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Darin J. McCann

According to a study recently performed by a doctor at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, the number of men going to emergency rooms drops during televised sporting events, and increases after the games end.

Really?

I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that the number of men pushing a cart up and down the aisles of grocery stores, mowing their lawns or paying any kind of attention whatsoever to personal hygiene or their children also drops considerably when the alternative is sitting on a couch in an air-conditioned house with a cold beer and a chest full of brownie crumbs. I mean, come on, this is not exactly an eye-popping, standard-setting kind of study, is it?

Funny thing about setting standards, by the way. If the standard set by a group or individual stinks, is it really worth crowing about it in the first place? Let’s face facts, if I were to set the standard for ear-splitting flatulence in public settings, would I wear that label proudly? Probably not a good example in my case. But many people would most likely bury their heads in the sand out of humiliation and ...

But I digress.

I admit I was a little interested in reading about this study when I saw it teased on the front page of cnn.com the other day. The story was headlined, “Study: Men delay medical care when the game’s on.” Well, that makes sense, I figured. Men delay just about anything when a game is on. In fact, I’ll go a step beyond that, and argue that men will delay just about anything for anything else.

It’s what we do — part of our charm, really. See, it’s not just taking out the trash or cleaning the gutters or getting our arms sewed back on in a timely manner because we’re watching “Home Improvement” reruns or flipping through a magazine that holds no redeeming value whatsoever. No, no, we’ll also put off doing stuff we genuinely enjoy if we happen to be doing something else at the time. It’s not a matter of procrastination as much as it is an element of genetic laziness.

Would I put off going to the emergency room because I was busy watching my beloved Orioles getting their heads bashed in by any number of teams? Absolutely. But I would suggest that I would also put off a trip to the emergency room because I happened to be studying my fingernails or trying to find out exactly where that odd egg-like smell in the living room is coming from at different times of the day.

It’s not a case of machismo at play, it’s simply a case of being a guy.

The doctor who led the study, Dr. David Jerrard, stated that the number of men checking into the emergency room at his hospital is about 30 percent lower during televised games. In the latest research conducted by Dr. Jerrard, the number of men checking into the emergency room in the four-hour period starting 30 minutes after a game concludes is about 40 percent higher during the same period on days when there is not a game being played.

It would seem there are more men going to emergency rooms on days they are watching sports on television than on days they are not. Remote control injuries? Choking on Doritos? Men being hit on the head with frying pans because they’re ignoring their wives and watching games on television as opposed to painting the front porch?

Or, do women actually do that outside of “The Flintstones?”

Dr. Tom Scaletta, the president of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine, was not surprised by the information gathered by Dr. Jerrard. He said that when he was younger he worked the emergency clinic during Chicago Cubs games for extra money, and found that about one-third of the patients asked if they could wait until the end of the game to go to the emergency room. When told that Dr. Jerrard’s next study would go into the nature of emergencies during these spikes in emergency room activities, Dr. Scaletta wouldn’t hazard a guess into what would be discovered.

“Alcohol, of course, does change the logic stream for a lot of people,” he offered.

Ah, so that would explain the problem. Joe Schmoe is sitting on the couch all day with his buddies, pounding booze, and he decides it’s a really good idea to a) punch his one friend in the kisser who has been talking smack all day about his team getting killed, or b) stumble out to the grill and flip the hot sausages with his tongue.

Either way, they’re waiting until the game ends to drive to the emergency room.

Millville touches a few issues

There is no town in this community undergoing more change than Millville. To be more precise, there might be no town in this state undergoing such a drastic makeover.

Consider the approval of a few new developments, which will forever change the landscape of the town, or the resignation of Gary Willey, the longtime mayor of the town. There is a new face on Millville, and it’s dealing with issues that never had to really be considered before.

One of those issues is the moving of houses. Nowhere is that more obvious or prevalent than on Cedar Drive, the road one block south of Lord Baltimore Elementary School. Now, in the interest of disclosure, our publisher lives on that road, and has been affected by houses moving onto that street. That being said, homes being moved from one spot to another changes both the neighborhood where the house was, and its new location.

On Tuesday night, the Millville Town Council voted to ban the moving of houses from one spot to another — covering houses being moved from one spot in Millville to another, as well as houses being moved from outside the town’s limits into the town.

Now, maybe that’s the answer. It certainly won’t satisfy everyone, but it at least puts an end to some uncomfortable situations until an ordinance can be passed.

Another situation facing the town as they undergo this growth spurt is that of emergency services. With more houses, comes a need for more fire and ambulance services. To that end, the Millville Town Council voted Tuesday night to give 10 percent of the town’s building permit fees to the Millville Volunteer Fire Company and ambulance services.

