LA Flag Football

Follow the 2009 Spring League

2009-04-03T18:06:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-22T21:29:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-15T15:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-08T12:46:00.000-07:00

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

2009-02-28T19:01:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-22T14:22:00.000-08:00

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!

Flag Recap: Feb. 14, 2009

2009-02-14T18:56:00.000-08:00

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.

Flag Recap Feb. 7, 2009

2009-02-07T18:11:00.000-08:00

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.

Flag Football on for Feb. 7, 2009

2009-02-06T19:41:00.000-08:00

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

Flag Recap Jan. 31, 2009

2009-02-01T13:31:00.000-08:00

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).

Flag Recap Jan. 24, 2009

2009-01-25T15:23:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-17T17:20:00.000-08:00

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.

LA Fall League Early Details

2008-07-29T17:55:00.000-07:00

We will have a four-team, six-week season starting Oct. 25 and ending with the playoffs on Saturday Dec. 13. We plan on using Penmar Park in Venice, but game times are still not certain.

In September we will have pickup games and also two weeks of a skills session (Sept. 20 and 27). This is not a tryout, since everyone who register and pays can play, but a way for us to determine skills to ensure a fair draft. To be in the league you must register, pay and show up at one of the two skill sessions. We will send another e-mail when registration is open.

The player fee this year will be $60. This is higher than the spring, but necessitated by our need to buy insurance (we estimate that insurance alone works out to about $25 a player), and to pay for use of the field.

We strongly encourage you to send this e-mail to any of your friends that might be interested. We want to grow the league and expand the player pool.

Don’t hesitate to send me questions (kandreeky@gmail.com) or to the contact form on the website: http://calunited.com/

Our plan is to then have pickup this winter and start a spring league in March or April.

Also, we are looking to change the name of the league to make it more L.A.-specific. We are also looking for a logo, so if any of you have design skills we would love to see your ideas. My ability doesn’t go much past stick figures.

Flag Recap April 5, 2008

2008-04-11T11:19:00.000-07:00

WEATHER: Perfect, 65 and sunny.

WELCOME: A big hello to league newcomers Tarik and Lee.

LEAGUE: All who have signed up will hear from your captain. All teams practice Saturday at Penmar, 11 a.m. To see the rosters, go here.

GAME: Well, once Christophe went out it totally changed and White won going away.

BEST WISHES: Christophe suffered a fracture of the tibial plateau (basically the shin area) on Saturday and is out 6 to 8 weeks. We’re all bummed and wish him a speedy recovery.

CATCH OF THE DAY: Karl’s TD grab over Jeremiah was pretty special. JJ had perfect coverage and played it well, but Karl kept his focus and control all the way to the ground.

REF OF THE DAY: Great having Matthew come out and do a bang-up ref job. He is going to be a regular during the league.

DOWN THE MIDDLE: Two great throws and catches came on the Dark team, one to ZS and another to Gilbert. I think Jason and Patrick were the QBs.

OPTION SPECIAL: Demond Zach were great on the option. The best was when Demond sucked in the entire defense and tossed it last second to Zach who streaked in.

TALK ABOUT GAMEY: When Christophe got hurt I switched to dark and the only shirt I had was my Pats’ Drew Bledsoe shirt that had been sitting at the bottom of my bag. No wonder I didn’t get sacked once – the rushers stayed as far away as possible.

BALL HAWKS: Angel led the pack with two great picks, including a sideline number where he kept his balance. Also, Dan had a great grab and return. Can’t remember who else got picks, but there were at least two others.

GRAB BAG: Some real nice flag grabs that saved long gains. Jason got Demond once, Brenton (who claim his draft stock soared – it didn’t) got Zach on one and Tarik made a superb lunge and grab.

HIGHLIGHTS: My best pass was a shot on a slant between two defenders to Demond for a score. … Great sideline grab and run by Uhrlacher for a real long gainer. … Zach caught a short slant from Dan and then turned it on for a long score. … Brian was money on the receiver out all day. … Loved Patrick’s run for a first down where he basically pushed his two blockers out of the way. … Patrick also made a great sack on a trick play, nailing Demond for a big loss. … Brent somehow grabbed every part of Dan’s body on one rush except his flag and it resulted in a long completion. … Karl showed some great instincts on a QB run for a score. … Congrats to Tarik for his first catch that also was a TD. He’s no longer a flag virgin.

