Week 25 Summary - Well I guess you can have nice weather in March in Austin. Dry, light breeze, soft but not mushy field - if it had only been overcast (Yellow lost several great throws in the sun) and cooler (you know me, I like highs below 55 for game play) it would have been perfect. Well my nit picks aside, we did have a good game. Got up to 10 on 10 for a while and had quite a game. Unfortunately Yellow didn't score except for 2 safeties, but it was still a good game. I define a good game where nearly everyone has at least one great play and I think that this game had that. Even plays that ended with drops (like the aforementioned sun blinding passes) were great when you consider the throws. It doesn't have to be a touchdown to be great - sometimes is a sack or a key block - a defensed pass or fighting for a catch - the kind of play when even members of the other team congratulate you.

Week 26 Preview - Games like the last week really make me hungry to play again. I simply can't wait until Saturday and hate that its still 5 days away (well 4 by the time most of you will read this in the Evite). See you Saturday.

Link of the Week WARNING THIS IS NOT SAFE FOR WORK - http://gprime.net/video/iwanttopoopbackandforth/

Week 24 Summary: A wet game. 6 on 6 with a final score of 3-1 Red over Yellow. One of the few decent wet games we've had. Lots of picks from slippery balls but a couple of them were due to solid defense. There were also a couple of nice running plays.

Week 25 Preview: Wouldn't it be great if it was dry and cool and maybe a little overcast? Little much to ask in March in Austin, I guess.


Link of the week: http://www.dumpalink.com/media/1142502611/Cops_and_Star_Wars_Parody

Week 23 Summary - A HUGE game. 11 on 11 with a total of 5 extra players subbing in. We played with a full width field and had an awesome game. I can't remember the final score but I think there was a .5 or 1.5 point margin - Red over Yellow.

Week 24 Preview - Probably not quite as many guys this week but hopefully we'll get 9 on 9.

Week 22 Summary: Okay this was an odd week. In Week 21, it was raining and yet we had 9 on 9. So flash forward one week to Week 22. It warm, sunny, light wind and we get 7 on 7. What happened?

Well, despite the low turnout we still had a good game and it marked the long awaited return of Nick. It was quite game. The game included quite a few trick plays, in addition to the now standard Hook and Ladder to a lineman that Yellow ran several times, Red ran a reverse that somehow managed to come up with a nice gain. A lot of nice defense at times. Couple picks per side. The score was 1.5 to 0 for quite a while, Yellow over Red. Then it was 3.5 to 1 Yellow over Red. Then Red found the endzone and pulled together 4 scores to end it 5 to 3.5.

Week 23 Preview: Who can tell? I'm surprised by the low turnout in Week 22 but hopefully that was an abberation.

Week 21 Summary: Well it was a bit of an odd week. It was raining pretty good when we started and the school asked us to leave because they were concerned we would tear up the fields. Good news is that they said it was only when it was raining that they were worried.

So we ended up moving up to Round Rock HS and had a better game there. It stopped raining and the field was in better shape. We had nine on nine for 2/3rds of the time and decided to try allowing the QB to run in really big games like that. It worked great. Both teams experimented with it but it didn't turn out to be the game killer that it would be in small games. So I've updated the rules to allow the QB to run when we are in 9 on 9 games or bigger.

Week 22 Preview: We may have a problem on rainy weekends. The other field is fine for a backup but it is a pain in the ass to switch fields so we'll need to see how this plays out. Everyone should write down my cell phone number from the Evite in case there is an issue. I don't anticipate one next week but you never know.

Week 20 Summary: Well my prediction for this week didn't come true. We had 15 people on the Evite and 15 showed up (of course, some of those who showed had not RSVP'd and some who did RSVP did not show up so . . .) In any case, it was the coldest game in a couple years. I doubt it got above 37 the whole game. Fortunately, it was dry.

So we had the smallest game in weeks - 7 on 7 which was a pretty good game and then 6 on 6 when a couple people had to leave early (which was less fun). Hopefully this week will pick up a bit.

Week 21 Preview: Who can say?

Week 19 Summary: We're starting to get much better at the big games. We had 10 on 10 again this week and it was another really good one. I think the final score was 2 or 3 to 1, Red over Yellow. I saw some new plays that took advantage of the larger game (5 eligibles). Unfortunately the wind was really an extra defender this week no matter whether the offense was playing with or against the wind. So that made it hard to take advantage of the new play ideas. Perhaps next week.

Week 20 Preview: Lets see, I'm guessing 10 - 12 people will RSVP as yes and then 20-24 will show up.

Week 18 Summary: Super Bowl weekend, Super Game. 11 on 11 and it actually worked. It was a no-score game until the last 30 minutes but it wasn't "all-defense" or "no offense". Each team was able to move the ball, its just that as the field got smaller, defense had less to cover so "more defenders per square foot," essentially. Also each team did a good job substituting players to play on the line so everyone got the chance to be a receiver. There were picks on both teams, some very nice catches, and running plays of 8 yards were greeted with real enthusiasm (there were so few).

