I’m a bonded Blue Hen, a member of the club

Blue Hen Club - I once asked former Delaware quarterback Scott Reihm if I was real Delaware. I have a master’s from Delaware and my three sons graduated from Delaware, so am I real Delaware? Scotty said, “absolutely,” but I felt a more kindred spirit to Temple and West Chester, both places where I logged nonproductive course hours. On Sunday, I was at Salisbury University watching a club field hockey tournament featuring the University of Delaware along with Salisbury University, Loyola University and James Madison University. My granddaughter Katie is the president and captain of the Delaware club. Jackie Cannon of Cape is also on the Delaware team. I saw Katie and Jackie in their Blue Hen uniforms and I became a bonded Blue Hen. I finally feel like I’m “real Delaware.” The Delaware team is good. They have started the year 4-0, having beaten West Chester, Salisbury, Loyola and JMU by a combined score of 15-1. Play club and get the dub. And do you know who goes to club games? The same crowd that goes to NCAA games – relatives and former coaches. 

Wounded wildebeest - Put a herd of high school boys together in the stands at a field hockey, soccer or volleyball game and you will hear animal noises from species that either became extinct long ago, like woolly mammoths because prey could hear them coming, or loudmouths that hunt in herds but take no personal responsibility for obnoxious sounds like the dope antelope, the gnu. But seriously, this Thursday night Cape hockey hosts Delmar at Champions Stadium and it promises to be a great game. But I can tell you, home fans can get carded and it goes against the home coach, so just don’t do it, cause coach Windy don’t play, and I’ll make you Dope Antelope of the Week.

Not composed - I don’t compose photos or steal snaps and I don't get great captures. The truth is, when it comes to photography I’m self-taught. I operate on the fly and never do the same thing twice. I often say, “This will never work,” and sometimes I’m right and other times I get lucky. After the Smyrna game Sept. 30, the hockey team went to “get the goalie” and as they were walking back I was taking some photos with a lens that can track the space station. Lulu Rishko and Kelly Bragg put their heads together and smiled for a photo. Grace Wiggins entered the orbit, so I kept backing up, telling them “This will never work.” But the portrait be poppin’ yo. As people on Facebook say, “That is framable.” 

Homecoming - If your leading rusher spends halftime of the Homecoming game getting crowned king, there is a good chance that is a game you’re destined to lose. I could tell 60 years’ worth of Homecoming and Spirit Week stories. And it’s never about Homecoming, because any old heads who may come to the game already live here. Really, it’s a high school; should students really be voting for a queen and her court? I have nothing profound to say or suggest; I just always thought certain long-standing traditions inside schools and even colleges succeed in alienating half the student body who are there to take classes and move on with their lives.    

Don’t pencil in wins - I still think Cape (0-4) has a good football team and is poised to start winning some games. Delmar is at Legends Stadium for this Friday night's Homecoming game. The Wildcats are coming off a 6-0 loss to Woodbridge, which to me means they can play speed D in open spaces but are not going to light up the scoreboard on offense. The Vikings are yielding 33 points per game, but physically they are tough along the line of scrimmage. The following week, Cape will host winless Caesar Rodney.

Snippets - Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have one odd thing in common besides winning Super Bowls together as coach and quarterback with the New England Patriots. They both did Subway commercials, but neither has ever been spotted with their hands wrapped around a Five Dollar Footlong. Wild-card, one-game matchups are St. Louis at Los Angeles (winner to Giants) and New York at Boston (winner to Tampa Bay). “I don’t wanna work, I just want to sit in the garage all day.” We have become a nation of underemployed and passive participators who do the jump around at the start of fourth quarters. “OK Boomers!” Go on now, git!