Spirit in the Sky - Dr. Jim VanSciver, a Lewes High guy, provided the relentless energy to have the dedicated plaque of Reds upgraded at Legends Stadium. Rusty Catts had the yearbook photo. Ed Martin, the sign/banner guy, a Cape guy, and a relative, provided the plaque and the technical expertise. I stopped by Legends Stadium for a photo. The football team was practicing. The photo needed a spirited player next to the plaque striking the same pose as Reds. Jack Fred and I decided on Andrew “Drew Baby" Messick, but first I conferred with head coach Chip Knapp. "He's one of my choices,” Knapp said. And so it got done. VanSciver was like a wolverine on a high-top spiked shoe; he just would not let it go.

Fox news - Later '90s, three linemen, Catholic old boys, walking east in Rehoboth up to the Boardwalk. A mangy fox came off the boards and headed straight for us. The Sallies boys, George Glenn and Brian Donahue, pushed Philly Fredman( Bishop Egan) out in front and ducked in behind him. It was instinctual. We later laughed it off, but I knew where I stood and so did the fox, who jumped over an 8-foot fence rather than tear my behind up. Better than getting thrown to the wolves, I guess. 

Baywatch - "Seventeen television productions, including a reboot of a 1990s hit series 'Baywatch,' will be receiving tax credits through California’s film and television incentive program, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced in 2025.” “Baywatch,” featuring David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson, was one of the most iconic, quintessentially Los Angeles shows, showcasing Southern California beaches. On the East Coast, a photo shows Bill Collick and Dave Frederick doing a ”boardwalks” workout in 1976. A fitting splashback since Sussex County has wrestled beach supremacy from the lifeguards of Los Angeles County, winning three national titles in a row. 

Don’t pencil in wins - I don’t believe in preseason polls ranking teams. I believe even less in picking preseason all-conference players before they played a game. I could swim through a chum slick of feeding hammerheads and not get bitten because in the world of clickbait, I’m a gummy bear. Cape football has been an up-and-down program over 50 years, and I’ve forever thought fans should never pencil in wins. You don’t have to share that philosophy with coaches because most of them are like Stevie Wonder: “Very superstitious.” Cape opens on the road Thursday night at Saint Mark's. Don’t worry, Vikings followers, “The Spartans ain’t that good.” “What fool said that?” Cape beat Saint Mark’s last year 33-3. The Spartans finished the season 5-5, while Cape was 6-4. The overall athletic health of Saint Mark’s athletics programs is on the upswing. Their programs are solid. They will be a dangerous dog on the road and have bitten Cape more often than the Vikings have been able to bite back. Like the author of "The Odyssey," I’m a homer, so I don’t make predictions. Saint Mark’s is coached by Bill Dinardo. Enough said. They will be prepared. 

Snippets - Hastily fired former Phillies manager Rob Thomson is Canadian. He lives in Ontario and now spends his summer fishing on some big lake. Write your own joke. Amara Fructman (Cape) has verbally committed to play lacrosse at Salisbury University. Lina Frederick (Cape) is a rising sophomore lacrosse player at Salisbury. College field hockey news: Sophia Walch, a sophomore at James Madison. She is daughter of Michelle Hindman Walch (Cape) and Andy Walch (Milford). She is a non-starter who got major minutes for the Dukes last weekend in a 2-1 loss to Temple and 1-0 loss to Drexel. Delaware lost to Villanova 2-1 then came back to upset No. 18 Monmouth 2-1. Avary Miller got her first collegiate start versus Monmouth, playing 57 minutes and being named Player of the Game. The Richmond Spiders beat Queens 12-0 Aug. 28, then lost to Duke 1-0 Aug. 30. Grace Wiggins (Cape) is a midfielder for Richmond. Addy Basile (Cape, Sussex Academy) started for Ohio University, which lost its opener 3-1 to Michigan State. There were 47 open-water swimmers Aug. 30, in the Rehoboth mile swim sponsored by the Seashore Striders. Twenty-three of those 47 were in the 60-and-over age and 32 of 47 were in the 50-and-over group. A sophisticated statistical interpretation: "I don’t know what it means, but it don’t mean nothing.” The live stats feature is useful when following multiple college games online at the same time, but sometimes the work study data input students show up late or get distracted during the game and start talking to their friends. Say it ain’t so, but unless you have a better explanation, that is the one I’m going with. Go on now, git!