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.

The HS basketball playoffs are beginning to wind down—you can see this week’s Pennsylvania championship boys and girls basketball games on RCN dial position 97 in the Lehigh Valley.

The RCN TV crew was busy the last few weeks with our district and state basketball playoff coverage. Here are the highlights from recent broadcast games …

Don’t forget, RCN customers can see all these games in their entirety for free, at any time, by viewing the games through RCN On-Demand.

Coming up on the next “RCN SportsTalk presented by ‘The Morning Call’” we’ll be talking with various members of the Nazareth wrestling team following another tremendous year.

Guests include legendary head coach David Crowell, who recently won his landmark 300th coaching match. We’ll also have female coaches and student-wrestlers with the Blue Eagles program in-studio to talk about their struggles for equality and their experiences wrestling at the scholastic level this past winter.

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.

We’re nearing the end of the winter sports playoff season and there’s been some exciting action over the last few weeks on RCN-TV!

Be sure to keep watching the final state playoff games of the season and, in case you missed it, here are video recaps of some of the recent basketball games and wrestling matches on RCN. Don’t forget RCN customers can see all these games in their entirety for free, at any time, by viewing the games through RCN On-Demand.

Check back here for our RCN TV broadcast schedule covering the Pennsylvania state basketball playoffs!

And…coming up on our “SportsTalk” show (Thursdays at 7pm), we’ll continue to talk high school basketball playoffs, plus get you ready for the start of the Major League Baseball season, with live reports from spring training facilities in Florida!

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.

A few years ago, one of additions on our “SportsTalk” show was the “DKN Sports Minute,” a 60-second reel highlighting a recent DC-area high school football or basketball game produced by the great people at the DC Office of Cable Television, Film, Music & Entertainment (OCTFME) located in Washington, DC.

Well, the OCTFME has been busy adding to its own plate with expanded coverage of news, community events, public affairs, entertainment and sports in the DC region.  In its enhanced sports coverage are more-detailed and more in-depth interviews, videos and features of scholastic, collegiate and professional teams, personalities and special happenings.

With these additions, we’re proud to announce that we will share even more of their outstanding programming going forward on our Thursday night “RCN SportsTalk” shows.  Plus, you can see the “DKN Sports Reporters” show itself on RCN-TV on Fridays at 4:30pm each week.  The DKN sports channel is also available to RCN customers in Washington, DC on channel 18.

Starting this month,  there are a number of features we’ll look to present on “RCN SportsTalk”  that have been produced by the office of OCTFME, including:

“Britt Waters’ Recap of the DC Red Bull Reign”

“New Team, New Look”

“ESPN’s Lisa Salters on Her Keys to Success”

“Redskins VP Tony Wyllie on Football, Family, and Fandom””

“RFK Campus Block Party”

Plus, features on several high school sports programs in DC

…and many more!

And, to coincide with the start of the spring sports season in April, we’ll have regular interviews and videos of sports teams in the Washington, DC region.

We’ll look to have guests from OCTFME on a regular basis to get their opinions, sports rumors and first-hand impressions on sports action and previews of upcoming events of interest to sports fans in the DMV.

There’s an abundance of great student-athletes and sports action in the Washington, DC area, along with a number of nationally ranked teams and players in different sports, which is of interest to sports fans in many different markets in which RCN-TV broadcasts and is available.

We look forward to adding these interesting elements to our lineup in continuing to provide entertaining sports conversations and stories to our RCN viewers and followers here on the RCN-TV website!  As always, we appreciate your opinions on our coverage and would welcome your thoughts via email: rcnsportstalk@rcn.com

We’ve embarked on the District playoffs for basketball in Pennsylvania and the RCN Sports Crew has been busy bringing you six-days-a-week of coverage of the top games in our Lehigh Valley viewing area.

Here are highlights of our recent playoff broadcasts on RCN-TV (you can see these games in their entirety through RCN On-Demand!)

Check out our broadcast schedule here on our website for our Pennsylvania state basketball playoff coverage coming up on RCN-TV! And check back for more video highlights and notes from the final rounds of the District XI high school basketball playoffs.

The Lehigh Valley has a number of star athletes who have excelled throughout the regular season and the first few weeks of the playoffs.

The star athletes get the most attention for their accolades, abilities and impressive statistics. However, I always try to look beyond the marquee names and highlight some of the tremendous efforts that might not get as much attention as they should.

With that in mind, here a look at my “All-Underrated Team” members–based entirely on my experiences of games I’ve either announced, reported on or attended as a fan.

