It's on to Plan B

Here at Wearing the RallyCap we strive for the upside down, inside out look on sports. I say that as we revisit one of my all-time favorite melt-down moments for a professional athelete. IMHO.

It was late October 2006. The Eagles were playing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a regular season game. It means this half of Rally Cap was rooting for the Bucs. In the fourth quarter of the game, Jerome McDougle sacked QB Brad Gradkwoski (who?) for a huge loss at a key point. But, he was called for intentional facemask and penalized 15 yards. In a fit of rage, McDougle kicked the referee's flag and was penalized another 15 yards. It was self-destruction at its finest.

Tampa went on the win the game by two, with the game winning field goal coming at the end of that drive. If you think about it, had McDougle not imploded, the Eagles may have finished the year at 11-5 instead of 10-6. They may have gotten the bye in the first round of playoffs, earning a week off instead of having to face the Giants in the wild card game. A week later, they lose to 27-24 to New Orleans. Season over.

Well, McDougle signed with the Giants.

Now, he's part of Replacing Osi, Plan B.

Move Over Santa Claus

Yes, we pelt Santa with snowballs. Yes, we were the first city to have a judge and a jail cell in our stadium. In fact, just last night former Eagles and Bears QB Jim McMahon, in an interview at Wrigley Field during the Phils-Cubs game, said there was no comparison between Philly fans and Chicago fans, calling Philly fans "rabid." Guilty. But apparently being guilty in Philly doesn't mean much.

New Jersey National Guardsman Michael Redrow was found guilty of two assault charges for beating a man in a parking lot at Citizen's Bank Park before a Phillies game when the man wouldn't give Redrow a beer (Full article). Redrow and another man fractured the victim's skull and put him in a coma for several days. Redrow's attorney made a sentencing plea and won. For hospitalizing a man and potentially affecting the victim for the rest of his life, Redrow was sentenced to ... {drumroll} at least one year of active duty in Iraq.

What?

Redrow is an active member of the NJ National Guard. We're fighting two major wars. He would have been sent to Iraq or Afghanistan as a normal part of his Guard commitment anyway. He was a member of the Guard prior to this incident and actually had to postpone his deployment to wait for his sentencing. This is the "penalty" that Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Lillian Ransom felt was appropriate for this hooligan? WTF?

Yeah, lowlifes like Redrow give sport-loving Philly fans a bad name. But Judge Ransom, Assistant District Attorney Randy Hsia and this kind of decision are what make the entire city a laughing stock.

It's not only unfair to the victim, it's downright disrespectful to every other Guardsman and soldier who has volunteered to serve their country.

I am appalled. Judge Ransom, you should be ashamed.

All we need is a little inspiration

We was in a work meeting the other day talking business when a name was mentioned that also happened to be the name of a famous professional athlete. Which made me wonder. . . whatever happened to . . .

So, there you have it, inspiration.

Anyway, the name that popped up was John Cappaletti. Of course, we weren’t talking about the former Penn-State-Heisman-Trophy-winning John Cappaletti in the meeting, but you get the idea.

Today, we wonder where THAT Cappaletti is. But first some background:

Cappaletti was a senior running back for Penn State in 1973. He rushed for 1,522 yards and 17 touchdowns, as the Nittany Lions ran the table at 12-0. But it was his acceptance speech at the Heisman Trophy ceremony that cemented his legacy in college sports. In his speech, Cappaletti spoke of his relationship with his younger brother, Joey, who suffered from leukemia. Joey was 11 at the time and among the first leukemia patients every to be treated with chemotherapy.

"If I can dedicate this trophy to him tonight and give him a couple of days of happiness, that is worth everything," John said. Read the entire speech.

His brother died in 1976, but was immortalized in the 1977 made-for-TV movie “Something for Joey.”

John Cappaletti, at 6-1, 216 pounds, went on to play eight years in the NFL for the Los Angeles Rams and then the San Diego Chargers, earning 2951 yards in 824 career carries. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1993.

Where is he now? He lives in Laguna Niguel, Cal., with his wife, whom he dated in high school. They have four sons. He remains active in Penn State football alumni programs.

Can't buy me love (or can you?)

