RIVALS: BULLDOGS, TIGERS BREAK OUT T-EASE SHIRTS

Tuesday's soccer game between Cape Central and rival Notre Dame carried two important lessons in life.

Lesson One: Good sportsmanship should be one of the underlying ingredients of athletics, including rivalries.

Lesson Two: Always pick up your own T-shirts.

In a show of goodwill during the first half at Lou Muegge Field, Central coach Tom Doyle donned a blue T-shirt from this year's Notre Dame soccer camp, and likewise Brad Wittenborn wore an orange shirt from Central's camp.

Doyle said that when he went to a local company to have the shirts for his camp made, the proprietor asked him to deliver some shirts to Notre Dame's camp.

The shirts depict a bulldog, the Notre Dame mascot, holding a chain saw and chasing a tiger, the Central mascot, into a tree. Accompanying the drawing are the words "There's nowhere to hide from the 'Dogs."

When Doyle delivered the shirts Wittenborn gave one to him -- but that was not the end of it. Doyle had shirts made saying there is no need to hide from the Bulldogs with a picture of the tree on top of the bulldog and the tiger with his arms raised.

Said Doyle: "I gave him (Wittenborn) a shirt today, and we agreed that we would wear the shirts the first half of the game, just to try to fire up our kids. I don't normally wear blue when we play soccer."

Wittenborn said the friendly rivalry between Central and Notre Dame is one of the great things about high school athletics.

"Tom and I are good friends, and it was just a little friendly teasing," said Wittenborn. "The terrific thing about Central-Notre Dame is that the kids play their hearts out during the game, and I coach my heart out during the game, but before and after the game Tom's my buddy, and the same way with the kids."