Unicycle football is hell on wheel


Dane "Toilet Face" Walter strains for the goal line.

This is a classic underdog story.

A scrappy football team. No talent, all heart. Fighting for a chance at the playoffs.

The competition? Only the most skillful team in the league. A squad so overconfident, its captain says things like this:

“We never really practice. We just have game adaptability.”

The underdogs, well, they do practice. They showed up an hour before anyone else to run drills and draw up a few plays. Here’s one of them:

The quarterback lines up in the shotgun position. He’s riding a unicycle, because this is the Unicycle Football League in San Marcos. In this league, every player rides a unicycle — passes on a unicycle, catches on a unicycle, plays defense on a unicycle.

The quarterback flaps his arms like a bird. He squawks like a bird, too.“Ka-caw! Ka-CAW!”

On cue, the wide receiver goes in motion, pedaling down the line of scrimmage. The ball is snapped. The receiver, Jeff “Big Bird” Hogan, darts toward the end zone.

Quarterback Daniel “Air Dan” McCarthy lofts a spiral into the receiver’s waiting arms. Big Bird rolls in — literally, he rolls in — for the touchdown.

With plays like these, who knows?

“It’s going to be a hard fight,” Air Dan admits. “Our chances for beating them are slim.”

“Our chances are high,” argues his teammate, Dane “Toilet Face” Walter, “because we’re so awesome. We do drink more than the other team, so that gives us an advantage.”

Another advantage? The teammates, who call themselves the Illeagles, are wearing face paint.

Their opponents, the heavily favored Unicychos, stroll in just before kickoff. The Unicychos’ captain hears about the Illeagles’ new plays. He’s not impressed.

“Trick plays might work once or twice,” he says, “but we’re quick on our feet, so we know how to adapt to it.”

The game begins not with a coin flip but with a joust to determine which team will take first possession. It’s Sunday afternoon in the parking lot of a farmer’s market in San Marcos. Some 150 spectators have come out to watch the game.

And what a game it is. With only a minute and 21 seconds left to play, the Illeagles are losing by a touchdown. The score is 41-34, and this is the final drive. Can Air Dan march his team to a comeback victory?

Air Dan throws a pass to Toilet Face. The ball falls in and out of Toilet Face’s hands.

“Tensions are running high in this very close game,” says the announcer.

Next play: a quarterback keeper. Air Dan sprints around the corner, eluding a Unicycho defender and escaping out of bounds. The clock stops with 37 seconds to go.

He tries another sweep but can’t make it to the sideline in time. The clock is ticking.

Air Dan drops back to pass. Quarterback sack.

Seven seconds left. There’s only time for one more play.

Air Dan flaps his arms furiously. Big Bird sprints toward the end zone. Air Dan lofts a pass high in the air.

This is exactly how they practiced it, before the game. Big Bird stretches for the ball. He brings it in. Touchdown.

Time expires with a score of 41-40, Unicychos’ favor. The only hope now for the Illeagles is the point-after attempt. They may run in the ball for one point, or they may kick it through the uprights for two.

(Three women sprint into the end zone and link their arms to form the goal posts.)

Air Dan fields the snap. He races toward the extra point to tie the score, but a Unicycho stops him before he can cross the goal line.

The game is over, it seems. But wait! The referee is blowing his whistle. He’s calling a penalty against the Unicychos, claiming the defense jumped offside.

The Illeagles have one more chance.

“The torture is almost unbearable,” the announcer says. “The line between pleasure and pain has been breached.”

All eyes are upon Air Dan as he takes the snap. The Unicychos blitz from either corner. The quarterback has no choice but to attempt the kick. Balancing on his unicycle, he boots the football.

It sails toward the uprights.

It sails wide right.

Instead of an upset victory, the Illeagles lose by a single point, 41-40.

Afterward, the captain of the winning team — Alan “Corporal Punishment” Barnes — is magnanimous.

