People in Sports

Sports Editor Emeritus

Email Fredman at fredman@capegazette.com

Halfway House of Hope: A sports showcase of promise...

Dave Frederick
3 days ago
Halfway house - The Fred Thomas gym is artistically cool, cozy and comfortable, but it doesn’t...

Cape wrestlers place third at Grapple at the Brook 

Dave Frederick
6 days ago
Grapple at the Brook - The Cape wrestlers, the traveling people of Viking sports, placed third of...

Swimming in the stream of consciousness, showing up...

Dave Frederick
1 week ago
Streaming the scene - Late-afternoon middle school sports is its own scene outside the lines. It's...

Real competition features best on best

Dave Frederick
1 week ago
Friars Club - I have a good friend, Chuck Chinici, who used to be the AD at Malvern Prep in Malvern...

Personal bests and milestones in the sports landscape

Dave Frederick
2 weeks ago
Raven flies high - “Air” Jordan Welch, a Sussex Tech senior high jumper, took the top off the event...

Pups and pop-pops are ready for banner year in 2026

Dave Frederick
2 weeks ago
Just some kid - One-mile walkers and 5K runners mesh at the end of their endeavors. This little guy...

Well-coached players don’t do dumb stuff

Dave Frederick
3 weeks ago
Don’t do dumb stuff - Forty years ago, I wrote that the Cape boys’ lacrosse team was the best- and...

The spiritually secure hit harder than heathens

Dave Frederick
3 weeks ago
Sunday morning coming down - On a Sunday morning in Lewes 50 years ago, the Fred house front-door...

Governor’s Cup gets prime placement in Cape...

Dave Frederick
1 month ago
In My Room - “Do my dreaming and my scheming. Lie awake and pray. Do my crying and my sighing...

The whammy is bad, but the double whammy is worse

Dave Frederick
1 month ago
The whammy - Two extended arms with fingers on both hands wiggling coming from a sports person is...

Great athletes snap wherever they matriculate

Dave Frederick
1 month ago
The Warrior - A song by American rock band Scandal (1984) reached No. 1 in Canada. The band was...

Cute person wins Ugly Sweater 5K

Dave Frederick
1 month ago
Redemption Song - Flor Duerr of Dover was rocking it Saturday morning at the Redemption City Ugly...

I rarely read, except for T-shirts and tattoos

Dave Frederick
1 month ago
Run for Dad - I’m a writer more than a reader, yet I read T-shirts and tattoos. The subjects are...

Remember when I was young and so were you?

Dave Frederick
1 month ago
Remember me? Thousands of photos were already taken at Flag Alley Saturday morning at a turnaround...

Sports memories are often when we were at our best 

Dave Frederick
1 month ago
Life coach - I received a wonderful surprise home visit from Linwood Downing and Lance White...

Connections lead back to the Atlantic City Steel Pier

Dave Frederick
1 month ago
Pumpkin Pie 5K - The Pumpkin Pie 5K is always a great race the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It’s...

Turkey soup: connections for which to be thankful

Dave Frederick
1 month ago
Turkey soup - Risking my sharp, satirical and sardonic edge, I've been writing more “Turkey Soup...

Ivy alumni are an entangled web of athletes

Dave Frederick
2 months ago
Yale Lockdowns - “Fredman, I just read that a young man named Brenner Short has committed to play...

Staying silent at football games is a tall order

Dave Frederick
2 months ago
Sounds of silence - It’s a tall order to ask a crowd of 50,000 rabid fans – many of whom have been...

Alphas and boomers stride and collide 

Dave Frederick
2 months ago
Boomers and bouncers - Allen “Chattahoochee” Jackson, 57, straight outta Milton, representing...

Fall colors captured at cross country races and in...

Dave Frederick
2 months ago
Tapestry - A cross country race through the flora and fauna of fall foliage ambulates like a...

Lady bugs and lessons of sportsmanship at XC...

Dave Frederick
2 months ago
Cape Guy - You know the Capital One Bank Guy? Well, after the Sesame Street by the Sea Fred...

Showed up for a single photo and a XC race broke out

Dave Frederick
2 months ago
Cross purposes - I showed up at Cape Tuesday afternoon to grab a photo of Logan Crotty for...

Happy is the heart of the long distance runner with...

Dave Frederick
2 months ago
Happy at last - Let’s face it, some body types are better suited for distance running and others...

Mortal muppets nestled inside the sock drawer of...

Dave Frederick
2 months ago
Marauding middle schoolers - A scheduled middle school cross country meet Oct. 29 at Killens Pond...

Shiny, happy people laughing at Sea Witch 5K

Dave Frederick
2 months ago
Happy Together! Beautiful spirits and smiling faces. I don't know if I’ve ever been that happy on a...

Come get these sports memories

Dave Frederick
3 months ago
We Are the Champions! I lifted the following paragraph from Jay Futcher’s obituary, which appears...

The world of school sports is full of surprise and...

Dave Frederick
3 months ago
Captain Marvel - Forty-five years a sports reporter, and I still feel great surprise and wonderment...

There are no dead heats in cross country races

Dave Frederick
3 months ago
Dead heat - I was heading to JV field hockey when I saw there was a middle school cross country...

Every athlete teaches life lessons

3 months ago
Harrington Harrier - Matt Sparacino, representing Races2Run in a Seashore Striders racing event,...

