People in Sports

Sports Editor Emeritus

Email Fredman at fredman@capegazette.com

Cape muppets sing Al Green’s ‘Let’s Stay Together’

Dave Frederick
7 months ago
Not a fan - I am the guy who has never left high school sports since I walked into freshman...

Smiley and the Smiler win CoDel marathon titles

Dave Frederick
7 months ago
The irony and the agony - On Sunday morning, I worked the happy trails of the Coastal Delaware...

One-trick Poppy: Falling back to one game a day

Dave Frederick
7 months ago
One-trick Poppy - There are more streamers than the Philly New Year's Day Mummers Parade at most...

Soap opera sports just a proliferation of pundits

Dave Frederick
7 months ago
Cognition crazies - Perhaps women's college basketball was better off before the crazies without...

Genetic predisposition for excellence in sports? -...

Dave Frederick
7 months ago
Logomotion three-balls - Change the haircut, put on multiple pairs of floppy socks, change the TV...

Community impact players Ayers and Lofland leave...

Dave Frederick
7 months ago
Garland Ayers - Garland died last week, and we are selfishly sad because someone who openly loved...

Preacher man Paulen wins four golds at national...

Dave Frederick
7 months ago
Bob Paulen - A great guy, athlete, and 86-year-old Yale Doctor of Divinity, Bob lives in downtown...

Bracket-head Fred hits billows of pillows recalling...

Dave Frederick
7 months ago
Bracket-head Fred - I watched Creighton beat Oregon in double overtime Saturday past midnight, then...

Sports stories fun to tell but harder to write and...

Dave Frederick
8 months ago
Telling stories - A lyric from the Tracy Chapman song, “Telling Stories,” released in 2000: “There...

Italian guys win Shamrock Shuffle races

Dave Frederick
8 months ago
Italian stallions - The Shamrock Shuffle 5K and 10-Miler races on St. Patrick’s Day inside Cape...

Smile and seize an exquisite spring day; later you...

Dave Frederick
8 months ago
Smiling faces - I strafed spring practices at Cape March 13, with 4 p.m. temperatures...

Lucky Leprechaun 5K a majestic small-town showcase

Dave Frederick
8 months ago
Squall and squawk - A total of 500 runners endured a 20-minute dark cloud, but there was no whining...

Vision Quest: seeing and assessing the sports world...

Dave Frederick
8 months ago
Vision Quest - Cape wrestling grappled at Sussex Tech Feb. 7, when the Ravens put a scare into the...

Blanket coverage of championship wrestling from the...

Dave Frederick
8 months ago
Blanket coverage - I was Pop Pop in the paddock last weekend, contagiously sick sitting under a...

Hundreds of athletes show up for first week of...

Dave Frederick
8 months ago
We talkin’ practice - More than 100 boys and girls showed up on the first day of spring track...

Wrestling fans cheer for underdogs and upsets

Dave Frederick
8 months ago
Upset specials - The Henlopen Conference wrestling finals Feb. 24 at Sussex Central’s...

Unsung is not unappreciated

Dave Frederick
8 months ago
Noah Diamond - “Sweet Caroline” is a song by Neil Diamond that inspired a new generation of fans...

Seasoned sports fans can hang tough all day long

Dave Frederick
9 months ago
Hang tough - Parents, players, sportswriters and all connected cousins, uncles and aunts...

Gaining wisdom while losing perspective seems like a...

Dave Frederick
9 months ago
Gaining wisdom, losing perspective - I have always been wise beyond my years, but I’ve...

Super Bowl Sunday is a placation vacation and power...

Dave Frederick
9 months ago
Boomer or bigot - I avoided all pregame run-ups to the Super Bowl then watched the longest game...

Wrestling culture remains strong in downstate Delaware

Dave Frederick
9 months ago
Hate the bite - “Don’t hate the black. Don’t hate the white. If you get bit, just hate the bite...

Dogs on the run are fun until you trip over one

Dave Frederick
9 months ago
Bully for you - My exact same age running friend Leo Hannigan, 77, was finishing the Run to the...

Matside Muppets bring a softer side to sometimes...

Dave Frederick
9 months ago
Matside Muppets - Cape wrestling’s 38-25 win over Caesar Rodney Jan. 31 followed 20 middle school...

Sports are jargonistic language takes on different...

Dave Frederick
9 months ago
Hard charging - It just made me laugh because the phrase "bull in a china shop" aptly describes the...

NFL Championship Weekend best watched on mute

Dave Frederick
9 months ago
Insulting intelligences - Speaking of sports, how many hours of programming do we need as a runup...

Linemen for Life make for good chiropractors

Dave Frederick
9 months ago
Dr. Devin Miller - Devin Miller, a lineman for life, played for Cape and Wesley, a gifted 6-foot-5-...

The best is behind you; the better is in front

Dave Frederick
10 months ago
Simply the best - Remembering people at their best is a credo I follow as a columnist when...

The portal is passed down, enticing younger players...

Dave Frederick
10 months ago
Your first mistake - There is no space between assessment and action for the prime-time athlete...

Two sports in the same season was old-school Cape

Dave Frederick
10 months ago
Six-sport athletes - Randy Johnson, Cape Class of 1977, lived on School Lane off Savannah Road in...

Reading the lips of the fans in the stands

Dave Frederick
10 months ago
He dropped it! - I thought I was ambivalent as to the outcome of the Indianapolis Colts...

