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Congratulations to our OC09 Champions!
Packers (9-man A)
Lynch Mob (9-man B)
Carnage (7-man)
D4 (4-man)
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Wednesday, May 20, 2009
They asked for it...8-man Eligible is invited to Ocean City!
8-man Eligible has been asking for an Ocean City tournament of their own for years, and it's finally within my means
to create one. Coming October 3-4th, 2009, this tournament will host 8-man Eligible, 7-man screen, 4-man and 5-man.
The 8-man Eligible and 7-man Screen styles will be pool play with single elimination on Sunday. The 4-man and 5-man
styles will be pool play as well, but one style will play on Saturday and the other will play on Sunday (TBD). If we
have enough participation, we will offer Pro and Competitive brackets in all 4 styles of play.
We have also set up the Holiday Inn Express as our host hotel for this tournament. It is literally right in front
of the fields, and you can see the fields from the second floor. Everything in OC is close, including the options for
host bars, restaurants, and more.
I know there are alot of questions, so I'll do my best to answer them here first....
Q: Why are you doing a tournament in October?
A: First of all, I am trying to avoid head-to-head competition with any tournaments that are established on the
schedule. Most leagues give byes to teams that want to travel (as long as they request it early enough), and the only
other tournament in October is in Chicago, and with this much advance notice, I'd hope teams that want to go to Chi-Town will
be prepared to do both.
There's another reason. The weather is still nice (average 66 high, 49 low), but Ocean City changes to winter rates
for their hotels on October 1st. The same rooms at the Holiday Inn Express that we are booking for $90/$105/$120 for
October 2nd and 3rd are available for $175/$190/$225 the week before. I want to save you money, and make it more affordable
for more people to come to OC.
Q: Why are you doing pool play?
A: Pool play has proven to encourage more teams to participate, which grows the sport. It also allows the
second tier teams to test themselves against the top teams, without worrying about an early elimination.
Pool play also creates a schedule that allows players to plan their Saturday around their games, since they will know
when they play and when they're finished. Flag football is intense recreation, but it's still a weekend vacation.
If you're stuck at the fields all day, you can't enjoy what OC has to offer.
Pool play also gives me leeway to avoid having teams from the same league play each other on Saturday, allowing the schedule
to create a matchup against a team you don't see weekly.
Q: You're a 9-man guy. What do you know about 8-man Eligible?
A: I know that 8-man Eligible is begging for a highly organized tournament, a new location and different competition.
This I can supply. For rules questions, I will be leaning on my officials, led by Mark Robinson, who are experienced
in 8-man competition. They know the rules.
Q: Are there different rules for this tournament?
A: We are using the USFTL rules with a few exceptions. There will be a strict mercy rule throughout the tournament
(30 points at any point in 4th quarter, 17 at the 2 minute warning). There will be no Overtime during pool play.
There will also be no tolerance for fighting during the games. An ejection from the game will lead to either a
suspension from the next game or for the rest of the tournament. If there is a larger issue, an entire team can be forfeited
out of the tournament. The Tournament Director (ME) will have the final say on all issues of that nature.
Q: How strict are the deadlines?
A: Very. I will not accept a team who has not paid by September 26. By having your fees in early, everyone
knows who has paid and is participating, and allows the schedule to be released the day after the deadline. Payment
can be made in cash, money order or through PayPal. (PayPal fees will be added to your total.)
Q: Which organizations are you working with?
A: This is an independent tournament. While I would love for there to be points given for this tournament,
I believe that the teams should have the right to use their prizes for whatever purposes they decide. Therefore, I will
not be supplying a bid to either the USFTL or the MCFFU. And even though I have the blessing of both George Coleman
and Craig Mimms, I've decided to run this tournament independently of both, to avoid showing favoritism to either. Both
have said that teams that request a bye in their league schedule will be accomodated in order to participate in the tourney.
So ask for your byes EARLY!
