If you don’t know nobody, then you ain’t nobody

Delaware State Homecoming is like any other gathering of people in a small state. Just cruise around some and you will bump into someone you know, and soon you will know who they know and connections are made and histories learned and appreciated. Grand Mom Rose told me of our small Pennsylvania borough of Penndel, “Go downtown. You don’t know nobody, then you ain’t nobody.” I ran into longtime friends Dilema Lott and Esthelda Selby on my way and was introduced to their friend going back to Jason High School in Georgetown, Carolyn Whitaker. I became instant friends with Carolyn, so when hugs went around I was permitted/required to hug her so that no one was left out. Carolyn is one of the first Afro-American women to attend the University of Delaware (1965-69) and graduated with a degree in engineering. Born and raised in Delmar, she is employed by Raytheon in Maryland. Hard to believe while hanging around the steaming melting pot of the Great American Tailgate that I have friends who actually attended a segregated high school. In that way, so did all of us from that time period because separation is deprivation for everyone.

Hey, Miss Official! - George Glenn, when he was head coach at Cape, used to wear out certain officials with a laser-like voice that could cut through a steel door. “Hey, Mr. Official, let me ask you something!” Last Saturday at the Delaware State versus North Carolina game the referee was a woman, so I snapped a photo without permission, shook her hand, and she looked back like, “Who are you, Schleppo?” I asked another striped shirt whistle blower, a veteran MEAC guy, for her name and he said, “There are other women around who officiate college games, but Shannon Eastin is the only referee I know.” No surprise, she did a great job and was in total command of the game.

What’s up, Holmes? - I know track people on sight - one of the few sportswriters who do - so when I saw some track athletes on the sidelines at Delaware State last Saturday I introduced myself to Dante Holmes, tapped him on the arm and said, “You’re the fastest 800-meter guy I ever touched.” Dante looked at me like I was weird, which I am - but not in any bad way. Holmes owns a personal best of 1:47 in the 800, has won the tough MEAC the last three years, and was an NCAA qualifier last spring. Holmes hoped to be an NCAA qualifier this indoor season. He was a schoolboy star (track talk) at Eleanor Roosevelt High in Maryland. I asked a Del State public relations person while pointing at Holmes, “He’s a star - what’s his name?” Carlos Holmes didn’t know Dante Holmes, saying he mostly covered football and basketball.

Flying Hornets - Four planes painted red and blue flew over the Del State field prior to Saturday’s game, with the announcer saying, “Those planes are part of the Delaware State Airways Science Department,” and all low rider jokes aside, I had forgotten Delaware State had an airways aviation department. I guess the less we hear about it the better.

Romping and stomping - Rambling and scrambling, hanging a crooked number on an opponent - play hard but play nice. But if you unload the bench or mix and match and just keep scoring, what is supposed to happen? When is enough just quite enough? The Indian River field hockey team is 0-8-3 on the season, and lost Oct. 13 to Sussex Tech 15-1. Prior to that, the River’s worst loss came Oct. 5, a 9-0 whitewash by Cape Henlopen. Think if you had a family member on that team! I’d be mad at everyone on both sides. I saw the Indian River hockey team, and they look healthy and athletic and I just don’t get any of it.

Snippets - The Indian River soccer team is 6-1 on the season, all wins by shutout. The only goal allowed came on a penalty shot by David Cespedes, his only shot of the game, in a 1-0 Cape victory. The River has tough games left with Sussex Tech, Caesar Rodney and Sussex Central. Cape was down 19-10 in the third quarter of its homecoming game versus Laurel, then scored 29 unanswered points. I just never saw that coming. And now the Vikings look to Dover, which can run some crazy O and scored more than 30 on a slow night.