Graciousness and sportsmanship are life-lasting gifts to share

Good graciousness - I came in the side door on the bench side of the turf field at Sussex Academy Oct. 10 to cover the Cape at Sussex Academy rivalry field hockey game.

I am perceived as a Cape guy, but I’m more of a kid guy, and anyone younger than I am, which is almost everyone, is perceived as a kid in my sports book.

I was greeted behind the north-side goal by assistant coach Caitlyn Hardy. Caitlyn was a goalie for Cape, graduating in 2011. That 2010 season, under coach Nicole Catanzaro, Cape cruised into the final game 17-0 with 10 shutouts. Cape lost to Sussex Tech 1-0 in the semifinal on a goal by Maxine Fluharty with five seconds left in the game. I talked to Caitlyn after that game just like I was talking to her Tuesday. She remains the huggable/lovable athletic kid.

Also before the game, I met Brittany Danahy on the sidelines who summoned her daughter Shea, a sophomore, during warmups to let her know she was delivering her forgotten water bottle. Speaking of gracious and loquacious, they don’t make people any nicer than Brittany. And finally, the game started and there was Seahawks senior Callie Short, a formidable forward, and I noticed her great-uncle Rob Schroeder along the fence along with her grandmother Carol Short, a former Lewes High multi-sport athlete, and let's not even go as deep as artist Howard Schroeder. Callie worked as a lifeguard at Lewes Yacht Club last summer, and when Davey Fred’s grandmother Susan took him for morning swim instruction and workouts, Davey always found a reason to sit down and visit with Callie. “She’s such a nice kid and such a gracious person,” Susan would say, like three days a week. I meet nice kids every day on my sports beat. Some of them are retired, but a nice kid is forever a nice kid. 

That guy is gone - The only time you can shake hands and accept congratulations for being in a hall of fame is the night of the induction banquet. After that, it's considered lame and needy for the honoree to bring it up. I covered the Cape, Caesar Rodney and Sussex Central triangular cross country meet Oct. 10 at Brecknock Park, which is a stone's throw (if you’re Roberto Clemente) north of Rider Stadium. The park was filled with Comcast service trucks – not sure if it was a company picnic or just a place to park. Anyway, the boys’ race was dominated by the Riders 15-48 as the top seven runners all broke 17 minutes; only Cape’s Jason Baker broke up the party, placing sixth in 16:26. CR sophomore Griffin Spana ran a personal best 16-flat, and coaches were saying if he didn’t look back in the final 10 meters, he would have broken the course record of 15:59 set by Ryan Baker the previous year. Don’t look back and don’t lay down are two axioms in running sports. I was talking to enthusiastic assistant coach Rob Easton at the finish line. His sophomore son Evan ran 16:33, probably the fastest seventh-place dual-meet time in the history of the Henlopen Conference. I asked, “Has CR ever won a state title in cross country?” The answer was no. I saw my opening: “Coach Fred’s cross country team won a state championship in 1977,” but remembered the don’t look back and don’t lay down rules. Salesianum is always the team to beat in Division I if you look back. But looking forward, my Venmo money is on the Riders. By the way, I have no idea how that works. 

Republic services - My country trash cans are picked up every Tuesday by Republic Services, and if I forget to roll them to the end of the driveway, they will honk like a residential goose until I emerge, walking barefoot over acorns like a fire walker over hot coals. Philadelphia sports fans living in Sussex County should wear "garbage services” T-shirts, as much trash as they talk. My Philly sports roots run so deep they are clogging the sewer pipes, but talking trash is bad juju, defined in the Urban Dictionary as “god-given bad luck on a consistently colossal magnitude.” It's turned into soap opera sports with everybody talking about everybody else. Eagles are seven-point favorites over the Jets. I suggest taking the Jets and the points. I am rarely correct. 

Snippets - Wet dog weather is forecast for Saturday, Oct. 14, when the Ashley Furio 5K and Crooked Crawl takes place, and Sunday, Oct. 15, for the Darby Dash 5K. Cape football is at The Castle Friday the 13th to play Sussex Central. I was a coach for Cape in 1976. I see those blue uniforms in my sleep, and the counter criss cross and wing back counter. Keys will lead a defender to the ball, except in 2023 everybody’s got ADD. I prefer to just blow it up and tackle everyone without a big belly. Go on now, git!