• Nazareth’s Maihan Ramin
  Nazareth’s point guard got a huge lift when Ramin’s good friend and Penn State-bound Jahan Dotson returned to the school this year, but Ramin was “the engine that drove the ship” according to Blue Eagles’ Head Coach Joe Arndt. Ramin ran an efficient offense, delivered some of the best passes I saw all year and, when Dotson was not available, stepped up with some key buckets. In his final home game against Liberty in last week’s district playoff game, he had one of the best all-around games of anyone in the post-season thus far.
• Central Catholic Girls Basketball Team
  Aside from us (see our blog two weeks ago), no one had the Vikettes advancing to the EPC final. Central Catholic’s team contains a number of people who have flown under the radar this season. Margaux Eripret has been one of the top girls players in the EPC the last few years but hasn’t seemed to have gotten the recognition of other top girls players in recent years, and Eripret realizes when other players have the hot hand, to find a way to give them the ball.Her teammates also have gone unheralded this winter and their improvement as the season has gone on just recently came into the spotlight with the team’s success in the post-season. Regular contributors Jess Davis, Kayla Reed, Diana Kocsis, Morgan Dietz, and Lizzy Szmigiel all deserve to be in this category. Emily Vaughan is one of several outstanding freshman ball handlers who should NOT be in this underrated category by next season, and has outstanding potential that should be recognized sooner rather than later.
• Allen’s Malik Gordan
  Some of the most aggressive defense and best passes I’ve seen have come from the Canaries boys basketball team, and Gordan has been a big part of Allen’s success for a few years now. Last year, he fed two Division-I athletes the ball and played well in the shadows of two tremendous scorers. This year, the team has taken a more blue-collar approach in having success this year, and Gordan’s blend of athleticism, court savvy and unselfishness have paced his team with great court-making decisions.
• Catty’s Cullen Bond & Miguel Hernandez
  It  isn’t hard to overlook anyone besides Isaiah Graves, who frequently scored over 30 points per game for Catasauqua this winter, but on a team that didn’t have much height, Bond was one of the guys chosen to guard the opponent’s big man and did a lot of the blue-collar work on the rare occasions that Graves missed a shot. Bond was the Rough’s tallest player (listed at 6-foot-2) and sometimes faced post players while giving up five (or more) inches in height, but never complained about his role in helping his team reach both the league and district playoffs for the first time in years.When it wasn’t Bond in the post (he missed the last few weeks due to lung surgery), it was Hernandez (listed as 6-foot-even) who did tremendous work inside this winter, guarding taller players and grabbing down rebounds. Hernandez’s singular effort in their game against a much taller Southern Lehigh team was one of my standout moments of the regular season.Bond is fighting to come back from the injury to help out his team during a playoff run and Hernandez missed last week’s games to be with his ailing grandfather in Florida. Both deserve kudos for their work on the court and for what they’ve had to deal with off the court.
• Liberty’s Amadeus Cannon
  Like Graves, Cannon’s efforts (over 11 points & nearly eight rebounds per game) go under the radar because of the awesome scoring machine known as Alex Serrano at Liberty. The Hurricanes had to win the final three regular season games to clinch a playoff spot and, with every opponent’s top priority being to shut down Serrano, Cannon’s efforts down the stretch run were even more pivotal. Cannon’s scholastic career numbers have been very solid over the last few years and he deserves a shout-out.(By the way, I listed Will Harper as a standout freshman star last year here at “The Shop” and he’s not getting the press he deserves, so make another note that you heard it here first if he shows up on an All-Star list a year from now).
• Easton’s Jonathan Pineda
  Wrestling teammate Jonathan Miers seemed to receive most of the individual attention for the Red Rovers this winter, but Pineda was a steady regular in The Morning Call’s “Top Wrestler Rankings” each week. Easton Head Coach JaMarr Billman was very complimentary when we asked about Jonathan’s success and abilities on a recent “SportsTalk” program. Helping his chances of making the “underrated” team—Pineda was also a big piece of another underappreciated squad this fall—the Rovers lineman on the school’s football team.Pineda got to shine last weekend as the Rovers continued “the streak” for their wrestling program by capturing a good medal in the District XI Individual Wrestling Finals.
• Northampton’s Cory Weisenberger
  On a team with Aidan Ellwood, it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle. But make no mistake, Northampton’s success this year was a great team effort, with lots of hustle and great defense all across the board. Weisenberger not only rose to the occasion when needed by providing some major offense during key games this year, but–on multiple occasions—also realized when Ellwood had the hot hand and read what the opponents’ defense was trying to do and found the best possible ways for the team—not necessarily him—to score.Weisenberger has also showed a tremendous amount of character during his career at Northampton and, without sounding too political, that’s a more-valued commodity nowadays than anything that will ever show up on a stat sheet or post-season awards listing.

