Rocking the Pop Warner Playbook of Improvisation

I remember it like it was yesterday: Cape football, coached by George Glenn at Sussex Central in Friday night football, and the Golden Knights were having a long season under one-then-gone coach Phil DiSabatino. The game was close; Central was on its own 1-yard line. I said to Glenn, “If your boy Phil doesn’t reach into his Pop Warner bag of tricks soon, this game is going down to the wire.” Right on cue, Central lined up twins to the left and tried the old double pass trick. The inside slot receiver stepped back with the intent to catch a lateral pass, then throw it to the outside guy, who was sprinting down the sideline wide open singing “They Call Me The Streak” by Leonard Skinner.  But Cape cornerback Brian Kugelmann sniffed out the play like a Lab on a hambone and stepped in front of the slot receiver for a Cape touchdown.  I watched a great freshman game Wednesday, with Cape beating Sussex Tech 24-18 and both teams reached into the trick bag a few times because that’s just what happens in freshman ball.

Lot of lost memories - I took a photo of a vacant lot on the corner of New Road and Pilottown Road last Wednesday because gone was the home where my running friend Luther Burdell used to live. Luther from Philadelphia, who weighed like 113 pounds, was road-running royalty going back to the days when fewer than 10 people showed up for road races. He ran for 50 years using the same training rotation by days: hard, easy, hard, off. Never two hard days in a row and every fourth day was a day off.  Luther’s hard days were inventive, finding dunes and charging up and down them. He never called himself a Seal or Crossfit and never ran 100 races in a year or did a mud run.  That corner of the world will always belong to “The Birdman,” Luther Burdell.

Adderall addict - Adderall is considered a performance-enhancing drug for those not clinically diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It increases energy and recovery, and if you play sports like baseball you may find it helps you focus. I may start taking it to help me with this column, but first I have to convince Dr. Jeff Heckert I’m hyper and distractible, and I’ll never sell the hyper part. You’re Chris Davis and your nickname is The Hulk and you fail the random Adderall test twice; it tells me you have an addict’s faulty logic. Davis just lost a bunch of money, and this story begs the question, “Where is the guy who hit 53 home runs?”

Snippets - Cape’s homecoming is Oct. 17 versus Polytech. The new scoreboard should be installed by then, revealed Athletic Director Bob Cilento on condition of anonymity. The video module will also be hooked up and displayed just to show its capabilities but the scoreboard people will take that with them when they leave town unless the Lingos want to buy it for the school. The upgrading of Legends Stadium lights is also in the plans. I know my Nikon D 700 camera keeps flashing code “Third World” when I try to shoot night games. The Cape boys’ cross country team defeated Lake Forest Wednesday afternoon 28-29 on the Vikings’ home course.  Cape was led by Ryan Wilson 1, Sam Nye 2, Holden Kammerer 4 and Jose Ascencio 10. The Cape girls won 24-31 behind Madison MacElrevey 1, Sarah Dziak 4, Keren Rams 5, Grace Brokaw 6 and Sarah Rambo 8. My nickname, “Mr. Field Hockey,” was given to me by the Zen Master, P.J.  Kesmodel, because I have granddaughters who play lacrosse and also play field hockey, and I try to cover all those games.  Mr. Field Hockey went to Polytech Tuesday to watch the Panthers play Delmar with Poly winning 5-3.  I was there because it was showtime, and I know many of the Poly people, and I like them. Bob Paulen of Dewey won seven age-group (75-79) events at the recent Delaware Senior Olympics at Del State in Dover including the 50, 100, 200 and 400 meters, and also the high jump, long jump and shot put.  It’s almost like taking candy from a 50-year-old.  Bob is a world-class age group masters track athlete, and his specialty is the hurdles. The Eagles are a touchdown favorite at home versus the Redskins this Sunday. The underlying drama: “Will DeSean Jackson play?” He says yes (sprained shoulder). I say, “Crash test dummy zero impact.” Go on now, git!