Play ball!!  Those are the words that baseball fans heard this week when the 2016 season began on Sunday.  Hopes are always high as the new season begins.  Fans from Toronto, Texas, Kansas City, St. Louis, LA, and New York hope their teams can repeat as Divisional champions.  Royals’ fans are hoping for a two-peat as Kansas City defends their World Series championship.  And Phillies fans are hoping for great improvement and a possible miracle on Broad Street.  This is how I think the divisions will go:

American League
West

1. Houston – Wild card entry last year; lost to Kansas City in the playoffs; needed a closer and got the Phillies Ken Giles; will win division this year.
2. Texas Rangers – Weak in the outfield and at starting pitching; could finish lower, but not higher.
3. Seattle – Rookie manager; weak pitching rotation; almost a whole new roster.
4. LA Angels – With Trout and Pujols, you would think they would be better, but pitching makes them “not so good”.
5. Oakland – Play poor defense and bullpen is weak; lost 35 games by one run last year – turn those around and…

Central

1. Kansas City – Defending champs; fundamentally they are terrific; offense and bullpen overcome an average starting rotation; will win division easily.
2. Cleveland – Excellent rotation; little offense; no attendance = no money to get even better.
3. Chicago – Poor offense; poor bullpen; poor rotation = poor season.
4. Detroit – 74-87 last year, horrible bullpen, but team is better than last year with off-season deals.
5. Minnesota – Manager Paul Molitor is their greatest asset; performed miracles with this team last year; not again.

East

1. Toronto – First place last year; first place this year; best offensive unit in the AL overcomes any other weaknesses.
2. Boston – “Big Papi’s” last year; might drive the Sox to emotional title, but pitching staff as a whole is very questionable.
3. New York Yankees – Great bullpen (I mean “Great!”); aging lineup; this team could finish first or last depending on starters.
4. Tampa Bay – No fan support, no money, no bullpen; starting rotation is pretty good and makes them better than the Orioles.
5. Baltimore – Can score (hit 129 HR’s last year), but can’t keep other team from outscoring them.

Kansas City will win the American League pennant.

National League
West

1. San Francisco – The Giants win in even-numbered years (what? – I read it somewhere); upgraded their pitching staff; need to upgrade their batting stats.
2. LA Dodgers – Clayton Kershaw will win almost every five days and this team is solid in every way, but team chemistry is a problem (ask fired manager Don Mattingly).
3. Arizona – Could win the division after acquiring two very good starters; bullpen is suspect for sure.
4. San Diego – Will not contend; rebuilding after trying their best with deals last year.
5. Colorado – Stadium helps them offensively, but seems to help the opponents even more. Among the worst teams in baseball.

Central

1. Chicago – Joe Madden! Joe Madden!  No real weaknesses except their own history.  Last title in 1908.
2. St. Louis – Great manager in Matheny; not as strong as last year when they won 100 games, but they always seem to be at or near the top.
3. Pittsburgh – outstanding outfield both offensively and defensively; Melancon led majors in saves; happen to be in a very tough division.
4. Milwaukee – While being weak to begin with, they got weaker in spring training when they lost their closer; pitching was bad anyway.
5. Cincinnati – Had an all-rookie starting lineup for the last third of the 2015 season; still rebuilding; not good.

East

1. NY Mets – Great pitching; same lineup as last year, except for Daniel Murphy; should win it again.
2. Washington – With Bryce Harper and their pitching, they still find a way to lose (injuries); maybe first-year manager Dusty Baker can finally get them over the hump.
3. Miami – Eighth manager (Don Mattingly) in last seven years and Barry Bonds as hitting coach makes one go “hmmm”; and still they will be better than the Phillies and the Braves.
4. Philadelphia – Pete Mackanin will have the team playing hard, but the talent level is low ( except for Franco).
5. Atlanta – Worst team last year in runs scored; won four more games than the Phillies last season; four less this year?

Chicago will beat the Mets for the N L pennant.
Cubs win it all!!

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. As bad as my bracketing was this year, I did manage to pick the correct winners in the semifinals in last week’s blog – North Carolina and Villanova. As I write this on the National Championship morning and if “defense wins championships” then Villanova will win the 2016 NCAA Championship.
2.  With North Carolina in the title game, it brought back memories of Catasauqua’s Larry Miller who I played against in the 1963 District championship game at the Harrisburg Farm Show Arena. He scored 42 points and we lost the game.  The following year, Larry scored 46 of his team’s 66 points while beating Steelton in the 1964 state playoffs.  He went on to play for Dean Smith and North Carolina and was the ACC’s Men’s Basketball Player of the Year in both 1967 and 1968 and was named as one of the fifty greatest players in ACC history.
3.  I also remember back to April 1, 1985, when Villanova, under Rollie Massimino, beat Georgetown 66-64 in a big upset to win the NCAA National Championship. They were led by Ed Pinckney.  By the way, they beat North Carolina that year in the Southeast Regional final 56-44.
4.  Bourjos, Hernandez, Herrera, Franco, Howard, Galvis, Rupp, and Goedel will be the Phillies position players to start the season. Bring a scorecard – remember, “You can’t tell the players without a scorecard”.  This has never been more appropriate.
5.  And, finally, the UConn women won their 74^th consecutive game on Sunday destroying Oregon State 80-51 and will play Syracuse on Tuesday for the Women’s National Championship. A UConn win for Coach Geno Auriemma would be his 11^th national championship and move him past UCLA’s John Wooden for the most all-time.  The two teams are meeting for the first time this year or last year and no team who hasn’t played them in the last two years has beaten them in the last decade!  No need to go out on a limb – UConn wins their 4^th straight championship and their 75^th straight game!!