That, in no uncertain terms, is a no-brainer.

The first responsibility of any governing body is to protect the citizens it represents. That is why government exists. For the town council to make that kind of commitment on behalf of the town’s residents is to better the quality of life for all its residents.

The town is going to continue to face growing pains in coming years, and issues such as Home Depot, sewer expansion, zoning guidelines and other items are sure to creep up and cause disharmony. As long as the town council continues to keep its eyes on the citizens it represents and governs, the town in general should prosper and thrive with its new look.

Religion not the issue — singling one out is
Editor:

Rational discourse about the role of religion in our society cannot take place when the words of George Washington to a Jewish synagogue about the nation’s commitment to religious tolerance are dismissed as “baloney,” nor when official language in one of the country’s earliest treaties is similarly dismissed, namely explicit treaty text stating that the United States is “not a Christian nation any more than it is a Jewish or a Mohammedan nation.”

It is pure hyperbole to state that those resisting sectarian prayers or icons in governmental ceremonies or locations are “enemies of our country” and anti-religion, when in fact they are neither. Rather they are modern-day supporters of the men and women who fled religious persecution to establish a country where they could practice their diverse faiths freely and openly and be protected from government incursions favoring one religion over another.

The founders of our country understood all too well that theological differences separate the various Christian sects, just as theological differences separate Christians from Jews and Mohammedans. If each were to flourish freely, government could not be an arbiter of those differences. And heaven knows too many wars had already been fought in the name of religion.

Yes, many of our country’s founders were people of faith. Some, however, were agnostics who did not adhere to any organized religion. Yes, they even mentioned “God,” “Creator” and “Divine Providence” in the Declaration of Independence. But these are generic terms with which all religious denominations can identify. However, there is no mention of “God,” “Creator” or “Divine Providence” in the Constitution, the document that framed our government. This could not have been an oversight.

There must be a way for us to discuss, as well as foster, religion and spirituality without singling out one religion or icons for official favor. People of good faith surely can find common spiritual ground that will honor the generic beliefs of all. Doing so would truly bring us peace and, yes, even religious satisfaction.

Mary K. Ryan
Frankford

Reader envisions an odd scene in the future
Editor:

In the 2015, the last two supporters of George W. Bush meet in a bar in Dewey Beach. Their names are Charles (C) and Thomas (T). As they sit in a corner, drinking some Kentucky whiskey, the following conversation was overheard.

C: “Who knew that the Democrats would hold hearings and that all those Generals would testify under oath that Bush never listened to their advise on the war plans in Iraq?”

T: “Yeah, how could the American people believe four-star generals over the commander in chief?”

T: “Who would have thought that the entire scientific community would embrace the concept of global warming after all the snow melted in Greenland?”

C: “Rush Limbaugh maintains that liberals shoveled all the snow at night and used it to chill white wine.”

C: “Well, we built that fence between Arizona and Mexico, didn’t we?”

T: “Sure did, and if it had not been for all those Mexican construction workers who went on strike we would have finished it too!”

T: “I sure am glad that Bin Laden is gone.”

C: “Yea, he died in a brothel in Texas where he had been living for 10 years. They say it was an overdose of Viagra.”

T: “Same as Cheney!”

T: “Whatever happened to Rumsfeld?”

C: “Not sure. After he left office, there was talk of him looking for a few ‘dead enders’ to play poker with.”

T: “I got into a few of those games, but Wolfowitz kept trying to use Iraqi money to pay for his losses and I stopped going.”

C: “Well, the nation really benefited from the Bush tax cuts.”

T: “We sure did, and all those new jobs Abramhoff created really helped the Indians make real progress.”

C: “Which tribe?”

T: “Don’t know for sure, but all the women had red dots on their foreheads.”

C: “Whatever happened to Ann Coulter?”

T: “They say she works as a fortuneteller in Atlantic City.”

C: “Really? We will have to go up there some weekend. She was a good-looker, and anyone who thought highly of Joe McCarthy, Nixon and George W. deserves our support.”

C: “Did they ever find the leaker in the preacher-gate scandal?”

T: “No, but I never felt there was any problem with the White House sending out talking points to fundamentalist pastors every Sunday.”

C: “Nor did I, but when several million churchgoers learned of it they stopped going to church. “

T: “Well, at least Laura and George are back in Texas. Except for Karl Rove, he does not get many visitors.”

C: “What do you expect? Cindy Sheehan was elected mayor of Crawford and she changed the name of the town to Clueless.”

C: “Do you remember how the Bush administration ended?”