Baseball, more than other major pro sports, is filled with whiney ownership complaining about small market revenues and an inability to compete. And yet almost every year one (or more) team(s) blows the market/payroll/revenue theory all to hell either by losing with a big payroll or winning with a small one. (It's one of the reasons that I personally don't think fans should ever finance stadiums with taxes, but that's a whole other blog.)

The Florida Marlins disproved the complaint twice, with World Series wins in 1999 and 2003. The second championship cost the club just $48.75 million. More recently, the Rockies made it to last year's World Series on just $54.4 million.

And, as is the case in so many years, the Yankees this year are one of the teams proving the converse, that payroll doesn't equal championships. The team hasn't won a World Series since its payroll topped $100 million. Does its $209 million payroll for 2008 mean that the club is two times less likely to win it all?

This year the team with the largest payroll increase over last year: Detroit, giving them the league's third highest payroll. Silly Tigers, 64-67 isn't getting it done when it's costing you $137.7 million. Two other teams clearly overpaying for wins – Atlanta and Seattle.

This year's payroll surprise winners are the Tampa Bay Rays ($43.8 million) and the Minnesota Twins ($56.9 million) – although the Twins aren't really much of a surprise because they seem to compete most seasons. They're just 1 game behind – but $62 million ahead of – the White Sox. The Marlins, sporting the league's lowest payroll, are competing in the NL East, yet the team salary is less than half that of the Rays, MLB's second lowest payroll.

Here are the total payroll figures for all 30 MLB teams for 2008 (as reported by USAToday).

Team	Total payroll
New York Yankees	$ 209,081,577
New York Mets	$ 137,793,376
Detroit Tigers	$ 137,685,196
Boston Red Sox	$ 133,390,035
Chicago White Sox	$ 121,189,332
Los Angeles Angels	$ 119,216,333
Los Angeles Dodgers	$ 118,588,536
Chicago Cubs	$ 118,345,833
Seattle Mariners	$ 117,666,482
Atlanta Braves	$ 102,365,683
St. Louis Cardinals	$ 99,624,449
Philadelphia Phillies	$ 98,269,880
Toronto Blue Jays	$ 97,793,900
Houston Astros	$ 88,930,414
Milwaukee Brewers	$ 80,937,499
Cleveland Indians	$ 78,970,066
San Francisco Giants	$ 76,594,500
Cincinnati Reds	$ 74,117,695
San Diego Padres	$ 73,677,616
Colorado Rockies	$ 68,655,500
Texas Rangers	$ 67,712,326
Baltimore Orioles	$ 67,196,246
Arizona Diamondbacks	$ 66,202,712
Kansas City Royals	$ 58,245,500
Minnesota Twins	$ 56,932,766
Washington Nationals	$ 54,961,000
Pittsburgh Pirates	$ 48,689,783
Oakland Athletics	$ 47,967,126
Tampa Bay Rays	$ 43,820,597
Florida Marlins	$ 21,811,500

Spanning the Globe

Sometimes RallyCap has to look long and hard to find some of the upside down, inside out sports items that need to be discussed. Most of the time we find them. Today, it found us.

In case you've missed this story, there is a 9-year old boy in Conn. who pitches for a local community baseball league. It is NOT an official Little League.

Anyway, the kid throws 40 mph when he pitches and the league is now banning him from pitching any more because other players, or at least their parents, are afraid he's going to hurt someone. Someone did a comparison that puts the 40mph pitch this kid throws at a MLB equivalent of 53 mph? It's not very fast.

Still, even if it were, this poor kid gets punished for excelling and it's flat out wrong. These parents need to grow up and learn that their kids will face disappointment and failure at every step of their lives. Each time they do, they learn something else about themselves. We cannot protect them forever.

If you or your child is afraid of a 40 mph baseball, sign the kid up for another sport. Try swimming. Oh wait, the pool waves may be too high. Or maybe basketball -- but only if they lower the nets so my child can dunk.

Whatever.

New Model Carr?

