Just say no! A famous anti-drug slogan created by Nancy Reagan in 1982. Athletes and adventurers are conditioned to signs and signals, like the song lyric, “Do this! Don’t do that! Can’t you read the sign?” The flip side of the song is blank silence must mean OK. I am as situationally stupid as the next person and almost crash carted myself on a few occasions at all stops along the sports continuum, from athlete to coach to photographer. "Too dumb to hydrate" is an inside joke in the Fred family. In my generation, no one drank water as a prevention method. Like the Irish folk song, “I eat when I’m hungry. I drink when I’m dry. And if moonshine don’t kill me, I’ll live til I die.”  

Power tool - Paul Ecker – rhymes with Black and Decker – reminds me of a circular saw who's been buzzing through the athletic and fitness world since high school. About 20 years ago back in his Cape prime, Paul ran cross country, played the hot corner on the baseball team, pole vaulted 13 feet and ran a 4:40 mile. A couple years ago, I met Paul on the track and he showed me he could still run the 400 meters in 53 seconds. A graduate of DeSales University in Center Valley, Pa., Paul coached Beacon cross country for a few years. Two weekends ago, Paul completed the Ironman 70.3 Eagleman Triathlon – a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run. At the Beebe Heroes 5K June 28, Paul ran 18:06 to win the 35-39 age group. Paul is a CrossFit, cross-conditioned, coordinated maniac.  

Play people down - I’m not a fan of penalty kicks to decide a knockout game in World Cup soccer. In fact, except for two weekends every four years, I’m not a fan at all. But the penalty kicks format has a carnival arcade-game feel to it. Why not play overtime with fewer players and eliminate the offsides flag? I was photographing a state tournament game once and the offside flag guy ran into me and crashed. He popped up and said, "Sorry,” and joined level with the ball, which was all he cared about. If I have a dog in this World Cup tournament, it’s always the underdog. 

A little traveling music - “And awaaay we go!” Here’s the thing about travel ball: it keeps moving. And many young athletes are playing in tournaments all summer, which is great competition. Hopefully fun is in the house and skills get better, but it's so different. What is missing are the coaches rimming fields and courts who are there to check out talent. The new five-for-five rule in college sports coupled with transfer portal movements have turned the summer into a two-day weekend camp on wheels where athletes learn that staying in hotel/motels offering continental breakfasts is not all that much fun. The best play for next-level sports is GPAs across academic subjects and impressive standardized test scores. Those put the student-athlete in the best position to clear admissions and gain a roster spot.  

Holla at Hollyann - Cape trainer and coach of girls' wrestling Hollyann Wettstein-Caudell – just married – is super smart like her John Deere mobile mate Ashley Schuster. I messaged Hollyann about recommended heat restrictions using DIAA guidelines on those blistering-hot days. Basically, a heat of 95+ is always a no-go. Hollyann wrote: "We use wet bulb globe temperature and there’s levels of restrictions for time/equipment allowed. At Cape, we have a special thermometer that does that math for us.” But there is a formula close to the Runners World formula 50 years ago: anything close to heat and humidity near 160, back it down. 

Awakenings - While watching the World Cup, I keep hearing the voice of the late Ralph Williams, whose life work as a nurse anesthetist at Beebe was putting people to sleep and reawakening them. Ralph was a part of 40,000 surgical cases. People tell the truth before they go under, so Ralph heard all the town’s secrets. Ralph and Bonnie’s three boys – Bryan, Andrew and Brett – all played soccer. Ralph was a great conversationalist. He was very smart with a hair-trigger sense of humor. But when the ball dropped, Ralph went offsides and stayed there. With all the diving, tugging and grabbing in World Cup games, I can hear Ralph, “C’mon, ref! You're not going to call that?”   

Snippets - Looks like Myron Selby will be joining the staff of football coach Chip Knapp as a line coach. I was Myron’s line coach when he played at Cape circa 1982-85. Myron also threw the shot for the track team. He’s had a career coaching from high school to semi-pro. A great addition to the Cape staff. Go on now, git!