Baltimore Burn Fired Up To Face the D.C. Divas

In the chilly spring dusk, the women of the Baltimore Burn -- ranked ninth in the 34-team National Women's Football Association -- are pounding the bald spot on a middle school field in Linthicum.

Their coach stands on the sidelines, calling the plays and hollering encouragement.

"Don't y'all remember that 36-0 . . . whupping we took last year?" yells Adrian Mobley, who also serves as owner, general manager, assistant general manager and marketing director for the team. His day job is as a special-ed teacher in Prince George's County. "I want you to knock the [stuffing] out of her! I want you to kill something coming that way! Y'all got to get nasty!"

Quarterback Tara Watanathai, 28, crouches behind the center, looks left, then right and grunts, "Ready!" Her teammates answer in unison, "Ready!"

She yells, "Hit!, " takes the ball, fakes a handoff and throws it to a receiver.

The women run the play over and over, under the floodlights, until Mobley is happy with what he sees.

Back in the day (not that long ago, really; the league only began six years ago), the team's take-no-prisoners attitude and broad-shouldered play propelled the Burn to second place in the league's standings. Never mind that they had to hijack a field to play on and rent a motel room to serve as a locker room for them and their opponents. On the back of their jerseys that covered their heavy padding, they stenciled their nicknames: G-Money, Phenom, T-Vicious. They hit harder and faster than just about any other team. Their motivation was to kill, and not very softly.

Then their mojo started to fade.

Careers, pregnancies, life intruded. Some moved away, others left the game altogether. None of which is unusual in a sport where the players have other full-time jobs and responsibilities, and teams fight for recognition and funding. The Burn struggled in the standings, slipping from second to sixth to 10th.

And then the lowest blow. Three years ago, seven Burn players defected.

The D.C. Divas denied there was any kind of raiding, but the team was clearly rising -- ranking in the top three -- while the Burn was faltering.

Better-heeled and staffed with guys like Assistant General Manager Brian Mitchell, a former Redskins star, and GM Rich Daniel, the Redskins' former game videographer, the Divas work out at top-notch practice facilities such as Velocity Sports Performance in Alexandria and play their home games at the Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex near FedEx Field in Landover. Beer is sold at the games, while a team mother brings snacks and water in her minivan to Burn games. The Divas also taped a reality show pilot called the Gender Bowl that is being shopped around to various networks.