Do you know the difference between book smart and street smart?

I have to find out from the Bagel Buddha Dave Vitella that Tyler Townsend has signed a minor league contract and is now playing with the Aberdeen Iron Birds - not to be confused with the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. Townsend is batting 3-for-20 after six games with one double for a batting average of .150 if you’re calculating at home. You can go to Ironbirdsbaseball.com and register for the newsletter - then the only reason to go to Surf Bagel is to get a sandwich.

GUESSING THE GOOD NEWS - Longtime friend and Milford basketball coach B.J. Joseph called me a few days ago and said, “Hey, I have some good news for you.”

I beat him to the punch line, which is always so annoying.

“Greg Smock is the new boys head basketball coach at Woodbridge.”

“You know! Did Greg call and tell you?”

“No, he didn’t - just a wild guess. I knew he put his name in, but he didn’t think he had much of a chance.”

Greg Smock coached JV at Milford the last four years with B.J. Joseph. Greg can talk some basketball and, at 6-foot-5 with a great athletic body he can also play it, especially the physical playground style.

You know the difference between book smart and street smart? Smart is the common thread and application is where the rubber meets the road or the street. Back at Cape in the early ‘80s, I saw Greg Smock, Mike Mock and Doc Judkins walking down the hall. I called them, Smock, Mock and Doc and thought they would have made a good law firm.

Greg is the embodiment of the multicultural lifestyle and can hang with any class of people almost as good as me. I am so happy the Blue Raiders gave him a chance and if he gets it going, look out! Damon Ayers and John Bishop, the former basketball coaches at Woodbridge, stepped down, deciding not to return.

DOLPHINS MAKE ME CRY - Hilary Merlo and Nikki Haag have been sisters for the last year and on July 6 the ocean pictured behind them will once again be between them as Nikki returns home to Germany after spending the last year living with the Merlo clan and going to Cape Henlopen.

Nikki set Cape school swim records in the 200 medley relay, 200 individual medley, 50 free, 500 free, 200 free medley, 100 backstroke and 400 freestyle relay. She also ran on the Henlopen Conference champion cross country team and spring track team.

Hilary was a team captain in field hockey, swimming and lacrosse.

Last Sunday Nicole swam and Hilary did the run as the sisters for life won the all-female championship relay title in the Dave Reynolds Biathlon. I know Mark, Mark junior and Joanne Merlo will all shed a tear.

I’m such a baby the dolphins make me cry but only because my grandmother told me they were sharks.

“The dolphins are going to get David!”

TRAGIC ENDING - I spent a week with the Tennessee Titans and their families prior to the 2000 Super Bowl game at the Georgia Dome because my nephew Mike was a backup defensive end to Jevon Kearse. I sat in the end zone stands in the family section packing a long-lens camera. The last play of the game was a completed pass from Steve McNair to Kevin Dyson. Dyson was tackled a yard short of the end zone as he reached the ball toward the goal line. The Rams stormed the field in jubilation.

Steve McNair’s mother was in the row in front of me about six seats over to the right. She had her head bowed and appeared to be praying. Lucille McNair picked cotton on a Mississippi plantation as a little girl; now she owned the land and lived in a big brick house. I spoke to her and simply said how much I admired her son and his quiet leadership of the team and that I was sorry the Titans didn’t go that extra yard.

She looked at me with the serene eyes of a person with true and tested faith and said, “It is wrong to wish for too much in life.”

Last Tuesday, speaking to the Tennessean newspaper about the murder of her 36-year-old son possibly by his 20-year-old girlfriend who also possibly killed herself, Lucille McNair said she didn’t want to know anything about how or why it happened.

“The way I see it, it was the devil’s work and not God’s work. I’m not mad. I am just grieving over my son. He was a great son. He was special,” she said. “If you’ll excuse me, I just have a hard time talking about it. I get teary-eyed.’’

McNair’s lifestyle may not have been admirable in a family values way, but the dude didn’t deserve to get shot!

SNIPPETS - Milton beat Laurel 11-10 in Pat Knight baseball action last week. Milton’s three hits came from Reese White, Freddie Eley and Jeremy Whitman. P.J Lee was the winning pitcher. Jordan Flaherty and Mark Mapp came in to close the game!

When getting directions I stop listening after the second turn figuring when I get to that spot I’ll ask someone for further directions.

I have a set of directions for the Total Joint Replacement Education Class at Beebe Medical Center. The conference room is on the first floor, which sounds easy enough, but directions include “west entrance, go straight, turn right then first left then right at elevators then first left past elevators, then immediate right to hallway to patient financial services on the corner. Take first right on that hallway which leads straight to the conference room.”

Look for other confused people who also limp, then choose a chair you have a 50/50 chance of getting back out of.