It's mid-October in the No. 1 Sports City in America, according to the Sporting News. It is 8 a.m. and if you are awake it is probably because the Steelers and Cleveland Browns kick off at Heinz Field in a mere five hours.

Scattered throughout the city at three different fields are other people with football on their minds. Three games are ready to kickoff at three different fields, opening Week 6 of the Pittsburgh Sports League's flag football season.

The games will be the first of 13 this Sunday morning with the last one wrapping up conveniently enough right before 1 p.m. -- better known around these parts as Steelers game time.

The 25 teams competing in the PSL league are all co-ed and consist of eight or more players. Depending on their skill levels, they show up at either Magee Field on Greenfield Avenue, Sullivan Field on Liberty Avenue near the Church Brew Works or, for the most competitive league, at Chartiers Field on Chartiers Avenue.

The flag football league kicked off the existence of the PSL in 2000 with 150 players. The PSL is an offshoot of PUMP, the Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project, and has become the group's largest branch.

Three eight-on-eight leagues play on Sundays and one league plays Thursday nights at Magee Field. The playoffs and championship for the Sunday leagues are set for Nov. 15 and Nov. 22, and Nov. 19 for the Thursday league.

The league is not all about playoffs and championships, though. The league took a bye week after Week 7 to hold the second annual Randy Pausch Memorial Flag Football Tournament. The sold-out event held at South Park Fairgrounds was held in memory of the late Carnegie Mellon professor whose inspirational battle with pancreatic cancer touched millions worldwide. Pausch passed away July 25, 2008. He is known the world over for his stirring speech, better known as the "Last Lecture." The members of the PSL knew him before his battle began: Pausch was a former flag football player in the league. The five-on-five tournament format will benefit PUMP and PanCAN, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.

Last year the tournament sold out as well. Team fees are donated to PanCAN and the sponsorship benefits PUMP. Last year $800 was raised for PUMP and $6,000 for PanCAN.

"[Pausch] really loved playing in the flag football league," recalled Becky Reitmeyer, director of the PSL. "He had been playing in the league for a long time and his teammates approached us to see if there was something we could do."

Two PSL employees serve as referees and one PIAA certified official oversee each game. Matt Grove is the head official for flag football, he also referees dodge ball, basketball and softball for the PSL. He has been with PSL since the second season of flag football.

Grove said the biggest change in the league's flag football program is the talent level and involvement of the females. With co-ed teams there are certain rules in place to ensure that female participation is equal to that of the males.

"The first year it was a little more social," Grove recalled. "A lot of guys with an interest in football would bring along female friends because it was a co-ed league. Now the athletic level of the females is amazing. There are a lot of college athletes, former soccer and softball players. All the very good female athletes are what make the league great. It used to be one or two guys who were really good doing everything on the field. Now everyone is involved."

Members of the Pittsburgh Passion and Pittsburgh Force, tackle-football women's teams, participate in the league as well.

While the level of competition is high among members of the local women's team and about 15 former collegiate football players, Grove says the league plays at below the talent level of the YMCA league on Montour Run Road. That seven-on-seven league features former collegiate players and even some former semi-pro and professional players.

Pat Callaghan has had a team in the league for the past seven years and has also played in all-male leagues similar to the YMCA league.

"They are fun but they are just insane," Callaghan said of the all-male leagues. "There are cheap shots and fights. When you play co-ed, it takes the edge off and people are friendlier. It is still very competitive."

Callaghan, a former Plum Area High School graduate, has lived in Minneapolis and Detroit and elsewhere.

"One thing I noticed about other cities -- they just don't have the coordination that we have here with the PSL," Callaghan said. "They have done a fantastic job [of] marketing and getting people involved in all different athletic levels."

The PSL observes traditional flag football rules. They play on an 80-yard field divided into four 20-yard segments. Each segment represents a first down, and the team has four downs to get there. No kickoffs or live fumbles, but there is an offensive line and legal blocking consists of keeping your hands within the width of your shoulders.

As with any outdoor Pittsburgh sports league, weather has wreaked havoc with play. The league has played through rain and snow. It has played through a 96-degree Sunday in September and a played a championship game in November when the temperature dipped to the teens.

Also like any other Pittsburgh sports league, the schedule revolves around the Steelers. When the Steelers play a 1 p.m. Sunday game, home or away, league play starts at 8 a.m. so the last games wrap up before noon, giving players plenty of time to catch the "other" football game in town.

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