Cheating is like security - it’s all in or all out

PLAYERS AND SPECTATORS - Perhaps hundreds of millions of football fans sat and watched the Super Bowl last Sunday, which is great, but how many hundreds of millions sat and waited to watch the Super Bowl - or as my spell checker prefers, the superb owl?

The Polar Bear Plunge for Special Olympics attracted close to 2,800 Polar Bears and raised $522,000, all of which is rolled into Delaware programs to benefit Delaware’s special athletes, like Jonathan Stoklosa, a power lifter with Downs Syndrome, who has a 360-pound competition bench press to his credit. I mentioned John’s accomplishments from the stage at the Baycenter last Sunday and there he was down in front taking pictures of me talking about him. Afterwards he came over and hugged me gently and said, “I like you. You’re a nice guy.”

GREAT GAME - I’ve attended and watched enough boring professional football games to appreciate the excitement generated by the Giants’ win last Sunday which brought tears to the eyes of Terry Bradshaw when he talked about it but that happens to older athletes who can go Hootie and the Blowfish.

I’m such a baby the dolphins make me cry at the slightest suggestion of sentiment. I concluded it was only a great game if you wanted to see the Patriots, Brady, Belechick and Randy Moss get their dreams rammed back into the ball bag of immortality.

And there is a growing Eli cult out there ever since Eli has beaten Garcia, Romo, Favre and Brady head-to-head because people can relate to the hound-dog-looking quarterback and his brother and father.

Garo Yepremian, the place kicker on the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins - speaking of crying babies - lives in Philly and was on Channel 10 Sports after the game drinking champagne celebrating the Patriots’ loss.

Cape won the state championship in football in 1979 - the only one in the school’s history. Do those players – now about 47 years old - gather every year to celebrate the fact they are still the only ones? I’m sure if they think about it at all it’s not in terms of hoping no future Cape teams ever achieve a state championship.

Speaking of undefeated, what downstate teams can you think of that “ran the table” to the title? Send responses to davefredman@comcast.net.

STEALING SIGNS - Cheating is like security - all in or all out. But most people see it in relative terms and selectively cheat for minor benefits like securing an answer on a test or stealing a sign from a catcher and flashing it to the batter. The Patriots have no doubt used a sneaky video guy to film other teams from signs to the pre-game walk through.

I know high school coaches who have filmed part of a practice from a moving minivan or gotten a still photo of a defensive alignment from the roof of a convenience store. I have been on headphones when the other team came on the frequency. I could hear them, but they couldn’t hear me. It was so weird and I thought about sharing that information with the defensive captain on the field but elected instead to tell the other coaches because just like in class snagging an answer just because you see it is one kind of cheating but copying an entire test is the Super Bowl of cheating.

Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania is on the verge of a Senate investigation of the Patriots because like all Eagles fans Specter thought in the 2005 Super Bowl that the Patriots won 24 to 21 that it was uncanny especially in the second half how the defensive players of the Pats flew to the ball on the centers snap almost as if they knew what play was coming. If using steroids is cheating then what is the sneaky stealing of signals and signs? Let Congress grill all athletes and teams; my question is: How did Congress get into the private enterprise game in the first place? I mean besides antitrust exemptions for pro franchises.

SNIPPETS - Registration for Cape Little League is 5:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7, and Sunday, Feb. 10, at Grotto’s Grand Slam. Parents need to bring a copy of the player’s birth certificate and a copy of a parent’s drivers license. Registration fee is $50 and the first 50 to sign up receive a new batting helmet. The league is designed for baseball and softball players 13-18. For additional info call Rick DeWitt at 302-542-2941. Hook
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The Henlopen Conference swimming championships will be held at the Lake Forest Aquatic Center on Saturday, Feb. 9. The meet begins at 10:45 a.m. and you must be a relative to watch the competition or a serious fan of scholastic swimming.

Shemik Thompson has started every game for the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils and the freshman is now averaging 11 points per game.

Kyle White continues to get major minutes for the Delaware State Hornets giving Cape two graduates playing Division I basketball at the same time, which has never happened in the school’s history.

Wednesday, Feb. 6 is National Signing Day for high school athletes and is mostly associated with the sport of football. Carl Hinton, the defensive end from Sussex Central, is reported ready to sign with Delaware State University. I have attended and taken pictures of many signings over the years in all sports from Division I to Division III and I never know exactly what any of it means because the financial contribution of the college is always privileged and personal.

Don’t take this personally, but ...