Week 10 Summary: Another lopsided score that should've been closer. Yellow definitely played better and likely would have won the game anyway but Red's miscues simply did them in. Red started poorly with lousy protection and turned the ball over twice to Jason Brecht. By the time the protection improved, Red found other ways to lose despite getting open regularly. Dropped passes were a favorite (did anyone not drop at least one?) but when we weren't dropping them, the QB was misfiring. It was just an ugly game for Red. I think Yellow ended up with like 5 picks.

Yellow won 5-2 but two plays could have made it 4-3. The first was horrible Yellow pass (came in like a punt) that I should have picked but which I bounced off my knee right into Zieser's hands and which he took in for a score. The second was a beautiful long pass that Kris put right into Shay's hands in stride in the endzone that he caught and then lost when his feet got caught up. So take one score away from Yellow and give Red one and you get 4-3. But would've/could've/should've doesn't mean much.

I think I need to talk about the origin of the MVP award in our game. In 11+ years we almost never talked about such things. Then last year, Alex came out and had a career day. He had 4 picks, (2 returned for touchdowns), a couple of sacks, and I think he had an offensive touchdown as well. It was without question, the most dominating performance we'd seen by a player in years. Now flashforward to this year. While this year's MVP winners have had nice games, we haven't yet had one quite as dominating as Alex's last year. That's the standard to shoot for guys.

This week's candidates were Cain, who did a terrific job QBing for Red and who played some nice defense, Brecht who had the 2 aforementioned picks and nearly had a long catch and run TD (called back by an offensive pass interference call), and Zieser who had 2 picks (or was it three) and made the catch of the season when he grabbed the tipped/missed pick that I made and took it in for the TD. That play put Zieser over the top this week. He caught it while running straight at me with the expectation of getting a flag since I should have caught the ball and then it suddenly was bouncing low and fast right at him. He was about 6 feet away when I bounced it. It was really a hell of a catch and run. I had nightmares about it Saturday night.

Week 11 Preview: Well we had 7 on 7 on a holiday weekend so lets hope that bodes well for the next several weeks. I know that people have familial obligations and need to spend money to keep retailers in business but remember, stores are open in the afternoon and absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Link of the Week: http://b2.is/?sida=tengill&id=198446

Week 9 Summary - Yellow got untracked putting in a solid effort and winning 5 to 3.5. In fairness to Red, the game was actually closer than the score would suggest. Two of Yellows scores occurred on huge 1 play drives. The first was a deep, deep pass thrown into double coverage that Jeremy pulled down by reaching over the defenders from behind them to snag it. The second was a run up the middle that some how ended up going outside (despite a huge hole opening up in the middle) and then down the field 65 yards for the TD - welcome back Mark.

One of the more exciting aspects of the game was watching Cain and Jeremy dualing through the game. Each made spectacular plays but Jeremy came out ahead and it this week's MVP on the strength of a 2 TD, 2 pick (one for a TD), and several catch and batted balls performance.

Week 10 Preview - Week 10's game falls on the Saturday following Thanksgiving. Nevertheless, we are having a game. What is Thanksgiving without football? Nothing to give much thanks for, that's for sure. So unless your holiday plans involve a flight, I expect you out there.

Link of the Week - http://www.stumbleupon.com/

Week 8 Game Summary: Sadly another skunking. 6-1 Red over Yellow and it wasn't that close because Yellow only had 3 or 4 first downs all game (one was a really long touchdown that passed 2 first down cones and thus really weren't first downs per se). Kudos to Red who really stepped up and played a great game.

Thinking about this game, I think it was the week of the newbie. Chi had several sacks (two in a row), some nice receptions and put good pressure on Red's QB which forced the QB into other the other rushers at times. John (playing for his first time) had a number of clutch catches - they were either tough, in coverage, or importantly timed (like for 1st downs) and scored more than once I believe. But then Ty really opened it up. He had a number of running plays that showcased his speed and ability to change direction and it turns out he's a terror on the pass rush for the same reasons - Red ocassionally would only rush him and he'd get pressure on Yellow.

