Lacrosse without sticks is like soccer without feet
STX and stoners - A lacrosse stick is the binky for retired former players who on game day “don’t leave home without it.” My friend Dave Kergaard is a former college football player, discus thrower and wrestler at Miami of Ohio then West Virginia. He is a “lifter for life” who had a coaching and teaching career at Kent County School District, which includes Chestertown and Washington College. He once joked to me, "Everyone in Chestertown is a former lacrosse All-American. I’d go pick up a pizza and be the only guy at the counter without his own stick. And everyone brought their sticks to the Washington College games, it’s just how lacrosse culture works." At the Cape versus Sussex Tech boys' game May 4, I spotted at least a dozen grown men with sticks from their college days. And during the game, between quarters, a player for each team had their stick measured and the pocket checked; if deemed illegal, that stick leaves the game and it’s a three-minute non-releasable penalty. In the women's collegiate game, a player who scores drops her stick to the ground so the ref can check it. But lacrosse without sticks is like soccer without feet, I guess.
Mitts and gloves - A shortstop can grab his mitt before taking the field, but he better not say, “Where’s my mitten?” A soft and folded-over baseball glove with a deep pocket is a magical thing that takes talent and time to break in correctly, but other than at major league games and fans in the stands, I’ve never seen an adult bring his mitt to a game to watch his son play. I saw a coach back in the day cut players on the first day of tryout who brought a flat and stiff mitt to practice with the words “Pep Boys” written on the thumb.
Missing stuff - I am at a lot of places but not all places, and there are actual Cape Region athletic events that go down without a photographer/reporter on site. That’s the way it works in most of the sports world, even the “minor” sports in college athletics. It was a quad track meet at Woodbridge May 2, as the Vikings boys and girls each emerged with three victories on the books. The Cape boys defeated Laurel 99-45, Seaford 132-8 and Woodbridge 110-33. Cape captured 14 of the 18 first places in the meet. Outstanding performances were William Gilmartin in the discus with a throw of 155-feet-3-inches and Sam Nye with a run of 4:53.97 in the 1,600 and 11:08.33 in the 3,200. The Cape girls defeated Laurel 139-1, Seaford 116-15 and Woodbridge 131-9. Cape captured first place in all 18 events contested. Jade Jefferson cleared 5 feet in the high jump while Chakyriah Wright won the 100 in 13.4 and the 300 hurdles in 54.1. Girls' soccer lost at Woodbridge 3-1 May 2; Cape’s goal is listed as “own goal” in the box score. Woodbridge is 10-1-1 on the season, while the Vikings slipped to 6-5.
Rambo Warrior - Sarah Rambo, a Cape junior, is a long and lean swimmer/runner type of athlete who also started on defense for the Vikings lacrosse team. On March 24, she twisted or wrenched her knee in the first half of the Parkside game. She never winced or cried in discomfort. Just recently an MRI revealed torn MCL and ACL ligaments, and she is scheduled for surgery. No one told her to “keep coming to practice,” it's just what she does because that is her team and now an injured Rambo does her job of being a good teammate. Some athletes are heroic in how they rise above it all; Sarah Rambo is that person, truly a role model for all ages.
Whitney DeMora - She's a Polytech slugger who April 29 at Cape jacked three fence-clearing rainmakers along with two walks and four runs scored. One of DeMora's three home runs was a grand slam, which gave her eight RBIs on the day. She also smacked three home runs against Indian River March 22. Whitney studies healthcare and rehab at Polytech. She will attend Wilmington University in the fall.
Snippets - When I was named Cape boys' track coach in 1976, Superintendent Frank Mercer told me, “You take us where we need to go; let us worry about pulling you back. We want the best for our athletes.” Tim Bamforth and Gilbert Maull - guys I coached - have done such a crazy good job coaching the Beacon girls' track team the last eight years that someone should make a movie about it. The girls walked the dog on the field May 4 at the prestigious McKinnon Invitational - 12 teams - at Mount Pleasant High School, doubling down on the 2014 effort, the last time they were invited, with 154 points with the next closest team at 69. “Gilbert and I are just teaching them the right thing to do and how to do it, then confidence and talent take over,” Bamforth said. Tying all loose ends, the Beacon principal is my son Dave who joked, “Your boy Tim is crazy.” Go on now, git!
