The San Diego American Flag Football League (SDAFFL) was host to the Gay Bowl V over Columbus Day weekend, where the Chicago Flames defeated the Atlanta Storm 34-19 in the A Division championship and the San Diego Sharks blasted the Chicago Crew 40-6 for the B Division title. Gay Bowl V was held at Tidelands Park in Coronado on Oct. 9.

Fourteen teams from across the nation traveled to America’s Finest City to compete in the tournament. Gridiron gladiators from Atlanta, Birmingham, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. played in Gay Bowl V, where the two-time defending champions, the Washington, D.C., Monuments, tried for a three-peat.

This was the first year that Gay Bowl has spanned three days. During the first two days of round-robin play, several teams positioned themselves as top contenders in order to obtain a high seeding to compete in the single-elimination section of the tournament. Los Angeles established themselves as the top seed in the A Division with a 3-0 record, posting wins over Salt Lake City (26-13), the Atlanta Storm (25-20) and the Chicago Flame (31-27).

The Chicago Flame posted a 2-1 record in round-robin to gain the second seed, with a slim 39-37 win over the San Diego Sharks and a 49-0 thrashing of Alabama.

The Atlanta Storm, seeded last in the A Division, posted their only round-robin win over Alabama 49-10 in their opener, before falling 25-20 to Los Angeles and 21-12 to New York City. But that didn’t stop them from upsetting the top seed of the tournament in a 33-28 win in the first round of single-elimination play on Oct. 9. Atlanta continued on its roll with another upset 41-27 win over the fifth-seeded Monuments in the semi-finals. Both teams Atlanta knocked off were past Gay Bowl champions.

“And Atlanta – what a great run to the championship game,” said Cyd Zeigler of the New York City team, who posted a 38-6 win over Texas in the first round, “coming in as the eighth-seed and knocking off the only two teams that had won it all before.”

The Chicago Flame advanced to the A Division championships with a 20-6 first-round victory over Phoenix, and then a 32-27 win over New York City in semi-finals before ultimately capturing the title over the Atlanta Storm.

In B Division single-elimination play, the San Diego Sharks dominated Alabama 74-6 in the first round and got past Salt Lake City 34-13 in the semi-finals to reach the finals, where they crushed the Chicago Crew to capture the B Division title. The Chicago Crew had downed San Francisco 26-20 in the opening round.

It was almost an all-San Diego final, as the San Diego Shredders fell one point shy to the Chicago Crew in the semi-finals, 33-32, after receiving a first-round bye as the top seed.

The packed awards banquet was held at Bourbon Street on Oct. 9. Local drag queen personality Ophelia hosted the event and conducted the ever-popular Bare Chest contest. Steve Pena from San Diego captured the Bare Chest title in front of the exuberant crowd.

The MVP award was presented to Will Ward of the Chicago Flames, who said the level of play at Gay Bowl V was, “the most intense competition thus far.”

All Team Defensive awards went to: Jeff Firsche (Chicago Crew), Keith McKeon (Texas), Cary Sherrell (Atlanta), Cyd Zeigler (New York City) Adam Strausberg (D.C.), Chris Cleary (Chicago) and Thurman Williams (Atlanta).

All Team Offensive awards went to: Matt Jones (Boston), Demond Adams (Los Angeles), Jorge Lopez (San Diego), Tony Stewart (D.C.), Joe Justin (New York City), Ryan Renalds (Chicago Flames) and Eric Styles (Atlanta).

Pride Network Nation provided TV and radio coverage throughout the tournament, and Q Network did interviews as part of a segment entitled, “On the Road to the Gay Games.”

“On behalf of the Atlanta Storm, we offer our appreciation and congratulations to [tournament director] Ivan [Solis] and the San Diego team of volunteers for a well done job,” said Atlanta team captain Thurman Williams.