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‘The ceiling is the roof,’ Jordan gaffe and laugh will make big money

Dollar Shave Club yelling and selling the serious to the silliest
March 7, 2017

The ceiling is the roof - Michael Jordan was selling something at halftime of the Duke at North Carolina basketball game March 4, saying into the live mic, “The ceiling is the roof,” then he looked pretty happy he thought of it. He was out there with a few players and a North Carolina football coach who was dressed in jeans, and I honestly had no idea what exactly he was pitching. The announcement was about the UNC football program wearing Jordan brand uniforms, so why is the network showing his commercial? Because Jordan is famous. But what is the policy for promoting brands at sporting events? Personally, I am weary of famous people, and I don’t care what they think about almost anything - that’s what I’m talking about. Roof! Roof!  

Cape is close - I don’t intend to ride off into the sunset, more like trudge and truck - talk about the midnight ambler. I do want to see Cape Henlopen, a sports program I’ve been writing about for 35 years, win a state championship in a sport they’ve never won before, or did so long ago that the players are now grandparents. Wrestling had a chance this year, soccer has been to a couple semifinals, baseball to the finals, girls’ basketball to the finals and this year’s boys’ basketball “dream team” had the talent to hang with anyone in the field. The basketball team returns most players for next year. Baseball will be in the hot mix this spring. There’s a reason Cape has never won a state championship in baseball ... it’s because everyone plays hardball, and it’s just a hard place to make a living.  

Comfortably Numb -  Sports talk shows on television go on all day long, and mostly they talk about the same topics which track like soap operas of professional sports. You may sit and watch because it’s not as lame as the political shows, but if you are watching from the couch and it’s light outside, it’s a sign you are either retired or unemployed.  And right in the middle of these serious conversations the host starts to sell something like Dollar Shave Club or Tommy Hilfiger underwear. Does selling underwear detract from the professionalism of the moment? Sure it does. It’s insulting to the viewer and demeaning to the professional pundit. You can bet your beef jerky on that.  

Poetry in motion - Free-flowing sports action captured at high speed - stop-action digital sports photography captures the essence and gracefulness of the sport. It’s amazing how sports are so different from each other, each requiring its own athleticism and skill sets. And the culture surrounding each sport is way different, with little crossover from fans. Last weekend in a 24-hour period I photographed high school basketball, women’s college lacrosse and high school wrestling. I’m the only one I saw all three places - change that - my son Dave and grandsons Davey and Mikey were at all three. 

Site management - It was blowing 35 at Temple lacrosse March 4. I found a place in the sun between the endline and locker room wall. I was tomcat contented, but then a student intern told me I had to move. My response: “Listen to gramps on this - 10 yards away it’s blowing 30, so let the refs tell me to move. But my experience from where I’m sitting is they just don’t care.” So sure, I had to move because credential man has no rights, only privileges. Later when I checked my photos, I saw three young guys sitting against the building exactly opposite from where I was perched. That was cold - not for them - just for me.

Snippets - Boys’ basketball semis at the Bob Thursday, March 9, will feature Smyrna versus St. Georges and St. Thomas More versus Caravel. St. Georges is fast and loose versus a more classic and confident Smyrna squad. I’d like to see a Smyrna versus St. Thomas More final, which would create a lot of interest downstate. If Cape had kept the Corbin brothers, who went to Mariner then Woodbridge, and Isaiah Morris, another Mariner kid who moved to Lake Forest, just think how potentially awesome the Vikings might have been. School choice is mostly about sports choice, from boys’ basketball to girls’ lacrosse, but everyone knows that, don’t they? Expect psychotic weather for spring sports scrimmages and road races through the weekend. There is a website, differencebetween.com and a copy and paste gives you, “Roof is the topmost part of the structure, while a ceiling is what you look at when inside a room.” And you can put shingles on a roof, but you don’t want shingles on your skin. Go on now, git!

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