200 young kids cuckoo for clinics on Sunday morning

Runners and gunners - Cold winds were blowing over Champions and Legends Stadiums at Cape Sunday morning. Two hundred happy campers arrive, half go to Legends for a track clinic, while the other half end up at Champions Stadium for a lacrosse clinic. High school athletes serve as clinicians supported by all the high school coaches from both programs. The young athletes are just happy to be outside running hither and thither while rapidly changing direction. The track crew moves through stations from starts to high jumping, hurdles and handoffs, then to shot put and long jump. The lacrosse girls rock swag from colorful shirts to goggles, and they carry sticks. It was just so cold, but none of the kids complained, while parents dressed in layers huddled like Eskimos on the windward side of the igloo. “I’m figuring 130 kids signed up, then on a cold morning they all showed up,” said girls’ track coach Tim Bamforth. Lacrosse was having its second of three clinics, many of the younger girls coming from the Atlantic program, while the older stickers were mostly from the Beacon and Mariner programs. It was an impressive Sunday morning, hopeful like church to see so many muppets knocking about at Sesame Street by the Sea.   

Sympathy for the Blue Devil - I was at the Philadelphia Spectrum in 1992 sitting along the baseline when Grant Hill threw the ball to the far foul line and Christian Laettner caught it with his back to the basket, then faked right,  spun left on the dribble for the game-winning jumper. It all happened in 1.8 seconds. “Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name [Fredman], but what’s puzzling you is the nature of my game.” That is ranked by USA Today as No. 1 on the list of NCAA’s greatest tournament games. But the list hasn't been updated for 20 years. The starting five for Kentucky deemed the unforgettables (I forgot) had their jerseys retired, but not their numbers. Hopefully they were washed first.

Keglers - Wilmington University’s bowling team won the East Coast Conference Tournament Championship Sunday, defeating Adelphi 2-0 in the mega match format at Corfan Country Lanes. The Wilmington Wildcats receive the ECC automatic big to the 2022 NCAA National Bowling Championship April 15-16 at the Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl in Columbus, Ohio. Malia Stout, a graduate student out of Cape Henlopen with a master’s in applied family science, is part of the Wilmington lineup. Without going deep into bowling stats, Malia had bowled double-digit games over 200, and in 2018-19 averaged 185. 

Snippets - West Chester women's lacrosse is 5-1 after beating Bloomsburg 24-6. Lindsay Monigle had four goals and four assists. McDaniel College women’s lacrosse lost to Franklin and Marshall 20-10. Kealey Allison had two goals for the Green Terror. According to the website AthleticNation.com, Zack Gelof was reassigned to minor league camp for long-term development, which is likely to be short term as Zack  is considered one of the top prospects in Oakland minor league system. Mason Fluharty has appeared in 10 games for the 15-7 Liberty Flames with a 0.96 ERA over 18.2 innings pitched. He has a record of 3-1. People who scream “It’s the yellow line” (it’s not) at a lacrosse game are the same ones who yell “Get in the hole” at a golf tournament. Champions Stadium was lined yellow out of bounds for lacrosse, but now it’s the closer blue one. Yellow is for soccer because they need a wider field and bigger cage for fewer goals to be scored. I was a guest of my granddaughter Lina for the Cape indoor track banquet at Fish On last Thursday night, then I was announced as the guest speaker. I told some “Coach Fred comes to Cape” stories that included coaches Gilbert Maull and Tim Bamforth, whom I coached when they were in high school, and a Beacon track story from five years ago, remembering relay runners by order of their running. I have to admit, it's fun. I may be the old guy, but at least I didn't say, “Fulton cannot remain in power.” See Biden joke book. Vegas favors Kansas over Villanova by four and Duke over UNC by four. I’ll go with Kansas for their willingness to play crazy. Go on now, git!