Young athletes at old school keep community connected

Young guy and old school - My old high school, Bishop Egan, and Cape, where I taught for 29 years, have been dozed under like an end-of-day study hall. Somewhere I have a brick as a reminder of my former relevance. Late afternoon Aug. 1, I was back on the field behind the Lewes School, aka the first Cape Henlopen High School, where I dropped in from Philly in 1975, a mere 43 years ago if you’re counting on your abacus. The day before, I had taken lighthouse and landscape photos – a beautiful place we live in – but on dragonfly Wednesday, it was community continuity day. I saw young people I once taught out there coaching and younger Pop Warner players whose grandfathers I had coached. Kids doing mountain climber drills that would kill grandpop. I spoke at Cape graduation in 1999 and said, “You don’t stay here because the sand gets between your toes, but rather because the people get in your heart.” My last photo before leaving Aug. 1 was of Tiny Mite Tyson Johnson, who waved like, “Hi, coach Fred.” It took me back, not answering why I came to Cape, but rather why I stayed.

Apologists and enablers - I was a room away when I heard every third word on ESPN about Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer being suspended with pay regarding domestic abuse allegations going back two years. I thought: “What kind of powerful person directs a program of incredible, strong young men, then goes home and lays hands upon his wife?” It turns out Meyer is not that guy, but the guy up the organization who apologized and thus enabled the guy, assistant Zach Smith, who everyone knew knocked his wife around, while these sellers of boys-to-men garbage did nothing about it. I’ve had a friend or three go to prison for outrageous reasons, and in all cases I responded: “That guy who is going to jail is not the guy I know.” I knew Bill Cosby on a first-name basis back in the day, and my brother Tom has known Jerry Sandusky for 55 years. We have no clue what any of that is about, but if Urban Meyer gets booted for not acting on what he allegedly knew, then Rep. Jim Jordan, who is accused of turning a blind eye to alleged sex abuse by a team doctor when Jordan was an assistant at Ohio State, should also pay a price, except Congress is held to a lower standard of morality than a member of a football staff – apparently.

Bob Paulen - Bob just got back to his home in Dewey Beach and sent me the following email: “Just returned from the U.S. National Masters Outdoor Championship in Spokane, Wash. The track was great – looked a lot like the new Cape track! The results were better than I had anticipated: four gold (80-meter hurdles, shuttle hurdle relay, 4-by-100 relay, 4-by-400 relay), two silver (200-meter hurdles and triple jump), and two bronze (long jump and high jump). The highlight of the meet for me was being a part of the shuttle hurdle relay, as we set a U.S. and world record, as it was the first time that four 80-plus men had fielded a team!” Minister Bob is a beast; just watch him work out and you’ll know immediately you can’t hang with the intensity.

Snippets - Danny Myers has been hired as an athletic trainer at Polytech High School. Scott Myers is a teacher and soccer coach at Caesar Rodney, while Chris Myers is a para at Mariner, and is the boys’ soccer coach and girls’ assistant soccer coach. James Cook was hired as the head assistant wrestling coach at Gloucester High School in Gloucester, Va. The Phillies will have to flop to leave the three-team race in the NL East with just 55 games left in the regular season. The Phils have a half-game lead on Atlanta and five on Washington. The Braves are scary good, and Washington is still in position to win it. Losing three in Cincinnati reminded me of the 1964 Phils, when you could see disaster coming an inning into the game. Thank goodness it is getting close to the start of fall sports practices. I stepped away from the summer sports beat, but the bigger story is no one noticed. Sussex Tech, Polytech and Sussex Academy all have a lottery system in place for admissions because there are more applicants than slots available. A blind lottery means no exceptions, and obviously the more exceptions made, the more unlike a lottery it becomes. Cape has a backlog of school choice applicants, which is pretty strict, possibly with same exceptions as exist in the lottery system. This interest in students transferring comes up with the movement of athletes over algebra students. A local flora and fauna shot of the state park parade grounds, no fawna pun intended. Here is a photo of Dave Robinson on pop-pop duty prior to the 2014 Dogfish Dash. Blissful harmony with family and friends in a small place. A bike accident with blood disorder laid on top of it has made Dave’s last two years a struggle, yet he continues to hang tough with a spiritual grace that has inspired his wayward friends like me. Go on now, git!