GOING TO CHURCH - I watched both bands march into last Friday night’s Middletown versus Sussex Central state championship game and noticed how band parents who march alongside always look so proud because they know this night is about them, not some stupid football game.
And as I stood there on the sideline with my cool Cape Gazette pass around my neck, I knew the game was about me and it appeared the officials thought it was about them and the guy responsible for the lights and scoreboard thought it was about him.
Too many media chasing the same story is the way I see it, and 25 minutes after the game is over, after end zone go to church team meetings, trophy presentations and visits from relatives, then would the media losers like me would get a chance to speak with a player or coach?
In the NFL and in NCAA football it is required that the head coach and requested players make themselves available to the media 15 minutes from the end of the game. In high school there is no such rule and it’s worse for a daily deadline writer because, unlike my old butt, he can’t just walk away blurting, “freak this!”
I have some buddies - grown men always have buddies - on the Central staff, and I just put my arm around defensive coordinator Dave Marvel and said, “Great season, I wish it could have happened for you.”
BIASED PERSPECTIVE - I watched last Friday night’s state championship game at Delaware State and responded to the question, “What do you think?” by saying, “It was Central’s game to lose” because I thought they were a physically superior team.
I take nothing away from Middletown because I didn’t give them anything in the first place. Everyone knows Middletown has tough kids and they are a football community and they won nine games coming in and were the top seed, but at halftime with the game tied at 13-13, I was still convinced Central was physically better. When it got to 22-13 and Central got down to the five yard line, I turned and looked at the packed stands and thought, “Finally, after 36 years of state tournament play Sussex Central will put the trophy in the bus and they may never stop celebrating.”
The real story after the game is that Central felt deflated, like somehow their best effort didn’t come through when they needed it the most. I know the disappointment was crushing, like they didn’t “protect this house” as the Under Armour slogan reads. In the old days when you lost a football game it was because someone knocked your nose into the dirt several times. Now there is no dirt and you often lose by being out of position, by failed execution or perhaps by being exploited by some Pop Warner “hook and ladder” from the firehouse playbook.
Don’t tell me it’s lateral. When is the last time you saw a hook and lateral truck?
OPTION FOOTBALL - The Uni Dome and Gateway Conference and Northern Iowa Panthers - it just doesn’t sound very smash- mouth football to me. So maybe it was fitting; finding telecasts of the game last Saturday was like locating the football in the triple option. Was the game on Channel 12, 33 or 242, or was that my high school locker combination?
And what is up with joining a game live an hour after kickoff? Then there’s the ESPN game plan in the 700 numbers where you can watch all four IAA quarterfinal games for $21 dollars.
But first Comcast needed the numbers to ping your digital box which they didn’t have, so I gave up on them. So there I was Saturday afternoon - WHYY Loser Guy - suffering through a game that faded in and out. I was afraid a Doo Wop reunion show would come on at any moment because there was snow on the roof of the Uni Dome.
Delaware is the best team in AA, which means see you later Salukis of Southern Illinois - refuel the Hooters plane for a return charter to Chattanooga. And who can resist this from the Chamber of Commerce: “Come and encounter the wonder of the Chattanooga Choo Choo.”
It’s a freaking train - yo, I’ve seen lots of them.
BINKY BALL - The biggest mistake most men ever make is dropping your best friend - the binky blanket - at age 2 because someone told you to grow up. I must have fixated back in those days because I still love big, old blankets - afghans, quilts, comforters, stuffed animals and, if combined with sports teams, I’m wrapping myself like the pig in a blanket as I’m watching two high definition football simulcasts in my garage.
Janet Myers of Lewes has been a quiltmaker for 32 years. She is a lifelong athlete and sports fan - Virginia Tech and University of Delaware. Her stuff is awesome in case you’re looking for that Christmas gift for the sportsman who can’t get enough memorabilia and props to adorn his bonus room.
Janet, in memory of her 29-year-old godson who lost his life in an ATV accident last year, is auctioning a one-of-a-kind University of Delaware T-shirt quilt to raise money for a memorial fund and scholarship. She is also donating money to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund.
The Delaware quilt is autographed by Delaware presidents David Roselle (former) and Patrick Harker (current) and also head football coach K.C. Keeler and quarterback Joe Flacco. Go to EBay – don’t drive - then to Sports Memorbilia, Cards and Fan Shop. The quilt will be posted on Friday, Dec. 7, and if the Hens win another national title I’m sure we can get 50 players to write on your quilt if that is your desire. Janet’s quilts can fondled and/or purchased at Pete’s Antiques on Route 9 near Harbeson.
SNIPPETS - Greg Mack is the relentless Lewes Polar Bear jumping in the ocean and taking names while I pursue my sportswriter job which pays me $150 grand a year and before you turn on me and cancel your subscription, but not prescriptions, I am, of course, lying. I make a lot more than that or maybe I don’t!
Jumping into the ocean Dec. 2 were: Samantha Price 16, Kara Walsh 17, Alita Ostapkovich14, Sonny McClure 47, Maragret McClure 12, Charles Lammando 69, Virginia Lammando 61, Ursula Catts 11, Helen Catts 12, Cheryl Hamm 49, Christian Smith 11, Richard Smith 57, Tom Gusmer, Greg Mack and Connie Miller. Notice that locals don’t provide ages. The next Polar Plunge is New Year’s Day at 1 p.m. at Cape Henlopen State Park. Beware of the Citizens Patrol!
