Words can have a myriad of meanings

A crazy weekend in sports where a University of Connecticut football cornerback is stabbed outside a campus party and dies, and three runners in the Detroit marathon also expired. The Detroit Free Press reported a man in his 60s fell and hit his head. The cause of the fall was unknown. The man was transported to Detroit Receiving Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Two other men, ages 36 and 26, also collapsed during the race and were pronounced dead at the hospital.

Be careful out there!

SMACK DOWN - I once wrote that I don’t stand behind anything I write but rather in front and I will never turn tail and run and a person can read over and over something I wrote and then conclude that I am racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, anti-establishment, a bleeding heart lefty liberal and have a problem with fat cheerleaders and fat relatives.

Last week I listened to an anonymous voice mail - only once - that basically told me to go back to Philadelphia and then accused me of gay bashing for writing that fantasy football “seems gay to me.”

I worked in high schools for 35 years where words have a myriad of meanings where gay doesn’t mean stupid and doesn’t reflect back on sexual orientation. It just means “gay” - like lame doesn’t mean hobbled, it just means lame. Words are sometimes a trap and I asked several gay friends if they were offended by the phrase “that’s so gay” and some were but most were not. It’s one thing to stand proud for something you represent and quite another to be accused of something you are not. Now I’m done!

INSANE CLOWN POSSE - I wrote the news story of the 10 Cape football players being suspended because football is my beat and so I brought the dark cloud of negative publicity to the front page. I know high school better than any sportswriter on planet Earth having coached and worked on the inside for 35 years, so I understand cultural and style trends among teenagers but honestly had never heard of Juggalos.

And somewhere in the story was the phrase “imitation juggalo,” which are impersonators talking major noise hoping to get the real members into a physical mismatch.

I will say that athletes are held to a higher standard and those who fly in the face of the values being taught by the coach and the program are perhaps “sports juggalos” just looking for a way out from real discipline and dedication.

MASTER BLASTER - Bob Paulen, a 74-year-old hurdler and jumper and part-time Dewey guy, won the 300 hurdles at the World Masters Games in Sydney, Australia which welcomed an incredible 28,000 athletes. According to Bob, who is still over there - some may say out there - the oldest man was a 101-year-old competing in lawn bowling while the oldest woman was 99 and competed in table tennis. Bob also placed fourth in the long jump and high jump and second in the sprint hurdles losing by a hundredth of a second.

MIDDLE OF MY GAME - My joke is that I used to be a better athlete than any of my friends ever were. I was smart enough to know when to step off high stress sports into something more grounded like stepping over 6-inch cable barriers in the middle of a long walk.

I played basketball with a modicum of personal satisfaction until at 38 years of age I went up for a rebound and came back down with several articulating joint injuries and a few muscle spasms and one exploded middle toe inside my right shoe. I now have friends close to 60 who claim they are still playing basketball. I tell them, “There may be a basket and a ball and talk about ‘Insane Clown Posse’, but there is just no way. Even former NBA stars gave in to getting fat and managing Osteo-Oriole syndrome and making Snickerdoodle sandwiches.”

SNIPPETS - Erin Bailey and Brooke Bennett were honored last Sunday at Senior Day for the Wesley field hockey team.

Delaware’s Dave Farren, a relentless road runner on the local scene, will miss two months of the racing calendar to deal with a fractured disc in his neck that is digging into his cervical spine. Dave said he has no recollection of how he injured himself. Hopefully, Dave can be repaired without being Halo Guy.

The Yankees would absolutely crush Dodger pitching which is why the Phillies must win the pennant.

The Cape cross country teams competed with 36 other schools at last Saturday’s Joe O’Neill Invitational at Bellevue State Park. Joe O’Neill was a track coach at St. Mark’s who passed away a last spring. The Cape boys placed 20th out of 34 schools in one big race while the Cape girls placed ninth of 31 teams. Rebecca Pepper was Cape’s top runner placing 16th in a time of 19:27.

Divisional assignments – based on boys and girls separate enrollment - at the state level for cross country and track have the Cape girls in Division I and the boys in Division II.

Indoor hockey – gottaloveit - at Eagle’s Nest will begin Thursday, Oct. 22. Other dates are Fridays, Oct. 23, Oct. 30, Nov. 13, Nov. 20 and Dec. 4. The cost is $65. There will also be travel hockey opportunities.

Show up to sign up or email coach Kathleen Fluharty at coachkk@aol.com.

I watched a full game and two scoreless extra time periods in the under 20 World Cup final between Ghana and Brazil. The athletes were beautiful and fit performing in front of a packed house in Cairo finally won by Ghana on penalty kicks. Here stateside USA soccer appears to be more a game for playing rather than watching and no doubt has a lot to do with the lack of scoring. Nicely done!