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People In Sports

Showtime: Step up or step off - state tournament one and done!

May 17, 2013

Theme dreams - This is no joke. I have two recurring dreams. In one I’m going backward at 60 miles an hour at night with no lights in a pickup truck with no brakes through the North Philadelphia ghetto. A self-analysis: I peaked in eighth grade and I’ve been going backward ever since and just can’t stop the slide. The other dream: I’m at the gates of heaven (wrought iron gate made by John the Blacksmith on consignment) and people on the other side are smiling and waving and calling my name. "Fredman, we’re over here!” I say to the gate keeper, “Quick, let me in so I can see my friends.” He says, “Not so fast, Recently Dead Guy. That’s the Hall of Fame section. You’re someplace else. They just want you to interview them.”

Ring-a-ding - Cape’s Anna Frederick and Kellen Cannon of Sussex Tech are fast friends who just play on different high school lacrosse teams. They have played Eastern Shore Lacrosse as teammates in the summer. Both recently went past the milestone of 200 career goals, establishing school records that will someday be broken. But the bonds of friendship - never broken.

Two-day track meet - The DIAA state championship track meet for boys' and girls' Division I and II will be held Friday and Saturday, May 17 and 18, at Caesar Rodney High School. The meet on Friday begins at 3 p.m. The girls' pole vault, long jump and discus are finals. The boys' long jump, shot put and high jump are finals. Friday track finals are the 4-by-800-meter relays beginning at 3 p.m., and the 3,200 starts about 5 p.m. in case you want to schedule a pizza delivery. The rest of Friday is trials in the 100, 200, 400 and 110m hurdles. The meet on Saturday begins with field event finals at 10:30 a.m. Track finals are scheduled to start at 11:30 a.m. and conclude by 4:45 p.m. Cape’s Jeremiah Cohen in the high jump and Kadijah Doughty in the shot put are the best bets for individual state titles. The high-risk 400 and 800 relays are always up for grabs because of the adventures of baton passing.

Scoring goals - Soccer is a great sport to play or watch in high definition from a couch with a dog at your feet because a lab in a lap is just plain weird. The lack of scoring just doesn’t sit well with the American mentality. It’s like no cream in a doughnut - there are people who pick an old-fashioned, no-icing doughnut but you don’t want to have a conversation with them. The Cape girls have a decent team and have powered their way to a winning season but in big games against Dover, Smyrna, Wilmington Friends, Sussex Tech and Polytech, the Vikings were shut out. As a person who didn’t play or coach the sport, I find that a significant statistic.

Senior days - The looks on the faces of the athletes and their parents and sometimes the coach - "Please don't leave" - tell the story, because in sports it never gets any better than going to battle with your close friends in front of a community that actually knows you by name. The four years of high school are just long enough, then it's time to move on, but it’s a sentimental moment for everyone including grandparents who sigh, “How far do I have to drive if I want to watch them play in college?"

Snippets - A state tournament lacrosse doubleheader comes to Cape Saturday, May 18, as Cape girls play St. Andrew's at 1 p.m. in Champions Stadium, and the boys host Dover in Legends Stadium later in the day, the time not decided yet, depends how many yard sales are out there.  

Atlantic Lacrosse also has a full slate of games at Hudson Fields beginning early Saturday morning. There is an ad in this paper from Cape on the process of nominating a coach to be included in the Legends Stadium Ring of Honor. Scrapbooks and documentation are always a good idea beyond “Everybody loved my dad, even me.”

Crazy good sports all over television almost makes you feel guilty for not getting outside to irradiate your face on a warm sunny day.

Steroids are the most stupid drug going right now; they are easily available, so if you don’t mind liver failure and heart disease not to mention gonad reduction and possible sterility, I highly recommend them. Go on now, git!

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