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Sonic trash trucks rolling the roads of Sussex County

January 17, 2023

Sonic trash truck - I was meeting with my nephew Mike last Friday and we were discussing the upcoming Cape football banquet. The Fred Shed was eerily quiet with no television or radio noise and no pets, just the occasional bubbling of the water cooler or the Westminster mantel clock chiming on the quarter-hour. And then the house vibrated and shook as Mike’s chair slid an inch forward. “What was that?” he asked without alarm. “Trash truck would be my guess,” I deduced. “Do you see one out on the street?” “No, I don’t,” Mike answered. “You guys have some pretty serious trash trucks in Sussex County.” “We are all about the trash truck,” I joked. “Pull one over, I guarantee you I know somebody on board all the way to their second cousins. Trash trucks rule the early morning roads. I’m waiting for the Dewey Dumpster Diving 5K and Trash Truck Kiddie K. It's long overdue.” Later in the day, social media lit up with jets-over-the-ocean sonic boom theories as Sussex County turned into a science guy symposium. In theory, if Cape star running back Maurki James ran back a kickoff throwing down breakaway speed of 767 mph, the stands would be shimmying and shaking, tossing all the muppets to the track except the really fat ones governed more by immutable laws of mass and inertia.

Embellishments - Yes, it does sound like something you put on hamburger or how an athlete recalls the great teams he or she played on from a different era. I first coached Cape football in 1975, and for more than 47 years I’ve coached or written about every Cape team since. But I’m not stupid enough to compare one era to another, and if an older athlete starts tripping, I’m more than willing to ride shotgun. Athletes today are thicker and stronger and better trained, which has nothing to do with beef cattle on steroids (speaking of embellishments on your beef burger). I joked at a hall of fame banquet, “I think I used to be better than the rest of you used to be,” and when someone remarks, “Well, back in your day,” which I guess was my heyday, I respond, “My day is today, same as you, that’s why we’re standing here looking at each other.” 

Cutaways - By the fourth quarter of the third wild card game Sunday on the heels of two games Saturday, I was saturated with more commercials than huddles, from that annoying Geico gecko to the mayhem guy selling insurance, Lily and Paul Giamatti hawking cellular carriers, Steph Curry and Derek Jeter shilling Subway sandwiches, and freaking Applebee’s that has worse lighting than a Peebles changing room. The Wall Street Journal reports the average NFL game has 63 minutes of commercials or 33% of the broadcast, which actually is 33% less than Tony Romo or Cris Collinsworth.  

Put a Holt to this mess - Holt Baker, a Cape senior wrestling 126 pounds, lost at Smyrna to Qwantez Watkins by 11-3 major decision. After the match, won by Cape 48-22, Holt said to me, “It’s alright, I’ll figure it out,” after he had slipped to 6-10 on the season. Holt figured it out the following weekend, winning his first bracket championship at the Grapple at the Brook tournament. “Holt wrestled great,” said coach Chris Mattioni. “He’s in a tough weight class.” The top six Delaware wrestlers at 126 are Trevor Copes (CR), Quantez Watkins (Smyrna), Cam Davis (Sallies), Marcello Ioannoni (Caravel), Holt Baker (Cape) and Evan Cordrey (SC). These shift by a match. 

Snippets - Hank D’Ambrogi is a freshman midfielder on the Fairfield University men's lacrosse roster. Tim Lucky, a sophomore face-off man from Sanford, and his brother, freshman Devon Lucky, who plays attack, are also on the Stags’ roster. Hunter Jones is a freshman on the roster at Rollins College. Molly Mendes is a freshman on the Rollins women’s team. Kelly Bragg is a freshman on attack at Mount Saint Mary’s University. Jack Thode, a state champion for Milford High School, is wrestling for Centenary University out of New Jersey at 125 pounds. Jack is currently 4-0 on the season. Dalton Deevey, also a freshman at Centenary, is wrestling 285 and is 1-2 on the season. Josh Reinhold, an all-state shortstop at Cape, is a freshman at Christopher Newport University. Go on now, git!

 

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