A Rose by Any Other Number

When two players on the same team have the same last name, why does the team add the first initial to the jersey? Isn't that what the number is for, to tell the players apart?

Hello? Competition Committee?

If the NFL wants to add excitement to its many lackluster match ups (49ers @ Cardinals on MNF, anyone?), then they oughtta undo all these crapola changes they've made to make things "fair," and then change the most ridiculous play in the game: the PAT.

Let's get the easy stuff out of the way. During the last few years the No Fun League changed some rules that haven't done anything to make games more fair, as they were intended to, and have made the games less exciting.

For example, allowing offenses to wait out excessive fan noise is bullshit. Fan noise is part of home-field advantage, it's the 12th player and this is supposed to be the fans' game. Letting coaches call time out is garbage. It gives them too much control, just like the radio helmet communication system. The game is supposed to be played on the field and be spontaneous. Talk about killing drama.

Teams aren't allowed to place more than six cover guys on either side of the kicker during a kickoff. It might give them an unfair advantage during an onside kick. No shit, NFL, that's the point of the onside kick. In the old days (two years ago) the receiving team was free to put 10 guys to one side if that's how the opposition lined up. What's unfair about that?

On field goal tries, PATs and punts the defense isn't allowed to position a lineman head-up across from the center. The D player has to be offset to one side or the other, ostensibly to protect the center who is snapping with his head down. Bullshit. I was a long snapper and even in high school, centers are taught how to hit the holder (or punter) with the ball while keeping their heads up. You look back for the hand signal, then pick your head up so you can see the D (and not get your neck broken), and let it fly. With enough reps, it's pretty easy. Centers do the same thing in shotgun formation, yet this rule doesn't apply to that situation.

Head up or head down, the center is always the weak link in the special teams line. Let the D take advantage of that. The blocked punt or field goal is one of the great game-changing moments in any contest.

Now for the PAT. Worst play in football. The NFL added the 2-point conversion in 1994 to try to add some variability to the scoring and offset the fact that the PAT is virtually automatic. Guess what? It hasn't worked. Teams kick the PAT approximately 96% of the time. That's right from the NFL itself.

There are approximately 1100 - 1200 touchdowns scored in the NFL annually. The 2-point conversion is used 4% of the time. Using the higher number estimate, that means there are just 48 tries for 2 attempted each season. There are 32 teams in the league. That's 1.5 attempts per team, per year! Beyond that, the success rate is about 45% league-wide, that's just 23 conversions - far less than 1 per team, per year. I think it's fair to call this "test" an abject failure.

Why not leave the 2-point option in place and move the PAT to the 20 yard line? That would make it a 37 yard kick. While this distance for field goals is still converted more than 90% of the time, at least this isn't a 19-yard gimme. More missed PATs would also convince more teams to go for 2, which is what the league wanted in the first place. Hello? Competition Committee? Are you listening?

MLB: Screw Dodger Fans, and NL players come to think of it

Riddle me this, Riddler: Why is ALCS game 1, which features two East Coast teams, starting at 8:37 Eastern time, while NLCS game 2, which includes a West Coast team, starting at 4:22? MLB seems to be saying Tough Crap to Dodger faithful who hold regular jobs and won't get to watch Big Blue's game, which should conclude by 4:30 West Coast time.

I'm sure some TV executive made this choice, thinking the Red Sox garner a wider viewing audience, but I doubt that's true in SoCal, the second largest TV market in the country, when the Dodgers are playing.

This bizarre scheduling choice also screams F-YOU to the NL players, who concluded a game at 11 Eastern and now have to play on short rest. The AL players were off last night and could start an early game with no problem.

Shea It Ain't So

Rally Cap made a road trip to scenic Flushing, NY last night to catch the Amazin's and the Cubbies, and more importantly to say goodbye to Shea. A remarkable walk-off ending gave the Mets an improbable come-from-behind win over mostly second-team Cubs. It made for a memorable way to say goodbye to one of the first "modern" multipurpose sports stadiums. It was this writer's first and last visit to Shea and I am so glad I made the effort. Next up are Wrigley and Fenway, but that will have to wait til next season.

The photo is Shea as it looked when it opened in 1964. There's a great history of Shea posted on the Mets web site that I urge you to read. Great stuff for any sports (not just baseball) fan, especially trivia nuts. (1975 - Giants, Jets, Yankees and Mets all share Shea while Yankee Stadium is renovated. It's the only time four pro sports teams have shared one venue in the same season.)

If you want a piece of history you can buy pairs of seats for $869, with all the profits going to charity. The one thing you can't buy is Shea's home plate. That's already accounted for.

