Why am I such a lonely voice on the Little Big House issue?

TEAR THE HOUSE DOWN! - The Henlopen Conference boys basketball final was double-decker madness last Saturday afternoon as Cape’s Little Big House absorbed one more memory on its path to planned destruction.

Labron James, Carmello Anthony and Dwight Howard are only three of more than 20 NBA players who have played in the Cape gym. The Palestra wasn’t torn down when the Spectrum was built and the Spectrum didn’t come down when the Wachovia Center was erected. I mean, what will happen if donkey basketball or mud wrestling returns? And still local civic groups can’t schedule gym time, and “we” are tearing down a big gym that can be used all year around the clock.

Why am I such a lonely voice on this issue? I mean, besides no friends.

GOLD PASS - Howard Smack is a fixture and character on the Henlopen Conference sports scene, a working basketball official since forever and a coach down to Indian River in baseball. Last Saturday at the Henlopen Conference basketball championship, Smack’s Lifetime Gold Pass was rejected at the admission table where the “no passes accepted” rule was in place.

“Smack” as close friends call him, showed me his pass, laughed and said, “I don’t mind spending five dollars, but what’s the sense getting old if your gold pass is no good?”

I know that some day my Food Lion VIP will change to a nonredeemable, nontransferable RIP - that’s just the way life goes away.

KAMINSKI - Cape’s Kyle Kaminski, wrestling at 189 pounds, finished third in the Delaware State Wrestling Championships last Sunday after a fall of football where he punted, kicked and played offense and defense. Kaminski can also play baseball and he’d make a heck of a lacrosse player or track athlete. Halfway through the school sports year there is no athlete better than Kyle Kaminski and only a couple in his neighborhood.

DUKE - Warren “Duke” Perry works in the recreation program at the Sussex Correctional Institution along with Scott Morgan and those two guys can make anyone smile, including a hard-timer in a pickup game. Duke, a 1978 basketball and track athlete at Cape, was in the stands last Saturday to support Damon Ayers, the head coach of Woodbridge.

Basically, all the Pinetown cousins – a small community off Route 9 - are proudly behind the Blue Raiders. Duke was on a mile relay team in 1978 that included Curtis Johnson, Tracy Felton and Glen Smith that beat Dover in a showdown race to stop the Senators’ 38 straight dual track meet win streak.

That team with Lance White in place of Johnson also won its section at the Penn Relays and now, according to Duke, the coveted plaque has disappeared from Cape’s trophy case.

Cape graduate Geraldine Nock, mother of Woodbridge player Marcus Nock, is pictured here with Cape grad and Woodbridge fan Jacquelyn Burrows. Geraldine’s sister, Patricia Nock, was one of Cape’s early track stars.

SMACK DOWN - Wladimir Klitschko literally smacked down the man dubbed the Barney Rubble of Heavyweights, Sultan Ibragimov, in last Saturday’s heavyweight “unify all the wide belts” championship match at Madison Square Garden seen on HBO by those of us with a paid-up cable bill. Sultan’s right jab was slapped downward repeated making Klitschko look like the world’s scariest hurdy-gurdy man. The Garden crowd booed for 12 rounds.

Klitschko fought like a reluctant retriever on a raccoon, stepping in for the jab while hanging his head way back. Apparently the Ph.D. from the Ukraine does not relish Hook
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getting punched in the face. Trainer and local physical therapist John Knarr was in the ring after the bout holding up the belt “smiling smack” while Klitschko did national television interviews. John will now return to his lesser-known clients at Elite Physical Therapy; you can check out the website a elitept.com - just don’t tell Wladimir that Fredman was making jokes.

SNIPPETS - Checking out former Cape athletes playing in college Thursday, Feb. 21, freshman Shemik Thompson scored a career high 21 points as Central Connecticut State defeated Fairfield University 73-60. Thompson has been Rookie of the Week twice in the Northeast Conference. Derek Savage had 22 points and 18 rebounds as Goldey Beacom College defeated Wilmington College 81 to 64 Feb. 19. Toni Jones had 31 points and 13 rebounds as the Goldey-Beacom women lost to Wilmington College 78 to 75.

Ryan Reed (catcher) and Scott Shockley (left fielder) are both seeing action for the University of Delaware baseball team. The Blue Hens defeated The Citadel Sunday, Feb. 24, by a score of 6-4 to improve to 2-1 on the season. Aisha Hollomon is starting in right field for the Delaware State softball team currently 4-2 on the young season. The University of Maine defeated Delaware State 8-7 in the baseball opener for both teams Feb. 24. Attendance at the game was listed as 50, which means some work-study student had the job of counting them. Billy Cunningham is a sophomore second baseman for the 2-0 Wesley College Wolverines.

Brooke Bennett is a sophomore on the Wesley College women’s lacrosse team. Sean Tappan is a sophomore pitcher for Delaware Valley College. Bethany Pavlik is a sophomore on the Delaware Valley women’s softball team. Jimmy Gill is a sophomore pitcher and outfielder for Swarthmore College. Tyler Townsend hit a two-run home run, but his Florida International Golden Panthers lost to USC 9-3 Saturday, Feb. 23. FIU has a new head coach this season and his name is Turtle Thomas, which may account for the team’s slow start.

Lisa Williams and Amanda Hastings of Sussex Central are in the starting lineup for the 3-3 Drexel Dragons softball team. Liz Carpenter is a freshman midfielder for the Virginia Tech women’s lacrosse team currently 0-3 on the season, but Wednesday, Feb. 20 the Hokies lost to second-ranked Virginian 14-6 which is in the ball park. Liz has a goal and two assists on the young season. Brienna Faust is a freshman midfielder at Old Dominion University.

Matt and Justin Savini are listed as pole vaulters for the Liberty University track team. The Savini brothers both graduated from Delmarva Christian High School.

The Sussex Sting U11 and U12 travel baseball teams are currently looking for a few more players for the 2008 season.

All players must be 12 or younger on May 1, for the U12 team or 11 or younger for the U11 team.

If you’re interested in attending a tryout or practice call coach Joe Porcelli at 302-745-6036 or Scott Kammerer 841-7703.