The MVP was really a tough one and because pretty much everyone on Red had a very good game. I'm going to have to award a tie this week for the first time. Tie being the operative word because Ty is one of the winners. When you're 5 foot nothing, a hundred and nothing and still have a game like that, its a big deal - we put Leo on him, that's how much we respected his running. The other winner is Brian. What did he do? Well aside from drawing up play after play that worked and getting his team to a 5 point win, he simply picked Yellow apart. This after only playing 2 series at QB all year and hardly playing QB at all last year. My congrats to the winners. As I mentioned, this was a tough week for making a selection. John was a strong candidate too. I'm thinking about bringing out a tiny voice recorder so I can take notes.

Week 9 Preview: Yellow gets untracked. 'Nuff said.

Link of the Week: http://www.videosift.com/story.php?id=17334

Week 7 Summary - A great game. One of the best of the season - close but great play on both teams. Final score was 4-3 Red over Yellow but Yellow was in it right up until the end. There were a number of players who could have been named MVP. Barry made his first appearance of the year and had a number of defensed passes (at least one of which would have been a TD), good coverage in general and a descent offensive performance for Red as well. Jimmy also making his season debut and had two nifty TD catches but had to leave after about 40 minutes. Had he stuck around, he might well have gotten the award (given the way he was playing).

On Yellow, Travis had all three of of the team's TDs. One was a nifty 15 yard run up the middle and another was a huge 60 yarder that involved an extra 25 yards of running across the field and then a neat shift at the end that caused the final defenders to miss him. It was a very, very strong performance. While a player on the losing team can be MVP, in this case I think that the award needs to go to another player.

Nick had one of his best games in a very long time. Its not that he's been playing badly, its that this week he really was on the money. He was getting rid of the ball quickly and accurately, short, long, medium - it didn't matter. His two TDs to Jimmy were beautiful touch passes placed perfectly.

Week 8 Preview - The weather has finally changed and Fall has arrived. Its a bit early to get a forecast but so far it looks like we'll have cool, dry weather again. More importantly, I believe Week 8 will be our first week on the real fields. McNeil's last game is this week and they will not be in the playoffs so we should be clear to use the full-sized practice field. I'm thinking the running game should open up a bit with a wider field. The little field we have to use early in the year is too small to allow an effective running game for the number players we have.

Link of the Week - http://www.videosift.com/story.php?id=17334

Week 6 Game Summary: Ugly, at least for Yellow. It was so ugly that I couldn't write about it for 2 days. Yellow simply couldn't get it going on offense. The QB was under pressure way too much. Many passes were off target early. Then when they finally began be on target receivers dropped or tipped them. I think every Yellow receiver dropped one catchable ball. Between the early missed throws and the later tips, Red had 9 interceptions (I'm pretty sure it was 9 and it certainly was a record). But in all fairness, that doesn't do Red justice. They played pretty good defense (hence the picks). The final score was 4-1* Red over Yellow. I asterisked the "1" because it came on a Cuba Libre that was totally clean but over which there was some confusion and the only defender who might have had a chance to prevent the long touchdown kind of quit on the play as a result.

The MVP could have easily been Red's defense but for the fact that Yellow dropped and tipped so many passes (at least two of which would have gone for touchdowns, another two that would have been first downs) and but for the play of one guy. This week we had 2 new players show up. While Ty had a nice game, Chris had a very impressive debut as Red's QB. Usually when guys come out it takes them a week or two to get the flow of the game, particularly when they try to play QB. Chris' biggest problem was getting used to the extra flag on the belts which was his bane for 3 or 4 sacks by Red. But what he did otherwise more than made up for it. I'm not sure but Chris may be the first player to ever throw for 2 TDs, catch another TD, have 2 picks, and return one of them for a touchdown - He scored 3 ways. Even if we've had someone score three different ways, I'm pretty sure it wasn't in that person's first game. In any case, congrats to Chris our week 6 MVP.

