We hear from our viewers quite often, either by email or at the various stadiums we visit each weekend, and, happily, for the most part the comments are quite complimentary. But as they say, you can please some of the people some of the time, but you can’t please everybody all of the time. That seemed to be the case this past Monday when I returned to the office after a weekend at Harvard to do the Lafayette game. There were two e-mails in my inbox complaining that we have had the Easton Red Rovers on too much and were concentrating on the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference at the expense of the Colonial League. I understand this is only two people complaining, but there is an adage that for every two there are… (I forget the number) unhappy people. The adage doesn’t matter to us. We take every complaint to heart. So I looked a little more closely at our TV schedule.
Counting this upcoming weekend, we have had 12 EPC schools and six Colonial League teams on television this season. This seems like a reasonable representation of almost all the schools in our viewing audience.
The two viewers are right about Easton. We have had them on more than any other school; they also are the ONLY undefeated team in our viewing area. The Liberty-Easton game, which was on last week, was a direct result of the Pennsylvania Cable Network wanting to do that game and scheduling it at the beginning of the season. We even asked if they would consider us changing the game to Freedom-Parkland, but they wanted two teams they had not had on their network. A second game was not an option for us because our other production crew was in Boston.
When scheduling games for the season, there are basically two considerations – 1) what games will warrant the most interest from our customers; 2) can we get as many of our local teams as possible on the air at least once. We believe we have accomplished the second consideration while paying close attention to the first. Dieruff is the only EPC team that has not been on RCN TV and that has more to do with their schedule which predominantly features teams outside our viewing area. We have featured Colonial League teams for about one half of the football weekends.
It is also very important to us to bring the games that most fans want to see. On Friday, October 10, we presented Easton-Parkland and Freedom-Whitehall, two games that featured an undefeated team against a one-loss team. The ratings that night showed that 20,000 household tuned in to watch our high school football. That is supposed to mean we had @ 50,000 viewers. We were #6 out of all channels on the RCN dial that night for viewership. This tells us that the “fans” want to see the best teams playing the best opponents. That is why we will do Easton again this weekend (undefeated) against Freedom (one loss). That will be followed by a Colonial League game.
I understand the passion our audience has for their particular team and I applaud that. We also like to think that wanting your team featured on RCN TV is, in some way, a compliment to us that you want us to cover your school. We hope you continue to support your team while understanding our weekly dilemma. Be assured that we try to do our very best, but you can’t please all the people all the time.
ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
1. You might be wondering what will determine the four finalists for the 2014 national collegiate football championship. There is a committee that makes the final choices. Up until this past week, that committee was made up of thirteen individuals. However, Archie Manning, the father of Peyton and Eli, stepped down this week due to health issues relating to his knee replacement surgery. That leaves 12 members to decide and there could be a potential 6-6 tie when voting on a team or teams. The Committee will continue to discuss and re-vote until the deadlock is broken. The first Committee rankings come out October 28.
2. Speaking of college football, I did get home in time from Boston on Saturday night to catch the fourth quarter of the Notre Dame-Florida State game. I listened to the first three quarters in the car. It was a classic. What did you think of the offensive pass interference call at the end? As much as I wanted Florida State to lose, I do think the official made the right call. It’s not called all the time, but what infraction is?
3. Percy Harvin is now a New York Jet. He leaves a Super Bowl team and joins a 1-6 team. Harvin has a history of creating problems, both with his teammates and his coaches, evidenced by the fact that the Seahawks virtually gave him away. Does a leopard often change his spots? No.
4. You know the song “Royals” by Lorde, the one you can’t get out of your head when you hear it. Well, for the next few weeks you will not hear it in San Francisco. Since the Giants are playing the Kansas City Royals in the World Series, two San Francisco radio stations have said they will not play that song for the duration of the series.
5. Will we crown the first Eastern Pennsylvania Conference South Division Champion this Friday night when Easton takes on Freedom? If Easton wins, they will be the title holders even though they have one more league game on their schedule. If Freedom wins, they could share in the title, but that would not be determined until the final weekend. Watch the game LIVE at 7:00pm on RCN TV.
(Last Week – 9-6; Seasonal Record – 68-37-1: 65%)
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