Ruly and Tubby gather 100 friends to support Ernie at Irish Eyes

Ruly and Tubby - Delaware is a small enough state that some people are known immediately just by first name. Personally, I make the claim to be the person who knows more people in Delaware who don't know him back than any other public figure who doesn't wear a GPS on his ankle. On May 4 at Irish Eyes in Lewes, Ruly Carpenter, former owner of the Phillies, not to mention illustrious Tower Hill graduate, and Tubby Raymond, Delaware football coach from 1966 to 2001, welcomed more than 100 guests at Irish Eyes in Lewes for a gathering to support Ernesto B. “Ernie” Lopez, a Republican candidate for Delaware’s 6th District Senate seat. “Ernie’s been a great friend of mine,” Raymond said. “I’ve never heard a negative word about the guy; everyone loves him. We are really lucky to have a guy like Ernie Lopez running for the state Senate.” I must out myself and say Ernie Lopez and I became friends when we were in graduate school together at the University of Delaware doing a master of arts program back in 2001. Ernie came to the second class and said, “I told my wife Janice [Drake, a Cape grad] that a guy known as Fredman from Cape was in my class, and she reacted like you were a rock star."  Ernie is unrelentingly Ernie all the time, and if he wins the Republican Senate primary in September, he may reach the stature of First State first name recognition, although there is that Muppet confusion.  I may register as a Republican - May 25 is the deadline - and leave the independent free radical party of my undergraduate years, where I had more stops and starts than a NASCAR race run entirely under a caution flag.

Back off - During the 2003 Delaware run to the 1AA football national championship, as a journalist working tailgates, I listened to more Delaware football alumni stories than any Temple player should endure. Just once I dropped this brief snippet: “I played against Delaware in a game before Tubby was the coach, and my brother Tom played for Penn State before Paterno. We predate the legends of the sport.” Everyone just backed up, no follow-up questions. I think people are afraid you are going to rock “old guy” reminiscences just like them, but as Grand Mom Rose said, “The older the person, the longer their ramblings - it makes sense - and shutting them down politely is nearly impossible."

Charlie and Carla Brown - Charlie Brown, 54 years old, passed away last week, and a nicer, more gentle soul I have never met on my sports beat. Charlie was a road runner who came to the Rehoboth area from California, where he ran for a track club of recovering heroin addicts. The regulars who run road races are an educated and diverse group of tolerant people and remind me of the Lyle Lovett lyric, “I love everybody, especially you.” About a half dozen years ago Charlie started to call himself Carla and I think began sexual reassignment therapies. No one on the running scene cared much, except as a woman Carla would snag too many trophies, because Charlie was a good runner. “I just went by the driver's license,” said Seashore Striders Race Director Tim Bamforth. “It was always Charlie.” Charlie was a brave and gentle person who always said hello to me and I back to him: “What's up, Charlie?” I feel I should have reached out more to understand the person, because gender reassignment is odd, but then again, aren't we all? Mass will be held at St. Edmond's in Rehoboth at 11 a.m., Saturday, May 12.  Friends and family may call between 10:15 and 11 a.m.

Snippets - My message to the Cape girls' lacrosse team: When underdogs meet top dogs, all the positive play by the underdogs is magnified and all the bad plays by the top dogs is magnified. Therefore, top dogs should play like junkyard dogs, and for Cape, the draw starts with the all-time junkyard dog Jacki Coveleski, an athlete who has been in eight final fours and on four state championship teams.

The Henlopen Conference track championships are Saturday, May 12, at Lake Forest.

It's also Prom Day at Cape, which means somewhere on the track or in the field is a blue-chip athlete with a $200 hairstyle. I will be actively looking for that photo; just hope it's a girl.

Go on now, git!