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Joy to the World rocks Cape Unified track team

April 29, 2022

Showboat - Davey Frederick runs the 100 meters for Cape’s Unified team. He grew up around sports, mostly watching and participating in state championship celebrations. He first made the handshake line at a Cape girls’ lacrosse victory in 2009. Counting lacrosse, both boys and girls, field hockey and wrestling, Davey has walked the line 25 times. He has imprinted the joyfulness, and if given a moment in the arena, he plays the crowd 30 minutes into a 100-meter race. Davey’s name was announced at the Senior Day celebration April 26, and the athletes in the stands from both lacrosse teams, who left practice and came over to support their classmates, got loud when he was announced because he is the Inclusion Kid, and he is always there for them. Thanks to head coach Lisa Thorp and all coaches and students on the Unified team for helping Davey and his teammates and bringing more “Joy to the World” than Three Dog Night doing a reunion tour. 

Hall of fame every day - Anyone wishing to be in a hall of fame of any kind can just walk out the door and go help a kid by enhancing their day with your kindness, helpfulness and encouragement. Then come back home and induct yourself. And maybe you’re thinking, “Don’t we all do that?” and the answer is not unless you hail from the planet Lovetron where Chocolate Thunder Darryl Dawkins rains down dunks. By the way, Dawkins died in 2015 at the age of 58. Here’s a direct quote after one of his dunks that shattered the backboard: “If you ain't grooving, best get moving. Chocolate-thunder-flying, Robinzine-crying, teeth-shaking, glass-breaking, rump-roasting, bun-toasting, glass-still-flying, wham-bam, I-am jam.” Dawkins' nickname was given to him by Stevie Wonder, which makes me very superstitious, but that is the quintessential truth, Ruth.  

Prima donna drama - I was glad to see the Brooklyn Nets eliminated by the Celtics in four straight games, mostly because of Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons. I just don’t like them, but at least I don’t know either one. I read the Wikipedia biography on Kyrie, then changed my mind and decided I liked the guy, plus I had interviewed his first cousin Isaiah Briscoe out of Roselle Catholic when he played in the Slam Dunk tournament. Irving and Simmons were both born in Australia, so just smile and join Kyrie in a vegemite sandwich – he’s on a plant-based diet. 

Lid on tight - I know some stuff, but sitting here on a Thursday morning, the lid is on tighter than on grandma's pasta pot about what name will be presented to the school board Thursday night for the position of Cape Henlopen head football coach. I don’t know if local muppets in positions of responsibility have evolved or devolved, but keeping secrets seems a bit cold and distant or perhaps people lack close friends who, of course, can’t be trusted to sit on confidential information. Back in my day of placing second for numerous Cape jobs, I was always on the downside of done deals. The word “whose job it was” hit the street before the interview. I think they just brought me in to tell them stories. 

Just hang up - If I answer a landline call and the person doesn’t lead with their name and why they are calling, I hang up dead in their face. But in the public arena, most people love making you guess their identity, from Surf Bagel takeout to the sidelines of sporting events. And man, it's a hard game to play and be consistently good at, but once I get it, I start running off into the high weeds impersonating great-uncles and grandparents. I always joke in the world of Delaware sports, “I’m the person who knows the most people who don’t know him back,” so I always introduce myself, then enjoy watching their expression remain unchanged.

Snippets - Cape JV lacrosse played a game at Queen Anne’s that ended 10-10 because in Maryland by rule there is no OT in JV – sounds like a slogan. I got a text from granddaughter Anna, Cape’s head JV coach: “Game ended in a tie 10-10. Lina went off.” Lina Fred, another grandchild and Anna’s cousin, scored five, Liv Bukentine two, Anna Sullivan two and Skylar Steigerwalt one. This is Penn Relays weekend. It takes me back to April of 1975, when I first heard the words “Cape Henlopen.” I got 47 years of Cape and Penn Relays stories that fall into the basket of “I can tell it, but can’t sell it,” and that basket is overflowing like a wicker hamper in the laundry room. Go on now, git!  

 

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