The Inclusion Kid Davey is just looking for a match

The Inclusion Kid - Grandson Davey with Down syndrome can hang all day at athletic events, and he picks his spots. He may be found doing a floor exercise with cheerleaders or in the middle of the student section at a home basketball game or out on the wrestling mat at a middle school tournament warming up with other grapplers during an intermission. At Milford Central Academy Feb. 3, Davey was trying to put on the red and the green ankle wraps. A wrestler came over to help him. And then another warmed Davey up and allowed Davey to get a pin. And then a smaller wrestler was pinned by Davey as a teammate slapped the mat indicating “You can’t let go now.” Spontaneous inclusion by a grab bag of grapplers who had no idea of Davey’s connections, and they weren’t looking for credit or a merit badge. Embedded inside a family of athletes, somehow Davey manages to be the star of the show.     

Airballs and hairballs - I’ll go out on an aluminum limb supporting a traffic light while reflecting back to last Sunday night in downtown Philly and say when young drunk white guys lose their collective minds and destroy property, it’s a celebration, but if it were black citizens, it’s a riot. And the Philadelphia police, post mayhem, are not playing around. Video was reviewed and the criminally mischievous were found and arrested, and their names were released to the press. A shirtless John Rigsby, on video helping a group of men flip a Nissan Rogue, is arrested a day later and Philly.com runs a headline naming Rigsby as the 20-year-old son of Villanova University basketball announcer Whitey Rigsby. And how about a food fight at a Sunoco gas station? My first reaction was: “Sunoco? I didn’t know they still sold gas, let alone food.” What a bunch of Zagnuts!

Wade into the parade - Does being a person in a crowd of 2 million make you a part of something historic? Absolutely! And obviously those 2 million people want to be there. I am leather chair in a warm house flat-screen TV guy. I’ll watch that parade all day long. The venue and vista of the Philadelphia Art Museum is incredible, and just maybe this selling of the city will bring Amazon to the City of Brotherly Love. We know Rocky ain’t real and don’t care, but Nick Foles is real, and, in an era when statues and monuments are being toppled, that is one that needs to go up. There will never be a more incredible sports story in Philadelphia than backup quarterback Nick Foles leading the Eagles to a win in the Super Bowl.

Reconfiguration - Sussex Tech field hockey made it to the Division I state finals last fall under the direction of first-year head coach Mia Paltrineri. Mia will also coach the girls’ lacrosse team. Sussex Tech was mandated by the state to drop enrollment numbers and there has been a change in leadership. A charismatic coach like Paltrineri is essential in keeping the flow of student-athlete talent heading to Ravenville. Damon Ayers in boys’ basketball has the Ravens at 14-3 heading into Cape Friday night. Damon is a solid, stable presence; his value to overall school climate and recruitment of talent to Sussex Tech is obvious. The Ravens at Cape Friday night will have all the bleachers pulled out. There ain’t no school like old school. Cape’s basketball girls are 8-8 and will travel to 12-2 Sussex Tech Friday night. The Ravens are coached by Justin Davis, son of Chester Davis, who is also on the staff.   

Snippets - The spring season for college lacrosse opens this weekend with a full slate of games. By the end of February, most teams on the men’s and women’s side will have played four to five games. There are lots of local athletes playing lacrosse at next level. Cape will begin interviews for the position of head football coach the last week of February. An interview committee has been put together and candidates have been notified. Like I say, “I have my ear to the track in a town where the train doesn’t run.” The biggest play of Super Bowl was the strip sack of Tom Brady by Brandon Graham with 2:16 left to play and the Eagles up by five points. “Holy freaking cow! We may win this thing!” could be heard from Manayunk to Broad and Chunk. Go on now, git!