Introduction from Chris Michael: Last month we welcomed Cameron Nunez as the newest member of the ATVN Sports family.

She brings several unique experiences to the table.  A member of the National Honor Society and field hockey program, Cameron gained attention as a student-athlete with the first-ever Easton girls wrestling program (one of the first sanctioned programs in Pennsylvania). She is currently an athletic training major while wrestling collegiately at East Stroudsburg University.

This week, she continues her story as the sport continues towards scholastic sanctioning in Pennsylvania.

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Growing up, I was always told that “growth takes time” which has shown to be a deception in recent years for the sanctioning of girls/women’s wrestling. “Women’s wrestling is one of the fastest-growing sports at the scholastic and collegiate levels,” according to the NWCA, which is one of the most astonishing things to hear and see. As much as this is a new developing sport, it is necessary for me to first discuss who came before and broke the stigma of wrestling being a “male” sport.

I had spent most of my life watching male against male wrestling contests until one cold day in 2011 when I saw Kasey Kruczek. My father and I went to watch Easton Wrestling on a frigid winter day when I was nine years old. I was sitting in the bleachers when I noticed this blonde-haired girl from Easton wrestling some boy. Of course, I was taken aback by this and asked my father who she was. His response was, “Oh, that’s Kasey Kruczek, she used to wrestle for the Forks program when Nick was a novice and now she wrestles for Easton.”

This, I believe, was the turning point in my realization that wrestling is not simply a male sport. She will always be my inspiration and one of the people who helped me fall in love with the sport. I’m grateful to her for paving the road for female wrestling in the Lehigh Valley.

When my parents decided to let me wrestle when I was a junior in high school, I was ecstatic and eager to take on the challenge. Of course, you’d assume I beat every boy every time I stepped on the mat. Unfortunately, such was never the case. They’d fling me around even if I weighed twenty pounds more than some of the guys at practice. It made me apprehensive when I had to wrestle boys my own weight.

So, when it came to JV districts, I was mostly worried about what would happen. I believe I put up a good fight but was always pinned in the end. During this time, I hoped I could have wrestled a girl for some friendly competition. We then learned about the MyHouse PA Girls State Championship, which was to be held in Gettysburg, PA. Unfortunately, there were no girls in the room to wrestle at the time, and the boys were preparing for their states. My father chose to contact Kasey Kruczek because she was one of the girls’ coaches at Parkland High School, which had a large number of female wrestlers.

I had no idea those few practices would be the entire reason I wanted to seriously tackle wrestling!

The Parkland High School practices remain some of my favorite wrestling experiences to this day. It was one of the first times I felt like I was a part of something bigger than myself. I also met Brooke Zumas, the head coach of Parkland Girls Wrestling and a key figure in the “#Sanction PA” movement. She would later pave the way for me to speak about women’s wrestling in Pennsylvania. It was my first-ever girls “states” (March 2020), the day following boys states, and I was ready to wrestle. When I stepped in the gym, there were about a hundred females in this small gym, ranging from novice to high school, all vying for the same gold medal.

Unfortunately, I did not place, but it was an experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

A few weeks later, I received a text from Brooke Zumas asking if I was interested in doing a Zoom interview with a reporter, which of course I said yes to and was thrilled that she thought of me. This led to other interviews with numerous local and state news organizations. I even got to meet 2004 Olympic wrestler Tela O’Donnell via Zoom. It was a fantastic start to something wonderful.

May 26th, 2020 was a significant day – not just for the Easton wrestling community, but also for the state of Pennsylvania. My alma mater, Easton Area High School, officially established girls wrestling as a sport on this day. I was overjoyed to learn that I would be able to practice and compete on my school’s official girls team during my senior year.

In the weeks leading up to the start of the season, Pennsylvania would sanction seven more female wrestling  teams. In my final season as an Easton Red Rover, I had numerous wins but also several losses.

Then came March, and it was time for my second MyHouse PA State Championships appearance. There were roughly a hundred more girls this year than last. It was a breathtaking sight to behold!

