Range Rover girl becomes Dr. Amanda Alexander

Range Rover - I talked to relentless runner Amanda Alexander two years ago about her Range Rover, which she traded for a more dependable Honda. And that was it. I always assumed that otherwise she had no idea or interest in Muppet Fredman. But Aug. 24 at the Dewey Beach Patrol 5K, she ran past my camera and said, “When am I getting in the Cape Gazette?” A quick Google search found that 43-year-old Dr. Amanda Alexander has a PhD in education from American University and a bachelor’s in English, and master’s in curriculum and instruction from Howard University. Amanda is the deputy chancellor of DC Public Schools and former chief of elementary schools. I’m the sports editor emeritus of the Cape Gazette, a title I created for myself so I could do less work. My last column featured Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh running. I have the power to turn a career around backward. Seriously, I always say, “I’m the person in Delaware who knows the most people who don’t know him back.” 

Rugby balls - I saw Cathy Mock at Cape Tuesday afternoon. She is the record holder for back handsprings down the upstairs hallway at Cape High Two. Her dad is Mike Mock. He just turned 80, and to quote my friend Doc Pepper, “He is one bad rig.” Back in the day on his return as a vice principal, I had a baby rugby ball autographed “Fredman hall pass.” A student was using it, but came back to the room without it and told me Mr. Mock took it, saying, “A rugby ball is not a pass.” I told the student, “You ain’t no rugger. You have to fight for the ball. You don’t just give it up.” Two months later at the football banquet, Mock returned the ball to me from the podium, saying, “I know Fredman and knew he would never come ask for it, so here it is, and if I see it again, I’m taking it again.” Once, the Wilmington Rugby Club gave me a signed rugby ball for covering their Atlantic Cup games. “Put this in your truck,” they said. “Some prop may just rip it away from you.” In reality, they had stolen the game ball, signed it and gave it to me. I still have it, all dirty with no air, with inappropriate comments written on it. That’s how we rugby guys treat each other.

Magic Man and Rabbit Runner - Bennett Brumbley, 11, ran the Sundance 5K Aug. 25 in 22:09, then went back out on the Boardwalk to escort Magic Jack Noel, 80, to the finish line. Jack crossed in 47:52. Bennett doubled back and doubled him down, but it was a hands-across-the-water generational moment. Bennett always goes back out to get Doc Masser. Doc is healthy but currently “off his game,” so Jack gets his own wingman. 

Snippets - Tracey Griesbaum, former head field hockey coach at the University of Iowa, is living locally and serving as a volunteer assistant with the Cape program. In 22 years at Iowa, Tracey compiled a record of 169-107. Coach Tracey most recently served as a volunteer assistant coach on the Duke Blue Devils staff in 2017. Coach Tracey played high school hockey at Council Rock in Newtown, Pa. The Sussex County Optimist Club is having a golf tournament to raise money to support all Sussex County schools at 1 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 12, at Mulligan’s Pointe Golf Club in Georgetown. The cost is $75 per person with lunch and a golf cart included. The contact person is Dave Hartman at 302-278-9443. Hopefully, it won’t rain. Cape assistant cross country and track coach Rob Percival keeps the high school secretaries in fresh flowers all summer, making it impossible for the rest of us “sportos” to reach the top rung. In fact, we can’t even get on the ladder. Kim Geyer, a Millersville police officer and avid runner, is coming off disability after wrestling a perp (muke, if you prefer) about four months ago, wrenching her neck. Hey, sore neck or not, when you get the call, “might as well jump,” then you jump. Might as well, go on and git!