Coaches are the unsung heroes of middle school 

National Coaches Day - Like most fans, I didn’t know Monday was National Coaches Day. That was Fredman in the corner of the Fred Thomas School field behind DuPont Avenue. I was impressed that young coaches Trevor Wilkins and Jacob Austin of Sussex Central were coaching those kids correctly and enthusiastically, and the late-afternoon fan base was equal to that of the Freds. Trevor is close friends with Jake and Jacki Coveleski. The Freds have some lightweight phenoms on their team and eventually prevailed 4-0 behind a pair of goals from Harper Serman, and single goals from Ellis Hay and Brielle DiStefano. Marissa Milligan was the truth for the Golden Knights.

Get out of my life! The algorithms of artificial intelligence run more reverses and misdirections than the Delaware Wing-T of the Tubby Raymond era. The “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide” ZZ Top script has flipped national news from politics to sports to downright silly stuff infiltrating local fields and streams like labs off the leash. The funny and insightful people run from the stoops of Philly to the back bays of Jersey and Delaware. Philly sports fans range from annoying when things are going well to downright hilarious when the wheels come off the pretzel wagon. It gets complicated when outsiders co-opt the culture that is part of your DNA. The muppet you know is better and funnier than the muppet you don’t. 

Zoom practices - We have all weighed in for our wellness physicals and on the issues of transfer portals and NIL monies. Suffice it to say, no one knows what any single individual pays to attend college, and less is known about majors and career paths and whether the matriculator is required to actually attend class. The downside is clueless high schoolers go on to graduate from college with non-marketable degrees, and in many cases, they are more clueless than the first day they decorated their dorm room. Extrapolating to sports teams, this leads to Zoom meetings and virtual practices on light days. Everything is so different as digital generations change twice as fast as chronological generations. 

Local express - I left the Whale newspaper in 1992 and joined the startup Cape Gazette. Dennis Forney and Trish Vernon stood in front of King’s Ice Cream on Second Street in Lewes and Dennis pitched me this number: “We can pay you $50 a week.” “No, you can't,” I said. “I ain’t working for no $50 a week. But I’ll work for nothing. And I may add, you could never pay me what I’m worth, so don’t even try.” Dennis said, “I like the way you think; you don’t like to be beholden to anyone.” “That's right,” I said. “What’s beholden mean?” I left the Whale after writing a column on the Florida State at Virginia game (Mike Fred was on that UVA team in 1992) when I noticed coach George Welsh tossed a hot dog wrapper into the air to determine wind direction. The Seminoles had Charlie Ward, Warrick Dunn, Poo Bear Williams and Tre Thomas at offensive tackle. I was told by INI newspapers who owned the Whale to keep my column local, so like a local, I was gone like a turkey through the corn. We are all free-roaming chickens, and like the country song, “Wherever you go, there you are. You can run from yourself, but you won’t get far.” – Clint Black, 1994. 

Vulnerable victim - I learned from the Mark Sanchez case that hitting an elderly person carries stiffer penalties, as aging is its own stiff penalty. I don't think Sanchez’s media career at Fox survives this embarrassment, but I didn’t think Mike Vick would make it back, either. 

Snippets - Seasons ramp up for the better teams building toward championship games or individual showdowns, but the medium middle-of-the-road teams get to coast. But they usually don’t, because playing the role of spoiler is its own version of fun. I can think of some great coaches who never experienced a championship run, but nonetheless they just went to practice every day and coached their hearts out. My college advice to high school seniors has always been school first, sport second, but I’m now hedging on that advice based on successes at places I previously never heard of. Mikaylah “Sunrise”  Lindsay, a junior lacrosse goalie at Division I Winthrop University, has been killing it through fall ball and is likely to be the starter in the spring. Go on now, git!