Cape community will miss two impact players in Harry Moore and Ernie Watts

Harry Moore was part of an all-star Cape school board in the 1970s that included Jim Reed, Jesse Millman, Dave Truitt, Ken Lingo, Buck Ratledge and John Keefe. I came to Cape in the summer of 1975 as a special education teacher and football coach. I was appointed track coach without applying and spent the next 10 successful years apologizing for not being Tom Hickman, whom I replaced. Harry occasionally drove the team bus. Just before the Dover Relays on a Friday night in May 1976, he asked me to stay on the bus after the team left, then told me the school board was upset with me for being coy and not applying for the vacant position of head football coach. I told him my grandmother always said, “Envision yourself doing a job. If you see success, go after it; if you see what the rest of us see, don’t.” Always with the jokes, that woman. I seldom see myself as unsuccessful in anything dealing with athletics, but based on one season’s observations of many town drunks hanging over the fence in downtown Lewes yelling personal insults at coaches, I thought it would be way more fun to be one of them than a target. Harry liked me and was quick to compliment me on my handling of kids, and we were rock solid until 25 years later when I happened to mention that his grandson Mark snapped the ball over the punter’s head in a Delaware game. It all ended in a good chuckle because any man who would wear a Shriner’s hat and drive a miniature car in a Christmas parade has a sense of humor and sense of community. Godspeed, Harry Moore, so many friends and so many stories - as we sports types say, a real impact player.

Ernie Watts - Back when I was “the walking man,” I often ran into Ernie Watts at the Cape Henlopen State Park. Ernie passed away Friday, April 8, at the age of 82. I knew many of his children - there are 10 of them - like Herbie, Matt and David, all naturally ripped and fit athletes and daughter Kim, who has been cutting my hair for 20 years and can tell a story or two. Ernie was a real-life G.I. Joe. He looked tough and sounded tougher. He served in World War II, Korea and an incredible four tours in Vietnam, including two after 1970 during “Vietnamization,” training to turn the war effort over the South Vietnamese army with the United States policy. Ernie was bunker hard but soft as loose sand; he could tell war stories without worrying about correctness of language or politics - unfortunately, I can’t. Ernie Watts, a true American hero, was no joke! If his was the greatest generation, he was among the best of them. According to his daughter Kim, her dad just wanted to be back with his late wife Elizabeth, and looking forward, his last words were, “I’m leaving this place and I ain’t never coming back.”

Snippets - The Cape Coed Relays are Saturday, April 16, coinciding with a lacrosse game on turf field two between the Cape girls and visiting Seton Keough of Baltimore. The softball team will also host St. Elizabeth, and all events start at noon. In my opinion, putting runners and early morning saltwater fishermen on the same road isn’t a good idea, especially when the fishermen have pickup trucks and the runners are on foot. I can see how a runner in full dress New Balance action wear and eating a banana would annoy someone about to place live eels in a bucket, but the bigger question is, which is the more legitimate sport? The fish do fight back, but you don’t have to be in any kind of shape to be an angler; in fact, you can be drunk if you want to. But running with no talent may as well be drinking, so it’s a draw. Matt Cleary of Sussex Central, a former Cape player, pitched a four-hitter and knocked in two runs in a 3-1 upset win over Sussex Tech. Central is at Cape Monday, April 18, in a most serious “what’s up?” game. Cape senior Meg Bartley, a three-sport standout in field hockey, basketball, and lacrosse during her years at Cape, has made her decision and will attend Virginia Tech in the fall and plans to play lacrosse for the Hokies. Cape girls’ track and boys’ and girls’ lacrosse are all in the mixer when things start to churn for postseason glory. But getting there and closing out is always difficult. Every time I see a state championship banner from any sport hanging in the gym, I just let out a big sigh and wonder how long before we see another. No pressure; just have fun out there. Translation: lots of pressure and it’s not always fun. Go on now, git!