What's the ruling on this pass?

Any chance there's instant replay available to review this pass?

Ok, we've all had the urge but you have to admit that the man has some, um, balls to pull this one off.

Jose Cruz from West Virginia is stopped for suspicion of driving while under the influence. He's taken to the local police station where he fires the incomplete -- as far as we know -- pass.

Now he's facing jail time.

Here's more. . . .

What does this have to do with sports? Not much.

How the Mighty Have Fallen

Best line of the week (so far). . . from Lowell Cohn of the Press Democrat in Santa Rosa, California. And yes, he's talking about Raiderland.

"Hey, you think your place of business is crazy? Consider yourself blessed you don’t work for the Raiders."

I know my workplace is definitely crazy but these guys are unbelievable. Read the full story here and check out the affected sportswriters' comments here. It's like Thanksgiving! Can't you just feel the love!

Ryan Howard: Not Even a Whiff of MVP

There's been a lot of talk in the last couple of weeks about Ryan Howard as a legit MVP candidate in the NL. It would be much more appropriate to vote him MLK: Most Likely to Strikeout. With six games left he's on a pace to best his own 199 single-season mark (set last year) by 2, breaking the magical 200-K barrier.

While fanning doesn't automatically discount him from MVP contention, look at the full scope of his offensive output compared to his 2006 MVP-winning campaign. At this point he's played 156 games compared to 159 played in the full 2006 season, but the numbers are not even in the same ballpark (pun intended):

AVG: .313 to .247
SLG: .659 to .533
OBP: .425 to .336

Huge dropoffs in each category. Now look at walks: 108 to 79. What happened to those 29 additional walks? That's right. They became wiffs. Ryan had just (just?) 181 strikeouts in 2006 compared to 194 this year - in three fewer games.

So this clearly isn't a hitch in his swing or anything else physical. This is a simple matter of impatience, perhaps born of huge success early on in his career. (I'd like to find some way to blame this on Pat Burrell batting behind Howard, but that's not the case.)

The remarkable thing about Howard's wiffing is the career pace. If he plays out the six remaining games this year and his numbers remain constant, Howard should have 680 K in 553 games between 2005 - 2008. (He only played 19 games in 2004 so we're omitting it.) That works out to be 1.23 K per game.

The all-time MLB leader for strikeouts is Reggie Jackson with 2597 K in 2820 games. That averages out to 0.920 K per game. In fact, only two of the top five players in the category have averages over 1.0 per game (#3 Jim Thome, 1.01 and #5 Jose Canseco, 1.03).

Look at it another way: Jackson averaged one K every 3.798 at bats, while Howard averages one every 2.995 at bat. At his current pace, Howard will eclipse Jackson's mark in 2,111 games, an astonishing 700 games less!

So should Howard be a candidate for MVP? No, but not because of his wiffs. In 1961 Roger Maris won the award with his then-record 61 HRs and the lowest average ever for an MVP, just .269. His OPB was .372. But his numbers are 22 and 36 points higher in each category than Howard's current stats. Oh, and Maris fanned just 67 times.

Hey Al, try a mirror

So the Raiders lose a close one to the Bills yesterday, 24-23, on a last second field goal. Today, reports surface that Oakland owner Al Davis is going to fire coach Lane Kiffin. Granted the two never really clicked in the personality department. One of the root causes of the whole mess is the relationship between defensive coordinatior Rob Ryan and Kifflin. Interestingly enough, yesterday's loss came after the Raider defense allowed 17 points in the final 8 minutes of the game. Sabatoge? Considering Ryan's pedigree, it's not as improbable as it sounds.

But Al Davis needs to look in the mirror. It's there he'll see the man who refused to backup his head coach when Kifflin asked to fire Ryan before the start of this season. As a result, you have a defensive coordinator who refuses to listen to the head coach. It's no wonder the defense blew a 17-point lead with 8 minutes left. You're to blame Al, one else.

When is it no longer artistic license?

That swooshing sound is Ernie Davis rolling over in his grave. Multiple times. The new Ernie Davis statue unveiled this week at his alma mater Syracuse is, um, stretching(?) the idea of artistic license. As was widely reported, the bronze of the first black Heisman trophy winner depicts the collegiate football legend wearing Nike cleats.

And a Nike jersey.

And a modern-era helmet.

Ernie Davis died in 1963.

The twist? Bruno Lucchesi was commissioned to create the statue to replace another statue of Davis by Rochester artist Sharon Locke unveiled several weeks ago because the university decided that her work "didn't come out the way we expected."

Hey, Sports Fans!!

