Cape ballers from 50 years ago receive Hall of Fame honors

Flashback 50 - The 1975 Cape state championship boys’ basketball team of coach Ralph Baird and assistant Don Lockwood was honored April 19 by the Delaware Afro-American Sports Hall of Fame. The recognition came 50 years after an undefeated season and the first of back-to-back state championships. Roster members of the 1975 squad were: Carlton “Snoop” Allen, Jimmy Allen, Ronson Burton, Lorenzo Mifflin, John Allen, Purnell Ayers, John Bishop, Jeff Hood, Bill McGuinness, John Roope, Dean Sherman, Howard Stevenson and Emery Sumlin. Cape games up through the 1975 basketball season were played at the MIlton gym on Federal Street. Fans lined up for hours before game time, with couriers delivering subs from Norma’s Sub Shop. Many longtime trackers of Delaware boys’ basketball consider the 1975 team as the best of all time. The double-decker Little Big House opened for the 1976 season and was often described as a gym with a school attached. Saturday night’s recognition was part of the annual event where athletes from Delaware’s three counties are inducted. Coach Baird and players Jimmy Allen, Purnell Ayers and John Bishop were previously inducted into the Hall of Fame as individuals. The DAASHOF has been inducting members since 1999.

Miz Lillie - Lillie Mapp is broad-shouldered and strong, with a sweet voice and a personality to match. Lillie, a Cape girl all the way, was inducted into the Delaware Afro-American Sports Hall of Fame April 19 at the Modern Maturity Center. Lillie started varsity basketball as a Rehoboth High eighth-grader in 1967, and also played field hockey and softball. She spent her last two years as a starter on the Cape Henlopen basketball team, graduating in 1971 as a 1,000-point scorer along with teammate Donna Baker. It marked the first time two Delaware high school players passed the 1,000-point mark in the same season. In the case of Lillie and Donna, it was the same week. Lillie was also all-conference for field hockey and softball. 

Fragmented information - Here are some Cape girls who were 1,000-point scorers in high school: Lille Mapp, Joyce Millman Rauch, Donna Baker Schirmer, Kattie Delcampo, Maggie Widdoes, Shaquanna Cannon, Zelda Shepperd, Wilma Coursey, Andre Carey, Brittany Reid, Dania Cannon and Abbey Hearn. If you are sure someone is missing, please give me a heads-up, because what we need is more cowbell.

Bigger - stronger - faster - more fragile - Young female athletes suffer more orthopedic mishaps by percentages than men in the same sport and age group. Think of knees, shoulders and hips, all those straps, ligaments and tendons holding the high-performance athlete together. Injuries that require surgery and rehab often set the athlete back an entire calendar year. Best to talk to women who have been there, those who rose to the top in their sport, only to be dropped by a tear of the rotator cuff or ACL, perhaps a hairline fracture of  a small bone they never heard of. Weight training and stretching all delivered so sensibly seems reasonable. So many female athletes aspire to play next level, but playing fast and strong comes with risks like too much torque and force, and one bad foot plant or hyperextension could result in a 20-pound, 12-month shutdown. Good nutrition combined with undertraining is an option.

Remembering Billy Martin - I would like to see more volatility in the dugouts of major league baseball teams, like Yankees manager Billy Martin and Earl Weaver of the Orioles. I like Phillies manager Rob Thomson, but I would not want to sit next to him on a transcontinental flight. I know the game is hard; it's the only sport where I hear that refrain repeatedly, “This game is hard,” but how about more emotional buy-in? Perhaps a pitcher losing his mind after going seven innings only to see some chump reliever give up three runs before three outs. The Phillies are too chilled, and the Orioles need to ditch that birdbath and start playing mad.

Snippets - I covered the Bunny Palooza 5K in Bethany the morning of April 19, talking photos of 800 runners from the start to the finish line, but at least I got a stuffed bunny wearing a medal as payment. The actual mascot bunny said to me, “Thanks for your service,” like I had been to Baghdad  instead of Bethany. A couple of different big guys in frenzied finish mode almost ran over me. There is no doubt that at the end  of some charity race, perhaps leader dogs for the blind, I am going to get trucked. “Fredman shoulda got gone!” Go on now, git!