Some things should not be said before they happen

This column deadline is totally out of touch with the real-time world, sort of like most Sunday sermons, say it isn’t so, but unless you know the difference between a parable and a parabola, just flow with me on this one. I’m getting off the floor Thursday morning before the state championship showdown in girls lacrosse gets played Thursday night. No jinx, but if you want to know how many Cape teams have gone undefeated and won state championships in single elimination all comers tournaments the answer is two: the 1975 boys basketball team and the 1998 boys lacrosse team. Going wire to wire is just nearly impossible to do.

I’m also not supposed to know that Bill Collick is most likely to definitely going to be named Cape’s new football coach at the Thursday night school board meeting and that John Parker and Herky Billings, two experienced coaches with coordinating talents, are part of the package deal. I know the interim superintendent scuttlebutt as well, no thanks to the candidate who is a friend and not talking to me, a dead giveaway.

THROWBACK - Christopher W. McMahon, a senior at Cape Henlopen, caught this striped bass near Indian River Inlet then hoisted that sucker into the air for a quick photo before he released it because that’s just the way he does it. I guess the real fresh fish are still swimming.

GOD BLESS AMERICA - Another scholastic sports year and another thousand or so scratchy and slow-tempo versions of our national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” are in the books and etched in my large head. I’d have to admit that song is not exactly rousing and inspiring, all about rockets and bombs and perilous fights. Because it’s a tradition and not a law that the anthem should be played before sporting events I’m for using “God Bless America” and having it sung by a student. And because this is Memorial Day weekend, let’s not forget for a minute that it is a time to honor fallen soldiers. God Bless America!

INDIAN GAME - I snapped a picture before last Wednesday night’s Cape lacrosse game in the state semifinals of former players

Eric Street, class of 2001 and Kyle Norwood, class of 2009. Both Eric and Kyle are part of the Nanticoke Indian heritage and I thought it was a good omen for Cape as lacrosse was a game invented by Canadian Indians and what exactly is a Cleveland Indian? Turned out like all good luck charms, they only work if you play well. Cape lost the game 12-8 after leading 8-6 with nine minutes left to play.

SUMMER CAMPS - The game for summer camps and competitions has changed; basically the guiding rule is the better the athlete the better the camp and the more money it will cost. The summer is now about exposure because college coaches troll the better and bigger competition camps and as a blue-chip athlete enters his or her junior year, the good coaches are already aware of the good prospects. And being a strong student with all the right courses and a high GPA with solid SAT scores completes the package. Part of this summer presentation and talent display must include weight training and nutrition as pudgy and soft just doesn’t cut it. Those are some harsh realties of how that all works, and it may not be worth it, certainly not as much fun as a jeep and boogie board collection.

SNIPPETS - The turf field at Legends Stadium will be the venue this summer of a Tuesday night lacrosse league. League action will run from June 15 through July 20. Grades 9-11 will play at 6 p.m. followed by older players at 7 p.m. The cost for summer season participation is $40 which covers referees, reversible jerseys and field rental. The league is open to any former and current high school players and college athletes. Coach Kathleen Fluharty, better known as KK, will be offering her Gotta Love It! summer lacrosse and hockey camps according to the following schedule. The boys and girls lacrosse camp will be held at Rehoboth Elementary School from 9 to 11 a.m., July 5-9, for grades one through five. The cost is $130. Instruction for grades five to 10 will be July 9-12. The cost is $155. The girls summer hockey league is from 3 to 5 p.m., Wednesdays, July 7 thru Aug. 4 at Cape’s Legends Stadium. There will be elementary, junior and high school divisions. There is a girls hockey camp at Legends Stadium July 19-23 from 9 to 11:30 a.m. for grades one through five and from 9 to noon in grades five through 10. Contact Fluharty at KK@aol.com. Speaking of camps, I was sent home from Boy Scout Camp Ockanickon for cheating on my test to become a second-class scout, my Grand Mom Rose joking, “The rest of the family managed to become second class all on their own.”