Is this a great time to be a sports fan or what?

The Tampa Bay Rays have regained first place in the American League East.

The Phillies have overtaken the Mets in the NL East.

The Brewers have lost their grip on the wildcard race.

Ryan Howard is among those considered a legitimate MVP candidate (by some).

NFL week three is just four days away.

And RallyCap is still alive in the suicide pool. (New England and Pittsburgh were the first two picks).

Oh, and college hoops start in less than a month!

And then there is this . . .

Now it's only a matter of time before the NBA gets started and ruins everything.

Screwed or blown?

Ed Hoculi's call in the Chargers' Bronco's game was horrendous. It was so big that the NFL's competition committee will probably change the rule that caused him to erroneously blow the play dead.

But my high school football coach had a saying that is still apropos low these many years later: "If you win the game, there's no call that can take it away from you."

I still believe in that sentiment. Did the Chargers get screwed on that call? Yes. But if they had gone out and dominated that game and won it before the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, one bad call wouldn't have made any difference. The Chargers blew the game and have only their on-field performance to blame.

He's nothing if not consistant

Consistently an asshole. Only Belechick, given the opportunity to inure sympathy even from his biggest detractors, maintains his arrogant asshole attitude (alliteration!) by not releasing the details of Tom Brady's injury.

Does Belechick need sympathy? Not personally, no, nor does he deserve it. But one year after a massive cheating scandal and a horrible collapse to a Giant underdog (pun intended) in the Superbowl, the Patriots organization could use a little good PR.

In building the closest thing to an NFL dynasty since the Cowboy's-Aikman run, the Patriots, despite their Americana nickname, have not become the new version of America's Team.

You don't see fans in other regions across the country wearing Patriots merchandise the way you did with the Cowboys and before them the "other dynasty teams" the Giants, Steelers and Raiders.

In fact, the Patriots have earned a bullseye on their backs, thoughtlessly placed there by their own Machiavellian leader. (For anyone who doesn't know what "Machiavellian" means, just substitute the word, "douchecanoe.")

This is where truly great coaches, like Parcells and Madden, realized that the game - and the team - are much bigger than any one person.

And it's only the first week

This part of RallyCap is pissed off. I mean really PISSED OFF.

Wanna know why? Cause I spent my f-ing weekend (Friday included) passing a #%#%%%^ kidney stone. When I wasn’t passing it, I was puking. When I wasn’t puking I was walking the pain off. Hell, I even tried rubbing dirt on it. Didn’t work. It still hurt. (Ok, it wasn't as bad as this guy, but damn!).

So today is the wrong day to get this part of RC rolling.

Then I watch some of the NFL action on Sunday (kudos to me for going with NE in the suicide pool) and have to listen to the crap on Monday about the NFL being weaker because little Tommy Brady got hurt. Pussies!

No, not Brady, I’m talking to those of you who think the league is diminished because he’s not playing any more. You’re probably New England fans who think it’s your birthright to win championships. Well wake the hell up! Other people want what you have (or had . . . when was the last time you won again, oh yeah, 2004 . . .).

Is the league any more diminished that Montana, Staubach, Rice, Starr, Unitas, Brown, Simpson, Butkus, Taylor, Upshaw (maybe an argument here), Biletnikoff, Nagurski, Page, Shell, etc. aren’t playing. No. So shut the hell up. Or better yet, get your hands on a copy of North Dallas Forty and try to learn something. Not a better movie exists showing you how the real world of professional sports (circa 1979) works.

I don’t think the league is diminished at all. I think Brady’s getting hurt is just a continuation of the conspiracy that gave the Super Bowl to the NY Giants! That’s what I think.

Where's the Love, Drew?

On the eve of the opening game of the 2008 NFL season, super agent and douchecanoe Drew Rosenhaus decided that the Eagles training camp and run up to Sunday's opener against the Rams was just too quiet. So the douchebag, um windbag, bloviates about how much better his new client -- Lito Sheppard -- is than the other two cornerbacks on the team, Asante Samuel and Sheldon Brown. Sheppard is listed as No. 2 on the depth chart, behind starter Brown on the right corner.

So Rosenhaus decides to issue a statement about how the team hasn't renewed Sheppard's contract. It's a replay of what Rosenhaus did with T.O. in 2005. The end result was a waste of a season for all involved.

Will history repeat itself? Time will tell. But don't be surprised if Rosenhaus goes missing until after the Super Bowl. Last known whereabouts, the Philadelphia region.

Note to Drew: this is NOT how you build support for your cause.

