Wisecracks and jokes inside sports stories. You laughing?

Wisecracker - I stood at the podium for the girls’ state championship lacrosse banquet at the Lewes Yacht Club overlooking the Delaware Bay. It was 2017 and Cape had beaten Saint Mark’s in the final game. I talked about how classy Saint Mark’s players and coaches were and asked the Capers seated in the room, “Nice people, don’t you think?” Everyone agreed. I added, “That’s when I knew we had them.” It was the old stick-and-twist joke based on an element of agreed upon truth, “Saint Mark’s rolls first class.” On Tuesday, at soggy and boggy Sandhill Fields, Cape cross country ran against Saint Mark’s and Sussex Tech. The rain was a carwash mix like when you order wax. Runners looked slippery like a RainX commercial. The Spartans boys beat favored Cape 23-34, while the Spartans girls also won 25-30. Coach Mike DiGennaro is in the Delaware Track and Field Hall of Fame as a runner. I caught a glimpse of him, but there was no whooping and hollering; he was too busy coaching his team. I caught a photo of muddied runner Tanner Ehemann. He gave me the two-fisted gunslinger greeting back with a smile. On Facebook he shared, “Saint Mark’s has always been important to my family and me. Growing up, my sister and I were very close, and I wanted to attend the same high school as her. She’s a senior this year, and it’s been so fun to be in school together. When I was looking at high schools, I also wanted to be challenged by a strong cross country and track and field program. I knew I could find that at Saint Mark’s, along with opportunities in the arts and academics. Every group I spend time with in my activities feels like family – it’s a tight-knit community. I’m really looking forward to the rest of my time here!” 

The Peaceful Beast - Maurki James is always easy with a smile, exuding a peaceful soul. His coaches discovered his physical talents and put him in position to be successful. Maurki learned to excel and accelerate in the classroom as well. I have never heard a discouraging word about Maurki. And now a sophomore running back at Division I Old Dominion, he scored a touchdown in front of 57,000 fans. And he's academically on track as well. He reminds me of Henry White (Cape 1974), a first-class human from Slaughter Neck who went on to star at Colgate University and has had a successful career working for DuPont. Black men as leaders and role models result in what I call community impact players.

Young guns - Wednesday was Youth Night at Champions Stadium. Cape field hockey beat Sussex Central 10-0 to go 5-0 with a combined score of 37-0. Before the varsity game, there was an intersquad game on the field. An incomprehensible deep dive finds 100 hockey players waiting when combining the three middle schools and the JV squad. The talented varsity squad has just five seniors on a 20-person roster. 

Joke gone bad - It wasn’t funny at the time. In 1965, I was locked down in the football coaches office at Temple University with the head coach George Makris and Athletic Director Ernie Casale. Their mission was to get me to agree to move my basketball scholarship to football. Their tactics were to insult my basketball talents. Makris said, “I believe you could earn a varsity letter for us as a sophomore.” I snapped back, “If I couldn’t start for you guys, I’d hang up my high tops and join the band.” Casale said, “Not our band. Our band is world class. Do you even play an instrument?” By the way, I did start and earned a letter sewn into a cable-knit boat-neck cherry-colored sweater that I gave to Susan.    

Snippets - Belmont Abbey (Grace Hudson, Cape) defeated Wingate of North Carolina 3-1 Sept. 18. Former Delmar players Laela Brown and Jordyn Bunting play for Wingate.The Phillies (91-62) have a magic number of four with nine games to play to clinch a first-round bye in the playoffs. Lexi Nowakowski is listed as a sophomore on the Vanderbilt women’s lacrosse team. Lexi is all the way back from the ACL tear she suffered her senior season at Cape. Delaware State plays at 0-3 St. Francis of Loretta this Saturday. The Hornets, coming off a 1-11 season, are likely to improve to 3-1 under coach DeSean Jackson. The University of Delaware football team is 2-1. The Blue Hens will have their hands full at Florida International University. The Panthers are also 2-1.