Q: What will the prizes be?
A: It depends on the number of teams. With 10 teams, the Pro winner will receive $1000. With 14 teams,
there are prizes for 2nd and 3rd. With fewer teams, the total prizes drop, and with more, the total prizes go up.
There are no cash prizes for the Competitive winners.
Q: Why no cash for the Competitive bracket?
A: One of the problems with flag football are the teams that stay at the competitive level instead of challenging
themselves and moving up. I believe greed is a great motivating factor, and that playing in the lower level should not
be rewarded monetarily. In short, Pro plays for money, and Competitive plays for a trophy.
I'm sure there will be more questions, and I will be here to answer them. I look forward to another great tournament
in Ocean City, and I hope to see you there.
Andy
Monday, April 27, 2009
The Real OC...
I want to thank everyone who made this tournament work so well. George Hall and Mark Robinson took care of
the 4-man and 7-man tournaments, and their officials were solid. The 9-man officials did great work throughout the weekend.
I'd mention all their names, but I don't think they want to be known. The teams and captains came ready to play and
were great to work with.
And most of all, I need to thank my wife, Beth, who most of you talked to or met this weekend. She was awesome
keeping me sane and being everywhere with me. I really appreciate her.
Here are my notes....
I keep hearing how the level of play was down. To be honest, I didn't see it. There is definitely a split between
the A and B teams, but the 7 teams in A were all competitive with each other, as were the 6 teams in B. Want proof?
You got it....
- One of the teams the message boards picked to "walk to the finals", the Raiders, tied Ryde Out and lost to the Scorpions,
keeping them out of the final four.
- The Scorpions eliminated the Raiders, and their losses were to ECSA and the Packers.
- Ryde Out was 30 seconds from beating the MetroDawgs. A huge bomb knocked them out, but they played three truly physical
games and lost by 2, tied, and lost by 2 again.
- The East Coast Speed Academy, down to 11 players for the Sunday elimination round, won their first three games in the
tournament and were down only 26-19 at half against the MetroDawgs before exhaustion and the MetroDawgs finished them off.
- Lynch Mob, in their first tournament together and signed up for the B bracket, defeated Ryde Out on Saturday on 12-10,
and won the B bracket. But it wasn't easy. They won 6-0 over the Trojans, and 19-16 over the X-dawgs in what was
the second best game of the day (sorry guys, nothing was topping Ryde Out-MetroDawgs).
Previously to this tournament, the Packers were defending National Champions, and the Raiders were coming off a great showing
in the St. Patrick's Day tourney. The MetroDawgs were still the MetroDawgs, and then there was everyone else.
Now if the Packers, Raiders and MetroDawgs are "A" teams, then how can you trash Ryde Out, ECSA and the Scorpions when
they either defeated those teams or came damn close to it? I'm all for blowing up your own teams and tournaments, but
you're disrespecting these teams with some of the comments on the board, and they deserve better than that.
Other notes...
- Ryde Out was down 12-10 to the Lynch Mob, and had a guy breaking away for the score to take the lead. As Ryde Out
was running down the field, a player came off the sideline to celebrate and was mashed by the official chasing the play.
Result: No touchdown, unsportsmanlike conduct and they don't score.
- ECSA, if you had 5 more guys at your level in OC, you may have had a different outcome. But you guys had a great
run anyway.
- Hey Bengals, you need to bring a full squad to these tournaments. But you know that.
- Lynch Mob, now you know you're an A team. Get ready for it. And congrats on the win.
- Speaking of Lynch Mob, you had guys on D4 and Carnage in the 4-man and 7-man tournaments. Combined results for those
teams: 3 championships and a 2nd place. Nice weekend.
- Also about 7-man and 4-man: Before I throw another tournament for your styles, we will have a better mastery for
the rules, including flag length and types. I really appreciate your participation, and although I think those styles
went well, it wasn't perfect. Yet.
