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Cape’s Hackney and Batson are college guys and good guys

January 10, 2017

Good guys - Josh Hackney and Trent Batson, a pair of 6-foot-4 friends and former Cape basketball players, were at the Smyrna at Cape basketball game Jan. 6. The two of them smile a lot, which comes from doing the right thing in their young lives. Josh graduated in 2016 from Delaware State University with a degree in criminal justice, and he is going through the application process hoping to become a Delaware State Police officer. He currently works as a para for the Sussex Consortium. Trent is a 2014 graduate of Virginia Wesleyan with a degree in environmental science. He works for Envirotech. Both Josh and Trent also work at The Factory with Pat Woods, where they coach basketball so they can help kids. These two guys are great role models for our young men, examples of how to do it right.

How hard is it? I’ve been beating this bongo for years, but how hard is it for a dad to show up when their kid is in uniform representing their school in a sport? By the way, my dad never saw me play a sport; he was home in a wheelchair, and my mom was right next to him as caregiver. So what’s up with healthy men not strong enough to support and celebrate their child’s development? I am mystified by it all. I think sometimes a man is just too embarrassed, realizing he totally messed up his major mission in life, which is to be there providing support and guidance. 

Stall ball - Cape boys’ basketball had a good game plan versus Smyrna Jan. 6. The game was clean, not many fouls, and somewhere in the second half Cape led 37-33. The final was 54-43 Smyrna - so that’s a 21-6 run to close out the game. Smyrna played a 2-3 zone with a 7-foot-1 wingspan man under the basket. The attack is simple: move the ball - rotate some players through - the old overload trick - and if you get an open look, shoot the basketball. Usually a team has too many gunners, but in Cape’s case, there are too many players reluctant to shoot the basketball. And so what appears to be a stall is not at all, more like five reluctant roundballers passing the ball around. Shoot, I’d have scored 10 in that game and I’m 70.  

Fitnetik - Bryan Peden, a former undersized Cape heavyweight wrestler who cut his teeth wrestling fat guys who outweighed him by 60 to 80 pounds, has a Facebook fitness page titled Fitnetik Fam, and I’ve been lured in as a player because it’s all about peer sharing and emphasizing positive gains. “Old dogs can’t teach old dogs new tricks,” but I’m interested in the younger generation taking a run at me. Go to the site if you want to play and drop a hat size. Bryan graduated from Cape in 2006 and has a master’s and doctorate degree in physical therapy from Misericordia University.

Naked and the Fred - A streaker at an NFL game will never be on camera and neither will a sideline guy with a camera. The networks aren’t wasting time on either; there is no compassion. The NFL sidelines area is a fatality ready to happen. I’m seeing more and more media and sound guys just getting crushed. At least go to split box so viewers have the option to watch intelligent quarterbacks throw the ball out of bounds when all their receivers are covered or watch some photographer scraped up with a snow shovel then put on a stretcher before getting his credential confiscated.

Snippets - Tyreik Burton scored 18 points for the Thiel Tomcats in a 101-64 win over Washington and Jefferson. “Pop” is averaging 18 points per game. Can you say Pride of Belltown? The Tomcats are 7-4 on the season. Toney Floyd is a sophomore playing for the Hartford Community College Fighting Owls. The Sussex Academy girls’ basketball team is 7-0, but there are no names on the roster and no box score results, just final scores. The Seahawks girls’ swim team (4-1) will hosts once-beaten Sussex Tech Tuesday, Jan. 10. The Cape wrestling team went 4-0 at the Capitol Duals over the weekend at St. John’s High School in D.C. Cape is now 8-0 in duals this season. Go on now, git!

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