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’ve passed the Labor Day holiday—and already we’re approaching the third week of high school football campaign!

It’s still hard getting used to these early starts to the season, but, ready or not, we have one of our most competitive weekends of the fall, filled with many intriguing match-ups.

Speaking of high school sports, our special in-studio guest on this week’s “SportsTalk” will be PIAA Assistant Executive Director Melissa Mertz, as she discusses a number of scholastic sports topics and controversies over recent changes to the high school sports landscape.  You can call with a question or comment on our live show this Thursday on RCN-TV, or email us your opinion right now to rcnsportstalk@rcn.com and we might read and respond to it on this week’s program.

Now, here are our first “in-season” high school football polls for teams in the District XI region…

“ Big” Schools Poll

1)  Parkland

2)  Emmaus

3)  Freedom

4)  Easton

5)  Nazareth

Other schools receiving votes:  Liberty

 “Small” School Poll

1)  Bethlehem Catholic

2)  Palisades

3)  Saucon Valley

4)  Notre Dame

Other schools receiving votes: Northwestern, Central Catholic

Our poll remains in the standard, tried-and-true format that we have utilized for many seasons.  We will take the 400-male enrollment number as the cutoff for schools within the District XI/RCN-TV footprint.  All of the schools above that number qualify as “big schools” in our poll. These schools consist of Parkland, Liberty, Allen, Easton, Emmaus, Liberty, Dieruff, Freedom, Stroudsburg, Pleasant Valley, Northampton, Nazareth, Whitehall, Southern Lehigh, East Stroudsburg-South, and Pocono Mountain East & West.

“Small schools” (below 400-male enrollment) consist of Bangor, Saucon Valley, Central Catholic, Bethlehem Catholic, Northwestern, Wilson, Palisades, Palmerton, Salisbury, Notre Dame, Pen Argyl, Northern Lehigh and Catasauqua.

Here are our RCN football experts weighing in on four of the biggest high school games this weekend . . .

Check back next week for more high school football notes, polls, video highlights and predictions.

By the way, if you saw all of our “SportsTalk at the Fair” programs last week, you already know that Keith and I have “upped the ante” by pledging that if either of us loses this year’s “Pick 4” contest, we agree to do a Fortnight Dance, live on “SportsTalk” (we’re still waiting to hear if Gary and Tony will commit to this).

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 our first in-season high school football poll and “Pick 4” selections, a quick plug for our “SportsTalk” show, which will be broadcasting on location from the Great Allentown Fair this week.

For the 10^th year in a row our shows will feature area cheering squads, marching bands and special guests looking at the new HS football season and catching up with legendary names from local high schools in the Lehigh Valley.  Check out the shows in person on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 6pm from the Farmerama Theater.

If you can’t make it out to the Fair, you can see the shows on RCN-TV or RCN On-Demand.

Now, here are our first “in-season” high school football polls for teams in the District XI region…

“Big” Schools Poll

1)  Emmaus

2)  Parkland

3)  Freedom

4)  Easton

5)  Nazareth

Other schools receiving votes:  Liberty

 “Small” School Poll

1)  Bethlehem Catholic

2)  Palisades

3)  Central Catholic

4)  Saucon Valley

Other schools receiving votes: Northwestern, Notre Dame

Our poll remains in its’ standard, tried-and-true format that we have utilized for many seasons.  We will take the 400-male enrollment number as the cutoff for schools within the District XI/RCN-TV footprint.  All of the schools above that number qualify as “big schools” in our poll. These schools consist of Parkland, Liberty, Allen, Easton, Emmaus,  Dieruff, Freedom, Stroudsburg, Pleasant Valley, Northampton, Nazareth, Whitehall, Southern Lehigh, East Stroudsburg-South, and Pocono Mountain East & West.

“Small schools” (below 400-male enrollment) consist of Bangor, Saucon Valley, Central Catholic, Bethlehem Catholic, Northwestern, Wilson, Palisades, Palmerton, Salisbury, Notre Dame, Pen Argyl, Northern Lehigh and Catasauqua.

Here are our RCN football experts weighing in on four of the biggest high school games this weekend . . .

Check back next week for more high school football notes, polls, video highlights and predictions.

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.

Last week here at “The Shop” we brought you samples of our high school sports interviews featuring local coaches and players (more can be seen on our “SportsTalk” program).

This week, we have our pre-season high school football poll and the return of the “Pick 4” game predictions, along with samples of our interviews previewing the Lafayette College football season.

