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.

Around the middle of the high school basketball season, my partner, Tom Stoudt, and I looked at each other and pretty much simultaneously said, “What a mess,” as we discussed the 6A boys’ basketball outlook. These are the big schools.

They bring the most drama – remember the semifinals last year at the PPL Center where 8,000+ fans packed the arena when Allen, Emmaus, Parkland, and Pocono Mountain West would play and they all were terrific.

Not this year. The two best teams, Central Catholic and Bethlehem Catholic, were in the 5A and the 4A district brackets.  That, historically, is somewhat unheard of.  The big schools normally dominate the attention.  Not this year.

The 6A bracket had no clear-cut favorite. It was so bad that, at the very last minute, the nine-team field became a ten-team field when Nazareth was added based on power points and not a qualifying record.  That had never happened before in 6A.  Nazareth had put their uniforms away and Liberty found out they were playing Nazareth and not Pleasant Valley (the team they had prepared to play).  Did I mention “mess”?

In the quarterfinals – #5 beat #4, #7 beat #2, and Nazareth (remember, the last minute entry) almost beat #1. But sanity returned in the semifinals when #1 East Stroudsburg South (a team that has won one district championship ever in 1994 when they were JUST East Stroudsburg) and #3 Northampton (who last won a championship in 1972) came out on top to play for a championship.

But who would have guessed that two teams that were 9-13 last year and had a combined 70 years between titles would be playing for the most coveted District championship? Let me tell you – no one!

The “mess”, however, did not end there. The wind and snow arrived on Friday, causing problem after problem in the Lehigh Valley and paralyzed the North where East Stroudsburg South and Pocono Mountain West (a consolation game participant) reside.  Neither could get to their scheduled games on Saturday.

So, as I write this, the consolation game and the championship game are to be played tonight. All four teams will continue into the PIAA state playoffs.  Those games begin on Friday.

I just saw the weather forecast for later in the week – possible 6-12 inches of snow on Wednesday into Thursday.

Did I mention – MESS? Stay tuned.

ABOVE THE EARS

1. Did you know that mid-March is the expected hearing date by the Supreme Court to entertain New Jersey’s request to legalize sports betting? Las Vegas currently has the monopoly on legal betting in the US. The NCAA and the four professional leagues are suing to stop New Jersey. The Supreme Court decision could come as early as May.
2. Michigan won the Big 10 basketball championship at Madison Square Garden over the weekend. Central Catholic’s Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman scored 51 points in the three tournament games and the TV announcers threw plenty of superlatives at him. “Local kid does well” – always a good story.
3. Are you ready to fill out your brackets for the NCAA March Madness tournament? Do you like Villanova, Virginia, Kansas, Xavier, etc.? Or do you stay with Duke, North Carolina, or, perhaps, Michigan? Good luck to all.
4. With all the hype over the NFL Draft, would you believe it is still eight weeks away? That’s right; the first round does not take place until Thursday, April 26. How many Saquon Barkley stories between now and then? He must be exhausted.
5. Which of our teams has the greatest chance of getting to Hershey for the state championships? The Bethlehem Catholic girls could repeat and the Bethlehem Catholic boys have all the ingredients. RCN-TV will follow them to the semifinals.

This blog expresses my views and opinions, and not those of RCN. I really appreciate anyone who takes the time to read them and I assume readers are sports fans, much like me. So let me apologize up front for this blog because it is NOT about sports. So if you want to stop reading now, I truly understand.

Everyone now knows that this past week, 17 people (students and teachers) were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. You all know that.

The gunman, a 19-year-old, has been arrested. He used an AR-15 rifle to kill the 17 in a relatively short period of time.

So America finds itself dealing with another senseless mass killing at a school – like Columbine, and Sandy Hook. If experience is such a great teacher, then what have we learned from this latest tragedy that we did not already know from the others?  Absolutely nothing!