Game 7 Preview: Weather looks like a bit higher low and lower high with a chance for some light rain but remember, we play in the rain.

Link of the Week: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/40255643/

Week 5 Game Summary: Well it was a blast from the past as advertised by Jason who brought remnants of his old team the Untouchables out to play in honor of a visit by Chris Treadaway who is in town about to get married. But it was also the debut of 5 new players with Dave bringing a couple and me finding 3 online. While the new guys brought skills to the game, 4 of the new players were on Red who didn't have a lot of experience at QB - Josh has QB'd some in our game but mostly in relief. Yellow, with more experience playing together and bolstered by the best pass-rusher in our game (Matt), kept Red's 3 QBs from establishing much momentum - 50% of Red's yardage came on one play. Yellow won 2-0.

Selecting an MVP was tough once again this week. It was a toss up between Indy who had 2 picks and, had he gotten his feet down, nearly had a 3rd and Kris Burleson who QB'd Yellow to victory. He kept several drives alive with come nice runs and his 2nd TD pass was an absolute rocket that was dead on accurate. If it had been any slower, it would have been deflected by a very nice dive by the new Matt who made a terrific break on the ball and made contact but not quite enough. I give the MVP to Kris because with the exception of what would have been a 3rd pick, Indy's picks were more the result of badly thrown balls than having to work hard on the play (no offense).

Week 6 Preview: I think Chris' wedding is this weekend. Does that mean we have another blast from the past coming?

Link of the Week: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz9uLFdfacM&eurl=

Week 4 Game Summary: A very interesting game - the first defensive struggle of the year with the win coming on the final play of the game. Final score was Yellow 2.5 to Red 2. Yellow's advantage was its size. It had all the mass. That mass was able to provide great protection for the Yellow quarterback and put serious pressure on the Red quarterback. The game was still close because Red had a ton of speed. So Red was able to cover Yellow's receivers well.

Choosing the MVP was really hard this week. There were certainly some highlight plays - Jeremy had some nifty moves and I was proud a diving catch I made - but there was no dominant performance by any player. But as I thought about the game I think there were two key plays by one player that changed the outcome. These two plays were flag grabs that saved two Red touchdowns. Had either of those two grabs not been made, Red would have won the game 3 to 2.5 or 4 to 2.5 if both had been missed. The maker of these grabs is our Week 4 MVP and that is Ethan. On one play, Red excuted a terrific reverse and the Red QB made an outstanding block, there was no one to beat when Ethan came flying into the play and made the grab. The other play was similar in that Jason Brecht had a very nice reception and no one in front of him when Ethan came in laterally to make the lunging flag.

RULES UPDATE - during the game, there was discussion about incidental contact that occured when the defender got his legs tangled up with the receiver's. I went to NFL.com to read the rules on the subject to research pass interference and found that the following do not constitute pass-interference:

(a) Incidental contact by a defender’s hands, arms, or body when both players are competing for the ball, or neither player is looking for the ball. If there is any question whether contact is incidental, the ruling shall be no interference.

(b) Inadvertent tangling of feet when both players are playing the ball or neither player is playing the ball.

(c) Contact that would normally be considered pass interference, but the pass is clearly uncatchable by the involved players.

(d) Laying a hand on a receiver that does not restrict the receiver in an attempt to make a play on the ball.

(e) Contact by a defender who has gained position on a receiver in an attempt to catch the ball.

So those are some things to keep in mind. I think we came to the right decision regarding inadvertant contact, particularly the legs.

Week 5 Preview: More good weather? Another full-sized game? More trash-talking the 18 year olds on the other field? (I'm looking at you Nick and Leo :)

Link of the Week: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv4Potdpjhw

Week 3 Game Summary: Well this was a weird week. We only had 11 guys so we played 5 on 5 with an all-time QB (Leo and Nick taking turns) and a 2 man line. Then when Sam had to leave early, we played a little old-school 5 on 5, 4 Mississippi rush game. I think what we learned was that the smaller the game gets, the more important to match guys up carefully. Normally in a 7 on 7 or better game, you can mix and match as much as you want but this week with such small teams, having most of the speed on one team was bit much with Yellow winning 6-1.

