Hipsters in headphones knocking about, but none sitting on stoops
Bad hipster - I drove through gentrified Fishtown Wednesday afternoon on the way to Temple’s North Philadelphia campus and noticed row houses restored to townhouses and young hipsters in headphones knocking about the sidewalks, but none were sitting on stoops. Urban yuppies have been displaced, sailing off to their Parrot Head Clubs, catamarans and cheeseburgers in paradise. And my stories, “Cruising the Broad Street Badlands” 50 years ago with other underachieving scholarship mates, are filed for retrieval just waiting for someone to click on my launchpad.
Lucky old dogs - March 14 is my birthday and several other locals’ including Darren Purcell, Steve Taylor, Kathy Heacook, MB Evans and Joann Szczepkowski. Darren and I go back to when he was in third grade tearing up field day at Shields Elementary School. We shared a beer when he turned 40 and I crossed over to the dark side of 60. And this year, it is 50/70 split, and here come the old-guy jokes, but man, I feel nothing but fortunate to have run the races I’ve won and walked the trails I’ve traveled and acquired so many friends along the way. I’ll still be out on my sports beat every day but picking my spots; maybe I’ll retire and write a book no one will read. I may write one, but there is nothing left to retire from; I’m already in the right lane looking for Wawa.
Failure is hard work - I’m not talking physical failure like repetitions on the curl bar, but the academic side, working your way to a place on the ineligibility wire. It takes effort to fail off a sports team in high school when so many people are trying to help you. This came to my attention after third-quarter grades came out and certain students were told, “You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here.” Not passing in high school is usually directly related to not trying. Sometimes there are extenuating and depressing reasons, but other times you are just talking about the academically lazy who are energized enough to make noise and act out and disrupt the process. I’m writing this as a veteran Flunker of Conduct who had to attend summer school with all the other class clowns - what a circus - but honestly, best class I ever had.
Turned it down - Before coming to Cape, I applied for and was offered the head football coaching job at Jenkintown High School in suburban Philadelphia over the recommendation of the head of the social studies department. The woman felt “a coach” was being foisted upon her little academic enclave, and I decided I didn’t want to spend the next years of my life proving to a bunch of smart people that I wasn’t stupid. I always thought when it comes to hiring the coach who will work tirelessly with kids over a long career, keep the department chairperson out of the process. Human resources people get paid to hire people, that is their job; they know best who and what the school needs.
Snippets - Bob Paulen of Dewey Beach just returned from the Masters National Indoor Meet in Albuquerque, N.M., where he won gold in the 60-meter hurdles, silver in the penthalon and bronze in the triple jump. Bob said, “Next year I’ll be the young guy in my age group, 80 to 84.” Bob is a relentless workout fiend; he can be found on the Cape track running hurdles. He’s old enough to look scrawny and scraggly, except he still qualifies as a lean track and field machine. Some dude in the meet became the oldest to run the metric mile (1,500 meters) at 95 years old.
There are scrimmages and play day action all over the sports map scheduled for Saturday, March 12. Cape softball is at the Midway Sports Complex with 19 other teams. It’s 84 miles as the crow walks. Baseball is at Sussex Central and Del Tech, while the Cape boys’ and girls’ lacrosse teams are hosting play days. Girls’ soccer is at Dover for a 16-team play day. In the cyber world, all scrimmage and play day performances are quickly shared as everyone wants to know what time it is. The Lucky Leprechaun 5K this Sunday, March 14, begins at 11 a.m. at Irish Eyes in Milton. The parade is scheduled at 2 p.m. The old joke is, “An Irish parade. Three blocks long and 5 feet high.” Go on now, git!
