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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend November 25, 2005 Chris McNew of Central Point catches a touchdown pass Thursday as Cecil Baker, also of Central Point, gives chase during an early morning game of football at North Medford High School that gave Thanksgiving a running start. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Football before the feast By BILL VARBLE Mail Tribune There’s no crying in football. Evidently there is hugging. Otherwise receiver Anna Hogan would not be giving the quarterback a sorry-’bout-that embrace after dropping a pass. "I just want one pass!" she wails. Somewhere frenzied crowds are cheering, millionaire athletes are making impossible plays, and the TV cameras are getting it in exquisite detail. That’s not here. On this Thanksgiving field the bleachers are empty except for players’ scarves and cell phones, and cold fog blankets everything. Trees loom like ghostly sentinels. A lone crow flies low over the field and disappears into the mist cawing. Advertisement What brings 15 to 20 otherwise sane people to the practice fields at North Medford High School before 8 a.m. to play tackle football with no equipment on a wet field in the fog? "Love of the game," Hogan says. "It’s a tradition," says Chris McNew, of Central Point. McNew, 18, came with his brothers, Cecil, 22, and Tanner, 12, and his Uncle Steve. The game is half-court tackle football with no rushing plays, every play a pass. You get five downs to score, and there’s no punting. There’s no rushing the passer until seven monkey, as in one-monkey, two-monkey and so on. Although this is not exactly clear. Because here’s Hogan on defense, zeroing in on the quarterback as she counts "three Mississippi, four Mississippi." There is also some uncertainty about the score. "I think it’s five to three," McNew says. "This is what Thanksgiving is all about," Hogan says. "Football, family and friends." She came with her boyfriend, Carlos Valasquez, and his brother Brian. She is the only woman in the game. "I’m a little perturbed about that," she says. "Others were supposed to come. They’re not answering their phones." Despite the go-for-it-on-every-play nature of the game, defense is actually played. Two players run into the end zone in front of Hogan and leap for a long pass that has a chance but is tipped away. A nicely timed knock-down by a defender robs McNew of a long reception. "I can’t jump that high," he yells. The fog can’t cool the chatter. "Here we go!" "Way to go." "Go go go!" "Who’s guarding him?" There are anguished cries of "Oh, come on!" at a missed tackle. Hogan got to be captain of one team. "Nobody was gonna choose me," she explains. She says it doesn’t matter who wins and who loses, although it would be nice to have bragging rights in the coming year. Talk drifts toward later plans. Hogan will join as many as 60 relatives in the Applegate Valley near Ruch for Thanksgiving dinner. Still later there’s a cocktail party with friends, including some from the game. "We’ve got a really good day planned," she says. Joe Lengele, of Medford, says the day’s first pro football game, Detroit versus Atlanta, is coming on television. "I’m gonna be putting down beers and watching the games," he says. "I’ll be putting down turkey," Jerry Dizick says. Nobody talks about pain. What pain? "We’ll be good," Dizick says. Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or e-mail Football before the feast ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztech Media Hosting Sports Equipment Online Casino Student Loans Online Pharmacy tcg student loan consolidation Online Casino Reviews Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Discount Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Casino Gambling Sites Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Salvia Divinorum Advertisement s