December 10, 2003

IS THE BALL STILL PIGSKIN?:

Taking the Intifada to the Football Field (GOBy William Lobdell, 12/07/03, LA Times)

What could be more American? Dozens of young men in Orange County have planned a football tournament for the New Year's weekend in Irvine.

But this gathering of Muslim American athletes on the gridiron — they say a first for Southern California — is being flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct by religious leaders dismayed by some of the team's names.   
   
   
Monikers for the flag-football teams include Mujahideen, Intifada and Soldiers of Allah and are accompanied on the league's Web site, by logos of masked men, some with daggers or swords.

An organizer of the Jan. 4 event, geared for American Muslims in their teens and 20s, said the names are a sign of football bravado and a show of support for Muslims in the Middle East.

"A lot of the kids on our team are from Palestinian origin," said Tarek Shawky, Intifada's 29-year-old captain and quarterback. "We are in solidarity with people in the uprising. It's about human rights and basic freedoms."


The games are apparently entertaining because they just throw bombs every down.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 10, 2003 09:23 AM
Comments

"Winner plays the IDF next week in the . . . hey, guys, where's everybody going?"

Posted by: Mike Morley at December 10, 2003 10:02 AM

I hear they're bringing back the Run and Shoot.

Posted by: Matt C at December 10, 2003 11:23 AM

The ball isn't pigskin, it's a rock.

Posted by: Bartman at December 10, 2003 11:47 AM

Get their names.

Posted by: Genecis at December 10, 2003 01:05 PM

Matt:

Don't worry, even if they are, it will be no match for our Hail Mary.

But hey, maybe we could field a team in this league. After all, we have something in common--solidarity with people in the Middle East.

Posted by: Peter Burnet at December 10, 2003 05:17 PM
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