Here are three local sports observations before we take a look at this week’s “SportsTalk” high school football poll for teams in the RCN viewing area.

#1
2021 continues to be a banner year for Allentown Central Catholic athletics!
The Vikings have already captured two state titles this year. This fall, they’ve won four district titles and have three teams still alive in the state playoffs.
Central Catholic will also be on the short list of “teams to beat” this winter in boys’ basketball and the girls’ team will likely be in the state playoffs as well. With several spring sports teams returning a bunch of solid players, there’s no reason why their string of gold medals won’t continue into 2022.

#2
You couldn’t have asked for a much better night of high school football last Friday.
As you saw on RCN TV, Emmaus came from behind with 21 unanswered points in pulling the upset over the number one seed, Parkland, to advance to the 6A title game.
In the 4A championship, Central Catholic came from behind with two straight scores to beat Northwestern.
In the 5A title game, East Stroudsburg South scored two very late touchdowns to force overtime and win in their championship contest over Whitehall.
Let’s hope the 6A championship game this Friday will be just as exciting!

#3
When looking at the Northampton football 2021 season, a lot depends on whether you typically think the glass is half full or half empty.
The K-Kids, playing in the EPC North division this fall, had a record-breaking season in terms of wins and earned their first-ever district playoff victory. The playoff win, along with every other victory the team had this year, was against teams that averaged less than three wins on the season.
The community enjoyed the successes that came with an 11-0 season. However, as is often the case when playing a weak schedule, the lack of quality opponents seemed to hurt them in preparing for the postseason and for the stronger opponents from the Lehigh Valley.
Northampton suffered its first loss of the year last weekend against Freedom and their potential playoff run came to a grinding halt. At no point was the team ever ranked in the top five among any local media outlets, nor received any regional accolades whatsoever, while other teams with as many as three losses were ranked in the state polls.
Yes, this year’s team will go down in the record books as one of Northampton football’s best squads ever.
But the question remains – did the team have an overly successful season or something less?
With their administration choosing to stay in the North division for the foreseeable future, a season like this – for better or for worse – will probably continue for the next few years.

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That brings us to this week’s input from the RCN SportsTalk pollsters — a random collection of local coaches, athletic directors and media members. We never announce nor release the names of our non-media voters to get their honest opinions on the local football landscape while avoiding any thoughts of retribution or potential “bulletin board” material. Our “media voters” usually reveal themselves when we have the pleasure of having them on our weekly SportsTalk program, seen on Thursday nights on RCN TV and available through RCN on Demand.
This year, instead of having a big school and small school poll as in seasons past, we are going to break the two polls down into EPC and Colonial League schools, within the RCN broadcast area. This season will be unique in which Colonial teams will be cross-scheduling and playing teams from the Schuylkill League, so our poll will be an interesting barometer for teams in the Lehigh Valley since many local teams will not be playing the majority of teams within their own leagues!
So below we have high school polls for both leagues in the RCN viewing area, along with the listing of all of the teams that are included in our respective categories.
Feel free to email me at Chris.Michael@rcn.net for your thoughts on this week’s poll and we might read and respond to your emails on this week’s SportsTalk show.

EPC-LV TOP 5
1) Freedom
2) Emmaus
3) Parkland
4) Nazareth
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

COLONIAL TOP 5
1) Northwestern
2) Northern Lehigh
3) Notre Dame-GP
4) Palmerton
5) 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

Be sure to view the “upcoming events” here on the website and check it frequently for our playoff broadcast schedule information for each week.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN 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 RCN TV with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.

