Flag Football

Arena Football League player Chandler Williams, a seventh-round draft pick by the Minnesota Vikings in 2007 who also was a member of the Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons and Kansas City Chiefs, died Sunday. He was 27. According to the AFL , Williams died while playing in a flag football tournament in South Florida. No cause of death has been released yet. “We are shocked and saddened to hear about the passing of Chandler,” Tampa Bay Storm team president Derrick Brooks said.

All Ella wants is to play a little football, an American birthright if you're a boy but still a bit of a privilege if you're not. She just turned 13, a good age for almost anything, but especially for running around in the fresh air of fall, trying to snatch the flag off an opposing player's hip. Given their druthers, how many kids today would just as soon spend all afternoon with a video game, as their waists grow prematurely thick? Not Ella Wood. Ella would rather play a cover 2 than a PlayStation 3. This past fall, she played for the Sequoyah School in Pasadena, a private, progressive little place that's been around for more than 50 years.

The struggles against Stanford on Saturday came largely from within as a Bruin team that averaged 8.8 penalties for 75 yards the first six games, the second-best mark in the conference, was flagged 12 times for 125 yards. One, a holding call against James Ghezzi, resulted in a second-quarter touchdown pass from Cade McNown to Danny Farmer being negated. UCLA ended up with nothing after Chris Sailer missed a 53-yard field-goal attempt.

At East Los Angeles' Salazar Park on a sunny February afternoon, a teenage couple stood on the grass next to the tennis courts, deep in conversation. A man walked a small, white dog. Parents gathered on the bleachers to watch their children play baseball. The tranquillity was a testament to how far the neighborhood has come in the last two decades. In the early 1990s, the unincorporated county area of East Los Angeles averaged more than 40 homicides a year, most of them gang-related.

The NFL-sponsored Air-It-Out tournament, a nationwide contest of four-person flag football teams, comes to the athletic fields at UC Irvine this weekend, Jan. 15 and 16, beginning each day at 9 a.m. and lasting until dusk. The team registration deadline has passed, but spectators can attend for free. Information: (310) 829-5226. OC Live!

Mail-in registration for the Sunland Recreation Center's fall flag football league starts today. Parents who wish to register 7- to 12-year-old boys and girls can telephone the center and request league organizers send them a form, which parents can complete and return by mail. Walk-in registration starts Sept. 11. In addition, league planners seek individuals who wish to coach a flag football team, said Greg Perkins, senior director of the center.

Myron Miller is frustrated. Yes, he knows his Tustin team has a long way to go before it plays penalty-free football. But after his Tillers beat Foothill in the first round of the Southern Section Division VI playoffs Friday, Miller did the math. "We can't be that bad," he said of the disparity in penalties between the teams. "There's no way I get 15 penalties running the ball and they get one penalty passing the ball all night. "The only team the refs see now is Tustin."

Youngsters interested in playing flag football this fall may sign up now for the city's fall leagues. The program is open to boys and girls in grades one through eight. The $25 cost for the eight-week program includes a team T-shirt and awards. The program begins Sept. 16, with the first practice game Sept. 23. Information: (714) 960-8895 or (714) 960-8870.

It's being billed as a super bowl of another sort. Couch potatoes are expected to turn out en masse for the first National Football League Air-It-Out flag football tournament at Pierce College this weekend. About 25,000 people are expected to attend the two-day competition. Flag football is a variation of professional football played with modified rules. Instead of tackling opponents, players try to pull one of two flags attached to a belt worn by each player.

Youths interested in playing flag football this fall may sign up Tuesday at the city Recreation, Parks and Community Services Department. Registration will continue through Oct. 1. The fee is $12 for residents and $18 for non-residents. League play, open to boys and girls, will begin Oct. 23 and last five weeks. The program is designed to encourage sportsmanship, participation and teamwork. The registration fee includes coaching services, a team T-shirt and participation trophy.

  Lee Valsvik, a reporter for the NBC affiliate in Minneapolis, was busy hyping Saturday's game between the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers when her cameraman got a little carried away. Valsvik was wearing a Vikings jersey while hyping the game, but little did she know that her cameraman was running full speed behind her, and then knocked her over while running past her. You really have to see it to believe it. Luckily, you can see it above. So, what was the guy thinking?