Flag Recap March 29, 2008

2008-04-01T11:40:00.000-07:00

WEATHER: A bit breezy but otherwise ideal – sunny and 65.

TURNOUT: Another 24 as we gear up for the league. Welcome to Jonathan and Gordon, both who last played a while ago.

GAME: Dark pulled ahead early and White closed the gap to 29-26 before the rout began and Dark won big (they covered).

NEXT WEEK: 11 a.m. Penmar Park. Repeat – 11 a.m. We have the permit from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. from now on, so show up much earlier than you do now.

LEAGUE: Draft is this Saturday, practice a week later and Game 1 on April 19. You were all sent a separate e-mail on this. League website:
http://calunited.com/

DOWN THE MIDDLE: Dark’s best play was the deep pass over the middle. Christophe hit Dan for two scores and Jay for one and made it look easy.

OPTION: Demond and Jeremiah ran the option play beautifully. Demond scored twice as the QB and on another play J took it to the house for another.

COMEDY OF ERRORS: Some of the White effort would fit in great on “Football Follies.” We had a bunch of dropped passes (Jeremiah was contagious), I threw a couple of brain-dead picks, we even had trouble snapping the ball and on defense it was the “matador defense,” ole! And let them score. The all-timer, though, was Demond’s perfect pass to Dave. He took the snap, looked left, then right, then left and saw Dave wide open. He threw him a nice pass that Dave took for a TD. Only problem was that Dave was playing defense. It was an obvious brain cramp and totally memorable.

PLAY OF THE DAY: Christophe broke containment and rolled right, then fired a rocket to his wideout in the end zone. From out of nowhere Zach flew in as safety and not only knocked down the pass but almost had the pick. Very well done.

TRICKERY: Enjoyed Dan throwing it back to Christophe, who hit Dan in stride over the middle for a TD.

BALL HAWKS: I counted Dave with two, Christophe with 2 and Duffy with one, many coming off deflections. Dark must have been working the trip drill all week.

HIGHLIGHTS: Eugene was one White player not dropping the ball as he made a bunch of nice catches. … Jeremiah showed great speed catching a swing pass and making four people miss. … Best flag grab was by Jonathan, who dove and got Demond (not an easy thing to do). … Zach ran a beautiful route on a post corner for a TD, making the catch while keeping his feet inbounds. … Dan made a great two-point conversion catch going up high over the defender. … ZS had two scores by my count running nice routes.

Flag Recap March 22, 2008

2008-03-25T14:29:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-17T23:22:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-09T22:34:00.000-07:00

(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

2008-03-02T20:56:00.000-08:00

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.

Flag Recap Feb. 23 2008

2008-02-26T00:13:00.000-08:00

PHOTOS: David sticks out his tongue after making a catch. Check out this and 29 others taken by Brent.

WEATHER: Our first “wet” game in about three years (and I don't mean the lube). It started dry, then rained enough to wet the field and the balls, then sort of cleared up again. High of 60.

GAME: We had so much fun, we played for more than three hours. White jumped out early and it looked like a blowout at 32-12. Then Dark rallied and forged a 32-32 tie. Dark pulled ahead before White scored once on defense and once on offense to pull it out, 50-40.

SLICKERS: The rain certainly made for some interesting plays and made throwing and catching an adventure. My nice white football shirt needed hot water and extra bleach to get all the dirt out (I had no towel, so used my shirt).

I did like the sly way some defenders made sure the ball stayed slick. I saw Uhrlacher roll the ball about 10 yards at the end of one play, ensuring it would pick up about 2 pounds of water. Brent on White nicely let the ball kind of slide into a small mud patch on another possession. Well done! Balls slipped from hands and players slid all over the place.

One weird play came when I hit Mike in the hands and it skimmed off. I assumed the defender would have equally slick hands, but Peter got both mitts on them and got the pick.

Fumble of the game occurred when Brent told me to take his camera and cover it with a plastic bag. Of course, I dropped it into the mud when he handed it to me. Oops!

GAME CHANGER: The key play in the game was Gilbert’s interception and great runback where he weaved and reversed field to score to put White up for good.