I have been around Lehigh Valley sports for a long time.  Some of you may think it’s been too long.  I hope that is not the majority opinion.  But I digress.  Each year, I attend the VIA All-Star Basketball Classic Banquet.  I am always impressed with the quality of the speakers (Michael Irvin and Chuck Dibilio this year), the formal venue, the attendance and, especially, the Hall of Fame selections.

By my count, there have been 186 individuals inducted into the VIA Lehigh Valley Basketball Hall of Fame.  I have had personal contact, either as a player, coach, or broadcaster with 138 of them – 74%.  The few I did not come in contact with accomplished their success either before I was born or when I was a young child.

This year’s group is no exception.  I know them well.

Darnell Braswell played for William Allen under Doug Snyder from 2002-2006.  In his senior year, he helped lead his team to both the LVC and District XI championships.  He was the second leading scorer that year behind Terrence Roderick.  I remember that season very well.  Darnell went on to play four years at DeSales University under Hall-of-Famer Scott Coval.   He is the all-time leading scorer at DeSales and two-time player of the year in the conference.  His coach thought so highly of him that he is now the assistant coach and Coordinator of Athletic Recruiting.

Deanna Rayam played basketball at Freedom High School during the exact same years as Darnell.  And I remember Freedom’s late-season run.  RCN was there.  In 2006, her team won the District Championship by upsetting Parkland and went on to the third round in state playoffs.  She was the third girl to score 1,000 points at Freedom and was third-team All-State.  She went on to play at East Stroudsburg University leading the team in scoring, rebounding, and assists in the same season!  No one had ever done that before.  She scored 1,000 points at ESU, too.  The ESU coach wants her to be her assistant, but she has chosen to devote time to her family.

I REALLY remember Ron Hassler because I followed him as a player and continued to watch his career as a coach.  I broadcasted the game when he scored 48 points against Bangor in 1974.  I announced many, many of his games when he coached at Catasauqua, Whitehall and Central Catholic.  He won six League championships and 10 District championships.  Basketball has been his life and a Hall of Fame one, for sure.

Jack McCallum is a nationally known journalist who has spent the past thirty years at Sports Illustrated.  He has covered Super Bowls, Final Fours, the Masters, the NBA and he has written 11 books, including the New York Times bestseller, The Dream Team.  He is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.  So how do I know this elite writer?  When I was pitching for Moravian College (1964-1968), Jack covered our games for the Bethlehem Globe Times.  I will always remember his article when I lost a “perfect game” after 6 2/3 innings pitching against #9 Temple University.  His article turned out to be much, much better than the outcome.  I did not register another out!

It is a pretty good career when you have rubbed elbows and, in some cases, thrown elbows with the elite of Lehigh Valley basketball.  I wish I would have known the other 36%.   But then I would be even older!

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. Syracuse and North Carolina will play each other next Saturday in the Final Four. North Carolina beat them twice this year.  Both schools have suffered from accusations of “academic fraud” and I am sure there will be plenty written about that this week. North Carolina should win this game.

2. I, for one, did not like the Notre Dame strategy of holding the ball until there were ten seconds on the shot clock. That approach appeared to me to force Notre Dame into desperation mode each possession while North Carolina was scoring by running their offense.

3. Can Villanova beat Oklahoma? Can anybody stop Buddy Hield of Oklahoma?  He scored 37 against Oregon and has averaged 29.3 points in the tournament.  This Villanova team has an air about them, however.  They held Kansas All-American, Perry Ellis, to four points.  There is a will and tenacity about this team and big-man, Daniel Ochefu, could be the difference.  I like Villanova.

4. I love “Match-play” golf. This week, the PGA featured the WGC-Dell match Play championship.  Scores do not matter – what matters is how many holes have you won against your opponent.  There is a winner every match and a loser.  One goes on; one does not.  Every hole matters.  That’s what I like to play and that’s what I like to watch.

5. As I write this, the Flyers will make the NHL playoffs. They are tied in points with the Red Wings, but own the tie-breaker.  That’s the good news – the bad news is they would play the Washington Capitals, the best team in the NHL.  Do you believe that the ‘76ers have still not won 10 games?  I wrote this same sentence last week.  As of this Monday, they were 9-65, losing four more games this past week.  The Phillies are coming!  And, once again, thank goodness for Villanova.