Two video links: the first with his recent comments about Sheppard -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fevz4-1OS4s

The second from 2005, the infamous "Next question" interview. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41rdU-3fiMA&feature=related

You're a class act, Rosenhaus.

How strong is the strength of schedule theory?

Dick Vermeil had a theory -- strength of schedule is a better indicator of how a team would finish than any other stat.

Basically, the more opponents a team has with a winning percentage under .500 the year before, the better the chances of reaching the Super Bowl. The 2002-2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers proved this theory sound, when they went 8-0 against all teams that met that criteria. Then they won the Super Bowl.

Of course, one could argue that playing a stronger schedule and winning makes for a better overall team. But according to Vermeil, it's precisely those games against better opponents where injuries occur, resulting in weakened teams.

Common sense, I guess. Interesting theory, regardless.

So we took a quick look at the strength of schedule for the upcoming season and -- SURPRISE -- the Steelers own the toughest schedule in 2008. They face eight teams that made the playoffs last year and their opponents have an overall winning percentage of 598. That's pretty hefty.

Who owns the weakest schedule? Another surprise, it's the Patriots. They play just four teams that made the playoffs in 2007, and their opponents have an incredibly weak .387. One would expect the AFC champs to have a tougher time of it but they are in a very weak division, even with Favre on this side of the time zone.

If your curious, the defending Super Bowl champs -- the Giants -- are ranked 15 in schedule strength, face teams with a combined 2007 winning percentage of .520 and play 6 games against playoff teams (two each against the Cowboys and Redskins plus the Steelers and Seahawks). But each team in that division has the same kind of schedule and that's why they are ranked 13th (Dallas), 14 (Washington), 15th (New York) and 16th (Philadelphia).

What does all this mean? If Vermeil's theory holds true, Patriots beat the Chargers in the AFC title game while the Saints beat the Falcons. While we like the Saints and the AFC matchup, there's no way the Falcons make that kind of run with a rookie QB.

So, let's modify those picks a bit. We'll go with Chargers beating the Patriots in the AFC championship game while the Saints top the Vikings in the NFC. Yeah, I know, the Vikings rank fifth in strength of schedule, but they are very, very close to winning it all.

Chargers are Super Bowl champs, despite losing Merriman (it's only a matter of time).

You heard it here first.

Three Fingers, a Thumb and a Gesture

The Cubs just recalled catcher Koyie Hill from Triple-A Iowa just a little more than 10 months after Hill chopped off three fingers and the thumb on his right hand with a table saw. The right-handed Hill had all the digits surgically reattached and this year was hitting .275 with 17 home runs and 64 RBI in 113 games for Iowa.

“I had to learn how to give high fives all over again. Everything is different,” Hill told AP writer Rick Gano.

Which got us thinking, if Hill is to regain full form, he may want to seek out new teammate Kerry Wood (above), who's always willing to share a few -- um -- pointers. Should Kerry be busy, here's our list of others who may lend a hand:

Chub Feeney – in a legendary 1988 flip, the San Diego Padres general manager shot the bird at Pad’s faithful on Fan Appreciation Day. The finger got Feeney the thumb.

John Rocker – well, who can count the stadiums this hothead saluted

Billy Martin – the Yankee great may have occasionally flipped the bird in a drunken rage, but we doubt he would have remembered. He surely would remember this: while managing the Tigers in 1972, he was photographed for a Topps baseball card with his left middle finger purposely extended downward.

In other sports, NFL linebacker Bryan Cox (Jets, Dolphins and Bears), drew eight league fines in a six-year period, including one for walking out of the tunnel with both middle fingers pointed skyward.

Also ambidextrous, former Atlanta Falcon Michael Vick flipped the bird to fans at the Georgia Dome. Vick was fined $10,000 ($5,000 for each hand) and the gesture failed to catch on as the Falcons’ version of the Tomahawk Chop.

Allen Iverson didn’t need to practice flipping off a crowd in 2003, he did it plenty. He also took a $10k hit.

Ron Artest, known for “personally interacting” with Detroit fans, has also been fined for saluting fans from afar.

Keyshawn Johnson – see John Rocker.

Colin Montgomerie and Sergio Garcia have both “addressed” PGA fans after addressing the ball during tournament play.

Mike Ditka, as head coach of the Saints and the Bears, repeatedly flipped the bird to fans. In fact, you can buy a framed photo of him, walking off Solider Field in his Bears sweater, offering the single-digit salute.

Finally, in the “They Deserved it Category” -- Wyoming Cowboys football coach Joe Glenn in 2007 flipped off the entire Utah Utes team and coaching staff after the Utes tried an onside kick while ahead by 43 points.

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