Taylor the composite Cape kid leaves the pitch too early

Sad Songs - “If you don’t know me by now you will never never know me.” – Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, 1972. Taylor Marshall was a composite character of her ancestry with the soulful goodness of Capt. Rowland Marshall, the acerbic wit of her father Tom Marshall, the insight and likability of her mother Diane and a strong bond with her siblings Meredith and TR. The three siblings were all very different, a kaleidoscope of personality traits. Taylor was a mom and an aunt while working as a nurse, always an empathetic and compassionate Cape kid. Taylor passed away Aug. 11, as a result of breast cancer diagnosed years earlier. If you knew her, then you knew that story (“tell me have you seen her”), because if you did see her, you came away saying, “I saw Taylor; she looked great and seemed better.” She was a 1998 Cape grad and field hockey player; I remember her in the press box during a recent evening alumni game. Sparse commentaries, but she was just too funny, and afterward I told my former student, whom I knew since her Beebe Baby days, “Taylor or Taymar or whatever your handle, I have one basic request – that you stop being more funny and clever than me, but when I’m ready to pass the baton, you will run anchor and carry it home to the finish line.” We laughed together, and if you knew her, then you laughed together as well. I was out on the hockey pitch Tuesday morning and called Avary Miller over to express my condolences to her and the greater family. Avary’s grandmother Connie Marshall Miller is Taylor’s Aunt Connie. Know the kids in front of you and never forget those who left the pitch. Remember people at their best. Taylor in the eternal present of her spirit is one awesome child of the universe.

Track attacks - Motivated by fitness, athletes of all ages have been attracted to track since the beginning of timed workouts. I've met the best random people on tracks who always assess me as a compassionate, relatable coach-type guy and never a “get out of here so I can lock down the 400-meter oval! What do you think this is, a community campus?” From last Friday through Monday, I met some Maryland girls who play lacrosse at Florida Southern; a decathlete from Valparaiso (Brian Sponaugle); and a distance runner from Sanford and Rehoboth Beach Patrol (Henry Stento) heading into his freshman year at Penn State. Henry’s workout was five-times one-mile, what he called tempo runs. He was a member of Sanford’s state championship 4-by-800-meter relay team. Henry ran in lane 4 as the first three lanes were crowded with 50 field hockey girls running a timed two-mile. Motivated athletes know how to design their own workouts. It's impressive and downright admirable.    

Snippets - I am not in the scoop business or the snoop business, although I do answer to Freddogg. I make the point that I know Sesame Street Seaside sports stuff before others, and I often have insider information, but that doesn’t mean I go about blabbing what I know, which is why I carry a blue chair so I can sit on it. I have done a few thousand signing photos with families and coaches, but not one, “I decided not to play anymore and get on with my life.” Ella Rishko, who played lacrosse the last two years at Virginia Tech, popped through the transfer portal and will play her last two seasons at the University of Delaware. Lulu Rishko, a recent Cape graduate originally headed to Virginia Tech, is also headed to the University of Delaware. Rising juniors Cam Joyne and Lamar McCoy, both impact players on last season’s Cape football team that reached the state finals, have transferred to Middletown High School. Rising junior Allaire Burton, who ran cross country last fall, is back playing field hockey and looking fast. Cape's fastest distance-running field hockey player is Avary Miller based on the opening-day two-mile time trial when she lapped the field. Cape football will hold back six players from the Saturday home scrimmage with Caravel because of minor injuries. “We just want to come out of the scrimmage healthy,” said coach Mike Frederick. Stupid lineman tricks: I bought a 5-gallon bottle of water at Ace Hardware. Drove home, raised the lift gate on my 4Runner, and the bottle rolled out, landing on top of my left foot. The next day, my five toes were purple, but I had no memory of the impact insult. I am tough like a leather helmet. Go on now, git!