Connections lead back to the Atlantic City Steel Pier

Pumpkin Pie 5K - The Pumpkin Pie 5K is always a great race the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It’s run in Rehoboth with Grove Park as a staging area. Joey Hawley of Irwin, Pa., was the overall race winner in 16:33. Joey is married to Sara Lisehora, whose mom is Diane Lisehora Lins, who is the daughter of Marion Lisehora. Sara is one of six grandchildren of Marion, a super senior athlete and former diving horse rider on Atlantic City’s Steel Pier. Joey’s time was a personal record after being sick for two weeks. Magic Jack Noel, 87, was last in the field of 360 runners, clocking 1:07:44. Jamie Wollard, 87, placed 352nd with a time of 1:01.23.

Body fat - The term obese is now thrown around like a Whopper in a food fight. Virtually all college and pro linemen qualify as obese. The average bathroom scale reads the bottom of your feet before telling you your BMI. I remember when biofeedback wasn’t a thing. Now many are monitored by the watch on their wrist and by the treadmills and bikes in the gym. But it has not generated a fear of fat, rather a generalized fear like “I’m going to die anyway, so I may as well add mayonnaise to my pork roll sandwich.” 

Weight certification - Cape wrestling coach Chris Mattioni is in his 31st year and has always been on the light side of the middleweights. When he sits in the coaching corner next to Matt Graviet, a former heavyweight state champ in 1999 who weighed in at 275, I call them Marmaduke and Scooby Pup. “Something happened along the way” (Earth, Wind & Fire) when unlimited heavyweights had to make 275 then 285. “In 1989, it changed to 275, then moved to 285 in 2006,” Mattioni said. I remember talking to Lucas Ruppert after football season his senior year. He was a 315-pound tackle. At the start of wrestling season, Lucas was 285 and went on to become the 2022 state champion. Scales and clothing stores and BMI charts are always picking on the big guys. I asked Mattioni to explain the preseason weight certification system and this is what he texted back, “Weight certification can take place anytime after Oct. 15, and has to be done before a wrestler competes. The initial weigh in determines their current weight and what their weight would be at 7% body fat. That weight at 7% is their minimum weight class they can compete at. Once they complete their certification, they can lose 1.5% of body weight per week. Every time they have an official weigh in, coaches have to enter their weight into track wrestling that determines what they can weigh the next time they step on the scale. Most kids can lose about 2 pounds per week – smaller guys a little less, bigger guys a little more.” 

Southern Slam - Cape scrimmaged at Stephen Decatur Nov. 29. “Our good guys looked tough,” Mattioni said. “Nolan Wright (106) has gotten a lot better. Jack Hudson (113) is solid and should have a great year. Cale Baker, Austin Guerrieri and Blake Walker looked good. Grayson Davis and Nick Walker are really tough. Robbie Payton looked good in the upper weights.” Cape will compete in the Southern Slam tournament in South Carolina this weekend. The Vikings will grapple at Sussex Tech Wednesday, Dec. 17. 

Snippets - Grace Wiggins (Cape and Richmond) was named to the all-championship team for field hockey in the Atlantic-10 Conference. Lane Kiffin is leaving as head coach of Ole Miss football after taking the job at LSU for $12 million per year. The mercenary nature of college continues to soar to new levels. The question I ask is, “Would you sell out the muppets who know and appreciate you for more money someplace else?” Getting booed as you ride/fly off into the rising sun is too high a price to pay unless it has always been all about the money. Two thousand runners competed in five local races over Thanksgiving long weekend, and another 2,000 did an untimed two-mile run in Bethany Beach. About 3,500 are expected this weekend for the Rehoboth full and half-marathons. Many marathon parents buy cowbells for kids, then send them to the trails to torture spectators waiting for bell-cow mommy. Winter sports for schools start up this week. It would be nice if coaches added numbers to their rosters so fans and photographers have some idea what names match up with which players. Cam Joyner and Sal Sartori, both former Cape football players, were on the Middletown team that won the Group 3 state championship. Joyner was also on last year's Middletown title team and, as a sophomore, played in the state title game for Cape where they lost to Salesianum. Go on now, git!