GOAL-LINE STANDS: Each side had two terrific one. First, White stopped Dark on the four tries from the 3. Key play was Jeff’s catch where we could not determine if he kept possession or was down before he crossed the goal line; we had players from each team on the sideline watching and we could not determine what happened so we ruled ball down short. Dark returned the favor when they stopped White from the 3. Key play was Jermaine and Eugene literally seeing eye to eye, when they collided breaking up a pass.

HISTORIC: With his great sliding deep catch, Duffy became the first player to wear a turban to catch a pass. After the play, he went turban-less the rest of the game (see photos). And it was his birthday to boot!

BALL HAWKS: I counted six picks, three on each side – Gilbert and Peter, Jermaine (which he returned all the way on a great return), Mat (on a gimme, but the hardest often to catch), Duffy and Bobby.

BIZARRE PLAY OF THE DAY: Rich, in his first game, certainly made it interesting on a key fourth down. He dropped the snap, then picked it up and started running. He lost his flag, but White basically stood there (Rich was down if he was touched), so Rich kept running untouched for a long TD.

BIGGEST WASTE OF ENERGY: Dark picked off a conversion attempt (the ball is dead), but the interceptor kept running, as did two teammates to block and two White players chasing him. They ran more than 80 yards each for nothing, so at least got their cardio in.

QUITE A RUSH: The pass rush all day on a slick field helped their defenses. The two Mikes (one on White, one on Dark) were terrific and frequently caused passes to be thrown a split second early. Mike (White team) also had a nice yell when he got a sack.

HIGHLIGHTS: Brent made a great catch and run on a center screen that he took down the sideline for a long TD that iced the game. Kudos to Jay for a nice block. … Miguel showed great speed and skills on several catches, the best being a fourth-down TD grab where he caught the ball on a rebound. … Gilbert had a superb run for a score when he played QB; he had a burst that blew by everyone. … Best long pass was me to Gilbert on White’s first play (before it got wet) for a long score. …

Jay had several nice grabs, the best being a long deep slant where he didn’t score and I yelled at him since he is on my Fantasy team and cost me points (insert joke here about “Jay” and “Fantasy” being an oxymoron). … Christophe had a beautiful catch where he went up high in the rain and snagged it. …

Best flag grab was David on Miguel, getting a loss on what could be been a long gainer. … Josh had two nice grabs in the end zone from Gilbert, the second where he just managed to get his feet in. … Angel was key to White as a swingback, with several nice catches and runs. Just hope his neck is OK after he was accidentally drilled by Bobby. … I had a nice catch and spin move that set White up for a score (and also ran for three first downs). …

Flag recap Feb. 16, 2008

2008-02-17T18:12:00.000-08:00

PHOTOS: Zach (wearing Brent's cleats) goes high for a pass in the end zone. More photos from Brent can be found here.

WEATHER: It might have been frightful elsewhere but the weather was delightful in Venice – sunny, calm and 70.

SCHEDULE: We are back Saturday Feb. 23, 12:30 p.m. Penmar.

GAME: A real thriller. White jumped out early and led by 10. Within three plays, Dark had grabbed the lead. White then reasserted itself and pulled ahead again, only to see Dark rally. White held on, 58-56, when Dark failed on a 2-point conversion on the game’s final play. Congrats to whoever bet the over.

BIZARRE PLAY OF THE DAY: In a day of strange plays, hard to top Mat’s. He played DB and the pass was thrown right to him. He had the ball for a millisecond, then bobbled it and sort of flung it forward, into the waiting arms of Patrick, who gladly took the gift and ran it in for the score. Mat made up for it with a great interception two series later where he stole the ball from the receiver.

BOMBS AWAY: We had a ton of long plays. Gilbert got into the act on two great deep routes and catches from Christophe and Drew. He has terrific body control… Zach ran a terrific post-corner that got him behind the defense for a score. … Mat went deep twice early for long TDs. … Patrick made most of his big catches on seemingly tipped passes, then he spiked it the ball to mock Brent, who said he would only get going when the clock hit double zero. … Jeff ran two superb post routes for long scores.

FANCY FOOTWORK: There were several really nice grabs by players who not only had to get the ball but also keep their feet inbounds. JT had one that helped set up a TD. Jay had several where he managed to make key first downs. ZS had a great grab where he went high over the always tough Gilbert and managed to get it and reach over the pylon.

