Runner Bob Sanders says bare feet prevent injury

Bob Sanders set a record Sunday, April 12, at the Cape Henlopen Educational Foundation 10K by covering the distance in bare feet. “Running barefoot means the knee is always bent, which prevents injury,” said Sanders, a native Louisianan. “I have a pair of slippers from a company, BIBRA, which makes all the inserts in Nike shoes that I wear sometimes while training. It takes about three months barefoot to get acclimated. In three years running races barefoot I’ve never had a cut foot.” When asked if he was retired, Sanders said, “Heck no, I have three wives to support.” I believe he may have said former; I just heard three and figured he couldn’t afford shoes. Bob Sanders works in the aerospace industry and now lives locally so expect to see Bob and his feet hot-footing the roads this summer.

COACHING 101 - Lots of relatively novice individuals are given coaching duties and a few are even good at it. I think it’s ridiculous that all kinds of courses or on-the-job apprentice experience are required before someone turns a person loose on their own. But many coaches are simply handed the reins of leadership and proceed to do dumb stuff requiring others to follow. The blame is always put on today’s athletes as not committed or tough like they used to be or the most common lament,

“Today’s athletes want everything explained to them, and if they don’t like what they hear they may just refuse to comply because they don’t care.” Ladies and gentleman - I’m currently looking at my dogs - dumb has always been dumb, and if coaching were rocket science they would be crashing like a physics 1 final exam project. My point here is that coaches need to be taught by experienced and successful veterans who have been there. My grandmother always said, “There are many ways to skin a cat; just make sure it’s dead first.”

FABIAN SIGNS WITH JESTERS - Former Cape soccer goalie Steve Fabian ended his four-year soccer career at Point Park University in Pittsburgh last fall by being named all conference for the third straight year.

Fabian started all four years. Fabian was ranked third in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Conference in saves for the season. Fabian recently signed a professional contract with the New Orleans Jesters. The New Orleans Jesters will compete in the Southeast Division of the United Soccer Leagues’ PDL (Premier Development League). Home games will be played in the newly renovated Pan American Stadium in City Park. It will mark the return of PDL soccer to the facility since the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. Please google New Orleans Jesters because the structure of American professional soccer is rather complicated.

GET OFF MY LAWN! Before spring sports are over, the outback parking on grass and in mud puddles that we have grown to appreciate is going to be closed off. The new school building product will begin to focus on creating and maintaining new fields which can only mean that even more people are going to swallow their pride and claim handicapped spots.