Share: 

Forty years on the beat I wear a credential around my neck

Too many mercy rule games
April 23, 2021

Big yellow taxi - “Pleased to meet you, hope you guessed my name. But what’s confusing you is the nature of my game.” - Rolling Stones. And that is why I wear a media credential around my neck, sometimes bolstered by a photo ID and Food Lion MVP card in my wallet. I know you’re thinking, “Where is the big yellow taxi (school bus)?” and the Joni Mitchell lyric, “They paved paradise to put up a parking lot.” I followed Cape lacrosse teams – girls then boys – to Wilmington April 19. My Google girl-generated voice said, “I can’t pronounce this parking lot, but you have reached  your destination.” Fred Harvey driving the girls’ bus got lost on the way to Serviam Field, but I got lost trying to go from Serviam Field to Abessinio Stadium, which the Google girl kept calling Amadeus near Alapocas Drive close to the Augustine Cutoff. In a pair of 11-10 games, the girls beat Ursuline and the boys lost to Sallies. And I was ready to become a lapsed Catholic – or is that a relapsed Catholic? 

Upside/downside - “Mercy, mercy me.” - Marvin Gaye. On April 21, I was the only Fruity Pop Pop Mr. Fred Mango to experience both sides of the mercy rule in the same sport at the same time. I can’t say I was enjoying Cape’s 21-4 win over Smyrna with No. 5 grandchild Mikey on the field for the Vikings. I don't like shooting gallery, good-for-nobody games, but I definitely did not like text updates from my son Jack as the Milford girls with No. 6 grandchild Lina on the squad were getting housed at Sussex Academy 19-0.   

Sisters and brothers - I went to Catholic school for 12 years, taught by sisters and brothers, whom we called JV priests. On April 20, Hank D’Ambrogi scored five goals in a win over Smyrna, while his younger sister Lindsay had three goals in an 18-2 win for the girls’ team. There have always been brothers and sisters performing in sidecar sports in the same season. I can name many but not all off the top of my head, so I’ll restrain myself for now because people get mad when you don’t identify them or misidentify them. Two years ago at the Milford Wawa, former student Kissy Robinson saw me and excitedly said, “Fredman, what are you doing here?” I responded “Debbie, it’s so good to see you.” She said, “Debbie? Who’s Debbie?” My clever response: “I don’t know.”   

Snippets - Liberty University baseball is now 43-21 and, yes, that is an amazing amount of games played. David Erickson (Cape) leads the pitching staff with 15 game appearances. I may write a sports book, “The Crazy Stuff I’ve Heard,” the inside stuff from players to coaches. I can tell you I have learned the most by eavesdropping, and we pachyderms all learn to never forget. I remember reading something sportswriter Ring Lardner wrote. He said, “I don’t like getting quotes from athletes and coaches. All they do is mess up my story.” Most sportswriters don’t write down speech as it is truly spoken but “fix it up,” making it inauthentic, so you never get to know the true character of an athlete. I actually once heard a male coach – not lacrosse – tell a group of high school women, “You’re about to enter the playoffs, so just put your libidos on hold for two weeks.” It’s a good thing that not being versed in Freudian theory, they had no idea what he was talking about. If I had been the AD, I’d have told the guy, “Get your hat and coat and libido and leave!” Go on now, git!  

 

Subscribe to the CapeGazette.com Daily Newsletter