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People In Sports

The job of sports announcers is to offer insight, not to incite

August 12, 2014

Still photos run deep - Aerial drones and cellphone videos barely touch the surface of the myriad of technologies that capture memories. But nothing penetrates the moment like still photography, which can capture the emotion and soul of a frozen fragment of time. Here is Heather Gordon Feltz walking with her brother, Chris Gordon, at the Aug. 10 Best Buddies 5K. I look at them and I see happy, which we all know inside families takes a lot of work.

Triple G - Gerson Guox, 31, started running 5Ks about three months ago and has lost 12 pounds. I snapped his photo after the Aug. 9 Run for the Paws in Dewey Beach. His native country is Guatemala. But the big story on Action News: Gerson is president of the Super Family League of Delmarva (soccer) or Superliga Familiar de Delmarva. Teams play at Sussex Tech and other venues and have over 800 members. "I want to encourage other Hispanic players to also run 5Ks and to be as fit as they can," Gerson said. I have a knack and sense for picking inspirational people out of a crowd - or more likely, I'm just lucky.

Insight not incite - I have seen slaphappy softball where the left-handed batter runs and slaps at the ball. I’ve seen it a thousand times over the last 30 years covering the games, and I never liked it; but then again, like the umpires, I’m not at the level of fully comprehending what I’m watching. The Big League Softball World Series championship game Aug. 9 in Roxana was a battle between Laurel and Milford. When Laurel’s Alexis Hudson charged the ball and slapped it to left field for a double in the bottom of the eighth trailing 1-0, you just knew Laurel would tie the game. And then the home plate umpire stepped in front of the plate and signaled “Batter is out” for leaving the box. The ESPN announcers went totally stupid, further inflaming the situation. I don’t know the rule in its particulars but it sure seemed like the wrong time to make that call. Hudson, described by all who know her as a great kid, was tossed by the ump for an inappropriate reaction.

Candlepower - I remember like it was yesterday - the first night the lights were turned on at the Cape field that is now Legends Stadium. Athletic Director Marge Peck walked to various points with a hand-held device checking candlepower. I tried to imagine myself doing that and there was no chance; my analysis would be simple, “I can see, let’s play ball.” But maybe I need a Compact Hygro-Thermo-Anemometer with digital light sensor. Seriously, I'm going to ask Apple Electric to check candlepower on Legends and Champions field; then like state tests, we can compare the brightness.

Snippets - Caroline Judge, a two-sport all-state athlete in field hockey and lacrosse, ran the Best Buddies 5K Sunday and the next day headed back to Northeastern University to begin her senior year of field hockey for the Huskies.

The Taney Dragons Little League team - all players are 13 - are going to Williamsport. Their pitcher is a girl, Mo'ne Davis. She is awesome and a stellar student. The national media will be all over this team when they arrive. They will go after the USA national tile. They have no travel ball players.

Fans of high school sports should use websites4sports.com to keep up with schedules, scores and team rosters.

Jim Wilson, former Cape superintendent, while golfing with a foursome that included his wife Diane and Buzz Klopp and wife Terri at Marsh Island on their annual Sunday outing, shot a one under par 64. Jim is also a pretty good bowler who flashed his skills at the now defunct Cape Bowling for Scholars league at Midway. Go on now, git!

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