Refs rule the roost, control the venue and are factors in the game 

Max factor - I don’t bash referees, but to claim they aren’t a factor in a  game (pick your sport) is preposterous, even ludicrous. There is no game without them, yet fans who know all the rules bark at them incessantly from the stands. I have become an acquaintance of Tim Holton, who moved from Brooklyn to Millsboro – a culture shock – he’s a 66-year-old runner and a girls’ lacrosse official. Tim is often a guide runner for visually impaired Joe Aukward. The joke would be “the blind leading the blind,” except Joe feels most of the world more than anyone on my sports beat, and Tim not only sees Joe but sees for him, otherwise they would both crash. I often joke that anytime a ref makes a call I don’t like, it must be wrong.

Healthy adjustments - I left my Medicare wellness physical and dreaded weigh-in having achieved my goal of not being fatter than I was six months earlier, then stopped in Wawa – that’s how the pork rolls – and ran into Jay Kennedy, a legendary and lovable Cape outside custodian. Jay said he was going to Jefferson Hospital the next day for triple bypass surgery. Years ago, coach Sue Murphy, now head lacrosse coach at Stetson University, said about the Beach Blast summer lacrosse tournament, “Eddie [Reese] and Jay [Kennedy] are the most important workers at the entire tournament. They are like ambassadors, so helpful and accommodating. They set the whole tone; after all, it’s about hospitality.” Jay told me how he had to work to keep moving, and what struck me about this well-adjusted poppop was he had two breakfast sandwiches on a cardboard tray and a cup of coffee less than 24 hours before a triple bypass. By the way, I’m not under any confidential HIPAA sensitive information constraints; what happens in Wawa hits the cyber muppet matrix before you get out the door. 

Pro choice - I haven’t had a dog in awhile, but wasn’t Top Choice a moist dog burger? Speaking of choices, the University of Michigan won the NCAA championship with five transfer students. It reminded me of Texas Western, the first  team to win the title in 1966 and to start five Afro American players in a title game. That game was played at Cole Field House, University of Maryland. Trickle-down and slosh-around, this is all impacting younger-level sports where middle school prospects are heading off to private schools with the help of scholarships, and this will last until the “pay full price” parents rebel and stop subsidizing other people's tuition. 

What’s your name? - Is it Mary or Sue? Is it Savannah or Lewes Beach? Is it the Big Ten or the Big Eighteen? Big Ten: Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin. Added Maryland, Nebraska, Oregon, Penn State, Rutgers, UCLA, USC, Washington. What is this all about? It’s about money. And they are all good schools committed to all sports, which helps them attract students. 

Snippets - The best bleacher seat or luxury box to watch a sport is the cab of a pickup truck. Someday, someone will design a stadium like a drive-in movie and charge a yearly space license. Ordinary people will pay big bucks for such creature comforts. Over the years, during awards seasons, I once listened to a pair of teammates arguing about which one of them was the most deserving of the Unsung Hero Award. Another year during Spirit Week, two girls got in a stairwell fight over a poster. They were finalists for Miss Congeniality. And a player was told, “You were our most improved player and would have gotten a trophy, but the boosters ran out of money.” A teacher I knew used to give out a senior academic award called Underachiever of the Year, given to the student who did the least with the most talent, but a certain boy (I could name him) won it two years in a row, so I retired the trophy. All Phillies fans don’t like the same players, but there are few that get a full favor waiver, perhaps Edmundo Sosa. Phillies pitcher Christopher Sanchez doesn’t speak English, so why does he cover his mouth with his glove during mound visits? Go on now, git!