Wasn't there a time in Major League Baseball where if you hit a home run, it was actually an out? Anyone remember? (Ken Harrelson, please advise). In somewhat related news, a youth soccer league in Canada has decreed that any team that goes ahead by six goals is declared the loser. The Gloucester Dragons Recreational Soccer league, which has 3,000 players, ages five to 18, on 200 teams, wants to eliminate blowouts. So the only logical thing to do is to set a cap on goals.

But one of the players, 17-year-old Kevin Cappon, thinks the new policy is bogus, man. And is dad calls it "Farceball."

From CBC News:

Cappon said he found out about the rule from the referee when he scored the last allowable goal for his team during a recent exhibition game, bringing the score to 6-1 early in the second half.

"I couldn't really believe it, but I wasn't going to doubt the referee," he told CBC's Ottawa Morning Monday.

His team spent the next 20 minutes just passing the ball and keeping it from their opponents, he recalled.

"I felt like I was mocking them sort of when I really didn't want to ... I didn't feel good doing it, and I don't think they felt good receiving it."

Bruce Cappon, Kevin's father, has sent emails and left phone messages with the league opposing the new policy.

I found the rule in the league's official handbook:

To prevent running up the score, a five-goal differential is the maximum allowed. If at the end of a game there is more than a 5 goal difference in the score, the team that scored over 5 goals will have the results recorded as a loss when the game is recorded at the office.

Strategies coaches can use to avoid this problem include:

* Rotating players into other than normal positions;

* Passing the ball a number of times prior to a shot on goal;

* Kicking with the weaker foot;

* Reducing the number of players on the field;

* Kick at net only from outside the penalty box.

And I've added some of my own:

* Deflate the ball.

* Losing team gets eight goalies.

* Brett Favre tells team that's behind that if they win, he'll return to Vikings.

* Second half is donkey polo.

* Team that's ahead by five goals must wear ski boots.

* In case of a blowout, ball must be replaced with a Roomba.

To prevent running up the score, an eight-goal differential is the maximum allowed (and recorded)
for any one game. Once that differential is achieved, the Referee will end the game. Goals and
points will be awarded as per standard practice.