Again, I did not place, but I was able to see the development of my teammates and other girls I met the previous year, which was far more rewarding than any gold medal.

For those who are unaware of what is going on with Sanction PA, there are currently ninety teams sanctioned out of the required one hundred. Girls wrestling is on the verge of becoming an official sport in Pennsylvania. Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Leighton, Liberty, Palisades, Parkland, Pocono Mountain East, and Pocono Mountain West are among the district eleven teams that have already been sanctioned. We can have formal state finals like the boys state tournaments in Hershey, Pennsylvania, once we get 100 teams sanctioned.       .   

Meanwhile, some collegiate women’s wrestling teams include Alvernia, Cedar Crest, Delaware Valley, East Stroudsburg, Gannon, Lock Haven, and York. Every day, I am grateful for all of the people I have met via this sport, as well as those who have inspired me to continue doing so. As Sally Roberts, one of my inspirations, had written “be a Trailblazer” and “Wrestle Like a Girl!”

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Liberty Girls Basketball Head Coach Jarrett Carnes joined the Astound TV Network in 2022, contributing a regular “video blog” on the local hoops scene during the winter sports season and putting the spotlight on the top news, teams and players in the ATVN viewing area.

Here in the second episode of “Coach Carnes’ Corner,” he talks about the first month of the women’s high school basketball season, along with the Christmas/Holiday tournaments and a busy start to the 2023 schedule in the Lehigh Valley.

Check back for more of Coach Carnes’ insights and highlights on girls basketball in a few weeks!

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PROGRAMMING NOTE:

Among our upcoming scheduling highlights will be a rare “EPC-Colonial League” wrestling crossover event this Saturday, live, at 7pm on ATVN.

It will feature Notre Dame and Bethlehem Catholic–two schools that feature some of the top wrestlers in the nation!

Don’t miss a minute of the wrestling action, in addition to our Lafayette College and high school basketball games coming up over the next several days.

Make sure you bookmark and refer back to our broadcast schedule here on our website for all the exciting local sports action!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Today here at “The Shop,” our newest member of the ATVN Sports Department introduces herself as we look to enhance our coverage of local wrestling–women’s wrestling–in particular, as it continues its march to get sanctioned as an official sport in Pennsylvania.

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I, Cameron Nunez, grew up in the beautiful suburban township of Forks in Easton, Pennsylvania, where wrestling tradition has lived for many years. Since I was two years old, my weekends have always been spent in a huge, musty gym. Even though my body hurt so much, and it smelled so horrible on some days, I fell in love with it so quickly that it eventually became a part of me.

In October 2005, my parents decided they wanted my older brother Nick to start wrestling for the local Forks Township pee wee wrestling team. From then on I spent some weekdays in that large maroon and gold wrestling room just running around while my dad watched my brother practice. As the little sister, I occasionally served as the “dummy” for my brother to perform some excruciating techniques on.

Naturally, most of my winter mornings started at abnormal hours as I was hauled to wrestling matches that were sometimes nearby but other times several hours away. The presence of hundreds of sweaty males on the weekends was not something a six-year-old girl would want to do, yet there was something about it that felt like home. I may have seen one or two girl wrestlers at this period, but I didn’t give it any thought until I was older.

Once I got older (about 11 years old), I started to do my own thing in the winter, which was basketball. I loved and enjoyed it so much, but it made me sad that I had to miss many of my brother’s matches for the historic wrestling program of Easton Area High School.

So, in the winter of my seventh-grade year, my closest friend and I agreed to oversee the wrestling program for middle school. Every day I would clean the filthy mats for the boys, which caused my socks to become the most hideous color brown. I enjoyed keeping the score for the middle school team on match nights before seeing my brother wrestle for the high school team. I recall attending my first-ever Easton match against Phillipsburg, our century-long rival. I was astounded by how crowded the gym would become with spectators on both sides, as well as by the powerful electric chemistry between the male competitors. It felt like a fever dream every time and I could not wait to officially be a part of it in the fall of 2017.

