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The Washington Monuments came away with their second consecutive Gay Bowl championship trophy at Gay Bowl IV in Atlanta last weekend, Oct. 8-10. Washington beat Boston, 34-33, in overtime when Boston missed a one-point conversion that would have sent the game into a second overtime.

Only two teams have ever won the championship, both of them repeating: Washington and the Los Angeles Motion, the latter of which is the team that Outsports founders Jim Buzinski and Cyd Zeigler play on.

The tournament welcomed two new teams to the tournament: the Alabama Slammers and the Atlanta Lightning. They brought the total number of teams to nine.

Gay Bowl V will be held in San Diego over Columbus Day Weekend 2005. We talked to Ivan Solis, the organizer of the team in San Diego, about his plans for the event. If he can pull it all off, it will be an event that will draw people from all facets of the San Diego gay community. The biggest change: while past tournaments have been two days, he’s planning a three-day extravaganza that will include barbecues, fun side competitions and a harbor cruise. All of this and a projected 12-14 teams participating! If you want to be one of them, visit their Web site.

But back to Atlanta . . .

We were impressed with the city of Atlanta; it was our first visit. It was very pretty – trees everywhere and the architecture is wonderful. Some old Southern charm combined with modern cosmopolitan designs. The food was very good – breakfast at The Flying Biscuit and dinner at Veni Vidi Vici were memorable. And the people were great. Having lived in Los Angeles and New York City, we were shocked by how friendly people were - to have guys in a gay bar actually say hello and talk to strangers like me was really refreshing. We felt welcomed by everyone we met and are looking forward to going back.

The Saturday night banquet featured door prizes that represented each city. Washington brought a book on First Ladies (what that had to do with football, other than Eleanor Roosevelt’s stature as a possible linebacker, we do not know); the Boston Brawlers brought Patriots and Red Sox hats (the former of which I was really angling for); the Chicago Flames brought a signed Cubs baseball. Our vote for best gift: San Diego’s blow-up Shamu. Sunday night was highlighted by a "best chest" contest, featuring players from all the teams (save for San Francisco, which was somehow overlooked); the contest was won by the Chicago rep.

After the first day of play, much of the talk focused on the Atlanta Lightning. They had flashy Georgia Tech-inspired uniforms, speed, youth and a healthy, cocky attitude that left teams fearing them. Much of the Day 1 talk also focused on injuries. There had been two major injuries in the first three Gay Bowls. This tournament there was a broken nose, a broken jaw, a broken finger and a slew of pulled and twisted body parts. Chris Sauers, the head referee for the Gay Bowls and a former Division 1 college football official, thinks it reflects the increase in level of play. Not to mention one-too-many cocktails at Blake’s on Friday night.

Tony Stewart, the quarterback for the Washington Monuments, gets our vote for Tournament MVP. He is an efficient quarterback with an excellent game plan that mixes up short and long passes, fakes and runs. As one of Washington’s 28 team captains, Patrick McIntyre, said, "He’s the glue that holds us together." In the game he played against us, he was masterful in managing the clock, allowing us only two full possessions in the second half and then leaving us with three plays to go 60 yards for the tying score at the end of the game. The night before we played them, Jim said, “I’m afraid if we play them we’ll have to score on every possession.” He was right – we failed to score one time and lost the game, 32-26.

The final drew the largest crowd we’ve ever seen for a Gay Bowl match. Players of other teams and fans in the stands hollered out cheers throughout the game. It was great to see such camaraderie amongst the teams that, just hours before, were beating up on one another on the field. I can’t imagine a mood that festive amongst competitors at a straight event. Washington raced out to a 20-8 lead, but Boston roared back to take a 27-20 lead late. Washington tied the score with almost no time left, forcing the first overtime final in the tournament's history.

Gutty call of the weekend: In overtime of the championship game, needing a one-point conversion to send the game into a second overtime, Boston ran a double-reverse option. The ball was caught about 1 yard out of the back of the end zone and sent Boston to defeat.

Bonehead call of the weekend: The same play. With the game on the line during a one-point conversion, why would you have anyone other than your quarterback – who was one of the two or three best the whole tournament – throw a pass? Of course, if it had worked, it would have been the play of the weekend. But, it didn’t.

Quickest move of the weekend: The Boston player who left the championship game, hurried to the stands ... and smoked a quick cigarette before heading back to the field.

Line of the weekend: "He only runs this fast when he's chasing a cute Asian guy." Said by one DC player of another.

Tricky play of the weekend: Semifinals, Washington against Los Angeles. Washington lines up about 15 yards away from scoring. About two seconds into the play, everyone watches the ball sail into the arms of a wide-open receiver on the left side of the end zone. Turns out the receiver had lined up next to the sideline and was talking to his teammates to make it look like he wasn’t in the play. Los Angeles fell for it and left him wide open for the score.