The Ramblings of a Madman 

March 18, 2003

by Marshal Manlove, Editor, Creator of Words

Wow, it's another whole month since I wrote on this page last. I really need to stop working or something and get this thing together.

As usual, I've been real busy with stuff regarding the state tournaments, the TV show, and the Diamond State Games. I don't even think I can articulate how taxing it all can be at times. Finally, though, all of the old business from those set of games has now been settled with one last final issue taken care of as someone stood up like a man and resolved the last final problem.

I thought the basketball coaches and the Delaware Sportswriters and Broadcasters Association did a nice job picking the All-State Basketball teams this year. My personal girl's picks were the entire first-team this year, and with the boy's only Dover's Tyrell Moses was different on my first-team ballot. 

It was odd not to see a Catholic Conference team in the girl's championship game let alone the entire semifinal round. I thought it played a big role in the attendance figure for the final game, which was disappointing. 

But Tyresa Smith and Polytech had some Catholic Conference roots in their coach John O'Conner, who wins his first-ever championship. I could see all those years of frustration pour through the hint of tears in his eyes when his team was accepting their trophy. It's those moments that can choke up anyone and make attending games at that level exciting and memorable.

The games themselves weren't very exciting in the final two rounds except, perhaps, the Dover Sussex Central game in the semifinals. But that game was won on the free-throw line, and that is rarely exciting, although suspenseful for those who are rooting either for or against the team shooting them. 

In the track and field championships (I know they were some time ago, but I'm just getting around to talking about it) the Hillers of Tower Hill won a 4x800 state girl's championship with two 8th graders, Myra Trivellas and Heather Reinhardt won joined the two sophomores Lisa Klein and Mauri Liberati to win. 

Two other 8th graders helped set a new girl's swimming standard for the Ursuline Raiders 200-yard freestyle relay team. Kirsten Tullis and Kate Keeler (daughter of the Blue Hen's football coach, K.C.) teamed with freshman Lisa McCreary and senior Laura Bull to break the 1:40 barrier. There are a few 8th graders that helped make the Raider team successful, though I understand that some will transfer to other schools next year. Tullis is supposed to be headed to Archmere next year.

Back to track. Sadly, there were a couple of disqualifications that marred the end of the meet. The Glasgow girl's 4x400 team blew everyone out in the meet's final race of the day, but one of the runners took one too many steps on a lane line somewhere along the way. That kept the team that has now broken the state record in that event from becoming all-staters in that event.

Speaking of those Dragons, Kamilah Salaam, Maureen Lafate, Jernail Hayes and Rachel Salter, we are keeping those times in our record book here and recognizing them as the state records. I realize that the high school federation rules prohibit that, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it is a good thing. 

Now that does mean that I need to take a look at what I call records on this site. After all, it is basically a high school sports site with news coverage of college sports. But at first glance it could appear that a state record encompasses ALL levels. Well, forget about me trying to post every record from every level on here. Not without help! So, until such time as I can find someone willing to give up some of their spare time to help with that, it will stay pretty much as it is.

That reminds me. There is plenty of opportunity for people to hone their writing skills or develop them and become a local sportswriter here at Delaware Sports. It baffles me that more people don't take advantage of it. There are certainly a few critics out there who like to speak their mind in e-mails to the editor of Delaware Sports (me), but not too many who back up what they want to say in a more public forum. 

I totally encourage more people to join us here. Stand up and say something, make a contribution, have some fun, be a participator more often than a spectator. Join Delaware Sports today....We want you!

Speaking of "We want you!", it does look like we will be bombing Saddam pretty soon. I have been rather caught up in politics the past few years or so. (I have even been contemplating a political website for a while). It's sad that we have to do what we have to do here. It's sadder that more people don't have the courage to stand up to evil and tyranny like the leaders of our country, Britain, Spain and others have. I have watched with disgust, those countries, who we have helped in the past, stand in the way of allowing the Iraqi people to rid themselves of a torturer, rapist and murderer. I have even watched with disgust people IN OUR OWN COUNTRY do the same thing. 

Remember children, despite what you are learning in some of our socialist schools around the state, this is about the defense of our nation and freedom for the Iraqi people. It's not about oil. If you still think it is about oil, think about this for a second- if it were about oil, we could just lift the sanctions on Iraq and have plenty of it. Heck, we have enough in Alaska. I saw the energy debate in the Congress, I should add. The Alaskans want us to drill up there to help their economy. I heard one Senator say "How dare you people not allow us to develop our own resources up here." 

So the war will not be about oil. And it won't be because Mr. Bush failed at diplomacy. It will be because Saddam Hussein is a madman and won't follow the rules laid out by the international community. Case closed. 

And don't think of laying down in the streets and blocking traffic when the war starts especially when I am trying to drive down them. Because I will not stop. You have been warned.

Oh yeah, and I won't buy anything by the Dixie Chicks, France, Barbara Streisand, or any of those other traitors either. 

Back to sports. Rory Connell blistered the state record in the 200-yard freestyle at states. It was three full seconds faster than the old mark that he held and broke the POOL record by a half a second. I would love to see this kid make the Olympic team sometime soon (it would have to be sometime soon I guess if at all). It would be cool to pull out tapes that I have years later and claim that I have them from "back in the day." Same thing with all of our other star athletes that move on in life. Going back to the archives is fun.

