Seven hundred racers throw down over New Year’s weekend

Boardwalk racers - Tuesday, Dec. 31, the Seashore Striders welcomed 381 runners for the Race Into the New Year 5K, which began at noon. The weather was downright balmy. Participants finished at Rehoboth Avenue after heading north then south on the radio sundial. Dog walkers and surfside shufflers were mostly agreeable to sharing space with a race. Wednesday, Jan. 1, brought the Races2Run Hair of the Dog 5K in Bethany Beach, which saw 318 5K finishers. Runners finished south to north in Bethany as the gull flies for fries. The boardwalk in Bethany is half as wide as Rehoboth, but the ocean is the same size. The 700-plus total runners in two towns within a 24-hour period bodes well for the health of the sport. Families on respite break don’t come to the beaches to get fat, and the local running scene is a great outlet, to say nothing of the actual outlets.   

Free falling - There is a flip side to college athletes on scholarship and payroll, and that is the athlete who just wants a chance to play without a scholarship, just to walk on to prove they can play. There are some great athletes who will play if recruited and given the opportunity of a roster spot. I knew a young man named James Culbreath who played at Oklahoma under Barry Switzer, but refused to live in a football dorm and told Switzer, “I don’t need a scholarship; I just want to be a student who plays football. Give it to someone who needs it.” JC was an Afro American Philly kid who at 220 pounds could run a 49-second 400 meters.  A Delaware County Times article retrospective reads, “Jim Culbreath would also scoff at the term walk-on. ‘I tell them I’m not a walk-on, but I’m a player. You can say walk-on, walk-in, walk-off or anything you want, but you’re still a player.’” JC passed away in 2018. I arrived in Lewes in the summer of 1975. In January 1976, living on McFree Street, I turned on the Orange Bowl, and JC, the player, was in the Sooners’ starting lineup. He didn’t chase the dream; he lived it. 

Peak performances - Speaking of sports, the dedicated and talented athlete trains hard and gets better, benefiting from proper coaching and powering past bad mentoring. But it's age-related, and a downward slope awaits everyone if they stay at it long enough. All journeys are fascinating and perhaps there should be articles like “Boys to Old Men” or “I’m in Decline and Doing Fine." Most well-balanced athletes who used to be really good don’t wallow in reflections of the glory days because they are geared to powering through the here and now. I don’t know Gen Z from Jay-Z, but I’m seeing athletes in their 20s being inducted into halls of fame. I remember when my big brother Tom was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, they handed him a microphone so he didn’t have to take the stage, and he sat on a stool, then took over the room with his storytelling wit. He opened with “How come I’m the only person on the program who looks like he played a sport?” Keep trucking, athletes, and if you start to slow down, get a new truck. 

Commanders - The Washington Commanders will be a wildcard team in the first round of the NFL playoffs playing in Philadelphia or Tampa Bay, or facing the Rams in LA. The sports pundits in Philly agree they would rather play Green Bay than Washington. Remember the backup in Kansas City is Carson Wentz, and that karma is just sitting there  like a subway car inches from the third rail.  

Snippets - Hard to get a reading on the high school basketball power grid when teams have only played five to eight games. The Cape boys are 4-2 and will host a solid Stephen Decatur team at  6:30 p.m., Friday, Jan. 3. Decatur lost to Dover 59-54 Dec. 27 at the Wicomico Civic Center. The Cape girls are 5-3 and will play Smyrna for the third time Tuesday, Jan. 7, at Smyrna. The Sussex Academy boys’ and girls’ swim teams are both 5-0, while Cape’s two swim teams are unbeaten at 3-0. Insert three failed referendum jokes here. Cape will swim at Sussex Academy Monday, Jan. 27, where all hands on deck means everybody slipped. Go on now, git!