Pale ale runners saunter around Milton for Dogfish Dash

Dogfish Dash - Running with friends is good for what ales you; other exercises pale by comparison. Running slowly at a conversational pace on a Sunday morning through a small shipbuilding town is the most fun, but friends uncouple like runaway boxcars of beer to sprint across the finish line first. A total of 1,419 embarked for the 3.8-mile Dogfish Dash at 9 a.m., Sept. 29. It's a nontraditional out-and-back course as the runners head out and later come back from the other direction. Only the top 316 runners dashed at a pace faster than 9 minutes per mile. Dylan Smiley, 26, was the overall male winner in 20:25, which is a 5:17 pace. John Martino, 40, was second overall and first masters in 22:17. Sadie Flynn, 34, was the overall women's winner in 24:46. Lauren Moran, 44, was the female masters champion in 26:39. The proceeds from the Dogfish Dash go to nonprofits, which sounds like my retirement business model.

Teacher Appreciation Game - Cape hockey won at Milford 2-0 Sept. 26. The contest was listed as a Teacher Appreciation Game. I know staff appreciation games from high school through college level mean a lot to the chosen teachers and professors. Cellphone photos are serviceable but not as cool looking as Nikon images shot with a wide-angle lens. I stepped into Buccaneers world to assist because I know many of their players and families. One quirky thing we older guys still working the sports beat do is introduce ourselves to people we already know, usually saying, “Hey what’s up, buddy?” Bailey Masten was escorted by some tall, young guy wearing a Milford baseball shirt. Later along the fence, I discovered this teacher was Steve Walker. Steve and his brother, Brad, now a teacher at Woodbridge, played at Cape and were students of mine and Miz Fred. Their mom, Sandy Hopkins Walker, is also a graduate of the world of Freds. Downstate culture is all about connections; it has been that way forever and remains the tightly woven fabric that holds communities together. 

Shut up, Sean - Teaching high school classes of uninterested and non-motivated individuals, on occasion there was a level of acceptable background noise, called static or white noise in the radio business. It was always a scary strident female who would come to my assistance: “Tell them to shut up!” I never told a class to shut up. It's just so pockets-full-of-fish-sticks low class. But Saturday morning listening to Sean Greene call the Cape football game on WDEL.com, I lost my mind after Cape deferred then kicked off to Hodgson, which ran it back for a touchdown. And later in the first half, the Silver Eagles ran back another kickoff. Susan said, “Did you just name your iMac Sean?” It wasn’t about Sean, but what he was so vividly telling me. Later after Cape lost 28-23, I got a five-word message from Sean: “That was a fascinating ball game.” 

The pro game - Perhaps the corner of your couch has a seat cushion valley like a 500-pound invisible man is sitting there. October is the best of times and worst of times to have carpal tunnel syndrome. It's all about the remote and fresh batteries. The Eagles have a porous defense and a quarterback who lacks pocket presence – that’s the way we talk on Monday mornings. The Phillies have looked lackluster and disconcerting since the all-star break. Who knows how the 12-team playoffs are going to pan out? I’ll never say “Commanders” out loud, but Washington at 3-1 looks like the best team in the NFC East. 

Snippets - Fred Thomas field hockey will play Mariner at 6 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 2, at Champions Stadium. It will be a battle and a showcase for talent that is in the Cape pipeline. I watched freshman Hannah Maney (Cape) on the Big Ten Network play forward for Iowa, which lost an overtime game to Rutgers 2-1. A big Division I high school field hockey game is set for Tuesday, Oct. 1, featuring Milford at Smyrna. I coached Cape athletes in the mid-‘70s who are now in their mid-60s. There is only one word to describe that feeling, and that is scary. Go on now, git!