In an earlier “Showplace” blog entry, we focused on the success of the Milton Berle Television Show.
Today we focus on the man, the myth and the legend.
Milton Berle‘s career is one of the longest and most varied in show business, spanning silent film, vaudeville, radio, motion pictures, and television.
Mendel Berlinger was born on July 12, 1908 in Harlem, New York.
Berle entered show business in 1913 at the age of five when he won a children’s Charlie Chaplin contest. He also worked as a child model and was the first “Buster Brown” for “Buster Brown” shoes and as a child actor in many silent films. According to his own autobiography, his first pictures were in The Perils of Pauline, The Mask of Zorro (starring Douglas Fairbacks, Sr.) and Tillie’s Punctured Romance (starring Charlie Chaplin and Mabel Normand), although there is no formal record of him actually being a part of those pictures.
At the age of 16 he changed his name to Milton Berle (when he became famous, his mother, who was frequently in the audience and would help “inspire” the audience with her laughter, also changed her last name to “Berle.”)
Through the 1920s, Berle moved up through the vaudeville circuit, finding his niche in the role of a brash comic known for stealing the material of fellow comedians. He also became a popular master of ceremonies in vaudeville, achieving top billing in the largest cities and theaters. During the 1930s, Berle appeared in a variety of Hollywood films and stage musicals, wrote and performed comedic records and further polished his comedy routines in night clubs.
In radio, he never had the success that he would later achieve in television. His longest running gig was as a regular joke teller on The Rudy Vallee Show from 1934 to 1936. He attempted a number of different programs with himself in the lead–all with different formats and utilizing various different types of comedy, but none was renewed after its initial seasons.
In 1940, in an attempt to gain more popularity on radio, he cancelled all his personal appearances and scheduled entertainment shows in order to spend more time working on his radio program. While his last attempt as his own radio show did prove to be extremely successful in building the skills necessary to sustain a physical audience, The Milton Berle Show on radio never caught on with audiences and was cancelled after just a little over a year on the air.
The lack of radio success and the decline of movie offers left Berle questioning if his career and popularity as an entertainer was burning out in 1947.
But in reality, it was just getting started.
Join us next week to find out what historic event took place in 1948 and took Berle to heights he had never seen before courtesy of a brand new medium…one that would be linked to Berle for the rest of his life.
In the meantime, check out The Milton Berle Show every Sunday afternoon this fall at 2pm on RCN-TV.
To view the complete rundown of classic programming on RCN TV, check out the weekly listings here on our website.

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

Before we take a look at this week’s “SportsTalk” high school football poll for teams in the RCN viewing area, a quick programming note for our RCN TV viewers.

Join us on Thursday’s “SportsTalk” show at 7pm for a comprehensive recap of last weekend’s first-round playoff games and a look ahead to this Friday and Saturday’s high school playoff football action.
RCN commentators will sound off on some interesting results last week along with a couple interesting matchups coming up this weekend.
That brings us to this week’s input from the RCN SportsTalk pollsters — a random collection of local coaches, athletic directors and media members. We never announce nor release the names of our non-media voters to get their honest opinions on the local football landscape while avoiding any thoughts of retribution or potential “bulletin board” material. Our “media voters” usually reveal themselves when we have the pleasure of having them on our weekly SportsTalk program, seen on Thursday nights on RCN TV and available through RCN on Demand.
This year, instead of having a big school and small school poll as in seasons past, we are going to break the two polls down into EPC and Colonial League schools, within the RCN broadcast area. This season will be unique in which Colonial teams will be cross-scheduling and playing teams from the Schuylkill League, so our poll will be an interesting barometer for teams in the Lehigh Valley since many local teams will not be playing the majority of teams within their own leagues!
So below we have high school polls for both leagues in the RCN viewing area, along with the listing of all of the teams that are included in our respective categories.

EPC TOP 5
1) Parkland
2) Freedom
3) Emmaus
4) Nazareth
5) Easton

Eligible Teams (in no particular order): Allentown Central Catholic, Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Dieruff, Allen, Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, Nazareth, and Northampton

There weren’t very many surprises here–if you have been following along with our polls all season long.
Last weekend, Parkland had no trouble dispatching Pocono Mountain West I their District XI 6A quarter-final. As you saw on RCN TV, Emmaus edged Nazareth in an exciting contest that went down to the final play.
The Trojans and Hornets will be the live game this Friday on RCN TV.
Freedom, meanwhile, jumped out to an early 30-0 lead before dispatching Easton from postseason action. Northampton continued to roll against teams from the Poconos. We’ll get a look at the K-Kids next weekend as well as they will host the Patriots on RCN TV.

COLONIAL TOP 5
1) Northwestern
2) Northern Lehigh
3) Notre Dame-GP
4) Palmerton
5) Wilson

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

Northwestern, Northern Lehigh and Palmerton all scored “mercy rule” victories over Wilson, Minersville and Catasauqua, respectively, in District XI semi-final matchups and Central Catholic scored a two touchdown victory over Pottsville.
As you saw last Saturday on RCN TV, Jim Thorpe edged Notre Dame – Green Pond in a very exciting contest that went down to the final minutes. With the Crusaders’ elimination, this means there will be no 3A representative from the Lehigh Valley in the state playoffs this fall. The Bulldogs’ win combined with Notre Dame’s loss also moved Northern Lehigh into the second spot in our Colonial League rankings.
Be sure to check back to the “upcoming events” section here on our website and check it frequently for any changes and for our ongoing playoff broadcast schedule information throughout the postseason.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN 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 RCN TV with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.

