Postcard-perfect race: Let the images do the talking

Patriot Games - Running a 5K around the perimeter of the Cape campus during a pandemic is on the same level as Joe “Chico” Barrano running a 10K around his basement oil burner during a blizzard (course record). Rob Perciful, Cape assistant cross country coach, said to me Nov. 4 as I waited for the race versus Smyrna to start and finish on the red devil track, “Hey, Fredman, yesterday the girls were running the course which goes past the flags in front of the district office and they said, “This would be a great place for Fredman to stand. He could get pictures of us running past the flags, and that would be so cool.” I can’t take credit for the idea, but I do take credit for being amenable to changing my routine because I know a good idea when I hear one, having heard enough bad ones in my life. 

Postcard Perfect - Why is it you can buy postcards and saltwater taffy anywhere in the country, but it’s not the same as buying both on a boardwalk by the ocean? And why are the images of high school runners from Smyrna and Cape clad in red and blue uniforms racing each other for real with a field of American flags serving as a backdrop so consoling a day after an undecided presidential election? The same reason you don't yap while standing in front of a great painting. You just allow the art and the moment to overpower you. 

Strike Out ALS - There is a championship softball tournament set for Saturday afternoon at the Rehoboth Little League complex organized by the family of Sarah Hudson Layfield, who was recently diagnosed with ALS, often called Lou Gehrig's Disease. It’s a “fun and fundraiser”; wear a catcher's mask or football helmet if that makes you happy, but all pandemic protocols not related to DIAA are in place. Opening ceremonies begin at 12:45. The first round of pool play features East Coast Titans versus Delaware Tribe, Delmarva Freedom versus K&K Raptors, Delaware Express versus Riptide FastPitch and East Coast Xplosion versus Delaware Cobras. If you are a sports muppet bopping about Sesame Street by the Sea, you can start with Sarah Hudson Layfield and when you shake that family tree for an hour, all kinds of athletes and coaches will fall to the ground. I can do that better than most, but I can’t run the risk of missing Pat Cannon (Sarah’s uncle) again like I did in my downstate locals who played for Dave Nelson and Tubby Raymond at Delaware story. 

Orange Juice - The Delmar at Cape field hockey game Nov. 2 at Champions Stadium was full-tilt, up-and-down, all-balls-contested action played by fit and skilled players at every position. Cape has Division I athletic girls all over the pitch, especially in the midfield where games are won and lost. You don’t beat them or control Cape consistently, and no one runs circles around the whippet-fast Wildcats, that’s for sure. I liken defending Delmar to spilling a pitcher of orange juice on a plank floor in an old house – there is going to be seepage. If there are cracks and crevices, the juice will find them. Cape beat Delmar 1-0 back in October 2016 on an Amanda Sponaugle goal off an assist from Alia Marshall. Lori Furgeson was in goal. You have to score to win a hockey game. Holding Delmar down to a pair of goals is a good effort, but you have to score three to beat them. 

Snippets - The adventures of 14-year-old Darby Dog continue. He lives in the zone where atrial fibrillation meets dilated cardiomyopathy. He rides in a 4Runner, bong drops Tastykake mini donuts and chases wild turkeys, turkey buzzards and nearsighted deer. He’s a lap-it-up pup, not a working dog; rather I work for him. Susan is his Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman vegetarian rather veterinarian dispensing medications to clean his ears, after which Darby drives his own head around the kitchen floor. The SoDel Cares 5K is set for Saturday, Nov. 7. It’s a real-people, in-person race. Registration is 8 a.m., with the race start at 9 a.m at Thompson Island Brewing Co. Don’t worry about a race-course map; just follow the person in front of you. Enjoy times spent running through neighborhoods where you can’t afford to live. DIAA is taking up the issue of high school wrestlers and mask wearing. Someone please wake me when it’s over. Cape football at Milford this Friday night is a featured game that each team feels they must win. Milford admits to being small and skilled. Cape does not lack for size and they can drive the football. I don’t make predictions on high school games. That keeps fans from going Rex Tillerson and calling me a moron behind my back. Tampa Bay Bucs coach John McKay said back in the day after his team lost to the Vikings, “I wish the fans would stop booing me and instead boo the people who can’t block.” Go on now, git!