Desert dwellers have got to suddenly be putting a lot more credence in the Heisman curse. (Charlie Ward, Danny Wuerffel, anyone?) Sophomore coach Ken Wisenhunt is postponing the inevitable, waiting to name Kurt Warner his starter after Matt Leinart accumulated a 2.8 QB rating in two quarters against the woeful Raiders. I say forget the Heisman, worry about the fact that Leinart was a first round draft choice. Remember David Carr? He wasn't a Heisman winner, but he was the first overall pick in the 2002 draft. Which raises the question, Is 2006's 10th overall pick the next David Carr?

Being patient and allowing your high-paid first rounder to learn the game is one thing, but after two years in the league shouldn't the light-throwing Leinart be ready to step up? Isn't that why he was a Top 10 pick? Is it okay for a kid who has never really been a starter going into his third season to go 4-for-12 for 24 yards? With 3 INTs? How about those numbers against a team defense ranked 22 last year? Not in my book.

To be fair to David Carr, he was thrown into the starting job as a rookie on a very bad Houston team. It's not the same thing as Leinart's situation. Don't get me wrong: Carr was, without doubt, an over-hyped media product who was never as talented as his Heisman campaign made him out to be. Just look at what he's (not) done since leaving Houston. A rookie Troy Aikman (pick 1) was also made the starter on a very bad Texas team going 1-15 in his first year, but I think we all know how that turned out.

But Leinart has been given the time to mature. He has two of the best receivers in the game. He has Emmitt Smith's leadership and JJ Arrington, a good looking 4th year back. The line isn't bad either: Mike Gandy, Reggie Wells and Levi Brown are a solid core. So the finger keeps pointing back to the boy with the ball.

For his 17 game career Leinart has 13 TDs and 16 INTs, which doesn't say much of anything. but what might be more revealing is this: Quarterbacks selected in the first round of the NFL draft more often end up as busts not franchise saviors. Consider this list:

• Tim Couch, pick 1
• Ryan Leaf, pick 2
• Rick Mirer, pick 2
• Heath Shuler, pick 3
• Akili Smith, pick 3
  
• Joey Harrington, pick 3
  
• David Klingler, pick 6
• Andre Ware, pick 7
• Cade McNown, pick 12
• Dan McGwire, pick 16
• Todd Marinovich, pick 24
• Tommy Maddox, pick 25
  
• Jim Druckenmiller pick 26
  

And most observers are ready to add Alex Smith (pick 1), Kyle Boller (pick 19), Rex Grossman (pick 22) and Patrick Ramsey (pick 32) to this inglorious list.

Yes, there have been very successful (Peyton Manning, pick 1) and moderately successful (Steve McNair, pick 3) first-round QB picks. But don't forget: the Cardinals used their 1987 first-round pick (#6 overall) on their QB of the future – Kelly Stouffer – and we all know how that turned out.

The next hanging Chad?

Ok, just wondering. There was a lot, I mean a lot, of hoopla about Favre’s return to the Packers. A lot. Hell, even Greta van Susteren or whatever her name is, “covered” the issue for a week. Yes, she dedicated her nightly show for a full week to Brett Favre. And it was excruciating to watch even a few minutes.

So now the dust has settled, Favre is planting roots in NY and his immediate predecessor there, Chad Pennington, was named the Dolphins starting quarterback today.

Now, I’m not a naysayer, really, and could care less about the Jets and Favre or even the Dolphins/Pennington/Parcells etc. But wouldn’t it be interesting if Pennington posts a higher QB rating than the Hall of Famer Favre?

Here is an interesting tidbit to bolster that potential scenario: according to the Associated Press, “Pennington ranks first in NFL history among quarterbacks with at least 1,500 attempts with a 65.6 completion percentage.”

And he did that with the Jets. Yeah, it’s a stretch for him to come anywhere near that with the Dolphins, but it could happen.

I’m not saying, I’m just saying, know what I’m saying?

Falcons ask Ryan to rub Vicks away

The Falcons made Matt Ryan their starting QB this year. Ryan will make his debut against the Detroit Lions a week from Sunday. Ryan is a local product. He hails from Exton, Pa., not far from the world headquarters of Wearing the Rally Cap. So naturally, we’re keeping an eye on him.

Of course, competing against the likes of Joey Harrington, Chris Redman and D.J. Shockley, makes it that much easier for the third overall pick to earn the starting spot. But that's nitpicking.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution has more. . . .

