Running is No. 1 at Sesame Street by the Sea

Running mecca - The No. 1 local sport here at Sesame Street by the Sea – when you factor in athlete participation and number of minutes each athlete competes on game day – is running. Over Labor Day weekend, the Seashore Striders’ 34th Last Blast Prediction Run drew 136 runners Aug. 31, while Races2Run’s 12th Summer's End 5K featured 159 runners Sept. 1. That’s a total of 259 runners in 24 hours. There are no playing time issues with runners – the horn goes off and everyone runs.  

Roll deep - Elijah Shockley-Taylor and Prince Mosley earned free admission and an alias name tag to Fredman’s end-of-career sports banquet spanning 45 years of confused cats and juxtaposed jocks. My column last Friday featured Elijah Shockley-Taylor but ran with a photo of Prince Mosley. The mistake happened because Prince wore the number assigned to Elijah on picture day, so Dan Cook sent me the wrong photo, as he is just as crazy as me. Next to happen is that Elijah and Prince can confuse Fredman and Cook so everyone can be insulted. The following is the original paragraph but with proper photos: Elijah Shockley-Taylor, a junior on the Cape football team, sat in a white Toyota Sienna Van at the top of my hairpin driveway of sports memories.  Coach Jack Fred was giving him a ride home from football ball practice. I came out of garage door no. 3 like a retired coach on “Let’s Make A Deal.” Elijah, who are you to Thaddeus Shockey?”  “He’s my pop pop.” No way,”I  said. “Did he tell you about the time he sang at senior services and made the lunch ladies cry?” “Oh, you’re talking about my uncle Thaddeus.” And so we did the family tree thing. It was logical. Stephan Shockely was also his uncle while his mother is Tabitha or, as I called her in high school, “Tabby Cat.” Jack asked Elijah,”Do you know who Fredman is?”  “Yes, he’s the guy who takes pictures.” 

Badgering banter - One day of relentless college football commentaries and analysis after every single play featuring short staccato sentences had me wanting to wear a backward helmet with no ear holes. If someone gave you a 50-yard-line ticket but you had to sit next to an expert who was going to overly explain every single play and its relevance to the history of college football, would you take it? I bring my own hype to my life in whatever I’m doing. We all know that easily excitable people who know everything just wear everyone else out. 

Attendance figures - Delaware football beat Bryant in the home opener Thursday night 48-17 in front of 17,244 fans, but who’s counting? Delaware State beat Sacred Heart on the road 17-15  Aug. 31. The attendance was announced as 4,271. Sacred Heart will play at Delaware Saturday, Sept. 28. Richmond field hockey beat William and Mary 7-1 Sept. 1 in front of 304 spectators. Grace Wiggins started for the Spiders and had two assists. Mackinzie Brown (Cape) started for the Tribe and had one defensive save. Richmond will host App State Friday, Sept. 6. The Mountaineers opened the season with a 3-0 win over Towson in front of 250. Sam Connors (Cape) scored a goal. App State also beat Georgetown 3-0. With 188 fans in attendance, Alvernia lost to Gettysburg 2-1. Gianna DeGregory (Caravel/Lewes) and Carley Mackert (Milford) play for the Red Wolves of Alvernia. I mention attendance figures just for perspective. It’s not surprising that most college students don’t go to games.  

Ralphie the Bison - He passed admissions and was accepted at the University of Colorado at Boulder and is probably on scholarship. I’m talking about the guy in the moth-eaten mascot suit. But seriously, Colorado leads the nation in portal transfers going out and coming in. There were 42 new guys on the roster. I'm sure there is an admissions team that handles nothing but incoming transfers for football, and another team that handles financial aid. Major universities have given up all pretext of developing student-athletes. Notre Dame had 12 transfers on the roster. The acceptance rate at Notre Dame is 13%. Average annual cost at ND is $80,000, but it’s unlikely anyone pays that number. The entire system is just a mystery. 

Snippets - A digital downer. I rolled left to snag my phone in the dark to check the Phillies-Braves final and it showed the Braves winning 3-2 in 11 innings. I know what I saw! The MLB site had the numbers on the wrong side. I woke up to find the Phillies had won 3-2, now up by seven games with 25 to play and a magic number of 19. Grab your Magic 8 Ball, invented in 1950 before Siri, to predict the playoff future. Just don’t read game results on a cellphone in the middle of the night. Go on now, git!