Cape goes looking for trouble in all the wrong places
School uniforms - Is it surreal or ironic or simply plain weird that school sports uniforms may not be suitable attire to wear during the school day? And I’m a tribal elder, now too sophisticated to get into this discussion, but high school kids will talk about it all day long especially if you pull a team out of class on game day, which is what happened Wednesday to the girls' lacrosse team. Some people are chafing at the bit, ready to criticize a program that has the confidence and self-assuredness to win four straight state titles and have every player on the honor roll. Suddenly they are game-day Hoochie Mommas in school uniforms? I never in 35 years of being a classroom teacher ever addressed fashion presentation to a high school girl, mainly because it is creepy, and also not my job and I didn’t care. Administrators have a different job to do, and I'm down with that - better make sure it's a woman talking to girls, or a woman is present if a male administrator must observe the hanging-arms-to-bottom-of-skirt test, and don't even start with cleavage. You could start a class discussion with intelligent high school students on what should be the response of the United States if North Korea tries to vaporize foes in its neighborhood. That will quickly change to senior parking privileges and why can’t they leave for lunch. It's high school, a place where, when I was a student, I never had a reflective thought. These students are as close to 10 as they are to 20 years old. The lowest-common-denominator approach to social change never works, not even in math class.
Right there - The Cape softball team was right there April 9 with multiple opportunities to upset visiting Sussex Tech, last year's state champion. The Vikings lost 6-5 in 11 innings, but they are playing some ball under second-year coach Jeff Evans. Cape was scheduled to play at Laurel Thursday, April 11. The 'Dawgs are coached by Jodi Green and feature her pitching daughters, Logan and Regan Green. Laurel lost a 2-1 game to Caravel earlier this season. Cape will have to once again play some ball to stay close to the favored Bulldogs.
Track carnivals - The Keith Burgess Invitational high school track meet featuring 15 teams will begin at 11 a.m., Saturday, April 13, on the track at Lake Forest. The Cape boys have quietly put together four dual-meet wins against Sussex Central, Indian River, St. Thomas More and Polytech, which gives little indication on how good they really are. The meet on Saturday has Caesar Rodney, Dover and Sussex Tech to battle, along with Hodgson and Middletown. It should serve as a good indicator on how Cape will fare at conference and states, but suffice it to say that under head coach Matt Lindell the “Boyz are Back in Town.” There has been a lot of cruising in the early season duals - hard to know what to make of posted times - but Saturday is showtime!
No to photos - Tyler Townsend, recently retired from his quest to make the Orioles, was at the Cape baseball game on April 9 when I suggested one more photo for old times' sake. He waved me off, and because I prefer to keep him on my friends list I shrugged and moved on to seek out other legends. There was Bill Lofland in the front row along right field not far from the Chris Short monument. Bill was Short’s Lewes High School catcher, but he was in the Sussex Tech family section because his granddaughters go there. The late sportswriter George Frick, a true character, used to pass a tablet around the bleachers, then he’d look at it later and tell his readers who was there and why.
Snippets - I became a sports journalist in southern Delaware 31 years ago just so I could write about my relatives; at least that’s what some people think, and who knows, they may be right.
Carrie Lingo, former captain of the United States Olympic Field Hockey team reports, “The U.S. Field Hockey team is competing in a Four Nations Tournament in New Zealand. The first day of games, the U.S. lost to Argentina, however last night the U.S. beat South Korea 2 -1 with the game-winning goal from our very own Nikki Parsley! (Milford-Northwestern). The next game is April 13 against New Zealand.”
High school players are closer to the athletic ideal than more experienced types because of low mileage. I fully support community people like the Rev. Randy Chambers and his Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Adam Howard of the Body Shop, who teaches all aspects of nutrition along with sports-specific training. I will harp again (Catholic musical instrument) that high schools should have a Varsity Club where athletes hold themselves to the highest standards of behavior - just too many gifted people go down the wrong road which ends up being no road at all. And just because we’ve all been there doesn’t mean it’s a trip worth taking. Go on now, git!
