(Author’s note:  Due to the Memorial Day holiday and upcoming District XI baseball championships, I am repeating an earlier blog from November, 2012)

As the RCN sports crew travels around from venue to venue, we, happily, hear from so many viewers.  The compliments far outweigh the criticism and, most of the time, the criticism centers around not doing a particular team or a particular game.  To me, that is really a backhanded compliment because it just means those fans want to see us televise their team.  Every so often, an over-exuberant fan will come up and say, “You guys are just like ESPN!”  Well, I am here to tell you we are not even close!!

In an article (“More Show Than Game” – Sept. 27) written for “Rolling Stone” magazine by David Amsden, he talks about observing an ESPN Monday Night Football broadcast of a New England-Philadelphia pre-season football game.  The insights offered were astounding to me and, I anticipate will be for you, too.  This preseason game had:

• 11 trucks transport the gear
• A crew of 200 (graphics, producers, assistants, statisticians, a sideline reporter, sound editors, mixers; the list goes on and on)
• 50 microphones
• 20 cameramen (31 cameras are used during the regular season)
• 216 monitors

That’s the staff – how about the cost:

• $15.2 billion for the rights through 2021
• That’s $111 million in rights fees per game
• Broken down even further, it costs $600,000 per minute
• Constantly introducing new and very expensive technology (ex: digital yard markers, Skycam)

In addition, staff (announcers, directors, the tech crew, etc) arrives Saturday.  They spend one day with one team and one day with the other.  Highlight packages are produced (about 20% used).  Various storylines are discussed.  Production meetings abound.  On Saturday night, there is a production team-bonding activity.  This particular week, all attended a Bruce Springsteen concert.

In comparison, when the RCN TV team does a Saturday afternoon college game, we have:

• 2 trucks
• A crew of 18
• 15 microphones
• 5 cameramen
• 30 monitors

The cost:

• Around $3000 per game, not counting equipment costs (but ESPN didn’t count that either)
• Rights fees in the hundreds of dollars
• Broken down even further, it costs @ $22 per minute

In addition, the announcers attend a press luncheon during the week to talk to one coach on the phone for around 10 minutes and talk to the other coach for about 15 minutes.  The crew arrives the morning of the game to set up for the telecast.  There is not much time (maybe lunch) for a team-bonding activity.

What do I conclude from this information?

• ESPN spends an astronomical amount of money to do the NFL games (no wonder the NFL will make $9.5 billion in profits this year).
• NBC, CBS and FOX all have similar NFL expenses and the competition to be the best produces terrific broadcasts.
• Despite this “apples to oranges “comparison, the RCN TV sports crew also aims every game to be the best they can be. From the director to holding the Big Ears and everything in between, we always strive for a quality broadcast – to be the best.  From the many comments we receive, I do not think we disappoint.  There is no question our mindset is “just like ESPN’s.”

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

• The Nazareth curse hit Indianapolis again over the weekend. Sage Karam of Nazareth, who was in the spotlight all week prior to the race, did not even complete a lap.  Takuma Sato took him out before the race began.  And Marco Andretti, also of Nazareth, finished sixth, but never looked like he had a chance to win the race.  I watch every year hoping a “local” will win the race.  Mario Andretti won the race in 1969.  No “local” since.
• Speaking of Sage Karam, he tweeted after the crash, “@TakumaSatoRacer thinking he can win the indy 500 in the first turn. Thanks man. I have some of your front wing when should I return it?”
• My football color analyst, Mike Joseph, told me on Friday that he read the entire 243-page Ted Wells report on “Deflategate”. He said there is no doubt in his mind that Brady is guilty.  Perhaps Bill Belichick feels the same way.  He has yet to come out in support of his quarterback.
• American Pharoah, the horse who won both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, was sold for breeding rights to Ahmed Zayat this past week. There is speculation that the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the Triple Crown, will be the career finale for the horse.
• Did you see LeBron James’ numbers for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals: 37 points, 18 rebounds, 13 assists? It was his sixth 30-point, 10-rebound, 10-assist game in playoff history.

I will be getting much more sleep after this week.  David Letterman is retiring.  Wednesday, May 20, will be his last show.  I’m not embarrassed to say that I pretty much go to bed with Dave Monday through Friday and I have been doing so for the 33 years he has been on the air. He fit perfectly into my late night viewing following my favorites, Steve Allen and Johnny Carson.  I first caught Dave when he began his morning show at NBC.  My wife and I actually attended the taping of that show twice.  We, also, were in the audience a few times for the Late Show on CBS.

Letterman says he is retiring to spend more time with his son, Harry.  He feels he has been away so much during Harry’s early years that he owes it to him to be more of a father and less a public personality.  He did 5,914 shows (4,014 on CBS and 1,810 on NBC) and no one on late night did more.  He surpassed Johnny Carson, his idol, in February of 2012.

I have tried to give other hosts my late night attention: Leno, Rivers, Conan, Kimmel (who I do like), Ferguson, Fallen, etc.    Although good, none captured the absurd, zany, quirky, self-deprecating humor that was Dave’s.

