Forty-three Delawareans compete in the New York City Marathon

Forty-five thousand runners, striders, sliders, gliders, rollers, bowlers and strollers - along with those who limp, gimp and pimp - traversed the five boroughs of New York City last Sunday, Nov. 7, for the New York City Marathon. There would have been 50,000 more, but entries were cut off so annoyed New Yorkers didn’t start throwing full bottles of water while screaming “Get a job!” Thirteen runners over 80 completed the course with the fastest time among them turned in by an 83-year-old woman in 8:04: 59. Sheldon Zinn of Brooklyn, 87, was the oldest finisher in 8:08. Jeremy Diehl from Dewey ran a 3:58 while Anthony Romano ran 3:58. Forty-three Delawareans completed the course, and if you are a native you should know half of them.

Coincidental majors - I went to the 2000 Super Bowl in Atlanta as a family member for the Tennessee Titans because my nephew Mike was on the team. I had four days of causal access talking to players, coaches, moms of players - it was way cool. Right before the game against the Rams, coach Jeff Fisher told Mike a story about how when he was with the 1985 Bears he didn’t dress for the Super Bowl. Mike had been a UVA dean’s list guy and he knew what was coming next. We saw Mike on the sidelines in street clothes, which for Mike were a sweatshirt and jeans. That was a tough night for an athlete and his family but we all dealt and rose above it. Oddly enough Fisher suffered a broken leg in 1983 when he was tackled on a punt return by Eagles linebacker Bill Cowther. And the six degrees of separation gets quickly to my family. We athletes all have those stories which occur sometimes out of necessity and just as often because of insensitivity. But don’t get me started! Don’t worry - you’re not starting, Fredman.

Mud people - Thanksgiving football game on a muddy field: our high school team was wearing uniforms so white they’d make Penn State look colorful. I was a sophomore seeing no action; the “dirtier the dumber” rule was in play. I was the white dove in the kitchen laundry basket. And when the game ended, some cruel seniors but close friends were following me off the field and laughing because they realized I had grabbed globs of mud and smeared it on my uniform. I just felt glaringly stupid as the bright-white, didn’t-play guy. I wanted to fight someone, anyone. It was the longest walk of my young life. But you know what is worse? The coach who puts a player into the game with less than a minute left to play. I’ve see that happen a hundred times as a sports reporter; once a seven-second sub had his record broken by a five-second sub. Both guys were great players, but another ended his own career by dropping a word on the coach and I don’t mean “smart bomb.”

New centurians - The biggest Cape football game in the last 10 years happens Friday night at home versus an explosive Smyrna team. This is game 100 since the Vikings had a winning season. Ten years will wrap up since Brian Donahue’s winning team of 2000. I wrote a game story on every one of those 99 games, and trust me, there were some great players and never once did I see a team lay down. The second game in 2005 was a 21-14 home win over A.I. in which Mitch Whitman, a transfer from St. Andrew’s and younger brother of Tyler Whitman, two-time golf medalist for Cape, scored three and rushed for 150 yards.

It was a signature win because it stopped a 17-game Cape losing streak. There was also the final game in 2006 when 5-4 Cape hosted unbeaten Sussex Central with the Henlopen North title and automatic bid to the state tournament up for grabs. The game was scoreless at halftime but Central got it going and won 28-0 for its first and still only undefeated regular season. Cape’s battle cry under coach Bill Collick this 2010 season has been all about chasing respect. Friday night respect comes to the house of pain. It is time to tame the demons, to close a fat chapter of amusing losing and lopsided kneel-down losses. A win in game 100 for the 2010 Vikings: It is all out there on the field. Grab the glory and change the story.

Snippets - Computer-generated strength-of-schedule seeding for state tournaments removes the sensible human element, and somebody please tell me - why that is a good idea? I’d like to be the undisputed godfather of sensible seeding, the final word when the numbers just have it wrong. Everyone who cares knows that in the field hockey tournament it should have been Cape at one, Tech and Tower at two and three and Delmar at four.

After that seeding - whatever. I can say on the record that my son Dave kept saying Polytech at 15 is getting Mount Pleasant at 2 and they did. A good Henlopen team is way better than a good Blue Hen team and a bad Henlopen team takes a back seat to no one; they are really bad. It all resumes Saturday, Nov. 13. Catch Tech at Dover versus Wilmington Friends at 11 a.m. and Cape versus St. Mark’s at Milford at 1 p.m.