Running a different wheel in urban Philadelphia
Jumping wheels - Put two wheels in a hamster cage, do you think the rodent goes redundant and rides only one? Nope! He will succumb to multiple-wheel disorder - the more wheels, the more frenzied will be his activity level. I’m like that. When I step off one routine, it’s not to sit in a dark room, I’m out there running other wheels. Last weekend, I was Harry Kalas “Long drive outta here!” missing events where I may have been expected to attend. “Anyone seen Fredman?” “Who?” I spent quality time with grandaughters Lizzie and Anna at Temple lacrosse Saturday, then I took a trip to visit my brother and wife Nancy for an overnight in Penndel, then back to Temple on Sunday for a lax clinic. I made sure to find bad neighborhoods for a slow drive through them. I wanted to jump out and take photos of the people with bad beards, obscene graffiti, learning centers next to corner bars, cars with boarded up windows, a 400-pound Muslim woman waiting for a bus, but spontaneously appearing with a black Nikon camera and pointing it at people and places resembles a drive-by and someone may shoot back with a Canon.
Grouch on the couch - I turned on the Super Bowl when it started, missing Lady Gaga on purpose, then watched the game for a half before I selected Oliver North War Stories instead of the halftime show. Phil Simms is the 2.0 student in a 4.0 seminar of graduate students. He connects things and uses words like analogy and I’m reacting out loud, “What are you talking about, Phil?” Many people liked the game, but I thought it was closer to lame, except for two Panthers fumbles and a long punt return the Broncos score three points. And all the sheriff and last rodeo nonsense surrounding Peyton Manning who after the game just wants to kiss his wife and drink lots of Budweiser. When does the dogged reporter ask about his wife’s mail order prescription for growth hormones? No, somehow questions of Cam Newton's courage and class emerge. I was halfway expecting the Panthers' loss to be blamed on Obama.
The shadow of history - My college dorm, Johnson Hall, 11 stories high, casts a faint shadow on Geasey Field a block away on 15th Street, a place where I practiced football in 1965. For granddaughters Lizzie and Anna I am your grandfather’s Temple. But it runs so much deeper, my father Tom with MS wobbling to South Hall on a cane to complete his high school degree. My parents, a Lehigh Avenue trolley car romance, 22nd to 5th Street, which meant they're parents from the neighborhood, goes back to great-great generation for Lizzie (heading to campus in fall of 2016) and Anna. And I own cameras and a column and so I share. Sure, I’m happy the sisters will play lacrosse together, but more happy there is a real sense of place for all of us.
I just don’t know - The Cape girls' basketball team lost at Ursuline Feb. 6 75-23 and when you’re done with base 10 and using your fingers, that’s a 52-point loss. The score at halftime was 47-13. Cape’s a school where girls' basketball is sandwiched between powerhouse programs field hockey and lacrosse. Ursuline is the opposite. Basketball is freaky good and has been forever. Also on Saturday, Dover lost at Sanford 67-28, a much closer game and 39-point loss. Both Cape (8-7) and Dover (8-6) have winning records and they will play each other at Dover Tuesday, Feb. 9. Two teams coming off beatdowns fighting to save their seasons. Cape beat Dover 39-38 Jan. 5. This matchup is too close to call and as important as a battle for first place.
Streaks get broken - Young athletes are well adjusted and resilient and don’t walk around talking about winning streaks and championships because that is just setting yourself up for the fall, which is coming, you can bank on it. The Cape girls' swim team lost to Easton at the Talbot County Y Feb. 4, snapping a 51-dual-meet victory streak. That meet is not as important as the upcoming Henlopen Conference meet Saturday, Feb. 13. “Play it forward” is the way it goes in athletics and both the Cape girls and boys are going after that Henlopen Conference Championship.
Snippets - Congrats to freshman Molly Soule (Worcester Prep) who walked on and made the Virginia Tech lacrosse team. That’s how Meg Bartley started. And leave Cam Newton alone and worry if your wife is taking growth hormones or worse slipping them into your coffee. Go on now, git!
