‘Jeans’ takes me back; coach Tracey captures me in real time

The past is prologue - Cape lacrosse goalie Chris “Jeans” Keller, Class of 2000, identified himself to me Sunday morning as the Sea Witch 5K was in progress. “Fredman, I’m Jeans.” Ten minutes earlier, I had introduced myself to a woman I already knew. She then introduced me to her dog. Jeans reminded me of a game story I wrote about a 16-2 Cape win over Caesar Rodney just three days after his grandfather, Duane Schierer, had died. “We have it framed,” Chris said. I retrieved the story and read, “the life issue was not about the game, but about a force and spirit much stronger.” And a quote from goalie coach Steve Aubrey: “I told him he didn’t have to play. He was close to his grandfather and Chris was having a hard time. We always stress that family comes first.” And a quote from Chris: “My grandmother told me to go out and play for my grandfather. She told me to tell the boys to go kick some Caesar Rodney butt.” Jeans was stonewashing my memory bank, wrangling memories of a caring community of teammates that lift each other's spirits when we need it the most.   

Color conflicted - Monday was Cape’s Halloween hockey practice. I always show up to take photos, but didn’t realize I was being surveilled by wife Susan, who was pinging granddaughter Lina describing what I was wearing that day. Lina relayed information to coach Tracey Griesbaum, who walked on the field as Full-Boat Fredman. The Cape players all laughed, saying, “Tracey, you win. Just awesome.” Rewind to two minutes before heading out the door to practice. I had changed my shirt from cherry Temple to parfait blue and forgot to put my Cape hockey hat back on my head. Tracey got the report and affected a change as well. I had taken a perfect approximation and made it a late challenge, but Tracey, a former Big 10 Coach of the Year at Iowa, can change on the fly on game day. I don’t suffer from SCC, which is Spontaneous Color Confliction, just sometimes ripping off a shirt while screaming, “I just ain’t feeling it!” 

Loved and hated - Dallas scored first in both categories, most loved and most hated in the NFL. Embedded in a Bleacher Report article written by Brad Gagnon in 2014 was this great reference: “Dallas is the Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift of the NFL," Redditor Kelzer66 wrote last year. "Trendy, annoying, overplayed, overhyped and force-fed to us even though the majority of us cannot stand them.” That was written 10 years ago. I don’t know about you, but Momma Donna Kelce is starting to get on my nerves. How long did it take before Momma Wilma “Char” McNabb wore out her effectiveness as the Campbell’s Chunky Soup spokesperson ladling it for her chunky quarterback son Donovan? Dallas has won only one playoff game over the past 17 seasons – that doesn't seem like it can be true, but it is. Dallas Week in Philly is a third-rail electric event. Some fans of the Cowboys actually wear Dallas jerseys to the game, but you would be safer dressing as Donna Kelce or Wilma McNabb, or Fred Flinstone, for that matter. 

Travis Jankowski - The Texas Rangers and former Phillies outfielder stepped to the plate in Game 4 with the bases loaded. Memories of Johan Rojas danced inside the heads of Phillies fans now on Zoloft after a depressing end to their season. Jankowski laced a three-run double and a Phiily fan couldn't help but think, “We lost the National League pennant 4-2 in Game 7. That would have given us five.” And Texas manager Bruce Bochy is four hat clicks smarter than Topper.  

Cyber Updates - Text updates by a friend from a game which “you ain’t at” are just the best. Most days and games there are multiple platforms reporting scores, but nothing beats that ping in your pocket.

Snippets - Andrew Gaines, a senior, scored a goal on a header for the Mules of Muhlenberg College (12-3-1) as they defeated Dickinson 2-1 Oct. 3. Andrew is the son of John and Christine Gaines. John was a soccer and track star at Cape in the mid-‘80s. John scored the first Cape goal in a state tournament game in fall 1985. In spring 1986, he was the Division II state champ in the 300-meter hurdles. Andrew played for Emmaus High School, which is near Allentown, and was team captain. Chances are if you can’t find the published brackets for the state tournaments, you'll never find the games. Go to websites4sports, then click on tournaments. Go on now, git!