Week 19 Preview: Hard to know what to expect. Often when we have a huge game like this, we end up having a let down week in follow-up. I hope not, this we really a great game.

Week 17 Summary - A classic - its raining hard and we have 9 on 9 - that's dedication (or insanity . . . hard to tell). In any case, it was our 2nd wettest games ever (we had a game about 7 years ago when it poured hard the entire game). Still, it was mighty wet - even after it stopped raining. Final score of 3 to 2 Yellow over Red.

Couple things came up that I wanted to talk about. First, for the past few months Leo's teams have been running a hook and ladder play once or twice a game that involves Leo throwing to a receiver on the line and then coming behind for a pitch. After it was run twice in a row this week, a question was asked as to whether or not that was pushing the "QB can't run rule." This is a good question but I don't think that it does. This play is not like having a player hand the ball to the "real QB" so he could run or throw on every play (which a couple of guys tried doing last year) for two reasons: 1) because it involves a forward pass and a pitch back. The QB doesn't have the option to throw or run. He threw and then took the pitch to run. We do hook and ladder plays to other players, including linemen (who are otherwise ineligble to advance the ball) 2) The pass could be dropped by the WR or intercepted by a really alert defender OR the WR could be flagged before the pitch OR the pitch could be dropped or intercepted by a really alert defender. So there is a higher element of risk in this play than in simply handing the ball to a stud Vince Young style runner/QB. I think the risk of little to no gain makes it more legitimate. So running it once or twice a week doesn't seem unreasonable any more than running half-back options or running Hook and Ladders to a lineman once or twice a week. They are fun plays and as long as they are not the staple of the offense, I don't see them violating the spirit of the rules by having otherwise ineligible players running the ball. Thoughts?

Another thing I needed to do was apologize for getting pissed off when I ran up the middle on a draw and Matt tackled me. It was a totally legitimate play. I was running up the middle, he got in the way and grabbed me to stop me, I went down. It’s just I hit a puddle face first and the cold water gave me a jolt so I reacted without thinking. I was wrong to complain about it.

Finally, I am really sorry about my forecast. It really looked like the rain was going to pass by 9:15 or so. And it did pass . . . only it was more like 10:30 before it did.

BTW - Kudos to Leo and Ray for struggling through the worst throwing weather in years.

Week 18 Preview - Weather.com shows a sunny day for Saturday with Wednesday being the only day for the rest of the week with a chance of rain so hopefully the field will have dried out.

Week 16 Summary - What a wild week this was. Another very large game of 10 on 10 whose highlights was probably turnovers. Two in particular. After solid pressure and contact with the Yellow QB's forearm, Red intercepts the ball. On the run back someone (not sure who) yells "pitch, pitch!" and Red pitches it straight to Yellow. Bizarre play. Only seen it one other time and that was a couple years ago. So flash forward a couple plays later on Yellow's possession. Yellow has a completion and is running up the field when once again the call "pitch, pitch!" comes out and Yellow pitches the ball to Red. Unreal. Good game though.

I think we need to discuss the size issue soon. If we end up with 24 players or so in one week, we probably will need to split into two games. Any time you have more linemen than eligible backs/receivers people spend more time on the line than as eligibles. I enjoy playing the line but when it becomes more than half the time, that's getting a bit much so just planting the seed that we might need to look at splitting occasionally.

Week 17 Preview - Probably another very big week. We've been picking up new players big time lately and more new ones are expected to everyone bring nametags.

Week 15 Summary - Large game. Seriously large. We had 19 and played 9 on 9 with a substitute. This was with 6 new guys and 3 who were making their 2nd appearance. So its great to have gotten game strength back up where it needs to be. We may actually have enough people one of these weeks to have to play on two fields. I'm going to grab some more cones and belts to be sure we have enough. In any case, Week 15 was a pretty good game. Final score was like 4.5 to 2 Yellow over Red or something close to that. The only performance I'm going to highlight this week was Ray's amazing defense. He was in on probably more than half the flag grabs - simply flying all over the field. He was particularly devestating against the run.

Week 16 Preview - An on-time start. Last week we had 16 by 9:15 so everyone had time to warm up and we got right into the game.

Week 14 Summary - Another great week. We got up to 8 on 8 and what started out as a skunking (6.5 to 1 at one point) ended up much closer. I don't remember the final score but I think it was 6.5 to 5. It was definitely much closer. Oh, and Jason wanted me to mention his touchdowns - he had one straight and then pitched to Brandon on a Hook and Ladder who then lateraled back on the 1 foot line so Jason could score. Had 4 new guys out this week and Dan came back so it looks like we have a new regular.

Week 15 Preview - We've had a strong start to the spring season so I can only hope that we keep it going this week.

Week 13 Game Summary - We had 7 on 7 and a hell of a game. Possibly the best this year. We had punts, picks, sacks, turnovers on downs, running, catching, and, since this game marked Brian Dainton's return as a QB, Hooks and Ladders. All we were missing was a safety. Final score 3-3 with scores on both team's last possessions. Great game. Also, we picked up 2 new players last week and saw Paul for the first time since last year.