- I like the QB for the Philly Trojans, but it seems like their whole team can play everywhere and noone plays anywhere.
Roles are good things.
- Red Knights, we played better on Sunday, and we'll be back. We can't let the first game of the day wreck the 2nd.
- The MetroDawgs now throw underneath. It's not all bombs and screens anymore, and that's huge.
- Bad calls happen. Good teams overcome them.
- We had four guys ejected for fighting, and all were thrown out of the tournament. Does that give you a hint of our
tolerance for that?
- I have a curiosity. We had no issues with foul language on the 4-man and 7-man fields. However, we had complaints
about the language on the 9-man fields. We are intelligent, educated and bright men. Do we have to use that language
here? Or do we need to start penalizing for it, until we clean it up? It makes us look stupid, and discourages
our communities from supporting us. Not the way you want to grow this game.
- I hate the X-dawg zone blitz defense.
- The Harford Hurricanes should be playing in a league.
- Mooney playing center and talking away as he handled his man proves he's a ballplayer.
Other than that, great tournament guys, and I hope to see you all in Baltimore the 2nd week of August.
Andy
Monday, March 23, 2009
Catching up in 2009!
Let's start by saying that I'm looking forward to 2009!
-I'm in the process of cleaning the website up, and the information request section for new teams has been successful
already. I should have everything caught up this week.
-Ocean City is happy to have us back, and the host hotels and bar are ready to go. The Holiday Inn Express, Comfort
Inn Gold Coast and Duffy's are already signed up, and you can get their information from the Ocean City page!
- We're adding 7-man, 4-man and 5-man to the tournament. Any teams playing in the 7-man or 9-man styles will get
$25 off their entry into the 4-man or 5-man tourney. Each is a one day tournament, with 4-man on Saturday and 5-man
on Sunday. For those that don't know these styles, they are smaller fields and shorter games, with 4 man being no-contact
and 5-man having contact.
- I'm all about social networking, so The Flag Football Challenge Series is now on Facebook, and I will probably be exploring
Twitter as well. I'm up for lots of friends, so join the TFFCS group, and you can friend me (Andy Hoffman) as well.
- Obviously, after the Ocean City monsoon last year, I have had to develop a weather policy. If the tournament
is not completed and your team has not played 3 games, a prorated refund of your basic entry fee will be given back to
you. If the tournament can not completed and your team has played more than 3 games, then the tournament prize
will be split between the remaining teams. I guarantee you three games, and if we don't conclude three games,
you will be receiving a refund. Understand, I prefer to finish every tournament, but there are times when the situation
is beyond my control.
Ocean City signups are underway, and I look forward to seeing everyone down there.
Andy
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Thoughts from Saturday in Ocean City
- The level of competition is increasing, whether the scores show that or not. Last year's tournament included
several games where teams were down 20 at halftime. This year, we did not have a single game with a 20 point halftime
deficit, and the bigger teams didn't pull away until later in the game. Also, this year there were only 4 30 point games.
The second tier of teams aren't backing down from the physicality, and that's going to translate into growth in our game.
Again.
- Special teams play is huge. Being able to turn a punt return into points or pin people down was a deciding
factor in some of the biggest games of the day.
- The NJ Pitbulls have talent, but you can't win in a big tournament with 15 guys. Ditto the Trojans, Greene Turtle
and X-Dawgs.
- Speaking of the X-dawgs, they played two top notch teams and gave up 34 points. Total.
- The Raiders were in a dogfight with the Silverbacks before they pulled away late. The Raiders were then pushed
to the limit by the Red Knights until a 4th down sack ended the game with the Knights at the Raiders 30 and down 7.
Any given Sunday is a saying, but there's more truth to that than fiction.
- If Moss doesn't make an incredible catch in the corner (before injuring his shoulder), the Packers and Ryde Out game
is 6-0 at halftime. It's amazing how quickly one play can change momentum.
