Sports memories are often when we were at our best 

Life coach - I received a wonderful surprise home visit from Linwood Downing and Lance White Tuesday in the early morning rain. Linwood and Lance were on the 1977 cross country and 1978 spring track teams at Cape, both of which won state championships. I was their coach. They are part of the building blocks that created the foundation that is the Cape-connected community. Henry White, Class of 1974, flew in from Dallas and joined them Thursday for a scheduled tour of the school. Linwood and Lance want to see the banners in the gym representing their championship teams. Linwood and Lance are both Marine Corps veterans. Other members of the Magnificent Seven from 1977 are: David Lewis (Marines) and Ronnie Wright (Navy), Phil Wilson (retired IT guy) and Jeff Jones (Hewlett Packard). Glenn Smith and Nick Miller have passed away. Linwood told me he has 18 grandchildren. That fact didn’t make me feel older, rather just lucky to still connect with kids I coached 48 years ago. 

Maurki that guy - In sports stardom, it's just as important to be a nice person as it is to be a good player. Maurki James is that person and player, and it will serve him well in life as well as benefitting those around him. Maurki, a running back, just completed his sophomore season at Old Dominion University. He is a top three running back in Cape’s 50 years of football history, joining Henry White and Elijah Worthy. Pat Ayers, mother of Isaiah Ayers wrote, “He is and has always been an amazing young man … much love always to my other son Maurki James. Continue to do great things and follow your dreams. I would say that the sky is the limit, but there are no limits for special young men like you.” 

Turkey on the table - I was talking about practice 50 years ago, 30 years before Allen Iverson’s 2006 iconic rant. My first impression of Cape’s male athletes was that practice wasn’t as important as game day when the score was being kept. Those jokers from the ‘70s competed like demons; all a coach had to do was get them there, which took finesse and, at times, rapid deployment to classrooms and gyms. I often said, “But when the turkey is on the table, the Cape kids are going to show up to eat.”

Embellishments and clarifications - Sports memories are often inaccurate, and athletes and teammates carry those forward decades into a life not nearly as exciting as the high school sports of their primetime years. I’ve grown older (no debate) and wiser (debatable), and I no longer clarify inaccurate memories, but rather just nod my head hoping the subject gets changed. Sometimes I am the subject of a cherished memory – perhaps something I said or did – that I know didn’t happen. I just let it go because people ain’t trying to hear it.               

Girls’ wrestling gets going - Head girls’ wrestling coach Hollyann Wettstein is also a school trainer and sports person; she is a real coach and not a caretaker. Cape has eight girls in a startup season. The sport is taking off in states where wrestling is popular. This all leads to a state championship meet Feb. 15 in Smyrna. There is an all-girls wrestling practice from 6:30 to 8 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 11, and Monday, Dec. 15, at Sussex Tech High School. Wrestlers must have a valid USA Wrestling card. Contact coach Emily Thode of Thode Trained Wrestling Club at 302-423-6412 for more information. 

Snippets - I am the Silver Back, the 250-pound gorilla taking photos at wrestling matches. Yesterday in “the room,” I noticed major contenders Grayson Davis, Nick Walker and Blake Walker have dyed their hair blond. I thought, “If color is a choice, what if my shaggy dog self showed up blond?” Would it be cool or lame? Or perhaps I am overthinking it? I’m done thinking about it, definitely not going to do it. I will be along the happy trails Saturday morning taking photos of runners doing the half and full marathons. Every person with a vibrating cellphone in their pocket and a relative in the race will start taking photos at 7 a.m. in Rehoboth. If you are easily annoyed by focused and fit people, stay away from the byways, highways and trailways of Sesame Street by the Sea. “I need more cowbell!” Go on now, git!