“Amusement” is defined as, “the state or experience of finding something funny”; “the provision of enjoyment of entertainment”; “something that causes laughter or provides entertainment”.

RCN, like many companies I’m sure, runs an NCAA basketball bracket pool that is strictly “for amusement only”.  There is no fee to enter; there are no financial rewards, except for a modest gift certificate.  The REAL big prize, however, is owning the bragging rights that come with winning and, trust me, that is the best gift of all.

There is a little extra pressure that accompanies my selection because I am the Sports Director and expected to know what I am talking about (a mistake in their judgment, not mine).  And, when I handed in my pool, it certainly did not help when I bragged at our staff meeting that there was not much sense in anyone else entering the competition.  They would just be wasting their time.  The winning bracket had been filled out and handed in BY ME.

I also placed my selection in a “hermetically sealed envelope” (I have no idea what that means) so that no one could see my picks until the games actually began.  When asked which team I selected to win it all, I refused to answer or, even worse, offered up some obnoxious answer.

Now, truth be told, after last year’s results, my confidence level was way down.  I went into the Championship game needing only favored Wisconsin to knock off Duke and, as it should be, the championship of RCN Bracketology would be mine.  But Duke won!  Not Wisconsin! And I lost to Linda (not her real name – I wish I didn’t have to use my real name either) who made her picks based on uniform colors, nicknames, team mascot, the handsomeness of the coach, or some other nonsense.  Suffice it to say, she knew NOTHING about college basketball.  AND SHE WON!  (I hope I don’t sound bitter).

Linda (still not her real name) rubbed her victory in my face and just this past week offered to aid me with my picks this year and made sure others in the company knew she was willing to “help” me make my selections.  My response was not very nice and, as you can imagine, I could not wait to conquer this year’s bracket and put her in her place.

Until… Friday!  #15 Middle Tennessee State (who?) beat Michigan State 90-81!  You see, I picked Michigan State to win it all!  I did not pick them to lose in the FIRST ROUND, SECOND ROUND…!!  (Did I mention I am the Sports Director?).  And then, to make matters worse, Middle Tennessee State lost in the second round to Syracuse by 25 points!!

So as I sit here at my desk ripping up my copy of the NCAA bracket, I await the wrath of my fellow workers.  The worst response will most certainly come from Linda (I hope I never hear her real name again).  She has North Carolina and Kansas in the final and both are STILL ALIVE.  Geez!

So I can assure you, as far as I am concerned, this exercise is far from “for amusement only”.

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. It was nice to see Villanova get by the second round of the NCAA Tournament. And they did it with ease, beating Iowa 87-68, so that no last-second heroics were necessary.  It is their first Sweet Sixteen appearance since 2009.

2. Temple and St. Joseph’s were not so fortunate. Temple lost in the first round 72-70 to Iowa on a last second put-back.  Replays showed the scorer pushed off to get the rebound and should have been whistled for a foul.  And St. Joseph’s put up a strong fight against #1 Oregon losing by five.  That game kept me up until 12:05 on Monday morning.  I find it hard to leave any game once I look in because almost all the games come down to the last few possessions.

3. The team that beat Parkland and knocked them out of the PIAA AAAA Basketball championship in the quarterfinals won the state championship on Saturday night. Roman Catholic beat Alderdice 73-62 and repeated as state champion.  Alderdice was ranked #1 all year long and had only lost one game until Saturday.  So, Parkland lost to the best 73-60.  No shame there.

4. Private schools continue to dominate both the boys’ and girls’ basketball championships in Pennsylvania. They won six of the eight titles this past weekend.  The complaints of an “unlevel playing field” will certainly continue.

5. As I write this, the ‘76ers and the Flyers will not make the NBA or NHL playoffs. Do you believe that the ‘76ers have not won 10 games?  As of this Monday, they were 9-61.  Unbelievably bad!  The Flyers still have a chance.  Thank goodness for Villanova.

It happened again!  This past Wednesday, Holy Cross stunned the Patriot League and Lehigh by winning the Patriot League Championship and getting the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.  Because they were the ninth seed in the Patriot League tournament, won four road games, after not winning an away PL game all season, and ended the pre-tournament season with a 14-19 record, they will play in Dayton on Wednesday, March 16, at 6:40 PM against Southern to get to the 64-team tournament.  Holy Cross became the lowest-seed to represent the League.

The fourth-seeded Lafayette Leopards won the tournament last year and, at that time, they were the lowest seed from the PL to win the conference title.  For two straight years, regular season champion Bucknell did not represent the Patriot League in the NCAA tournament.  It should be mentioned that the regular season champ does get an automatic bid to the NIT tournament.

