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People In Sports

Many action alpha dogs bark bad on the battlefield

February 5, 2013

Don’t outsmart yourself - If I’m wearing the big old headphones and calling plays for the 49ers, down 5 points with 4 downs inside the 10-yard line at the end of the Super Bowl with Colin Kaepernick at quarterback,  I am getting into the end zone. My only options from the pistol offense are Frank Gore, Vernon Davis and Kaepernick running the football. Stay away from low-character guys at money time; that includes Randy Moss and Michael Crabtree. And immediately after the game the entire viewing country and troops around the world, thanks to a sensitive live microphone, heard Cool Joe Flacco drop a few happy F-bombs on the heads of teammates. Maybe he’ll go Chase Utley at the victory parade.

Distorting dialogue - I have written hundreds of short "guy stories" not suitable for placement in a family newspaper that include what some may categorize as rough language. And that’s because if you put men together in the military, in sports locker rooms, the college dorm, the work place or the Georgetown Oyster Eat and hundreds of other places, many guys talk to each other like they're 14 years old. Editing out the language is like watching "The Sopranos" on the A&E channel - what’s the point? By blocking out and editing out the real sounds from out on the pitch of life, the author or editor distorts reality. In a way, even NFL films are fairy tales because we are spared or deprived of the colorful commentary which is comically offensive like words put to an end zone dance.

Pressure cooker - The Cape basketball team (9-5) has three big-time games this week, playing at Dover Tuesday, Feb. 5, hosting Central Thursday, Feb. 7, then traveling to Smyrna Saturday, Feb. 9. The team is 6-1 in the Northern Division of the Henlopen Conference striving for a chance to play Polytech for the Henlopen Conference Championship. The state track meet will be Saturday, Feb. 9, at the University of Delaware. The competition is crazy good this year; it will be hard for any Henlopen team to crack the top three. The undefeated girls' swim team will host Easton Tuesday, Feb. 5. Easton is solid and will give Cape a good go in the pool. The Henlopen meet is Saturday, Feb. 16. The big question with swimming: Can any relay teams or individuals get into the final eight race at the state meet? Henlopen Conference wrestling is Friday and Saturday, Feb. 15 and 16, at the Milford Central Academy Gym - that’s what they call it - and the state meet is once again at Cape the following week, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 22 and 23.

The Count of No Count - The band 33 1/3 is awesome. They are my friends, and if I could name them all I would. They took a break last Sunday at the Post Traumatic Polar Pizza Party at Rehoboth Beach Convention Center, and following tradition, I stepped to the microphone to announce the numbers of plunging bears and dollars raised. "I’m Dave Frederick, president of Lewes Polar Bears,” was greeted by stone-cold silence. “And this is Ann Grunert, executive director of Delaware Special Olympics,” and the place erupted in applause. “What was that?” I asked the crowd of people I didn’t recognize. Thirty-five hundred plungers (better name for a band) raised $652,000, which will be used to run programs for Delaware’s special athletes.

Snippets - Men’s and women’s lacrosse has become the fastest-growing sport in the United States, gaining real traction in the South and on the West Coast. Women’s field hockey is regional in the United States but very popular worldwide. Speaking of skill sets, I’d say if you have to vacuum a house in a hurry with lots of furniture, hire a field hockey player.  If you need to catch the cat before he throws up on the rug, get a lacrosse player. Rider University sophomore Emily Ritter out of Sussex Tech set an indoor school record with a 4:57 mile run at the Boston University Terrier Invitational Feb. 1.  Sam Young just smiled when pole vault mentor John Keevon told him he needed to get in the weight room. Young then grabbed a pole that seemed not right for him and won the Henlopen title, jumping 11-feet-6-inches. Sam is fearless hanging onto a bending pole upside down, waiting for it to snap him upward. Cape’s Austin MacElrevey, a conference champ in the 3,200 meters  at 10:19, is not a weight-room guy either, but his feet barely touch the ground when he is cranking. A few years back I suggested to basketball player Brandon Leggings that he get in the weight room. His response: “Fredman, they don’t play the game in the weight room.”

Go on now, git!

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