2010 ISSUES November Issue 2010 November Feature - Gay Bowl X Round-up
Back for Seconds
L.A. Motion Repeat as Gay Bowl Champs
Parity in football is the name of the game these days. Week in and week out in the NFL, every team has a chance to beat their opponent. At the most, only a few teams go into each season without a shot at making the playoffs. And teams regularly come out of nowhere to make Super Bowl runs.
Parity has improved in the National Gay Flag Football League, too … just not to the same degree yet. Case in point: the two teams that faced off for the NGFFL Gay Bowl Championship Oct. 10 were (let’s say it in unison) the Los Angeles Motion and the New York Warriors. The two teams that combined to win six of the first nine Gay Bowls squared off to see who would become the first to win four. Teams from Phoenix, San Diego, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Boston had been hoping to play their way into the title match-up, but in the end the two powerhouses proved to be on a collision course.
In a somewhat low-scoring affair, the battle between the Motion and the Warriors came down to the final minute. After a sustained drive that led the Motion inside the Warriors’ 10-yard line with just over a minute to play, L.A. quarterback Christophe Faubert found receiver Toby Washington in the end zone, giving the Motion a 19-18 lead. An interception by Demond Adams sealed the game for the Motion, who ran out the clock and celebrated on field with cheers and champagne.
It was the second consecutive Gay Bowl Championship for the Motion, who have already set their sights on the 2011 tournament in Houston. The Warriors, winners from 2006-2008, returned to the title game after being knocked out in the quarterfinals last year. The San Diego Toros and Boston Hancocks rounded out the semi-finals.
The 26 teams that competed for this year’s trophy were a far cry from the three teams that squared off in 2001. It was the largest Gay Bowl to date, played on the nicest fields the National Gay Flag Football League has seen. And, thankfully, the Phoenix weather cooperated. Had the tourney been a week earlier, teams would’ve been playing in 105-degree heat. And just two days before the Opening Ceremonies the Valley of the Sun was pelted with golf ball-sized hail and winds as strong as 70 mph. But things settled down for the weekend’s festivities, with temperatures in the upper 80s and 90s on Saturday and Sunday.
“I haven’t heard a negative comment,” Tournament Director Jared Garduno said of the week’s events. “Everyone was really happy about the event, how it flowed logistically.”
Garduno pointed to the new additions this year – Opening and Closing Ceremonies, a Parade of Flags, a band on the sidelines during the championship game, and the inaugural Hall of Fame inductions – as elements that made players’ experiences special.
“The new events were exciting, and people loved them,” Garduno told Compete.
The organizing committee had been hoping to make an impression with their hospitality, and Garduno believes they did just that: “(It) was above and beyond. That was something we were really striving for.
“I heard some players say things like ‘Can Phoenix just host this every year?’ and ‘Best Gay Bowl ever!’”
Garduno hopes that the momentum created this year will carry over to sites of future Gay Bowls, including the 2011 tournament in Houston.
“My goal and my hope is that we can help the (following) cities to be even better. … I believe that every Gay Bowl now will be better because of the work that Phoenix put into this.”
In the meantime, the volunteers from the Phoenix Hellraisers have turned their attention to putting together an annual tournament that will draw many of the same cities as Gay Bowl. Although nothing is on the calendar yet, Garduno says the team is working on a proposal, and hope to be inviting cities back for flag football several months prior to Gay Bowl.
“People saw what we can do,” he said.
Gay Bowl X Results
Champions: L.A. Motion
2nd Place: New York Warriors
3rd Place: San Diego Toros
4th Place: Boston Hancocks
5th Place: San Diego Bolts/Chicago Freeze
Offensive MVP: Demond Adams, Los Angeles Motion
Defensive MVP: Terrell Calloway, Los Angeles Motion
Spirit Cup: South Florida Cat5
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