Will Ward QBs in 2005. Photo by Jeremy Lawson_________
Clearly, the Chicago Flames will be the most-watched team at the flag football competition known as Gay Bowl VI, held Oct. 6-8 in Dallas.
They also will be the most talked-about and, perhaps, most hated team in the most prestigious flag football tournament of the year. And, arguably, the Flames are the most talented and most driven of the 16 participating teams from across the country.
The Flames have had a good run in the Gay Bowl: second-place finishes in 2002 and 2003, fourth-place in 2004 and a championship in 2005.
But last year's championship was, unfortunately, the start of a rapid downward spiral that almost led to a complete implosion.
'Winning the Gay Bowl last year was great, especially for the players who had been on all past Gay Bowl teams,' said Glen Rexing, 34, a defensive back and wide receiver for the Flames. 'That was the first time we had won a championship at a national level, so it probably was the highlight of my gay sporting life and probably for others on the team, too.'
The Flames celebrated their title in and around San Diego that Sunday night in October and then back in Boystown when they returned home—but for only a few weeks. In the championship game of the CMSA's ( Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association's ) A-Division, the Charlie's Ale House Flames, composed mainly of Gay Bowl players, lost. So much for their undefeated CMSA season and so much for the fact that the Flames had defeated this CMSA foe at least four times earlier in the year.
'That was our first reality check,' Rexing said.
Fast-forward to Gay Games VII—specifically, July 14, the day before the Opening Ceremony of the Gay Games. A sports story I wrote ran in USA Today that previewed the Games and focused on former NFL player Esera Tuaolo playing in the Games. Near the end of the story, the article stated that Tuaolo's team was not the favorite for the Games, but that it was the Chicago Flames, because they had won Gay Super Bowl V last October in San Diego.
Then came The Quote, as it's become known around the gay football scene and throughout Chicago's gay sporting community. Will Ward, the Flames' MVP quarterback of Gay Bowl V, said: 'I hope he's not ashamed to be on the team that wins the silver [ medal ] , because we're gonna win it all.'
The morning the paper came out, neither Ward nor Tuaolo were opposed to the quote. In fact, Tuaolo praised the lengthy story.
'Sure, [ the quote ] shows confidence but, actually, it's cocky, above what a team concept should be,' said Rexing, a software consultant who lives in Andersonville. 'Because of that [ quote ] , people came for us. We would have been the No. 1 team others were shooting for because we were the Gay Bowl champions. But certainly that quote [ added to it ] . When we lost our team concept and started to actually verbally express that we were better than other players or other teams, we got exactly what we had coming to us.'
What they got was a fourth-place finish in the Games.
'Going into the Gay Games, physically, we were ready; we had done the preparations. But mentally, everyone was not on the same page and it caused us to implode,' said Rexing, who now serves as the Flames' coach, leader and organizer.
Rifts started internally immediately after the Games, Rexing confirmed. And how serious was the internal feuding?
Well, there was a, 'definite possibility' that the Flames would have completely disbanded before this year's Gay Bowl due to their finish in the Games. And, Rexing added, friendships might have ended permanently due to the fourth-place finish. 'That's the reality of how bad the team took the Gay Games [ results ] ,' he said.
The Chicago Flames feature some of the nation's top gay flag football players, such as Ward, Brian Walker, Matt Jones, Ahkeem Waterford and Chris Cleary, among others.
'There's no one person to blame. The team just did not perform. We were not focused mentally for what it takes to get to the gold medal game,' Rexing said. 'It's very hard to lose in the Gay Games in your own hometown, knowing full well that the Games likely will never again be in your city in your lifetime.'
Ward's quote—which was nothing more than simple, friendly trash-talking, something done at every level of sports—has seemingly taken on a life of its own.
But ultimately it was not Ward's quote that defeated the Flames in the Games. The Flames simply lost.
'I think the majority of our team, if not everyone, reflects on that quote in not a good way. It was not something that we as a team would want to put out,' Rexing said. 'To me, a champion never talks like that. To have confidence is one thing. But to me and many on the team, [ the quote ] did not represent the way our team is or the way our team feels about the way we play. We know we're confident because we know we're talented; we know we can beat anyone. But, we also don't want to be the team with quotes like that associated with our team.'
Ward's quote certainly was bulletin-board fodder but, remember, the Gay Games and the Gay Bowl are a gloried Beer League. No one is getting paid to play. No one is getting recruited.
Trash-talking is part of sports in 2006, like it or not.
Many, it seems, carry that quote as the reason the Flames did not win … and that's just not true.
Physically, the quote had no impact on any game.
Mentally, well, that's a different story.
'There is a time and a place for trash-talking, and it's between athletes on the field while the game is going on, not in the press. Everyone talks trash, but there's a time and place to talk trash. You always have to show respect to your opponents before and after the game, even if there is trash-talking during the game,' Rexing said. 'We had a reality check by finishing fourth in the Games, especially after going in optimistic because we had a very good team. Hopefully we'll have a much better showing in Dallas than we did in Chicago, and hopefully we can repeat what we did last time at the Gay Bowl.'
At least four players have left the team. Ward is no longer the Flames' quarterback; he has been replaced by Gil Minor. And the Flames' offensive schemes have been changed for Dallas.
'It took convincing to regroup the team, and it wasn't the quote that did it but, rather, the loss,' Rexing said. 'We didn't win, and when you don't win, you have to change things. We now know that we are a team that can be beaten at any time.
As for Ward, he 'is still playing for the Flames and is always welcome,' Rexing added. 'Even when we lost the bronze-medal game, there was not even a split-second when anyone was thinking that he would not be a part of the team going forward. We just had to look at the role he played on the team. A big percent of the team had lost a little bit of confidence in Will's ability to lead as a quarterback, but not the other things that he brings to the team—and that certainly includes great defensive skills and receiving skills.'
Minor previously was the quarterback for the Chicago Storm, 'and he gave us more than we wanted to handle,' in the Games, Rexing said. 'We have enough confidence in Gil's ability that we think he can lead us in the Gay Bowl.
'We know how to win and now know how it feels to lose. We're ready to do the things needed to win again. And we're confident that we have the ability to win; we're just not underestimating our opponents or overestimating that we're going to have the best games of our lives every time out.'