GREAT D: Hard to say there was a ton of D in a 58-56 game, but there were terrific plays. David made a great read at MLB that resulted in him getting a pick. … Mike had several awesome pass rushes, including on the last play that forced a throw and preserved White’s win. … Brent also made a great read and react at LB that got him a pick. … Mr. Heads Up was Christophe, who was in position on a pass that ricocheted off a White player and into his hands for an easy pick six.

WEIRD PLAY CALLS: Still not sure why Dark tried a direct snap that resulted in a 1-yard QB run on 4th and goal from the 15. The videotape Belichick gave White totally tipped them off! … Honorable mention goes to the two White option plays that resulted in a 5-yard loss and a 3-yard gain.

GREAT MOVES: T.O. was great all day starting in the backfield and finding gaps. He made a great move and spin on a short pass he took for what turned out to be the clinching TD. On a couple of shovel passes he turned nothing into something both times for nice gains.

FASHION NOTE: Zach borrowed Brent’s cleats and promptly drove home with them on. Brent is holding Zach’s sneakers as ransom.

HIGHLIGHTS: Great pass by Christophe to Jeff from about 6 yards; White had good coverage and he really fired it in. … TO made a great leaping grab for a 2-pointer where he kept the ball despite getting hit by the DB. …

Brent made several key catches as center. The best was where he snagged the ball, and in the surprised words of TO, “showed some athleticism” by avoiding the flag grab and racing for the TD. “You know, Gilbert, I’m old enough to be your grandfather!” Brent said to the guy who missed his flag. … Zach mirrored Brent by doing something similar on a short pass that he took 55 yards for a score. …

Drew did a great job avoiding the rush most of the game and stepping up to make big throws. … Nice heads up play by ZS to keep running his route when I was in trouble on a blitz. He kept moving and wound up breaking free for a 2-pointer. … Props to Gilbert for sacking me after I taunted him that there was no way he would sack me.

Flag recap Feb. 9, 2008

2008-02-10T23:08:00.000-08:00

PHOTOS: Eight posted so far here, including a great three-photo sequence showing Ty catching a tipped pass. All photos by Brent. Photo above shows Gilbert catching a pass that was perfectly laid in there by his QB. :-)

WEATHER: Perfect. Sunny, 75, calm.

WELCOME: Ty is one of those guys who’s been on the e-mail list for a while and he finally ventured out. Once Brent got him some cleats he was just fine.

SCHEDULE: We are back Feb. 16 at Penmar Park, 12:30 p.m.

GAME: White pulled away in Game 1, we retooled and White held on for a 6-point win. Both games featured some terrific performances.

BIZARRO WORLD: I have been playing a long time (insert joke about me schooling Knute Rockne once) and saw three plays I never have witnessed before. First was this: Dan throws to Chris, ball hits him in the hands, Brent immediately grabs flag. Chris bobbles the ball and gains control minus his flag but untouched. He runs into the end zone. We debated whether or not it was a TD and gave them a first down instead.

Our national rules say that you can't grab a flag until a runner has possession of the ball, so I have changed my mind and now think Chris was live until touched. No matter, Dark scored the next play.

Play 2 came when Brent and Gilbert rushed Chris at QB. Brent batted the pass into the air and Gilbert snagged it and ran it back for a TD. I have never seen that happen in a flag game. But, amazingly, a few series later, ZS did it one better, knocking Gilbert’s pass into the air as a rusher, then grabbing it and running it back.

PLAY OF THE GAME: Great having Demond back and he shined all game with multiple TDs. His best came on a short out that I was trying to complete for a short gain. I thought I had overthrown him, but he put it into another gear, made the catch, then high-wired it down the sidelines for a score.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Along with Demond, Gilbert came to play. He had four interceptions and at least four TDs. On his most amazing pick, he pulled a David Tyree and outwrestled the receiver for the ball on the way down. His best catch came when I was rolling out and threw it up hoping; Gilbert went high snagged the ball and pulled it down for a first down. After Gilbert had another pick playing deep safety down the middle, ZS (on the other side) said, “Maybe we ought to stop doing that.”

GAMER: Brent is still recovering from a nasty bout of pneumonia, but you wouldn’t know it from the intensity he showed and how hard he played. He had no trouble barking out defensive calls and managed to get his usual zingers in.

