From our favorite injured Monument:

Hey everyone,

I just wanted everyone to know that we will be having our flag football gaybowl kickoff party...

Friday May 15th 5pm to 9 pm @ COBALT/ 30 degrees.

Please feel free and invite all your friends, partners, tricks, etc.

Its tournament time, a little Monuments/Metros March Madness. Did you have Craig's Green team with Tony as their QB in your bracket? Did you track the historical trend of Marc's undefeated in tournament play? Let's get to the games:

Game 1:
Marlon (White Team) 32
Brandon (Red Team) 25

Marc (Black Team) 34
Craig (Green Team) 0

Game 2:
Brandon (Red Team) 39
Craig (Green Team) 14

Marc (Black Team) 34
Marlon (White Team) 24

Theme of the Day:
With one very close game, all the other games were blowouts which is unusual for this time of year. Of course the results were skewed by Tony's no show which put Craig's Green Team behind the 8 ball. Marc's team dominated going 2-0, can Brandon's team step up and stop them next week, after a heartbreaking loss to Marlon's team?

Plays of the Day:
Keep in mind I didn't get any reports from the other games, so this is almost exclusively from my perspective. The one nice play in the other game I witnessed was Black's Jim, dropped back, threw the ball out to Kevin on the wing. Ari made a great break on the ball and came an inch from intercepting it and taking it back for a TD. Instead the ball bounced up, right into Black's Danny's waiting hands, who took it 50 yards for a Black TD instead.

Newcomer David had a nice INT return for a TD. PJ showed some sticky hands going up for a hard thrown ball against Craig's team.

Down 32-25, wtih 4 plays left, Brandon and his Red team found themselves on White's 9 yard line. Needing a TD and xp to tie, it looked like OT, but an errand throw landed in Tall Adam's hands for the game sealing INT.

Charlie had a nice INT as Dan got confused and threw it right too him early in that barnburner of a game.

Stats of the Day:
Brandon had 3 INT's against Crag's team. Burton had a ton of big catches and TD's keeping the chains moving and an INT in our game against Marlon's team.

Marlon was all over the field on Defense, if we kept track of tackles he would probably be leading the tournament.

Ari was the big player in White's first game victory. Coming up with several clutch catches (looked like the trend continued in the second game).

Charlie had the already mentioned INT & some big catches connecting with Brandon.

Lloyd carried the Green offense early in our game against them -- even with the uneven Qb play. It wasn't until Armando came in that the offense suddenly came alive, as he effectively moved the ball downfield -- accounting for both Green's scores.

I wish I could have seen more of Marc's black team play as they're clearly the favorites, so I'm not sure who was making plays for them.

Pictures are up here.

Stay tuned for next week....

Missed the game this weekend due to family considerations.  

All Charlie would reveal was that he was on the losing end of both games.   I'm not sure who even showed up, so I can't even make up what happened like I usually do.

Instead here are the rosters for the Spring Tournament:

Craig -- Green Shirts:

Armando, Barry, JJ, Shane R, Steve & Tony, WK 1 Only: Miles

Marc -- Black Shirts:

Danny W, Gary, Jim, Kevin C, Kevin S, Wk 1 ONLY: Adam J, Sam, Tyler, WK2 ONLY: Chad

Marlon -- White Shirts:

Adam M, Ari, Burton, Dan, Lloyd, WK 1 ONLY: Hurd, JB, Peter, WK 2 ONLY: Cassius, Williams, Mike Bird

Brandon -- Red Shirts:

Adam S, Allscott, Charlie, David, Greg, Mike Bornmann, Michael, PJ

It was a spirited 5-5 Sunday, with a good mix of regulars like and new guys, who showed up to play a shootout.

Final:

Light 35 - Dark 34

Dark: Me, PJ, Dan, Tall Adam

Light: Tony, Jonathan, Atlanta Mike, New Jonathan, Greg, Steve

A game that came down to the last play.  It was up and down the field all day.  

Theme of the Day:

Running, a lot of running.  I know 5-5 entails a lot of running, but come on.  It didn't help that the field was a nice combination of soft on top and mud underneath.  Jonathan wiped out spectacularly at one point.  

Plays of the Day:

PJ had perfect position on his INT.  I juked Jonathan out of his pants, on a long run down the sidelines.  Tall Adam had a couple of nice catches.  For a game with so many big plays I can't remember any of them, but I know there were 4 or 5 long passes and long runs on passes across the middle.  

Stats of the Day:

Jonathan claims he had 3 TD's and one dropped TD that off his hands, off his face, off his hands onto the ground.  PJ had the only INT of the day.  New Jonathan came out, shook off 20 years of rust, made a catch for a first down, had a sack and a couple of pulls, including his hamstring about 10 minutes into the game. 

Mike from Atlanta (who said he moving down in September) showed a nice arm even as he got used to our type of Offense.  Still, he clearly showed he could play QB.  

Tony was his usual efficient self.  

Ok remind me what I forgot.

Snow day on Monday, 70 degrees on Sunday -- what a difference a week makes.  Spring made her appearance this weekend on a beautiful Sunday.  We had an allstar lineup out there with old timers and new players alike.

Game 1 Final:

Dark 33 - Light 24

A rocky start for Light with Craig's brother Danny taking a turn at QB to start the game.  Light started to come back with Jim at the helm, but a crucial mistake turned the tide and gave Dark the victory. Light was never really able to stop Jim and Brandon's offense.

Game 2 Final:

Light 26 - Dark 18

We divided up for game 2. Maybe it was me -- I was on the losing side of both games. Man to man defense failed Dark on 3 straight TD.  The final one was all Burton.

Theme of the Day:

Big players from big players.  Sam, Burton, Trainwreck, Chad, Tony, Greg, Armando, JB, Brandon, Jay all made long catches or nice plays.  

