Photos and stories endure, but can you tell them and sell them?

Take a good look around! This is your hometown! - Zack Gelof showed up at the Millsboro Little League field soon after being drafted in the second round with the 60th pick by the Oakland Athletics. He talked to the Lewes/Rehoboth players, who went on to win the District 3 championship. I had this submitted photo but neglected to drop it in this column because I was thinking of eight other things at the same time – not more important – my brain just often goes into starburst mode. I also have a photo from 2005 of the 10-year-old District 3 champs from Rehoboth Little League. These guys are now 27 years old.  All athletes walk around with a book of stories, “I can tell it, but I can’t sell it.” But guys like me are always interested.

Where you stay at? - A local way of asking “Where do you live?” When I ask a woman athlete just to get context for a story I always ask, “Where do you live, approximately not specifically,” because many people watch true crime stories and see you as a potential stalker on a walker. I was watching a baseball game, Atlanta at San Diego Wednesday night, and the camera flashed an idyllic image of San Diego Beach and I wondered, “Does Manny Machado own beachfront property?” Where would I live if I played for a major league team and could afford to live anywhere I want? I think if I’m in Philly, I'm a penthouse on Rittenhouse Square guy with a car service that takes me to the ballpark. But many Philly athletes live in South Jersey. It's easier back and forth over the Walt Whitman Bridge than heading out on 95 south or west on the Schuylkill Expressway. By the way, Walt Whitman, poet and humanitarian, lived his final year in Camden, N.J., taking care of his mother, and it was there he wrote “Leaves of Grass.” Not bad for a Camden kid, and hence his name is on a bridge. Camden is frequently voted the town where you don’t want to break down.

“The Power of Nice” - That’s the title of a book by Ron Shapiro, super sports agent and contract negotiator. He’s the agent for Cal Ripken Jr. He has a summer place in Bethany and I know him, and just as important, he knows me back. I’ve learned that so many moments in real life come down to a negotiation, and that most people fail to prepare. They simply show up combative, emphasizing they are there to win and are in no mood for making concessions. “Prepare, probe and propose,” and I can tell you, niceness is disarming. Many “I’m here to win” personalities don’t know how to handle it. I’m reading about a worldwide phenomenon centered on rude customers in restaurants, so I guess ordering from a menu is its own negotiation. The Power of Nice is necessary to keep the business afloat, but seriously, what the heck is wrong with people?  

Who wants it more? - In the 1980 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Georgia beat Notre Dame for the national championship. Afterward, Bulldogs fans were in the streets on all fours and barking, prompting a Notre Dame student to say, “If it means that much to you, I’m glad you won.” I don’t think the collective “team” in a championship game ever wants it more than the other team, but some teams just go off in celebration while others are more subdued, like, “That’s right, we bad!” Herschel Walker was a freshman on that Georgia team and may now run for the U.S. Senate seat in Georgia as a Republican, but first he must move back home from Texas. Walker wrote a book in 2008, “Breaking Free,” an autobiography that chronicles his struggles with dissociative identity disorder, which is also referred to as multiple personality disorder. Walker’s father Willis, who raised him, said after publication of the book, “I don't know nothing about that disorder business.”  

Snippets - The Delaware Tech men’s lacrosse team was recently honored as the NJCAA Lacrosse Academic Team of the Year. Sean Tischler is the head coach and former four-year starting goalie at East Stroudsburg University. Franc Cook, former Cape goalie and four-year starting goalie at Lynchburg College, is the assistant coach. Go on now, git!