Share: 

Pancake blocks and driving defenders like a rented Yugo

August 24, 2018

Assessing, not guessing - Cape head football coach J.D. Maull can talk all day about the five positions along the offensive line. I asked him about Cape - not for publication - and I got a breakdown of personnel, left to right, along with rotations by individual positions. The most common lament heard from the stands on Friday nights when an offensive play blows up is “C’mon, Cape! Block somebody!” I am partial to the offensive line. I like to see defenders pancaked, ridden out on a rail or driven down the field like a rented Yugo. And for you wing-T devotees, let me say, rule blocking went out with your grandma’s housedress. Just get off with the snap count and collision somebody!

Pick six - Cape hockey will host a six-team play day Friday, Aug. 24, beginning at 2:30 p.m. featuring the host Vikings and invited guests Delmar, Pocomoke, South River, Tower Hill and Whitney Point. “Everybody be Kung Fu fighting” in a series of 22-minute scrimmages. First up for Cape is Tower Hill, then Delmar, South River, Pocomoke and Whitney Point. Cape wil play all games at Champions Stadium. A Saturday morning play day will feature Padua, Whitney Point and Wooten. Cape will host Delmar for real Thursday, Sept. 20, and based on past history, Cape will not throw down a stacked hand for a 22-minute play day scrimmage in August. Oddly enough, Cape will open the football season Friday, Sept. 7 at Delmar. The Wildcats are like Hoosiers, except rerun every year, both football and field hockey are coming off state championship seasons.

Respect just a little bit - When Trip Delcampo started at left tackle for Delaware on the 2003 national championship team, I asked his line coach Kyle Flood what made “Trippy” such a good player. “First of all, you have to be a great athlete,” he said. I had jokes but I swallowed them like a glazed donut – Trippy and I were boys. “I’m partial to offensive linemen. I’m a former starting right guard for Temple,” I said to Flood, showing a neurotic need for attention. Coach Flood looked at me like a glazed doughnut on a truck dashboard and said, “Really? How long ago was that?” I learned something that day, “Stay out of your own interview no matter what, even if the story you can tell is way better than the one you’re hearing.” But like Sugar Ray in a peekaboo stance, if I see an opening, I’m throwing the jab. 

North Philly to New Orleans - I don’t recognize the Badlands of North Philly where Broad Street dissects the Temple University campus. After giving granddaughter Lizzie a ride to start her junior year, my impression was modern jazz and Philly soul, college kids packed and stacked inside blocks and blocks of upgraded row homes, many converted into apartments. It reminded me of New Orleans, which is strange because I’ve never been there. Facebook was filled last week with photos of kids checking into college, showing a time of independence and inspiration, exposed to new people and ideas, but beware of those calls coming from inside your pocket. Parents in Pockets, there’s a need for a new support group, just talk among yourselves and give your kids space.

Buckeyes wide open - Fired and disgraced domestic abuser and former assistant Ohio State football coach Zach Smith, among other transgressions not domestic, was reprimanded in 2015 for taking a group of high school coaches to a strip club while on a recruiting trip to Miami. “This doesn’t seem like a good idea” would have flashed in Coach Fred’s brain, not wanting to answer the question when I got home, “So where did you coaches go for dinner?” Many years ago when Roger Clemens still pitched for the Red Sox (1984-96), Mass Man John Bamforth took me to a game in Baltimore to see the Rocket pitch. About 1993, a new Camden Yards stadium, the revitalized Inner Harbor, we were early and hungry looking for “nothing fancy.” John said, “How about Hoo Hoo Hooters?” So there we were, the place was spacious and wide open, lots of windows and a great view of what John called the “Harba.” Suddenly, like a skit from Saturday Night Live, a Boy Scout leader in khaki shorts and green neckerchief led a troop of young scouts to a long table. John could not stop laughing. “I wouldn’t want to be that guy when young moms start calling him tomorrow about this decision.” “You’re right,” I said. “I’m going with the bacon burger, which I’ll probably regret.”

Snippets - Looks like the Phillies have flown south for the summer. Little League World Series announcers keep selling the idea that young athletes should play multiple sports. My reaction is to just call the game in front of you, which appears to be baseball. The kids and parents will make decisions on which sports they play, if any. And, yes, surfing and skimming are sports and so is cheerleading. Boom, golly wally, Poppy’s on the trolly! Go on now, git!

Subscribe to the CapeGazette.com Daily Newsletter