Alia and Evan are a couple of kids connecting at Champions Stadium

Friends Central - Evan Chubb is a rising third-grader, the third of four children of Katie and Josh. She is an irrepressible personality on the landscape of sports, and if you know her, it's already too late – she knew you first. On Wednesday at Champions Field Hockey Camp, she brought her Northwestern No. 18 field hockey jersey that was her requested Christmas present to get it signed by Alia Marshall in the off-chance Alia showed up. And the two kids met for a signing and a photo. Alia is a Northwestern graduate with a national championship in field hockey on her resume who also played in the national championship lacrosse finals this past spring. Alia is heading back to Wildcat country this fall to work on her master’s in speech pathology and will also assist with the field hockey team. But the moment of the jersey signing was energizing for both kids. I know Alia was quite touched, as only a child can get you like that. And that is the secret of little people. Once they see you as special, they latch on to what’s good about you and never let it go. 

Coffee klatsch - Comes from the German“kaffeeklatsch, which translates to coffee and gossip. Gossip is just talk, it doesn't have to be catty, as in, “Let's talk about who is not here.” Bar stools, benches and booths are what I think of as klatsch venues where retired guys meet for early morning coffee to share memories and pitch embellished stories. Talking with coaches under canopies at camps is also one of my favorite pastimes. One of my standard answers when someone asks, “Fredman, are you behaving yourself?” is “I have no choice, all my friends are in recovery. They went too hard, too soon, too early. Now we all wander around at sunrise like extras from a zombie movie looking for someone to talk to.” But all seriousness aside, a Surf Bagel booth is a place where I sometimes meet retired coaches and former players just to talk about old times and current big issues and to appreciate another person. Just never walk by five guys on a bench facing the Boardwalk because it's obvious they are not looking at each other, they are looking at you, and they will shake you down after you slide past. It all falls into the category of stationary sports like treadmill mind games. 

Sounds of silence - There are baseball games going on and the political pundits are losing their minds. It's easy to be swamped by the insightful reporting of others who don’t know any more than you do. I call it the crawl and baseball. Hey, maybe I need a podcast! I’ll watch the crawl on one of the skewed news channels with sound turned down while following baseball on my phone at MLB.com. The only noise is me barking “Old Yeller!” at the television or my left hand after a Phillies reliever walks a lead-off batter. 

Need to concentrate - I have respectfully suggested to some parents of one-trick-pony athletes that they consider adding another sport like cross country or a track event to their child’s basket of sports implements.  A common retort to my unsolicited intrusion is, “They need to concentrate on the sport they are best at which already takes up all their time.” I imagine a teenager concentrating on a volleyball or staring at a soccer ball, perhaps spinning a basketball on one finger, pondering two-seam and four-seam grips while holding a baseball, maybe gazing at a swimming pool. What matters most is, “What does the athlete want to do?” 

Snippets - LeBron James and Simone Biles will carry the American flag for the USA contingent during the Olympic opening ceremonies. Sounds good to me, but I’ve read that some people don’t like it, but then again some people don't like anything. Snoop Dogg will carry the Olympic torch on its final leg through Paris. “Drop It Like It’s Hot.” Snoop is also an NBC guest correspondent for the Olympic Games. Have you ever watched the wildlife series “Planet Snoop?” You can’t make it up, it's hilarious. USA athletes who have lit the Olympic cauldron are Rafer Johnson, 1984 in Los Angeles, who had won the gold medal in decathlon in 1960; and Muhammed Ali, 1996 in Atlanta, who had won gold as a light heavyweight in 1960. I like watching Norwegian track athletes Jakob Ingebrigsten, 1,500 meters, and Karsten Warholm, 400-meter hurdles. They are just goofy tough. Monday, Aug. 12 is the start date for fall sports except football, which starts practice Aug. 5. Cape football opens early, Thursday, Aug. 29, at Red Lion Christian Academy. Go on now, git!