Thirteen hardy souls showed up on an overcast and cool spring morning this past Sunday to play a spirited game.

The Black team was almost a carbon copy of the 2nd place tournament team with Brandon, Tony, Adam & Greg. The White team was led by Patrick as their QB, included the likes of Jay, JB, & Tim. Playing 6-6 with a permanent defender the were a couple of INT's. Patrick threw an absolute duck to Adam, and Brandon had one go off his receiver's hands which Tim snatched out of the air.

The game was back and forth. JB who was beaten one play earlier by Brandon found his way deep a couple of times, and he also took a lateral from Patrick to throw a long (really it was straight up and straight down) bomb to a sliding Joe. He was probably White's player of the week.

Black was constantly ahead, but White refused to quit. A nice fade from Brandon to me in the corner, over tough defense by Tim, put Black up 33-25. White had one last chance to tie. A quick bomb to JB put them 10 yards and a two point conversion from making the score 33-33.

But alas, White who was 0-5 on two point conversions on the day could not convert, giving Black a hard fought 33-31 win.

At least, that's the way I remember it. I'm sure in Brandon's version he did more.

Compare these lists:

Kevin C, Burton, Adam, Brandon, Brad N, Craig, Jim, Bob, Marc, Tim, and Marlon = 11

Kevin C, Adam, Brandon, Craig, Tim, and Marlon

+

Burton, Brad N, Jim, Bob, Marc

= 11


Now looking over these lists, which 6 people do you think showed up to play (rain or shine) as promised and which 5 were MIA?

The 2008 Spring Tournament ended with a Bang not a Whimper.

With no love in the polls, a 0-2 record on the field, and starting Week 2 playing the presumptive favorite (the team voted most likely to win), the deck seemed stacked against Victor's White team.

They took a 10 point lead at the half against Tim's Red Juggernaut, then held on against a 5 play last ditch drive to win the game 39-38.

Facing Greg's Black team who used a tough defense to overcome JJ's Green team, they jumped out to an early lead on Patrick's INT of a tipped Tony pass. The game stayed close, and black finally went ahead on a extra point by one point 39-38 with 2 minutes to go.

Then White showed the quality that I believe won the the tournament for them -- the ability to make a play happen when they needed it. Here's the funny thing, it wasn't always Burton or Sparrow making the plays happen, it seemed like a truly team effort. A Sam INT for a TD against Tim's Red Juggernaut, Victor running over the middle for a 4th down conversion, Patrick scrambling to buy time and finding the open man, Uncle Bobby making people miss to score a key TD. Everyone made plays when White needed a play.

Against Black in the Championship, it was Patrick finding Sam streaking deep through the middle to give White the lead. Black had its chance and moved down the field, with the remaining time, and 5 plays, but fell 20 yards short of tying the game.

I was trying to think of a tournament MVP, but I wasn't sure who that would be. What do you think? What were the keys to White's victory? Post your thoughts in the comments

As the 2008 Spring Tournament winds down I also wanted to thank the team captains and Charlie for their effort, and JJ for hosting the fun post-tournament extravaganza.

Hail the victors -- Victor's White team.

A Cinderella story if there ever was one.

More tournament recap to come, but this is all I got time for now. See you at JJ's.

AFTER-TOURNAMENT BBQ.
Sunday afternoon: 5:30 (Trainwreck?!!?)

WHERE: jj AND CRAIG’S HOUSE
5416 Grove Street Chevy Chase, Md 20815
(Very METRO-friendly)

Directions attached for driving or Metro. (We are right on top of the Friendship Heights Metro.) If you need more specific directions, then let me know and I’ll get them to you. My cell number is: 240-447-7832; Home landline: 301-65-5747

There’ll be Ping Pong, games and …

THERE WILL BE FOOD SO IT’S IMPORTANT TO KNOW IF YOU’RE COMING AND IF YOU’RE BRINGING A DATE/GUEST/TRICK/TRAMP. Please respond to this email and let me know.

Bring your own beverage. Looking forward to having everyone.

Seedings for next week:

#1 Tim (2-0)
#2 JJ (1-1) (tiebreaker over #3 for head-to-head victory)
#3 Greg (1-1)
#4 Victor (0-2)

Games for next week: #1 Tim vs. #4 Victor
#2 JJ vs. #3 Greg

Oh and of course, there's the post Tournament party @ JJ's House. Details will follow but that everyone should bring beer, wine, liquor, etc...JJ will provide all the food.

