Cape lands a gem in ESL teacher Carla Yngve

Carla cruises to Cape - Cape captured a gem Thursday with the hiring of Carla Phillips Yngve as an ESL teacher to work at the high school. Carla has worked at IR the last 22 years and two years at Delmar before that. I visited her classroom two years ago to take pics and listen to Martin Rodriguez tell his story of being a 280-pound 14-year-old and transforming into an elite runner. My amigo gordo became amigo rapido. Two reporters from Hoy en Delaware had also been invited, and I was isolated as the only non-bilingual person in the room. A young girl asked me, “Why haven’t you learned Spanish?” “Yo no se,” I said. She smiled and said, “Well, thanks for coming.” I responded, “Con mucho gusto,” and she laughed. Carla went to Worcester Prep – 1990 grad. She’s a Fighting Mallard who played field hockey and lacrosse. She graduated from Randolph-Macon, was an assistant field hockey coach at IR from 1997-2002, worked with Cherry Carey and Kathleen Fluharty, and was assistant softball coach 1999-2002. Carla’s dad was the late Jack Phillips, a 1957 Rehoboth High grad. She and husband Kurt have children Mya and Jackson.

Storyline - “I can tell it, but I can’t sell” is my tagline when I discern that young athletes aren’t listening to a great story they would benefit from hearing. But the good news for me is I’m not a coach giving a recruitment pitch. I can just dismiss the class of distractables with a “Go on now, git.” I’ve been ignored by some of the best people on the planet. College coaches don’t like the recruiting process, and high school coaches like it even less. But if you don’t recruit the hallways, lunchrooms and gym rooms using cajoling and flattery, you will lose some reluctant talent that can help you. The genetic demographic at Cape has always been loads of natural athletic talent across the board. Football coach Rob Schroeder, using his scientific insight in the early ’80s, told me, “Cape has good athletes all over the place, and the great ones will combine for six crazy-good plays a game that will deliver a win on the scoreboard.”

Been ducking - Sports editor emeritus man, that’s me, has been ducking without a hunting license for the last two years, doing less but relentlessly out there somewhere most days of the week taking photos and telling stories, what I call “Postcards from the Fred.” You think kids have ADD; what about grampsman? Can I hang in for a five-set volleyball game or seven-inning Little League all-star game played by 10-year-olds? I suppose I could if I wanted to, but I have bigger fish to fry. Actually, that’s a lie. I’ve never fried fish in my life, or blackened one or cooked one on the grill. And you’ll never see a photo of me holding up a dead fish on the dock. The fish don’t bother me, so I don’t bother them. Perhaps in the end I’m not much of a sportsman after all. 

Celebration time - The 1979 state championship Cape football team will be honored at halftime of the Dover game Sept. 27. This is the 40th anniversary of that squad and the 50th year of Cape sports. Cape lost to Dover last season 51-7, as the Senators went on to a 9-1 season before losing to Sussex Central 21-20 in the first round of the state tournament. Ten minutes is not much time allotted to celebrate, but I will keep everyone informed of other activities planned for that weekend. Any former player or coach who has a roster, I would appreciate a copy. Former players and coaches can contact Lou Norbeck at 410-200-3224 or lnorbeck@mcdaniel.edu.

Grapplers a go go - Four Cape wrestlers spent three days of summer at the Lock Haven University Team Camp. Cape competed on a combined team the first two days with Lampeter Strasburg out of Lancaster County and a third day in a bracketed format by weight class. Shane Jensen served as coach for the three days. Mikey Frederick was 10-1 for the camp, with nine of his wins by pin and the other a tech fall. CJ Fritchman was 7-3, Lucas Ruppert 7-3 and Carson Kammerer 6-4. “Overall a great job by our four young guys. A lot of success on the mat, and a great bonding experience,” Jensen said.  

Butts in seats - Three beautiful Major League Baseball parks are just two hours away if you’re a Phillies, Nationals or Orioles fan. Who knows, you may like all three. But if someone gave you free tickets, would you go to a game? Do you think you could resell tickets at face value? The answer is, “You can’t give them away.” That same reality will play out this college football season even at places like Alabama, where students come late and leave early, and perhaps for the New Mexico State and Western Carolina games, they won’t come at all. 

FloSports - Sounds like the name of a working-class shot putter from Conshohocken. University of Delaware football will be livestreamed on FloSports this fall as part of a contract with the Colonial Athletic Conference. Delaware will open the season hosting Delaware State at 7 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 29. The next home game is Saturday, Sept. 14, versus North Dakota State. Laptop, iPad, cellphone or get in your car and catch it live, you decide. Delaware is completing a $60 million stadium upgrade with attached 90,000-square-foot Whitney Center thanks to a $10 million donation from Ken and Liz Whitney. Ken Whitney is a 1980 graduate who was on the golf team. I gave $250 to the Club Field Hockey team after ducking phone calls for three months. 

Snippets - Local friends should go stand in the white water off Olive Avenue and say a prayer of remembrance for Kevin Lemaire, a teacher, coach and beach boy who passed away suddenly seven years ago. The third Sunfish Masters and Mobjack Nationals will be Aug. 17 and 18 at the Lewes Yacht Club. I once interviewed a Sunfish National Champion, Harry League, after three hot days and no wind. I asked him, “What does it take to win to be a sailing champion, to rock the regatta in a fleet of one-person boats when there is nary a puff of wind?” “Intense concentration,” he said, before returning to the bar. What did it take to make that story sing? “Intense creativity.” We all do what we do and try to do it well. Go on now, git!