I was so excited to be a part of such a legendary program, even if it was just being a wrestling manager at the time.  I lived for waking up at five o’clock in the morning to go to tournaments like the Bethlehem Holiday Classic or Districts. In the winter of 2019, I remember going to Districts and seeing a girl wrestle one of our boys and thinking to myself, “Wow, I wish I could wrestle.”  Little did I know what next season was going to bring and that girl would later be my college teammate, Avia Bibeau.

The fall of my junior year came; I had just finished my field hockey season and was ready to start cleaning the mats. The night before the yearly winter sports meetings, I saw a post on the Easton Wrestling Twitter page saying, “Girls are more than welcome to join the team this year.” I told my parents.  They were a little concerned since I would be wrestling boys but as long as I did not care, they were ready to fully support me. My passion for the sport grew more and more every day in that room. All the wins and losses did not matter; I was happy to be part of many events, like the first match against Parkland. The thing that helped me realize that this was the right sport for me was when I won the 2020 Dick Rutt Memorial Award for my hard work/dedication in the room. Ironically this was the same award my brother won his senior year. It made me realize that if I keep pushing myself maybe this sport could open doors for me.

The summer before my senior season, my dad found a wrestling club in Stroudsburg where East Stroudsburg University Wrestling Coach Anibal Nieves would be coaching practices.  Little did I know by going to them, it would open up a major opportunity for me. I would go Mondays and Wednesdays to learn from him. I loved going so much that even in the fall after field hockey practice on those specific weeknights, I would head up to Stroudsburg for wrestling practice. One night after practice, Coach Nieves walked up to me and asked if I would be interested in taking a tour of ESU and possibly committing to wrestle at ESU. I remember thinking, “Wow, I really could wrestle in college”. A couple of weeks later, I took an official tour of ESU where I got to meet the Department Chairman of Athletic Training and got to see the wrestling room. I knew right after this would be my home for the next four years because I could wrestle, they had a top-of-line Athletic Training program, and it was close to home. A few months later on November 11, 2020, I officially signed my letter of intent to pursue my athletic and academic career as part of the Warrior Nation, aka East Stroudsburg University.

A few weeks later, my official senior wrestling season came but this year would be different because I would be a part of Easton’s first official girls wrestling team. I was excited to finally be able to wrestle only girls and get a feel for what was going to happen in college. I was lucky enough to have two Division One Leigh wrestlers to coach me through it.

The practices were hard, but nothing ever deterred my passion for the sport. Many wins and losses came that season, but it was great to be able to represent the Easton Red Rovers one last time throughout it all. One memory I carry with me forever is being able to go with my team to PA MyHouse State Championships and seeing hundreds of girls there. Sadly, I did not finish how I wanted, and then, just like that my high school wrestling career was over. This got me motivated for what the next four years were going to bring at ESU.

During the summer, I went to many freestyle tournaments and practices to learn freestyle, which helped me prepare for what women’s college wrestling was going to bring. The fall 2021 semester came;  it was time for my first two days, extra workouts, and weight management. Our preseason was a little thrown off due to Covid-19, but I managed to get in my multiple workouts a day. Early November was our first competition – the ESU Open – and I was tired from cutting weight but overall excited to wrestle in my first collegiate match. Sadly, it did not go my way, but it was an awesome experience. For the next couple of months, I continuously worked on my craft and just got better in the room every day. Our match against Elmira came and Coach Nieves told me I would not be able to wrestle in the actual match, but I would get an extra match against a girl that pinned me at the beginning of the season. Finally earning my first collegiate victory by pinning her, it got me motivated to compete in Regionals in February. My regional tournament did not go as I had hoped, but Coach assured me that if I wrestled the way I had in my two previous matches, I would be unbeatable the next season, and I was therefore eager to get ready for my sophomore campaign.

We are starting to get ready for winter break as I write this. Unfortunately, I am now sidelined due to back and shoulder concerns, so I did not participate in many matches this fall semester. However, I am hoping to resolve my back problems during the break so I can return stronger for the next semester. Although wrestling is essential to me, ultimately my health comes first. Young Cam would probably be awestruck but also proud of where she is now.  “Wrestling is a way of life” is one of my favorite Rudis shirts, and I’m delighted that it is!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

For over a hundred years some of the greatest video treasures of all time have been produced. Some have been lost in the sands of time and others, soon to be rediscovered, will become fan favorites for a whole new generation.