But at least the students and the parents of Florida are not just asking questions – they are also demanding answers and organizing their power. I have some questions of my own for the NRA, politicians, and average citizens:

• Why does anyone, except our police and soldiers, need a rapid fire weapon?
• Why does anyone need to possess more powerful weapons than the police have?
• Why does any politician feel it is much more important to take money from the NRA than it is to stand up against the gun lobbyists?
• Why is any elected position more important to a politician than protecting human life, especially the lives of children?
• Why have we defined “regulated militia” as a way to allow virtually any American citizen to “bear arms”?
• Why have we used a time when the most dangerous firearms were “muskets” to now include guns capable of mass shootings?
• Why is there no compromise on the types of firearms that can be purchased by the average citizen to protect their family?
• Why aren’t background checks on those who purchase guns just plain common sense?
• Why does the NRA just talk about the mental instability of the shooter and say nothing about the fact that he purchased a weapon that can kill so many in so little time?

About 30 years ago, when I was teaching school, an administrator walked into my classroom and summoned me to step outside. Another teacher was asked to cover my class.  I had volunteered to be on the school safety committee and the principal said I was needed.  I had NEVER been needed as a member of the Safety Committee except to go through some training from time to time.

The principal asked me to come with him and we descended to the basement where an art class was being held. As I approached the classroom, I saw four policemen in the hall.

It turns out that there was a rumor that one of the students had brought a gun into the school (mind you, this was @ 30 years ago). The principal felt that since I taught this student and I had a good relationship with the young man, I could get him to quietly leave the class he was in.  The police told me they thought a gun might be in his duffel bag.

I thought they must be kidding. I knew the student and I would never have suspected him to do anything so foolish and outlandish.  I entered the classroom, quietly went up to the student, picked up his duffel bag, and asked him to come out into the hall with me.

Once out of the classroom, I saw the panic on his face when he saw the police. They opened up the bag and there was a pistol and it was loaded.  I was absolutely stunned.  Never did I think this would ever happen in my school.  Never would I have suspected this student would do such a thing.  He was being bullied, he told the police, and brought the gun to school for protection.  He was expelled.

I taught another 15 years or so and never experienced an incident like that one again. I also never forgot that day.  Nor could I have imagined what that day would portend.

And now today we experience the tragedies that have occurred in our schools and occur on our streets. Gun deaths are commonplace in this country every day.  We focus more on these mass killings, but, according to the Huffington Post, seven people are shot every 60 minutes, over 150 per day.  Aren’t these also another form of mass killings?

“People kill, guns don’t” is what the NRA says all the time. Well, people DO kill, but weapons that kill so many so quickly must be kept out of the hands of those who do kill.

If you argue that, I can only once again say, “Why?”

I promise I’ll get back to sports next week.

 ABOVE THE EARS (MORE MUSINGS NEXT WEEK)

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!

The parade down Broad Street is complete; the merchandise is purchased; the accolades continue; and Eagles fans will be boasting for at least another ten months or more (for some, the rest of their lives). From a local perspective, I guess the NFL season could not have ended any better (except for the many Steelers and Vikings fans in our area).

Without question, NFL football is still the most watched weekly sporting event in all of television. Adding to that interest, there are, according to estimates, over 32 million fantasy football players, and billions of dollars are added to the economy every year.

But, if you dig a little deeper, the NFL has some serious problems it needs to address. None is bigger than the concussion issue.  Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) was found in 110 of the 111 brain studies of former NFL players by Boston University.  I ran into a former Eagle linebacker (I’m not sure he would want me to use his name) at a high school game this year and he told me he was already having problems in certain cognitive areas and he had been out of the game for only a couple of years.  Fourteen hundred players who brought a suit against the NFL were awarded settlements in 2013, but only about 10% have seen any money.

The future of any sport is often in the numbers that actually play the game. One could correctly surmise that as the concussion issue continues to dominate the sport, fewer parents will allow their children to play.  It is already being suggested that youth football should ban tackling.  New helmet technology is being developed, but the cost might be prohibitive for youth and high schools to implement.

The protest by NFL players kneeling during the National Anthem certainly did not help the game’s popularity. Too many (including our President) totally misunderstood what the players were protesting, but the message spread far and wide that they were un-American.  Many fans claimed they were done watching NFL football and, there is no question, the ratings this season went down.  It was estimated that 1.6 million fewer people watched the NFL this year.  However, the product is still the most watched.