As evidence, let me offer a Top Ten of a few of his strangest TV innovations:

1. Larry “Bud” Melman – who would put that guy on TV, but it was really funny.
2. Is this anything? Paul Shaffer and Dave would look at an activity and guess whether it was “anything” – What?  But it worked.
3. Rupert G. – The owner of the deli located near the theater, who seemed so uncomfortable on the air, yet Dave made Rupert a favorite of the show.
4. The “new” feature – He offers this up almost every night as if it will be a continuing part of the show. The new feature never sees the light of day again.
5. Throwing footballs at a pizza on a Christmas tree – need I say more?
6. Stupid Pet Tricks and Stupid Human Tricks – they are stupid, yet stupidly funny.
7. Throwing pencils and the breaking glass sound effect (often the sound effect is late and thus, funnier) – I’m easily amused.
8. The suits – Velcro, Rice Krispies, sponge, etc.
9. Visits from Jack Hanna – much like Carson before him, Dave was his funniest with the zoo animals.
10. Dave’s Mom – Dorothy was the perfect foil with “David”.

There were so many strange interviews, so many weird questions, so many uncomfortable interactions.  But that was Dave.  Starting Thursday, May 21, there will be a void in my day.  I suppose there will be reruns, but even Letterman always told the viewing audience not to watch those.

The good news, I suppose, is I will now get some much needed sleep and maybe my laugh lines will slowly disappear.  Because I can guarantee you with Dave gone, I will sleep more and laugh less.

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS) 

1. Floyd Mayweather bet a total of $350,000 on four sporting events last week – three NBA games and a boxing match. He won all the bets and collected $827,272.  I’m not sure he needed the money.
2. Robert Kraft insisted this week that A) the Patriots and B) Tom Brady are innocent of any wrong-doing when it comes to “deflate-gate”, but C) the team suspended the “deflator” and the equipment manager. If A and B are correct, why C?
3. American Pharoah won both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness and now has a shot at the Triple Crown. No horse has won the Triple Crown since Affirmed won in 1978.  Jockey Victor Espinoza will attempt to win the Triple Crown for the third time and second year in a row.  He did not get it done with War Emblem or California Chrome.  The third time could be “the charm”.
4. After winning the Wells Fargo Championship, 26 year-old Rory McIlroy fell into third-place all time behind Tiger Woods (34), and Jack Nicklaus (20) for the most wins before age 27. McIlroy won his 11^th
5. Stroudsburg High School pitcher Mike Nikorak will most probably be a multi-millionaire in a few weeks. He was on RCNTV this past week versus Parkland and is being touted as the #1 right-handed pitcher in the nation and an MLB top ten draft pick.  He is 6-5, 220 pounds and throws the ball 95 mph and up.  He already looks like a major league pitcher.  However, Parkland beat him 4-2 to win the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference championship.  The two teams should meet again in the District AAAA championship.  Mike Nikorak – remember his name.

When I was in high school, teachers would normally sit us in rows of chairs alphabetically.  That is why in chemistry and physics class, Laubach (me) was seated next to Miles (not me).  I bring this up because I never really comprehended the personal value of chemistry or physics.  I did not anticipate mixing strange ingredients nor did I concern myself with laws of physics (those things are going to happen anyway).  I just wanted to keep my grades up.  So, since my blog this week is going to be about cheating because it was so prevalent in the world of sports the past seven days, I felt I would be hypocritical if I did not initially confess my own sins.

My classmate, Miles, is now Dr. Miles, MD (in other words, very smart) and you know what I am.  It would be an understatement to say he got me through chemistry and physics.  He sat next to me and, during tests, I may have glanced at an answer or two or three or ten (whatever).  So I guess you could say I cheated.  I feel comfortable saying this now because my Physics teacher has passed away and I’m fairly certain my Chemistry teacher is not reading this stuff.

And I, also, must confess that I often get inspiration for my blogs from the headlines and articles written about the news of the week.  Even though I was going to write about this topic since the “deflategate” report came out, AP writer Paul Newberry beat me to it.  I would like to say he copied my thoughts, but he wrote his article first.  So, suffice it to say, I am not copying here, but adding my thoughts.  Just saying…

And Paul Newberry did not even write about this event.  Two Saturdays ago, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao earned over $300 million for fighting in what was billed as the “Fight of the Century”.  It turns out that Pacquiao basically fought with just one arm as an undeclared shoulder injury kept him from waging a very competitive fight.  So the fans who put down untold dollars to see the fight LIVE or $89.99 for pay-per-view and, particularly, those fans who legally wagered on the fight were cheated.  Either Pacquiao reveals his injury and gets the fight delayed or he makes everyone aware of his injury and they then decide where their money goes.  He did neither.  But he did get paid!  By cheating us of the information, he, ironically, may have been the only one NOT cheated.

The “deflategate” report  was issued this week, all 243 pages.  The conclusion of the report is that the balls were definitely deflated by an employee of the Patriots prior to the AFC championship game.  And, it appears that Tom Brady had knowledge that this was being done.  The balls were easier to throw and probably easier to catch.  Based on the rules of the NFL, this was cheating.  Brady needs to be suspended and, due to guilt by association, the Patriots need to be fined.  Tom Brady is one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks to play the game, but the image is now tarnished and rightfully so.