Each week we will feature just one of the many hidden gems that you can see on ATVN with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.

Tyler Brackbill is our newest employee at our ATVN studio. He has been doing a great job directing sports events, handling replay, shooting sports events, editing packages and pretty much everything that has been thrown his way.

One additional responsibility that he has also taken over this past fall is coordinating and “importing” the programming for our “Christmas Takeover” – a special marathon of holiday-only programming that runs from early Christmas Eve morning straight through until the late hours on Christmas night.

I am proud to say that this popular viewing event will be back again here in 2022.  Today, Tyler gives our website readers a “sneak peek” and inside information on his Top 10 list of special, unique holiday programs and movies that he thinks our audience will thoroughly enjoy.

  Here’s Tyler’s top takeover picks…

1. “Sidewalks”
   Back-to-back editions of this popular entertainment show regularly features mainstream celebrities, musicians and up-and-coming performers.  These particular shows will focus on how celebs will spend the holiday season.
2. “Scrooge”
   A special version of the popular Charles’ Dickens holiday classic, “A Christmas Carol.”
3. “Larry’s Tree: Journey To The White House”
   A look at the incredible journey one large evergreen tree takes in order to become a holiday focus for the First Family of the United States of America.
4. “The Beverly Hillbillies”
   A mini-marathon of some of the best Christmas-themed episodes of one of CBS’s most-popular and longest running situation comedies.  It stars Buddy Ebson, Irene Dunne, Max Baer and Donna Douglas as the lovable hillbillies who benefitted from their discovery of “Texas Tea.”
5. “Mad Dog and Merrill Midwest Grillin’ 
   The stars of this show are always entertaining while fixing up special, succulent items each episode.  Tune in for a mini-marathon of their holiday-based programs.
6. “Mark Millovets’ Christmas Wonderland 2022”
   This popular annual show returns for a special post-COVID edition of the program!
7. “Miracle on 34th Street”
   This is the 1959 made-for-television special and not the one produced by 20th Century Fox, although some prefer this version compared to the one released in 1947.  Tune in and see for yourself which you think is better.
8. “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet”
   No classic television show garnered more success and lasted longer than any other ABC network show before 1972.  The show, featuring the real-life married couple (and their two real-life children and, later, their wives), amassed an amazing collection of Christmas-themed episodes.  Tune in and see them for yourself in a marathon of this family-based sitcom.
9. “A Stetson Mansion Christmas”
   A special that features this famous Florida mansion that is decorated beyond-belief with holiday cheer, amazing light displays and glorious Christmas trimmings.
10. “The Littlest Angel”
    This not-to-be missed classic film from the ATVN Movie Vault is a MUST-SEE airing on ATVN at 8:30pm on Christmas night.  It features an all-star cast which includes Johnny Walker (“Family Affair”), Fred Gwynne (“My Cousin Vinny,” “Pet Semetary,” “The Munsters”), Tony Randall (“The Odd Couple,” “Mister Peepers”) and more!

And as always, the yule log will burn brightly on viewers’ screens (accompanied by holiday music) from 6:30am-10:00am on Christmas morning!

Granted, there are many more special shows and classic films that will be featured this Christmas Eve and Christmas Day on ATVN, but you’ll have to check back to our website in a few days to get more information on this year’s “takeover.”

To view the complete rundown of classic programming on the Astound TV Network, check out the weekly listings here.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

The high school winter sports season is just under way!

We already did two games (both games featured two of the hottest teams through the first nine days of the season) and have seven games/matches coming up over the next ten days (one wrestling match was canceled by the hosting school).

As you check out the new schedule here on our website, I want to point out a few of the highlights for this winter and the next few months…

MORE WRESTLING MATCHES

The Lehigh Valley has been known for years as the best area for wrestling in Pennsylvania (and on a short-list of the top wrestling regions in the nation) with many recent and not-so-recent graduates from local high schools capturing success at Division-I colleges throughout the USA.