Constant replay reviews have done little to promote interest. There are many stoppages; officials are not as accountable; and the games are lasting longer than ever.  None of this enhances the game for the viewer; it diminishes the enjoyment.  And it certainly doesn’t help to have rules (for example, what is a “catch”?) that no one seems to understand.

NFL football and football at all levels has some serious problems to solve. With all the money involved, I certainly expect American ingenuity to eventually solve those problems.  There is too much money involved not to.

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME SUPER BOWL MUSINGS)

1. Even before the NFL draft, Nike has signed Whitehall and Penn State running back Saquon Barkley to an endorsement contract. The Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year the past two seasons is expected to be drafted #1, #2, or #3 in the NFL draft. He is an instant millionaire.
2. Remember Heisman winner Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M and the Cleveland Browns? He has been diagnosed as bipolar and, after being tossed from the NFL after two seasons, wants another chance to play football. He has stopped drinking and is taking medication for his disorder. Now, he has to get people to like him.
3. Eagles’ offensive tackle Lane Johnson finally said what many of us believed to be true. There is not much fun when you play for the Patriots. From everyone being fearful for their job to the arrogant and uncommunicative way they deal with the press, Johnson implies he would not want to play there. He said he would “much rather have fun and win a Super Bowl than be miserable and win five Super Bowls.”
4. As I write this, the Philadelphia ‘76ers have won 10 straight games. Much of that success can be traced to the play of Joel Embiid (23.7 points; 11.1 rebounds). Philadelphia’s Eagles’ passion can now be directed toward the Sixers and the Flyers, who, by the way, are in third place in their division.
5. The EPC girls’ and boy’s championship were outstanding with Bethlehem Catholic beating Central Catholic in both games by 3 points.  Who will win the District XI AAAAAA basketball championship? With injuries and top teams moving to the other classifications, it’s anybody’s guess. Watch RCN-TV as the answer unfolds. All the action begins February 22.

The scene was set. The Eagles had just scored on a Nick Foles to Zach Ertz touchdown pass.  First, and of course, it needed to be reviewed and, I’m sure, no one understands the “catch” rule.  NBC was forced to show replay after replay and the fans and viewers were forced to wait out the most critical of calls.

Finally, another aspect of the “catch” rule came into play – when does the receiver become a runner? Zach Ertz became a runner, not a receiver, when he broke the plane of the goal line.  The Eagles went for the two-point conversion and failed.  Instead of being ahead by seven, the Eagles were up 38-33, but there was 2:21 left on the clock.

The scene was set, alright. It was set for Tom Brady and the New England Patriots to go down the field and win another Super Bowl.  How many times have all the other teams around the league endured this kind of New England victory?

Brady had not been sacked all day and, we all know, when he has time, receivers Gronkowski and Amendola shine. I’m sure every Eagles’ fan was expecting the worst.  But Brandon Graham forced a Brady fumble and rookie Derek Barnett recovered.  The Eagles scored again with 1:01 on the clock.  The margin now was eight.  New England could only tie them.

It did not happen. Eagles 41- New England 33.

The Eagles won their first Super Bowl. I watched their last championship in 1960 (I was 14 at the time).  The game was played on the day after Christmas in Philadelphia against Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers.  The Eagles won the game 17-13.  It was the only playoff loss suffered by a Vince Lombardi team.  Bethlehem native Chuck Bednarik (nicknamed “60-minutes Chuck”) played center on offense and linebacker on defense.  He was awesome.

Fifty-eight years is a long time to wait between championships, but his one was sweeter than most because, much like the Packers in 1960, the Patriots today were thought to be invincible and unbeatable.

NFL football certainly had their problems this year – the National Anthem protest, lower ratings, injuries to many of their elite players (Aaron Rodgers and T. J. Watt to name just two), review after review of plays leading to longer and longer games, and the biggest problem of all – the continuing concussion and brain damage effects of playing the game.

But today, that is a discussion for another time. The Eagles are the Super Bowl champions for 2017!  Oh, myyyyy!!