Arena Football League player Chandler Williams, a seventh-round draft pick by the Minnesota Vikings in 2007 who also was a member of the Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons and Kansas City Chiefs, died Sunday. He was 27. According to the AFL , Williams died while playing in a flag football tournament in South Florida. No cause of death has been released yet. “We are shocked and saddened to hear about the passing of Chandler,” Tampa Bay Storm team president Derrick Brooks said.

Quick, who is the last African American to lead the UCLA football team in passing? "I have absolutely no idea," Brett Hundley says. Jackie Robinson, I tell him. Hundley's eyes widen, he shakes his head, and his deep voice rattles. "Wow, that's crazy," he says. "That is so cool. " The kid gets it. The Bruins' redshirt freshman quarterback is carrying plenty on his broad shoulder pads, yet we can believe he will hold up, because the kid gets it. You watch him lead UCLA to two victories in his first two collegiate games with 628 total yards and seven touchdowns, and you know he understands what's happening on a field that seems too small for him. He knows he has a chance to be the first great Bruins quarterback in 15 years, and he embraces it. "I can't even tell you how it feels, to know God has happily blessed me with ability to play lights out ... to ball out ... to have fun," he says with a giant smile.

"Oh, my God. " That was the plea of impending doom from a Monrovia High football player as he suddenly realized his body was about to be twisted by the powerful hands and arms of 6-foot-4, 305-pound teammate Ellis McCarthy during a strip-the-ball drill. When it comes to playing the role of an intimidating football player, McCarthy is the perfect choice. He had 14 sacks as a junior lineman when Monrovia won its first Southern Section championship last season and had 11 sacks as a sophomore.

Reporting from San Diego They weren't just the shots heard 'round pro football, but ones that could change the game itself. A day after a rash of brutal helmet-to-helmet collisions, an NFL executive said Monday the league is considering suspending players — and not only fining them — for illegal hits that could cause serious head injuries. "There's strong testimonial for looking readily at evaluating discipline, especially in the areas of egregious and elevated dangerous hits," Ray Anderson, the league's executive vice president of football operations, told the Associated Press.

While you're having turkey and ham, stuffing and gravy or maybe enchiladas today, you will probably have the television on too. And at some point of the day there could be a dollop or two or maybe a roasting pan sized-helping of sports. There are three NFL games (unless you're a Time Warner cable customer, then you only get two, no Giants-Broncos for you from the NFL Network). Plus, plenty of college basketball games. UCLA is playing in a made-for-ESPN tournament in Anaheim at 8 p.m., for example.

An oldtimers flag football game matching Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys alumni from Super Bowl X will be played July 30 in Three Rivers Stadium. The Steelers played the Oakland Raiders and the Raiders met the Denver Broncos in similar games last summer. The proceeds will benefit six Pittsburgh charities. Former Steelers linebacker Andy Russell said that organizers are considering auctioning off rights that would allow fans to play in the game for a down or two.

It's drawing close: Super Bowl Sunday, that holiest of days for American sports fans, the January afternoon when the faithful approach a state of oneness with their sofas. It is a feast day, of beer and pizza and chips consumed before the flickering altar of the television set. Among televised sports, pro football might be considered the unrepentant couch potato's last sanctuary.

Football? Not in this house Michael Vick's real-life sequel to "The Longest Yard" never really happened, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Last week, Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank told the New York Daily News that Vick was staying in shape by playing prison football. "He played quarterback for both sides," Blank said. But the Atlanta paper contacted Vick's prison, where a spokesman deadpanned: "I don't know what you're talking about." Tracey Billingsley, spokeswoman for the U.S.

Jeff Fisher probably has gone through a case of aspirin during the off-season. The Titans' coach has had to deal with one off-the-field headache after another in 2005. The most recent came when top draft pick Adam "Pacman" Jones surrendered to police Wednesday on charges of assault and felony vandalism following a nightclub fight.