Opting out of a sport is a tough decision for a talented athlete
Your mom’s LeBron – I don’t want to know about stupid money people earn for stupid reasons like playing a sport or playing in a band. But I do know it must be Obama’s fault, as he pretty much gets blamed for everything else. NBA coaches now push $20 million a season to coach college dropouts who have no attention span. I know San Antonio’s coach, Gregg Popovich, gets called a genius. Well, if that’s the case, maybe he can string three sentences together. And most World Cup players make millions to play in Europe, but the best parts of the game are the moments teams come onto the field with the kids and the celebrations after goals where grown men kiss each other on top of the head.
Real sports - I read in this Sports Illustrated some years ago: “Anything that ends in 'athlon' is not a real sport.” I don’t totally disagree with that and before you say “Oh yeah, but can you do it?” I have to counter, "Can you run an industrial hall buffer while simultaneously eating a Primo Italian hoagie?" Now, that takes strength and coordination, to say nothing of making fluid movements all the while taking nourishment. How is it different from water stops on a run or sipping from your little bottle while riding your $3,000-dollar Cannondale? I’m joking. If I could go out and win a triathlon, I’d be doing several every month. But I am sidelined with sarcasm; that’s why I take photos.
Tried to opt out - The summer before my senior football season in high school, I sat down with championship coach Dick Bedesem to tell him I wanted to just stick with basketball, that I hated to break the news to him, but football was no fun and I didn’t desire to have my character built - it was already shattered like an old shed after Hurricane Hazel. The conversation didn’t go well. I can’t remember if Coach cried then barked or barked then cried; I just know I played. We won the Catholic League Championship and I was Most Valuable Player in the league. Was it fun like basketball? No, football hurts. It started a trend in my life. If someone tells me I’m good at something and asks me to do it, even if I really don’t want to, I’ll do it.
Baseball camp - Tape this information on your refrigerator before opening it to check on the light: There will be a three-day instructional baseball camp at the Lewes Little League Park July 27-29 for boys 8 through 12 years old. The camp director is Chris Calciano, a Boston Red Sox scout and former head coach at West Chester University. Calciano had a record as an NCAA head baseball coach of 252-125-3. Camp runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day and costs $160. Contact information is 617-519-6120 or ccalciano@redsox.com.
Don’t listen to locals - If you get slimed by a jellyfish, take your credit card and start scraping the surface of your skin; do not let locals talk you into meat tenderizer or a freshwater shower. Neither work and both may exacerbate the problem. If you already have chiggers, the jellyfish sting may temporarily divert your attention from the itching to the stinging. Sea lice are jellyfish larvae that get under your bathing suit and will force you to scratch your head with one hand and your crotch with the other. Some locals don’t go in the ocean or even go out when it's hot except to give someone a ride to the liquor store.
Snippets - All NCAA athletic scholarships are renewed yearly, and July 1 is the renewal date. Division III and Ivy League schools do not award athletic scholarships. The Ivies and many prestigious liberal arts colleges are now pushing $60K a year in cost. The campus at Del Tech is the best deal going in education, but you have to be really smart and secure to comprehend all that.
The Phillies are sellers, sounds exactly like cellars. Oh my goodness, what a painful season.
Still waiting to hear of a new Cape soccer coach for boys, but an announcement has got to be getting closer.
World Cup announcers love to say “Simply extraordinary.” Well, which is it, simple or extraordinary?
Go on now, git!