Five former state individual wrestling champions lost in this year's championships. John Hummel, from Lake Forest was beating Salesianum's Mike DegliObizzi by 13 points in the 3rd period when Degs slipped out Hummel's back door, reversed him and pinned him, lighting up the Salesianum section of the crowd. 

Hodgson's Brian Welch, a state champion a year ago, beat TWO former champs on his way to winning his second title and Outstanding Wrestler honors. He beat Laurel's Wil Saylor in the finals and Tyler Lapinsky from Lake Forest in the quarterfinals.

St. Mark's Brian Willis beat Smyrna's Josh Cherriman in the last second of the match by one point, earning two take-down points at the buzzer (which no one heard and isn't audible on the videotape). The Smyrna crowd was...let's say...displeased with the call. A couple felt the need to express their...let's say...opinions about the call to the refs at the end of the match. But, a former Smyrna wrestler and current ref, Ross Thomas, saw the clock and said the call was proper. It clearly depended on what side you were rooting for. The Spartan fans I spoke with said there was one second left when Willis earned his point. The one Eagle fan I ran into in a gas station said the clock had expired for a full second when the "2" went up in the air.

So there are two histories of how that match went. It will depend in what town you live on which story you will hear. It's kind of like the two histories I read about the Israeli-Palestinian battles over the years. (If you want to see how that has unfolded, I encourage you to do the research)

Patrick Atkinson won his third individual state wrestling championship beating Newark's Mike Marra. He became the first wrestler to ever reach the final in five years having reached as an 8th grader with Caravel Academy. Atkinson is clearly one of the toughest kids around, as are many wrestlers overall. The physical pain he has endured with a back problem would have left many of us crying in a corner like we were just tortured by Saddam, yet he continued to pursue his goals. He is a strong candidate for the upcoming All-Heart Team awards, which we will put together soon for 2003.

That reminds me to remind you to check out the All-Heart Team section and start thinking about who you might wish to nominate for one. I really don't care who you nominate although I don't think it would be proper to nominate yourself or the team on which you play. It really should come from someone else, ok?

I will try to do my best to take a look at the upcoming Spring season, though I might just concentrate on a couple of the sports which I like to follow which are softball, track and field, girl's soccer, and girl's lacrosse. There just isnt enough time in the day to do the type of piece I would really like to do.

But, ya know, if we could get some support from the business community here in the form of advertising, perhaps I could take some time off from my day job to make this site better. This has been the goal all along. Up to now, this has been just a hobby and can only continue to be until such revenues can be generated. Soon, hopefully, I will add a salesperson to the staff, which would mean that the site can grow and offer more material. 

I had thought for a while that perhaps it's time to make this site better by selling subscriptions to it. But even though we average about 22,000 hits per day, from around the globe, I am not convinced it would work. Subscribers would have access to more stories and pictures and amenities, but how much would someone be willing to pay for Delaware high school sports? It's a tough call.

I am still contemplating starting another run at a newspaper. The plan involves a business shift here at Delaware Sports. We are starting to shy away from video highlights (other than the state tournaments) because people don't understand the charges that incurred for these types of tapes. 

The Diamond State Games are coming along. We don't have very much support from the business community for this either, but those that have offered their support are some of the best people around like the Zutz' from Zutz Insurance, Dr. Axe from First State Orthopaedics, the folks at ProPT who are providing trainers, Tim Wampler from Wampler's Clothing Restoration, Clint Dantinne from WMPH, Diane from Bells, Books, and Candles, Dr. Hocutt, etc.

Finding places to play our indoor events has been a chore which I think is just about over. Chris Morgan, the AD from Goldey-Beacom College has helped save us as has Joe Hemphill from St. Elizabeth, Mr. Turco from Conrad Middle School, Bari Poorman from the Charter School, Brother Ed from Salesianum, and Wesley College. I won't ever forget that these people have helped us out by allowing us to hold our events in their buildings. I am like that that way. I am loyal to those who work with me.

I'll add right now that I am going with Caesar Rodney as my number one softball team. I see Delmar, Brandywine, Cape Henlopen, Sussex Tech, Caravel, Middletown and Smryna as seven of the other teams that should vie for a state championship. Caravel, with Tim Wampler as the new head coach, will have as many as 6-7 freshmen in their starting lineup and will face a tough challenge ahead of them.

Please make some plans to come out and bowl in a couple of Diamond State Games qualifiers in May. Check out the links on the front page if you haven't done so already. For those of you who are regular bowlers, we are planning to operate a large amount of tournaments beginning after the 4th of July weekend this year. Check back for more information coming in the next couple of months.

We are also planning a wide variety of sporting tournaments that will compliment the Diamond State Games. We will run some indoor soccer tournaments, like the one on the 26th of April, volleyball, flag football, whiffleball and whatever else we can find to do and will put highlights of them on the TV show. If you would like us to put something in particular together, drop me a line.

Ok, well thanks for stopping by. I hope to write again rather soon and not leave people hanging so long. Don't be afraid to drop a line and say hello. 

Off to the radio show now....

Marshal Manlove