‘Let the Sun Shine In,’ amazing grace is all around us

Go Gabby! My best photos are accidental. On Tuesday, I captured Cape’s Gabrielle Parillon running the Unified heat of the 100 meters. The sun lit up her image. I posted the photo to my Facebook page with the title “Let the Sun Shine In,” a hit by the 5th Dimension in 1969. And then I talked to Gabby, took her photo and wrote, “Life is about seeing it and sensing it; amazing grace is all around us.” A disqualifier: I am not religious in any traditional sense. I will never pray for your cat, and if I send you anything, it will be the essence of my presence. My grandson Davey also slowly sprinted with a swagger. He knows that sports is all about showboating and hearing your name, “Go Davey!” 

Old school and old - The high school gyms in which I played in the Philadelphia Catholic League have been torn down. In fact, my entire high school was bulldozed into flat earth. Even at Cape, I am so three high schools ago. I’ve been covering sports in Delaware for 42 years. But there’s a new wave of media cresting and I’m not riding it. I used to joke that I was inside more loops than the night watchman at the Hula Hoop factory. But lately I’ve been missing more targets than a near-sighted skeet shooter at the Broadkill Sportsmen’s Club. When I hear “pull,” I’m thinking of my right calf muscle. Jeff Trench, a musician and pilot launch guy, and the goalie on the 1995 Cape lacrosse team that was the first to reach the state finals, is now a sideline media guy taking photos and streaming. He carries equipment ... I don’t even know what it is and I don’t ask, because I won’t listen anyway. If I’m a dinosaur, I’m choosing stegosaurus or diplodocus. I asked Jeff, “Send me some information about what you do so interested people can find your streaming and see your photos.” Here is what Jeff sent: “Delaware Sports Media is an idea started in 2019 by Jeff Trench and Matt Morgan that turned into a corporate media venture in 2022. We specialize in capturing sports through pictures and video. Jeff has been capturing sports for six years and specializes in stills and video editing. Matt has a vast background with live film production. His work includes Viacom, Fox Sports, Bloomberg LP, MLB Advanced Media and Disney Streaming as a Broadcast Engineering Supervisor. On the photography side of the business, we offer team/league pictures, individual photoshoots, senior pictures, highlight reels, business commercials, promo videos and short-form video content for social media. We also offer print on site event banners. Delaware Sports Media will come to your event, design a custom banner, take pictures of the participants and print the banner on site.” Contact Jeff@delawaresportsmedia.com or Matt@delawaresportsmedia.com with any questions. 

Strafing stories - I can’t strafe stories like a crop duster over a soybean field. I have to embed myself and absorb the narrative starting at the beginning. Saturday night at the Delaware Afro American Sports Hall of Fame banquet at the Modern Maturity Center, Susan and I were there to support the induction of Jim Alderman. But I was aware that Ron Allen and Len Chasanov were also being inducted, and I’ve known those guys since I first landed in Lewes in 1975 driving a used 1970 Volvo. Ronnie and Lenny each had three minutes at the podium, but if they played the trumpet, they’d have gotten 10. I have a good sense of both of those guys as coaches and athletes. They are tough hombres. I believe most, if not all, successful sports people have a crazy zone where they hide and reside once in a while. I can’t fix a garbage disposal or cut a rafter, but I can search out the soul in storytelling and make it pop so others reading it exclaim, “Yep, there he is!” 

Semipermeable membranes - Most sports conversations are one way; there is no reverse osmosis, especially when it comes to hype. Hyping family is fun, but listening and being gracious is taking your game to another level. And by the way, I’m in the sports business. My job is to listen, but some people are relentless. 

Snippets - Most college athletes playing a spring sport are two weeks from the end of the season and three weeks from being home. High school spring sports have yet to reach the halfway point. The ninth annual Oy Vey 5K is set for 9 a.m., Sunday, April 23, and benefits the Seaside Jewish Community. Go on now, git!