Runners veer off course, a coach points blame at Fredman

They went that way - A quadrangular cross country meet at Sussex Tech, run on the land across Route 9 from the school, featured the host Ravens along with Milford, Polytech and Cape Henlopen. The boys’ race went off without a hitch in the giddyup. All course routes seem simple if you know where you’re going. If not, just follow the people in front of you. But the girls’ race became problematic early, when a lead group turned left too soon, adding a little distance to the 5K course. Zoe Callard of Cape tried to go both directions at the same time and fell to the ground. I was standing there with my camera and simply pointed, “They went that way,” which turned out to be the wrong way. Later at a post-race coaches’ confab, a coach told Tim Bamforth, who timed the event, “That guy with the camera told them to go the wrong way.” Tim responded, “You mean the guy who has been watching cross country races for 40 years? You mean ‘that guy’ is suddenly directing race traffic?” Whatever happened, the results stood and everyone went home more or less happy. Sussex Tech beat all the boys’ teams and Milford was the premier girls’ team. Then there were all the head-to-head scores, but since my head is glued together, I refer you to the Bamforth column for expanded results. “Which way did they go, Fredman?”

Weather bad guys - Philadelphia weatherman Jim O’Brien was an emoji man ahead of his time. He had good guy and bad guy faces on his map. “You’ve got a good guy here and a bad guy there.” O’Brien died in 1983 in a parachuting accident. He is always referred to as “beloved weatherman Jim O’Brien.” I am a weather good guy; I see no reason to play outdoor games in miserable weather or indoor games in stifling or freezing gyms. The fact that “we can play” doesn’t mean you should play when it would be much more pleasant to wait for another day. Sometimes athletic directors make the call, other times the coach is consulted, but no one asks the sports editor, “Do you have enough sense to come in during the rain?” My resting position during the fourth quarter of my life is, “Go ahead and play. I’ll be the guy in the truck looking through the fence.” I could go into the press box, but mostly they are just too noisy. Anyway, I’m not supposed to get my head wet.

Orioles hanging on - Go to MLB.com for a complete breakdown, but basically going into the final weekend, Baltimore is playing for the second wild card spot along with the Tigers and Mariners. Every win is humongous, which sounds better than saying “huge” slowly. Baltimore plays at the Yankees this weekend. October is the best month for garage TV – insert Comcast joke here.

Fall ball - Temple women’s lacrosse is at Johns Hopkins Sunday for the fifth annual Stick it to Sarcoma Blue Jay Invitational featuring Longwood, Towson, Hopkins and Temple. Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing Lizzie and Anna Frederick play for the Owls. Taylor Gooch (achilles injury) still is not cleared to play. Haley Schweizer (Saint Mark’s) is a senior for Hopkins. Maggie Allison is a sophomore defender  is on the Towson roster. Maggie is from Indian River and played for Kara Voss on Indian River’s first lax team. Longwood is a Division I school in Farmville, Va., with 4,500 undergraduates.    

Snippets - The Delaware Tech Hawks volleyball team of Dover raised its record to 13-2 with a 3-0 win over Cecil County Community College. Erin Walsh, a middle blocker, and Brittany Duvall, a libero, play for the Hawks. Ali McKay (Polytech) has four goals and two assists for the Bloomsburg Huskies field hockey team. Payton Shockley, a senior out of Milford High School, has a goal and four assists for the 8-2 Huskies. I watched Seaford Middle School soccer defeat Beacon 5-0 Sept. 26 and thought, “the future just got brighter for the Blue Jays.” Now the question is “can they keep their kids home?” Smart parents will always make the best decisions for their kids, it’s not complicated, but it does get tricky. LeBron James is the smartest and best-spoken superstar athlete out there, straight out of high school, but with a Catholic education. And he’s funny with a sense of humor. Just thought I’d throw that out there. Go on now, git!