Longevity: Today was yesterday and yesterday is today

Longevity and loyalty - I am the last man standing – not to mention ambulating – in a lot of categories from family to friends to coaching groups. Recently, Bobby Maull, a footballer from back in the mid-‘70s, told me of a reunion of players, most of whom I coached, who are now over 60. Bobby said, “So how old does that make you?” I said, “Leave me out of this story. I don’t remember any of you guys.” The continuum of truth goes from elusive to obvious. There are grandpops in my world that I coached or taught going back to 1975 at Cape and four years before that in Philly. I say in jest inside the prevailing truth, “I’ve had more Black men tell me they loved me than any other identifiable group.” Perhaps it's a cultural thing. I'm not trying to play anthropologist here, but when it happens, I mostly don’t know how to react. I ran into former student Terry Upshur, a 1976 Cape guy, outside Wawa. Terry, who is retired from Beebe, had a cup of coffee on his way to rake leaves to hustle some money. Later, Vaughn Trammell showed up at my house explaining what I need to do to get the late Danny Harmon into the Delaware Afro-America Hall of Fame. Grandkids Meredith and James showed up and Vaughn told them how much he loves their grandfather. They just smiled. One day in which today was yesterday and yesterday is today, a lesson in loyalty carried forward.

E words - Embellishment, exaggeration, enhancement, enchantment. I’ve always said, “You can find grandparents in the eyes of their grandchildren.” I’m the grandparent who looks into their eyes and skill sets, and if I see myself, it flashes like a photo. When Mikey became a top-tier scholastic wrestler, I saw myself pop out. It was the cocky and confident Fred walk of life; I silently claimed myself as a genetic contributor. My latest is watching Baby James Fred make his way as a sixth-grade basketball prospect and player. I was a sixth-grade basketball player at Our Lady of Grace Grammar School powerhouse in 1958, a cool 66 years ago. I went on to be voted Outstanding Player in the Philadelphia Catholic League in 1964. But in sixth grade, I rode the bench, which was actually a folding chair used for mass when the gym was converted to a church. Many athletes far removed from primetime trip hard about how much better they were a generation earlier. A common refrain I hear is, “These kids today, you can’t tell them nothing,” and I answer, “Then stop talking and start coaching.”

Harbaugh brothers - I was watching the run-up to the Ravens at Chargers game on Monday night and began hating on the Harbaugh brothers, saying out loud, “I get it! Shut up about these guys!” The best thing about it all was John pop rocking in the middle of a Ravens victory celebration. The brother could dance. And why does Snoop Dogg keep showing up? Snoop saturation ... he needs to go away and take Brady, Romo, Collingsworth and the Manning brothers with him. The Thursday night streamed telecast pregame had Marshawn Lynch visiting the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. I still remember him as the player who would rather be fined than talk to the media. I don’t find him a hilarious media personality. First down, sound down – that’s where I show up for football telecasts. 

Snippets - DIAA transfer rules and school choice, which is mostly sports choice, I find confusing and I’m close to the business, but not immersed inside it. But there are always athletes on the move. Sometimes premier athletes may attend three different high schools over four years, which often involves a real estate move and a grandmother, or perhaps an approved waiver. This all comes on top of athletes who redshirt in middle school to gain a year of athletic maturation. I wonder how renewed interest in school vouchers will affect all of this. There is a coaching culture inside Henlopen Conference basketball that can be tracked down to middle schools and bounces back to where those coaches went to middle school. I’m curious to see if Tony “TT” Hazzard can resurrect the boys’ program at Sussex Tech. Assisting Tony are Kyle Jones, Jaron Dukes, Corey Corbin, Thomas Jordan and Hassan Corbin. Mariner Middle produced a lot of boys’ basketball talent back between 2013 and 2015, but players scattered to the wind. The afternoon middle school doubleheader basketball games are well attended, and the stands are like a living history museum. Stay off the refs; they don’t get paid enough to take guff. Go on now, git!