T: “Who can forget the National Spelling Bee? That fifth-grader who was asked to spell Republican and answered I- N- C- 0- M- P- E- T- E- N- T…”

C: “Too bad he won.”

T: “Bartender... two more, and make them doubles.”

Dennis P. Cleary
Bethany Beach

Addy left a legacy on the story of Bethany
Editor:

Bethany Beach lost one of its most senior citizens on Oct. 7 with the passing of Martha Jean Addy. She was 93 and had been in failing health for several years.

Most permanent residents of BB would see her on a daily basis walking from her home on Kent Avenue to the post office, newspaper stand and, of course, on the boardwalk for endless walks and talks. She enjoyed the off-season, when the crowds thinned out.

Active in historical matters, museum docent, civic clubs and the beautification of BB in years past, perhaps her fondest memories were years 1959-1973 while “running” the family owned Addy Sea.

When she wasn’t cooking breakfasts, making lunches for 40 guests or greeting new arrivals, she was on the beach riding waves with the best of them. Many of the guests were families with children who would return each year. She continued to correspond with many of those families for years, even after the Addy Sea changed ownership.

Then her eyesight began to fail and reading and writing letters became more difficult and finally impossible. The walks became shorter and slower, and the light began to dim within her.

The light finally flickered and faded out as she peacefully made the transition to be with her husband, Ed, who passed away in 1985. Perhaps they are together on the boardwalk now, just as they were in the past.

William D. Addy
Preston, Md.

Reader: Spivack is a good change for all
Editor:

It’s time for a change. It’s time to elect someone who cares. It’s time to vote for Dennis Spivack. Why?

Delaware’s lone congressman is a Republican who has steadfastly voted for the Bush initiatives that have brought the country to the brink of bankruptcy. He has been a member of Congress for 14 years without any evidence of influencing his party to be moderate and can certainly take no pride in the fact that this past Congress was in session the fewest number of days since the ’40s.

Finally, the Republican Congress has thrown away its prerogative to be a check on the administration’s policies, instead only rubberstamping them.

He has voted for draconian cuts in Medicaid, food programs for children, increased interest on student loans, and cutbacks in Pell grants that help bright needy children get to college. The agenda of his so-called “moral values” party is only to retain power and protect its monopoly control of Congress.

That is not good enough for Delaware. We need someone who cares about children and families; about elderly and decent medical care.

We have an excellent choice in Dennis Spivack. He is a lawyer who has experienced firsthand the problems of a broken health care system, caring for his wife through three bouts of cancer, almost going bankrupt in the process. He is energetic, passionate about putting people first, and independent. He promises not to move in lock step with his party when he believes it is wrong.

Electing Dennis Spivack will indeed be a referendum on the Republican agenda of legislating for the rich and disenfranchising the poor. Elect Dennis and let him represent all of Delaware.

Lois F. Lipsett
Bethany Beach

Walshes thankful for local emergency teams
Editor:

A heartfelt thank you to our fire departments.

On the morning of Oct. 5, my wife, Jeri, and I were awakened by our smoke detector, at 2:13 a.m. Our house was engulfed in black smoke (the dishwasher was on fire).

We quickly called 911 and shortly thereafter, fire companies from Millville and Bethany Beach arrived on the scene. They were quick to respond, helpful in getting everything under control and showed great compassion.

We also want to thank the EMT’s for their special attention, making sure that we were both in good health, and free of smoke inhalation.

Sincere thanks.

Jack and Jeri Walsh
Bethany Beach

Millsboro fire company behind Atkins
Editor:

The Millsboro Fire Company would like to recognize and thank Rep. John Atkins for his support of our organization and the Town of Millsboro. Rep. Atkins has continually shown willingness to assist in any way possible. This is evident in his efforts in securing funds for the paving of the public parking lots on the corner of Morris and State streets in Millsboro, adjacent to the Fire Hall.

We recognize that Rep. Atkins is committed to helping our community, its businesses and organizations such as the fire company, and we are very fortunate to have him as our hometown representative. Again, we thank you John for helping make this improvement to our community possible.

Ron O’Neal, Secretary
Millsboro Fire Company Inc.

Life Chain got a lot of local support
Editor:

Thank you to all who participated in the Life Chain on Respect Life Sunday, Oct. 1.

It was the second Life Chain held in South Bethany and the numbers attending doubled.

Over 1,400 cities and towns took part in The Life Chains across America.

A big thank you to Father Darcy of St. Ann’s. Both Protestants and Catholics participated.

It was organized by the Delaware Family Foundation in cooperation with the Delaware Right to Life.

Carolyn Marcello
South Bethany