Now the unveiling of our pre-season high school football poll for District XI teams…

“ Big” Schools Poll

1)  Parkland

2)  Emmaus

3)  Freedom

4)  Easton

5)  Nazareth

“Small” SCHOOL Poll

1)  Bethlehem Catholic

2)  Palisades

3)  Central Catholic

4)  Notre Dame

Other schools receiving votes:   Saucon Valley

Our poll remains in its’ standard, tried-and-true format that we have utilized for many seasons.  We will take the 400-male enrollment number as the cutoff for schools within the District XI/RCN-TV footprint.  All of the schools above that number qualify as “big schools” in our poll. These schools consist of Parkland, Liberty, Allen, Easton, Emmaus,  Dieruff, Freedom, Stroudsburg, Pleasant Valley, Northampton, Nazareth, Whitehall, Southern Lehigh, East Stroudsburg-South, and Pocono Mountain East & West.

“Small schools” (below 400-male enrollment) consist of Bangor, Saucon Valley, Central Catholic, Bethlehem Catholic, Northwestern, Wilson, Palisades, Palmerton, Salisbury, Notre Dame, Pen Argyl, Northern Lehigh and Catasauqua.  Each pollster will identify their top five teams in each group—the top school gets five points, the second team gets four points and so on, with an average score determining the order of teams in the poll.  Check back each week here at “The Shop” to see if your favorite teams make our list!

Now, here are our RCN football experts weighing in on four of the biggest high school games this weekend…

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.

It’s just about that time of year—when high school and college football games play “meaningful” games (and the NFL isn’t too far behind).  Consequently, our RCN Sports team is getting geared up for our wall-to-wall coverage of scholastic pigskin action in the Lehigh Valley (plus interviews in the Philadelphia and Washington DC areas as well) on our upcoming “SportsTalk” programs.

RCN Videographer Alyssa Sheckler and I have been out talking with local high school football coaches and players.  Here are samples of some of our conversations so far:

One of the things that has impressed me the most so far this preseason is the fortitude of the Whitehall football team.  They lost their head coach and their starting quarterback (due to transfer) this spring, but they’re not using any excuses and still are setting the lofty goal of competing for an EPC title (they are still the favorites to win another District XI 5A crown, although they’ll have a little more competition this fall).

They also graduated quite a bit of talent defensively and along their offensive line,  but even with all these things working against them, the coaching staff and players have been working hard preparing for the upcoming season.  Keep an eye on the Zephyrs as they will have several key match-ups this fall.

We are busy editing these and collecting even more interviews this week, with many more to air on our Thursday show!

Don’t forget to check out “RCN SportsTalk” the next few weeks on RCN-TV, On-Demand and our podcasts to get more interviews, insights and predictions for many of the fall sports programs this season.

Also, next week here at “The Shop,” we’ll have the return of our “Pick 4” predictions and high school football polls, featuring RCN announcers, local media members and special guest-coaches all making contributions each week!  Make sure you bookmark our blog each week to check out where to find your favorite teams.

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 hope you have been enjoying our summer basketball coverage both here on our blog and on “SportsTalk,” the television show, on RCN-TV.

Here’s a gallery featuring many of the teams, coaches and players that we have seen over the last few weeks in our travels at different stops in Eastern Pennsylvania.

Don’t forget! To hear our summer basketball interviews with local coaches and players as well as our experts who’ll break down the last few months of HS hoops action, check out “SportsTalk” through RCN On-Demand as well as previous blog entries here at “The Shop”.

On the next several editions of “SportsTalk” we’ll begin our previews of the upcoming high school fall sports season. Our in-studio guests over the next few weeks include several schools within the RCN Lehigh Valley region that captured District XI titles for both their boys and girls programs. We’ll start with the boys & girls Easton cross country teams and the Parkland boys and girls defending soccer championship squads. Yes, we will be attempting to set a new record for the number of athletes/guests in our studio!

More guests and show information to follow. Tune in to see how we pull it off and hear some great stories from last year’s teams along with thoughts on how they are preparing for the new season.

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 Cedar Beach Summer Basketball League wrapped up this past weekend, culminating with a thrilling championship game!

First of all, huge congratulations are in order for the 2018 summer champs–the Easton Red Rovers boys’ basketball team.

Easton features a number of talented players who got valuable experience on the varsity level last year and probably didn’t get the attention they deserved for having a great winter season (we saw a number of impressive victories by the Rovers on RCN-TV last year).

Those returning players held off another team we’ll be talking about this winter–Emmaus–who had the distinction of playing in all three major boys title games held within the Lehigh Valley area.

Check back to “The SportsTalk Shop” next week for our gallery of the summer hoops in-game action.