- There are some great 1st round matchups for Sunday. Ryde Out and Hood is going to be physical, with the winner
getting the MetroDawgs. The Scorpions-Raiders game will be decided by team speed. The Packers didn't get an easy
draw by facing the Pitbulls, who seemed to lose steam going into their second game, but played well in their opener.
- How do you like these possible 2nd round matchups? Packers-Silverbacks? Omni-Raiders/Scorpions? Real
Deal-Blaze? MetroDawgs-Ryde Out/Hood? There are some definite barnburners lining themselves up.
-Duffy's has been great to us down here, and we supported them well today. When you get a sponsor, you have to
support them, and I thank the players and coaches who went there. I also want to thank Duffy's for the 15% discounts
that all of our players have been given for this weekend as well as for the the next year. This is how things should
be done.
-The Ocean City Ambulance Service helped out a few players, and are on alert for our tournament. Being a positive
impact will encourage the community to support you, and Ocean City is happy to have us here. Which is a great thing.
- Absolutely gorgeous weather down here, and an overnight shower will soften the fields up. Looking forward to
a great day tomorrow.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Ok, so I'm due...
I was incognito last weekend for my anniversary, and got the chance to explore New Orleans. Great city, great party,
and there seems to be a lot of grass....hmmmm. Now if I was that ambitious, that seems like a central spot in the South
for 9-man, and a fun trip for the out-of-towners. I have no idea if I am that ambitious though.
Ocean City is starting to shape up. Teams are paying in the 9-man bracket, and that's a positive. The 7-man
tournament looks to have 6-8 teams, and is definitely something that can grow next year. The fields are set, the referees
are solid and ready to go, and we look forward to a great Ocean City Tournament.
This year, we are planning to use the internet more as a tool at Ocean City. We will be doing a running blog of
the tournament from the field and the hotel, with several different authors chiming in. This way, even if you aren't
here, you can get a taste of the experience! Check back here at theflagfootballchallengeseries.com for posts throughout
the weekend.
There are some fun things coming off the field at Ocean City. For the ladies, there will a be a Slumber Party Open
House at the Holiday Inn Express from 1-3pm on Saturday. This is for adults only, but who doesn't need some adult fun
at the Beach? Send your wife or girlfriend to www.slumberpartiesbybethlynn.com for more information.
The Captain's Meeting has been opened up to everyone at Duffy's on 128th Street on Friday night. Duffy's is 3 Ocean
City blocks from the hotel, and will be doing discounts for captains and players. We start at 9pm on Friday, and the
first brackets for the Sunday single elimination will be posted at Duffy's on Saturday night.
This is also a reminder to book your hotel rooms. The Holiday Inn Express is filling up quickly, but we do have
a backup hotel once this one is full. Let me know if you can't get the room you want.
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2009.05.01 |
2009.04.01 |
2009.03.01 |
2008.04.01 |
2008.02.01 |
2007.11.01 |
2007.10.01 |
2007.05.01 |
2007.04.01 |
2007.03.01 |
2007.02.01
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Welcome to new thoughts, ideas and plans for flag football!
We look forward to growing our game, without the petty
arguments of previous organizations. Our goal is to enable more teams, players and regions to participate, and
to bring national and corporate attention to Flag Football!
This site is designed for open conversations about flag football,
irregardless of organization.
Need somewhere to promote your league, team or tournament?
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We are excited that you are visiting our web site. We are here to provide a forum for flag football's ineligible
style. Our focus is to bring more attention to the closest thing to pads, and to grow our game to its past heights.
I look forward to hearing from you, and I personally look forward to what 2007 can bring! Feel
free to email me with any questions or comments.
Andy Hoffman
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Please get in touch to offer comments and join our mailing list.
 
The Flag Football Challenge Series
*801 Long Bar Harbor Rd, Suite 200 *
* Abingdon MD 21009 *
(410) 612-9231
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