The last autograph I signed was on a repair bill at Lewes Meineke
Autograph seeker - After the Mariner boys' basketball game Feb. 1 versus Chipman, stellar player Cory “Booder” Barnes asked me, “Can I have your autograph?” I admit, at first I thought he was being a jokester, but he appeared serious. "Why would you want my autograph?” I asked him. “Because you’re the camera guy,” he said. I promised him a signed photo of himself adding, “That way we both win.” And then I reflected, “Wait, what did I win?” Answer: The respect of the player who hasn’t even reached high school yet. I’ll take that every day of the week. Plus, his grandmother, Bernice, and mom, Christa had just given me the starting lineup of the 1987 team that lost in a conference final. That is a basketball family.
Nice player - I spotted the kid in warmups and just knew he could play. Jaysem Vazquez, an eighth-grader at Chipman, had 14 of his team’s 20 points in a 44-20 loss to Mariner. I wondered if he will be a Lake kid or Polytech player, perhaps a St. Thomas More Raven. I don’t know how that all works, but if I were a high school coach I'd be hanging at the end of the year Capital Classic wearing a neon jacket with the name of my school on it.
Conspiracy theorists - Would you rather officiate an NBA game or a middle school girls' game? Which assignment would be tougher? Which crowd would be more critical? I think the more skilled the player, the easier the game is to officiate, just swallow your whistle and two hot dogs at the half and you will be fine. I do know that no officials equals no game, and I find it impossible to believe that a grown person would put on a striped shirt then go out and deliberately favor one team over another. How about just putting on a striped shirt and going to Wal-Mart?
Everything to everybody - You can cover all your bases unless you have a really big butt. There are athletes out there trying to be everywhere in multiple sports, playing on a school team then breaking out into the travel world, sometimes two different sports, and when added to the school team, it makes three. There is a “whack factor” at play here and when reasonable people get whacky, who is to say they are wrong? Any personal trainers who know their stuff - a minority - will tell you that nutrition is the most important factor in fitness, and coaches will tell you that the fit and athletic kid with natural talent is finding the field sooner rather than later assuming the game is not rigged in the first place.
Incabader - “Mr. Frederick, the word is incubator, and it’s a baby porcupine not a ‘porky-pine.’” “Whatever, dude.” February is the month when the most virulent and drug-resistant airborne contagions float around hot gyms, where huddled people are squawking and talking, along with sniffling and sneezing. Most likely if you hang in these hot houses, like me, you have acquired immunity to all microscopic creepy creatures or viruses, whatever the heck they are. Grand Mom Rose: “You can only catch a cold where it’s hot.” Looking for March and outdoor sports, you know the saying, “In like a lion and out like a Lamborghini.”
Snippets - Friends of Jeff Cannon are reminded that Saturday night, Feb. 6, at the Starboard, is the annual reunion of friends of Jeff Cannon, a former Rehoboth Beach lifeguard captain and University of Delaware football player. Most of Jeff’s friends are also Tommy Coveleski buddies, so it will be a good chance to share stories and laugh out loud, but no crying is allowed. Earlier in the day at 1 p.m. is the Run to the Plunge 5K on the Rehoboth Boardwalk. The Polar Plunge for Special Olympics is Sunday, Feb. 7. And all that is topped off by Super Bowl 50 - is it me or does interest in the game seem to be tepid? You’re right, it’s probably me, the guy who goes to middle school games. The Henlopen Conference middle school wrestling tournament is Saturday, Feb. 6, beginning at 9 a.m. at Milford High School. The team entry fee is $250, which you don’t have to pay but there is a charge for admission. The finals for this event usually begin about 6 p.m. Temple women’s lax opens Feb. 12 at home versus Louisville. The Owls have 12 home games and I intend to put on more miles than Ken Lingo when his daughter Kristina played softball for Fairfield. No, Kenny retired the trophy. Go on now, git!
