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‘Bragging Bad,’ a story of academic airballs and undershooting talents

February 24, 2017

Sitting on stories - Remembering history experienced down to the details is something I’m good at because telling or writing stories is what I’ve always done. I was on Hawk Hill Feb. 22 chilling at the family tailgate after Temple women’s lacrosse beat St. Joe’s 14-13. I looked across at the Jack Ramsay Basketball Center attached to Hagan Arena, which is known by old guys like me as St. Joe’s Fieldhouse. I, along with my older brother Tom, played in the PCIAA Eastern Regional finals for Bishop Egan against Allentown Catholic in that same fieldhouse in 1962. The game was interrupted by an on-court melee bordering on a riot. I have deep stories about that game and the game two nights later when we lost to Pittsburgh Catholic for the Catholic School State Championship of Pennsylvania. But my story is 55 years old, and try to imagine yourself, a college athlete, listening to somebody’s grandfather tell a story about a game he played in 55 years earlier. It’s a good thing I take good photos, as I continue to play to an audience.

Academic airball - I was a high school tabula rasa - blank slate - I knew nothing outside of comedy writing, satire and cracking jokes. And it was reflected in my grades, which were alarming, so said basketball coach Jack Ramsay of St. Joe’s, cutting short the recruitment process. I had similar conversations with Jack Kraft of Villanova and the football people at Notre Dame and Michigan. I admit to being a serial underachiever. “Bragging Bad” could be the title of my autobiography, a theme of undershooting my talents and laughing every other step along the way. This stuff comes back to me when I visit places where I have history. I often say from the banquet podium: “Those who say academics are more important than athletics are always the people who can’t play anything.” The message is not to tell another person what’s most important, but to encourage them to play all the talent cards in their hand equally hard. Grand Mom Rose: “If you try hard in the classroom and still fail, now that is alarming.”  

Henlopen Basketball Championships - The conference championship boys’ and girls’ basketball games will be played at Cape’s Big House this Friday night, featuring Laurel versus Caesar Rodney for the girls’ title at 6 p.m. followed by the boys’ title game of Woodbridge versus Smyrna. The latter should be a great game. It doesn’t look like Woodbridge has a “signature win,” but they are ranked ahead of Smyrna in state tournament bracketology to be released Friday.

Small state, big divide - I like being a downstate guy in Delaware, and since I leapfrogged two counties on my trip south from Philly in 1975, I’ve never craned my neck to look back north. I heard from locals 42 years ago about a perceived upstate bias when it comes to sports. After 42 years in the corrosive salt air, I think it is mostly true. They think we’re colloquial and all cousins, there are no downstate blue bloods, only red bloods. The fact that most of the people live upstate has something to do with it, but down here you can only crack the culture with character. You simply cannot big-time people in a small state; all relationships are at the handshake level.

Snippets - Good luck to Dover HIgh School in hosting the state championship wrestling tournament this weekend. It was so great having it at Cape the last four years, which is still the best inside/outside/oceanside venue for sports and theater in the state. Practices for spring sports begin Wednesday, March 1, so expect the weather to be abysmal, in like a lion out like a porcupine. There are 10 spring sports at the high school level and each middle school has six. Both Beacon and Mariner now have boys’ lacrosse teams, both with schedules, but the Vikings don’t play each other because ... I don’t know why. What ever happened to the controversy over young pitchers throwing curveballs? It has been replaced by pitch count rules, which misses the point. It’s not how many pitches, but how much junk you throw. The torque around that elbow joint is just scary. The recovery rate for a major league pitcher from Tommy John surgery is about 80 percent. The ulnar collateral ligament in the throwing elbow is reconstructed. The incidence of the injury is increasing at the high school level, and the success rate is not great for younger pitchers. Advice is to be prudent and smart, and throw heat and changeups. Go on now, git!

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