Sliding, scooting and going belly down: the world of the wrestling ref

“Boot Scoot Boogie” - A month ago, I was lying on a table waiting for a contizone injection in my right knee from Jennifer Hazzard, PA-C, of Peninsula Orthopaedic Association when she asked, “Could you scoot a little to your left?” I joked, “If I could scoot, I wouldn't be lying on this table.” Covering last Friday night’s Cape at Lake Forest wrestling match, I spotted my pal Emily Thode – first year reffing – ready to officiate a few JV matches. Later, when veteran varsity official Eric Buckson showed up, he switched off every other varsity match with Emily – part of the teaching process – and I thought, “Great, now there is a two-times greater chance of a ref standing in front of my low-man-on-totem-pole, camera-wielding photographer self. Let’s cut to the chase: Emily is fit and knowledgeable and only graduated from Milford in 2023, and she can scoot and slide like I never could, not too quick on pins and not too deliberative. Wrestlers understand the difference between almost gone, and get up and shake hands. I caught Emily’s attention and flashed her the peace sign. She smiled, and it was “peace out” right back at me. And credit to Eric Buckson; he can go belly down and bounce back up. At least wrestling refs don’t have to run.      

Going Kenny Pickett - The game was essentially over when the Eagles pulled MVP Jalen Hurts out of the game to let backup Kenny Pinkett go Wilson Pickett because the game had reached the midnight hour, time to run out the clock. The Chiefs got the ball back and kept Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, avoiding the Carson Wentz poetic moment. Mahomes should have been checking his bundled coverage with Jake from State Farm but instead threw a home run ball and two-point conversion to ease the sting of a topple-and-trounce defeat as headlined in the Philadelphia Inquirer. The final score was 40-22, but the score that probably mattered was on sportsbook.fanduel.com.      

Lacrosse roundup - Mercer from Macon, Ga., lost at Marist in Poughkeepsie 16-6. Mikey Frederick had a goal and two assists for the Mercer Bears. Delaware had an upset win at Utah, 13-12. Hank D’Ambrogi is a starting middle for the Blue Hens, playing with his usual confidence, a left-handed player who was a right-handed quarterback in high school. Joe Coveleski had an assist as Florida Tech beat Greenville 14-9. C.J. Fritchman took some face-offs for Salisbury as the Gulls outlasted Grove City 8-6. The Delaware women’s lacrosse team defeated visiting Temple 12-10.  Ella Rishko, a junior transfer from Virginia Tech, had two goals for Delaware. George Washington defeated the Howard women 16-7. Sawyer Walker had two goals and 10 draw controls for Howard. Lydia Colosante (Tatnall) had a goal and two draw controls as Boston College beat Loyola Maryland 21-7. Calean Driggs (Salesianum) had two goals and one assist in the 14-8 Air Force loss to Denver.

The goose is loose - Yared Nuguse, an American runner born to Ethiopian parents in the United States, a birthright citizen who later went on to star for the University of Notre Dame, set the world indoor record in the Wanamaker Mile, clocking a 3:46.43. Grant Fisher set the world record in the 3,000 meters in 7:22:91 in the same meet. Fisher was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada. Fisher ran collegiately for Stanford University. Fisher, who is brown-skinned, often gets asked about his ethnicity or the ethnicity of his parents; he always answers, “We are American.” Jason Baker ran 4:22.98 in the 1,600 meters (conversion 1.5 sec to mile) to set a new Cape indoor record in the 1,600/mile, breaking his older brother Ryan’s record of 4:23.68 set in 2023. Ryan had broken the mile record of 4:27.23 set in 1978 by Lance White on the banked track at the Spectrum – 11 laps to the mile – during the Philadelphia Track Classic. 

Snippets - I sometimes call Jalen Hurts the Quaalude Quarterback because at times he is so low-key as he’s standing in the pocket too long – seems almost nonchalant. But he can also flip the switch like he did in the playoffs and look like the best quarterback on the field, which he did versus Jordan Love, Mathew Stafford, Jayden Daniels and Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs stayed committed the entire game and effectively shut down the running of Saquon Barkley; the defensive focus in retrospect may have been better dogging Jalen Hurts. The Kendrick Lamar halftime show I watched and missed, but honestly my line of work keeps me outside the demographic of the age group I cover. He has a popular track, "To Pimp a Butterfly," which in my world levels up to the Dylan lyric, “The sun’s not yellow, it’s chicken.” I know a former Cape student who proposed to his girlfriend on Broad Street dead center in the Eagles celebration. I don’t know what she said – perhaps, “Go on now, git!”