PRETTIEST PLAY OF THE DAY: A beautiful pass from Dan to Christophe who ran a great go route. The ball was laid in there perfectly and Christophe caught it in stride and ran it in.

TRICKERY: We ran one fun play from the Dark 1. Demond was in the backfield and I was at QB. I then walked sideways to tell Gilbert something. The plan was for Brent to hike it immediately to Demond, but Brent waited until I basically walked to the Santa Monica Airport and the snap to Demond didn’t fool anyone. He still managed to get in anyway.

RUMBLING, BUMBLING: Loved the catch, spin and run David made, where about three guys missed his flags and he gained 20 yards. He had several grabs during the game even though he was kept back to block.

BALL HAWKS: Gilbert led the parade with four and Jay had two (including one for a TD). Dan (playing Game 1 for White) wound up with three, including a great one where Brent shifted him from DB to LB and he read the play perfectly.

COLLISION COURSE: Roughest play (though not intentionally) came on a long pass down the middle to Angel. Gilbert went up and managed to time it so he batted the pass away. Both came down awkwardly but both bounced up and got back up.

QUITE A RUSH: The key to White’s defense was the great pass rushing by Mike, Brent, Demond and Gilbert. On at least two picks, the rushed pass was caused by pressure. Gilbert also had the quickest sack ever, but it does help when you line up on the line of scrimmage and not 5 yards back!

TOUGH GUYS: Gilbert also plays tackle football Sunday with friends and he invited anyone. The only ones who appeared interested were Christophe and ZS. “We have health insurance now,” Christophe said.

HIGHLIGHTS: Great 2-point catch by JT in the corner of the end zone, where he lost momentary control then regained it. … Two great sideline catches for a TD and conversion by ZS, where he showed great balance. … Great routes by Gilbert on two TDs – one on a post corner where he turned the DB around, the other on a deep slant where he saw there was no safety help. … Loved Christophe yelling “Oh shit!” when Gilbert did a stop and go and Christophe, playing DB, did only a stop. …

Demond got about as wide open as a receiver could on a play where Mike played him short and was expecting DB help, but no one was playing DB and Demond basically walked in. Ty had several nice grabs on sideline route but missed the deep ball he was begging for all game. Next time. … Lamest block by me on ZS, doing my best matador imitation which caused a sack … Lamest tackling by Jay, who basically stood and watched the receiver catch the ball in front of him and then not pursue. “My legs are jelly,” he said by way of explanation. … Mike (Dark team) also had several nice catches and runs despite primarily being a blocker.

Flag Recap Feb. 2, 2008

2008-02-03T14:36:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: The worst freezing weather China has seen in the past five decades has wreaked traffic havoc across central and southern China since mid-January. … Meanwhile, in Venice it was 60, sunny and perfect for football.

SCHEDULE: We are back Saturday, Penmar Park, 12:30 p.m. Also, plans for the league are going very well and the goal would be to start perhaps first weekend in April (I will keep you posted). If you have not already responded, please let me know if you are interested.

GAME: A wild one that seesawed back and forth, with White pulling ahead late to win it by 18.

BIG PLAYS: It was a day for a lot of long passes. I started it all with a long slant that Ruben took all the way. Dark countered with long strikes from Drew to Uhrlacher, David and Mike. T.O. and ZS later got in the act on nice passes from Dan.

ROCK ‘EM, SOCK ‘EM: It was flag football but sometimes resembled tackle. On one play, my jaw collided with some part of Uhrlacher’s anatomy and I knew what a near-knockout felt like. I was the rusher that play but found myself on my knees. After Drew had about an hour to find someone deep, T.O. wondered where the rush was. “On the ground,” I said.

On another play, Chris was basically tackled by T.O., Chris later collided with his teammate JT on another, and Hinders and Gilbert both hit the ground after catches. Bring on the ibuprofen!

MR. THIRD DOWN: Chris must have had about a dozen catches, several of them for key third downs to keep drives alive.

SHORTEST DRIVE EVER: White stopped Dark on fourth down, recording two sacks on the drive. When they took over they had first-and-goal from the half-yard line (they did score), but it was the shortest drive ever.

SACK MASTER: ZS was a pass-rushing machine, along with Brent (healthy after his bout with pneumonia). Someone on White called Brent our “Belichick” since he called the D. Or was that for his camera skills? You can expect his pics to be posted sometime around the start of the Clinton Administration … Chelsea Clinton.

