Some of the Players in this 2010 Ben Gay Bowl. MVP Roberto Soto is holding the game ball. (Photo LSV)

El Bronx, NY: Every year for the last 22 years fathers and sons get together to play an annual traditional game of 2 hand touch football. This game, that started out behind the Criminal Courthouse on Gerard Avenue and 161st. Street over two decades ago has seen the children grow older, faster and stronger and the fathers grow, well let’s just say older and wiser, thus the name change to the “Ben Gay Bowl.

The game has gone through many variations from allowing every child to play, including daughters and female friends (who can forget the year Amia won the MVP), to really lopsided scores (kids were too young and us fathers would not let them win) to yesterday’s game where it was basically all men, almost equally divided fathers Vs. sons.

Yes, the sons beat the fathers by a final score of, 7 touchdowns to 6. But all the credit has to go to the fathers who with age and all kept the game so tight that it was tied in the last quarter, 6 touchdowns a piece with less than 5 minutes remaining on the clock that nobody keeps (except that one player would remind everyone that he had to leave in 10 minutes).

The sons had the age, agility and speed, but the fathers had age, wisdom and some intimidating moves that helped the defense keep the sons close throughout.

As always, it is a great way to start Super Bowl Sunday, playing a real game, getting a little dirty (thank God no mud this year) and feeling the excitement of possibly preventing your son, or any other under 30 from scoring, just as the sons would relish every time they stopped one of us fathers from scoring, or making a play. This year’s game was one of the most balanced games ever played. I guess the sons are getting older and so are the fathers.

Players from the 2008 Ben Gay Bowl. (Photo LSV)

This years MVP went to Roberto Soto the brother of the only female to win an MVP over 5 years ago, Amia Soto. Now Roberto can brag about his own MVP and not his sister’s! (LOL) Go Roberto!

The only blemish to this years game was the Park Police who actually made us stop playing after half time and move away from the outfield of the baseball diamonds that also share an outfield with the Soccer field. According to the Park Police they don’t allow anyone to play football on the baseball field. When he was told that there was also a Soccer field in the outfield and Soccer was like Football, the officer was as confused as all of us? He explained that he agreed with us, but that he was just following orders. Keeping to our tradition of minimal confrontations on the field, we picked up our equipment, cones and footballs and moved to another part of the empty Soundview Park that had no one but us.

Who else would be playing in wind-chill factor 13-degree weather except the fathers and sons of the Annual Ben Gay Bowl?