So the question that needs to be asked – is it time to stop rewarding the conference champion with an automatic bid?  The answer is not so simple and just leads to more questions:

1. Does a conference want their best team (the regular season champ) to represent them in the NCAAs or do they want their “hottest” team (tournament champion) in the “dance”? The Patriot League will probably NEVER get both.
2. Is it fair to the team that played exceptionally well all season to be beaten out by a team that played exceptionally well for 120-160 minutes over one week?
3. If you favor the regular season champion to represent the league, must you eliminate the tournament all together or give every team one last hope to continue their season?
4. Financially, do these tournaments just make economic sense? The Holy Cross vs. Lehigh championship crowd was the largest in PL history to see a championship.  That cannot be bad for the institutions or the league.
5. Which team deserves the NCAA and which deserves the NIT?

I love the tournaments.  They create terrific basketball with great finishes.  But, I am not sure, like many others, what the answers should be to the questions posed.  I will leave you to ponder your responses.  And I am well aware that, right now, you probably only care about your office pools.

Remember, these pools are for “amusement only”.  That is not the case for conference tournaments as they exist right now.  They are much, much more important!  Should they be?

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
 

1. Our local basketball season came to an end this week in Hamburg and in Southampton when the Parkland boys and the Bethlehem Catholic girls lost in the PIAA quarterfinals. It was a great year!  And with all the talented underclassmen coming back next season, both the Lehigh Valley boys’ and girls’ team should, once again, provide plenty of excitement.

2. The success of District XI wrestlers at the PIAA AAA state finals was even more astounding – seven champions, 10 finalists, 20 medalists, and Bethlehem Catholic and Nazareth finishing as the top two teams in the state. Andrew Gunning won Liberty’s first state championship title in 31 years and garnered Coach Jody Karam’s first individual championship in his 23-year career at Liberty.  Kudos to all!!

3. Oh, the internet – the NCAA brackets were tweeted out before CBS was able to get through the brackets on their Selection Show. And CBS pays how much to be the network that gets to announce the brackets?

4. I had my first Friday night off in a long time this past week and went to see the Red Hot Chili Pipers (not a misspelling), a “bagrock” group made up of bagpipers and others. They were joined onstage for a number of songs by the pipe and drum members of the Liberty Grenadier Band.  The young people were outstanding, thrilled to be performing and reminded me, once again, that there is more to high school athletics than just the teams.  The bands and cheerleaders work just as hard!

5. There was also a little bit of creativity by the “captain” of the Liberty pipers. When he had a chance to play by himself with the Chili Pipers, he took the opportunity to ask a fellow member to the high school prom.  She accepted and it was an “aww” moment.

There are always “feel-good” stories every year in my world of Lehigh Valley basketball.

Just look a little deeper into the success of the Southern Lehigh girls’ basketball team.  They play with basically an iron five and four of them are underclassmen.  Only Sydney Cyr, who is outstanding, by the way, is a senior.  They won the Colonial League, but Colonial League teams are not expected to win Districts against teams from the bigger conferences.  Even though they appeared in their 31^st District tournament, they were 16-30 in those appearances and 0-2 in the championship games.  That changed this year when they beat a very good Bethlehem Catholic team and won their first District XI title ever!  As I write this, they have won 27 straight games and are into the second round of the PIAA state playoffs.  Obviously, Coach Matt Cooper has done an outstanding job with this young team.  This is a great story which, perhaps, can only get better.

The Easton girls’ basketball team last won a title of any kind in 1970 – 46 years ago.  Head Coach Dave Lutz is a physical education teacher and he has had to stare at the banner every single day as it hangs in the gymnasium.  Even approaching the championship game this year, history showed that they had lost five and won none.  When his team won the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference championship, the first thing he told me was how he could not wait to see the new banner hanging in his office which is the gymnasium.  He knew he would have a good team, but he did not expect to go through almost the entire season without the full roster of players available to him.  This team suffered through injuries, heart arrhythmia, and mononucleosis.  Even now, as they prepare to play the second round of the state playoffs, their starting center, leading rebounder, and tallest player is not available.  Yet, they have continued to win.  They are the only District XI AAAA girls’ basketball team still playing.  Another chapter awaits them this week.

And then there is the Bangor boys’ basketball team.  They won the Colonial League, but that is “ho-hum” for them, having won three of the last four.  What is not “ho-hum” is winning in the District playoffs.  The last time they were in a District championship was in 1988 – 28 years ago.  The best player on that team was Bron Holland, who just happens to be the head coach of this year’s squad.  Bangor was not going to beat Parkland for the District championship.  They are ranked third in the state and no team has beaten Parkland since they got all their championship football players back.  Parkland has won 24 games in a row.  Take that game off Bangor’s schedule and they have won16 straight – 26 overall, a school record for wins.  This team has electrified and solidified a town.  Rumor has it that the town of Bangor is empty when the Slaters play on the road.  Some imply even the police attend (probably just the off-duty ones).  Now they are in the second round of the PIAA playoffs, unheard of for a AAAA Colonial League team.

As I watch the basketball season wind down, these are a few of the stories I will not forget.  They make me and, hopefully, our viewers “feel good’!

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. It must be nice to go out on top. Peyton Manning did it this past week.  He retired from football this past Monday after winning the Super Bowl for the Denver Broncos.  Only John Elway retired after winning the Super Bowl for the same team and becoming their General Manager.  Manning walked away from a guaranteed $19 million contract.