I freely admit I’m missing some names from this list and invite you to email me (rcnsportstalk@rcn.com ) the names of athletes who you feel deserve extra attention and we’ll look to mention them either here on my blog or on upcoming editions of “SportsTalk.”

We’ve reached the end of the scholastic regular season and the first wave of playoffs for many of the winter sports teams in the RCN-TV viewing area in Eastern Pennsylvania.

The EPC championships were a battle for both the Bethlehem Catholic and Allentown Central Catholic boys and girls teams, which each contest going down to the wire.

The Colonial League games were closer than the final score would indicate, although both Southern Lehigh girls and Bangor boys teams had a much easier time in capturing their titles. It was the third straight league championship for the Spartans, while the Slaters set a league record by winning its fourth title in a row and capturing championships in five of the last six seasons.

Here are video highlights of RCN’s coverage of local wrestling and basketball games over the last several weeks, including last week’s league playoffs…

Check out our broadcast schedule here on the RCN-TV website and be sure to tune in for our District XI basketball playoff coverage this week!

People who know me well will readily admit that I am not an “I told you so” type of guy.  I try not to be too outspoken and limit my opinions and predictions on the “SportsTalk” show to a minimum. And, despite playing the trumpet for 15 years, I rarely blow my own horn.

But every once in a while, as a representative of our TV sports show and the one responsible for creating the blog entry here each week, I do feel a certain obligation to speak up, point out facts and predictions and defend some of the hard work by the many people we are blessed to have work with us on the “SportsTalk” panels.

In recent weeks, I’ve heard one too many “boy, who would have thought Central Catholic would be this good” and “I don’t know anyone who predicted Catty’s success this winter” to just sit by and not speak up.  Our production team members who get the stories, our guests that are kind enough to give of their time and their opinions, and even a blind squirrel (aka, me) work too hard to NOT say anything.

So for those of who are not active readers or don’t follow RCN Sports on a regular basis, here are ALL of our basketball predictions made between July and the start of this winter’s basketball season (early December, 2017), along with a quick update on the status of each one heading into the post-season.  And if you don’t believe these were given on the TV show, our podcast and/or here on the blog, I invite you to go back and prove me wrong.

Go ahead, I DOUBLE dog dare you! (It’s never too late in the winter for a “Christmas Story” reference).

Becahi boys team will be the top dog this winter

Bethlehem Catholic finished the year with the best record in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and among all District XI 4A teams. Many now expect the Golden Hawks to make a long run in the state playoffs.

Central Catholic’s boys team will be right behind them

Central Catholic held off an impressive Northampton squad and a late surge by Parkland to take the top spot in the EPC Skyline Division and also ranked first in the District XI Class 5A rankings by accumulating the most power points. Some might be surprised if we don’t see Becahi and Central playing for this Friday’s EPC Championship (which you can see Friday, live at 7:30pm on RCN-TV).

Central’s girls teams will also be improved and not need an expanded format to make the playoffs this year 

The Vikettes not only improved on their record this year but enter the post-season with the third highest power point total among all District XI 4A girls schools. They’ll probably face Bethlehem Catholic in the final, and as Easton proved last week, it is possible for a Lehigh Valley team to beat the Hawks. 

Whitehall and Parkland will not have the success they’ve had in recent years, but will play better by the end of the season

I think many would agree that Whitehall did improve and will be a force to be reckoned with again next year. They were in a lot of ball games and posted some impressive wins, including victories over Parkland, Dieruff and Boyertown.

Parkland defeated Nazareth in mid-January and ended up winning 8 of their last 11 games. Their furious finish just edged out the Blue Eagles (who were 9-3 at once point) for the final spot in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference playoffs. While some fans thought that this might be the year Parkland didn’t qualify for the league and district playoffs, they enter the post-season as one of the most dangerous 6A teams in the Valley. 

Catasauqua boys AND girls teams, after struggling the last few years, will both be improved and capture more wins this season and the boys Rough Rider team will make the playoffs this year (we even predicted Catty’s boys would struggle from the free throw line this winter)

Catty’s boys team did qualify for both the league playoffs (a number-four seed) and the 3A District playoffs (a number-three seed) after having their best regular season in years. The Roughies were one of the few Colonial League teams that hung with Bangor until later in the fourth quarter. A few people (including myself) thought the Roughies might give the recently depleted Bangor team a run in Tuesday’s semifinals (which you can also see live on RCN-TV) and make it to the championship. Instead, Catasauqua will have to shake off a disappointing 21-point loss from Saturday’s opening round playoff game against Wilson to have success in the district round of the post-season.

Catty girls did register two Colonial League victories this year including a win over Saucon Valley and an 11 point contest versus Pen Argyl. It certainly appeared like the Rough Riders girls program were moving in the right direction by the end of 2018.

