Beau Warrington shows true sportsmanship of tough athlete
Spontaneous sportsmanship - I think it is the toughest of athletes who are most at peace with who they are, those who give away nothing, never back down from the moment and always come with their best effort who best understand the honor of competition and respect for adversaries. On Saturday, standing on the track at Lake Forest, I snapped photos of the excruciating finish as anchor legs Beau Warrington of Sussex Tech and Sean Hastings of Caesar Rodney battled each other stride for stride toward the finish line. Each runner looked to be in agony, but only oxygen debt would back them down. Hastings crossed first, waved his baton into the air, throwing him out of balance, and crashed hard onto the track and rolled onto the infield. Beau Warrington was the first guy to offer him a helping hand. Beau didn’t hesitate; he just did it because somewhere deep inside him he is a true sportsman. I snapped a photo because I’m always looking for those magic moments and I want people to know how great kids can be.
Poor sportsmanship - I was standing on the track at the very same meet watching distance guys race the eight-lap 3,200-meter race, intrigued at how fit and tough the runners were. Cape sophomore Ben Velasquez is short, has a quick leg turnover, always looks like he is sprinting and is possessed of a big heart. Ben is another athlete who leaves it on the track. He has dropped two and a half minutes off his time over the last year. Ben finished fourth behind P.J. Gallucci of CR and Anthony Townley and Jake Bamforth of Sussex Tech. After the race, Ben told his coach Matt Lindell about a coach from another school who was yelling to his runners, “Go ahead, you can take him anytime you want to.” Ben felt he was being disrespected. I can tell you that high school athletes in all sports hear it when adults get personal, and they think it’s weird because it is. Encourage your own athlete but never direct insults toward an opponent still in high school just because you were never popular when you were back there.
A tradition unlike any other - I watched the Masters Tournament this past weekend, but those announcers were wearing me out. It’s a golf tournament, period. Augusta National is beautiful and far removed from most of us; it is certainly not a tradition I can ever relate to, just as none of the members could relate to sewer golf played in Lewes back before it became quaint and cute.
Signed, sealed but not delivered - Athletes who have not passed the academic criteria as set forth by the NCAA Clearinghouse are not scholarship athletes, and they are ineligible to participate at NCAA member schools. Some “scholarship” signings are staged even though the student athlete hasn’t gone through the process, and many times even the athlete doesn’t understand what he or she is signing or the fact that the signature is not worth the paper it’s written on. And here’s another heads-up. College professors don’t give away grades to students who can’t perform above remedial levels - I don’t care what college you’re talking about. I’m just running into more dropping-out athletes than ever because they were just not prepared to work hard and be held accountable.
Snippets - Tyler Townsend hit a home run in three consecutive games for the Bowie Baysox, the Baltimore Orioles' Double A affiliate. Stay healthy, my friend, and we’ll see you in the majors sooner than later.
Virginia Tech women’s lacrosse, ranked No. 37 by Lax Power, upset No. 9 Virginia April 7 in overtime, 9-8. Meg Bartley had a goal and won five draw controls in the game, including getting possession leading into overtime.
My friend Bob Paulen from Dewey Beach, a 75-year-old hurdler and jumper inside the world of masters track and field, competed at the World Championships in Finland during the last week of March. There were 2,700 athletes from 66 countries competing. Bob finished second in the triple jump, third in the hurdles, fourth in the pentathlon, fifth in the long jump and sixth in the high jump. “I enjoyed the experience (and the snow here) and look forward to the 2013 World Outdoor in Brazil next October,” Bob said.