2. I am usually not that interested in NBA scores during the regular season. But, on Sunday, the awful LA Lakers (13-51) beat the Warriors (yes, Stephen Curry’s Warriors), a team that is on track to go down as the greatest regular-season team in history. The Lakers entered with a .190 winning percentage compared to the Warriors’ .917 percentage. By percentage differential, it was the biggest upset in NBA history.

3. The NCAA selection Sunday is March 13 with the NCAA Tournament beginning in Dayton, Ohio March 15-16. Time to jump into the “pool”.

4. Lehigh or Holy Cross will represent the Patriot League in the tournament for the men. Whoever wins their championship game on March 9 may very likely play in Dayton.  The women’s final is Saturday, March 12.

5. As of Monday, March 7, six of our high school basketball teams are still alive in the state playoffs (Easton, Southern Lehigh, Bethlehem Catholic girls; Bangor, Parkland, Emmaus boys). And, even better for our wrestling fans, District XI wrestlers captured EVERY title in the PIAA AAA Northeast Regional wrestling tournament.  On to the State Championships for them.

Scott Barr is the RCN wrestling “guru”.  He has even written a book about District XI wrestling which goes back to its inception.  This past weekend, Scott announced the District XI individual wrestling championships as he has done for so many years.  He, along with Jim Best, did their usual impeccable job.  But one occurrence happened for Scott while doing the match that has NEVER happened before – the Easton Red Rovers did not crown a champion!  I asked him to reflect on the end of what came to be known as “The Streak”.  Here is his essay:

And, so, it’s over.

Just like that, when the buzzer sounded on the final weight class of the 2016 District XI Wrestling Championships, it was over.  After 14 championship bouts, for the first time since 1947, none of the winners was wearing an Easton Red Rover singlet.  All I could muster, on the air, was, “It feels weird.”

Jack Logic first told me about “The Streak” in the late 1980’s.  Nobody except Jack was really talking about it, but it was a remarkable accomplishment even then.  By the turn of the century, with The Streak still intact, I began calling it “the greatest streak in all of high school sports.”  Though I can be prone to exaggeration, I believed this statement to be true.

When Dick Rutt won the first championship, ever, for the Red Rovers, Harry Truman was president.  It was the first time that Easton had ever fielded a team.  His coach was Gust Zarnas, a man who played professional football for the Bears and Packers before World War II.  Last week, we were in Liberty’s Memorial Gymnasium to see if Easton could crown their 186^th champion, 69 years later.   Of course, they could not, and The Streak went from reality to immortality.

There were years where the Red Rovers had only one champion.  Bob Ferraro, Dwight Danser, Dan Kasperkowski, Greg Geiger, and Elijah Brown come to mind.  More often, multiple champions represented the legendary teams from Easton.  In 1949, there were nine champions.  In 1996, the first seven weight classes had Red Rover champions.   A friend of mine, Pete Stoelzl, was crowned as the 100^th champion in Easton history in the mid-1980’s.

The Streak was already six years old when Steve Powell, Easton’s current coach, was born.  Steve is on my “Mount Rushmore” of District XI wrestling, and I can’t imagine the pressure he has endured throughout his tenure.  He told me, years ago, that he never thought about keeping The Streak alive.  I’m sure he was lying.   By tournament time, for the past 10 years, it’s all anyone was thinking about.

Face it—no matter who you cheer for, you liked The Streak.  When you talked with wrestling fans in other parts of the country, you told them about it.  And you spoke with pride about how tough District XI is in wrestling.  You may even have called it “Wrestling Country”.  And you told those folks how one school has epitomized the consistent excellence produced in this area.  You have been amazed by The Streak, and you wanted them to be amazed, too.

Perhaps, in a way, it’s fitting that 2016 should be the end.  This season, District XI Wrestling has lost icons Ray Nunamaker and Tony Iasiello who passed last summer.  Bill McCoach, the “voice” of the wrestling tournament for 50 years, has announced that he will not return.  Bob Kern, the long-time referee and coach, announced his retirement as well.  And now, we will not have The Streak, either.

At the end, it was long-time rivals from Nazareth and Northampton that had the honor of dispatching The Streak.  It was a merciful blow, dealt by deserving champions.  Like Maximus lying on the floor of the Coliseum in the climactic scene of “Gladiator”, we all knew that the time had come to honor this ‘once in forever’ accomplishment.  None of us will be here when this record is broken.

Indeed, the wrestling gods have spoken and The Streak is dead.  Long live The Streak.

This is the time of the year when NFL fans get really nervous about some of their favorite players looking elsewhere, presumably for more money.  There are currently 650 free agents on the market.  650!  Free agency is a somewhat complicated process, which most of us, I would venture to speculate, do not understand.  I did a little research and will try to offer up in the simplest of terms, NFL Free Agency for Dummies.  Keep in mind this is written by a dummy.

