Sports fans are the snap dragons in the stands

Lightning and liftgating - A Thursday night field hockey game was delayed. I sat on the bumper of my 2004 4Runner under the liftgate. I was there for an hour talking with people who wanted to talk. I am your all-access field pass at sporting events. But my butt was starting to hurt. I considered going home, except I was covering the big game, so I waited and kept conversing. Back to the field, camera on my shoulder, I stand back and pull down the liftgate, which dumps water on my head like an outside shower. The game is great, featuring 60 minutes of emotional mayhem. Pockets of mist envelop the players in the second half – images shrouded in clouds. They make for cool photos. The game ends with a sudden victory for Smyrna. I am in the eye of the bipolar zone, the extremes of emotions – elation for Smyrna, while Cape stands still in bewilderment. I exit stage left like Sylvester the Cat before I have to talk to anyone. We all be who we gotta be, and I gotta be me. 

Anna Bockius - The Padua Pandas distance star and Rehoboth summer kid, a senior cross country and distance star, has committed to the University of Notre Dame. There are all kinds of Notre Dame connections through Ellen Quinn, Anna’s mom; it’s not a legacy thing, but more of mutual people connected by Notre Dame.      

Dogfish Dash - The 18th running of the Dogfish Dash was held Sept. 28 in Milton. If I’ve missed photographing one, I can’t remember. It’s basically a 2,000-photo morning. There were about 1,100 running times recorded in a season of slow walkers and talkers. It's more of a happening rather than a competitive race. Dylan Smiley, 27, walked the dog on the following field, running the 6K in 19:06. Tracey Eckert, 39, a Jersey girl, was first woman in 25:05. Andy Gorlich, 40, won the male masters title, while Renee Valenti, 41, was female masters champion in 27:49. An array of zany costumes adds to the festivities of the race. 

Cape boys’ cross country - The boys of coach Matt Lindell placed fourth Sept. 27 at the Carlisle Invitational. Jason Baker was overall champion with a school record 5K time of 15:19. Cape’s other runners were Riley Stazzone in 16:20, Andrew Radka in 16:34, Nick Petito in 16:43, Brayden Redd in 16:58 and Josh Cohen in 17:06.

Storm and stress - Psychologists refer to the period of adolescence consisting of heavy-duty storms and stresses requiring adjustments and coping mechanisms. Add to that streaming, sports and social media as played out on social media platforms and you can hear your own heartbeat. I call this bipolar post-traumatic game disorder. My weekend started with Smyrna field hockey players storming the field after a sudden-victory goal at Cape. And it ended watching a 40-40 overtime tie featuring the Packers at Dallas. In between there was all kinds of crazy, including Wahoos storming the field after Virginia upset Florida State and Penn State fans storming the exits after an overtime white-out home loss. Videographers of the western world bring all these moments to your phone – the good, the bad and the ugly.         

Snippets - The Pioneers of Sacred Heart University came back to defeat Delaware State 35-31 to improve to 4-1 on the season. SCU outscored the Hornets 15-0 in the second half. DSU (3-2) plays at Monmouth Saturday, Oct. 4. Monmouth is 3-1 having just beaten Villanova 51-33. Sacred Heart and Monmouth are names that don’t strike fear in the hearts of fearless football fans, but those jokers have talent and can play some football. Maurki James (Cape) carries the ball for Old Dominion University. Maurki has a cumulative 24 carries for 85 yards for the 3-1 Monarchs. Julius Timmons (Caesar Rodney) was 6-for-24 for 89 yards as Alvernia lost to Misericordia 41-10. Ethan Felker (Cape) plays defense for the Misericordia Cougars. Indian River field hockey (6-1) hosts Cape Thursday, Oct. 2. The terms “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” come to mind, so we’ll see, “Wasabi?” Cape football plays at Appoquinimink Friday, Oct. 3. Appoquinimink comes from a native American word that loosely translates to wounded duck. Appo’s mascot is the Jaguar – not Jagwire – while Odessa teams are the Ducks. Go on now, git!