Brokaw twins ran and swam for Cape; now they’re California kids 

Hey, Ricky - Ricky Brokaw was a swimmer and cross country runner at Cape, graduating in 2016. His twin sister Grace did the same sports with the same profile. Rick Brokaw is Cape’s school psychologist and a triathlete, and has been an assistant coach knocking around in swimming and cross country for the last decade. He and wife Cathy are a team and always together. Ricky was awarded his PhD in marine science from the University of California at Santa Barbara last month. Grace received her master’s in mechanical engineering from Clemson and is working as a quality engineer in Santa Clara, Calif.

Morbidly obese - The Linemen for Life tribe as they matriculate through life’s food choices are acutely aware of the Yo-Yo Ma diet, with 100-pound weight shifts not uncommon. These men are growlers who drink from growlers whose baseline pizza is extra cheese before toppings are thoroughly on top by the fistful. But Ozempic and Wegovy self-injecting serum threatens to have these guys dancing in front of water fountains as extras in a 5 a.m. commercial. But seriously, I looked at the Patriots’ roster down through the practice squad and found 20 young men well over 300 pounds. Their job requires them to transfer mass into momentum to collide and move other obese guys out of the way or to keep them from destroying the quarterback. The danger of these drugs – don’t read side effects – is that the body dysmorphia crowd gets ahold of them. The ideal-weight crowd decides being rail thin like a metal banister is the look they are going for. 

Full responsibility - An athlete makes a mistake, falls on his sword and says, “I take full responsibility for my actions.” Paul George of the 76ers was suspended 25 games without pay for violation of the NBA’s anti-drug policy. According to ESPN.com, “The suspension will cost George roughly $11.7 million of his $51.7 million salary, or about $469,691.72 for each of the 25 games missed.” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse, "As with all our players, dealing with this kind of stuff, you care about them. We're here to help him in any way possible. And try to get past it as soon as we can, get through it the best way we can, and then go from there." Nick, please go sit down at the other end of the bench. 

Down low - Middle school sports is the down-low (secret) for in-person sports entertainment on the real lifetime channel. Generations of family and cousins all over the place. For a guy like me who is always trying to connect the dots on the kinship tree, it is sensory overload. The connections are made through stories of games gone by, but my working motto – "I can tell it but I can’t sell it” – is always in play. In person is just that personal, but the share button is a social media impersonal exaggerated reality of events that mostly never happened. 

Real competition - “Ain’t no competition like the real competition.” I’ve been hearing this cheerleader chant across generations, and I still don’t know what it means. Like what is the opposite of a cupcake schedule? Perhaps corndog row, I just don’t know. I do know DIAA, the governing sports body in Delaware, is looking to form a competition committee because, frankly, scholastic sports is a world out of balance with just too many games not good for anybody. Look at girls’ basketball’s top three teams – Sanford (13-1), Cape (12-2) and St. Elizabeth (12-3). Sanford and St. E have not lost inside Delaware, while Cape was earlier upset at Ursuline, which is 8-7. The best showcase for a sport is a competition where both teams – or most teams in an invitational – have a chance of winning or getting to the podium. 

Snippets - The Cape boys’ swim team is 11-0, the only undefeated team in Delaware. Sussex Academy (11-0) and Ursuline (10-0) are the only unbeaten teams on the girls’ side. State champions for teams are based mostly on quality of depth. Salesianum has dominated the boys’ statewide competition. The private schools and charters have dominated the girls' side. College spring sports teams that are already outside and playing are bumping the schedule around to avoid the brutal cold, which is double dangerous when lacrosse balls are flying about at 100 mph. Cape’s Liam Ramsey was presented with the DIFCA All-State Sportsmanship Award at the recent all-state banquet. Liam is currently undecided on which college he will attend. Go on now, git!