A little girl from a fairy tale showed up in my world

The Children's Playground - The lacrosse game was over Monday night as the sun dropped out to the west and a golden-hour soft hue settled over Champions Stadium. Cape had beaten a rapid-running and well-coached Sts. Peter and Paul team 11-10. The Sabres lined up and smiled, slapping hands with Cape players, telling them “good game” and wishing them good luck. I thought, “first-class confidence.” No need to be morose or sullen; they just had fun playing a game they love at a very high level. Cape coach Lindsey Underwood said to the girls, “Friday's practice will be a 30-minute intense workout so you can get ready for prom weekend.” I remembered that I took my wife Susan to our high school prom, and two of our granddaughters, coach Anna and player Lina, were hearing the same words I did, sharing a moment that connected back 60 years when there was no golden hour and everyone was out of focus. And then a little girl straight out of a fairy tale showed up in my world, grabbed my green stool, a blue chair first cousin, and said, “I'm here to carry the chair to your car. I told James I would do it.” I said, "I don't know, it's kind of heavy." She made a muscle and said, “I've got guns!" I asked her, “What's your name?” The little person straight off a Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post magazine cover said, “I’m Evan Chubb and I’m in first grade.” It was the best thing of the many great things that happen to me every day. Evan wasn’t playing it forward or playing in back; she was just playing, and I’ve got the universal gramps man thing locked up like a 1964 Oldsmobile Delta Cruiser. 

Sands of time - I announced a quarter-century of Cape promenades spanning venues from the Rehoboth Beach Country Club and the Dewey Beach Baycenter to Convention Hall on Rehoboth Avenue. The kids always asked me because I knew them all, and I had jokes, but not too many. The girls were all beautiful, a major point of the prom, I guess, but no commentaries on appearances are appropriate. A sidewalk dad would regularly say to me, “Those girls didn’t look like that back when I was in high school.” I’d answer, “Sure they did, but you were too entrenched in the goober lifestyle with your duck boots and hip waders to notice.” The Cape prom has always been the same weekend as the Henlopen Conference Track & Field Championships. I’ve seen more frozen hairdos landing in sand pits and running relays than any bipedal person still ambulating without assistance. I’m guessing “compressed air for sandy hair” is the product for a quick solution. 

Celebrities in the wild - I respect what all people do, but I don’t believe in celebrities. ESPN.com did a Thursday morning spread showing celebrities at NBA playoff games and I recognized a few, but most I never heard of. They all have courtside seats. I wonder who the ticketmaster who controls that distribution is ... “Hello, this is Jack Nicholson.” “Who?”  “Hello, this is the Jonas Brothers.” “Sabonis has brothers?” “Hello, this is Wawa Shortie.” “Rapper, right? I love your stuff, pick up your tickets at will call, as in don’t call us, we’ll call you.”

Snippets - The Tatnall Hornets lacrosse team beat Tower Hill 19-2 May 10, which included a 12-1 second-half slam fest highlighted by Player of the Year Lydia Colasante scoring 10 goals for the game. Tatnall is for real, and a state tournament showdown is about to go down versus Cape. Tournament brackets will be posted by Sunday, May 14. Get your candy corn ready. Cape baseball, the defending state champion, is 12-4 . There are currently 10 Delaware teams with four or fewer losses, led by once-beaten Delaware Military Academy, Saint Mark’s and Sanford. Baseball, with its emphasis on big-game pitchers, is the deepest and most talent-laden of all the postseason tournaments. I have always said, “Everyone plays hardball.” Mark Schaeffer rolled into the Cape rotunda this week to present C.J. Fritchman with his tribute from Sussex County Council for winning the 2023 state wrestling title at 171 pounds. C.J. was in a column photo a week ago, but it was the right place, right kid, wrong tribute, so Mark returned to close the loop. I’ve been finding four Athletes of the Week for the last 30 years. There's no voting; it's not a contest. Mark Schaeffer likes to award tributes in person; that is his energy in real-time action, and it's all good. Go on now, git!