Winning is the most fun, but crazy hats are fun too
Fun built into program - The most fun for any sports program is winning games and championships. No coach has won more titles in more places than Cape girls' lacrosse coach P.J. Kesmodel - 11 state titles combined in Delaware and Maryland. And he’s done it with analysis of his own talent pool, instruction and placement of talent in the right places while pushing players to their physical limits. He does it all with built-in fun activities. It’s part of the master Zen plan that is Cape girls' lacrosse. March 9 was Crazy Hat Day, with line dancing thrown in for more creative expression.
Jay and Chris - Every time I see Jay Ashby, I scan the panorama for his brother Chris. "The Ashby Boys" is how I first knew them while watching my two sons Tom and Jack play summer soccer. That was “bad boy” soccer, never an uncontested ball or call. It was fun, but not so much for goalies, who always seemed to draw a crowd of bodies crossing the goalie into the cage. Jay is now the head coach for girls' soccer at Cape with Chris Myers as his assistant. It will be a fun spring on the turf fields at Cape.
Indoor Nationals - Any time you carry a 15-foot pole into the New York Armory for the New Balance Nationals Scholastic Track Meet you are a bad dude. Sam Young will be there Friday, March 13, 168th Street and Fort Washington Avenue, for the Indoor Nationals. He has qualified in the pole vault. His coach John Kevon said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if he cleared 15 feet. If he clears 16 feet, we can all be surprised."
Get out of town - Destiny awaits people; they do not control it. On March 11, I followed the Virginia Tech at Michigan women's lacrosse game. It was tied at 12 by the Hokies in the final seconds on a goal by Megan Will (fourth goal) who is Meg Bartley’s (Cape) best buddy. I knew what was coming next. Bartley scored the game-winner at the end of the second overtime with .2 left on the clock. She also became the Hokies' all-time leader in draw controls. Gene Wilder screamed in the movie Young Frankenstein, “Destiny! Destiny! There’s no escaping that for me!”
Isobars and power bars - Work out and eat a power bar in the rain, does it get any better? Yes, it gets a lot better. I’m writing this on Thursday morning trying to get a read on Saturday where all kinds of play day activities are slated, just name the sport. Cape girls' lacrosse is hosting the Delmarva-Mid Atlantic Metro Play Day with eight teams, and it is the deepest team talent in the country. I hit all the weather websites and ended up screaming, “I don’t care about isobars in the upper Midwest, and I’m not much interested in winds aloft, just tell me how long and hard it will rain over Lewes!" Soccer all-day play day at Sussex Central looks like a wash and may move to Middletown or the bus barn. Cape baseball scrimmage at Parkside looks to be scuttled. Check the weather; you won’t learn much other than, “Looks like it’s going to be wet.”
Bradford can sling it - Quarterback Sam Bradford is 6-foot-4, 230 pounds, just 27 years old, and a former No. 1 pick. If he stays healthy, that Eagles exchange for Foles will look brilliant. If Demarco Murray or Adrian Peterson end up as the featured running back and if Kiko Alonso pans out, that will look brilliant as well.
Financial aid form - I’m trying not to write “Deadbeat Dad,” but some students learn the hard way that non-supportive daddy sometimes has his income factored into the financial aid form for his child heading to college. And sometimes not. I am not an expert witness forensic economist, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express a few times. Seriously, get help filling out the FAFSA form, and that goes double for a single parent. Maybe signing photos should show parent(s) signing on for responsibility.
Snippets - Basketball commentators describe a world that has close to nothing to do with what happens inside the brains of the players on the court. It’s mostly a game of instinct; it’s not that intricate or complicated. Works better with the sound down, just like most people who yak too much.
Kat Judge of Winthrop won nine draw controls in a 19-9 win over Bucknell. Cape now owns Draw Dogg Meg Bartley and Draw Kat Katherine Judge.
Go on now, git!
