2002 Year in Review

CSA FLAG FOOTBALL REVIEW

The 2002 Game of the Year came from the co-ed flag football division. On March 4, Better Than Dallas completed the greatest comeback run in CSA playoff history. In the game of the year, they faced an undefeated High Maintenance team for the championship of the Winter Monday night league and upset the top seed 14-13. This made Better Than Dallas the first team ever to finish a regular season winless (0-8) and go on to win a league championship. With a miracle upset of second seeded Player Haters, 14-13, in the first round and surviving against third seeded Loco's Deli & Pub, 14-6, in the semi-finals, BTD gave every winless team in all CSA leagues hope.

The other two winter leagues also had historical finishes. In the men's division, Wide Right cemented their legacy as the greatest dynasty in CSA history when they won their third straight championship. During the season, Wide Right extended their CSA record winning streak to 20 games before being defeated, and made history by appearing in the fourth straight CSA Flag Bowl.

The winter weekend co-ed league also had history made when W.P.O.A. and Playing With My Donger became the first teams ever to split a CSA championship. W.P.O.A. romped through the season, going 10-0 and compiling the greatest statistical season in CSA history. They set league records for points scored and points allowed. In all, W.P.O.A. set four CSA records that currently stand. Playing With My Donger reached the championship game after coming back in an epic semi-final battle with undefeated Unsafe at Any Speed. Playing trailed Unsafe 13-0 after TWO plays and by halftime they led 20-13. They went on to advance 27-19 and in the championship both teams decided they would rather split the title than finish the game.

The winter drama just made the spring season that more exciting. In the spring league, new traditions were introduced, and old ones were improved. The "Drunken Boot" was awarded for the first time. The All-Star games were revived and a new champion was crowned in the men's league.

The spring weeknight league may have been the most competitive league in CSA history. It featured three former champions and two other teams that had finished in first place. Six teams finished over .500, and Legion of Doom managed to go through the entire season unbeaten. On route to the title, they finished 10-0-1. In the championship, LOD prevented Super Fun(Better Than Dallas) from repeating as champions.

The weekend league produced one of the biggest upsets in program history. Marty's Monkeys(W.P.O.A.) was on a 19 game winning streak and on route to a second consecutive championship when they fell to a hungry Unsafe at Any Speed team. Unsafe, still smarting from their winter league exit, knocked off Marty's Monkeys in the semi-finals, and then made a huge second half comeback to beat Going Deep in the championship to become the first recipients of the "Drunken Boot". Unsafe trailed Going Deep 13-2 at the half, but took over in the second half and won 14-13.

In the men's league another team that was upset about their winter league finish took their first championship. Yo Mamma's Nightmare, who were upset in the opening round of the playoffs in the winter, struggled through the regular season, finishing fourth, but came alive in the playoffs and cruised to the spring league championship. They ended Wide Right's championship run (Wide Right did not play the spring season)

The spring season also had the first co-ed game to go to overtime when Billy Otis and Animal Olympics took three overtimes to decide a winner (still a CSA record). Billy Otis also set a CSA record that day by becoming the first team ever to have consecutive playoff games end with a score on the final play. They were eliminated on a last play touchdown by Going Deep. The weeknight league had another overtime game when winless KForce (0-6-2) pushed Illegal Use of the Hands (2-4-1) to double overtime in a 0-0 game. A 79 yard interception return by KForce in the first overtime was stopped just short of the goal line and gave Illegal a second chance, which they took advantage of to win 6-0.

The traditions continued was CSA's innovative all-star concept. The weekend league had the Green/Gray classic on June 22. Two games were played simultaneously, one under CSA American rules and the other under CSA Canadian rules. At the half they switched opponents. Green and Gray ended the game tied at 40. The classic had the first 10 point conversion in CSA history when Joe Fassler and Larry Smith hooked up on after a double reverse.
The weeknight all-star game was played on June 25 and was the Navy/White game. This all-star game was the first to ever have a halftime skills competition. Ryan Hunter and Karen Huber won the men's and women's longest throw competition respectively, and Legion of Doom won the four player shuttle relay race.

The biggest tradition started was the awarding of the "Drunken Boot". It was conceived by CSA VP, Roger Werner, who while playing for his team Billy Otis, managed to tear up his cleat. We decided to enclose the boot in a plastic case and make it the most appropriate trophy in all of CSA. The "Drunken Boot" is awarded to the co-ed flag football weekend league champion.

In summer league play, a rookie franchise took one championship, and a disrupted dynasty reclaimed what they felt was rightfully theirs.