Last time here at “The Showplace,” we took a look at the early career of Bela Lugosi. This week, we continue our look at the horror cinema legend.
While most people in 1929 were suffering from the initial hit of the Great Depression, actor Bela Lugosi was lobbying hard for what he believed was the role of a lifetime…HIS lifetime.
Lugosi was a natural playing Dracula on stage…his voice, delivery, mannerisms…even his face looked eerily similar to Bram Stoker’s undead creature (when he previously performed the role on the silver screen, they barely needed any makeup to enhance his features.)
Dracula was a commercial and critical success upon release, and led to several sequels and spin-offs. It has had a notable influence on popular culture, and Lugosi’s portrayal of Dracula established the character as a cultural icon, as well as the archetypal vampire in later works of fiction. The film has since been selected by the United States Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” With most copies of the silent Dracula classic Nosferatu destroyed because of a contract dispute, Lugosi’s film became the definitive image for this (and subsequent) generation(s).
Bela, however, was not so thrilled.
Upon its release, Lugosi realized that he was becoming increasingly typecast as Dracula and was finding it near impossible to secure any other roles due to the popularity of his alter ego. Many reports claimed that he swore he would never again don the cape and play the role. He also tried to lobby film executives to hire him as something other than villains but after finding himself out of work and drowning in debt, he reluctantly agreed to take on antagonistic roles in popular sequels like Son of Frankenstein and as Dracula in parodies like Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.
However, the side effects of his popularity caused irreparable damage to his career. Lugosi would have very few job offers other than those associated with evil villains, monsters or, during World War II, Nazis. His better films during the 1930s included The Black Cat, The Raven, Son of Frankenstein and Black Friday.
Furthermore, Lugosi was under contract with Universal Studios, who would frequently pair him with fellow horror legend Boris Karloff. Karloff always demanded top billing and got more money than Lugosi throughout their pairing, even in films where Bela was the main star and Karloff had little more than a few lines.
Two more things worked against the Hungarian actor.
In 1936, England placed a ban on horror movies and refused to show any films resembling anything from that genre.
Also, the increasing pain that Lugosi was experiencing from injuries suffered in World War I led to an increasing dependence on morphine. As word spread among Hollywood producers of Lugosi’s drug use, his job opportunities became virtually nonexistent and he found himself once again out of work and destitute.
He made one final attempt at a film career years later in 1955 by approaching Bel-Air Pictures in cooperation with the “actor friendly” film distributor, United Artists. He did receive a role in the financially successful film, The Black Sheep, which included fellow horror film legend Lon Chaney Jr., along with major motion picture stars Basil Rathbone and John Carradine. However, Lugosi’s character in the movie did not have any lines and his appearance was largely overshadowed.
Bela Lugosi died of a heart attack in 1956. He was 73.
To view the complete rundown of classic programming on RCN TV, check out the weekly listings here on our website.

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

Before we take a look at this week’s “SportsTalk” high school football poll for teams in the RCN viewing area, I just want to take a moment to recap some news from the past several days.
Thanks to District XI Football Chair Jason Zimmerman for being on last week’s “SportsTalk” show and explaining the playoff system. If you’re scratching your head wondering why things shook out the way they did, you really need to go back and watch last week’s show through RCN On Demand.
Jason did a tremendous (and thorough) job explaining the weighted “ratings” system that is used for determining who gets in and how the teams are seated.
Speaking of “SportsTalk,” Tom Housenick of The Morning Call will be joining us this Thursday at 7:00 p.m. to preview this weekend’s district playoff games, highlight the key players, match-ups and teams to watch and give a comprehensive overview of the high school football postseason for all the teams in our coverage area.
Be sure to watch both last week’s and this Thursday’s shows before jumping into a busy weekend of playoff action.
Don’t forget to bookmark our website and check back for our playoff broadcast schedule each week.
Lastly, a big pat on the back to our crew members and all the people who worked last Friday night’s football game. It was one of the worst games in terms of the weather that I, and many others who have been around high school sports longer than me, had ever seen.
Rain, in particular, wreaks havoc with television equipment and our crew had to adjust on the fly and correct issues while we were live on the air during our broadcasts. Because of their hard work, I didn’t run into anyone this weekend who signaled a drop off in our broadcast quality and, in fact, we received a number of great comments from our viewers about our ability to broadcast in such treacherous conditions. Many of those viewers were able to stay home (and warm and dry!) while not missing a minute of the action, thanks to the efforts of our RCNTV crew members!