In the meantime, here are a few more notes of interest for Lehigh Valley basketball fans from this summer’s action…

• There is certainly a lot of balance since Bethlehem Catholic boys’ Golden Hawks continue to be the area’s most dominant Lehigh Valley team. Allentown Central Catholic, last year’s “#2” squad, so far, look like it has come back to the pack a bit. In talking with Dieruff Head Coach Joe Jarjous recently, he’s among those believing that a number of teams (including his own) will be improved and that several programs featuring an abundance of youth have really played well and will show great improvement by the time the school year starts.
• The Becahi girls have been equally as dominate as their boys teams, although Nazareth is taking great strides. They’ve been participating in tournaments both inside and outside of the Lehigh Valley region. Among the Blue Eagles’ top efforts…they ran the table in the “June” edition of the Holy Name basketball tournament and finished with a perfect 9-0 record in a pool against a number of strong programs.
• The Northampton boys’ team lost two of its’ biggest scoring machines (Cody Weisenberger and Aiden Ellwood) from last year’s team. I talked with Head Coach Coy Stampone and he said he thought there’s definitely some rebuilding that will have to be done with his program this year. However, upon a closer look at the way his team played this summer:

…He’s playing a couple players who actually will make his squad bigger than last year’s (thanks to my “SportsTalk” co-host Keith Groller for pointing that out).

…Stampone is very high on some of his JV players from a year ago who look like they’re progressing at a nice rate and could contribute more than initially projected.

…Don’t forget, the K-Kids played tremendous defense a year ago, leading the team to some of the biggest wins of the season. Most of those defensive-minded players are returning, so if they can find a couple sure-handed scoring options (especially among the big men), don’t count on Northampton’s “rebuilding” taking very long.

We’ll have our final look at high school summer league action and more news, notes and images next week here at “The Shop.”

For more local summer basketball action, be sure to check out this year’s “Tournament of Champions” held at the Catasauqua playground. RCN-TV’s Gary Laubach and Tom Stoudt will have the call and all the excitement of this year’s event…this Thursday evening on RCN-TV.

And…coming up over the next few weeks on “SportsTalk,” we’ll be featuring defending District XI boys and girls fall sports champions, along with high school and Lafayette College football interviews as we get you ready for the upcoming fall sports season. “Official” high school sports practices commence this Monday–where did the summer go?

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.

One of the reasons why the Phillies have had the kind of “surprising” (by most fans’ expectations) season to date is the team’s flexibility.

New Manager Gabe Kapler made it very obvious in spring training that he wanted players to play multiple positions—regardless of whether or not they had any prior experience playing new spots.  Learning a new position on the fly at the Major League level is nothing less than an amazing accomplishment, and players like Jesmuel Valentin are really the unsung heroes as this team stays in playoff contention.

Mind you, it’s not just the physical aspects of playing a brand new position (and we’re not just talking about moving from second base to shortstop).  The mental aspect of going from the infield to the outfield and then back in again (and doing it with no experience at lower levels) is one of the most impressive/least talked about aspect of this year’s Phillies.

Once more, it takes a special athlete to be able to make these adjustments and carry on as “good soldiers” in the clubhouse, when players are asked to make these significant changes for the overall good of the team.  Moving to a new position is one thing—but doing it while keeping the clubhouse a positive experience for the whole squad is also something that should not be overlooked when analyzing Philadelphia’s success this year.

This unselfish approach is something that Phillies Shortstop-Second Baseman-Third Baseman-Pinch Hitter-Right Fielder-Relief Pitcher Jesmuel Valentin has shown throughout his baseball career…and MLB fans are finally getting to see what this versatile player can do at the Big League level.

I had the great opportunity of speaking with Valentin—once at Reading, again at Lehigh Valley after spring training last year, and again earlier this month in Philadelphia, about this unique ability to successfully move around, playing new positions, while still trying to prove that he can hit Major League pitching.

Here’s a portion of my interview with Valentin…

There are more “feel-good” stories surrounding the Philadelphia team—some that sports fans everywhere will be become aware of – should this unlikely collection of prospects continue to play—and beat—some of the best teams in all of baseball.

Be sure to check out our “SportsTalk” program for more Phillies interviews as they chase a playoff berth.

Also, don’t forget to catch our final “SportsTalk Gets Wild” program of the summer as our “RCN SportsTalk presented by ‘The Morning Call’” will broadcast live from the Buffalo Wild Wings on Grape Street in Whitehall, this Thursday, from 7-8pm.

Our guests will be members of the World Champion Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleading Squad (complete with their Super Bowl Pendants to showcase).  Come on out to see the program in person and 10% of your food bill will go to support the Miller–Keystone Blood Center.

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 got some great insights on teams in the Eastern League, including the minor league franchises for the Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Nationals, New York Mets, the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and more from Play-by-Play Voice Mike Ventola on our “SportsTalk” program.

Ventola also gave his thoughts on future prospects to watch in the upcoming months, along with a predicted winner in the Eastern League’s East Division.