Freedom and Easton (both boys and girls) will be major players in both the league and district playoff races

Easton’s girls team defeated Becahi, won the Rotary Tournament (which included Southern Lehigh this year) and held the best overall record of any team in the EPC entering the playoffs. They look to build on their success and have a very good chance of making a nice run in the PIAAs.

Easton boys clinched both the EPC and District XI playoffs for the first time in a number of years. The Rovers posted some strong wins (including Nazareth, Emmaus and Central Catholic—all on consecutive games) and also played powerhouse Bethlehem Catholic tight for three quarters in BOTH meetings.

While the Freedom girls team did have their best season in years and could make some noise in districts, Freedom’s boys did not make the playoffs—missing by three games—although there were in the hunt until the final 10 days of the regular season.

On a side note, the Patriots also had some impressive “upsets” this year, including perhaps our best finish of an RCN game to-date—a buzzer beating, game-winning three point shot in overtime against the Blue Eagles in the first of several “must win” games Freedom faced during the final two weeks of the regular season.

Bangor will again dominate the Colonial League

The Slaters barely had any competition in the league again this year and only had a couple losses overall (one of them to Easton, which made both the EPC & District Playoffs this year). Furthermore, they only had three regular season league games decided by less than 11 points all year in completing their second straight undefeated Colonial League season.

We’ll got a first-hand impression of the Bangor boys basketball team when Head Coach Bron Holland and his players visited our studio last week (you can see their “SportsTalk” show through RCN On-Demand and hear the podcast here on the RCN-TV website.)

East Stroudsburg North will struggle this year after its magical District Championship Title run last season

It was a disappointing year for ESN as they failed to make the playoffs—even with the expanded formats—for both the league and district post-season.

Becahi’s boys & girls team, along with Central’s and Bangor’s boys and Southern Lehigh’s girls team will not lose 10 league games combined this regular season

Becahi boys lost 1

Becahi girls lost 2

Central boys lost 2

Solehi girls lost 0

Bangor boys lost 0

Again, apologies for the braggadocios tone this week, but really, if you’re not following us at RCN each week, please don’t ask me if I’m surprised that our predictions came true — especially when some of these predictions were made months before the current basketball season got underway!

And, if you don’t want to stay in the dark for the upcoming high school basketball playoff season, make sure you tune into our show on Thursday, February 15^th when local coaches and media members will give analysis and insights (and predictions) for the postseason.

We’re halfway through the high school basketball and wrestling winter seasons, with lots of exciting games and matches broadcast on RCN-TV.

To help you get caught up on all of our coverage so far, here are highlights of our broadcast events over the last month of the winter sports campaign!

Check back to the RCN-TV website over the next several weeks for even more highlights from our sports broadcasts so far this winter! Also, join us for this week’s “SportsTalk” show during which we’ll speak with head basketball coaches from both the Pennsylvania and Washington, DC regions about their teams’ successes this season.

It has been an interesting off-season for the Phillies—not one that has gone on without contradictions.

On the one hand, the Phillies repeatedly talked about patience and giving young players like third baseman Mikael Franco, first baseman Rhys Hoskins and others an opportunity to play every game while insisting they were not going to make any big splashes this off-season.

Then, in the span of a couple days they paid handsome amounts to obtain two established, veteran relievers and one of the most consistent bats in the game, in first baseman Carlos Santana.

One move that did make a lot of sense was adding some depth and experience behind the plate. The Phillies signed a former Lehigh Valley standout, Matt McBride, who became a free agent this winter after playing in the Indians, Rockies and Athletics’ organizations.  I talked with the veteran catcher about his approach to the upcoming spring training, the Phillies’ young starting pitching staff and the changing philosophy for teams to use more relievers…

 You can hear more Phillies’ interviews coming up on our “SportsTalk” program.

The Colonial League has had some great basketball games so far this season. Our “SportsTalk” cameras were out at some recent games (more highlights and interview videos are also coming your way on this Thursday’s show on RCN-TV and also through RCN On-Demand).

Last but not least, the local wrestling regular season is slowly winding down. We’ll have several Lehigh Valley wrestling gurus on this week’s show to talk about the season to-date, and also look ahead to the upcoming District XI team post-season action.  We’ll also have live reports from Minneapolis previewing this weekend’s Eagles/Patriots Super Bowl!

We’re half way through the high school basketball and wrestling regular seasons, with lots of exciting games and matches broadcast on RCN-TV.

To help you get caught up on all of our coverage so far, here are highlights of our broadcast events through the first two months of the winter sports season!

Check back to the RCN-TV website over the next several weeks for our schedule of upcoming games and even more highlights here at the “Shop” from our sports broadcasts this winter!