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That brings us to this week’s input from the RCN SportsTalk pollsters — a random collection of local coaches, athletic directors and media members. We never announce nor release the names of our non-media voters to get their honest opinions on the local football landscape while avoiding any thoughts of retribution or potential “bulletin board” material.
Below we have high school polls for both leagues in the RCN viewing area, along with the listing of all of the teams that are included in our respective categories.
Feel free to email me at Chris.Michael@rcn.net for your thoughts on this week’s poll and we might read and respond to your emails on this week’s SportsTalk show.

EPC-LV TOP 5
1) Parkland
2) Freedom
3) Nazareth
4) Easton
5) Emmaus

Eligible Teams (in no particular order): Allentown Central Catholic, Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Dieruff, Allen, Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, Nazareth, and Northampton

COLONIAL TOP 5
1) Northwestern
2) Notre Dame-GP
3) Northern Lehigh
4) Palmerton
5) Wilson

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

Be sure to view the “upcoming events” here on the website and check it frequently for our playoff broadcast schedule information for each week.

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

Before we take a look at this week’s high school football polls, just a little bit about how the RCN sports department is getting you ready for “Rivalry Week” in the Valley and setting up the final weekend of regular season football in the Lehigh Valley for our viewers.
On Thursday, we’ll have District XI Football Chair Jason Zimmerman on our “SportsTalk” show to give his thoughts on another intriguing high school football season, his opinions on the top teams and players and the latest local sports policies. Also, he will answer questions about the often-confusing playoff format system, outline the preliminary plans for this fall’s playoff schedule and discuss how COVID-cancelled games will impact the postseason seeding.
If you have any questions you’d like us to ask Jason about this year’s fall playoffs, email them to me at chris.michael@rcn.net by noon this Tuesday and we’ll try to ask on this week’s show, that will air at 7pm on Thursday night on RCN-TV.
On Friday, we’ll feature the number one (Parkland) and number two (Emmaus) ranked EPC teams in our coverage area, squaring off against each other, live at 7 pm. That game will be followed by the number 4 (Easton) and number 5 team (Nazareth) in our high school football poll (see more below).
We wrap up the weekend with the annual Christmas City battle between our third-ranked team (Freedom) taking on the hard-luck team of the fall, Liberty. The Hurricanes are clearly moving in the right direction under new head coach Shawn Daignault, but only have seven tough losses to show for it.
Liberty quite possibly could have won any of those last seven games–they lead Parkland 7-0 through most of the first half last week before losing to the Trojans, 22-10.
Saturday’s annual game is always filled with emotion and features a spectacular half-time show featuring the Liberty and Freedom bands, as well as Bethlehem’s middle school bands.
Many Bethlehem alums refer to this game as an “event” that starts on Monday. New sideline reporter Okezie Alozie (a Freedom alum) will be giving his insights on all that goes on during Freedom-Liberty week as well as analysis of the game as it unfolds this Saturday afternoon on RCN-TV.
All three of these games will also be important in determining matchups for next week’s district playoffs, and reveal who gets the top four seeds, which determines which schools will secure home field advantage for the first two rounds of the postseason.
Keep checking back to RCN TV to get your high school football fix this week!
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That brings us to this week’s input from the RCN SportsTalk pollsters — a random collection of local coaches, athletic directors and media members. We never announce nor release the names of our non-media voters to get their honest opinions on the local football landscape while avoiding any thoughts of retribution or potential “bulletin board” material. Our “media voters” usually reveal themselves when we have the pleasure of having them on our weekly SportsTalk program, seen on Thursday nights on RCN TV and available through RCN on Demand.
This year, instead of having a big school and small school poll as in seasons past, we are going to break the two polls down into EPC and Colonial League schools, within the RCN broadcast area. This season will be unique in which Colonial teams will be cross-scheduling and playing teams from the Schuylkill League, so our poll will be an interesting barometer for teams in the Lehigh Valley since many local teams will not be playing the majority of teams within their own leagues!
So below we have high school polls for both leagues in the RCN viewing area, along with the listing of all of the teams that are included in our respective categories.
Feel free to email me at Chris.Michael@rcn.net for your thoughts on this week’s poll and we might read and respond to your emails on this week’s SportsTalk show.