Paging Michael Strahan

Hey Strahan,
Answer the damn phone. It' s Coughlin on the line and he has an idea . . .

Osi goes down . . .

Spending the night at the park

Rally Cap spent Sunday night at the local ball park -- Citizen's Bank Park in Philadelphia -- watching the Dodgers and Phils go at it. Phillies needed a win to move with 1/2 game of the division leading Mets. At the moment, it's 2-2 in th 11th with Victorino on second and none out.

Tickets to the game came courtesy of a friend of Rally Cap -- MOD. Any time you give RC a free ticket, you're a friend. But MOD and his beautuful bride, are long time friends who came up with a late afternoon offer that could not be refused. So thanks! It's always good to see everyone. The game is a bonus.

Update 12:20 am: Feliz - yeah, who? -- smacks a three run home run to win it in the 11th. Phils win 5-2 and Feliz has 4 RBIs for the night. Go figure!

4h 45m will fall

As was widely reported, MLB and the umpire's union reached an agreement Tuesday that will add video replay to MLB games. Thank goodness, because I wasn't sure that 2h 50m – the average time of a nine-inning game this season according to Elias Sports Bureau – was quite long enough. Yes, despite the much ballyhooed "focus" on game pacing that was talked about endlessly during this year's preseason, games are down a grand total of [drumroll] one minute from last year [rimshot].

OOOoooooOOOOooo, I can't wait for replay in the postseason; a nine-inning game last year averaged 3h 26m. Imagine us East Coasters showing up to our day jobs on the morning after a playoff game now that umpires will have to leave the field to go to the video.

The rub in all this is that video replay, while it does get a certain number of calls corrected, has not been proven to alter the outcome of games, at least based on the NFL model. In fact, just the opposite is true. Even with replay, outcomes continue to effected by officiating at about the same rate as it was before replay because not all plays are reviewable.

Maybe more importantly, adding video review will most assuredly eliminate some manager-umpire "discussions," such as Lou Pinella's dialog with Mark Wegner (above). This, many times, is the only highlight from MLB games. (The always make it onto SportsCenter, don't they?)

Play the game and let the game be played. You do it right and the umps won't matter at all.

BTW, 4h 45m? That's the longest 9-inning regular season game on record, Aug. 18, 2006. The Yankees beat the Red Sox, 14-11.

Dead or Alive - Gene Upshaw?

Dead. As of yesterday.

Upshaw, head of the NFL players union, died last night.

Upshaw played his entire 15-year, hall-of-fame career as an offensive guard with the Oakland Raiders. In recent years Upshaw drew criticism for his seemingly hard core stance against aiding retired NFL and AFL players who were struggling financially after leaving the game, particularly older players from past eras of the 40s, 50s, and 60s.

He was 63.

Tiki Torches NBC Colleague

As Rally Cap continues to evolve, you will learn more about us, where we stand on teams and issues (trust me when I say we’re different) and other important character traits. It will be a slow process, or maybe not. . .

Tiki Barber. . . loved him as a Giants running back, dislike him immensely since he retired. Talking out against his coach and teammates last year was unnecessary and achieved nothing, except perhaps raising Tiki's rather diminutive profile. Seeing the Giants win the Super Bowl without him was pure joy.

Tiki has put his foot in his mouth again, this time during NBC TV’s coverage of the Olympics. I have not seen any of his broadcasts, having to hold down a FT job leaves little room for morning TV. But if this clip is accurate, someone at NBC may have to reevaluate Tiki’s future with the Peacock.

Clip is via Awful Announcing

Why Wear a Rally Cap?

Because in sports, hope springs eternal.

Because sport gives every person, regardless of shape, size, income or actual hand-eye coordination, proof positive that they could have hit that cutter, scored from the 1, or drained that three.

Sport confirms upon every fan the firm knowledge that, despite a complete lack of experience, insight, planning or preparation, they could have drafted better, called the right pass play, pulled the goalie at the right time, or chosen a pinch hitter that would actually hit.

Most importantly, the Rally Cap empowers every fan with the right to ridicule rival teams and players, regardless of game results, current standings, or droughts between championships.

So go ahead, flip your cap inside out, turn it around, and tell that guy he's a bum.