Picking the MVP was actually hard. I think a good case can be made to give it to a couple of people. I had 2 picks, a couple of nicely defensed passes, and 2 touchdowns (and might could have scored another but lateralled to Leo who took it in). The yellow defense as a whole could have been nominated as well with 4 picks, a turn over or two on downs and forcing a number of punts. But this week, I'm going to award the MVP to Leo because he had 3 TDs (one of which was a really nice WR screen where he had to make some very nifty moves to get in) and threw for a couple.

Week 4 Preview: Hopefully the weather will continue to cool a bit and our numbers will increase slightly. I think most people will agree that 7 on 7 or 8 on 8 generally produce our best games so getting a few more people out this coming week would be really good.

Something that would really be nice would be if we had numbers at 9:00 which is actually our start time. We're starting games now as soon as we have enough to begin playing - even if that means playing a smaller game to start or having to substitute guys in or something. 9:00 start means arriving early enough to put on cleats, stretch, warm-up, whatever and starting the game at 9:00.


Link of the Week: http://www.videosift.com/story.php?id=9066&where=index

Week 2 Game Summary - Goodness the quality of play jumped up from week 1 to week 2 while the offense was much stonger this week, that doesn't take away from some nice defensive plays. Game finished 7 to 4, Yellow over Red but here's the odd thing - when I looked back at the game to identify the MVP, I came up with one player who had no touchdowns. This is the oddest winning performance I think we've had. This week the award is given based not on TDs, sacks, or picks but on strategy and blocks. Jason Chenault called three running plays and all three resulted in TDs - 2 of them scoring because of his blocking including one of those where he made both the lead block and the second block without which there would have been no score. On defense I think he had a sack or two but more importantly he designed a new coverage scheme that was highly effective. So congratulations to Jason on a contributions last week. Its not about being the superstar, its about putting your team in a position to win.

Week 3 Preview - Probably still hot but at least Texas-OU will be on later than last year so we shouldn't have people leaving early to watch the game.

Link of the week - http://www.videosift.com/story.php?id=11947&where=index

Week 1 Game Summary: Dear Diary: Jason noticed what I was wearing!! I tried to play it cool but I was so nervous. I hope he didn't notice . . .

Soap opera aside, it was quite a first game. Final score was 4-1, I believe; Yellow over Red. Obviously I would have liked a closer game but it took Red a while to get things going and Yellow had a stronger pass rush and the fastest receivers for most of the game (I say that as someone who was on the Red team). Since it was 9 on 9, QBs could run and Yellow's defense managed to make Nick look like Vick when he pulled it down to run. Nick had the year's first TD on one such run. Given his rushing TD and his team's score which was mostly achieved through the air (didn't he also have a pick?), I declare Nick the MVP of the game.

The biggest surprises of the game were Louis making out (after call me at 9:00 to say he was in SA and wouldn't make it), Leo NOT making it out (after RSVPing as a Yes and coming out to our QB camp on Wednesday night), and Brian Zieser having moved back to keep playing (he claims it was to be responsible for a coming child but we know better).

Week 2 Game Preview: Perhaps a tighter game, a bit more scoring and hopefully better weather (cooler, less humid, and especially much less wind) though the long rang forecast isn't promising.

Link of the week: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mBGODdzzVw

Week 1 Preview:

Its the first game of the 13th season. The schedule include 35 weeks of glorious football (give or take a cancelation or two due to holidays).

We'll start the season on the small field behind the softball field at McNeil. We'll move to the regular fields after McNeil finishes their football season. If we get too many players to make the smaller field work (it accommodates an 8 on 8 game) even with a little substitution (early weeks are hard on endurance), we can move to the regular fields BUT we have to pay the school $100 for the week (until their football season finishes).