“That was our hardest game all year. Harder, even, than the games we lost,” he says. “They definitely had some surprises for us. We had to make a lot of changes. It was the most we’ve had to adapt yet.”

The Illeagles have one more chance to sneak into the playoffs, if only they can defeat the mighty Hot Dogs this Sunday.

The Hot Dogs have already clenched first place — whether or not they win the final game of the regular season — so maybe their players won’t be so motivated when they face the Illeagles.

That’s what the Illeagles are hoping.

“If we fight half as hard as we did this week,” Air Dan says, “we’ll win.”

First published in the Hays Free Press.


4,398 responses to “Unicycle football is hell on wheel”

  1. Your local bank may provide you the option of foreign currencies, but with overseas banks like SUISSE BANK, you get a seamless online platform to hold foreign currencies.

  2. Thanks for your information on this blog. One particular thing I would wish to say is the fact purchasing gadgets items on the Internet is not something new. In truth, in the past few years alone, the market for online consumer electronics has grown a great deal. Today, you can find practically any specific electronic unit and other gadgets on the Internet, including cameras along with camcorders to computer elements and gambling consoles.

  3. One thing is the fact that one of the most frequent incentives for applying your cards is a cash-back as well as rebate provision. Generally, you’ll get 1-5 back upon various purchases. Depending on the credit cards, you may get 1 back on most expenses, and 5 in return on buying made in convenience stores, gasoline stations, grocery stores along with ‘member merchants’.

  4. Thanks for the thoughts you have contributed here. Additionally, I believe usually there are some factors that will keep your motor insurance premium lower. One is, to contemplate buying motors that are inside the good report on car insurance businesses. Cars that happen to be expensive are more at risk of being robbed. Aside from that insurance is also good value of your vehicle, so the costlier it is, then the higher a premium you have to pay.

  5. One thing I’d like to comment on is that fat burning plan fast may be possible by the right diet and exercise. People’s size not only affects appearance, but also the overall quality of life. Self-esteem, major depression, health risks, as well as physical ability are afflicted in weight gain. It is possible to do everything right and still gain. In such a circumstance, a medical problem may be the culprit. While excessive food but not enough workout are usually responsible, common health conditions and traditionally used prescriptions could greatly increase size. Thanks alot : ) for your post in this article.

  6. Thank you for another informative website. The place else may I am getting that type of information written in such a perfect way? I have a undertaking that I am simply now operating on, and I’ve been on the look out for such information.

  7. When I originally commented I clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Thanks!

  8. Good day! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and say I truly enjoy reading through your blog posts. Can you recommend any other blogs/websites/forums that deal with the same topics? Thanks for your time!

  9. naturally like your web site but you have to check the spelling on quite a few of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling problems and I in finding it very bothersome to tell the reality on the other hand I?¦ll surely come back again.

  10. Hey just wanted to give you a brief heads up and let you know a few of the images aren’t loading properly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different browsers and both show the same outcome.

  11. I was curious if you ever thought of changing the structure
    of your blog? Its very well written; I love what
    youve got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the
    way of content so people could connect with it better.
    Youve got an awful lot of text for only having one or two pictures.
    Maybe you could space it out better?

  12. Your style is really unique in comparison to other people I’ve read stuff from.
    Thanks for posting when you’ve got the opportunity, Guess
    I will just bookmark this blog.

  13. Design centers, dwelling shops, furniture shops, and mail-order catalogs characteristic a large number of tempting globally impressed furniture and accessories, everything from inexpensive hand-carved pagoda lamps and Chinese language country baskets to lacquered Chinese-like storage items for books, CDs, tapes, and other media.

  14. MTO or its adjustment path, equal to the costs of implementing the structural reform, in the condition that the 3 deficit limit will be respected and the MTO or MTO-adjustment path will be reached again within the four-year programme period.

  15. Excellent beat ! I would like to apprentice while you amend your web site, how can i subscribe for a blog site? The account aided me a acceptable deal. I had been a little bit acquainted of this your broadcast provided bright clear concept

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *