Two standard deviations to the right of ideal weight

Peep and greet - I saw a friend from my Easter basket of Bermuda grass and no candy, Carla Yngve, April 25 at the Atlantic Lacrosse girls’ speckled egg spring showdown. Carla gave me a hug and said, “Oh my, you’ve lost a whole person.” I said, “No, just a fat toddler, and time for that baby Buddha to start walking on his own.” My approach to diet is simple: “It’s not about the diet you’re on, it’s about the diet you’re off.” I’m down 20 pounds but still two standard deviations to the right of ideal body weight, but I have big bones and a size 8 head.

Launch angle - I’ve seen some local baseball guys playing in college. Utility player Zach Savage, a catcher on Cape’s state championship team, is getting a Lafayette education. He was Rookie of the Week April 9 in the Patriot League after going 4-for-6 with two runs and three RBIs against Villanova and Bucknell, as the Leopards defended their Liberty Bell Classic title. UVA baseball is currently 23-18 with Zack Gelof starting all 41 games at third base. He was recently moved from leadoff to third in batting order and is batting .306. The Wahoos host Liberty University Tuesday, April 23. The Flames are 29-10 on the season. David Erickson has appeared in 10 games, all in relief, for a total of 11.2 innings with 17 strikeouts.

Wizard of Oz - “Where is the Cape baseball team?” “Hawaii!” “Pretty good. How are you?” Cape beat Waimea High School 9-3 behind lefty Mason Fluharty, who got the win with relief help from Parker Brown and Sean Clendaniel. Luke Smaller had a pair of RBIs. And per the Cape website, “Toto led the Menehune with a pair of hits and a run scored.” Toto was Dorothy’s dog and also a rock band from 1982, which had the Record of the Year, “Rosanna.” “Toe Toe” is a nickname like Choo Choo for Charles.

Panther Challenge - I will not challenge a panther because like baseball player Andres Galarraga, the “Big Cat”  always wins. On April 18 at the Panther Challenge Track Meet at Polytech, the Cape girls finished atop the six-team field with 128 points while “mysterious” Dover was second with 123. Caesar Rodney did not compete. Sussex Central won the boys’ title with 197 points, while Dover was second with 101 points. Cape’s 4-by-100 relay continued to dominate as Mehkia Applewhite, Timesha Cannon, Sydney Green and Aya Daisey ran 52.03. Cape also won the 4-by-800 with Zoe Callard, Olivia Brozefsky, Taylor Johnson and Mia Nuebling in 10:46. Brozefsky also won the 1,600 in 5:51 and pole vault at 9-feet-even. Ce’yra Middleton (36-8) and Mackenzie Parker (35-7) went 1-2 in the shot put. Meanwhile on the boys’ side, Sussex Central sprinter Mahki Herring continued to bust loose from the blocks, winning the 100 meters 10.9, 200 meters in 22.3, and led off the 4-by-100 with a team of Andre Teagle, Dominique Smith and Dominic Saragino in 42.9. Shane Massey of Lake Forest, great-grandson of George H.P. Smith of Lewes, won the 800 in 1:59 and 1,600 in 4:37.

Sorry, I’m not him - I was head track coach at Cape from 1976-85. I was at the Penn Relays in 1983 when an announcement rattled the bench seats of Franklin Field. “Will the head coach of Cape Henlopen please report to the finish line.” I slithered through throngs of exquisite athletes to reach the infield. I asked a sea of self-important timers in red blazers, “Does someone want the Cape Henlopen track coach?” Some silver fox answered, “Yes, I do. Where’s Tom Hickman? You’re not Tom Hickman.” I answered, “I’m not a lot of people, Bertie the Bunyip.” “I’m not Bertie the Bunyip,” he said. It’s a Philly thing. Seriously, I spent the first part of my Cape career apologizing for who I wasn’t. The second half I was apologizing for who I was.

Snippets - I’ll be turning left at the chatterbox on Ninth Street in Ocean City, N.J., this Thursday, traveling a few blocks north as Cape boys’ lacrosse plays on the turf field at 8-1 Ocean City High. I was a high school summer vagrant in OC all my high school years, and everyone lied about where they went to college except my friend Jimmy “Cyclops” Rogan, who told all the pretty girls he operated the ferris wheel on the boardwalk. The big wheel keeps on turning, casting a shadow over the field – it is all the way cool if you like honky-tonk beach motifs intersecting the smell of the salt marsh. Go on now, git!