Reading the lips of the fans in the stands

He dropped it! - I thought I was ambivalent as to the outcome of the Indianapolis Colts versus Houston Texans football game. The winner was heading to the playoffs while the loser doesn’t have to go home, but they have to buy a ticket to the next game. “The Colts were facing a fourth-and-one from the Texans' 15 with 1:06 remaining in the game. Instead of running Jonathan Taylor, who was banged up earlier with heel and ankle issues, Gardner Minshew threw to running back Tyler Goodson, but Goodson dropped the ball, effectively sealing the outcome.” – Espn.com. I joined 50,000 Colts fans, screaming, “He dropped it!” The Texans won 23-19. I like both coaches, DeMeco Ryans of Houston and Shane Steichen of Indianapolis. Colts quarterback Gardner Minshew is his own great story, a primetime perennial backup and no chump by any means. And the Texans’ CJ Stroud is the likely Rookie of the Year in the NFL. Stroud’s father, Coleridge Bernard Stroud, was incarcerated when CJ was just 13 years old for kidnapping and carjacking, and is serving 38 years to life. I always say, “We all carry stuff we wish we could throw out of the boat, but we have to just keep rowing.” 

Lip reading -  Before coming to Cape, I taught at a private school on Philadelphia's Main Line. I remember a seventh-grade boy who was hard of hearing but could read lips. He asked if I would shave my mustache. His name was Benji, but I called him Barbasol. I didn't shave; instead I compromised by trimming. Camera people covering bowl games now know where the families of key players are sitting. They zoom in on the dads and moms during emotional moments, good and bad. In a recent game, a quarterback lofted a “buddy pass,” which can get a receiver trucked. The camera panned to the would-be pass catcher's mom and her lips were so easy to read: “What the freak was that?” You know the game was recorded and later the family sits down to watch it together. “Wait, wait, here comes mom’s commentary. Go ahead, mom, you tell ‘em!” 

Golden Wolves Challenge - The meet was held Jan. 7 at the Tom and Helen Flynn Indoor Track and Field Complex on the campus of Alvernia University in Reading, Pa. The Cape track boys put down an array of outstanding performances. Stephen Hart won the high jump with a personal best of 6-feet-2-inches, while Machi Savage was third at 6-feet-0-inches. Ben Clifton won the 800 meters in 1:59:5, followed by Cardin Benjamin in 2:02.6. Bernard Jones, a sophomore, won the triple jump in 44-feet-5-inches, while Merric Mumford jumped 40-feet-6-inches for third. Jones placed fourth in the long jump at 21-feet-2-inches, with Robert Redden fifth in 21-feet-0-inches. Brady Mauro won the pole vault with a jump of 12-feet-0-inches. More in-depth results from Cape’s boys’ and girls’ indoor track teams will be found in the Friday edition of the Cape Gazette. 

Lame game - The late and legendary longtime Seaford coach and athletic director Ben Sirman, a Swarthmore graduate, said something to me 40 years ago that I never forgot. “Riff-raff don't travel.” And so when a basketball game is suspended and stopped with the score tied at 52-52 and the state police clear the gym because of a fan fracas in the bleachers, someone has to own it. The expression “peeps” is so yesterday, but these jokers didn’t just fall from the deck of cards. You don’t have to be a dealer to know jokers are wild, so keep them out of the gym. 

Wrestling roundabout - Last weekend, the Delcastle Invitational was won by Delaware Military Academy with 272 points, followed by Salesianum with 245 and Caesar Rodney with 227. There were 25 Delaware teams in the competition. Sussex Central won the Battle of the Bridge tournament with 333 points. Plymouth Whitemarsh, Pa., was second with 183 points. Evan Cordrey of Central, a junior, won the 132-pound bracket and recorded his 100th win. Gabe Cannon, the 175-pound champion, also recorded his 100th win. The Cape team placed fourth at the Iron Horse Duals. The Stephen Decatur Seahawks won the dual-meet tournament. 

Spaces in between - Any coach worth his or her rock salt will tell you it's the spaces between actual games that require the most creative coaching effort and talent. Those not on the inside have no idea of the interactions and interventions surrounding any team; it's just a tough arena, and it goes all the way to the pros. Team chemistry is always the key component. College athletes home for the holidays are mostly heading back to continue matriculating toward a degree and, if fortunate, also playing a sport. There is hardly a sport these days you can’t catch on livestream, which is why fewer fans and families go to the actual game. 

Snippets - I looked into the transfer portal for men's Division I lacrosse – I was just curious – and found the overwhelming percentage of portal peeps were graduate students. The extra COVID year still has the system out of whack. Mikey Fred (Mercer) and his cousin Ella Rishko (Virginia Tech), both lacrosse players, left Anna B Street in Dewey and headed back for their sophomore seasons. Ella and Mikey were Cape Athletes of the Year 2021-22. Mercer plays four games in February, including High Point, Hampton, North Carolina and Army. Virginia Tech has February games versus VCU, James Madison, Mercer, Queens and Louisville. Northwestern University’s Alia Marshall will wear No. 17; as a graduate student, she is listed as a defender on the Wildcats’ lacrosse team. Go on now, git!