Cilento gets credit for making a decision and taking some flak

Sportsmanship is a concept easily spoken but often elusive when put to the test. Both Sussex Tech and Cape will fly DIAA sportsmanship banners this year, an honor awarded based on a “rigorous and all-inclusive application process” designed to scare most schools off.

So here’s the backdrop: Cape athletic director Bob Cilento offered neighbor Sussex Tech the surf and turf field at Legends Stadium for practice last Saturday and Sunday after the northeast storm mucked up Tech’s field. Sounds cool to me, but then some selected Cape adults objected, even using the hockey girls in their argument saying, “The girls don’t like it; they feel this is our house.”

I give credit to Cilento for making a decision and taking some flak that was just “so wrong.” To rock it 1989 - “Do the right thing!” That’s all you need to know about sportsmanship.

I AM NOT THE MAN - I was stopped on my way into the field hockey game because the “credential” around my neck was suspect. I was later waved through as a young guy I don’t know pried me loose from an older guy I should know saying, “He’s OK. Wherever you see Cape you will see him.”

The DIAA state tournament committee people, whoever they are, sometimes issue specific tournament credentials but most times shrug and say, “just use what you usually use” because, quite frankly, if all the writers show up who may be assigned to a big game in Delaware you are talking a maximum of five people.

“I guess you’re not as well known as you thought,” laughed Tommy Coveleski, delighting on seeing me checkpointed.

“No, I’m not as well known as you thought.”

After the game when I was talking to Maxine Fluharty of Sussex Tech she referred to Cape as “you guys” so I looked behind me as Maxine quickly got it and said, “OK, not you guys - Cape.”

UNCLE CHARLIE - No, this is not a Vietnam reference. I call Uncle Charlie the relative who interrupts post-game sports interviews and, if you’re lucky, that’s all that happens. But sometimes Uncle Charlie will actually give you a suggested list of questions and it’s hard not to say, “Shouldn’t you be getting back to your job as a pizza tester at the Sam’s Club food court?”

Andy Walter, my longtime colleague who works at the Delaware State News, actually had a high school girl say hello to him in mid-interview.

I ascribe to the Ring Lardner school of sports writing which is, “I don’t want quotes from participants screwing up my story.” But all seriousness aside, 90 percent of sports quotes have become clichés and if a coach unravels before your eyes they almost always say, “Don’t put that in the paper,” and so I don’t which is why I’m a person with a homemade credential you can actually trust.

SNIPPETS - Former Sussex Tech state champion 800-meter runner Andrew Townsend was a freshman on the St. Joseph’s University cross country team that won the Atlantic 10 championship for the first time since 2000. Most local sports fans know that Drew is the son of Wesley Townsend who set the all-time scoring record for total points in basketball while playing for Indian River in the late ‘70s beating the previous record of Purnell Ayers.

Alex Thomas, former wrestler at Sussex Tech, is listed as the likely starter at 197 pounds for Division I Clarion University. The Mountain Hawks of Lehigh University are 3-0 on the wrestling season with wins over Rider, Penn State and Pitt, drawing an average of 5,500 fans to home matches.

Connor McDonald, former multiple state champion wrestler at Sussex Central,  is the starter at 125 pounds and is currently 2-1 on the young season having lost to Brad Pataky of Penn State. Connor is now listed as John on the school website but no word whether his father John, a Gazette columnist, is now Connor?  

Carolyn Maull, the on-board full-time trainer at Sussex Tech and an assistant field hockey coach, was a captain of the 1989 Cape team while head coach Nancy Tribbitt was the captain of the 1973 squad.

Kate Windett was a player on the 2004 Caesar Rodney field hockey team coached by her mother, Debbie, that beat Cape in the state championship final. Kate is now an assistant to Robin Adair at Tower Hill.

“All those years at Sussex Central with the Indian River rivalry and then at CR trying to beat Tower Hill, my instinct is always to root against any athletes wearing green,” Debbie joked after Wednesday’s semifinal in Dover. Debbie is a member of the state tournament committee and you can count on her to be impartial on Saturday or at least to be quiet.

The answer is, “See you next year.” The statement is, “I ain’t got no physical.”