Buy new gloves, get your cleats out, if you haven't been getting ready, do a hard little running in them. Nothing starts you acclimating to the pounding of football like running on rock hard ground in new cleats.

Hope to see everyone there.

Link of the week: http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html

Week 34 Game Summary - Final game of the season, couldn't hold anything back. It was a good game but a bit of an odd one. Early on, Yellow couldn't get anything going. We gave up 3 or 4 picks and were down 4-0. Then somehow the momentum completely shifted and we ended up with the greatest ccomeback in the history of this game with Yellow scoring 5 straight times (including 2 on interception returns - one of which involved the most devestating block of the season by Post on Justin - and I know devastating having been the recipient of many blindside blocks by Matt A). It was something.

Season Summary - It was definitely a terrific year. We had a lot of new guys come out and join us which kept the game alive. We also tried some new rules like allowing QBs to run in 9 on 9 games. Best of all, we really learned to talk out issues/rulings/rules to make sure there was concensus on how we were going to play. Its easy to get heated in a intense game like football but I liked that we were able to prevent that heat from burning anyone.

Next Season Preview - Hopefully more of the same and, if we're lucky, the return of some old friends who missed much of last year due to injuries, work, or other commitments.

Week 33 Game Summary: Finally a line game: 7 on 7. Perhaps more 7 on 6.5 really - we had an 8th grader show up and play. While he was small, he actually contributed. He had two touchdown passes (one under no pressure due to Jason's sense of fair play) and got a pick while playing safety and had a nice run back (kid knew how to use his blocks even). He even had a ouple of flag grabs. However, MVP for this game had to be Jesse who had 3 picks and 3 touchdowns (maybe more). Final score was 8-5, I believe and it was Yellow over Red. Oh and Jason wanted me to mention him this week. So lets see, I mentioned him above and I'll add to that that he was on the winning team. So that's two mentions.

Week 34 Game Preview: Memorial Day Weekend. A three day weekend that one would hope will not impact people's ability to play Saturday morning.

Link of the Week: http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/honestboss

Week 32 Game Summary: A little old school action. 5 on 5 and smaller field. Big thanks to Nick for bringing a kid in his neighborhood. Jones is going to be the starting quarterback for Crocket next year and he displayed some serious speed, scrambling, and ability to throw on the run. Nice kid and a fun game - Oh, and I had a beautiful pick when Jones threw a really hard and low ball to Nick who bounced it off his foot and I was able to bring it in on the 1 foot line and stick two feet in on the sideline. Not to toot my horn but what the hell. I showed up and I write the blog : ). Final score 8 to 7.5 Red over Yellow.

Week 33 Game Preview: Last week a lot of our regulars (Josh, Mike, Mike, Ethan, Matt, etc.) said they were going to be back this week. So hopefully we can get at least one more good line game in before the end of the season. Speaking of the end of the season. We've obviously been having trouble getting full games up for the last 2 weeks. That's usually a signal to me that its time to wrap up until fall (that and when it gets so hot that I can't play worth a flop). So I ask you in your response to talk about you thoughts on when to end the season. Be sure to indicate if you think you can play Memorial Day Weekend (in 2 weeks). If not . . .


Link of the Week: http://www.americandadvsfamilyguy.com/

Week 31 Summary - Well this was one of those weird weeks. No regular QBs and an odd number of players. So what do we do? Play 6 on 5 with people like Matt QB'ing for Yellow and everyone taking turns at QB for Red. Not the prettiest of games although there were a couple of nice plays. One where Yellow was in the process of intercepting the ball but Red took it away and another where Red caught the ball way down field and in the process of lateraling it, lost it to Yellow who was right on his hip and took it all the way back to the original line of scrimage.

Week 32 Preview - We really need players to start coming out. 11 Players is not a good game and I'm probably not going to be able to play this week because I pulled my hamstring on the last play of the game. I'll be out there with the equipment and my try to play line or rush but that may be all I can do.

