FIRST TEAM ALL-STATERS - My training as a sportswriter goes back to mentor Dick Dougherty of the Bristol Courier Times. It’s all about keeping the legends alive. The younger the better and that includes fence-clearing Little League home runs or when Brian Mifflin went yard in Lewes as a 9-year-old.
Here is a list of football first team All-Staters going back to 1949 with Jim Cooper of Lewes. I also included Georgetown and Millsboro and Sussex Central because of the storied characters that dot their athletic history. If someone feels they were missed, by all means holler back, but we’re talking first team here and in some years that was just 11:
Jay Young, Rehoboth, 1952; Bob Vignola, Rehoboth, 1956-57; Orville Basinski, Caesar Rodney, 1958; John Morris, Lewes, 1959; Larry Sharp, Milford, 1960; Ken Simpler, Rehoboth, 1961; James Layfield, Millsboro, 1962-63; Scotty Reihm, Middletown, 1969; Pete Townsend and John Marvel, Sussex Central, 1970; Henry Brisco, Cape, 1972; Tommy Marvel, Sussex Central, and Henry White, Cape, 1973; Paul Ruggiero, Brandywine, 1975-76; Tim Widdoes, Sallies, and James Hershelman, Sussex Central, 1975; Anthony Burton, Cape, 1977; Charles Ball and Bruce Barrett, Cape, 1978; Tim Gray, Cape, 1978-79; Noland Hazzard, Ralph Karl, Pete Coveleski and Hertford Gibbs, Cape, 1979; Chuck Melton, Cape, 1982; Billy Savage, Sussex Central, and Tony Zigman, Cape, 1983; Jeff Lawton, Tony Sposato and Dan Sponaugle, Cape, 1984; Chuck Hall, Sussex Central, 1986; Doug Reed, Sussex Central, and Marcus Hall, Cape, 1987; William Lewis, and Shannon Argo, Sussex Central, 1988; James Lassiter, Sussex Tech, and Bucky Booth and Luke Pettigout, Sussex Central, 1993; Billy Jackson and Scott Gregoire, Sussex Tech, 1994; George White, Cape, 1995; Brad Travis, Larry Oliver and O.J. Wilson, Cape, and Mark Pettigout, Sussex Central, 1997; Elijah Worthy, Mark Moore, O.J. Wilson, Malik Lopez and Matt Graviet, Cape, 1998; Mark Moore, Cape and Jack Roach, Sussex Central, 1999; Jake Booth and Matt Lawrence, Sussex Central, 2000; Drew Weatherly and Jesse Makowski, Sussex Central, 2001; Jamil Young and Layton Wright, Sussex Central, 2002; Spencer Booth, Sussex Central, 2003; C.J. Bell, Sussex Central, and Isaiah Brisco, Cape, 2006; and Jerry Costa and James Showell, Sussex Central, 2007.
Please send any old school stuff in my direction because I am always interested.
GOLD’S GYM DOVER - I like Gold’s Gym Rehoboth because it’s big with diverse clientele and I can hear the ghost of A&P shoppers past rolling their carts talking about “glad when the tourists go home.”
As we all know, tourists don’t go home no more, but you can head north to Gold’s Gym Dover and you’ll think you’re in California when you walk through the front door.
My 4-Runner pulled to the right last Tuesday night on my way back down from interviewing filmmaker Tim Carr at Ruby Tuesday’s in the Dover Mall (see related story), but the drive-in Delirium Tremens yellow block liquor store with a train of pink elephants going around the building was gone, so what the heck, may as well check out the new Gold’s Gym.
Flat-screen TVs that monitor the kids’ playroom, double-decker spin room, aerobics room, boxing room, toga room - check that - yoga room, a gym just for women - one for heavy metal heads, every piece of hammer strength equipment for body parts not even evolved yet and a rows of cardio equipment with crowds of people treading, gliding, biking and orbiting to destination anywhere but fat person with rapid heartbeat.
The building is 40,000 square feet with a membership of 4,000, so if everyone shows up at once you can still claim “My Space!” Gold’s Dover gym is owned and operated by my friend Lisa Lawson. Trevor Hurd of Bethany is director of personal training, overseeing an in-house staff of 12. I spoke to” Trainer Trevor” and warned him not to roll any big balls in my direction as I was just looking around. Trevor posed with Bob Keffer, a corporate executive on a mission to reclaim fitness after giving up a 35-year smoking habit.
“I put on 25 pounds in a month,” a sweating Keffer said, winning my admiration. “I’m hurting, but I’m going to get in shape.”
SECURITY TRUCK - A little white security pickup with a yellow roof light spinning waved me over last Tuesday afternoon on my way into Ruby Tuesday’s at the Dover Mall to meet up with Tim Carr, who made a movie about Ryan Leaf.
“What are you doing?” asked a young African-American man and I answered, “Being profiled - what’s up?”
It got down to, “Where you going with that camera?” and me resisting and desisting from smart- aleck answers actually telling him the truth. Then he asked if I had a card, which I do, and he kept staring and reading all the numbers and email address and then made a call on his walkie-talkie and finally asked, “Can I keep this?”
I answered, “Respect,” and he said, “For what?” and I answered, “There are two kinds of security, all in and all out. You are doing what you’re supposed to do and for that I respect you, Can I go now?”
After the interview, Tim and I went outside for a picture and once back in the staff sensed he was sort of an important guy. One restaurant manager told us she was the mother of Chris Oscar, the sophomore point guard for Smyrna and I told her I watched her son play and he was very good.
Then it became the Oscars featuring Chris and I told Tim as we left the building, “The air is thin of listeners and the sky fat with talkers.”
SNIPPETS - Cape teacher John Hilton’s dad played for Green Bay. Jim Culbreath, whom I coached in Philly, played for Green Bay and the Giants. Local Luke Pettigout was a Giant. Tom Sherman, former Penn State starter and oblique friend of mine, was the starting quarterback for the Boston Patriots back in the day. Everybody is connected to everybody else in sports.
Smart money is on New England and Green Bay to advance, but I have a bit of dumb money on the Giants.
Complete the rhyme: “If you cry for a teammate named Romo, it must mean you are a …..
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Sports Editor Emeritus
Email Fredman at fredman@capegazette.com