Week 14 Preview - More of the same? Love to have the new guys keep coming back and to have more games like last week's.

Week 11 Summary - 5 on 5 that ended up 0-0. At least we were moving the ball around and it wasn't just a bunch of 3 and outs. It was probably the most fun 0-0 game I've played in.

Week 12 Summary - No game. We only had 4 on the Evite so I cancelled it.

Week 13 Preview - Its the last game of the calendar year (not of the season : ) and most of the people who were unavailable last week indicated that they'd be around this week so hopefully we'll have a great game.

Week 10 Game Summary -
Well we only had 11 and Matt Day had to leave at 10:30 so it was a bit of a mixed bag. None of our usual quarterbacks were out but we found that the new Leo (ironically a friend of Leo's) and Brad who came out for the first time in week 9. Now we can't have two Leos so I'm thinking we should call New Leo "Neo" or if he doesn't want to sit with a vacant look on his face, "NeLo".

In any case, we found an interesting 11 person variant where we played 6 on 5 with an all time QB and a 2 man line; much more fun than 5 on 6 with an extra defender. We played that until Matt had to leave at 10:30 at which point we converted to 5 on 5. Yellow won 5 to 4 by stopping Red on the final drive.

Week 11 Preview -
Not sure what to say other than lets get folks out again. Been great to see all the new faces over the last couple weeks. If any of you have some friends who would like to play, we still need to pick up some more regulars so go ahead and invite them on the Evite.

Week 9 Summary

Well after having only 7 in Week 8 we get 18 in Week 9 and had a great game. Game balls go to Brandon as offensive weapon of the week, Matt for never giving up on any play (and bringing a fair number to a halt), and Red Team's teamwork in run blocking. I can remember nearly everyone having at least one really good play and that's what makes it fun.

Another great thing about week 9 was that the reason we had so many players is we got a bunch of new guys show up and they got right into it. Someone get me their email addresses so I can get them on the Evite.

Week 10 Preview
Hopefully more of the same. There's no UT game so there won't be a reason to leave early.

Week 8 Game Summary
So sad. So very sad. A beautiful morning with cool temperatures and overcast skys and we can't even get 8 players? I know it was raining pretty hard early but by 8:30, it wasn't raining at all. We didn't have a drop the entire game. Besides, even if we did, WE PLAY IN THE RAIN! Understand, last year, it was raining at 7:00/8:00ish in the morning on many Saturdays and then magically it would lighten up or stop by 9:00 or so almost every single time. They say god likes football so maybe that's a sign. In any case, I get up early and start monitoring the weather radar looking to see what's coming. I've gotten very good predicting whether we'll have a window of weather to play in so next time, get up and read your email. My forecast will be there.

So with only 7, we got creative and played 3 on 3 with an all-time QB but to make it interesting, we had every player play 2 series back-to-back as QB. That meant I had to throw and but fortunately I got lucky. I drew up good plays and generally picked the right receiver but half of my throws were uncatchable, a quarter were bad but catchable and a quater were good. Fortunately, that's all it took because I threw 2 TDs. Matt Day had 2 also. No one else had more than one. Like I said, a sad week when Matt and I are the top QBs : P

Week 9 Preview
Lets look for something better this week. Week 7 was a great game. Lets go for something like that. I'm looking for 14-16 guys to come out. Now, Saturday the 3rd is the Big 12 Championship Game. It's on at noon. So we need to have people show up on time (9:00 or preferably earlier) so we can get in a good game that ends at 11:30 so people can get home for the Championship if they're interested.

REMEMBER - WE PLAY IN THE RAIN - seriously (have I made that clear enough? : )

Week 7 Game Summary

Well, after having to cancel week 6 due to lack to available players, this week was a strong return to form. We had 14 by 9:15 and a couple stragglers show up a bit later. Jeremy put on an offensive and defensive clinic with TD passes and a rediculous run as well as taking 2 picks back for TDs.

Week 8 Preview
Enought people said they'd be able to play this weekend that it looks like we'll be playing. Still, it wouldn't hurt to look for a few new guys. I put the game up on Austin 360, Craigslist, and Evite Events last Thursday night and got an email this morning so that should be one new guy.

11/12/05 GAME CANCELLED

I wanted to let everyone know that Flag Football for 11/12/05 has been canceled. The EVITE currently shows 5 yeses, 3 maybes and a whole bunch of nos. I'm not going to ask people to come out when if EVERYBODY who has replied yes and maybe were to show we'd only have 8. I will play with 8 but I know some guys don't like playing that with that few. Besides, I'm not sure of one or two of the yeses because of the "RSVP for whole series" problem.

I'm really disappointed (and desperately needed to play this week) but better you all have the chance to make other plans than for you to show up and sit around for a hour only to realize we have 5 or worse.

Game on for 11/19/05

Hey,

What is the deal you pansies...8 people? Come on. Let's play some ball!!!!!