Stoop culture from Brooklyn to Philly is about...

Dave Frederick
10 months ago
Stoop culture - Spawned from the steps of Brooklyn and Philly swim storytelling and clever joke...

Pop Tart and the Mad Stork from Cape’s Class of 1999

Dave Frederick
10 months ago
Pop Tarts Bowl - Played Dec. 28 in Orlando, Fla., and won by Kansas State 28-19 over N.C...

Race out with the old, but keep racing into the new...

Dave Frederick
10 months ago
Days at the races - I’ll be back on the habitrail to anywhere on the last day of 2023...

Gatorade Player of the Year banners hang in the Big...

Dave Frederick
10 months ago
Gatorade Player of the Year - I took a photo of some new Gatorade Player of the Year banners...

Icons and goats: best not to poke the bears; history...

Dave Frederick
11 months ago
Iconic Cape teams - Teams that have won state championships over 50 years of sports history are not...

Ugly Sweater 5K a fun and feel-good race for...

Dave Frederick
11 months ago
Redemption City - On Saturday morning, I photographed an Ugly Sweater 5K from the Cape Henlopen...

The Inclusion Kid turns 21; his life has been a...

Dave Frederick
11 months ago
Flip disc to slipped discs - The Inclusion Kid Davey Fred will celebrate his 21st birthday Saturday...

Cape tracksters excel at Alvernia Holiday Classic

Dave Frederick
11 months ago
Alvernia Holiday Classic - Cape has been traveling to indoor/outdoor meets in the winter...

Carrie Clausius a perfect choice for Tough Cookie...

Dave Frederick
11 months ago
Lost it - I was presenting an award at the 2015 field hockey banquet and lost my composure...

4,000 runners and no political messages

Dave Frederick
11 months ago
Protected political speech - I took 4,000 photos of runners Saturday morning at the Rehoboth Beach...

Each coach and player are central figures in Friday...

Dave Frederick
11 months ago
The best of us - The brightest light shined down on the darkest day for the family of Freds...

History in the house: Reflections on 53 years of...

Dave Frederick
11 months ago
Smashing Pumpkins - 1979 was a popular wistful pop alternative rock hit reflecting on coming of age...

Heroes who stay the same mean all muppets stay the...

Dave Frederick
11 months ago
Zackzilla - I went to a Monday luncheon at McGlynns Pub in Dover with a few Delaware Sportswriters...

It’s not revenge, it’s a reckoning

Dave Frederick
1 year ago
Avenging and revenging - Two teams play each other in a game chasing the same goal, which is a...

Facial recognition is the truth while numbers...

Dave Frederick
1 year ago
Ozmeer and Amari are fast friends - Ozmeer Daisey Batson was celebrated in last Friday’s Gazette as...

Post-game celebrations are not always cool for the...

Dave Frederick
1 year ago
Good gracious - I am not a fan of staying on the field for the post-game presentation of the...

Photographing faces floating in the spaces of sports

Dave Frederick
1 year ago
Faces and voices - I like photographing faces and listening to beautiful voices, and the...

A day at the races, lots of runners and faces 

Dave Frederick
1 year ago
Coach culture - The varsity boys’ race started at 3:20 p.m. on a picture-perfect Saturday, Nov. 4,...

‘Jeans’ takes me back; coach Tracey captures me in...

Dave Frederick
1 year ago
The past is prologue - Cape lacrosse goalie Chris “Jeans” Keller, Class of 2000, identified himself...

Pride goeth before the fall

Dave Frederick
1 year ago
Barstool sports - Friday Night Lights to Saturday first light, a transition from turf and track to...

Sports is where the eternal present intersects the...

Dave Frederick
1 year ago
Jake Mundok - Let’s catch up to the senior SUNY Maritime All-Skyline Conference cross...

Homecoming and historical Cape connections

1 year ago
Mr. Timmons - Caesar Rodney quarterback Julius Timmons battled a swarming and pressing Cape defense...

Jimmy Gill, the crafty lefty, now associate athletic...

Dave Frederick
1 year ago
Living the Dream - Jimmy Gill, the crafty lefty from Cape baseball who was also a basketball guard...

Come get these memories! Friday night at the Sussex...

Dave Frederick
1 year ago
Pink Lloyd - I told my wife: “Sussex Central football coaches refer to their home field as The...

Graciousness and sportsmanship are life-lasting...

Dave Frederick
1 year ago
Good graciousness - I came in the side door on the bench side of the turf field at Sussex Academy...

Past game stories live in the eternal present of...

Dave Frederick
1 year ago
Bar tales - I learned the importance of remembering high school sports stories from my mentor Dick...

Struck with a stick, but still happy

Dave Frederick
1 year ago
Struck with a stick - Cape’s Ally Diehl took a hockey stick to the face, then melted onto...

Hodgson is not Hodgkins; Cape grad Gerald Allen is a...

Dave Frederick
1 year ago
Hodgson is not Hodgkins - Hodgson is one of four schools in the New Castle County Vo Tech district...

Catty comments followed by ‘just kidding’ are mostly...

Dave Frederick
1 year ago
Catty comments - Let’s just talk about sports successes, which seem to annoy some people who will...

Dogfish Dash has raised $1 million for environmental...

Dave Frederick
1 year ago
Cut to the quip - Quick wit takes intelligence, perception and a broad-based knowledge of...