Between COVID and other scheduling issues in recent years, it was a priority for us this season to get back to scheduling a wrestling match every Wednesday during the regular season.  PLUS…with some creative techniques…we have added a couple more nights during the winter that will focus on this sport.  We are also going to feature more wrestling schools than any other year in our network’s history, including all four schools that participated in last year’s PIAA championships.

MORE BOYS BASKETBALL TEAMS

As long as Mother Nature doesn’t cancel a ton of games this winter, we are going to be featuring more schools than ever before!

Our schedule will include every Eastern Pennsylvania Conference team from the Lehigh Valley at least once.  Our early season schedule will feature Parkland, Bethlehem Catholic and Northampton–the three boys teams that “lasted the longest” in last year’s state playoffs.  We also will feature some of the up-and-coming teams, including Central Catholic and Liberty–teams that have had really good fall seasons and are predicted to do well this winter.

Additionally we have scheduled games with nearly every team from the Colonial League from our viewing area, including a few schools we have not had on our network in decades.  As always, the weather could ruin our plans and changes beyond our control may occur, but we did work very hard to try to be as fair to as many teams as we could, while putting together a comprehensive schedule at the same time.

GIRLS BASKETBALL GAMES

I know we have had viewers asking about the lack of girls basketball games in the past and we have heard your opinions!

Our winter 2022-23 schedule will feature some of the top girls basketball teams from our area, including Easton, Parkland, Northampton, Bethlehem Catholic, Nazareth and others…plus we will make sure to allow for a number of girls playoff games in February and March.  We believe the girls games we have picked will not only feature some of the top athletes from our area, but will be just as competitive (or maybe more so?) than many of the other boys games that will be played on those nights.

Please note:  All of the above upgrades to our schedule should not take away from featuring all the top games as we get closer to playoff times.  We look to accomplish all of the above before we get to the final three weeks of the regular season, when many of our viewers are looking forward to seeing the most competitive games as squads jockey for playoff positioning.

It was a busy fall preparing for all these new editions to our broadcast schedule for the upcoming months.  We hope we will be able to bring you a very balanced and entertaining selection of games to tune in for all winter long.  As always, your feedback and suggestions will continue to be welcomed for the new year and I look forward to hearing your opinions throughout the seasons by emailing me.

Check back next week for more exciting local sports news and more on our winter coverage this season!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

For over a hundred years some of the greatest video treasures of all time have been produced. Some have been lost in the sands of time and others, soon to be rediscovered, will become fan favorites for a whole new generation.

Each week we will feature just one of the many hidden gems that you can see on ATVN with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.

Watching A Christmas Story — multiple times — has become a holiday tradition for many television viewers this time of year.  Its popularity has launched several sequels–some with completely different timelines!

One of the original film’s most memorable characters, that of the “Old Man,” was portrayed by one of the most versatile, and sometimes, rather underrated actors in Hollywood history–Darren McGavin.

Born William Lyle Richardson on May 7, 1922 in Spokane, Washington, McGavin left school at age 16 and ran away from home for a brief time before finding work in the theater as a set painter.

When a small acting opportunity became available, McGavin auditioned and won the role, despite having no formal actor training at that time. Shortly thereafter, he moved to New York City and started studying at the Neighborhood Playhouse and the Actors Studio.

He began appearing in bigger and bigger roles in larger and larger theaters in New York before being cast on Broadway in The Rainmaker (the title role in which he created).  He also appeared in several live theatrical productions on television, including The United States Steel Hour, which had the benefit of great exposure in the later 1950s by coming on immediately after the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz’s I Love Lucy hour-long specials.

McGavin worked radically different roles in movies and television over the next decade, from comedic roles to drama to a rather bizarre appearance in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.  While critics regarded McGavin’s performances as some of the best  in Hollywood, Darren said he would never work in TV again and referred to television as “actor’s purgatory,” according to a Paul King article in a 1960-edition of the “Vancouver Sun.”