For my example I will use Sam Bradford, last year’s starting quarterback for the Eagles.  By the way, there are 29 NFL quarterbacks right now in free agency. Sam Bradford is an unrestricted free agent (UFA).  The Eagles had until March 9 to sign him to a new contract before he was allowed to begin talking to and negotiating with other NFL teams.  In other words, after March 9, Bradford was “unrestricted”.  The Eagles could have named Bradford a franchise player before March 1, and he would have stayed with the Eagles for another year.  The cost to the Eagles would be the average salary of the top five players at his position.  The Eagles chose not to do that so Bradford is free to look elsewhere.

Bradford originally signed a six-year contract in 2010 with the St. Louis Rams for a signing bonus of $17,975,000.  He received an average salary of $13,007,500 per year.  He received bonuses from 2010-2012 totaling $17,300,000.  In the final year of his contract, the Eagles paid him $12,985,000.  His six-year contract totaled around $78 million.  When he signed the contract, he was guaranteed $50 million, but he obviously greatly far exceeded that.

So now what?  Of the 650 free agents, Bradford currently is the highest paid on the list primarily because he is a starting quarterback.  The second highest paid free agent on the market is defensive end Chris Long at $12,500,000.  Since the Eagles decided not to name him a franchise player or try to sign him before the deadline, Bradford now has his agent looking for a deal.  One service has his calculated market value at an annual salary of $18.6 million.  This value is arrived at by comparing Bradford to Ryan Tannehill, Matt Ryan, Jay Cutler, and Joe Flacco, all NFL quarterbacks.  Of course, his true value will be determined by the team that eventually signs him.

So, in a nutshell, you now have the numbers that a general manager must analyze to determine if Sam Bradford is the man for you.  In addition, a GM must concern himself with salary caps, but that explanation is for another time.  Remember, the Eagles can still be a part of the negotiations.  Once they have a sense of the offers being made, they too can present their offer or perhaps look at the 28 other quarterbacks available.

So what is Sam Bradford really worth to an NFL team?  Should the Eagles do whatever they can to bring him back?  Or would you just keep shopping?  If it was your money, how would you spend it?

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. Now, you might be wondering what other NFL quarterbacks are available. To name a few – Ryan Fitzpatrick, Matt Schaub, Tavaris Jackson, Chase Daniel, Kirk Cousins, etc.

2. The Yankees announced this week that they will no longer honor print-at-home tickets saying there is too much fraud in the process (“rampant, on a daily basis, every single game”). StubHub claims that they encounter fraud in 0.01 percent of transactions.  Is this the Yankees just showing their power against StubHub or a concern that will expand to other entertainment venues?

3. Jay Wright’s Villanova Wildcats continue to be the #1 team in college basketball, according to this week’s poll. They are 24-3 and garnered 25 of the 32 votes by the coaches.  Villanova is the team that knocked out Lafayette in the NCAA tournament last year in Pittsburgh.

4. The PGA tour is literally in Tiger Woods’ backyard this week in South Florida and he did not commit to playing. There has been no word about his health since December.  He had a major back operation 19 months ago and two similar surgeries since then.  He is no longer listed in the top 450 golfers.

5. Watch our local teams battle for the District basketball and wrestling championships this week on RCN-TV. The PIAA state basketball playoffs begin Friday, March 4.

Now that the NFL has completed play and with college basketball, the NBA, and the NHL moving to their respective championships, I find I am desperate for some intense competition.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy watching the serenity and landscape of golf, but it does lack the “mano a mano” aspect that the aforementioned sports offer up.  But, I am happy to say I have found a new “blood sport” – the Republican Debates!

I was for many years the Debate coach at Wilson High School and I am proud to say that we competed quite well against the bigger schools like Allen, Dieruff, Easton, and others.  I remember the parameters quite well.  There was the debate topic (an issue or resolution), the two sides – one supporting the issue and one opposing it, and the judges who would decide who won.  In other words, both teams formulated their arguments and presented them in a formal way and then the arguments were rebutted by the opposing side.  There could be no interruptions and each speaker must wait their turn.  There were very formal rules of procedure to follow. The debate was to be only about the issue, not about the personalities making the presentation.

As I mentioned, I have watched both the Republican and Democratic debates when my schedule allowed it.  The Republican frays are much more interesting even though they should not be called “debates”.  I watched the last one this past Saturday night.  There were virtually no rules.  Personal attacks abounded; interruptions were commonplace; and disparaging comments were the norm.  The clashes between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, between Cruz and Marco Rubio, between Trump and Jeb Bush are as good as any hockey fight.  And the passivity of Dr. Ben Carson in that environment is quite interesting.

Some of the phrases thrown around were, “You are the single biggest liar”; “He’s a nasty guy”; “I am sick and tired of him going after my family”; “He’ll moon anybody”, and one candidate even attacked another candidate’s mother, his mother!!  There are many, many other examples.

