Ice bag becomes swag for injured freshman Emmilyn Swope

Dislocated and mislocated - Emmilyn Swope has an effervescent personality. She is a freshman two-sport athlete – field hockey and lacrosse – at Cape. Her mom Karli was a Cape athlete. She is currently sidelined after a dislocated knee cap, which hurts when it happens, causing inflammation and a recovery period. At halftime of the varsity game April 26, the JV lacrosse players, fresh off a victory over unbeaten Archmere, were released from the sidelines and into the wild to do what they do best, which is to be happy. I thought Emmilyn had made a hat out of a Chick-fil-A bag; after all, it was lightly raining. Then I realized it was a bag of ice she had been using to ice her knee while watching the game. But I just never thought of a simple truth – that you can’t ice a knee while walking. So why not a hat? It was raining anyway. 

‘You Better You Bet’ - The Who, 1981 - I talked to Ronnie Allen at halftime of the Cape varsity game, a friend since 1975 who has coached more sports seasons than anyone I know. He has been working with Lelia Hughes, the JV goalie. If Lelia were a Teletubby, she'd be Laa-Laa. “Lelia has gotten so much better this season,” I told Ronnie. “She had some nice stops in the game.” “And how about those clears?” coach Ron asked. Sharing the goalie spotlight was varsity goalie Abbey Schaffer, a first-year starter as a senior under the tutelage of Bruce Leibu. She has met her varsity moment as the backstop for a 9-0-1 young team. 

Celebrating cluelessness - The crowd at the NFL draft last weekend appeared to be having more fun than I’ve ever had in my life. Painted faces and crazy costumes, but when Roger “No Personality” Goddell read any pick past No. 100, the fans would cheer like they even knew who just got drafted. I think a few fictional players should have been tossed into the airwaves just to see the reaction. Here’s a question: Did Shedeur Sanders' brother Shilo get drafted? No he did not, but he signed a free agent contract with Tampa Bay as a safety. The brothers appeared together live on Twitch after the signing. I have no idea how to find Twitch, but I think it's not a place for grandfathers of the western world. A quote from businessinsider.com: Twitch is a livestreaming platform for gamers and other lifestyle casters that supports building communities around a shared and streamable interest. Say what? 

Snippets - The flag at the wastewater treatment plant in Lewes was flying at half staff Saturday morning coinciding with the funeral of Pope Francis. I was on American Legion Road to cover the second annual Scott Trot 5K in memory of Scott Peterson. It was a small race with 79 total finishers, won by 15-year-old Quade Cummings in 19:58, a Caesar Rodney wrestler (132 next year) who also runs cross country to stay in shape. Kelsey Oliphant followed by her triplet sister Alexis Oliphant were the first two women. I don't know what happened to sister No. 3, who lives in another state, I'm told. Debbie Isser, 70, and Jen Ward, 53, ran together in 27:17. Debbie is coming off a sub-four-hour performance in the Boston Marathon and is the 70-74 age-group state record holder. Cape junior Andrew Radka ran 1:58.79 at the Unionville Invitational for fourth place overall. Navin Duffy of Cape ran 51.29 in the 400 meters to place fifth at Unionville. Jason Baker set a Cape school record in the 3,200 meters with a time of 9:12. Not bad for a converted soccer goalie. Will DiPaolo was second in the pole vault in 12-feet-6-inches. Cape sophomore Douglas Simpson cleared 12-0 for fourth place. Delaware State women's lacrosse finished the season at 1-14. That is a success story waiting to happen, but it hasn’t happened yet. In the sports world, if someone asks you a question, do you politely give a short answer or do you start telling them your life story? Last weekend, a runner asked me, “Do you ever miss a race?” Instead of saying not many, I went so deep that he started to run in place to keep his steps up. I think the half-marathon needs its own name. Years ago, while I was living in West Chester, Pa., a young girl came into the grocery store and said to the clerk, “Let me have one of  those small half gallons of milk.” She meant a quart, but a middle-aged clerk guy went off about the state of American education. Call it a Shortie and the full The Classic. Just like Wawa. Go on now, git!