Measuring up to Marion - As a longtime member of the Delaware Sportswriters and Broadcasters Association, I nominated Marion Lisehora for the Herm Reitzes Award for service to sports. The year was 2007. It took no convincing of colleagues that the Atlantic City Steel Pier diving horse woman from Millsboro was the right choice. Marion's life was all about playing sports, but as a personality, she did not play around. I called her "The Admiral" because her dad was a rear admiral in the Navy. I remember running the YMCA 5-Miler with a piece of glass in my foot. I saw Marion up ahead – 14 years older – and thought, no way. I wanted to prove to her I could beat her. She ran sub-nine-minute miles and held me off. I sat down to interview her in a booth at the Rehoboth Diner. After three hours, I stood up and said, "I must have to be somewhere.” She grabbed my wrist and said, "You can't leave. I'm not finished.” Her large family showed up at the Chase Center to support her award. The banquet slogged on for too long. I was getting mad because I wanted the young high school all-state athletes to be inspired by Marion's incredible energy and service to others. Emcee Don Tollefson, a Philly sportscaster later sent to prison for bilking people out of money on sports junkets that never happened, introduced me to present Marion’s award saying, "The owners of Kentucky Derby euthanized horse Barbaro were scheduled to be here, but they couldn't make it as they came down with a bad case of the flu. And now here’s Dave Frederick to present an award." I said to Don and Con, “Any more dead large animals or airborne contagions you’d like to mention, or can I get on with the best part of the program?" Marion later invited me to speak to Senior Olympics athletes at the Modern Maturity Center. She supported the polar plunge for Special Olympics, and together we were inducted into the Dam Mill 5K Hall of Fame. She showed up wearing gold medals from the Senior Olympics. Marion died May 16 at the age of 94. She was just so tough.

Joy to the World - The Saturday crowd at the state championship track meet at Dover is hip to what’s happening. Announcer Mark White keeps everyone informed. Brooke Kegley of Middletown clapped toward the crowd as she negotiated the 100-meter dash. Not sure if she was saluting herself or all of us. Her happy time was 30.77. Her smile was contagious. Teammates Mable Webb and Mackenzie Williams kept the good times rolling in the next heat. Sunday morning at the DQ Dash 5K, 500 people crossed the finish line. A little girl wanted to be the last. I encouraged her to come across. She did with trepidation, but alas she felt pretty special.     

Narrow Band - Back when I was head coach of boys' track 1975-85 at Cape, my team of mostly Black athletes had a very narrow band, and temperatures and conditions from wind and rain in which they felt comfortable. It became an inside joke that has turned on me because now I am truly that guy. Throw in no-see-ems and mosquitoes and I’m looking for a Popemobile with plastic turret like a tailgunner on a B52 except with a camera instead of a machine gun.

Sports history - Are athletes competing in the present all that interested in the past? The Cape boys' lacrosse team blew out Tatnall Tuesday night 20-3 yet the history of that storied rivalry runs deep with Tatnall winning the first two state titles in 1993 and 1994. Cape beat the Hornets in the 1995 semifinals for the first berth in the finals where the Vikings lost to Salesianum 12-6. That remains the craziest, most physical lacrosse game I’ve ever seen. Fans rimmed the field at A.I. DuPont, the thunder rolled and lightning flashed. Insults were hurled like hail from the stands. Jeff Trench came out of goal and got waxed in front of the Cape bench. Paul Camenisch went full-boat Lockwood (his mother’s side) and got ejected. Cape played a physical style like Maryland or the Flyers, while Tatnall was more finesse with better stick skills. Cape beat Tatnall in 1998, completing a perfect season under coach Steve Aubrey for the team's first of six state titles. Cape also beat Tatnall in the 2001 and 2006 state title games. Tatnall beat Cape 15-14 in 2000. The history includes the several hall of famers. That is why all halls of fame are more sports history museums. The stories are a composite of characters who played in the games. 

Snippets - Elite high school tack and field athletes generally carry a heavy workload during the regular season often quadrupling two to three times a week to help their teams win meets. Get to the Meet of Champions and most of these athletes settle on one event, if they compete at all. They are just burnt out on a Wednesday night fresh off weekend state championship competitions. Hot, soupy, unsettled Wednesday weather May 20 jeopardized the championship meet schedule for Abessinio Stadium. A lightning delay is a real contradiction, as light travels 186,000 miles per second or 670 million mph. The meet was pushed back a day, but not until everyone got there. There are names on bricks at Abessinio, but you have to be a donor. I know a couple – Dr. Ed Hines and Dr. Mario DiSabatino, a couple Sallies guys. I was offered the chance to buy a brick leading into Legends Stadium. I responded very maturely, "I ain't buying no stupid brick.” Go on now, git!