Fleeing the mat to avoid takedown is a judgment call

Fleeing the mat - Carson Kammerer lost a 9-7 decision to Ryan McKelvey of Delaware Military Academy at 132 pounds in the final bout of Cape’s 42-33 victory. I had never seen the official before, but I thought he did a tremendous job. He was emphatic, decisive and loud. The dude slapped the mat hard like he had seen a cockroach running across the kitchen floor. There were nine pins in the match. But late in the Kammerer match, he called Carson for fleeing the mat and awarded a point to McKelvey. Cape coach Chris Mattioni told the ref, “That’s the worst call of the night.” Coach said it two more times, so the official banged him with a one-point team deduction for unsportsmanlike behavior. I asked Mattioni to explain fleeing the mat. He responded by email. “Fleeing the mat is when a kid intentionally goes out of bounds to stop scoring from occurring. It typically happens on your feet when someone is in deep on a shot and they drag the action out of bounds. Garrett Smith beat Alvante Drummond on a fleeing call. I have never seen it happen on the mat.” 

Hanging at the hotel - I was at the Titans consolation Super Bowl party in 2000 at an Atlanta hotel an hour after they lost to the Rams. I was talking with an older gentleman about the game and randomness of life stuff. Later my nephew Mike, who was on the Titans team, came over to me and said, "Hey, Uncle Fredman, did you enjoy your conversation with that guy?” “Yeah, he seemed really nice," I said. Mike responded: "That is the owner of the team, Bud Adams. Why do you always go right to the top?" "Go ask Bud,” I said. “He was doing the same thing." Actually I thought Bud said his name was "Buzz," so that's what I kept calling him. The extended family of the late Bud Adams, who died in 2013, still owns the team. 

I almost left out - The Texans jumped ahead of the Chiefs 24-0 early in the second quarter. I considered switching the channel to “Law and Order,” but knew if the Chiefs came back I’d have to lie and say I stayed with the game. Then the Texans were outscored 51-7 in what some writers described as an epic choke. The Ravens collapsed like a campground pup tent, losing 28-12. A fan collapsed and died in the upper deck as well, which qualifies as tragic and eerie. The Ravens sideline coaches had that PTSD look while watching the Titans’ running game batter their defense, then asking Lamar Jackson to throw the ball 59 times. Both the Chiefs and the 49ers are early seven-point favorites heading into this weekend’s conference championship games. 

Scooter Bieniemy - Eric “Scooter” Bieniemy is the first-year offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs. Andy Reid stands next to him, but Bienemy calls the plays. He was an All-American at Colorado in 1991 and later after a nine-year NFL career as a player, he served as offensive coordinator for the Colorado Buffaloes. One loud noise and the herd of Buffalo run in the same direction, no coordination required. A question for Eagles fans, would you trade Carson Wentz and Doug Pederson to the Chiefs for Eric Bieniemey and Patrick Mahomes?

“Cut him! Let him up!” Andre Currie won a 25-10 technical fall victory at 170 pounds versus Steven Novack of DMA by exchanging two-point takedowns for one-point escapes. Andre had 11 takedowns in the match. The senior will leave Cape after this season as the all-time leader in takedowns. One way to avoid the takedown strategy is to stay down like a tired teenager on a fog-delay Monday. The tech fall where the match stops at a 15-point lead was instituted to stop three full periods of takedown dominations. The takedown specialist sometimes gets caught and pinned; it is a risky tactic.  

Snippets - The word carbohydrate has made a strong comeback in 2020, and I honestly don’t know what it means or what carbohydrates look like and why marathoners used to “carbo load” the night before a race. I read all about carbs and quickly realized I want a big round donut with white icing. Here’s a Fredman discovery, “The brain needs carbohydrates, specifically glucose, because neurons cannot burn fat.” Smart people and dogs eat donuts. I knew Darby and I were onto something. Go on now, git!