Speaking of baseball guests, a special thanks to ABC-8 News’ Sports Director/Anchor Natalie Kalibat for joining us on last week’s “SportsTalk” show. She provided us with a live report from Washington, DC, previewing the city’s preparations to host Major League Baseball’s All-Star game, and giving her opinions on sports events in the DMV region.

Natalie also gave insights on the lingering “good vibes” from last month’s Capitals’ Stanley Cup championship and renewed enthusiasm for the Washington Redskins under new Quarterback Alex Smith and their upgrades on defense, along with thoughts on their upcoming training camp.

If you missed these interviews, you can see them in their entirety through RCN On-Demand or hear our podcast at rcn.com/atvn/sports-talk

Coming up on this week’s show, Morning Call Baseball Writer Tom Housenick and Fox Sports Baseball Insider Chuck Hixson are our guests recapping Tuesday’s All-Star game, giving thoughts on the first half of the baseball season and previewing what to expect for the second half. We’ll also be discussing the various playoff possibilities for both Major League and Minor League teams of interest to baseball fans within the RCN-TV area.

We’ll also discuss other relevant topics like the drop in attendance at baseball games, the increased use of analytics and off-season news for high school wrestling in the Eastern Pennsylvania region.

Email your comments, questions and opinions to rcnsportstalk@rcn.com and we might read and respond on this Thursday’s program.

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. 

There are a number of intriguing storylines developing in local high school basketball this summer following last weekend’s tournament at Cedar Beach in Allentown. Among the highlights:

• Emmaus’ Mark Swedberg did not disappoint. In addition to reaching the final round of Saturday’s Slam Dunk competition, he and his teammates provided a balanced attack throughout the tournament, enroute to the Hornets’ second straight summer tourney championship. Following this past season, Emmaus figured to be one of the top teams this winter based on the returning talent. Don’t forget, the team gets an added lift from Whitehall football/basketball transfer Ethan Parvel…so don’t hand the upcoming winter’s EPC trophy to Bethlehem Catholic just yet.
• Emmaus’ rival to the north—Parkland—also looked very impressive and features some very talented rising underclassmen. At the end of the scholastic basketball season, we talked on “SportsTalk” about players like Nick Rappa, Jared Kucharczuk, Jake Melany and other young players who really started to gel as the winter went on…and that continued improvement is evident even more in their summer play.
• Nazareth also looked strong last weekend, with some new players in the mix joining an already tall and lanky frontcourt.

• In Colonial League action, Palmerton continues to be a standout team this summer. They have a number of returning top tier players and look like they are definitely going to be major players in the winter season’s playoffs.

• Saucon Valley is another team that has lots of players returning—including a pair of players approximately 6’5”. Height like that in the Colonial League is hard to beat and should make the Panthers more of a force for the 2018-19 campaign.

Coming up on this Thursday’s edition of “SportsTalk,” we’re going to have even more videos featuring interviews of coaches and players participating in summer basketball action.

In addition, we’re going to have a live report from the Washington, DC area as the DMV region gets ready to take on the national spotlight as hosts of Major League Baseball’s All-Star game next Tuesday.

Also, keep checking back here at “The Shop” over the upcoming weeks as we bring you additional news, rumors and images from different venues featuring athletes from the RCN-TV viewing area.

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. 

Thanks again to Mother Nature for the high school calendar year getting stretched due to all the snow days (some schools in the Poconos didn’t officially finish until last week!), but we finally completed the 2017-18 school year in Eastern Pennsylvania.

The honors and accolades are in for high school sports, and we would like to mention these student-athletes’ special accomplishments.

First, here is a look the spring Eastern Pennsyvlania Conference All-Stars for local softball players….

Next, the EPC Scholar Athlete Award Winners for each sport…

Wrestling – Greg Bensley (Pocono Mountain West)

Girls Basketball – Leanna Deegan (Easton)

Boys Basketball – Jake Lisicky (Whitehall)

Cheerleading – Amanda Wagner (Nazareth)

Boys Swimming/Diving – Matthew Ceh (Parkland)

Girls Swimming/Diving – Zoe Sheridan (Parkland)

Rifle – Amber Zegler (Emmaus)

Boys Tennis – Seungkwon Son (Parkland)

Softball – Krista Colussi (Nazareth)

Baseball – Collin Duff (Parkland)

Girls Lacrosse – Leanna Deegan (Easton)

Boys Lacrosse – Ryan Miller (Nazareth)

Boys Volleyball – Robert Corba III (Parkland)

Girls Track & Field – Emily Deschler (Allentown Central Catholic)

Boys Track & Field – Habeeb Salau (Parkland)

And, here are your “EPC18” All-Stars for local wrestling….

Last but not least, you can find the latest results for local track-and-field results for the Colonial League Championship, here:

Thanks to the administrators, coaches and athletic directors for passing these lists along to us to promote these student-athletes to all of you. And, special congratulations to all the recipients!