Who are your people and where they stay at?

Kinship Analysis - “Who are your people and where they stay at?” I walked out of a Ph.D. program in anthropology at Temple University in 1971 and later headed for my own exotic faraway land of Lewes, Del., in 1975, bringing my curiosity for kinship systems with me. I didn’t realize that figuring out who is related to whom is a travel sport in Sussex County. Brooke Jones, 12, won the Betty Gooch Dolphin Dash Sept. 30 on the Shields track in 25:26. She was followed by her dad Court in 25:43. Court is from Colorado. He only makes it into the story because he married Mimi Gibson who is Brooke’s mom, which makes her the great niece of Lewes High legendary athlete Raymond “Reds” Gibson, not to be confused with “walk everywhere” football fan Reds. Heather Gibson - the best wicked witch in the history of Wizard of Oz productions at Cape - is Mimi’s half sister. John Gibson is Ray’s brother whose son John Gibson was a soccer star at Cape in 1982. Betty Gibson, a sister, married Don Anderson, and they have a daughter Janice. Don, a local inspirational character without peer, turned 90 this week and been totally blind since middle age. Years ago his late son-in-law Jim Ferneyhough and I took Don on a boat ride from Lewes to Milton up the Broadkill River. We described what we were seeing and passing. Don was like a child seeing something for the first time that he had seen before. Speaking of boats, time for me to get out.

Oceans 11 - Taking photos, I never know what I have in the camera until I see them on the computer. And I try not to explain to others how I’m reacting to my own photos because I’m not running an art appreciation class, having learned from taking a couple of those required classes that I have little appreciation for what is obvious to others. “Show me the painting and I’ll appreciate it on my own terms. If you didn’t know it was Picasso, you might think it was a low-energy third-grader.” A pair of 11-year-olds, Jam Riya and Ella Ruppert, had their wrists wrapped together finishing a 5K. I kept waiting for them to raise their hands into the air, but they didn’t. I got home saw the photo projected and just thought “friendship is so natural.” Are any other words really necessary?

Kids at the start. The Betty Gooch Dolphin 5K Sept. 30 at 5:30, followed by the Harry K Backpack 5K on the Rehoboth Boardwalk were both races for and about kids, so the children showed up. And when kids line up to race, they get to the front and don’t listen to instructions “slower runners to the back.” They go out hard only to falter in exhaustion, then restart, repeating that process as often as it takes to get back to the finish. How do they even relate to 5K - 3 miles? I know I never bought into discomfort except for deep knee bends and duck walks ordered by some whacko basketball coach. 

Writer’s block - I may be the only writer who blocked or head butted his own car perhaps looking for a storyline in a scoreless field hockey game. But seriously, after 34 years as a columnist I don’t hesitate or hold back worrying about what others think is interesting, and I’m not married to fairness or equal time. Last Sunday, I was at historic Homewood Field on the campus of Johns Hopkins for the Sock It to Sarcoma Invitational that featured Temple, Johns Hopkins, Towson, Rutgers, Lehigh and Longwood. And so I took a photo of the Beacon Principal Dave Frederick with his daughter Anna and Lizzie, both former Cape and current Temple players, and the fact they are related to me I was willing to overlook. But grandson Davy mugging for the camera with his new Towson friends told a story of inclusion and education and sophistication and we have come a long way in a good way. Davy doesn’t stress over playing time, every minute of each day he is in the game. Sometimes others would like to take a break on the bench. 

Snippets - The General Bobby Knight endorsed Donald Trump for president while The King LeBron James has endorsed Hillary Clinton. Knight is a charismatic maniac with a successful, yet volatile coaching career, while James is the soft-spoken beast on the court who doesn’t bogart or boast. Cape field hockey will play at Archbishop Spalding Thursday, Oct. 6, which is in Severn, Md. The trip is 100 miles if you are motivated or related to a player. Spalding is 10-2 on the season. Taylor Gooch, former Cape and current Temple lacrosse player, is coming off an achilles injury from a year ago and hasn’t yet been cleared to play. Sammy Mohr had a pick six, a 59-yard interception return for a touchdown, as the Delaware Valley Aggies beat Lebanon Valley 48-0. The Aggies are 4-1. Anyone can verbally commit to anything, but athletes who can’t go all in with a commitment to a sport they are playing should do everyone a favor and just quit. Go on now, git!