Small teams and short buses make some kind of sense
Middle school sports - The Cape school district can now turn its attention to the only universal religion in the United States, the playing of sports. Cape’s middle schools offer boys' soccer and football in the fall, and for girls there is field hockey. Now as a result of zealots - sometimes called enthusiasts - and “pent-up” demand, the sports of volleyball for girls and cross country for boys and girls will be added. Volleyball is easy; it’s played in the gym, but cross country needs the outdoors and 12-year-olds out training on the roads just isn’t going to happen in our crazy community where pedestrians and cyclists put their lives on the line every day. A short bus or DART bus ready to roll would be idyllic, every workout like a field trip to a state park with no through traffic. Happy trails to you.
Stretching the truth - Watching NFL camps lift off this summer and every summer, I am mostly not surprised at the number of injuries related to tendons and ligaments stretched beyond their limits by the power of muscles and forces of mass. Stretching and starting slow is the sensible way to go, but most American athletes are too goal-oriented to sit around stretching before and after practice. A tough person can play with pain, but it’s essential to find out what is causing it, as pain is a precursor to more serious injury.
Fight in the dog - A sports cliché for sure but it still works: “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog.” Last fall I saw the Cape field hockey team battle and not blink on the way to a state championship that certainly was not handed to them, and beyond skill and experience on the field, there was also a junkyard dog mentality among the frontline players. I’ll never forget (one advantage to getting older is there is more to remember but less time to remember it) the semifinal game when Cape was trailing a talented Caravel at Wesley 1-0 at halftime. A Buccaneers father turned to the Cape stands and shouted: “You may have the best team but we have the best player!” It was a strange thing to shout and about half right. Frank Young quietly went to his car to get his lucky ball cap. Early in the second half, Sara Young scored the tying goal and Cape celebrated because there was no way it was early dismissal time for the Vikings. Later in the half, it was freshman Tess Bernheimer inserted into the game because Tess knows what time it is but doesn’t care. She’s like a younger Sister Sara and sent home the game-winner that put Cape in the finals against the Wildcats of Delmar. The final was Cats versus Dogs, and deep in the second half of a 1-1 game at Milford, Young put on his lucky cap and the fight-in-the-dogs team chomped its way to a championship. That’s what I’m talking about!
Snippets - Slam Dunk to the Beach is likely to return to Cape in December 2014. The name is fair game, but the tournament chairperson cannot be called Bobby.
Cape Crusaders basketball has had a successful summer, and this may be a year for Cape to get some things done. Let's not forget that Cape, defending Henlopen Conference champion, went to the second round of the state tournament.
Speaking of basketball and Bobby, the index card of season goals always includes “get to the Bob” and the last line, “win it all.”
The beach has become the road racing capital of the Western world, and granted it’s not a real sport like fishing or best ball golf, but I like covering it. Anytime 400 people from 8 to 80 can commence competing at the same time, I’m all over it. Beats 100 reporters at a Bill Belichick press conference listening to what he has to say about Aaron Hernandez.
Celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos' client list includes Michael Jackson, Chris Brown, Winona Ryder and many others including Greg Anderson, the personal trainer of Barry Bonds commenting on O.J. Simpson’s incarceration in Nevada the last five years and most likely four more: “Case should have been dismissed; it's definitely payback for his acquittal in California on the Brown-Goldman murders. Many say it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy, and maybe that’s true, but if he weren’t O.J. Simpson he never would have gone to jail.” Simpson is my age and my generation. I still look at him and ask, “Juice, what the heck happened to you?" Maybe he has concussion syndrome? Just a shame! Go on now, git!
