Second Chance Vick may send quarterback A.J. Feeley packing

Eagles fourth-team quarterback A.J. Feeley, now 32 years old, passed for 5,428 yards and 54 touchdowns during his high school career in Oregon. He later quarterbacked the Oregon Ducks. He saved the Eagles playoff position in 2002 when he won four of five games after Donovan McNabb and Koy Detmer went down with injuries. I mention all this because when “Second Chance Vick” has his suspension lifted Feeley is likely to hit the pavement, no dog slamming pun intended.

In 2002, when the media got briefly “hooked on a Feeley,” many discovered that A.J. Feeley was the consummate good guy, spending free time visiting kids in hospitals and, if you know sick kids who are football fans, their first reaction was “Who is A.J. Feeley and does he actually know McNabb?”

Young men I coached in high school 20 years ago think I went right wing every time I get on Vick, but my point is Vick’s second chance results in another player’s cancelled contract in a business where character and loyalty count for absolutely nothing. Once fans realize that, they should sit back and enjoy the game which is simply a step up from a Burt Reynolds movie.

I’M YOUR PUPPET - “Just pull a little string and I’ll sing you a song - I’m your puppet. My child really wants to play Division I - I’m your puppet.”

Beware of parents who speak while standing next to a silent child. Here is the deal about the “next level.” It ain’t all that and not as much fun as playing a sport with your high school friends. It almost never is. Go ask someone who has played at a higher level and ask them how happy they were when it was all over. I always recommend “school first - sport second” because it is easier to drop a sport than a school.

My littler girl is happy in the fall - no more trips with parents playing travel ball. And here’s some more news for you - nobody cares about AAU.

METALLICA - I have a metal rod driven into the top of my left femur the size of a railroad spike. And now I’m attracting running backs. Last Friday crazy, hard-running Brent McDowell and a herd of blue jerseys intent on lighting him up were running into the Cape bench which blocked my escape route. I never get caught like that but a ball of muscular no-sense teenager like a human car wreck collided with the bench and young women managers went feet over Dixie cups which everyone found humorous. Brent and his big-headed self only kicked my shin as I yelled “thank you God” and it would have been historically significant as I played high school football with Paul McDowell who is now 62 years old.

Later that night I was taking pictures at the Sussex Tech versus St. George’s Tech scrimmage and somehow wandered onto the field and got on the play side of Desmond Sivels, last year’s state leading scorer as he broke containment and circled the right side of the defense. The sight of him in the open field was nothing short of scary. Former Cape quarterback J.D. Maull is the head coach at St. George’s

SNIPPETS - Amanda Deloy, former Cape hockey player, is now a junior at Bloomsburg University (2-0 on the season) and starting for a team that has won three Division II national championships in a row. Lindsey Danz of Rehoboth and Sussex Tech is a sophomore for “Bloom” and getting plenty of playing time.

The University of Maryland women’s soccer team defeated Seton Hall 2-0 last Friday night for a 3-0 start to the season - their best start since 1996. Lydia Hastings, a sophomore from Rehoboth, is a starting striker for the Terrapins.

Cape’s Zach Wood is a red shirt freshman at West Chester and has worked his way up the depth chart as a defensive back and will see prime-time action versus Delaware this Friday night. West Chester opened the season last weekend thrashing the Bald Eagles of Lock Haven 43-0 behind 186 passing yards from Joe Wright.

Brooke Bennett and Erin Bailey, former Cape field hockey players, are now senior midfielders for the Wesley College Wolverines.

The Laurel Senior League All-Stars, coached by Jeff Evans who teaches social studies at Cape, gained automatic entry as District III champions into the Senior League World Series played in Roxana and lost 3-2 in the final game to the Southwest All-Stars. Question: Should Laurel now be favored to win the Henlopen Conference this spring?

Cape is currently advertising the position for head softball coach and Jeff Evans seems a natural, except he wants to be free after school to go watch his daughter Courtney play for the Bulldogs. Family first, and who can argue? Sorry, too late for school choice.

Chuck Melton is the head coach of the Beacon football team, not Gilbert Maull as I reported in a story last Friday. I don’t know why Gilbert told me he was “running the show.” No, Gilbert never said that, he said “no more boardwalks, no girls, and no cotton candy.” No cotton candy? Which way to the car wash?