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME SUPER BOWL MUSINGS) 

1. In the biggest game of the year, why did NBC elect NOT to have a retired official in the booth? Two of the biggest plays in the game, the Alshon Jeffery catch for a touchdown and the Zach Ertz catch in the fourth quarter certainly could have used another set of eyes.
2. Can’t Bill Belichick just once dress like a normal person? I threw a party at my house and everyone at the party was dressed better than he was!
3. Overall, despite some great challengers (like the M&M commercial with Danny DeVito), I thought the Tide commercials were the most creative. My only question was whether the Super Bowl was loaded with their target audience. I’ll let the marketing people decide if it was a stroke of genius or money that was not well-spent.
4. I’m sure you saw the young man who became the focus of the Justin Timberlake half-time show when Timberlake went into the stands. Timberlake ended up taking a “selfie” at the end of the performance with the youngster. If you can believe social media, the boy did not even know who Justin Timberlake was.
5. Be honest. Could Nick Foles and his wife have a cuter baby? And the baby seemed to enjoy every minute of her time on camera.

 Gary’s Guesses: NFL Picks – (LAST WEEK – 1-0; OVERALL – 172-94 – 65%)

SUPER BOWL CHAMPION

Never wrote this before:

THE PHILADELPHIA EAGLES!!

Be honest. Even if the Eagles weren’t the team playing the Patriots, wouldn’t you root for the other team anyway?  Aren’t you sick of seeing Bill Belichick trying to smile after winning the big game, but looking like he’s already thinking about the opening game of the following season?  “Enjoy the moment” just doesn’t seem to be in his psyche.

Of course, Tom Brady is the best quarterback to play the game. But this is his eighth Super Bowl.  When you see him holding the trophy over his head after another win, are you sure the media is not using an old photograph?  They all look the same.  And most of us are really tired of that picture.

So, can we agree that we all want the Eagles to win? The real question is, “Can they?”

I do not think anyone would have thought Tom Brady would be taking on Nick Foles for the ultimate NFL prize. But, this game is not necessarily about who is the better quarterback.  That’s Brady, for sure.  Football is a team game and the Eagles have played with a team mentality all year.

Brady is providing almost all of the New England offense. He threw 91 passes in the last two games – 91!!  New England cannot run the football.  I expect Brady to throw on almost every down (@50 for the game).  Brady is the master of the quick pass so it is imperative that the Eagles win the battle up front.  And, it appears that Rob Gronkowski will be back after the two-week layoff (good for Gronk; bad for Eagles).

The Eagles have a much more balanced offensive attack with their stable of running backs and good receivers and the Eagles’ defense stops the run better than any team, which means they can concentrate on stopping Brady. The magic defensive potion this year has been the depth of their line.  They are always fresh and, because of that, they can continuously get after the quarterback.

Don’t disregard the underdog status and the fan support. The Philadelphia Eagles have never won a Super Bowl.  This team lost valuable player after valuable player as the year progressed (Sproles, Peters, Hicks, Wentz, Sturgis) and still overcame those obstacles.  These fans have never experienced the euphoria of this victory and have inspired the Eagles onto greatness, for sure.

The Eagles are 4 ½ point underdogs. That’s good.  They were underdogs against Atlanta and they were underdogs against Minnesota.

Two years ago, after more than a hundred years, the Chicago Cubs finally won a World Series. Why not the Eagles?  Why not the Eagles?

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS) 

1. Just for musing purposes, in the last few weeks, there were rumblings about Bill Belichick going to the Giants (obviously, that won’t happen) and Brady continuing to play. Brady has never played for any other NFL coach. It begs the question: Who is more valuable to the Patriots – Brady or Belichick? Argue about that at your Super Bowl party before the game.
2. Six NFL coaches were fired and one retired. One could make the case that seven more could have been let go. If you take this job, you have a one in five chance of keeping it until you decide to leave.
3. Minnesota fans have not forgotten the way some Eagles’ fans treated them last weekend. It turns out the Eagles’ players are having difficulty getting dinner reservations once they identify themselves. Throwing beer cans, picking fights, pushing, cursing, and booing the Viking fans in Philadelphia has not been forgotten, I guess.
4. The Eagles and the Patriots met in the 2005 Super Bowl (XXXIX), and the Pats won 24-21. That was the game where Donovan McNabb vomited on the field and the Eagles suffered from poor clock management. Please don’t let New England forge another comeback and win by three or less. In their five wins, New England has won by an average of 3.8 points. A late comeback win by New England may cause upset stomachs in all of us.
5. Believe it or not, there are only three more regular season games in the EPC and the Colonial League. RCN-TV has Freedom at Liberty and Bethlehem Catholic at Easton on Friday. Next Monday, it’s Allen at Parkland and Emmaus at Nazareth. Teams are fighting to qualify for their conference and district spots. Watch it all unfold on RCN-TV.

