I know exactly what it’s like to be the other guy

Mark Petitgout is the 29-year-old younger brother of former NFL offensive lineman and first-round draft pick out of Notre Dame by way of Sussex Central Luke Petitigout. I have an older brother who played for the Lions and a nephew who played for the Ravens and Titans, so I know what it’s like to be the other guy, which only means we are all “the other guy” on a planet where we are all relatives.

Mark was an outstanding quarterback at Sussex Central and I reminded him of the game when Brian Polk, an All-State basketball player, came off the bench to beat a single coverage with a short guy Viking defense to pull a game out of the fire for the Golden Knights.

“He did the same thing against Seaford,” Mark said. “He would have made a tremendous college receiver.”

Mark lives in New Jersey where he owns a tree service business. He trains by alternating powerlifting with long runs on the road.

“I was just lifting but my weight went up to 240 pounds and I thought, ‘Looks good but what good is it doing me,’” Mark said.

I say the same thing to myself every day.

Mark ran the 10k Race for the Ribbon May 30 in a respectable 47:28.

ABSOLUTE ZERO - “You don’t have to call me darling, darling; you never even call me by my name.”
- Steve Goodman

I know some zero numbers for Milford softball coach Charlie Darling, but I’m not impolite. So what if you were the guy that coached the football team to 30 straight losses which was run to 40 the following year by a name I don’t need to drop because that would be rude. And so what if you were a varsity girls basketball coach who coached a team that didn’t score a single point in regulation against Caesar Rodney but then again neither did the Riders and you went on to win in overtime 4-0.

Entering the eighth inning tied at zero last Saturday in the state championship softball game versus Caravel, Milford had not gotten a single hit off Caravel pitcher Cara Stecher. Randy Johnson, a former Cape athlete, coaches Caravel. Randy was called “the knick-knacker” in high school because of his crafty nature and ability to pull victories out against improbable odds. Randy is the ultimate gamer. I wrote in my notebook “advantage knickknack paddy whack!” But Nikki Parsley of Milford, her father is Don, the wrestling coach with a 2009 state championship, was playing that entire game at shortstop like a true team captain making plays and directing action in the infield. She reminded me of Randy Johnson. Nikki knick-knack found a way to win. Parsley led off the eighth with Milford’s first hit, stole second, advanced to third and scored the game-winning run on a two-out hit by Marcy McKee. Coach Charlie Darling is a steady-as-she-goes coach, very gracious in victory, and I couldn’t be happier for him unless his name was Randy.

SUMMER LACROSSE FOR GIRLS - Cape lacrosse coach P.J. Kesmodel - Zen Master P.J. - is hosting a girls summer league in Lewes. The series of pickup games will run Wednesday nights from June 17 through July 22 at Cape’s Ninth Grade Campus. Players in grades 9 through 11 will play at 6 p.m., followed by seniors and college players at 7 p.m. All games will be called by certified refs. The cost is $25. The league is open to all upcoming, current, and former high school and college players in the area.

Check out leweslax.webs.com for more information, or email Allison Young at a.young302@gmail.com.  You remember Allison, now a student at Syracuse, perhaps better known as the older sister of Sara.

BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN - A Cape clique of fans was sprinkled down the third-base Caravel sidelines last Saturday to support Randy Johnson; otherwise they couldn’t find Caravel in the middle of the day with a talking Garmin or Magellan the Explorer onboard.

Albert Davis, Jon Doney, Billy McGinnis and Karl Saliba were all “in the house” to see their boy Randy win a championship. That’s 30 years of friendship and, like all true friends, they wanted to know why Randy didn’t walk Marcy McKee with the winning run on third.

SERPICO - I have an intuitive sense of being able to pick athletes out of crowds of people who go to gyms or participate in large-group activities. The coach in me wants to make all long-legged and fit women 400-meter Olympic hurdlers. And so I asked Kelly Serpico if she had been a hurdler and the answer was, “Go away.” But seriously, she did tell me she played varsity soccer at the University of Delaware. The time before that I asked a gym woman if she had been a collegiate track athlete for some SEC powerhouse and she said, “No, stand-up comedian. Now go away.”

Kelly, by the way, is 30 years old, lives in Lewes part time - me too - and ran 24 minutes in the Race for the Ribbon 5K last Saturday.

SNIPPETS - Brycen Davis ran a 400-meter split of 46.5 and the Delaware State 4x400 mter relay team ran a 3:07.1 to qualify for the NCAA National Meet.

Logan Shuttleworth, just 9 years old, ran 23:41 at last Saturday’s Race for the Ribbon 5K. The race was run in memory of Logan’s late grandmother, Nancy Hendershot.

Stephanie Shuttleworth teaches at HOB, and most of her colleagues showed up to run or walk in the race.

State Rep. John Atkins has been making the road racing scene this early season. “I just wanted to lose weight,” Atkins said; he has already dropped 30 pounds. The 39-year-old resilient Gumby of state politics ran 23:39, which is real running.

I’m taking the Magic over the Lakers in seven games. I want to know when Kobe’s father, former 76er Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, is going to make an appearance on TNT. Kobe’s uncle, his mother’s brother, is John “Chubby” Cox, who played at Villanova and in the NBA and you just can’t make up this stuff.