Is Mullet Run Street in Milford named after the fish or the haircut?

Biting midges - Known locally as No See Ums. Their scientific name is ceratopogonidae. What are they and why do they hang around synthetic turf fields underlaid with rubber pellets? It’s best to wear light-colored clothes and rock it like a head-dressed sheik. It's your best bet for survival, along with New Balance 999s so everyone knows you’re cool.

Good for no one - Running-clock and mercy-rule games are good for no one. Obviously the team getting housed can’t be having any fun, while the winner gets a false sense of their own power and can’t discover who are the “players” in close games that go the distance. I’ve seen too many skewed scores this high school sports year, and the gap between the “haves and have nots” has grown wider. I’m not sure why, but it may have something to do with feeder programs.  

Rejection inspection - What happened to the good old days when home sites were rejected for state tournament play because of unsuitable fields and limited seating capacity? The higher seed rule works great if you are the higher seeded, but if the home site can’t hold the game, then move it. I remember when doubleheader semifinals were seen as a great way to promote the sport. Field hockey and lacrosse are different games played on grass or turf, yet if I coached a team that played on grass and had a home game, I would certainly fight to keep it. 

The Howling - I think of middle school as a place where metamorphosis occurs every day over three years. Kids walk in looking one way, they go through puberty, then three years later everything is different – the face, voice, body, emotional composition. I like visiting middle schools and talking to Athlete of the Week selections. Loyalties established early last forever, and middle school kids are cool. Enthusiasm is always close to the surface. I went to a middle school lacrosse game May 17 featuring Sussex Academy at Milford. The crowd was loud and proud. Parents new to the sport were already experts who knew about warding and offsides, which are things I pay no attention to. Cape’s shutting down of middle school sports starting last spring and rolling through the entire 2020-21 school year is going to hurt development and varsity programs down the line. 

I don’t know - “Where did the wind go? Baby I don’t know.” - Ryan Bingham. Years ago I showed up at a game and a parent asked, “where were you last Monday? You missed a great game. I thought I’d see you there [pause] so where were you?” My clever answer, “I don’t know. I must have been someplace else.” I’m under no contract, but I’ve contracted. I ain’t no free ranging chicken. And strangely enough, I can’t even get a clear camera shot of the podium following a wrestling tournament or team photo following a championship because everyone and their grandmother has a cellphone camera. I could bounce from this career like an outdoor Spaulding, but I keep hearing the Zodiacs classic song in my head, “why don’t you stay, just a little bit longer?” 

Snippets - Just too many teams and schools to mention, but by Sunday morning we will know which souls survived from spring sport elimination games as we move into championship week. The fifth annual Running of the Goat is Friday, May 21, at 6:30 p.m. It benefits the Greater Milford Boys & Girls Club. The race is staged at the Mispillion River Brewing on Mullet Run Street, Milford. Question: Is it mullet the fish or mullet the haircut? The selection show for the NCAA Division I baseball tournament is Monday, May 31. This 64-team field tournament runs through the end of June. The eight teams that survive the first two rounds move to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. You have to love playing baseball above all else to be a D1 college baseball player. I know how the system for dispersal of monies works for college athletes across all levels, from D1, D2, D3 to NAIA and community college. I understand the Financial Aid Form (FAF), but I’ve never asked an athlete or family person at a signing, “so just how much free money are you getting? You know, cash you don’t have to pay back.” How about this scenario: “educate someone, defer their student loan debt, award them a degree, then come collecting for payment on something you can’t take away from them.” The system is whack, so good luck out there. Go on now, git!