Coaches are the unsung heroes of middle school 

Dave Frederick
3 months ago
National Coaches Day - Like most fans, I didn’t know Monday was National Coaches Day. That was...

Cape and family are one and the same after 50 years...

Dave Frederick
3 months ago
Cape and family - Susan, Davey and I left Lewes Saturday for a 10 a.m. JV field hockey game between...

Blocker doctors double team at Midway Chiropractic

Dave Frederick
3 months ago
Blocker doctors - Dr. Trip DelCampo of Midway Chiropractic has welcomed Dr. Devin Miller into his...

Sports fans are the snap dragons in the stands

Dave Frederick
3 months ago
Lightning and liftgating - A Thursday night field hockey game was delayed. I sat on the bumper of...

Sharp as a leather ball, facing down pressure free...

Dave Frederick
4 months ago
Dogfish Dash - If Cape had chosen Dogfish as a mascot 55 years ago instead of Vikings, then...

Three Cape lacrosse girls commit to Delaware

4 months ago
Yo, Chief! Cosmic connections running through a Philly house cat named Chief. Delaware associate...

Wisecracks and jokes inside sports stories. You...

Dave Frederick
4 months ago
Wisecracker - I stood at the podium for the girls’ state championship lacrosse banquet at the Lewes...

Touchdown Jesus sees the entire field at Notre Dame

Dave Frederick
4 months ago
Touchdown Jesus - The 34-foot mural that resides in the distance of Notre Dame’s library lawn is...

Free and overpriced is my business plan for sports...

Dave Frederick
4 months ago
Free and overpriced - I often describe the photography part of my life as free and overpriced. That...

Positive people lead the way in sports, a culture...

Dave Frederick
4 months ago
Chattahoochie - Allen Jackson is a good kid. He is a fireman/first responder at Station 85 in...

Cool sometimes collides with fashionable in athletic...

4 months ago
Degraded retrograded Fredpop - I am a walking throwback living in modern times. I wear New Balance...

Local kids dot the landscape of college sports rosters

Dave Frederick
4 months ago
Lost in transition - The running season transitions from summer to fall with barely a wobble. The...

Don’t hijack Ronnie Mac, better to snag the Lewes...

Dave Frederick
4 months ago
Ronnie Mac - Why don’t you hurry back? Jim Murray (1938-2025) was an American professional football...

Black Girls Run chooses Outlet Liquors 5K for annual...

Dave Frederick
5 months ago
Chapter and verse - I am well versed in the sport of running. Just open the book to any chapter and...

Soul searching – a photographic memory keeps images...

Dave Frederick
5 months ago
Soul searching - I move about in a world of fit people pursuing healthy lifestyles. In 2016, I was...

Sports rules and regulations go from serious to silly

Dave Frederick
5 months ago
Knick-Knacker - Caravel Academy softball coach Randy Johnson (School Lane - Cape kid) was suspended...

A confabulous morning running down dreams of...

Dave Frederick
5 months ago
Confabulation - I chose the word to describe old coaches kicking around sports stories and shared...

Runners’ shirts are a tidal wave of messages, none...

5 months ago
A sea of shirts - I photograph running races. The T-shirts flowing past my camera are a tidal wave...

Pets and throw rugs account for most orthopaedic...

Dave Frederick
5 months ago
El Hombre Blanco - Martin Rodriguez jokingly calls me “Mi Amigo Blanco.” I call Martin “Mi Amigo...

Wasabi and Westminster talked up at Race for the Paws

Dave Frederick
5 months ago
Wazzup Wasabi - The Wazzup Bud Lite commercials first aired in 1999. The routine was created by...

Sitting inside the circle of shade at Champions...

5 months ago
Slim Shady - I sat in a chair inside a circle of shade cast by the Darby Klopp Girl Scouts scoring...

Slimline sneakers now trending with the style set

5 months ago
Slim sneakers - I have photographed and written about so many foot traffic races over five decades...

Bob Barnes always remembered the kids he coached and...

6 months ago
Bob Barnes - Little League coach Bob Barnes died July 8. He was a longtime Lewes Board of Public...

Athletic scholarships are structured and shrouded in...

Dave Frederick
6 months ago
Take it to the House - The recent House v. NCAA settlement of a lawsuit effective for the 2025-26...

Holy goalie, Batman. The Riddler returns to guard...

6 months ago
The Riddler - Izzy Mekulski was a question mark last field hockey season as a first-year starter as...

Bernie Gallagher’s running resumé boggles the mind

6 months ago
Bernie’s bio - Bernie Gallagher, 84, walked the Seashore 5-Miler July 13, crossing the finish line...

Jules Woodall goes for 200th consecutive Ten Sisters...

6 months ago
Jules Woodall - Jules, 76, is a relentless runner, a tall guy and a nice guy. This Saturday, he...

Restrictive rules gave athletes more free time...

6 months ago
Rules of restrictions - The hot summer months used to be a cooling-off period for school-aged...

Roger Franks: Hall of fame swimmer, father of...

6 months ago
Roger Franks - I emceed the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame banquet in 1997. I remember introducing 70...

Emeritus man running a fade pattern across the...

Dave Frederick
6 months ago
Emeritus man - A retired guy who recognized me from a People in Sports column photo asked, “What...