A comedian on a personal attack commits the worst of all sins

Solidly 15 or 20 years ago, give or take two or three, the Renaissance Rednecks convoyed out of Lewes under cover of morning darkness on a Halloween weekday to shoot pumpkins off Broadway as part of the David Letterman program. The machine, carried on two flat-bed trailers, was “Under Pressure,” the brainchild of engineer Doug Hicks, John Ellsworth and Doc Pepper, with John and Doc having the scrap iron, spare pressure tanks, ingenuity and leisure downtime to bring creative concepts into concrete realities.

The deal went weird when some time during the day Letterman decided he didn’t want a chunker on as a live guest, and so the country was denied the interview with the nation’s only full-time blacksmith trained as a marine biologist in John Ellsworth. In fact, Letterman only identified the Lewes crew on air as some guys outside shooting pumpkins.

And now Davey is crying on air every night attacking John McCain because McCain threw the Letterman show over with a lame excuse, then did an interview with Katie Couric in the same building. A comedian on a personal attack commits the worst of all sins: not funny!

BOUNDING BIDEN - I saw Sen. Joe Biden bounding up the back steps to a stage last Sunday exhibiting no orthopedic range of motion infirmities. Biden is 66 years old and I can only conclude the only time he runs is to catch the train from Washington back to Delaware. Biden was an “Auk Athlete at Archmere” graduating in 1961.

Like John McCain, Biden graduated (Delaware) in the back of his college class. Joe received a law degree from Syracuse and also five different draft deferments during the Vietnam War. He is now chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. How cool is that?

You know what this all has to do with sports? The country likes athletes better than politicians, so suddenly everyone is rugged and tough, fluid and coordinated. This election may come down to a game of horse or a bowl off. Perhaps they could all dance to “The Horse?”

BACK ON THE HORSE - You can’t go to a Cape football game without hearing and watching the cheerleaders dance to the Cliff Noble and Company classic “The Horse.” Now check this out: “The Horse” first became a hit 40 years ago in 1968 and Cliff Nobles went to Norristown High School. I think I may have known the guy, as I knew Big Jim Williams and Donny Cartwright, Temple basketball players and Norristown graduates. The Horse is an actual dance, while the cheerleaders are choreographed and cute and athletic, but it doesn’t look like the Horse they are doing. Why not bring back the Funky Broadway?

“The Horse” is played by marching bands across the country as is Hey-Hey Baby to tuba accompaniment. I love that song! The Cape band is rocking this early season and even gets after it on the field after the game and many fans go out there to rock with them. But band parents block the handicapped ramp during the game - “you can’t walk in front of the band” - and so I had to straight left my way down the steps and witness the pulsating underbelly of Friday night football kids flying everywhere in a ‘ramped up’ tag game of everybody is nobody. Does anyone actually watch the game?

Editor's note: Watch and listen to "The Horse" video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPIqWOrBAiA

BOO WHO? - Jimmy Rollins saved the day on a double play and before that made an over- the-shoulder catch sprinting away from the infield as the Phillies shortstop capitalized the D in drama and sealed the ball club’s Eastern Division championship.
No more booing for ‘front running fans’ comments because for one day the team finished in front. You can’t be a baseball fan and not love the Cubs, so we all hope for a Phillies versus Cubs old school seven-game series but first the Brewers of Old Milwaukee must be discarded by the city that brought you Schmidt’s.

MONSOON THURSDAY - Last Thursday afternoon I was like a stray dog under backyard rubble hunkered down figuring when the rain comes horizontal and there are coastal flood warnings there are no high school games. I was wrong but I don’t need to be right all the time. The field hockey team went to CR and won a game 1-0 to raise its season record to a perfect 7-0. Chelsea Reed had the winning goal at 5:25 of the first half for Cape off an assist from Hilary Merlo. The Vikings outshot the Riders 17-6. Tori Bunting had six saves for Cape.

Cape soccer moved to 4-2 on the season with a 5-1 victory over the soaked to the bone Laurel Bulldogs. David Mesquita and Tristan Karsnitz each had two goals for Cape while Nick Priano had one. Andrew Scrutchfield was credited with five saves.

And down to Dagsboro with no fear of rising tides, the Cape volleyball team raised its record to 7-0 with a 3-1 win over the Indians. Here are the stats if you’re keeping score at home. Cape Henlopen (kills-aces-blocks-digs-assists): VanDyke, 2-2-2-22-0; Warren, 8-2-0-3-9; Watson, 6-0-0-5-0; and Bailey 0-3-0-15-0.

Cape football is scoring 18 points a game but giving up 29. They face a Caesar Rodney team Friday night that is scoring 29 but giving up 19. Somewhere in the mathematical permutations is the Pythagorean theorem for football success. Like play some defense!

The junior varsity volleyball team beat Indian River 2-0 to raise its season record to 6-1. The games were 25-13, 25-23. The first game was given a boost with the serving of freshman, Nicole Jones. The second nail-biting game was clinched by the serving of sophomore Caitlin Wood.

SNIPPETS - Georgetown Middle defeated the Beacon soccer team 4-1 as Ty Doherty scored the first goal for Georgetown. Ty’s dad, Dave, is the new principal at Sussex Central High School and a former assistant football coach at Cape Henlopen.

Franc Cook, a four year starter as goalie for Cape lacrosse who shared duties with Joe Tabler as a sophomore - which included two state championships - is now a freshman goalie at Lynchburg. Franc had 11 saves against Stevens and 8 against Gettysburg last weekend in a fall ball tournament. Joe Tabler, now a college junior, is listed as the starting left guard (6-foot-3, 330 pounds) for the Davidson College Wildcats. Davidson is 2-1 on the season. Last Saturday Davidson trailed Jacksonville of the Patriot League 35-14 with four minutes left in the third period and came back to win 38-35.

The Redskins beat the Cowboys so watch out for Steve Taylor at Wawa, and Bears over Eagles so duck Johnny Morris at the gym.