The Coastal Point encourages the exchange of ideas. Letters to the editor must be signed by the author with phone number included for purposes of verification. Please send your letters to P.O. Box 1324, Ocean View, DE 19970.

Darin J. McCann

A sign of the Apocalypse?

There will be an open election in Iraq before ...

Oh.

Fine, that weird guy from In Living Color and that insipid show on WB will be nominated for a Best Actor award before ...

Oh.

The Boston Red Sox will overcome both the hated New York Yankees and 80-plus years of frustration by winning a World Series ...

Oh.

Fine, I surrender. Apparently the Philadelphia Eagles are actually playing in a Super Bowl this weekend. Yes, after multiple heartaches over close calls, and a few seasons worthy of the Tidy Bowl man, the team that has dashed so many hopes and dreams over the years will take its place in the ... well, whatever you want to call Jacksonville.

This is a strange one for me to get my mind around. I attended college in Philadelphia (Go Temple!), and lived in South Philly while working for a newspaper in the town. From my apartment at 9th Street and Snyder Avenue, I could see Veteran’s Stadium from my kitchen window and hear the cheers for an Eagles touchdown bellowing through my home.

And, on occasion, the boos.

See, they are a fickle lot, these Eagles fans. I have lived and written for newspapers in the San Francisco area, as well as the Atlanta and New York markets. I grew up in D.C., home of bandwagon-hopping Redskin fans, and spent time in Denver, where sports are only relevant if the home team is winning. But none of these markets, not even remotely, resemble the strange and fated passion of the Eagles fan.

They boo and throw things if the team is losing, and boo and throw things if they do something conservative when winning. They espouse hatred and violence if they lose a one-point game to a Super Bowl contender, and party in the streets if they beat a 2-14 team by 10 points. They are bi-polar by nature, and suffer their inferiority complex to the New York teams with a chip on their shoulder larger than a cheeseteak from Gino’s.

Yet they always bounce back from defeat, with an optimism for the next season rivaling only their deep-seeded fear of failure. It is a black cloud of despair they carry with a seeming pride, trimmed in the green and silver of their beloved Eagles.

Yeah, they’re nuts.

They can be horribly annoying to deal with when the team is doing well, and too pathetic to pick on when their Eagles are struggling. I must admit that I have rooted for the team in silence for years, understanding of their plight, but not wishing to get too involved with their fans for fear of where the discussion could lead. They are not my favorite team, by far, but they did somehow manage to get in my bloodstream to a certain degree through some strange sort of osmosis.

It is with a guarded sense of dread I will be watching this year’s Super Bowl — half rooting for the team to defy the odds and beat the maddeningly-efficient Patriots, and half waiting for the shoe to drop that will sentence the team and its fans to another long summer of frustration.

There is also a voyeuristic interest I hold in the game that must be admitted.

What in the world will Eagle fans do if their team does indeed come home with the Lombardi trophy? Oh, sure, a parade will march up and down Broad Street, with the victors shivering in their convertibles while hundreds of thousands of fans line the street and scream in adulation at the athletes who will never again be expected to pick up a bar or restaurant tab in Rocky’s town. But even the most ardent Eagles apologist must also fear for the riots and burned-out police cars left in the wake of thousands of drunken fans taking their celebrations from the pubs of South Street to, well, South street itself. I can already see a wave of neo-hippies burning their tie-died Eagles shirts outside Quincy’s while three bums and an off-duty ...

But I digress.

I will instead look forward to the game, and hope that Dave and Beth Long, Bill Patterson, Jamie Price, Tim McCann and the rest get their wish.

I mean, it could happen. Yeah, right, and the guy who played Lowell on Wings will get an Oscar nomination.

Oh.

Hey, don’t forget us!

While the pageantry and celebration at the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk on Monday was great, we’re hoping the process is by no means over.

DNREC Secretary John Hughes, Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, Sen. Joseph Biden and a host of other powerful politicos in the state showed up to officially kick-off the Rehoboth Beach/Dewey Beach Shore Protection Project.

“Certainly some of our enthusiasm for replenishing Delaware’s beaches is about recreation and tourism and keeping our competitive edge as a tourist destination,” said Minner. “But this 50-year, multi-million dollar project is about much more than tourism. It is very much about protecting our ecological resources with habitat restoration and protecting our coastal communities with flood control.”

Hey, we have all that stuff on this side of the bridge, as well. Don’t forget us.

“Thousands of visitors come to Delaware each summer and this business is critical to the economy of Sussex County. I am proud the federal government has led the effort to secure this funding.

Ahem. We’re, um, Sussex County, as well. Don’t forget us.

One year.