EPC-LV TOP 5
1) Parkland
2) Emmaus
3) Freedom
4) Easton
5) Nazareth

Eligible Teams (in no particular order): Allentown Central Catholic, Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Dieruff, Allen, Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, Nazareth, and Northampton

COLONIAL TOP 5
1) Northwestern
2) Notre Dame-GP
3) Northern Lehigh
4) Palmerton
5) Bangor

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

Be sure to check the “upcoming events” here on the website and check it frequently as there continues to be changes from day to day.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN 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 RCN TV with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.

We are counting down to RCN-TV’s Halloween Marathon here at The Showplace. 
It’s hard to have a comprehensive look at Halloween-themed movie classics without a discussion on the intriguing career of one Bela Lugosi.
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó was born on October 20, 1882 in Lugos, Austria-Hungary. He dropped out of school at the age of 12, and at 18 began his acting career. Like the fictional Vito Corleone, Bela used his hometown in formulating his stage name.
Bela spent the next 20 years performing in foreign silent films and stage productions in various countries. He also fought in World War I and suffered injuries that would later come back to impact his acting career.
Lugosi arrived in America in October 1920 and worked odd jobs before forming a stock company comprised of fellow immigrants performing in various Eastern United States cities.
His first American film role was that of a villain in the silent movie, The Silent Command. Other film opportunities–all from New York City film companies–followed with Lugosi almost always cast in an antagonist or villainous role.
Bela was first approached about his signature role as Dracula for a Broadway production in the summer of 1927. The play was a hit and ran for 261 productions over a two-year span. The success earned Lugosi two starring movie jobs (Prisoners, The Veiled Woman). His two films were also successful, causing Lugosi to stay in Hollywood, but he failed to find any additional work in films.
He returned to his role as Dracula on the stage to continued critical acclaim. Despite this, when Universal Studios decided to produce the film version of Dracula, Lugosi was not initially cast in the titular role.
Throughout 1929 Bela continued to lobby for the part, constantly contacting Universal’s executives asking for the part. Dracula producer Carl Laemmle, Jr. also was not interested in Lugosi, in spite of the good reviews for his stage portrayal. Laemmle instead considered other actors, including Paul Muni, Chester Morris, Ian Keith, John Wray, Joseph Schildkraut, Arthur Edmund Carewe, and William Courtenay.
Lugosi happened to be in Los Angeles with a touring company of the play when the film was being cast.
Against the mounting swell of studio opinion, Lugosi ultimately won the executives over. One of the deciding factors was him accepting a paltry $500 per week salary for seven weeks of work, amounting to $3,500 for the entire production. (By comparison, supporting actress Helen Chandler was paid $750 per week and had less than half the amount of lines as the titular character had).
Bela had now captured the starring cinematic role he had long coveted. The film, along with Lugosi’s starring performance, were both major successes, but the Hungarian born actor would so begin to regret these turn of events.
We’ll have more on Lugosi’s life and career coming up next week here at “The Showplace.”
In the meantime, be on the lookout for Bela Lugosi in various horror flicks on RCN-TV like White Zombie, Ghosts on the Loose and other classics often seen this time of year. To view the complete rundown of classic programming on RCN TV, check out the weekly listings here on our website.

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

Here are three local sports observations before we take a look at this week’s “SportsTalk” high school football poll for teams in the RCN viewing area.

#1
Unfortunately, police activity ended up being the big story of the weekend, instead of any individual or team “on the field” highlights – as it should be.
For the second time in as many weeks, the Nazareth football team (this time at the Emmaus high school stadium) was besieged with a shooting threat to their game.
The anonymous 911 call, threatening bodily harm, precipitated radical changes to what should have been one of the biggest and most exciting regular season nights for high school football in the Lehigh Valley.
Fans were banned from attending, single-handedly ruining the Hornets’ homecoming activities – one of the biggest highlights of the students’ school year.
Sports has always been a means to escape the tribulations of the more serious aspects of life. But more and more over the last 18 months, it has been the more sinister elements of society invading what should be fun events for everyone.

