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People In Sports

Born into class; kept there by caste

August 24, 2012

Bashing my boys - My long life has always included a knowledge of how the Phillies were doing, going back to AM radio broadcasts of late-night games on the West Coast.  Chico Fernandez and Poncho Herrera, Granny Hamner and Willie “Puddin'head” Jones. Gene Mauch saying second baseman Teddy Kazansky had an arm like Dolley Madison. Richie Allen hitting teammate Frank Thomas over the head with a bat.  I lived two blocks from Connie Mack Stadium, and one of the first names I learned was Ashburn. I saw Art Mahaffey strike out 17 Cubs. I was there in 1964 for the 10-game losing streak that gave the pennant to the Cardinals. I can take my team losing; what I find annoying are fans of other teams who gloat at the Phillies' misadventures, justifying it by arguing, “Phillies fans are front runners; well, you ain't running in front now, so prepare to be peppered with insults, you half-ball, hose ball, pink ball, pimple ball, buck-buck, soft pretzel and cheese-steak-eating freaks.”

Caste and class - I was in high school when a teacher explained to me that my class (lower middle) was in effect my caste. I would never ascend except maybe to middle middle, because America was a society built on elitism and a caste system as rigid as that of India or China. The news broke that the Augusta National Country Club admitted two women, Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore, not to be confused with Darla, Spanky McFarland's girlfriend. Peep this: Darla Moore had contributed like 80 million dollars to the University of South Carolina, so golly, she gets a green jacket and that's some national story? Condi Rice, former secretary of state, is now provost of Stanford, and I's so lower middle I don't even know what that means other than that it rhymes with wheat toast. There is an initiation fee when invited to join - let's say 30K - and an annual fee of 10K. There are 300 members. The closest-to-normal people who have been invited and are members are people from sports like Lynn Swann, Lou Holtz and Pat Hayden, Southern Cal athletic director and a Rhodes scholar. So what does this all have to do with the rest of us out here who stop at Wawa four times a day? Not a root-tooting thing!

Snippets - Penn State has changed the look of its football uniform, and the names of players will now be on the back of the jerseys. Bet you didn't know the only professional sports team with no names on the back of jerseys both home and away is the New York Yankees. Temple football plays at Penn State Sept. 22. Atlantic Lacrosse Camp returns with Major League Lacrosse All-Star MVP Stephen Berger and four-time state championship coach Mark D'Ambrogi of Cape Henlopen High School. Atlantic Lacrosse Camp will be holding a fall clinic at Cape Henlopen High School for boys ages 6 through high school.  The camp is a four-week clinic held on Sundays, Oct. 7 through 28. Ages 6-10 will be from 11 a.m. to 1p.m., ages 11-14 from 1 to 3 p.m. and high school players from 3 to 5 p.m. The cost is $70 for all four Sundays. Registration and questions can be directed to atlanticlaxcamp@aol.com. Delaware field hockey with Cape players Rebecca Pepper, Hannah Pepper and Jacki Coveleski on the roster opens the season at home Friday night, Aug. 24 versus Boston University. Delaware has a first-class athletic website, www.bluehens.com, where you can watch the game streamed live or choose live stats, which is like looking over the shoulder into a reporter's notebook except way more accurate. Northeastern University with Caroline Judge and Kaci Coveleski on the roster also opens at 6 p.m, Aug. 24, at Louisville. Catch live action at www.gonu.com.  ESPN succeeded in making poker and spelling into sports, so not surprising that the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., is receiving high ratings.  I just hope the national media don't refocus their resources on sports down low, realizing they are a lot more exciting and true sport compared to the professional product. Shipped-out Phillies Shane Victorino (Dodgers) and Hunter Pence (Giants) are each batting .259 on the season. I would take John Mayberry and Dominick Brown over Victorino and Pence - more upside potential and cheaper. The start of games with officials for the next nine months means a lot to a lot of people; to me it means an endless series of poor renditions of the national anthem, some prefaced by, “Kindly stand and remove your cockeyed and backwards hats and try to shut up and not act stupid as we honor America,” and then some three-quarter time scratchy recording that has all dogs in the county tilting their heads sideways with an expression like “Really?” Now I'm done!

Go on now, git!

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