Ice cream and wind-driven spray at Dairy Queen 5K

Rude is wrong - Fans are back in the stands and so are some boneheaded boys who sit in the student section, and insult and ridicule players from the other team. That is the moment when peer pressure should take over and friends give the person a heads-up that he is making everyone look bad. I’m not just being a “fuddy duddy buddy” sideline gramps guy with sound waves bouncing off my big head. Rude is just wrong at a high school sports event, and those stupendous students should be kicked out, sent to a penalty box or, worse, a Jack in the Box.  

Wet and windy - The Delaware Bay was cranking April 25 for the 9 a.m. DQ Dash 5K. Every one of 200 runners and walkers was wet from sea spray off the bay. Ocean-sprayed local cran-apples toed the starting line like the alternative rock band Toad the Wet Sprocket, whose biggest hit, “Walk on the Ocean,” peaked at No. 16 in 1996. Oddly, Matt Sparacino, 43, came back first in 18:50 only to hand over his trophy to Ryan Baker, who started later to run with his dad Mark (23:46). Ryan left him after the first mile, running 10:20 over the last two miles for a winning computer chip time of 18:28. Heather Leiggi was the women’s winner in 21:51. “This is the first allowed event in the town since the pandemic shutdown,” said Seashore Striders Race Director Tim Bamforth. “If restrictions loosen up, it’s going to be a great summer season for runners.” Wet runners were happy eating Dairy Queen ice cream on a Sunday morning in a windy-wet parking lot. 

Fear the mis-hear - Robbie Myers, 10, finished the 5K in 26:16, and his mother Alison Myers crossed in 28:35. I also saw Cape sophomore Aubrey Myers there helping out along with other girls from the Cape track team. Alison talked to me at the finish line after her run. She said she was waiting for her 6-year-old to finish. “You left her out there to run unattended?” I asked. “OK, here she comes,” Alison said as Rylie Myers ran 37:07. Watching Rylie finish, I thought, “That is a big and fit 6-year-old,” then realized Rylie is a 12-year-old sixth-grader who goes to Beacon. Glad I straightened that out in my own mind where it ain’t nothing but a good time. 

Division I - I was watching Temple lacrosse play at Vanderbilt April 25 on the Vanderbilt YouTube channel. Then I saw the number of 140 people watching the broadcast. The best thing about having a family member play a Division I sports is you can drop it on someone in the grocery store checkout line before they can get away. 

Blue Hen sports - It’s hard to get excited about a 19-10 spring football FCS playoff win over Sacred Heart. That may be so, but at the end of the tournament, someone is going to be declared national champion. Delaware will play at Jacksonville State University in Alabama at 3 p.m., Sunday, May 2, and the game is on 94.7 WDSD, best listened to from the cab of a pickup truck. ESPN 3 will broadcast the game. It’s impossible to get a good read on Jacksonville State if you’re not sitting in the coaches office watching film, but Delaware will be the favored team. The Delaware field hockey team, winners of the Colonial Athletic Association title after a 3-2 overtime win over James Madison, will play Northwestern on Friday, April 30, in Chapel Hill in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Delaware roster features Ashlyn Carr of Delmar. The Northwestern roster features Alia Marshall of Cape Henlopen. 

Snippets - I compare scores and rosters and previous years’ records just to get a feel about what may happen in upcoming games, but the difference between an educated guess and random guess is zero – one is as good as the other. Coaches know the game on the field viewed from the sidelines usually goes down differently from the one imagined in their heads. I lived two blocks from Connie Mack Stadium until I was 8. I went to the ballpark the way beach kids go to the Boardwalk. Beach bums can watch the ocean forever; it remains soothing. But this baseball bum can barely watch the Phillies; they are just too unnerving. Go on now, git!