I’m pretty sure I will eventually land on crazy

During a 28-year career as a community columnist-granddaddy, Fredman has been a commentator, negotiator, instigator, facilitator, regulator, percolator, procrastinator, celebrator - and so cool they call me “Kelvinator.” Column commentary over a long period of time is somehow revealing of the combination of characters that lurk inside me as I evolve and dissolve through the stages of life. I’m pretty sure I will eventually land on crazy and that will be most emphatically that, but in the meantime time I have never had more fun or felt better about the community I cover.

Confuse a cat - “I read your column last week Fredman and I didn’t get it.” “Good, means I still got it.” A few years back I had some pieces of writing published in Letters from CAMP Rehoboth, a traditionally but not exclusively gay magazine because I’d see people reading it and figured that, as a writer, here was a different audience and forum for my affliction of writing humorous essays which stuck and twisted societal interactions. I was always identified in the magazine as a Cape teacher and writer for the Cape Gazette and that was that, but confused straight people would circle me and finally a courageous one would step up: “Fredman, I’ve seen your stuff in Letters. I didn’t know and don’t care, but are you gay?” “We talking blatant or latent?” I would answer and leave it there. “Don’t ask, don’t giggle, can’t dance and won’t prance.”

Real McCoy - I am making Cape senior quarterback/safety Kyle McCoy first team strong safety All Fredman Team and perhaps one of the best ever at Cape, not slighting the Maull clan of Gilbert, Jay, Lonnie, Obbie and J.D. (Steve Hudson was also a good one.) But for sideline-to-sideline speed and wanting to get there and for hurling himself into the knees of big backs the size of small cars, McCoy is the winner. Last Friday night he got drilled by big Malcolm Bowden of Sussex Central, causing the announcer to yell “Malcolm the Hammer!” but on the next play McCoy was right back, clawing “the Hammer” to the ground. Personally I was big and tough on the inside, chicken-fighting other linemen with their slow-twitch muscle fibers, but out there in open space where it is fast and dangerous, that is another story.

Getting home - I am writing a sports book titled “Getting Home! How Can I Screw This Up?” It’s mostly centered on coaches of teams who look up late in a game to see a scoreboard showing limited time left with their team in front either comfortably or precariously. A separate section addresses single- or double-elimination tournaments and qualifying games or a single critical game to make a season. Cape football (5-4) has one last Friday night game, hosting 3-6 Smyrna. A win and the seniors could forever cite their class as the group that turned back 10 straight losing seasons. The deal is that Smyrna can play and, after losing its first four games, has played everyone tough and beaten teams it shouldn’t have, like Sussex Tech. The Eagles are “Freddie Kruger: the Nightmare on Vikings Way” or “Temple of Doom for Cape.” Every snap of 10 losing seasons is on the line. There can be no smiles and no overconfidence. Smyrna is coming to town for the smackdown. Trust me, they do not feel fear for Cape football.

How many wrestling beatings have the Eagles laid on Cape? It’s all in play Friday night and it ain’t no joke.

The Cape hockey team is under no pressure as the undefeated No. 1 seed for the tournament. Just go out and win the thing. Anyone who thinks it will be easy and is not filled with tension and prepared for adversity is not ready for the journey.

Losing is not an option and should not be part of any vision of the tournament.

Just start each game like you’re down 1-0 with 3 minutes remaining. Urgency begins immediately, as in warm-ups. There is no cruise control at tournament time. The only fear is the fear of soft focus.

Get home with the trophy in the bus. Don’t be afraid to say that.

That is the mission that comes with being No. 1.

Snippets - Last Friday night off Patriots Way, Cape’s band played a Beatles medley before the game; at halftime Sussex Central’s played a Beach Boys medley. Most Afro-American fans hid their heads inside their jackets - talk about a one-two punch of soullessness! Beatles and Beach Boys - somebody needs to let that stuff go. How about Hootie and the Blowfish? What happened to “The Horse” from 1968?

Lydia Hastings of Rehoboth, Cape and University of Maryland women’s soccer team played with her Terps teammates at Wake Forest last Sunday for the ACC championship. The ACC is the undisputed top conference in the nation for women’s soccer. The game ended in a double overtime 1-1 tie and stays that way for record purposes but a shootout to determine the conference championship was won by Wake Forest. Hastings had an assist on the Terrapins goal, giving her 13 for her career, 12th on the all-time list.

Lynchburg College won the ODAC Conference on a PK shootout over Virginian Wesleyan. Former Cape player and class of 2010 valedictorian Rachel Sadowski is on the Lynchburg squad.