TACKLE OF THE DAY: T.O. rushed Drew on one play and we had this exchange -- “You grabbed my balls!” Drew said. “I was grabbing for the flag,” T.O. said. “There are no flags in front,” Drew replied.

TRICKERY: On one play, I called a double-reverse pass. I handed it off to T.O., who gave it back the other way to Christophe, who became the QB. He threw back across his body to a wide-open T.O., who juked and jived for a whopping 1-yard gain.

HEADS UP: White caught Dark napping on one play and Dan hit me wide open along the sidelines. Knowing I did not have the wheels to score, I yelled for Ruben to slow down and lateraled him the ball and he took it in. Despite what some Dark members claimed, it was not a forward lateral.

GREAT PLAYS: Superb catch by Gilbert on a sideline pass where he battled the defender for the ball. … Two nice 2-point catches by Dan in the back of the end zone, first from me and then from Christophe. … Great spin moves by ZS on one play where he looked like a spinning top. … I had a nice flag grab when I reached out for a streaking Gilbert and wound up with the flag. I seldom make “tackles,” that felt good. … Beautiful pick by T.O. and a tremendous runback 65 yards for a score in what was the game-changing play. … Mike made a terrific catch for two points on a high, hard one from Drew.

Flag football back Feb. 2

2008-01-23T16:22:00.000-08:00

We are playing again Sat. Feb. 2, Penmar Park, 12:30 p.m.

Bring your own water, cleats, and a dark and white shirt.

Here are directions:

From LA: 10 west, exit Lincoln Blvd. west. Go left on Rose and we're at the corner of Penmar and Rose.

Shortcut:
10 west, exit Bundy SOUTH. Turn right on Ocean Park, left on 23rd (which becomes Walgrove). Turn right on Rose and left on Penmar.

Flag recap Dec. 22, 2007

2007-12-27T13:34:00.000-08:00

WEATHER: Gorgeous – sunny, 65, a bit windy at Playa Vista.

WELCOME: It was great having Rory play with us again; he is visiting from NYC. He got out of his rental car (got upgraded for free to a white Beamer) and was catching passes a minute later. And it was awesome to have Shari back after a long absence. Loved her SC tattoo

SCHEDULE: We are off on a holiday/NFL playoffs break. Our next game is Jan. 26, likely at Penmar. I will keep everyone posted.

GAME: What looked to be a laugher turned into a thriller as Dark rallied back from 22-0 down to just fall short, 42-40.

CATCH OF THE DAY: Angel made a great over-the-shoulder grab on a long pass from me, keeping his concentration the whole way. Those are tough catches.

BUSTED PLAY OF THE DAY: On fourth down, White shifted to an odd zone, but not everyone got the message. Drew wound up uncovered and Toby hit him for an easy TD.

BUSTED PLAY RUNNERUP: On fourth-and-goal from the 1, Dark failed to cover Shari. I threw it, she had it, bobbled and then lost it. No matter – White held, got the ball back and Shari made a nice comeback to catch one in the back of the end zone for a score.

DISS OF THE DAY: I was telling Angel how good Rory was and early on Patrick got by him for a deep score. “I thought you said he was good,” Angel said joking.

SICK BAY: For the third straight week, Brent was unable to play because of pneumonia. He still was our official photog, though. “Can’t I get away from the paparazzi?” Rory said when he showed up and saw Brent clicking away.

HARD KNOCKS: Mike and Angel became well-acquainted. On one play, they whacked heads (ouch) and on another Mike accidentally pushed Angel’s head into my left elbow (ouch again).

BALL HAWKS: Chris showed the skills of an Ohio State linebacker with a nifty read on a pick; Toby had a pair, looking like a U.T. corner; Rory had one on fourth down to snuff out a drive.

NOTABLE: Jeff made a great catch that Dark ruled was out of bounds, but Jeff showed me the foot mark on the artificial turf that showed he did get the first foot in. Where is instant replay when we need it? … Ramsey was the White 2-point specialist QB, hitting on consecutive passes. … Ramsey and Bubba had a spirited man-on-man affair with Bubba committing defensive PI on one play, and Ramsey committing offensive PI on another.