Babies carry my blue chair from Toddle and Topple

Whack Pack - It’s no surprise if you read this column, now going on 40 years, that I cover lots of road races, because if 200 athletes are snaking through the streets at 7:30 a.m., I’m grabbing my camera and I’m going to be there. I always stay through the end of the race, figuring if someone is tough enough to challenge themselves over distance and time then I’m tough enough to sit in my blue chair and wait for them. And the types of stories vary depending where in the pack the runner is racing and placing. I specialize in back-of-the-packers, as they are just more relatable to my personal lifestyle. At the Outlet Liquors 5K in Dewey June 27, Darian Sorouri, 25, was first in 16:21, while his girlfriend Holly Manning, 24, was the first woman in 18:52. The couple won the Jungle Jim’s 5K the day before. They ran together at Stony Brook, and Holly is from New Zealand and going back there, and “no dummy” Darian is going with her.  Daniel Danilovitz, 14, of Moosic, Pa., was third overall in 16:33. Lacey Danilovitz, 15, his sister, was second female overall in 20:21. Their parents Jeff (21:57) and Kris (22:35) were also in the race. And when Sean Meissner, now living in Colorado, was called up for his award for second in the 45-49 age group, he was shocked when the age-group winner Bill McNary of Bethesda, Md., was announced because they were cross country teammates in high school. 

Toddlers and topplers - A pair of babies offered to carry my blue chair Sunday morning. I guess I’m like a toddler; people are always offering me water, perhaps a banana or an Italian hoagie kicked by a pizza slice. Baby Hallard (her registered race name), 56, was finishing the Outlet Liquors 5K. I walked in with her and she offered to carry my chair. That was the most magnanimous offer since a woman on oxygen at a lacrosse tournament made the same proposal. After shooting a lacrosse game through visible waves of heat on Sunday morning at Legends Stadium, Sweet Baby James, my 8-year-old grandson, appeared behind me and asked, “Fredman, can I carry your chair for you?” Psychologists call it learned helplessness, and I’m a quick learner. The nice people on my beat offset the screamers driving beemers. 

Ring A Ding Ding - A Cape state championship wrestling team ring ceremony and fundraiser is Tuesday, June 29, from 5 to 7 p.m., at Fish On outside Lewes. The cost is $10 to honor the first Cape state wrestling championship in school history. Note: Prior to 1993, wrestling state champions were determined by points earned by a team during the individual tournament. Tournaments using that format were contested from 1957 through 1992. The 2021 season brought the format back and Cape prevailed as D1 champions while Caravel won the D2 title. Most NCAA wrestling conferences declare dual-meet champions, which is distinctly different from NCAA Tournament National Champion.

Pay to play - I’ve heard the lament, “I’m just worried we’re becoming a pay-to-play sports society.” Ain’t no “becoming” about it; the system has been in place since summer sports camps were created and is now just blown up with the explosion of travel sports which are here to stay. The time is long gone when a college coach visited a high school to watch an athlete play a game. Now it’s the travel network and highlight videos as part of the recruitment toolkit. You can be a great player and get only a few nibbles. Currently the system is backlogged because of the extra year granted to athletes who were shut down by COVID. Grandmom Rose: “Shoot for the stars, but don’t be trippin’ out of your damn mind.” 

Snippets - “What a long, strange trip it's been.” The road to the College World Series final now features Vanderbilt versus Mississippi State. Why watch if you don’t care who wins? I like Mississippi State, which is weird, as I am a child of the East Coast liberal elite. Actually, I'm a blue-collar row house boy. My grandfather got fired from his second job as a ghost employee in a Democratic Ward when he called in sick. Remember open gyms and open fields are optional. You don’t have to show up, but just make sure you’re fit and are really good if you don’t. And if you are not, then go on now, git!