Locals DeFazio, DeStasio win DSBA sports awards
Flu the coop - Three days I was on leather recliner lockdown, shivering like a shirtless spectator following the Swedish women’s curling team. I’ve been “symptoms of influenza guy,” but nonetheless I compensated by overmedicating and showing up places. I did leave for the DSBA annual luncheon Feb.17 at the Sheraton South, where my nominees Tony DeFazio, Service to Sports, and Mike DeStasio, Unsung Hero, received awards, and Lynn Richardson of Polytech, my Huggy Bear Buddy on the coaching front, received Coach of the Year. Cape athletic director Bob Cilento drove me home from the luncheon and he reminded me I was also sick at the wrestling dual-meet championships the week before. Speaking of Black History Month, I have just eight more local people to feature on my Facebook page to the end of the month. It has been fun. Hope I can make it for eight more days.
Henlopen Championship - If you are having a hard time deciding between watching Caesar Rodney boys battle Woodbridge at Sussex Tech at 7 p.m. Friday night or catching the state wrestling tournament preliminary rounds at Cape Henlopen, please send me an email, because I don’t run into too many crossover fans of these two sports.
I’d like to go back to 1976 and send John Bishop onto the mat somewhere near 200 pounds and tell the other guy, “Go ahead and try to beat him; just don’t make him mad.”
Opt out - To those who live here doing what we do, would you opt out of your contract and move someplace else for more money? And what if you made more money than you could possibly spend - does it really matter where your mansion is nestled or what schools your kids may attend? Turn on ESPN or any sports talk show, and in under 10 minutes, a LeBron James discussion will break out talking about where he might play next season and then they will get around to Carmelo Anthony who says, "I have plenty of money; I just want to win,” and it goes on from there every day, all day long. If someone offered you $100K a year to not do what you're most passionate about doing, from coaching Little League to writing a sports column, would you take the money and kick back with your feet up?
Forty dollars - I just donated $40 to the University of Delaware field hockey program. Do you think there’s any chance of their renaming Rullo Stadium Fredman Field? I read where Stuart and Susanne Grant just donated $1.5 million to the refurbishing of the Delaware Mini Stadium where soccer is played. The Mini Stadium will now be known as Stuart and Susanne Grant Stadium, and I think that is fair. The University of Delaware had 10 foreign players on its 2013 roster including three from Ghana and five from Spain, plus one each from England and Germany. There are four Delaware products on the roster but none from Salesianum. I wonder what happens to all those great players?
Snippets - Meg Bartley scored four goals as the Hokies of Virginia Tech women’s lacrosse won a home game 11-10 over High Point Feb. 19. Alex Perry, another former Cape player, had two goals for High Point.
The Cape girls' basketball team finished the season with a three-game winning streak for a 7-13 final record, but “not so fast,” the Vikings are very much in consideration for one of the final state tournament spots in the field of 24.
The Beacon girls' basketball team won the A Division of the Capitol Classic Middle School tournament, completing a perfect season of 12-0. The Mariner boys were also A Division champions, beating Smyrna in the final game by a single point. Loads of talent on those two teams - should be interesting to see what happens to it.
State competition in swimming doesn’t begin until Wednesday, Feb. 28, with preliminary rounds at the University of Delaware. This Saturday, Feb. 22, there will be 14 Delaware state champions in high school wrestling for 2014. There are upsets and automatics, but man, when anyone gets a title they carry it forever. Cape’s Thomas Ott at 220 is the Vikings' only top seed. Austin Smith 160, Justin Lopez 170 and Aaron Mattioni 195 are coming off conference championships.
The DIAA Indoor State Track Championship will be contested at the Prince George's Sports Complex in Maryland Friday, Feb. 21, beginning at 3 p.m. There are 24 teams in a competition that should be over by 8 p.m., which means more likely much later. Cape's Megan Hart is the top seed in the high jump at 5-feet-2-inches, while Sam Young is seeded second in the pole vault at 14 feet. A list of restrictions for athletes entering the meet included “No Christmas trees.” I can only assume they are some type of needle spikes. Go on now, git!
