Breast Fest 5K a silly name for a serious cause
Jokes for blokes - Breast cancer is serious business, nothing funny about it, but when you name a race Breast Fest 5K and men show up in short pink shirts and survivor women sport T-shirts like “Running for the Ta Tas" it all seems festive and fun. “I’m here to register for the all-you-can-eat breast fest. Here’s my $20,” is not funny, but a guy argued, “Oh, I mean breakfast” - it was an honest mistake. Back in my mother's generation, breast cancer was a deeply held, never-talked-about personal secret, and other medical issues relating to females were explained away as “women’s problems.” Shining the light on all cancers has brought about early detection and a support network, although the only Testicle Festival 5K I’m aware of is in Montana, and you don’t want to know the rest of that story. There are hundreds of prostate cancer 5Ks around the country in case you want to round out your T-shirt collection.
Represent brother - Last summer, a Dewey racer wearing a Princeton T-shirt won a 5K. Afterward I asked him “Did you go to Princeton or just shop at Marshall’s?” The dude got haughty with me, “Yes, I most certainly did go to Princeton.” I asked him, “Would you trade that shirt for a Del Tech Road Runners cap?” which to me is all the way rocking the cool camp culture of downstate Delaware. I do shop at Marshall’s, and a few years back I was wearing a XXL Jets shirt in Food Lion when I was spotted by a Long Island guy who spontaneously spelled out “J-E-T-S Jets!” I went along, lying not denying I was from Long Island. Last Sunday at the Greene Turtle 5K, I was busting my black Temple T and encountered a guy in a red Temple shirt. “Hey, what up? Temple in the row house!” I waited for the conversation to start but it never did, as he had zero interest in whether I went to Temple or shopped at Marshall’s.
Before running was religion - Team sports keep many a talented runner off the track and cross country courses. And let’s face facts, girls who dominate distance are post-puberty light and sprite gliders who only touch down at the finish line. On the boys’ side, the soccer guys are the deepest pool of distance runners. I run into post high school and college soccer people all the time who transition to triathlons and go right to the front of the pack. Top eliminators, those who can finish in the front five in any cross country race, used to pop out of the countryside and run cross country. Cape has great tradition in the sport, but the talent is gravitating to sports that use a ball.
Snippets - I reported that former Cape field hockey player Taylor Trimmer would be a junior at the University of Vermont, but was given a heads-up by Amanda Frampton that Taylor has transferred to Appalachian State and will redshirt this season. Most Division III fall sports teams are still sporting 2013 rosters because they start later.
Milford basketball coach B.J Joseph has stepped off the hardwood and is taking a break after 17 straight years coaching at Laurel and then Woodbridge.
Sept. 1 is the date when colleges can email high school juniors directly expressing an interest in their talents. Basic rule to follow is don’t go to a school to play a sport if there’s not a remote chance you would go there otherwise.
How many readers know that men’s lacrosse has 10 players on the field while the women’s game allows 12? How many of you scream offsides before it happens? Don’t congratulate an athlete for being tall or console them for being short. Simply compliment those who show up and beast it up.
This is the time of the year when it seems half the people are going back to college and the other half are going to Walmart. According to the U.S. Census, 34 percent of Americans over 18 have a college degree; another 19 percent attended but dropped out. Eight percent have a post-graduate degree. In 2000, only 15 percent had college degrees. Some claim the increase is due to grade inflation; in other words, the degree is not necessarily reflective of an actual education. Throw on top of that majors with no chance of leading to a job and you have a contaminated system. “Get a master’s,” become part of the 8 percent; it's all about separation from the unwashed masses. Go on now, git!