Play(s) of the Day:

Burton's INT of Jim was beautiful.  He broke on the ball perfectly, then returned it for a TD.  That play shook off some of the rust from Burton who dropped a couple earlier.  Of course, he got toasted by Tony breaking on the pump fake perfectly this time to give up the game ending touchdown.  

JB made a sweet rejection of Jim that Brandon had in his hands with a clear path to the endzone, that is until Brandon dropped the ball.

Chad made a silky smooth over the shoulder catch, adjusting to the ball like a center fielder.  

Sam showed excellent body control on two grabs, I mean really excellent body control, one keeping his feet in the other a twisting catch.

Lloyd made a tough catch for an extra point, Brandon had a finger on the ball, still not sure how Lloyd held on.

Stats of the Day:

Chad had 3 TD's which he reminded me of.  Jim had the only other INT other than Burton's.  JB had a blocked pass.  Tall Adam had a nice TD streaking over the middle, as did Jim.  In fact in Game 2, Light had 3 long TD's on almost the same play to 3 different players, straight up the gut.  Armando had a long TD, to go with a couple of nice passes defended on deep balls. Charlie showed some age, dropping a couple of balls he usually would catch.  Jay had a TD or 2 and an extra point (at least one) in front of his cheering section. Greg had a couple of long passes, one for a TD. I had a TD on a perfect pass from Jim down the sideline. 

As always, I know I'm forgetting something.  But with so many big names and big plays, and no advil, I can only be expected to remember so much. 

A nice treat this Sunday as Sam brought out a bunch of guys from his straight team.  We had enough to break up into a friendly Us v. Them game, then there was time left over for a quick mix up game before we ended at at 1:15p. There are some good pictures here especially of the new guys.

Though my favorite might be Brandon' juggling eyes shut catch.

Game 1 Final:

Sam's Boys 36 - Us 36

A tie? A tie? There are no ties, but we had one.  There was a lot of offense today (not much D), Sam's Boys made one key stop to make a 2 TD game into a 1 td game, and they got the ball last to tie it up, after a failed extra point we decided to play one more.

Game 2 Final :

Dark 12 - Light 12

We mixed up teams and played a short game to 21 or 1:15p, we got to 1:15 first.  Another tie.  I think that's the record, we've never had 2 ties in one Sunday.  Definitely fun, hope those guys come out again.  

Theme of the Day:

New blood.  It was really nice to play with a group of new guys, to face the unexpected.  The game was a contrast in styles more akin to a tournament game then our regular Sunday games. Talking to the other usual Sunday guys, the sentiment was the same.  While we played are traditional West Coast offense, moving the ball 6 - 10 yards at a time.  Sam's boys came out slinging.  First series they score in 2 plays.  Next series was the same.  It took both teams a while to adjust to the other's styles, and even so defense took a backseat to offense all day.  There were only 2 stops that I can remember (Brandon do you remember).

Stats of the Day:

I can't remember all the names and TD, but Justin, Sam's Guys QB, threw a funny ball but always seemed to put it in just where his receiver could haul it in.  Ervin had a blocked pass as did I on the rush.  Receiver Justin had the key INT in the first game, that got Sam's Guys back into the game. Jay made several catches and was pretty active especially in game 1. Sam's Guys couldn't convert an extra point all game. Marvin had at least 2 TD's and showed his athleticism on several plays.  Tom had a couple of TD, running one in from the 10 yard line.  I kept my streak alive of 3 games in a row with an dropped INT. 

Plays of the Day:

The play of the day had to Marvin stealing the ball from Brandon.  On a lame duck of a throw from Justin, Brandon went up for a sure INT.  He had the ball in his hands, seriously he was in the air with the ball in his hands above his head, and somehow Marvin not only tipped the ball back into the air without touching Brandon at all, but  more impressively on an impressive play then caught the rebound and ran it in for a TD.  

Charlie made another Inspector Gadget catch snapping the ball out of air.  

I know there were a couple of other nice plays, but they've gone out of my head.

We had rain, sun, sleet, snow, ice all in the span of 45 minutes.  It was a day with a lot of new faces, and while we only had 13 -- enough for a 6-6, it was a spirited two games, with as many big plays as I can remember. Of course, I can't remember much, maybe it was the weather or all the running.

Game 1: 

Dark 33 - Light 18 (game to 32)

Game 2: 

Dark 27 - Light 20 (game suspended)

Theme of the Day:

New faces and big plays.  Miles, Peter, Tall Sam.  New players came out and strut their stuff today.  I think almost every TD was on a long pass or a great play.  While there was a core of old timers there, myself included, about half the guys had just started playing this season or had only played a couple of times before.

Plays of the Day:

When I asked for opinions about best play at the end of the second game, I literally got a different play from 5 people.  And they were all right.  My top play was Miles going horizontal on a deep bomb to snag the ball out from Armando who was sure he had the INT.  Miles also had a nice catch after a INT went through my hands, showing excellent concentration hauling the tipped pass in.  Armando showed he had a few tricks in him with a diving catch for a big first down from Brandon.  Peter had a sweet run, breaking some tackles along way.  I had a nice run on a slant cutting back against the grain for a TD.  Brandon had a long TD on an out, breaking down the sideline almost untouched, I know I'm missing 2 or 3 other plays.

Stats of the Day:

Tall Sam tied the game record for 2 blocked passes, one a Motumboesq swat.  Miles had at least a couple of other TD's, and he had one of the days' few INTs.  I dropped two sure INT's, like right through my hands dropped, and a sure TD (must be the groin pull).  Gosh I wish I could remember some other plays.

Anyone want to give an old man a hand? No not that kind of hand, a hand remembering what happened?