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Smyrna striders Ibironke and Bowser also stellar students

October 14, 2016

Stellar student-athletes - Smyrna cross country had the first-place boy and girl at a cross country meet at Schutte Park in Dover Oct. 12. I was there because Ravens coach Tim Bamforth asked me to rock up to Electric Avenue with him, and it was the only offer I had all week. I lined up Tolson Ibironke and Naomi Bowser for a photo. I talked to them together and, of course, they had no idea who I am and neither do I. Naomi ran a personal best in the 5K of 19:06, a course record, while Tolson won a battle over Ben Bamforth to win the boys’ race in 16:40, also a course record. Naomi plays basketball and runs track where she is a distance star and 10-foot pole vaulter. But there is more, she has a 102 GPA while taking AP and honors classes. Tolson smiled, “She does not mess around.” I asked the gifted senior runner, only in his second year of competition, “Are you a good student?” “Yes, are you kidding me?  My dad would kill me if I brought home a bad grade.” Tolson is rocking a 97 GPA. And so there you have the student-athlete high-performance package and super-nice kids goes without saying. I gave them my card to get to Facebook photos, adding “You can like me, but you can’t be my friend.” Seriously, it is not hard to find great kids, all you have to do is talk to them.  

Let’s play three -  I am all in for playoff baseball, 27 innings. I am moored on the corner of the couch like Kung Fu Panda playing a no-double defense. I grew halfway up at 22nd and Huntingdon streets in North Philly, a neighborhood called Swampoodle at the junction of three railroad lines at 22nd and Lehigh Avenue, home of Connie Mack Stadium. I parked cars for a dollar and snuck into games and went to Wildwood in the summer and bodysurfed like a Philly guy with both arms straight in front of me. Real Philly fans will choose the Dodgers over Washington because of the trolley car connection with Brooklyn, and we always take Utley over Werth.   

Double A battery - Alia Marshall and Amanda Sponaugle, both sophomores, scored Cape's second-half goals, both on corners, in Cape’s 2-1 win over Sussex Tech. Cape coaches are looking for the Junkyard Dogs who run ravenously, snarling and spitting, biting and fighting, scrapping and snapping for every ball. Cape will only defend its title with a bad attitude.

Playoffs? - Don’t talk to me about playoffs. Coach Jim Mora of the Indianapolis Colts said those famous words after losing to the Niners Nov. 25, 2001. The high-pitched rant was made famous when it was used in a Coors Lite commercial. After Cape beat Sussex Central 16-14 Oct. 7, fans along the fence were asking me about playoffs. The Vikings are 4-1 with five games left to play. “Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game,” I said in deference to the Mora rant. Cape is at Dover Friday night, which is always a magical mystery tour because “they got people” and you can throw those old records off the shelf. The key to Dover over the last 40 years is to hang with them in the first quarter and not spend the next three chasing their tail. Dover is 2-3 having lost to Woodbridge, Baltimore Poly and Smyrna, with wins over Lake Forest and Polytech. The comparison for Cape is Dover lost to three teams that most likely would have beaten you as well. Playoffs? Let’s just win a game. It’s Dover’s Homecoming, and the game is broadcast live on 105.9.

Snippets - Cape volleyball is 8-1 with six games left in the regular season. Suffice it to say, the Vikings are pretty good and so are Mariner and Beacon. The junior varsity is 7-2. Delaware football (2-3) is at William and Mary (2-4) Saturday, Oct. 15. Both teams are “better than their record,” but the loser will have to own the underachievement label, which fairly or not reflects back on the coaching staff. Delaware field hockey has risen to No. 8 in the NFHCA poll. The Blue Hens host Penn Sunday, Oct. 16, at 1 p.m. Cape’s Maggie Delp comes off the bench and has been seeing the field in many big games. A big attraction at the Friday night football game at Dover is the Senators Band. They are “big and bad” and rock the entire game - no other sports approach football for the diversification of pageantry. Did I just say that? Go on now, git!

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