First post here in a while - my first season (of real football) seems to be going well, although I'm sure that visiting here more often would only make me better.

I had a game in a total mud bowl on Saturday, and I'm wondering what is the best way to clean my penalty flags & beanbags? Or is it better to just get rid of soiled ones and buy them new? (Thankfully, I was able to somehow get all of the mud out of my pants.)

When I come home in mud, I wash everything, including my down/position marker, in cold/cold. If there are still visible mud stains, I will soak the stuff in oxi-clean or the equivalent. My stuff has not turned yellow like the guys that use bleach and in my experience the oxi-clean works as advertised.

Bulldog,

When talking about elements to help prevent an IW, you probably mean "ensure its dead".

To ensure means to be certain of something.
To insure means to provide insurance for something.

Be sure to wask everything before it dries. Once it dries it becomes much harder to remove.

A few weeks ago I threw all of my flags and bags in the washer with the rest of my equipment from the previous two days. Everything came out nice a clean. I have three flags which I use depending upon the situation. A dry varsity game will get my newest flag. A dry sub-varsity game or wet varsity game will get my middle flag. A muddy game will get my oldest flag. They are all yellow and all fly pretty much the same. I try to get a new flag every few years and just rotate them all down one level.

INSURE
v. insured, insuring, insures
v. tr.
1.
1. To provide or arrange insurance for: a company that insures homeowners and businesses.
2. To acquire or have insurance for: insured herself against losses; insured his car for theft.

2. To make sure, certain, or secure. See Usage Note at assure.


Usage Note: Assure, ensure, and insure all mean “to make secure or certain.” Only assure is used with reference to a person in the sense of “to set the mind at rest”: assured the leader of his loyalty. Although ensure and insure are generally interchangeable, only insure is now widely used in American English in the commercial sense of “to guarantee persons or property against risk.”

Maybe it is different under Canadian Grammar :)

I've had a problem cleaning flags with the sand packet in the middle. That sand is in a plastic wrap inside there. If the plastic gets a hole in it and gets wet, a black ooze will come out- almost like ink. Very tough to get out and right on the "ball" that shows when you tuck it in your pants.

I've also have had a problem with bean bags- there are real beans in there!! Getting them wet may cause them to swell- and smell- until completely dry. Also, the beans may then stain the white of the bags with brown spots while they are drying.

I'm not sure why they use real beans- other than they're cheap.

Tape the ball of your flag white with athletic tape. Not only does it look sharp tucked into your knickers (no yellow showing) you can replace the tape whenever it becomes dirty. I see Honig's is even selling flags now with a white ball. I see a lot of college crews that either have them taped or the white ball style.

Beanbags from honig's have sand in them and are made out of waterproof vinyl. Easy to clean as well.

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(no yellow showing) [/B][/QUOTE]

I've noticed that NFL Referee, Walt Coleman has the ball of his flag painted black. The ball blends in with his black stripe on his shirt.

Now THAT'S anal!!! He has to be sure he tucks it in the exact some spot each time.

(He is still a great R though)

Well he has two-inch strips and a black belt to hide the ball.