A day at the races, lots of runners and faces 

Coach culture - The varsity boys’ race started at 3:20 p.m. on a picture-perfect Saturday, Nov. 4, at Killens Pond for the Henlopen Conference Cross Country Championships. A half-mile into the race, Caesar Rodney coach Mike Tucci showed up at the finish line looking at his watch. His boys’ team was favored to win, but his focus was on waiting for the last runner, Presley Robinson (47:40), in the girls’ JV race. Fast forward: I am trudging toward my car after four races and 2,000 photos over four hours. I’m always the stop-and-chat guy and someone says, “How does the CR coach even know what those kids are doing beyond the top runners? He has so many kids,” I responded. “Trust me, he knows. He was standing there waiting for his last JV girl to give her the time and offer encouragement." I joked, “That wouldn't be me." The guy said, "Did you get her picture?" "Yes, I did." "Then I guess it is you."

Rope line - I am a credential guy. I play inside the ropes at cross country races. That’s what I’m talking about. I walked the line and talked to the grandparents of Caesar Rodney’s Patrick Craig during the boys’ varsity race. Jerry and Marie Cusick of Dover were hoping Patrick could win the race. They have 15 grandchildren. They were jazzed just to be out there and be a part of it all. And then Patrick won (16:20), holding off Cape’s Jason Baker (16:26). I know Jason’s grandparents, and the two sets of grandparents knew each other. It was a great family moment. Patrick’s red hair made him look faster with fall colors and falling leaves as a backdrop. Just a great scene. 

Oddly enough - A girls’ cross country race and everyone be chasing Brynn Crandell of Indian River, including media and rogue cellphone posters. But not me. I spare Brynn the snap-and-chat moment with Poppa Fredman after a race. On Saturday, Paige Ballinger, a Sussex Academy eighth-grader, was on Brynn’s shoulder at the 800-meter mark. They came through at 2:40. Both athletes are super tough; they are racers and pain displacers who squeeze the most out of their talents. Brynn ran 17:32 to become a four-time Henlopen Conference champion, but she headed an incomplete IR team, as only four runners stepped to the starting line and you need five for team scoring. Ballinger ran 18:44 – got the one point for top team finisher – and led the Seahawks to the Henlopen Conference title 48-50 over Caesar Rodney.  

Rolling them sevens - A gambling phrase not meaning winning or losing, just playing and gambling. Last week, my granddaughter Anna, a Temple grad and full-boat Eagles fan, wore her No. 7 Haason Reddick Eagles jersey to her job as a teacher at Sussex Consortium. Some coworker said, “That's not how you spell Vick,” so Sunday I gave Anna a Vick No. 7 Jersey to wear to work on Monday. The previous Sunday, my wife Susan spotted Mike Dmiterchik at Sunday mass wearing his No. 62 Eagles Kelce jersey. I’m sure some confused Catholic said, “I thought Kelce wore No. 87.”  

Dad jokes - I have always joked that field hockey dads had the most to say about a sport they never played and that many of them looked like they had never played anything. I referred to middle school field hockey dads as being journeymen in an apprentice program hoping to earn their union card and a spot along the fence by their daughter’s junior year. But whack dads are preferable to absent dads. No shame in the game of wanting your daughter to do well and her team to be successful. Travel dads across all the sports are an entirely different animal. I would add in a serious tone the internal stressors of being a prime-time, excelling athlete are often internalized, more so with young women. I’ve read Kate Fagan’s book “What Made Maddy Run?” three times just to remind myself what may be happening in front of me. Fagan: “Too often, kids are herded into commitments and activities that are born not of passion but of obligation.” 

Snippets - Use a pencil for Saturday plans if the run-up requires winning an elimination game during the week. Best of luck to all field hockey and soccer players. The Eagles (8-1) “haven’t played their best game” is what I’m reading, but perhaps that is their game – scraping their way to ugly wins. Go on now, git!