Iceberg lettuce heads are the poltergeists of produce aisle

Layered player - I was five sheets to the cold wind Saturday morning, layered up and parked nose-in on the ocean block an hour early for the Run to the Plunge 5K to benefit Special Olympics Delaware. It was 20 degrees outside my 4Runner. I had stepped off an assignment in Lewisburg, Pa., to photograph a lacrosse game featuring visiting Mercer versus Bucknell. The game time temperature up there was 13 degrees, and I calculated that three hours in that weather taking photos might kill me, and if anyone ever says, “That is the way Fredman would have wanted to go out,” they are always wrong. I want to stay like a lazy dog off the leash. I saw John Lingo walk by my car. I know Lingo Realty sponsors the Run to the Plunge because they are all about getting behind good causes, so it was time for me and my blue chair to get out into the wild to snag photos of the ceremonial passing of polar plaques. The weather at Sesame Street by the Sea was weird. There was no wind, so little discomfort, but Iceberg Lettuce Heads were talking to me like poltergeists from the produce aisle. Got my photos, then hung around for the 5K race – just an amazing array of 321 outfits, including two fast guys who ran shirtless.  

Banquet at Baywood - I emceed the Cape field hockey program Sunday morning for a brunch special featuring a reverberating microphone in a cavernous room. We are all living in attention span land, yet I am the master of ceremonies who can tie Cape sports histories together. I felt like a Chinese balloon off the coast of South Carolina. Fifty years past Title IX (1972), the girls at Cape are killing it on the fields and in the classroom. Fifteen field hockey juniors and seniors were NFHCA Academic All-Americans; eight have a 4.0 GPA. There is a reason that when you think of a class clown, the image of a male pops up, because females don’t play the fool in the classroom; generally, they take care of business. 

New York Post - The tabloid has always been great with headlines. Monday’s back-page headline was “YOU CAN MAV HIM,” a story about the trade of Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks, where he will join forces with Luka Doncic. I just don’t see that working, but it will be weird to watch, like most NBA regular games. The secret to success in the NBA is said to be chemistry, so it will be interesting to watch this mixture mature once the playoff heat gets turned up. 

Livestreamed - I am a YouTube boob, can’t unmute. I had two windows open Saturday, watching Cape wrestle at William Penn on the left and Sussex Central against Salesianum on the right. I actually like hometown-biased broadcasting. It gives me a sense of the local culture, but silence is golden as well. Just flash a photo of the scoreboard so viewers have a clue as to what’s going on. 

Snippets - Woodbridge girls’ basketball has rolled through the Henlopen Conference Southern Division this season (12-3) but has losses to Ursuline 64-48 and Caravel 70-52. Caravel (10-4) plays at Ursuline (16-0) Tuesday, Feb. 7. Cape (14-2), winners of 14 in a row, lost to Caravel 51-30 in the first game of the season. The Henlopen Conference Championship game, likely to be Cape versus Woodbridge at a neutral site, promises to be a packed house frenzy. Cape is the defending Henlopen Conference champion. The Cape boys’ basketball team (10-5) will play at Polytech Thursday, Feb. 9. The Panthers are unbeaten in Delaware. Valentine's Day will feature the Salesianum boys’ swim team versus unbeaten Cape at the Sussex Family YMCA (crank up the Village People). At the DIAA state track meet, Ryan Baker won the 3,200 in 9:34.54. Cape’s three junior pole vaulters captured the top three spots, with Bailey Fletcher at 13-feet-even, Eddie Houck at 12-0 and Brady Mauro at 11-6. That is incredible and becoming part of Cape lore because it has never happened before. Full state meet results will be in Friday’s paper. Go on now, git!