Fall colors captured at cross country races and in the marshlands

Tapestry - A cross country race through the flora and fauna of fall foliage ambulates like a tapestry of colors. Feet on the ground, the peloton undulates and slithers, looking like a snake painting in the window of the Thunderbird Shop on Rehoboth Avenue. The T Bird Shop, with its focus on Native American art and jewelry, closed in 2013 after 60 years in business. Perhaps wildlife artist Richard Clifton – the duck stamp guy who can capture the color of ducks – can be commissioned to paint cross country runners. I know he has the skill if he has the will. But all seriousness aside, why isn’t there a noted sports artist knocking about? Go to richardclifton.com to awaken the artist in you and find the perfect gift for that special person who enjoys staring into space. 

Seems like a long time - Doctor tells a sickly and sniveling man, “ You have 24 minutes to live.” The man responds, “Damn, what should I do?” Doc, “I suggest watching a girls’ JV basketball game.” “Why should I do that?” asked the man. “It will be the longest 24 minutes of your life.” Meredith Fred, a freshman, made the Cape JV basketball team. It looks like the longest season of my life is about to commence. I’m trapped inside my own joke.

Always in play - We know the expression "out of sight, out of mind" usually applies to writers and photographers, except here at Sesame Street by the Sea. The term family has permanence for step-back Muppets like me who remain in play because of what I call Cape kids who keep it going. I was hanging in the Cape rotunda Wednesday morning during the power outage when footballer Navin Duffy emerged from the shadows to say hello. He was proud to tell me he was the all-conference punter with a 47-yard average. We talked about the upcoming game at Salesianum. I snapped a photo because it seemed like a good idea. I thanked Navin for taking the time to come up and talk to me. It was a special moment, like being recognized at a family reunion.

Smart talk - I mostly talk to people two generations away, and I notice how they express themselves, from vocabulary to sentence structure. I can tell people who read, who live in a household where people talk to one another and have a well-formed system of values. When I first saw an interview with recently acquired Eagle Jaelan Phillips before ever watching him play, I thought, “Smart kid. Solid person. The type of person you win championships with.” We Eagles fans saw his performance Monday night against the Packers, and we saw Micah Parsons. I’m taking Jaelan, who’s 6-foot-5, 263 pounds and just 26 years old, straight up over Micah. Phillips is a music man. I know many linebackers but none are music majors, no matter how many times they’ve gotten their bells rung. What the glockenspiel! 

NBA - Gambling-related scandals in MLB and NBA has the non-gambling fans trending from quizzical to skeptical. Fans from 50 years back complained that NBA players were lazy and didn’t start playing hard until the fourth quarter. I’m a longtime Philly fan going back to the Warriors who left for San Francisco, leading to the arrival of the Nationals, who left Syracuse to become the 76ers. I googled 1776 and the infinite world of the cyber universe spit back the steakhouse in Midway before getting to the Declaration of Independence. I’m finding the current NBA just hard to watch. 

Snippets - The NCAA college field hockey tournament brackets have been constructed for all three divisions. There are local connections in each. Go to www.ncaa.com/sports/fieldhockey for brackets. Emma Westbrook (Sussex Academy) plays for Division II top seed Newberry. Westbrook is the second-leading scorer in the nation for Division II.  Maryland field hockey missed the NCAA tournament for only the second time in 30 years. Under head coach Missy Meharg Maryldn, they made the tournament 34 of 37 years and won seven national titles. The Cape boys’ and girls’ indoor track teams list a total of eight paid assistants and two volunteers on its website. Wrestling has five paid coaches and four volunteers. Hollyann Wettstein, a Cape trainer, is listed as the head coach for girls wrestling. There is a full schedule that ends with the state championships at Smyrna in February. I can’t wait to cover the Cougar Invitational and the Queen of the Jungle tournaments. Go on now, git!