McGavin would change his tune in 1972 by being cast as the titular character on the supernatural-horror TV movie, Kolchak: The Night Stalker.  The success of his movie led to a regular anthology series featuring some of the strangest sequences since the classic Twilight Zone show and has continued to be a cult classic to this day.

Among its biggest fans include X-Files creator/writer/producer Chris Carter, who has repeatedly said McGavin’s performance as Kolchak inspired him to get involved in the entertainment industry and spawn several of his projects.  Carter even cast McGavin in two X-Files episodes later in the latter’s career.

Among Darren’s later roles include playing Adam Sandler’s father in Billy Madison and as crooked gambler Gus Sands in the baseball classic film, The Natural.  Despite being one of the main characters in the latter film, McGaven was upset that he did not receive top billing.  He refused to do any publicity for the picture and demanded that his name be removed from all of the film’s post-production records.

Darren did return to television a few more times in his career, including garnishing a 1990 Primetime Emmy Award for his recurring role playing the father of the title character in politically-charged comedy series, Murphy Brown.

McGavin died of cardiovascular disease in 2006.  He was 83.

Before you see any of the various A Christmas Story films out there this holiday season, check out McGavin in a much different role, in the biopic movie 43: The Richard Petty Story along with his guest starring roles on classic television shows on ATVN.

To view the complete rundown of classic programming on the Astound TV Network, check out the weekly listings here.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Last week we “teased” that there will be new additions and elements to the Astound TV Network launching this winter that we believe our viewers will like and enjoy going forward.

Today, we unveil one of them here at “The Shop.”

Jarrett Carnes is a local basketball standout from Bethlehem who played at the collegiate level and is now back in the Valley doing some great things with the Liberty girls basketball program.

There is no question that boys basketball has gotten the lion’s share of media attention on local, regional and national levels.

In one of our efforts to help bridge that wide gap and put more emphasis on women’s athletics, Coach Carnes will be featured every few weeks with his opinions and observations on girls basketball and other observations on the local sports landscape.

Here is the first episode of “Coach Carnes’ Corner.”

Check back for more of Coach Carnes’ insights and highlights on girls basketball in a few weeks!

Also, check back to “The Shop” in a few days for some exciting news concerning our high school sports schedule for this new winter season on ATVN, along with other new surprises coming soon!

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PROGRAMMING NOTE:

Our winter schedule season “kicks off” with perhaps our most important broadcast of the year–the 37th Annual Dream Come True Telethon–on Monday, December 5, at 6pm on ATVN.

The bidding on this year’s great selection of auction items has already begun here: www.bidding owl.com/dreamcometrue.

We are also going to showcase many of our auction items on our telethon, with the money raised going to benefit this great local charity in our viewing area.  There are also some very special guests and performing artists lined up for this year’s event, plus very emotional stories told by young people and their families in the DCT program.

We would greatly appreciate you tuning in and making a tax deductible donation to the Dream Come True Foundation.  (It’s also a terrific way to do some “easy” Christmas shopping while also raising money for a worthwhile cause!).

Hope to see and hear from you this Monday at 6pm!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

For over a hundred years some of the greatest video treasures of all time have been produced. Some have been lost in the sands of time and others, soon to be rediscovered, will become fan favorites for a whole new generation.

Each week we will feature just one of the many hidden gems that you can see on ATVN with insights and commentaries on classic television shows, key names in the “Golden Age” of entertainment history and legendary cinematic performances.

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‘Tis the season for having some fun and testing your knowledge of some of the classic videos that we have talked about and highlighted on ATVN recently.

I hope all of you have been enjoying our featured stories on unique facts as well as information on the actors, shows and movies being featured as part of the Astound TV Network’s fall schedule.

Now it’s time to find out how much you’ve learned by taking our Classic Video Showplace “holiday edition” of our quiz. 

See how you do answering the following questions and then check out the correct responses listed below. 

Have fun!