 Gary’s Guesses: NFL Picks – (LAST WEEK – 2-0; OVERALL – 171-94 – 65%)

 SUPER BOWL CHAMPION

 E-A-G-L-E-S!! Eagles, Eagles, Eagles!

The Eagles are in Super Bowl LII (that’s 52 for all of you non-Romans). After absolutely dominating the Vikings this past Sunday and facing the revered and hated Patriots in two weeks, what Eagles’ fan would not want to make the trip to Minnesota to watch the Super Bowl?

I mean, attending ANY Super Bowl is pretty much on every sports fan’s “bucket list”. And now that the Eagles are actually in the game, is now the time to make the dream come true?

First, a little history – This will be the third appearance for the Eagles in the Super Bowl. They lost the previous two. The Oakland Raiders beat them in 1980 and the Patriots won Super Bowl XXXIX in 2004 when they scored 10 fourth-quarter points to win 24-21 (sound like a familiar Patriots game?).

They have won three NFL championships – all prior to the existence of a Super Bowl in 1948, 1949, and in 1960 (with Chuck Bednarik going both ways and Norm Van Brocklin at quarterback). That’s 58 years ago!

We could conclude that if you want to see the Eagles in a Super Bowl, it only happens, at best, around every 15 years or so.  Have I convinced you that this might be the year to actually go?

Now, there are a few things to consider. First, and most importantly, there is the cost of a ticket.  The Eagles will get about 5,800 tickets for the game.  The cheapest ticket (you can imagine where that is) will cost you $950.  But, your chance of getting one of those tickets is slim to none.

How about going to StubHub? Right after the game, their site was advertising tickets for the upper deck of the end zone for a meager $5,935 which included their fees.  They do have tickets near the field for a bit more than $20,000 apiece.

Another site will seat you at midfield in the second row for $41,400 (how can you possibly pass that up?). Better yet, why not take a 20-person suite for just $405,955 (at least it’s not $406,000).

I would go into the additional cost of a flight, a hotel room, meals, etc., but I would imagine your desire to attend has subsided.

Now I would like to remind you that you can buy some food, some liquid refreshment, and an Eagles’ jersey and invite as many friends as you would like to your “suite” and watch the game in the comfort of your own home for considerably less money.

Use whatever money you save by not attending the game on eliminating your mortgage, a more practical item on your “bucket list”.

Enjoy the game!

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS) 

1. ESPN’s Todd McShay has selected Saquan Barkley as the #1 draft pick for 2018. Here is what he says:Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State*
   Grade: 95 | Previous rank: 2
   Barkley was the best running back in the nation this season, racking up over 1,200 yards on 5.9 yards per carry and 18 TDs despite regularly facing eight-and-nine men in the box. Barkley has a distinctive combination of size, agility and power. There just aren’t many 230-plus pound backs with his feet and acceleration. Barkley is also a three-down back with solid hands as a receiver and above-average blocking skills in pass protection. Making it an even easier evaluation is the fact that Barkley is a driven competitor with very good leadership skills and no off-the-field issues. This guy is clean and complete as they come.Not bad for a local kid!
2. Tom Brady played “pretty well” this past Sunday for a guy who had 12 stitches in his throwing hand. He gashed his right thumb in practice handing the ball off to a running back. I have to admit I was skeptical about the injury the week prior, but then I saw a picture. So the legend of Brady is only enhanced after the comeback against the Jaguars.
3. It’s not an NFL game without some officiating controversy. Did you think the Jaguars were unfairly treated by the officials? They suffered 98 yards on six penalties called against them, while the Patriots were only penalized once for 10 yards. The Jaguars, by the way, were the least penalized defense in the NFL during the regular season and had only five pass interference penalties all year. They had two this past Sunday. Hmm…
4. Rob Gronkowski was the latest victim of a concussion with a helmet-to-helmet hit on Sunday. Football needs to create better helmets and do it quickly or no parent will let their child play the game.

