FOUR NAKED GUYS - Speaking of Cape dress codes, out in the trophy case are four plaques that depict a rear view of four naked relay runners being congratulated by Ben Franklin because Franklin Field is named after him.
The first Cape mile relay team was the 1971 squad of Chet Brisco, Brad Waples, Irv Stevenson and Emory Howell which ran 3:26. In 1975, Delphos Price, Noah Piper, John McNair and Vince Lewis won in 3:26. In 1978 it was Lance White, Tracy Felton, Warren Perry and Glen Smith running 3:26 and the 1986 school record team of John Gaines, Otis White, Robert Brittingham and Ricky Pitts ran 3:22.
WE ARE THE BEACH - We are flip flops and board shorts and surf’s up and saltwater taffy. We are laid-back dudes secure in our own skin. We are loyal to friends. We are individualists who resist regimentation. We are steeped in deep diversity. We sometimes wear hats inside. We are the place where country meets college. We are backwater and off-road intelligent. We run and kick balls, play lacrosse and basketball and Little League. We are families in the grandstands, Igloo coolers in the truck cab and Rubbermaids and lawn chairs in the bed. We are ripped and fit and proud of it. We are lucky; we live at the beach. Just tell us how to dress so we know which of the 500 outlet stores to avoid.
BRE HISTORIC - Brienna Faust, now a freshman playing lacrosse at Old Dominion where she just scored her first collegiate goal, was the first Cape player to pass the 100 goals scored mark and didn’t stop until she netted 126, which is the school record.
There was a point in time when I knew that, and if I wait another 10 years I will remember it without prompting. Liz Carpenter, now at Virginia Tech, also is a member of the 100 goals scored club. Liz has scored five goals so far this season.
SNIPPETS - Lydia Hastings of Rehoboth Beach and the University of Maryland where she is a member of the women’s soccer team, was selected/invited to the U.S. U18 national camp May 3-10 in Sunrise, Fla. Hastings has elected not to attend in order to focus on final exams the following week. Lydia is in the very demanding Clark School of Engineering.
I saw former Cape Superintendent Jim Wilson and his wife, Diane, standing next to their car in the parking lot of the Cape Gazette last Wednesday wearing bright red Phillies jerseys. Jim’s said Utley across the back while Diane was wearing a Rollins shirt.
“The stadium is 110 miles north,” I said.
Jim said, “That’s where we are going.”
But I already figured that and when former Phillies fantasy week infielder Dave Truitt pulled up listening to the Mets lose on the radio I knew the field trip was on. The Phillies lost to the Padres 4-2, but hey?
Right-hander out of the University of Richmond Tim Stauffer, who is the nephew of Bill Schab of Lewes, started the season as the fifth starter for the Padres but is now on the 60-day disabled list with a bad shoulder. But the good news is Tim is engaged to the owner’s daughter.
Natalie Dewitt hit a fence-clearing home run last Wednesday in Cape’s junior varsity home win over Sussex Tech. “Where were you, Fredman?” Natalie asked as I limped over to the Wednesday night lacrosse game. “I wanted you to see my home run.” And that is why I keep working because of athletes like Natalie who want to share their Sports Center moments with a sportswriter teacher dude. Since when did JV players start jacking balls out of the yard?
Former Cape teammates Jimmy Gill and Steve Peet recently faced each other as Garnet Swarthmore defeated the Cougars of Misericordia College in Scranton, A week past the prom on May 17 Cape’s Little Big House will host a night of boxing, an event put together by Dave Tiberi, Delaware’s only boxing champion, having held the IBF middle-weight crown in 1991. Tiberi lives locally part-time. His self-defense program is part of Delaware Police Academy training. Here is a jab and here is your gun. Jab gun, jab gun. You figure it out.
Cape’s soccer team lost to visiting Polytech 5-0 last Tuesday night dropping to 6-6 on the season. The Panthers put 33 shots on goalie Sarah Watson. Cape was missing three players to injury, including star Rachel Sadowski. Even their coach, Robin Erthal, was on crutches having torn her ACL at a recent practice.
Retired softball coach Bill Cordrey sought my medical advice last Wednesday after horrifying his left shoulder bench pressing 275 pounds. Real action athletes are all about stupid - it’s what motivates us.
Speaking of stupid, don’t ever think running a half-marathon is a healthy thing to do. It is elective misery and totally unnecessary. Last Sunday after the LDAF 13-mile jaunt I spoke to many runners who seemed to have no blood left in their faces. How can that be good? Don’t get me wrong, I like runners, but you must realize the calories saved by not eating a Big Mac are the same as lost running eight miles. So eat a cracker and ride the stationary bike.
Girls soccer should be a fall sport and go head-to-head against field hockey for available talent. The 7 p.m. spring games attract less than one parent per player. “Your turn to go!”
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Sports Editor Emeritus
Email Fredman at fredman@capegazette.com