Link of the Week - http://videosift.com/story.php?id=2287

Week 30 Summary: Going into this week's game, I was worried. We only had 11 yeses on the Evite and it was Draft Weekend - plus it rained hard Friday night. Then I got to the field and found they'd aerated it and the rain had filled in all the holes. Fortunately the freshman field was actually in pretty good shape. No lines, but plenty of grass to keep us from turning it into a mudpit. Not only that but we got 7 on 7. As to the game itself, if you take out Alex, it was pretty close. But Alex had 4 drive stopping Picks (2 returned for touchdowns and the other 2 very close to the endzone) and 4 or 5 sacks (I can't remember which). Basically, we crowned him MVP before we'd even had our first water break.

Week 31 Preview: Likely a bit warmer this week but hopefully we'll get another good turnout. We've only got a month or so left before the off-season so it's time to make it count.

Link of the Week: http://videosift.com/story.php?id=1983

Week 29 Summary - Week 29 was a bit of a good news/bad news game. The good news was that we had 7 on 7 despite only having 11 on RSVPing yes and despite 2 of those 11 not showing up. The bad news was that it was humid as hell which killed me and Matt wasn't recovered from a 72 mile bike trip a week earlier. So Yellow was hurting (along with my wrist). The game started pretty close and was 2-2 when Chenault had to leave Red and Jesse arrived to take his place. Then Red pulled away - ultimately winning 7-2 or 7-3 depending one the final call which I never quite got. Mike Valdez had a career day with three really big catches - all of them worth applauding. Josh also had a big game but that's not surprising since he brought his own fans. I think I need an odd number of players next week so I can sit out and rest occassionally. The heat is killing me and with my wrist problem, I can't rest up on the offensive line like I normally can : )

Week 30 Preview - Last week of April. Should be a lot like Week 29 in terms of weather. Hopefully not though. I may bring oxygen.

Link of the Week - http://videosift.com/story.php?id=1250

Week 28 Game Summary - Well this week was a little bit disappointing. Only 5 on 5. But we picked up another new player and the reason it was such a small game was the holiday, not injuries or lack of interest. So I'm sure next week will a more normal-sized game. Now if I told you that Nick was the only regular QB we had playing, and the other team used 3 different QBs, you'd probably guess that Nick's team would win, right? There's an expression that defense wins championships. In this case, I think defense lost the game because our's didn't get it done. I managed to let Josh get wide open on the first two drives when I got screwed up on the "stick or switch" question on one play and when I got tangled up with Dan (also on my team). That put us down 2-0 and we never recovered - finishing 7-4 . Still it was a fun game.

Week 29 Preview - Matt back from Egypt, everyone else back from visiting with families, and an offensive line back in our game.

Link of the Week - http://videosift.com/story.php?id=1172

Week 27 Summary: Tight game this week. We had a couple of lead changes which are nice. Some big plays too. I think we made 8 on 8 for a while but then dropped to 7 on 7. These smaller games we've had the past couple weeks have been really good. Still looking forward to a bigger game since its going to be getting hotter.

Week 28 Preview: Think we may be having a few more new guys this week. Spoke to someone last week who said he was going to try to make it out with a couple guys this week.


Link of the week: http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/lego/lego-goes-counterstrike-165854.php

Week 26 Game Summary: Its funny. We've had such big games over the last few weeks and they'd been so good that I had developed a distaste for small games. 2-man lines generally don't protect the QB very well which has typically made 6 on 6 games less enjoyable. But just when you think you've got it pegged, we have a game like last Saturday. 6 on 6 and just a ton of fun. High scoring but not because of bad defense. There were picks, punts, and stops. But some of those offensive plays were amazing. Brian and Nick each had a beautiful pass that dropped perfectly into their receivers hands in stride where no one but the receivers could get them.

Week 27 Preview: I guess it doesn't matter. Big game, small game. It's all good. See you there.

Link of the Week: http://www.sillywalksgenerator.com/