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Masters coverage never mentions money or memberships

April 10, 2018

Antiques Roadshow - You may clean your grandfather's cuckoo clock, take it to an appraiser, then suffer through some history lesson of clock makers of the western world, but the story only becomes interesting when they tell you how much the clock would go for at auction. I call it “Antiques Roadshow syndrome”; it’s about the money, not the history, and without the appraisal, no one from the lower classes would watch or bring in their heirloom Looney Tunes cartoon sketch pad to get appraised. After four days of watching the Masters played on the sacred grounds of Augusta National, listening to announcers affect the haughty tone of the economically privileged, why is there no mention of the distribution of prize money and how much it would cost to join Augusta if you could pass the scrutiny of the membership committee sitting around an oak table at Butler Cabin? There are about 300 members who spend about $40K to join Augusta, which is relatively cheap, and the annual dues are meager. They already have enough money. Roger Goodell, Lou Holtz and Condi Rice are members, but I did not recognize most names I pulled up from golf.com. The Masters has a prize money pool of $11 million. Winner Patrick Reed got $2 million, while second-place finisher Rickie Fowler earned $1 million. Finish 50th and earn $27,720. Tiger Woods made $175K for finishing in 17th place.

Most college sports lose money - In an era when education has been devalued by skeptical citizens who think all news that doesn’t mesh with their world-view is fake, it is reported by the NCAA that most sports outside of major football programs lose money because of operating costs, travel expenses, building and maintaining facilities, and scholarships. But most colleges offer an array of sports across the board as a way to attract students and alumni monies. Throw the Antiques Roadshow model over a college basketball program like Duke, Kentucky and Villanova starting with coaching salaries versus scholarship values. Jay Wright of Villanova makes $2.7 million a year and is due for a raise. That doesn’t mean he can afford to live in Bryn Mawr – let’s not get crazy now.

Drive-by trucker - Enos Benbow, 36, is an over-the-road driver of big rigs. It’s impossible to imagine him sitting at the counter at a truck stop eating chipped beef and gravy or talking on a CB radio with that lilting voice and Jamaican accent. And how do you step from the truck and win the Oy Vey 5K at the Jewish Community Center like he did last Sunday? The field was small and slow, unlike the photographer who is large and slow.

Yardbirds - A dramatic seventh inning for Cape baseball at home April 6 versus Milford. Chad Reichhold of Milford hit a grand slam in the top of the seventh to give the Bucs a 7-4 lead. In the bottom of the seventh, Zach Dale tied the game with a three-run homer, and Zach Savage followed with a walk-off home run for an 8-7 Cape win. Brock Hilligoss pitched the first five innings for the Bucs at Chris Short Field. Brock is the grandson of Johnny Morris, a teammate of Chris Short at Lewes High. Morris was also a lefty. He pitched in the major leagues for the Phillies, Orioles, Seattle Pilots, Brewers and Giants between 1966 and 1974. I talked to Johnny at Fisherman's Wharf when he visited Lewes in 2007. He was with his boys Jack Beckett and Leonard Maull, and I could barely get in a word. But Johnny Morris’s grandson Brock pitching at Chris Short Field got my attention. A Cape sports tradition unlike any other. 

Snippets - The spring weather has been kicking everyone’s butt involved in spring sports, from players and coaches to the officials and fans in the stands. You know the weather has gotten better when voracious and carnivorous insects are gnawing on your forearms and biting your head through your mesh hat. This Saturday the temps are expected to hit 75 with winds out of the southwest. Every sport has a big game, including boys’ lacrosse playing Sallies at Wesley at 3 p.m., and baseball at Appoquinimink at 11 a.m. Cape girls’ lacrosse will host Archmere at 1:30 p.m., while softball plays at Archmere. The Keith Burgess track meet is at Lake Forest on Saturday at 11 a.m. And there is always staying home and waiting for cyber updates. Go on now, git!

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