I am not taking any sides here, but I do think there is a much better way for these candidates to conduct themselves and conduct their debates.  What would be so wrong, since there are so many so-called “debates” now, if each debate focused on one, two, or three issues – immigration, foreign policy, taxation, the economy, abortion, Planned Parenthood, wages, the Supreme Court and so on and so on?  And wouldn’t it be fair if for each question, each candidate had an opportunity to give their answer without interruption?  And wouldn’t it be better and refreshing if the moderators had enough knowledge of the few issues for each night to challenge the candidates if, indeed, they contradicted either their past words or their actions?

Even though we all seem to like a good fight, physical or verbal, it would certainly seem that it would be better for our democracy if the “debate judges” (the people) would be able to see the true differences between those running for the most powerful office in the world.

Then and only then, we would have the candidates’ positions to judge who would be the better president, not who is the best at name-calling.

I’m not taking any sides here, just wondering if Presidential debates should actually be more like debates and not free-for-alls. In other words, more “Presidential”.

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. Remember the footage of Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens dragging Janay Palmer out of the elevator in Atlantic City? It was revealed this week that a Revel employee was paid about $105,000 for the video by TMZ

2. The Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition is due out soon and already some unveiling, literally, is happening. It is reported that Tiger Woods’ former girlfriend and Olympic skier, Lindsay Vonn, and MMA star Ronda Rousey will be in the issue wearing only body paint.  Rumor has it Rousey is on the cover.

3. A really good story came out of the PGA tour at Pebble Beach this week. Vaughn Taylor (who?) won!  He last won in 2005, and only got into the tournament as an alternate. He took a carry-on bag on the plane to California just to save baggage fees.  He was ranked #447 in the world.  But he won and made $1.26 million for the victory, $165,000 more than he made the last three years combined.  By the way, Phil Mickelson missed a five-foot putt on the 18^th hole that would have tied him with Taylor.  Taylor now qualifies for his first Masters.

4. If you want to see one of the best high school games we have ever had on RCN-TV, go to Video-on-Demand to watch Allen play Parkland. Imagine scoring 27 points and being the third leading scorer in the game.  The game goes overtime and two other players score more than 30 points.  It’s a special game – one of our very best.

5. Mark your calendar on February 27. The District basketball and wrestling finals are that day with the Lafayette men playing Colgate starting the day at noon.  We will finish up very late into the evening.  We will certainly be ESPN-ish that Saturday!

The Super Bowl was played this past Sunday.  Denver won.  Don’t stop reading yet – I know the WHOLE WORLD knows the Super Bowl was played this past Sunday and who won the game.  But it is a good starting point for this blog.

Amidst all the hoopla, commercials, the halftime show, the parties and the game itself, is the looming conversation about the danger of the sport and, in particular, concussions.  You cannot watch the NFL anymore without seeing a particular play or be reminded about a particular player in the past who now suffers from or died of “chronic traumatic encephalopathy”.  There is a film out now, Concussion, which features the attempt by the NFL to suppress the research of Dr. Bennet Omalu.  That attempt by the NFL was shameful and they deserved to be exposed for turning their attention away from the controversy.  But what we did learn and continue to learn is that the dangers of playing the game are now self-evident.  Every parent, every participant, every team from midgets to professionals now know that football can be a very dangerous game.

So where does that leave us?  Absolutely nowhere.  The choice still lies with the individual who decides to put on the helmet and the shoulder pads to play.  People decide to do things every day that endanger their health.  Choices are made to smoke cigarettes, to drink too much alcohol, to smoke marijuana, to live a sedentary life, to eat too much, to sky dive, to take on a giant wave, ski down the steepest of mountains, drive a race car at ridiculous speeds, etc.  But the participants make that choice and, I’m certain they do not make the choice blindly.  The risks are self-evident for some activities and well-documented for others.

It’s been a long time since I played organized sports.  I played football, basketball, and baseball in high school, received 11 varsity letters for my efforts.  I continued to play basketball and baseball in college.  Back then, there was not much concern for the dangers of any of those sports.  And besides, I truly loved playing them all.  I still reflect back on what being part of a team, disciplining myself to practice and work out, feeling the “thrill of victory and the agony of defeat”, accomplishing individual success and learning to meet difficult challenges meant to my growth and fortitude as an adult.  Risks be damned (even though I gave them very little thought).

I can say I was fortunate because I was only injured twice during my athletic career – a broken collarbone and a severe case of dehydration that put me in the hospital.  These maladies occurred, not playing the three – football, basketball, and baseball.  Both of the injuries occurred playing – wait for it – SLOW-PITCH SOFTBALL!!  That’s right and nobody ever told me how dangerous that sport could be.  It wouldn’t have mattered anyway.  I loved playing softball and continued to play even after both my body and my wife started to discourage my participation.

The point I am trying to make here is that, in this day and age, we all know the risks involved in the decisions we make every day.  But they are OUR decisions and we must weigh the choices and then take responsibility for those decisions.  I am not implying we shouldn’t continue to warn people of the health hazards, the dangers, and the consequences of those choices, nor should we discontinue all the research that makes us safer and more knowledgeable about those choices or make rules that help protect the participants.  I am a fan of “concussion protocol”.  What I am saying is that if individuals decide to participate in dangerous activities, SO BE IT!