• Mark your calendar for Friday night’s Central at Bethlehem Catholic basketball game. We’ll have it LIVE on RCN-TV at 7:00pm.
  

Gary’s Guesses: NFL Picks – (LAST WEEK – 2-0; OVERALL – 171-94 – 65%)

SUPER BOWL CHAMPION

COMING NEXT WEEK!

Everyone in the sports world has heard the term “team of destiny”. It is often used when a team which is not supposed to win a championship, wins!  And… it is only used AFTER a team has accomplished what most prognosticators believed they could not accomplish.  It is always after the fact and leaves one little opportunity for debate.

So, looking at this past weekend of the NFL playoffs, we are left with three teams that look like they may be “teams of destiny”.

First, of the four teams still playing, there is one team that just doesn’t fit the definition – the New England Patriots. The Patriots have won 15 AFC titles in the last 17 seasons and they have appeared in the Super Bowl nine times, winning six.  Of the four games this past weekend, the only game that was over long before the end was New England’s drubbing of the Tennessee Titans 35-14.  The win means the Patriots are going to their seventh straight AFC championship game.  You obviously could conclude that the Patriots are the ultimate “team of destiny” or, if you are SUPPOSED to win it all every year, there is no surprise.

The other three teams, however, all won in dramatic fashion, so those who believe in such things, would argue it was meant to be, like fate, like destiny. The Steelers were favored to easily beat the Jaguars and, in fact, were talking more about New England before the game than they were talking about the Jaguars.  That was a big mistake – the “game of destiny” – Pittsburgh at New England will not happen.  Are the Jaguars a “team of destiny”?

The Eagles needed a tremendous defensive goal-line stand at the very end of their game with the Falcons going in for the winning touchdown. They held and won 15-10.  They will play for the NFC championship for the tenth time, but they haven’t won it since 2004 and last played in the conference championship in 2008.  Did the goal-line stand make them the “team of destiny”?

Or does the term belong to the unlikeliest winner this past weekend – the Minnesota Vikings? They won on the very last play on a desperation pass from an undrafted backup   quarterback, who was himself a backup to a backup.  The Saints secondary made a huge blunder and ended up sending the Vikings to their tenth NFC title game, but their first since 2009.  Destiny?

So, which of the three, based on this past weekend, is a “team of destiny”? Or does New England just simply win another Conference title and another Super Bowl?  Remember a “team of destiny” has to win their LAST game.

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS) 

1. The NFL is a tough business. After the Tennessee Titans lost badly to New England on Saturday, their head coach, Mike Mularkey, and the team agreed to part ways. Mularkey had gotten the Titans to their first postseason appearance since 2008 and they did face New England. I guess he was still expected to win that game, too.
2. Even though the Conference championships will be played in Foxborough, Massachusetts and Philadelphia, it appears the weather will be much kinder than it was this past weekend. Jacksonville will face 48 degrees and cloudy, while the Vikings will see even warmer weather – 53 degrees and cloudy. In conclusion, the weather should not be a factor.
3. Does it seem like replay is used almost every other play any more in football? Much of the responsibility has been taken away from the officials. If they make a call, they know the NFL can always “go back to New York”. Everybody is getting a little sick of “going back to New York”.
4. The Eagles were the first #1 seeded team not to be favored in their first game of the postseason. The Falcons were favored by three. The Eagles are also not favored this week either – 3.5 point underdogs. Lane Johnson broke out the underdog mask this past week after the win over Atlanta. I assume he still has it in his possession.
5. There were two shocking upsets this week in high school basketball. On Friday, the Freedom girls beat the defending state champions, Bethlehem Catholic – 66-59. On Saturday the Dieruff boys beat cross-town rival and previously undefeated Central Catholic 40-37. It must be getting close to the playoffs!!

