Diminished capacity the end of the rainbow for athletes

Diminished capacity - Most athletes I photograph and write about in the summertime are past peak performance, losing flexibility, mental acuity and short-term memory, and growing weaker as well. But they compensate by being crazier while they gain greater wisdom. It appears to be a paradox, but not really, because better to go forth a little crazy than to go willingly backward with grace and aplomb. Sensitivity, touch and focus also diminish. I came out of high school with a full-ride basketball scholarship to Temple. I was a shooter who won a lot of money playing horse, except the horse never paid up. About eight years ago, I walked onto the court at Cape during a girls’ practice - the ball is smaller - and players stopped and watched as with perfect form and backspin I busted eight straight air balls. They laughed like I was a rodeo clown, thinking I was air balling on purpose. I haven’t picked up a ball since. 

Don’t overanalyze - The Cape Big League team and Milton 9-10-year-old baseball team have won Little League state championships and this just in, the Milton Major League baseball team beat Brandywine 16-4 in the championship game to win a state title. If I were a parent, I would be jacked and live in the moment, not trying to figure out what it all means in relation to travel ball and high school ball. But as a sportswriter, I do wonder what it’s all about. I often hear, “If these kids stay together they’re going to win some state championships when they get to high school.” But they don’t stay together. Like a cowboy movie, they ride off in different directions. But perhaps downstate is now more serious about baseball than the rest of the state. Six state titles in Cape boys’ lacrosse since 1999 indicates athletic talent feeding into a skilled sport. Why not baseball? Tides and trends turn. Stand on the beach at slack tide and figure out if it’s coming in or going out. You can’t unless you’re Blackbeard buried in the wet sand up to your neck.   

Restart - A higher percentage of boys go off to college to play a sport and sometimes go to class only to return home and duck questions about “How did you do?” The transfer-and-keep-playing second step is difficult to negotiate.The University of Delaware does a great job of bringing students back home and helping them get on board the mothership. But small schools with big-ticket prices require financial aid finesse and some luck. The ultimate goal is to get out the other side with a degree; it just makes a life so much easier. The actual education part is just a bonus.  

Snippets - Laurie Yanacek, 51, started running 10 years ago and later married her husband John, a Clydesdale runner and race organizer. Laurie runs as a Filly, and July 24 at the Run for JJ 5K she won the state championship in the masters division in 33:13, just ahead of Meaghan Nana-Sinkam in 33:19. Third place went to Laurie Milnes in 33:33 followed by Leeann Waltz, 54, in 33:53. That’s a 40-second differential, which is what you look for in a cross country team. Olympics in Rio start in two weeks, and at this point the athletes’ village has been deemed uninhabitable. Quotes by yardbarker.com: “Problems include blocked toilets, leaking pipes, exposed wiring, darkened stairwells where no lighting has been installed and dirty floors in need of a massive clean,” said AOC chef de mission Kitty Chiller. “In operations areas, water has come through the ceiling, resulting in large puddles on the floor around cabling and wiring.” But at least there are impoverished drug dealers roaming around, and kidnapping tourists is a local year-round sport. Citizens Bank Park, Lincoln Financial Field and the Wells Fargo Center make up South Philadelphia’s sports complex, but the taxpayers built those arenas; the banks just advertise. It’s a complicated arrangement of floating bonds, long-term leases, subletting and advertising. Bring back Veterans Stadium and the Spectrum. What is the economic impact of having the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center? Ask the citizens in West Philly and North Philly. Does the word none mean anything to you? Go on now, git!