With all the games and the excitement over the weekend, I thought I'd write up some general thoughts about each team based on interviews and my observations. If you were expecting me to remember anything, then you'd be sorely mistaken.

Here are the facts:
Game #1:
JJ--41 Greg--28
Tim--32 Victor--14

Game #2:
Greg--38 Victor--33
Tim--27 JJ-13


Records:
1. Tim 2-0
2. JJ 1-1
3. Greg 1-1
4. Victor 0-2

Notes on Tim's Team:
I didn't get the chance to play against this juggernaut. But what I heard is they are a big team. Against Victor in the first game they played a max protect using John Williams, Tim, & Jonathan to bull their way to victory. Dan was efficient with his throws and the results showed in the scores. In their second note, I heard their pass rush against JJ's team, forced Jim into mistakes that sabotaged the green team's offense. As an anecdotal note, every time I looked over I saw Ari making a nice play, whether it was an INT that he was able to tip to himself or a sweet catch and tip toe into the endzone (was that a TD or not?).

Notes on JJ's Team:
Against us Jim led a balanced attack, spreading the ball around to his receivers. While Allscott didn't make an appearance at QB, he played a tough corner and sealed Green's victory over Black with a nice INT keeping Kevin in front of him all the way downfield. JJ also came up really big, with several clutch catches, scoring at the end of the half, to give Green the lead in the first game, and getting a long gain with Green's back against the endzone. Marlon proved a dangerous deep threat, stretching the field for the Green team. Joe sat out the first half of our game, claimed he couldn't see out of one eye, said he'd give it a go in the second half, then proceeded to catch the first three balls of the half. I guess he's preparing for his LA.

Notes on Greg's Team:
Tony played his normal cagey QBing. Really his only mistake was the Allscott INT, otherwise he played with his usual combination of intelligence and savvy -- even contributing some solid coaching advice on Defense. Gary put constant pressure on Jim even in the mud. Kip was pretty awesome on offense showing soft hands and catching everything thrown his way, continuing his success from a week ago. Brandon played tough defense on Marlon, and came up big in the second half against Victor's team, giving Tony a reliable target as we fought off White's comeback attempt.

Notes on Victor's Team:
The dual QB of Patrick & Bobby did a good job of finding Chad in the second half. The ever reliable Burton, who showed off his quick hips and Fred Flinstone twinkle toes for a nifty touchtown. Chad who bit bad playing middle safety much to Tony's delight, single handedly kept White in the game against Black, scoring two quick (and long TDs) that prevented Black from pulling away, and made the last moments of the 2nd half exciting. Victor put some pressure on Tony, forcing some quick throws. Wish I could remember more from our game against them, but I mostly had Chad in my face.

Questions for Next Week:
Can anyone figure out how to handle Tim & the Red team's size?
Can Black and Green play a half without arguing about the clock?
Can White find another receiver to put pressure on defenses (Sparrow anyone)?
Can Adam find a babysitter so he can play?

Stay tuned.

My Apology.

Before I posted all the good things that happened this weekend. I just wanted to take a moment, to apologize for my behavior in the first game today.

The details and explanations of what exactly happened aren't really important.

I lost control of my temper, and I'm sorry to everyone. I figure bad public behavior deserves a good public apology. Instead of being a leader, I was a goon, instead of making things better, I made them worse. I feel embarrassed and disappointed in myself.

I would like to say this will never happen again, but I know that behavior doesn't change overnight or by itself, it only changes with time and effort. So instead I want to make this promise, that I want to learn and grow from this mistake, and will try my best to not make the same one again (there are so many other mistakes just waiting for me out there).

-Adam

Let the games begin! Comment on who you think is the best team on paper. Here are the rosters, listed in ABC order by El Cap-eee-tans:

Victor's Team (White jerseys)
Bob
Brad N.
Burton
Hurd
Patrick
Robb
Sam
Chad (4/6 only) / Sparrow (4/13 only)

Greg's Team (Black jerseys)
Adam
Brad H. (4/13 only)
Brandon
Gary
Kevin S.
Kip
Steve
Tony

JJ's Team (Green jerseys)
Allscott
Jay
Jim
Joe
John L.
Kevin C. (4/13 only)
Marlon
Matt

Tim's Team (Red jerseys)
Ari
Charlie
Craig (4/13 only)
Dan
John W.
Jonathan
Mike F.
Daly (4/6 only) / Marc (4/13 only)