Take a walker on the bile side; 20 x-rays, no broken bones
Defiled in bile - Darby Dog was highly agitated at 2 a.m., so I got up and barefooted through the dark across the vinyl kitchen floor toward the door to the garage. I suddenly dropped like a 250-pound flying camel at the ice follies. My right leg bent behind and underneath me; the Big Hurt was in the house. Down at floor level there were dog by-products everywhere like the 100-pound mammal had been pulled inside out by his tongue. I sat stunned for 15 minutes, my right leg straight in front of me. No way I could move it. Finally I did the reverse scoot across floor, backed up to a recliner and pulled myself up into crash position, where I spent the night. My approach to injuries is to wait them out, but as I write this on Wednesday morning I am sidelined from on-site sports reporting for a while since I can’t even get to the car, let alone into the car to go to the doctor. Maybe Dr. Wilson Choy will make a house call if I make him Athlete of the Week?
Quad extensions - I can sit down at the quad extension machine at Club Fitness and push 270 pounds all day long, which serves no useful purpose for a 66-year-old granddaddy. And so when I slipped and hit the floor, stretching and bending all that muscle like Lolo Jones in the high hurdles, I became The Thing That Went Pop Pop in the middle of the night. I am curious to see if all that weight training was a help or a hindrance.
Pain threshold - A willingness and high tolerance to handle pain, known as pain threshold, is important to understand when coaching athletes, because real pain is a precursor to serious injury, and to play through it is just stupid. I am tough in my own pain management but also stupid as it can be risky not to let the heath professionals assess injury. I called Jeff Heckert’s office on Wednesday after horrifying my leg in a slippery dog vomit accident and was told by all means to get in to see him right away. The nurse mentioned two scary words: “femoral artery.” That’s all I had to hear. I was there. Twenty x- rays at Route 24 Beebe revealed no breaks, so I’m back in action except for the can’t drive or walk part.
Free agent fans - There is no doubt all major league players are for sale or rent, so I decided to be a fan of the Nationals and Pirates in the National League for the remainder of the season and the Angels and Yankees in the American League. Free agent fandom is the natural outgrowth of free agent players; I can learn to like any team.
Reeds at any speed - Ann and Amy Reed were both on Cape's 1973 state championship girls' basketball team. It's hard to trump that in a sports column. But Ann published her first novel this summer, "On a Dime-Senseless in Lewes," while younger sister Amy J. Reed Parker became mayor of Slaughter Beach. Go buy the book and sit on Slaughter Beach and read it and you are almost local.
Snippets - Cape major league softball for 12-year-olds opens state tournament play Friday the 13th at 7 p.m in Greenwood. The Lewes boys' baseball major leaguers open tournament play at home Sunday, July 15, at 7 p.m. A strong rumor has John Marvel stepping down as the head softball coach at Sussex Tech high school just a month after winning the state championship. Safe to say this s not a happy, it’s-been-a-great-career type of decision. John is a great guy, I know that, but not the type of coach to tolerate unsolicited intrusions from parents or administrators. College coaches were able to contact juniors becoming seniors since July 1. A package is put forth, and if an athlete agrees to it then other coaches back off - some internal ethical thing. Formal locked-in signings occur later into senior year. Renewable scholarships are not necessarily guaranteed, either; it is all very confusing. The third annual Kelly Fritchman 5K is 8 a.m., Saturday, July 14, on Anglers Road in Lewes, with post-race awards and refreshments at Irish Eyes. It’s a community thing, a great way to start a day. Go on now, git!
