You hear it ‘down here in Delaware’ anywhere there’s a boat ramp

I took a picture of a 4-year-old waiting for her mother to finish last Saturday’s Valentine’s Day 5K at Cape Henlopen State Park just because she looked so cute. Then through an interview with her parents I learned that Morgan is a seventh-generation Yuengling of the brewery family located in Pottsville, Pa.

Her pop pop, Richard Yuengling, is the current president of the company. I mentioned that I met brewmaster Narciss on the streets of Shenandoah Heights (also known as the Polish Poconos) in 1963. I was told Narciss blended the secret formula resulting in the popular Yuengling Lager introduced in 1987. Narciss was better known as Ray Norbert and worked 50 years for the company before passing in 2001. I purchased the Yuengling & Son dogs at the bar print at Izzie’s Village Inn Tavern and Restaurant on Centre Street in Mahanoy City in 1992 during the post-funeral reception of my wife’s grandmother Nellie Murphy on Valentine’s weekend. Clancy Brothers Irish music and Yuengling Lager flowed in a celebration of Nellie’s life. The enunciation of the English language in the Pennsylvania Coal Region is crystal-clear unique and so recognizable. You hear it “down here in Delaware” anywhere there’s a boat ramp.

HORSE THERAPY - Why the long face, Champ? A female horse named “Skip” is found only in Sussex County. Last Saturday off in Harbeson I treated my jaded sportswriter self to a horseshow at the Southern Delaware Therapeutic and Recreational Horseback Riding center or school whatever it is called. I saw proud families standing by the kids who need help negotiating the world we share and enthusiastic teachers empowering kids by letting them take the reins riding a powerful animal. I have a grandson, Davey, who has Down syndrome, and I know he has to get himself aboard a horse instead of flooding my back bathroom every Saturday performing as the human wave-making machine.

SNIPPETS - The end of February always means the annual Georgetown Oyster Eat and that strange corollary (or is that coronary), the Lewes Shrimp Feast. The first round of the girls basketball tournament begins Tuesday, March 1. Round one for boys begins Wednesday, March 4. The state championship preliminaries for girls swimming begins Wednesday, Feb. 25 while the boys start Thursday, Feb. 26. Central Connecticut dropped a 64-44 decision Feb. 7 to league-leader Robert Morris and fell to 11-12 overall and 7-6 in the Northeast Conference.  Sophomore guard Shemik Thompson (Cape) scored a team-high 13 points and had four steals as the Blue Devils lost at home for the first time in eight games. Kyle White (Cape) is the leading scorer for the 9-13 Goldey Beacom Lightning averaging 14 points a game. White also leads the team in assists with 68 for the season. Kaleb Lemaire, a 103-pound Caesar Rodney grappler (Beacon-Rehoboth) scored pins against Sussex Central and Smyrna helping the Riders to close match victories and what is most certainly the Henlopen Conference dual-meet championship. Tyler Townsend has been named to the 2009 Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference team, the conference announced Tuesday, Feb. 17. Townsend, a first baseman and sometimes designated hitter for Florida International, hit .323 with a team-leading 14 home runs in 2008 for FIU. He also led the team with a .615 slugging percentage and was second on the team in RBIs (55) and walks (25). Townsend scored 42 runs and posted a .419 on-base percentage while recording 16 multi-hit games, 18 multi-RBI games, and delivering a hit in 40 of his 53 games played. Gene Lake, former Milford and Delaware State star running back, was selected to the MEAC Hall of Fame. No date has been announced for the induction ceremony. The late Tom Marshall from Lewes High School, who had such a long and storied career as head football coach at C.W. Post, is on the ballot for the 2009 class of the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame. Coach Marshall belongs in the hall and with membership numbers and voting members weak from downstate we all can only hope that those with a ballot take the time to learn of the career of Coach Marshall.

The Delaware State Hornets softball team won the MEAC tournament for the first time last year thanks to a three-run homer by Aisha Hollomon, former Cape player. Jeff Savage is now in his 10th year as the Hornets’ head coach and his team is picked to repeat as conference champs. Delaware State opened the season with a doubleheader blitz of North Carolina Central Friday, Feb. 13, 23-0, then came back to win 13-3 on Saturday, Feb. 14. Junior Brittney Ruark from Delmar is the team’s leading pitcher. Carrie Lingo is now captain of the USA Field Hockey Women’s National Team.  The team is currently playing in the 2009 Pan Am Cup in Hamilton, Bermuda.  It defeated Mexico, 6-0, on Tues., Feb.11, then Trinidad-Tobago in the semifinals 7-0 as Lingo scored two goals .The championship game versus Argentina was tied at 2 after overtime and went to penalty strokes. Lingo had both regular-time goals for the United States. Argentina, the Olympic bronze medalist, won the penalty shootout 7-6 to win the gold medal.