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People In Sports

Bo Bo Savage and his friend the Dark Knight

May 28, 2013

Bo Bo a go-go - Cape won the girls' state lacrosse championship for the fifth straight time May 24 at Dover High and, “Believe it or not, I’m walking on air,” to say nothing of lurking and lingering about post game, hugging my granddaughters and shaking hands with fathers and generally being “that guy” others plan to duck for the next three months. It was all good, harmless self-gloating behavior. I was leaving with the stragglers when Dover athletic director Jeff Savage, a close personal friend  and known as Bo Bo to his grandchildren, turned out the lights because he was burnt out after a long day of fielding inane questions from boosters on their percentage take of the Chick-fil-A concession. I am an orthopedic hazard in broad daylight and there I was with two big cameras, two extra jackets and couldn’t see my feet hit the turf as I was walking across runways and avoiding landing zones for long jumpers. DIAA Executive Director Kevin Charles was leaning over the fence. I told him “This is wrong,” and Kevin knows I’m the only sports columnist in Delaware who can write 200 words on leaving a dark  field.

"The church has left the building" - Pastor Tim of Milton Wesleyan Church is a good person with a congregation of real, authentic people. I was there Friday night for the second Memorial Day weekend in a row to take photos of the Milton Mile run in heats. I know I saw someone running with a dog - not uncommon - but a foil-wrapped boiled dog was a first. Brian Kugelman, former Cape football and lacrosse player, arrived late, so he ran with the masters division. I asked him “Is this your church?” and he said, “It would be if I went, but I don’t.”

The luxury of despondency - It was 27 years year ago in the final seconds of an Indian River at Cape football game when co-captain and defensive back Malcolm Timmons got beat on the home run ball for a long touchdown. Cape won anyway but Malcolm was down after the game. I said, “Despondency in the face of victory is a luxury.” He said, ”Right, coach. What are you talking about?” Cape lacrosse won its hardest-earned state championship victory out of five on May 24 with a 12-10 over Tower Hill. The girls launched into a victory pile but the adults were like, “What was that all about?” A hard-earned win is what it was about. Tower Hill let one get away, and they knew it, too.

Poor judgment - Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson was suspended for the fall term for academic poor judgment. Man, I would have been suspended like three days a week. What is the difference between poor judgment and trying to get over? Last year the Irish had the linebacker with the imaginary girlfriend and trump that with a quarterback who is an imaginary student.

Winning under caution - Winning the Indy 500 under a caution flag is like winning game seven of the NBA championship during a time-out. A great race won by Tony Kannan with a totally lame finish. I’d propose all car races must race 10 uninterrupted laps to the checkered flag; otherwise, why not give the title to the pace car?

Rabbits run - Yes, it was a literary reference for you John Updike fans. I don’t like designated rabbits on the Grand Prix professional track and field circuit leading distance races to push the pace. Most world records in history have been set without the use of rabbits. Rabbits that lead only to drop out halfway through a race just cheapen it and give it a sideshow quality. Rabbits are illegal in high school meets. And no athlete wants to be busted for impersonating a pachyderm.

Snippets - This is the first year in close to a half a century that no one named Allen, Barranco or Coveleski has been lifeguarding on a Delaware beach. Cross training for skills from different sports is s good thing for a summer athlete; so is reading a book on your iPad mini. And don’t smoke, don’t drink and don’t get fat. Go on now, git!

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