Cape community buzzing about girls’ basketball

Slammed - I stopped by Villa Sorrento Feb. 1 after the last of three sporting events to pick up a pizza. Italian music was playing and the place was alive with conversation. I said to the woman ringing me up, “Keep the penny and it looks like you guys are slammed.” She said: “My father always said, ‘What do you think this is, a restaurant or something?’” And then a voice from some tables pushed together, a party of 12 said, “Hey Fredman, what did you think of that girls’ game Thursday night? Wasn’t that amazing and really entertaining?” It was an invitation for the seasoned sportswriter to wax his magic, or do I work my magic? But it was small-town cool, everyone along that row must have been at the Thursday night Big House game – the largest crowd to ever show up for a girls’ game at Cape, as the Vikings upended top-ranked visiting Conrad 58-53. “It was a coalescing of the community across generations through basketball,” I said. “You saw all those little kids from the Factory program, the Beacon girls’ team that hung posters for the players, the pep band was there and had to be reminded, less pep. And the JV team with their 27th straight win.” My parting shot, “You not only want to fill the Big House, but it’s a bonus if you can deliver. Now, let me get on up outta here.” The penny was for my thoughts. 

Bryan Garcia - Bryan returned to the Cape Big House from the Polytech Junior Varsity Wrestling Tournament Feb. 1 with the 132-pound championship. Cape placed third overall in the team competition. Bryan is a junior who also plays soccer and runs track, and he is a member of coach Courtney Hennessey’s Coed Competition Cheerleading team. According to coach Hennessey, Bryan is a 100 in every part of the routine, tumbling, stunting and crowd leading. On Feb. 2, he competed with the team at the University of Delaware, which was first in coed traditional and second in game day. And Bryan is the only cheerleader with a championship wrestling bracket on his bedroom wall. 

Bowling for scholars - Cape senior Sydney Hollinger signed her letter of intent Jan. 30 to attend Wichita State University, where she will join the bowling team. Sydney has a 200 average. Wichita State is the most accomplished college bowling team in the country with 11 men’s national titles, nine women’s national titles and more than 50 years of excellence. She is pictured with her father Mark. 

Faster versus bigger - The inaugural Super Duper Super Bowl Sunday 5K at Cape Henlopen High School Feb. 2 attracted 70 runners. Saturday’s 12th annual Run to the Plunge on the Rehoboth Boardwalk saw 470 runners finish the race. The top four runners in the Super Bowl Sunday race were Tyler Muse in 15:33, Dylan Smiley in 15:41, Nick Cruz in 16:11 and Lance Kauffman in 18:11. Faith Mitchell was the fastest female Sunday at 20:46. The first-place finisher in the Saturday Run to the Plunge was Anthony Miranda in 18:20. Faith Mitchell was the first female in that one too in 20:21. Some run for the cause while others run just because, and a few others actually race. 

Sound Down - I tuned into the Super Bowl 10 minutes before game time with sound down. It was graphics overload. It was easily 50 commercials of 30 seconds at $5 million a throw. Everything was hype. Even the coin toss was over the top. I just wanted to see the teams. 

“Matriculate the ball down the field” as Kansas City coach Hank Stram implored 50 years earlier. The halftime show was bizarre, but I’m beyond any demographic that’s a targeted audience. I thought pole dancing pop-pops is what America needs, but let’s keep politics out of the game. As Marvin Gaye sang 57 years earlier, “Can I Get A Witness”? Evidently not! During the post-game onfield mayhem, media slickster Chris Myers ignoring how scary Andy Reid looks without his hat, asked Andy’s wife Tammy, “How would you describe your husband’s emotions in those final moments with his first Super Bowl within his grasp?” “He was as calm as a cucumber,” Tammy said. Now that is a closer comment, right up there with “crazy like a fox.” 

Snippets - The Henlopen Conference Indoor Track Championships are Thursday, Feb. 6, at the UMES Hytche Center in Princess Anne, Md. Once again, it’s an opportunity for me to get lost in Salisbury; even the GPS voice goes, “Either way, it doesn’t matter.” The track is 200 meters and the meet starts at 1 p.m. It beats classroom captivity where you can slumber like a cucumber. Go on now, git!