#2
As we head down the home stretch of the high school football season, it’ll be an interesting final couple weeks as the district playoff picture comes into shape. This is always an interesting time for local sports fans, media members and even coaches and athletic directors to try to get a handle on the rather complex system used to see playoff teams and decide who gets into the postseason…and who doesn’t.
The system is based on having every team play the same amount of games and, in most cases, the same teams as everybody else.
This is certainly not the case this year, with many schools electing to play teams outside of the Lehigh valley and of course, the fact that Covid-19 has mangled this fall schedule.
A bunch of teams will, at best, play only nine games this fall and a few other teams will only play eight…and that’s if we don’t have any more disruptions over the next few weeks.
While very complicated and occasionally controversial, the weighted “PowerPoint” system has overall been very fair for all sports and District XI. The formula, however, is based on the concept that every team plays exactly the same amount of games. This year, its’ strategy will obviously be tested with all the different elements and problems that local schools have had to deal with.

#3
Head coaches from the school districts that have been more extremely cautious about protecting their kids from the virus report being hampered in terms of their “on the field” productivity. At some schools, any sign of a single symptom requires at least a three-day quarantine from the rest of the team which, depending on what day this diagnosis takes place, virtually eliminates that player from preparing for that week’s game.
There are clearly larger issues here and the student athletes’ health is the primary concern, as it should be. But in terms of sports, it has already made a challenging fall season even tougher to navigate for local coaches trying to prepare for games each week.
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That brings us to this week’s input from the RCN SportsTalk pollsters — a random collection of local coaches, athletic directors and media members.

Feel free to email me at Chris.Michael@rcn.net for your thoughts on this week’s poll and we might read and respond to your emails on this week’s SportsTalk show.

EPC-LV TOP 5
1) Emmaus
2) Parkland
3) Freedom
4) Nazareth
5) Easton

Eligible Teams (in no particular order): Allentown Central Catholic, Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Dieruff, Allen, Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, Nazareth, and Northampton

COLONIAL TOP 5
1) Northwestern
2) Notre Dame-GP
3) Palmerton
4) Bangor
5) Northern 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

Be sure to check the “upcoming events” here on the website and check it frequently as there continues to be changes from day to day.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN 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 RCN TV with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.

“Be prepared for an episode that will keep you in…suspense!”

This was the opening line to one of the greatest radio dramas of all-time, along with one of the earliest successful shows on television.

The radio version of Suspense was a perennial ratings favorite for nearly 20 years. In fact, it was one of the very last original programs to survive well beyond radio’s “Golden Age” until it was finally cancelled in 1962.

The television version of the program launched in 1949 incorporating many similarly written episodes from radio, which “borrowed” ideas from literary greats Edgar Allen Poe, Agatha Christie, Roald Dahl, Charles Dickens and others.

As the name suggests, the program would always present many twists and turns, building tension throughout each episode to a thrilling and dramatic climax. While not always straying into the bizarre world of a show like The Twilight Zone, each episode’s spine-tingling finales were surprisingly fresh throughout the show’s entire run.

Each show featured different guest stars, who always seemed to get caught up in a web of mystery and did a great job of quickly allowing its audience to identify with them to bring viewers into the potential dangers.

Adding to the excitement of these programs was that the shows were originally broadcast live–meaning no retakes and anything could happen!

Another reason to revisit this early TV classic? You’d be surprised how many future television “regulars” and cinematic stars made early career appearances on this television program. In fact, it’s hard to go more than one or two episodes without seeing a recognizable face. Among them include:

Cloris Leachman (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Phyllis, Young Frankenstein)
Lloyd Bridges (High Noon, Airplane, Hot Shots)
Bela Lugosi (Dracula, The Raven)
Boris Karloff (Frankenstein, How The Grinch Stole Christmas)
Conrad Janis (Mork and Mindy, The Buddy Holly Story, The Cable Guy)
Brian Keith (Family Affair, The Parent Trap)
Robert Emhardt (The Andy Griffith Show)
Royal Dano (Twin Peaks, Bonanza, Gunsmoke)
Richard H. Harris (Peyton Place, Valley of the Dolls)
Academy Award Winning Eileen Heckart (The First Wives Club, Lou Grant)

…and others.