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME SUPER BOWL  MUSINGS)

 Here are my favorite commercials from the Super Bowl:

1. Seth Rogan and Amy Schumer for Bud Light. It was funny from the beginning to the end and, unlike many other commercials, I got it.
2. The Apartments.com ad was good with Jeff Goldblum playing the piano, but what was it about? Landing a better apartment?  I guess it worked because I now know about the site.
3. The sheep singing a rock song in the Honda truck ad, but was the selling point – that you can listen to rock from the bed of the truck? What?
4. Hot dogs, literally, running to human catsup and mustard bottles, literally, made by Heinz. It was cute and made some sense.
5. Oh, wait there weren’t five I liked. What’s a Marmot or a “puppymonkeybaby”? The ads were pretty lame this year and the game was somewhat boring. I liked the halftime show.

NFL PICKS LAST WEEK – 10-6; OVERALL 160-96 (63%)
NFL PICKS (WILD CARD) – 3-1
NFL DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS – 3-1; PLAYOFFS (6-2)
NFL CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS – 1-1; PLAYOFFS (7-3)
SUPER BOWL – 0-1

So the two #1 seeds in their respective conferences will ACTUALLY meet in the 50^th Super Bowl championship.  One team (Carolina) scored more points than any other this year and the other (Denver) got up the least amount of yardage.  As I write this, Carolina is favored by 4.5 points.  I will attempt to analyze the two teams and pick a winner.

DEFENSE
“You win championships with defense.”  How many times have we heard analysts tell us that?  If, indeed, that is the case, it would still be very hard to choose a winner based on that adage.  Both teams have outstanding defenses (maybe that’s why they are in the Super Bowl).  Carolina’s defense has been particularly tough on quarterbacks.  They are the best team in the NFL for creating the lowest opponent passer rating.  They certainly made life miserable for Cardinals’ quarterback, Carson Palmer.  And linebacker David Newton, who broke his arm in the Cardinals’ game, is expected to play after having surgery this past Monday.

The Denver defense, however, has stopped almost every team and had little trouble stopping Tom Brady and the Patriots.  Von Miller is an awesome player.  The Broncos were first in the league in total yards allowed and had 20 quarterback hits last week.  I would think that the diversity of the Carolina offensive attack would be a bigger challenge than Denver faced against the Patriots.

ADVANTAGE:  CAROLINA

OFFENSE
QB’s – Cam Newton (Carolina) vs. Peyton Manning (Denver) – wow!  Talk about contrasting styles.  Newton never seems to feel the pressure of the moment and always looks like he is just having fun.  Manning, on the other hand, is like a scientist in his lab studying and dissecting.  Newton has the stronger arm; Manning has won this game, has the experience and the knowledge of many years in the league.

Receivers – Greg Olsen and Ted Ginn, Jr. (Carolina) vs. Damaryius Thomas and Emanuel Sanders (Denver).  I like Carolina here because of their defensive secondary and Greg Olsen is not unlike the Patriot’s Rob Gonkowski.

Running Backs – Jonathan Stewart and Mike Tolbert (Carolina) vs. C J Anderson and Ronnie Hillman.  Both teams give up very little rushing yardage, but with Cam Newton as a running weapon, Carolina should be a bit harder to defend.  Both teams, however, give up @ 80 yards per game on the ground.  Running the ball (except by Newton) might be a non-factor.

ADVANTAGE:  CAROLINA

INTANGIBLES

• Peyton’s last game?  This would certainly give the emotional edge to Denver.
• Turnovers?  Carolina has a +20 turnover differential compared to Denver’s -4.
• Carolina’s cockiness? This could serve them well on such a big stage or derail them if things do not go well early in the game.
• Extra points ARE important – Just ask the Patriots; they chased that one point the whole game.

ADVANTAGE – DENVER

THE PICK
This is a really tough choice (as it should be).  On paper I like the Carolina Panthers; but I do think the emotional edge goes to Denver.

THE WINNER OF SUPER BOWL 50:
CAROLINA PANTHERS  24 – 17

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME SUPER BOWL  MUSINGS)

1. If Carolina wins, Cam Newton would become the only player to win the Heisman, a national NCAA championship, NFL MVP and a Super Bowl.
2. If Denver wins, Peyton Manning would be the first quarterback to win a Super Bowl with two teams. He won at Indianapolis.
3. The Browns, Lions, Jaguars and Texans are the only teams that have not played in a Super Bowl.
4. A 30-second ad this year will cost $5 million, 11% higher than last year. 4 million people tuned in last year.
5. If you like to gamble, the odds before the season started that the Broncos would face the Panthers in the Super Bowl were 184-1!

NFL PICKS LAST WEEK – 10-6; OVERALL 160-96 (63%)
NFL PICKS (WILD CARD) – 3-1
NFL DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS – 3-1; PLAYOFFS (6-2)
NFL CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS – 1-1; PLAYOFFS (7-3)