Heartbeats idle during anthem before tachycardia of competition
Poised performance - Dyleen Enright of Cape and Juliana Marino of Delaware Military Academy each led off a session of the state wrestling tournament by singing the national anthem. I took a photo of each senior girl beforehand, telling them I would also grab a couple closeups while they were singing. Their poise and lack of nervousness astounded me. Then their talent was so breathtaking that you could hear 1,200 heartbeats idling before the tachycardia of competition filled the gym. Different types of talents all over the arena are what psychologists call multiple intelligences, the aptitude of amplitudes.
Drum line - It’s sort of like a conga line in Cuba, except the marchers don’t weave and snake. Fourteen weight classes, eight wrestlers deep, circle a single mat before championship competition begins. For the finalists, it’s kinda of weirdly honorable to hold a weight-class banner with a person who later will be focused on ripping the dream from the depths of your soul. “I don’t wanna wrestle, I just want to bang on the drum all day.”
“Yewt” Scoot Boogie - A tradition started by the Zen Master of Cape girls’ lacrosse PJ Kesmodel is that all players run a timed mile to start the season. To be a varsity candidate, the athlete has to break 7:30; it’s sort of like a praxis before practice. Goalies set their own standards because if a goalie is more than five yards from the cage, they better be heading for the bench or the penalty box. There have been some great lacrosse players who couldn’t break 7:30 in the mile who made varsity and went on to play in college. But the angst is real, and I guess it's an incentive to show up in shape. Back in the days of linemen wearing high-top cleats, I remember a requirement of breaking 6:30 in the mile while wearing full equipment. I don’t know if it was cruel and unusual, but at least one of those, and add in hilarious.
Franchise tag - The NFL is a 12-month season. We’re now in the run-up to the May draft, which is all about obnoxious contracts worth tens of millions of dollars. It's like an interactive slave auction where those bought and sold are millionaires. I find it obnoxious and unrelateable. Capitalist values are skewed toward maximizing profits; any other storylines are just collateral damage.
Where were you - Three years ago, I was covering the Henlopen Conference track championships when a dad along the fence identified himself as a runner then said, “I appreciate you taking photos at all the races, but ...” “But what?” “I ran a race in Rehoboth three years ago but you weren’t there, so where were you?” “I must have been someplace else,” was all I could think of before questioning myself, “So where were you?” The 12th annual Lucky Leprechaun 5K is Sunday, March 9 in Milton. “Ask yourself one question, leprechaun. Do you feel lucky? Well, do you, you pugnacious punk?”
Active non-listening - I have spoken to athletic teams about how to conduct themselves during post-game media interviews and the responsibility of being a member of a team. I would often say, “Always listen to your parents, except sometimes. And those sometimes are when a parent works to undermine your commitment to being a good teammate. Then you should shut them down.” It is part of the growth process, mostly for parents.
Loosey-goosey - Perhaps the best up-and-down players in basketball and ice hockey history are Steph Curry and Wayne Gretzky. Neither are weight-room guys; they’re just dynamic in open spaces, with a serious case of the quicks. Plus, they can see things before they happen. Thicker is not always better in thought and action.
Snippets - Lulu Rishko, a freshman, scored her first collegiate goal as Delaware women’s lacrosse beat Wagner 14-6. Ella Rishko, her older sister, had four goals in the game. Douglas Horton of Sussex Academy (26-8) was the first Seahawk in school history to place in the state championships, winning his fifth-place match over Carter Boyd of Middletown by fall in 23 seconds. Cape senior Colin Poulis, 144 pounds, closed out his career placing eighth in the state meet. I wrote the following about him in my Feb. 18 column, extolling his toughness, “Colin will have trouble qualifying for states at this weekend’s conference tournament.” Well, he qualified, and then he placed at states. And he thanked me for taking photos throughout the season. A wrestling phrase is, “Change your level.” I’d say Colin leveled me up. Thanks, kid! Go on now, git!
