Stanford and Xander in the sands of Rehoboth

Hello Stanford in the sand - I caught Aya Daisey's photo as she ran across the sand at Sunday’s Dave Reynolds Biathlon, and my brain started to retrieve 40 years of Daisey family history. Blaine was a sprinter and jumper on my 1981 track team, and he was the Kevin Kennedy Award winner. Blaine was an academic/athletic nice guy who went to Frostburg. He recently thanked me for helping him get there. Aya and her twin sister Amaya were swimmers and ran track at Cape, graduating in 2021. Aya is now at Stanford where the acceptance rate is 5% and the average SAT score is 1500. Amaya is at UCLA. Mariko Daisey played field hockey for Cape, then worked at Walgreens after practices. She graduated in 2015. Mariko is now a UCLA graduate. BJ Daisey, a 2013 Sussex Tech graduate, went on to swim for and graduate from Hood College in Frederick, Md. The Ravens were undefeated in 2013, beating Cape 88-82 with BJ winning four events. Mom Rosalyn Daisey is a nurse. Blaine is a retired state policeman who worked undercover. I’m sure Blaine knew the game, but he certainly didn’t look like he belonged in that world. The lineage on the Daisey side runs through the Nanticoke Indians. Aya finished ninth overall in the biathlon.     

Xander in the Sander - Alexander Geiersbach from Middletown, a fit and fast 24-year-old, won the Dave Reynolds Biathlon Sunday by being first out of the water (10:19), quick out of transition, then throwing down a 19:21 5K to beat Augie Carlozzi by two minutes. Matt Dunn, a 42-year-old fireman from Trappe, Md., was third. Afterward, I asked Xander, “Where are you now in your life?” He said, “I’m doing graduate studies at Brown.” My response, “Oh yeah, I’ve heard of it.” The acceptance rate at Brown is 6.6%.     

Ring My Bell - The Rehoboth Beach Patrol rings the brass bell to start the work day, which takes me back to 1979 and the teenybopper disco hit by Anita Ward. I think Capt. Jeff Giles was on the Rehoboth Beach Patrol in 1979 while l was “already gone” like the Eagles song. I put a photo of Jeff on my Facebook page The Posting Pop Pop on Sunday and wrote, “Jeff Giles, captain of Rehoboth Beach Patrol, looks out at a calm sea last Sunday morning during a biathlon that had lots of moving parts, the most important of which was water safety. Jeff has that peaceful personality; he reminds somewhat of Tommy Coveleski, most of his guards are a generation younger. Jeff's leadership is natural, likability is not a weakness. Sesame Street by the Sea and sometimes we find ourselves in the water. It is all good.” 

Cape basketball - When asked, “What do you know about Cape basketball?” I answered, “Nothing,” then found out the position was open, there were interviews and a decision was supposed to go down at the last school board meeting, but it didn't happen. So now I know that much and a little more, but I no longer chase rumor balls. The only scoop I’m interested in is whipped into a Dairy Queen Blizzard.    

Snippets - Summer sports is tough from the media side of the street, from Little League to beach competitions to all the travel ball teams across the pantheon of sports. Results and rosters are just hard to come by. Just hard enough to identify a photo, let alone write a game story, and that is an inverse change to more games and fewer stories. The running scene is the best, with instantaneous computerized results, while the athletes wear bib numbers so you can actually identify them. When it comes to baseball and softball, no experienced sportswriter is taking a photo of a scorebook, then trying to make sense of it. There’s a company called Pitch Perfect that does precision field lining and logos with a robot that looks like R2D2’s short, fat cousin. Matt Fischer is the name at M_E_Fischer@yahoo.com, or call 443-744-6253. Retire the limer! Most grass fields look like a failed sobriety test. Locals may go to the beach, but they rarely go in the water. Say it ain’t so. Go on now, git!