Putting the F-U back in FUN!

Gang Green Had Their Pie and Ate It Too On Their Way to the Title

Minneapolis, MN - Nov. 8, 2001 - Celebrations continued late into the night (or at least until they turned out the lights) as Gang Green won their 5th (6th? 7th? anyone actually know how many?) co-ed touch football championship by taking back-to-back games Thursday night. Formal celebrations including the awards presentations (t-shirts) will continue next week following the parade.

In game one, Gang Green jumped out to an early lead over "he doesn't know the rules" Inverted and hung on to win 42-36, despite playing against seven and having the clock perpetually on 11 minutes remaining. In game two, Gang Green faced a familiar adversary in Alligator Arms (Bill tells me their team name is twofold, they don't fully extend their arms when catching passes across the middle and their arms are too short to reach into their pockets to pay for things… interesting, huh?). Again, Gang Green jumped out on top, and then relied on some stingy defense and the "smart plays" offense to take the championship game 24-7.

Now, on to the individual performances.

Schlichting was awesome. Course, to whom am I referring? In this case, both. Craig was his usually stellar self, dissecting the defense with his arm (arms?), legs and play-calling. He also had a huge pick in the championship game to seal the victory. Justified or not, comparisons were made to Super Bowl himself. On the female side of the equation, Ms. November continued the metamorphic-like playing she started last week. Obviously holding back on us in the past, Steph was unstoppable in any pattern she attempted. Gang Green rode her (get on your pony!) in both games.

All defensive success was based on the pass rush of Gang Green big-man, Shaq-Fu Schulte. No quarterback was ever safe as Shon continually pressured, pursued and batted balls left and right. Etched in our memories is Shon's batted ball early in the Championship game that not only forced a punt, but also set the tone for the rest of the game.

On to our two Carleton white boys. Liam "I've got a house to close on" Higgins and Bill "coccyx… hee hee" Nielsen, as always, brought their too tough for you brand of football (along with their Level 6 humor). Both played shutdown D with Bill grabbing a huge pick in the Championship game to set up the go-ahead (and never look back) score. The two were also unstoppable on the outside curls with Higgins picking-up a couple of "my life depends on it" fourth down conversions. On the only down note, after the post-game press conference, trade rumors were rampant with Nielsen feeling he was slighted for not receiving a football award certificate.

Next, the Three Asian-Amigos (also known as the Crazy Asies). Bic "one wipe" Ngo continued her pesky, tenacious D as opposing gals in both game were completely shut down. Pat "my body is a temple (today)" Sukhum pushed off, dropped a punt, had a couple of picks in game one and was the fortunate recipient of a good tip in the Championship Game. The incredible vanishing Pam worked the D as well (rugby days?) and was a key in out-gendering some plays with some gorgeous passes for scores.

Yes, there were some great plays (of which I probably can recall 99% of them), but overall a great team effort and the perfect way to end a fun, competitive season (that wasn't the least bit stressful ever, right?). Thanks everyone.

Oh sorry. That got a bit long.