ALL SIZED UP
7/8/03

Cement Shoes becomes the first team to win their second Competitive Weeknight Flag Football championship by routing Bad Habits in the title game.

During the regular season, Cement Shoes was fitting all their opponents with the concrete ankle weights. In route to the division championship they cruised through, going 6-1 and shutting out five opponents. In fact, they allowed points in only two games.

Cement Shoes started the season with four consecutive shutouts, a CSA record to open a campaign, and they tied the record for most shutouts in a season (WPOA, Winter 2002). They allowed only 34 points in seven games.

In the playoffs, they were never really tested. They opened with eighth seeded Better Than Dallas and after establishing a huge first half lead, 26-0, they held on for a 33-28 win.

In the semis they faced the only team to defeat them in the regular season, Drunkyard Dawgs. They jumped all over the Dawgs to make sure they didn't suffer the same fate as in the regular season. It was 20-0 late in the first half. DD managed a touchdown on a hail mary pass to end the first half, but that was the last of the scoring. Cement advanced to the finals with a 20-7 victory.

In the finals, Cement met Bad Habits. Bad Habits had reached the championship game for the first time in their history. In their four previous seasons, they had never advanced beyond the semi-finals.

The title game was never really close. On the first drive of the game, Cement marched the field and championship game co-MVP Ray Lee hit the other co-MVP, Darren Ross, for a 15 yard touchdown on an option play. On the conversion attempt, QB Mike Veronesi connected with Matt Lorenzo to make the score 7-0.

That was the score at the half, as Bad Habits was unable to move the ball on the Cement Shoes defense.

In the second half, lady luck played a role in blowing open the game. After stalling out on the first drive, Bad Habits punted. The punt didn't go very far and Cement took over on the Bad Habits 38 yard line. On the first play, Veronesi hit Lee on an out route. Lee bobbled the ball, and before he had possession, his flags were pulled. He then gained possession and was able to race down the sidelines to the endzone. On the conversion attempt, Veronesi hit Travis York and the score was 14-0.

The touchdown took all the life out of Bad Habits and now the final outcome was almost certain. As time was winding down, Darren Ross made his second interception of the game, and with 1:15 remaining, Veronesi hit Ross for a 23 yard touchdown that made the score 20-0 and ended the game immediately by rule.

The win was a sort of vindication for Cement Shoes, who after winning the Fall league title over L.C.W., were upset in the first round of the Winter league playoffs by seventh seeded William Otis.

With a second championship in the CSA Weeknight Co-ed Flag Football competitive/open division, Cement Shoes did what no team before them were able to accomplish. In CSA history, no returning champion had ever ascended the throne again.

Hot Dogs & Buns (Spring 2001) did not win in Spring 2002 (as Illegal Use of the Hands), JP2 (Fall 2001) was beaten in the semi-finals of the Spring 2002 league (as JP3), Better Than Dallas (Winter 2002) returned to the championship game in both the Spring 2002 league (as Super Fun) and the Fall 2002 league (as L.C.W.) but fell both times. Legion of Doom has not been able to recreate the magic of the Spring 2002 league in three subsequent seasons (Summer 2002 as Greatest Show on Earth, Fall 2002 and Spring 2003 as Legion). NFLicious won the championship in their first season with CSA, Summer 2002, but were knocked out in the Fall 2002 playoffs by Cement Shoes (as Bring the Noize). And Survivors (Winter 2003) did not return to defend their title in the Spring season.

Click here for the championship game boxscore