We released the first issue of the Coastal Point on Feb. 6, 2004 — a 40-page publication with a few staunch supporters advertising, and one staff reporter. Today’s paper is 56 pages, with many more advertisers, and three full-time reporters. Yes, we’ve grown in many ways from our first issue, but we also hope we’ve been able to stay much the same.

It was our stated goal from day one to reflect, represent and inform this community we all hold so dear. The intent was to not just be another weekly newspaper filled with the tedious, but to be one specifically created for the dynamics and demographics of this unique region and its people. We hope to only improve in our goal of fulfilling the needs of the people we work for — our readers and advertisers.

Thank you for all your support during our first year, and we promise to not be quite so self-involved when we hit our second anniversary next February.

Minority Leadership Alliance grateful for community

Editor:

The annual basketball fund-raiser sponsored by the Minority Leadership Alliance of the Indian River School District was held on Tuesday, Dec. 28, at Sussex Central High School.

We would like to thank the 2001 and 2003 Sussex Central Henlopen Conference Championship teams for taking time out of their very busy schedules and giving of their time to participate in this year’s event. They include Leroy Mann, Andrew Weatherly, Orlando Farrow, Terron Hall, Josh Ward, Shaunell Roach, AJ Neal, Jamil Young, Frank Harris and Charles Laws. Special thanks to the team of the 80’s — Doug Reed, Tim Slade (for his continuous dedication and organizing the basketball game), Dave Pritchett, Deron Pritchett, Willie Reynolds, Donald Polk and Brian Polk.

Thanks to the Sussex Central Middle School 2004-2005 Boy’s Basketball Team — Bryan Tindley, Jermaine Harmon, Deronta’ Moore, Malcolm Keys, Andre Dickerson, DJ Long, Zeno Williams, Clifford Paynter, Randy Brittingham, Paul Reed, Sean Hopkins, Kervey Riley, James Barnes, Jordan Jones, Brian Taylor, and Debra Hagans stepping up to the challenge as coach for Greg Hockman and Bill Matalavage.

Thanks also to the Selbyville Middle School 2004-2005 Boy’s Team members — Mike Feddiman, O’Brian Handy, Daniel Johnson, Zack Kmetz, Jamar Manuel, Tyree Oliver, Isaiah Phillips, Danny Predeoux, Andrew Townsend, Montre Andrews, Jeremiah Farlow, Deshawn Godwin, Vontre Pettyjohn and Keion Sturgis, as well as coaches Sam O’Shields and Chad Hall.

A special thanks to Bradley Layfield, athletic director, for donating refreshments and proceeds from the concession sales. Tay Brown and Kim Hall, who operated the time clock and volunteered to work at the concession stand as well as Brian Scott and Zach Mitchell. Custodian Harold Short, Sr. and students Harold Short, Jr. and Tyler Wright, who volunteered and worked effortlessly to help clean the gym and sweep the floors along with the MLA committee members.

As always, two thumbs up for the dedicated MLA committee members for your constant hard work and working together as team players — Charles Hitchens, Colleen Thayer, Elva Allen, Margaret Hopkins, Bettie Harmon, Vickie Pendleton and Alan Hudson.

Proceeds from the game will go towards student scholarships at Sussex Central High School, Indian River High School and the upcoming Minority Youth Recognition Luncheon.

The amount raised this year was $900. We appreciate the generosity of all the people who donated and helped to make this year’s fund-raiser a success.

Diaz Bonville
Committee Member

A letter to the state regarding elections
Editor’s Note: The following letter was addressed to all honorable members of the Delaware General Assembly, and forwarded to the Coastal Point.

Dear state senators and representatives:

We live in the Midway area of Sussex County, near Lewes and Rehoboth Beach. Some 60 percent or more of Sussex County’s registered voters live east of US 113 too, however none of us have adequate representation on the Sussex County Council, so we are asking for your help.

All of Sussex County is run by the five people who sit on Sussex County Council. They determine what to tax us and they authorize how much of their portion of the state’s transfer tax will go to help finance the towns. They hire all county department heads and they appoint the Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commissioners. In short, they run the show.

Council elections are not open to countywide voting, nor is there a Sussex County Executive who is elected by the people. With no meaningful countywide elections and with the district lines drawn by the council to isolate the voters who live on the coast, we must urgently petition the state legislature to amend whatever law is applicable in granting us our rights to participate in our government in a significant way.

If indeed the law does prohibit our voting countywide in council elections, we ask that you help sponsor and pass an amendment that allows countywide voting for county council.

It is also worth noting that during the last state legislative session, Sen. Gary Simpson introduced SB 117 to add two at-large members to Sussex County Council. It was a good idea and may have given us better representation on the council, so we would support it as an alternative.

We would appreciate your help in this matter.

Bill & Joan Deaver
Rehoboth