Cape goes Captain Crunch, winning four championships

Crunch of Cape sports champions - The long weekend started Thursday with the boys’ and girls’ indoor track teams actually competing indoors at University of Maryland Eastern Shore for the Henlopen Conference Championship. And, for the first time in school history, both teams were crowned conference champions. Indoor track is magic to me; each venue is significantly different. The DIAA state meet is slated for UMES Saturday, Feb. 19, with the no-spectators rule in effect. Parent groups are lobbying hard for the meet to be held outside Saturday at Dover High School, the ironic lobby-for-no-lobby movement. 

The Cape girls’ basketball team lost at Sanford 45-23 Feb. 11. I arrived at Champions Stadium to pick up freshman granddaughter Lina from open fields lacrosse under the lights. There was a dance party going on off the back of an SUV, the music loud, the bass deep – it was better choreographed and more athletic than the Super Bowl halftime show. Lina and I listened to (she watched) the Cape at Sanford game blasted over my cellphone speaker feature on the Sanford YouTube channel. It was enthusiastically biased, but voices were clear and strong. Cape trailed by one early in the second half, but faded like Public Enemy at a private school. Cape played seven players, and four did not score.

At the Henlopen Conference swim championships Feb. 12, Cape boys and Sussex Academy girls won top honors. The Gazette was on it like Otezla on a psoriasis sufferer. I’m hearing from social media commentators that Cape coaches Bill Geppert, Pete Olson, Rick Brokaw and Tina Nigh deserve more recognition for the great job they all do. I recognize them every time I see them, and remember that recognition starts at home. “Honey, will you please get that big trophy off the dinner table? I can barely recognize your face through the open spaces.”

And finally, the Feb. 12 two-division, six-hour and eight-team DIAA Dual Meet Championships at Smyrna High School brought to you by the DIAA “No Re-entry for Granny” gatekeepers: Flexible like a frozen Gumby, like empty pockets – no cents. Wrestling tournaments in February are a convergence of media platforms, and Cape winning team photos and stories were plastered everywhere. The Cape bus was met at Route 16 by flashing lights and sirens. This message to me from Bill Henry Buckaloo: “Dave Fredman Frederick … I get a text from Matt Graviet saying Cape won states. I said Congratulations! Matt said, ‘Can we get an escort from Broadkill?’ I said, ‘When you talking?’ He said, ’42 minutes from now.’ I said, ‘I am about to turn into the C&D Canal, but I will forward your request.’ Thanks to Chief Johnny Hopkins and Assistant Chief Bailey Millman of 85; Chief Dale Magee and Assistant Chiefs Robbie Stephens and John Colpo of 82, and Chief Chuck Snyder and Chief Engineer Donald Mitchell of 86 and all their crew for making it happen. I said, ‘Matt, why such short notice?’ He said, ‘We weren’t expected to win. And by the way, we don’t want to get escorted to Cape! The boys are hungry and want to be escorted straight to Smash Burger at the Cantina. It takes a village at Sesame Street by the Sea. Congratulations, Cape, and thank god I never hit St. Georges or any other bridge. P.S. Had two other pilots call me and ask where the fire is, it sounds bad. I said, ‘No fire, just Graviet celebrating with his Cape boys!’ Forgot to add Lt. Steve Justice from 85 to help pass the word and participated.”

Spooling secret information - I’m a sports siren. People tell me things they often follow with, “Don’t tell anyone,” but I tell Susan, who doesn’t tell anyone because she doesn’t care. But forget breaking news, because once you break something, you cannot piece it back together if it's wrong without losing street cred, which is important if all your cards are maxed out. 

Milestone Mikey - Mikey Frederick recorded his 100th career wrestling win Saturday in Cape’s state title-clinching win over Caesar Rodney. Last year was an abbreviated schedule, so that is pretty special. Milestones in any sport require perseverance, consistency and staying away from shutdown injuries. 

Snippets - I’ll be glad when sports move outside and I can jettison this mask. “Your mom has a blog at wordhippo.com.” Go on now, vamonos!