1. Which legendary performer from the holiday classic The Wizard of Oz, also starred in a film based largely on a parody of another classic program of that era, a few years after “Oz” landed in theaters?
2. Which broker-turned-actor got a job from Orson Welles and was a main character in the iconic movie Citizen Kane, only after desperately needing work due the infamous Stock Market Crash of 1929?
3. Speaking of Orson Welles, what infamous holiday broadcast did Welles and his fellow “Mercury Theater” actors create which caused a national panic on Halloween 1938?
4. What mega-film star of the 1930s and 1940s became one of the first movie stars featured in a successful drama television series in the 1950s?
5. Which early television child actor is often credited with being the first ever “teen idol?”
6. Which film is widely regarded as the “best” Abbott and Costello movie? (HINT: it does NOT include their famous “Who’s On First?” routine).
7. Which radio singing sensation of the 1940s portrayed someone constantly referred to as “that crazy kid” well into his 50s on multiple early television programs as both a regular cast member and a guest star.
8. Fred MacMurray starred in hundreds of films from the 1930s to the early 1980s, including the classic The Caine Mutiny as well as Disney favorites like The Shaggy Dog and The Absent Minded Professor.  But what is his best known television character’s name?
9. Speaking of MacMurray, he got his start on a Broadway play that shares the name of what 1980s television short-lived spin-off show that starred John Ritter.  
10. What future star did Dave Nelson (of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet fame) direct in his film, Cry Baby (hint: this young actor would portray the likes of Ichabod Crane, Willy Wonka and Captain Jack Sparrow in later years)?

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Answers:

1. Jack Haley (“The Tin Man”)
2. Everett Sloane
3. “War of the Words”
4. Loretta Young
5. Ricky Nelson
6. “Africa Screams”
7. Dennis Day
8. Steven Douglas (from “My Three Sons”)
9. “Three’s A Crowd”
10.  Johnny Depp

You can see all of the above-mentioned actors and many of these classic films and television shows on the ATVN programming lineup.  To see the full listing of classic programming on ATVN, check out the weekly listings here.

Don’t forget to keep checking back to the Showplace for more classic trivia and little-known bits of information about some of the greatest shows and movies of all time.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

The week before Thanksgiving is always an extra busy time for those of us in the ATVN studio.

Thanksgiving weekend is typically our first “full” week of state playoff games–which means contacting schools outside our coverage area.  (This sometimes creates for very interesting stories, as we have to prove ourselves to coaches that we have never met before that we are not spies nor trying to get “inside information” for the teams that they are going to face).

It’s also a “tricky” week because the schools are closed, at the very least, on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and it creates a rush trying to get all these NEW schools’ information and compile everything in less days (and also try to have at least part of one day to spend with our families).

In any event, the item that often gets pushed to the back burner is the blog I like to write giving thanks to the many people I come in contact with throughout the year and those who are so incredibly helpful in assisting us bring local sports coverage to our viewers throughout the year.

And I DEFINITELY did not want to blow this off this year!

First of all, I want to thank the coaches, athletic directors, statisticians, administrators and all the people we deal with in preparing and producing our sports broadcasts.  It was great to get through a sports season without a single game canceled because of COVID, but that still doesn’t mean it was an “easy” year.

We’ve talked with quite a few local personalities on our “SportsTalk” show about all the things that they have had to deal with…from a shortage of bus drivers keeping kids from traveling to scheduled games to the lack of officials, which also causes games to be canceled or rescheduled.  These and other “new” issues have wreaked havoc with a “normal” fall, and many of these administrators have had to deal with many issues, while still trying to be super accommodating and as helpful to us in the media as they could possibly be.

Secondly, the people within our Astound family have been unbelievably helpful to me and our studio staff over this past year (and I hope they know who they are).  From promoting our sports programming to allowing me to bring in new voices to our on-air sports family (more on that in a minute) to allowing us to try new scheduling techniques (more on that next week).  We have been able to do a lot of great things this year.  PLUS, we are working on more new vehicles to enhance our local sports coverage over the next few months–details to follow soon!

Next, I’m very thankful for those new on-air staff members who have joined us over the last 12 months.  From a national Hall of Fame inductee and former ESPN announcer to a former Major League Baseball player…from one of the most successful women’s basketball coaches in our area to a former Division-I standout football player who just a couple years ago was in NFL training camps…just a few of the new editions to our announcing staff.  We are still working on bringing in a few more new faces to our broadcasting lineup in the new year!

