Stoop culture from Brooklyn to Philly is about storytelling

Stoop culture - Spawned from the steps of Brooklyn and Philly swim storytelling and clever joke creators who sometimes collide at the ocean's edge. After the Race Into the New Year 5K Dec. 31 on the Rehoboth Boardwalk, retired Amtrak chief law enforcement officer Neil “Big Train” Trugman entered my orbit and began to circle me with stories. I decided to be the guy who listens, which is sometimes confused with indifference, but raconteuring is not a boxing match. I don’t have to land any jabs. Neil was wearing his 1971 New Utrecht High School sweatshirt, the same high school that produced Gabe Kaplan and on which the sitcom “Welcome Back, Kotter” was based. The show debuted in September 1975, the same year I arrived at Cape. It lasted four years, and there are still Cape students from back then, like Norman “Chin” Hazzard, who call me “Kotter.” I can take anyone’s story to another place, but the last story of the new year belonged to Big Train.   

Forever cute - I’m not cute and I’m not young, but like vanilla fudge from the Candy Kitchen, I am sorta sweet. At the Race Into the New Year 5K, I snapped and snagged separate photos of Jack Noel and Jamie Wollard, both 85-year-old runners, and I thought, “They both look good.” If I were to market them, I’d say “outside the demographic, but still outside.” Magic Jack is just a spiritual presence without proselytizing, while Jamie is a matriarch who brought 15 family members to the race. She is that smiling, fit person who seemed to be passed down through the generations. My motto is, “Legacy is not a Subaru.” We are all under the influence of our family who came before us. 

Ghost writers - My grandfather Frank Frederick got fired from his job as a ghost employee in a North Philly political ward because he called in sick every Friday for a job that didn’t actually exist. I am used to retired athletes embellishing their past glory days with exaggerated stories because it is rude to call someone out and say, “That story seems unlikely,” so we just let it happen and keep the challenge flag in our back pocket. But what gets my attention are famous people who are busy then suddenly they're on TV promoting a book they wrote. I’d argue that writing is a craft; you just don’t write a book in your spare time, even if you have a spelling and grammar checker program that underlines most of what you’ve written with so many reds and greens that it looks like Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” I listened to Kenny “The Jet” Smith talk about his book “Talk of Champions,” now available in hardcover at Target. There have been 4,500 books published about Trump since he was inaugurated. Trump is listed as the author of five books. When I hear anyone say, “That’s why I wrote the book” or “Like I say in my book,” I am just skeptical. 

White horse - The late-afternoon crowd at Joe’s Bar in West Chester all stopped to watch undefeated-for-life Larry the Postman go down to defeat in a game of darts. Larry “had wood,” otherwise known as “the hammer.” I had thrown eight in the top of the last round-innings, 2-3-7, split darts, across the bottom. Larry’s eyes were slits – he had started work at 4 a.m., and it was now 5 p.m. He was functionally blitzed. He squinted to see the board and had to be reminded what innings he was shooting. He let the darts fly one at a time from his automatic weapon right hand – all triples for a total score of 9, known in the game as a white horse. Larry looked at me and bugged out his eye slits, “Chump!” The World Championships of Darts was being held in England this week. Professional players attract big crowds offering £500,000 to the winner, which converts to $631,000. Competitive darts is a sport that proves that not all sports can be compared. 

Snippets - The transfer portal has become an open-air market for athletes. The process is a nightmare at the receiving end, where it seems the admissions office works for the athletic programs. “According to U.S. Department of Education research, more than a million students are enrolled as transfer students at American institutions each year.” - (sparkadmissions.com). The best advice for athletes is to go where they intend to stay and graduate while striving for good grades. Otherwise, what is the point? Go on now, git!