Gary’s Guesses: NFL Picks – (LAST WEEK – 3-1; OVERALL – 169-94 – 64%)

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS

NEW ENGLAND

PHILADELPHIA

The guys and gals who cover the NFL are not giving the Eagles much of a chance to win a game, let alone multiple games in the NFL playoffs.  Of course, the media also felt that the Chiefs and the Rams would win their wild card games.  The Chiefs were favored by 9 and the Rams were favored by 6.  Both lost.  Andy Reid, once again, could not put a winning game plan together and get a playoff victory at home.  The Rams are young with a young head coach and could not deal with the experienced Falcons.

On the other hand, two teams who were favored – the Saints and the Jaguars – won their Sunday wild card games. So it is off to the AFC and NFC semifinals.

Based on what we have seen so far, it is hard to be comfortable with Nick Foles at quarterback for the Eagles. The Eagles certainly can run the ball with their stable of outstanding backs, but if they are forced to rely on Foles to win the game, my confidence sinks way down.  I do like the Eagles’ defense and I like Doug Pederson at the helm.  Do I like them enough to pick them?  Go to “Gary’s Guesses”.

Most think the Eagles will lose this first round matchup which will give the Vikings the home field advantage throughout. If, and it is a big IF, the Vikings can beat a very good Saints team with an outstanding quarterback in Drew Brees.  The Vikings have proven to be good enough to win the NFC title, but are they good enough to beat the Saints? The Vikings have an outstanding defense and an adequate offense.  It would be a shock if the Vikings did not get to the Super Bowl.

Everyone is anticipating a Pittsburgh–New England AFC championship game with the votes split on who would win it. New England won a couple of weeks ago when the famous no-catch rule came into effect.  The Steelers’ Antonio Brown should be back for this one and running back Le’Veon Bell should be healthy.  New England, if the match-up occurs, would be the home team, but weather-wise, playing in New England or playing in Pittsburgh in January should not make much difference.

Now all both teams have to do is get to the championship game. The Jaguars are no match for the Steelers and New England will beat Tennessee.  Of this, I am certain.

 ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS) 

1. A number of “so-called” experts have Saquon Barkley being drafted by the Cleveland Browns as the fourth overall selection. I, for one, hope not. This town just held a mock parade “celebrating” Cleveland’s 0-16 season. The Giants and the Colts would have a chance to beat Cleveland to the punch. I hope they do.
2. The story going around the Patriots is that Tom Brady was happy to see his backup QB, Jimmy Garoppolo, go to the 49’ers and Bill Belichick was not. Again, supposedly, owner Robert Kraft ordered Belichick to trade Garoppolo. Now rumors are saying Belichick is ready to move on to the Giants as head coach. Sounds like a great soap opera.
3. Eagles’ fans – are you feeling a bit uneasy about playing the Atlanta Falcons next weekend? The Falcons upset the Rams 26-13 and looked very good doing it on both sides of the ball. QB Matt Ryan is a Philly native, playing high school football at Penn Charter High School. The Falcons, as you know, are trying to get back to the Super Bowl. Without Carson Wentz, the top-seeded Eagles are the underdog.
4. If you want the best example of an overbearing parent, look no further than LaVar Ball. His oldest son, Lonzo, is a member of the LA Lakers and Lonzo said this week no one on the team wants to play for or respects the head coach of the Lakers, Luke Walton. This is the same father who took his other two sons LiAngelo and LaMelo out of college and high school to Lithuania to play professionally because, you guessed it, he did not like the coaches.
5. AAAAAA high school basketball in District XI is up for grabs. No one team looks to be the favorite to win it all at the end of the season. With Beca (AAAA), Central (AAAAA), Pocono Mountain West (AAAAAA), and a wild card, the EPC playoffs, which will mix up the classifications, and should be even more entertaining than the Districts.

Gary’s Guesses: NFL Picks – (LAST WEEK – 2-2; OVERALL – 166-93 – 64%)

 DIVISIONAL ROUND

PHILADELPHIA

NEW ENGLAND

PITTSBURGH

MINNESOTA

Gary’s Guesses: NFL Picks – (LAST WEEK – 9-7; OVERALL – 164-91 – 64%)

WILD CARD WEEKEND

RAMS

NEW ORLEANS

JACKSONVILLE

KANSAS CITY