start loving me some chocolate!” So said Demond after he deflagged Toby. I assume he grabbed some part of Toby that caused him to utter that, but I’ll leave that to your interpretation.

HIGHLIGHTS: Great ball fake and juke by Drew running in for a TD. … Derek made several nice grabs; having a 6-8 guy with hands is hard to stop and it was quite a contrast watching Christophe guard him. … Duffy wants everyone to know that he pitched his softball team to its first win in 18 months. … Head’s up catch for a 2-pointer by Brian on a deflected pass in the end zone. The two teams were a collective 2-12 on conversions. …

Great body positioning and grab by Toby on a high hard pass from me for a TD on fourth down. … Alejandro played his best defense we’ve seen, always being in position and knocking one pass down. … Brent was terrific on the rush, forcing a lot of early throws for incompletions. … Eugene was the main man at center, catching a ton of balls for key completions. … Dark ran a nice quick snap for a score on a direct hike to Ross. … New player Jason started slowly but wound up with several key catches as White mounted its comeback. … My doofus moment came when I called an audible in the huddle, then forgot what the audible call was when I came to the line. Fortunately, Eugene was paying attention and straightened me out.

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.

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!