Lastly, I am thankful for the behind the scenes people at our ATVN studio.  For over 20 years now I’ve seen them do amazing work on our productions while bringing you all of our local sports and community programming.  But this year, they have overcome some incredible personal challenges–a couple have been made public, but most have not.  Trust me when I say that it has not been an “easy” last few months for these men and women, who continued to work through adversity while continuing to do their best this fall AND prepare for everything that is coming up as part of our winter schedule.

It may be a few days late in coming, but this year, more than ever, I am extremely grateful and very thankful for the people who I work with.  Hopefully, things can go a little “smoother” all the way around for our upcoming season.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  Check back next week for more exciting news on upcoming projects for the Astound TV Network as we move into our winter season!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

It was an interesting fall season again here in 2022.

While there were definitely some surprises (as there usually are) as this season’s high school football season unfolded (with several teams still playing–and winning–as the state playoffs opened this past weekend).

But as is often the case, thanks to the time, effort and insights of our rotating selection of pollsters each autumn, we pretty much gave our audience a very accurate overview of who the top teams were in each league, both before, and throughout, the season.

Don’t believe us?

That’s fine, because we ALWAYS hold ourselves accountable and look back at our preseason polls before we unveil our final poll results.

So here we go with our pre-season polls posted online back in mid-August.

EPC-LV TOP 5 (PRESEASON POLL)

1. Freedom
2. Nazareth
3. Parkland
4. Emmaus
5. Central Catholic

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Allentown Central Catholic, Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Dieruff, Allen, Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, Nazareth, and Northampton

And here is how things ended up…

EPC-LV TOP 5 (FINAL)

1. Parkland
2. Freedom
3. Nazareth
4. Emmaus
5. Central Catholic

In defense of selecting Nazareth ahead of Parkland, I would still say it was a good “pick” as the Blue Eagles lost their best player (and league “MVP”) Sonny Sasso the week before the playoffs started.  The Blue Eagles were the undisputed EPC-South Champions at the end of the regular season.  During the regular season, Nazareth beat Parkland (who did have several injured players at that time) but the Trojans returned the favor in the first round of the playoffs, when Sasso was the player who was sidelined.

While football is more than one person, there’s not a person in the Valley who would say this team was clearly not the same by losing their leader the week before.  It also didn’t help Nazareth’s cause by being paired with a surging Parkland team–one that had several injuries themselves during the regular season, but got healthy at just the right time.

*****

As for the Colonial League…

COLONIAL TOP 5 (PRESEASON)

1. Northwestern
2. Notre Dame-GP
3. Northern Lehigh
4. Southern Lehigh

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Bangor, Pen Argyl, Notre Dame – Green Pond, Wilson, Catasauqua, Salisbury, Saucon Valley, Northwestern, Northern Lehigh, Southern Lehigh and Palisades

And here are the final results…

COLONIAL TOP 5 (FINAL)

1. Northwestern
2. Northern Lehigh
3. Notre Dame-GP
4. Southern Lehigh

Clearly, there weren’t too many surprises for our Colonial League poll-from start to finish.  In fact, the only other team that entered our poll at all, was (for two weeks) Saucon Valley, before losing several games in a row mid-season, including one to Southern Lehigh and fell back out of the poll.

While the teams did rotate spots throughout the fall, (especially when Northwestern beat Nolehi week two and Notre-Dame beat Northwestern week six, etc), our Colonial picks were as close to spot on as you could get.

Both Northwestern and Northern Lehigh ended up winning their respective district classifications, so it was appropriate that both schools ended 1 and 2 in our rankings–similar to the way they had started the year for our preseason poll back in August.

Thanks to all the people who participated in our polls for both their time and their insightful opinions throughout the football season.

Feel free to email me for your thoughts and check back to the SportsTalk Shop over the next several weeks as we recap the fall season in other sports and bring you the area’s “All-Star” lists as they become available to us.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.