NFLicious, playing their first season with CSA, won the co-ed weeknight division regular season title, and then won the league playoffs by defeating Greateast Show on Earth (Legion of Doom) and stopping them from a repeat championship.

In the weekend league, W.P.O.A. finished the regular season in first place tie and went on to win the championship and take possession of the "Drunken Boot". Before annihilating The Dawg Pound in the championship game, 31-0, they escaped a heartstopper with Billy Otis in the semi-finals. Billy Otis, playing without Roger, held a 12-7 lead with a minute and a half to go. W.P.O.A. connected on a long pass to score and take the win, 13-12.

The fall leagues continued the trend of expansion in the CSA program. For the first time, the weeknight co-ed league went to two divisions. Division X featured the "old school" teams and Division Y had the "newbies". The "old school" division had 8 of 9 teams playing in their third season or more. The "newbies" had only 1 of 9 teams that had played more than two seasons. The weeknight season also saw Leland's return to competition, captaining L.C.W., which is the Super Fun/Better Than Dallas franchise.

The co-ed weekend league was more informal than the weeknight, and oddly enough was the only league to crown a champion before the new year. With four evenly matched up teams, Snap This! came out of the fourth spot to become the third recipient of the "Drunken Boot". Snap This! reached the weekend championship game for the second straight season (they were The Dawg Pound), this time they swept all three games in the one day playoff to win the title. This included a record tying performance in the first round with 48 points scored, a dramatic one point win in the semi-finals, and a drubbing of Billy Otis in the finals, 26-7.

The men's league competition was also elevated. Dream Team (Yo Mamma) finished their second undefeated regular season this year. The Renegades lost their opener to Michigan South, but won their last six games to finish in second. The top two seeds would make it to the finals, but after winning semi-final games in a driving rainstorm, they were only able to complete the first half of the championship game before weather forced suspension of play. When the championship game resumes at the start of the second half, the Renegades lead the Dream Team 21-7. The Dream Team will be looking for a comeback to win their second straight title.

The highly balanced Tuesday Night co-ed league was slammed by rainouts and rescheduling. Four weeks were rained out, forcing games to be made up on Mondays. After all the games were complete, three teams led the way with 6-1 records. Legion of Doom won the X division and Bring the Noize won the Y division regular season title over The Mullets, who were also 6-1. Close on their heels were X division teams, Cement Shoes, who finished 5-1-1, and Leland's own L.C.W., who ended the season 5-2-1 in third place. The Drifters closed the regular season third in the Y division, also 5-2-1.

The top three seeds in each division all advanced to the round of eight. The previously mentioned cancellations forced the remainder of the playoffs to be scheduled for the first week in January.

Because of the exciting 2002 leagues, the CSA flag football program has gained a reputation as a quality program on all fronts.

Co-ed Flag Football
# of games played: 357
# of points scored: 9515
Tie games: 16
One point games: 26
Games decided by over 20 points: 108
Games decided by over 30 points: 34
Games in which one team scored over 30 points: 54
Games in which one team was shutout: 114
Games where the total combined points were:
        50 or over - 4
between 40-49 - 37
between 30-39 - 98
between 20-29 - 136
between 10-19 - 58
between 0-9 - 12

Forfeits - 12

Most points scored - one game - combined - 62 - 5/21 - Legion of Doom (35) - Allgood (27)
Most points scored - one game - one team - 48 (twice) -
        3/9 - W.P.O.A. (vs Lust Monkeys)
        12/15 - Snap This! (vs SEC Extreme)
Most points scored - one game - one team  in a loss - 27 - 5/21 - Allgood
Largest margin of victory - 48 - 3/9 - W.P.O.A. (48-0 against Lust Monkeys)

Men's Flag Football
# of games played: 145
# of runs scored: 4771
Tie games: 4
One point games: 12
Games decided by over 20 points: 42
Games decided by over 30 points: 16
Games in which one team scored over 30 points: 33
Games in which one team was shutout: 26
Games where the total combined points were:
        50 or over - 10
between 40-49 - 38
between 30-39 - 42
between 20-29 - 36
between 10-19 - 13
between 0-9 - 3

Forfeits - 3

Most points scored - one game - combined - 59 - 11/7 - Renegades (30) - Frankie's (29)
Most points scored - one game - one team - 50 - 11/7 - Dream Team (vs Piranhas)
Most points scored - one game - one team  in a loss - 29 - 11/7 - Frankie's (vs Renegades)
Largest margin of victory - 47 - 5/7 - Team Guinness (vs Network Gnashers)