Spring sports begin at Cape

I just found Easter on the calendar and had no idea it was as late as April 24, but then again Ash Wednesday and Lent and Catholic statues covered in purple I had forgotten, along with 40 Hours Devotion. I was an altar boy and, according to the nuns, also a heathen, a bold brazen article and a pussy willow. Spring is just the best time for sports. There are young, school-aged people all over the place getting after it across an array of activities, and thank God for the adults who coach them. Just remember to teach and instruct, and not to question character and commitment unless you’re looking into a mirror. Assume kids want to be there, then give them instruction to help them get better.

Wrestling snaps back - Cape sent five wrestlers to the semifinals at this year’s state tournament and I wrote that is the most ever until someone proves otherwise. Coach Chris Mattioni cited a column item I wrote from March 13, 1997, titled “Matty Dog’s Puppies Snap.” That season Cape sent six grapplers to the state semifinals and here are their weight classes and order of finish: Straughn Gorman, 103, 6th; Eric Beaman, 112, 2nd; David Barlow, 125, 3rd; Joe Deloy, 152, 6th; Matt Martin, 160, 6th; and Matt Graviet, heavyweight, 3rd. I don’t mind being proven wrong, especially when a coach uses a column of mine from 14 years ago to do it.

Academic fraud - I witnessed outrageous bordering on hilarious academic fraud when I was a scholarship athlete, and over the years it has only gotten worse. Oh, the stories I could tell - perhaps I should be fined for not telling them. The culture surrounding the college athlete got worse when “not ready for remediation time, let alone prime time” athletes were admitted to prestigious universities on scholarships. And let’s be honest, we the sports fans haven’t held these individuals to any standards of education, and when they mangle the English language we no longer even notice. That’s not to say that some athletes aren’t inspired by the college atmosphere and actually take advantage and get an education, but more don’t than do. I read the stories about Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel and what he knew and when and why he didn’t self-report and now he’s a bad guy, but really Tressel is just a front man of a minor league professional franchise. And who goes around turning people in when his job depends on that person’s performance? We should all turn ourselves in for caring only about football and basketball.

Snippets - Kenny Riedel sent me an email with the subject line “I know you’re a names guy.” And the guy named Jawanza Poland plays for the South Florida Bulls. I don’t know how Kenny found Jawanza Poland, but I am not surprised by any Kenny communiqués. Baskerville Holmes, former forward for the University of Memphis, was named by his mother Dora Lee Holmes, who was a Sherlock Holmes fan. Baskerville was a 7-foot high jumper in high school, knocked around the NBA, later got fat and drug-addicted, shot and killed his girlfriend and committed suicide when he was 34 years old. I have a birthday March 14 that I share with Steve Taylor, Darren Purcell, Kathy Heacook, Billy Crystal, Quincy Jones and Albert Einstein. The University of Maryland women’s lacrosse team, the defending national champion, played a game versus Delaware at Delaware Stadium that attracted only 350 fans. March 5, Princeton lacrosse beat Johns Hopkins at Homewood Field 8-3 in front of 4,000 fans; that is a huge crowd. Gina Voss, a junior starting her first year as a lacrosse goalie, can’t miss being a great one. She shown here near the end of practice on a three-on-goalie drill and she is all about the stop. I coached high jumpers for 10 years. Charles Turner and Rodney Smith both cleared 6-feet-10. I had a few others at 6-feet-6 and several at 6-feet-4. I look at this picture of Dre Boone on a cool Tuesday track practice going over the bar at 5-feet-8 wearing socks and no shoes. Coach Fred would absolutely have no idea what to say to him other than, “Arch your back, look for your feet and do something with those arms.” I am having “Fredman” written in signature style onto an empty but prominent place on Tyler Reed’s crate late model race car stock class - don’t know what I’m talking about, but I’ll be flying around Delaware International Speedway this racing season and more importantly, I get street credibility in downtown Milton. Go on now, git!