Xfinity to infinity thinking about eternity

Unsung, not unappreciated - Solid sports programs have a depth of athletes usually divided into two teams: the varsity and junior varsity. I’ve never liked the designation JV, which has been around at least 70 years. Can’t we come up with something better that doesn't scream lesser than greater? I watched 15 wrestling matches Tuesday night between Caesar Rodney and Cape before the “main event.” Each match was its own intriguing story, which generated great photos. I don't look at those athletes as junior varsity – they are just wrestlers. By the way, beyond the head coaches for wrestling, boys’ and girls’ basketball, boys’ and girls’ swimming, boys’ and girls’ track, unified basketball and cheerleading, there are 26 coaches who are not head coaches, and I don’t view them as lesser, although all of them make less money.  

Xfinity to infinity - I don’t know the difference between a router, modem and airport. I don’t know when I made a decision to have two Apple IDs and can’t remember the password for one. I just know when my Comcast self-installed-in-three-easy-steps modem arrived on the front porch, I was stuck in wet sand like a 1959 two-wheel-drive Plymouth with 13-inch tires. Thanks to a Techno Goober house call – I know Frank Payton – I was back up and running, except my house phone and fax machine were backwards. After some Marx Brothers room service comedies, answering five different phones with no one there, I figured it out by switching phone lines on the back of the modem. On Saturday, I was on the trackwrestling website trying to make sense of that meat grinder of a grappling tournament known as The Beast of the East. I used the free version, but it comes with endless ads. I was trying to track “Wingspan Gumby” at 157 pounds, the artist also known as Luke Bender. But obscuring the bottom of the bracket was an ad trying to sell me an Infinity car. Infinity is Nissan’s luxury arm; figure spending about $60,000 on a good day. Who tracks the free version of a wrestling tournament online then goes out and buys a new Infinity for Christmas? “I’m thinking about eternity, some kind of ecstasy got ahold of me.” - Bruce Cockburn. 

Commiseration - I sat on a bench in the Cape rotunda Tuesday. It was steadily raining outside. It's my version of Old Guy on the Boardwalk. Girls’ basketball coach Pat Woods sat down next to me on the day of his home opener. We talked about coaching styles and rules of order, being a coach and a dad of children who play sports. Conversations inside schools use the short story format; longer stories get interrupted, and no one has ever said, “Now what were you saying?”   

Delaware Afro-American Sports Hall of Fame - Twelve new people will be inducted at the 24th banquet this April 15 at the Modern Maturity Center in Dover. The Sussex County reps are Jim Alderman, football coach; Michael Harris, football;  Lenny Chasanov, basketball coach; and Marcus Trammel, basketball. Representing Kent County are Ron Allen, coach; Rod Milstead, football; and Carmen Hardcastle, basketball coach. The New Castle County inductees are Charles Hope, football; Devin Park, basketball; Darin Park, basketball; Tamara Stoner, track, and Aldophus Ward, track.    

Dodge Dakota - The FCS championship game will be Jan. 8 in Frisco, Texas, between the South Dakota Jackrabbits and the North Dakota Bison. Most people I know have dodged Dakotas over the course of their lifetimes, but they manage to attract many solid football players. The Jacks play their home games at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. The championship game will be held at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, which is the venue previously known as Pizza Hut Park (2005-12).

Watching World Cup - Penalty shootouts to me are like a boardwalk arcade game; why not decide the outcome with a round of whack-a-mole? After a long game of 120 minutes plus stoppage time, tremendous athletes and storylines, we viewers are told it was the greatest World Cup final of all time. The only reason for penalty kicks is to save time, as we all have someplace to go. Why not allow them to keep playing? It could be more like field hockey seven-on-seven; just open up the field until someone wins. I’m not a soccer guy so I don’t know what I’m talking about, but I don’t like seeing world-class soccer games decided by penalty kicks any more than I like Super Bowls decided by an overtime field goal.

Snippets - The Caravel Buccaneers will grapple at Cape Wednesday, Dec. 21, with JV action starting at 6 p.m. Caravel has beaten Cape in head-to-head dual-meet action the last two seasons. They graduated state champs John Antonio, Nick Hall and Alex Poore. Cape graduated state champs Mikey Frederick and Lucas Ruppert. First-year college freshmen athletes are home for Christmas break, each with a unique story to tell. I call it “catching the car” or “now what?” Is it everything you hoped it would be? Go on now, git!