For most seasons, the program was run under the watchful eyes of Richard Mulligan. Mulligan would later win an Emmy for directing The Moon and the Sixpence, in which Lawrence Olivier made his TV debut. Later, he would go on to direct film classics To Kill A Mockingbird, Fear Strikes Out and The Others as well as 1991’s The Man In The Moon, which launched the career of Reese Witherspoon.

Tune in for Suspense, every Wednesday at 12 noon and Fridays at 1 pm on RCN-TV. You may also want to DVR episodes and binge-watch your favorites leading up to RCN’s annual Halloween Marathon (check back to our website soon for more details on this great annual tradition!)

To view the complete rundown of classic programming on RCN TV, check out the weekly listings here on our website.

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

Here are three local sports observations before we take a look at this week’s “SportsTalk” high school football poll for teams in the RCN viewing area.

#1
Congratulations to Emmaus field hockey head coach Sue Butz-Stavin for surpassing 1,000 coaching victories for her career this past week.
We alerted you she was closing in on this milestone achievement a month ago here at “The Shop.” Now achieved, it is truly staggering to take in all the consistent success she has had over the last several decades and to ingest all that she has accomplished in her career.
Among one of the more mind-blowing statistics about her legendary coaching run: the last time her Green Hornet team did NOT win a district title…Ronald Reagan was President of the United States.
How long will this amazing streak continue? The local field hockey playoff season begins next week. Coach Butz-Stavin will be a guest on SportsTalk in a couple weeks to talk about her momentous accomplishments and this fall’s post-season action.

#2
We made a unique choice for our tape-delayed RCN broadcast this Friday, which features Catasauqua facing Pine Grove.
There are quite a few reasons it became one of our picks for this weekend.
For one, it’ll be the first time we feature the Catasauqua football team in eight years on our network. Also, this week’s contest is scheduled to be the first game played at the school district’s brand new/refurbished Alumni Stadium.
It’s been tough seeing teams like the Rough Riders and the other schools schedule games outside our coverage area, but it will be our pleasure to break our own protocols for this one week and feature a regular season game featuring a non-Lehigh Valley opponent for the special circumstance.
It should be a great night for Catasauqua residents and their sports fans. We wish everyone with the Roughies program all the best on this special evening this Friday!

#3
Of course, the big football story last weekend was the Central Catholic / Nazareth game being postponed due to a bomb threat. I already have a call in to Nazareth head coach Tom Falzone and Central head coach Tim McGorry to talk with them about the incident. I will have details on all that happened that night this Friday when we have the Blue Eagles game against Emmaus and Central’s game against Whitehall on Saturday. Both games will be live on RCN-TV.
By the way, Friday’s live contest game will feature our number four and number one ranked teams, respectively, squaring off against each other in our polls (see more on that below.)
Elsewhere, it was great seeing Notre Dame-Green Pond getting back to action last Friday after missing two games because of Covid-19 issues. The Crusaders weren’t exactly thrilled with the game’s end result. They played undefeated North Schuylkill and suffered their first loss of the year – by a significant margin.
While Notre Dame returned to the playing field, two other Lehigh Valley games were canceled this past weekend — Dieruff versus Pocono Mountain East and Easton at Bethlehem Catholic — both because of the virus.
It certainly has been another unique fall sports season.

**********
That brings us to this week’s input from the RCN SportsTalk pollsters — a random collection of local coaches, athletic directors and media members.
Below we have high school polls for both leagues in the RCN viewing area, along with the listing of all of the teams that are included in our respective categories.
Feel free to email me at Chris.Michael@rcn.net for your thoughts on this week’s poll and we might read and respond to your emails on this week’s SportsTalk show.

EPC-LV TOP 5
1) Emmaus
2) Parkland
3) Freedom
4) Nazareth
5) Easton

Eligible Teams (in no particular order): Allentown Central Catholic, Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Dieruff, Allen, Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, Nazareth, and Northampton

COLONIAL TOP 5
1) Northwestern
2) Notre Dame-GP
3) Northern Lehigh
4) Wilson
5) Bangor

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

Be sure to bookmark our high school football broadcast schedule here on the website and check it frequently as, with several games already postponed or canceled so far this season, there could be changes from day to day.

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