This leads me to A-Rod, Alex Rodriquez.  This week, he hit his 661^st home run, passing my childhood hero, Willie Mays, and moving A-Rod into third place all-time in home run totals.  But, he cheated to accomplish that feat.  A-Rod used performance-enhancing drugs for at least four or five years and during that time hit over 200 home runs.  Barry Bonds is ahead of him in home run numbers.  He, also, cheated.  Let those two have a “cheaters” list of their own and keep the records of players like Mays, Babe Ruth, and Hank Aaron separated.

Isn’t it time that all pro athletes act like pro golfers?  Professional golfers call mistakes upon themselves and are immediately penalized for those mistakes.  Often (ex: a ball moved while addressing it), the infraction is not their fault.  But rules are rules and they abide by them.  There are lessons here for Lance Armstrong, Marion Jones, Roger Clemens, etc.

If athletes confessed their cheating immediately upon being caught, we might even forgive them.  C’mon, Tom, be honest with us.  Manny, tell us you should not have gotten into the ring.  A-Rod, don’t accept the accolades that come from passing Willie Mays. Look at me. I am glad I confessed my high school cheating right up front.  Besides, the Statute of Limitations has passed (I hope).

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS) 

1. Have you noticed that former Lafayette student and current Chicago Cubs manager, Joe Maddon, has the Cubs in second place in the National League Central division and they have the fourth-best winning percentage in the National League? Good for Joe.
2. I have found an NBA story that makes me want to watch the playoffs. The LA Clippers are playing the Houston Rockets and, so far, the star of the series is Austin Rivers.  His father, Doc Rivers, is the head coach.  This combination has never happened before in the NBA.  It is neat to see the two interact.
3. Big baseball stories normally center around no-hitters, grand slams, or fights. The defense rarely gets its due.  This past Saturday, the Pittsburgh Pirates pulled off a triple play that had never before happened – second to third to second, or as the scorebook showed 4-5-4.  Take a look here.
4. If outside reports are to be believed, the Eagles did try to make a last-minute trade with Tampa Bay to get the NFL’s #1 draft pick so they could take QB Marcus Mariota. The Bucs would have no part of it and seem very happy they got QB Jameis Winston.
5. High school baseball is on tap this week. On Wednesday, watch the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference semifinals on RCN TV LIVE at 4:00 and the championship on Thursday at 7:00.  Congratulations to all the Colonial League and EPC teams that made the playoffs.  Even with a loss in the league playoffs, District XI baseball is right around the corner for all of them.

I have been on vacation for the past three weeks and I want to thank John Leone, Randy Kane, Jim Best, and Scott Barr for so ably taking over my blog space in my absence.  During my time away, I was on a cruise ship and, unless I went out of my way to research events, I was completely away from American sports during that whole time.  The only sport readily accessible to me was European soccer and I am certainly not enamored with that.  And, the purpose of the vacation, according to my wife, was to get away from sports for awhile.  I did manage to sneak back to my room to see the completion of Jordan Spieth’s victory at The Masters right before we sailed.  From that point on – no baseball, no hockey, no NBA, no NFL draft talk, no nothing!

Imagine my dismay and delight upon my return when Saturday, May 2, rolled around.  It was time to catch up.  However, after perusing the TV guide on the sports page, I was shocked to find that there were 55 sporting events listed from 10 AM through 10 PM.  Plus, at around midnight, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Manny Pacquiao would be throwing their first punches in the self-proclaimed “fight of the century”.  Obviously, I needed to prioritize.

I quickly eliminated the three soccer matches, 11 college lacrosse games, two pro tennis matches, four auto racing events, one arena football game, four college softball games, five college baseball games, and IIHF Hockey (what is that, anyway?).  And the college rugby Varsity Cup Championship between BYU and Cal did not stand a chance of capturing my eyeballs.

I was still left with a full day – the NFL Draft (Lafayette’s Ross Scheurman and Freedom’s Mike Coccia were still on the board), NHL hockey which is fun to watch no matter what teams are playing, MLB – the Yankees were playing the Red Sox and the Phillies were at the Marlins, PGA golf – the Cadillac Match Play event, the Kentucky Derby (yes, THE Kentucky Derby), game seven of the NBA playoffs between the Spurs and the Clippers, and the prefight banter on ESPN.

Some of the programs were uneventful – Ross and Mike were not drafted; the Phillies lost again.

But some, like the Derby – American Pharoah winning down the stretch; the NBA game seven won at the buzzer by an amazing shot from Chris Paul; the golf featuring Rory McElroy and Paul Casey playing into the dark in San Francisco and still tied when play was halted after their 21^st hole (I now had to catch the 9:45 tee-off time the next morning for the completion of that match).

It sounds like I made a good decision not to buy the fight.  Pacquiao’s shoulder was injured so reports say it was not as exciting as it could have been.  Plus, it did not start until after midnight and, by then, I realized that I was out of “sports viewing” shape.  Going from no sports for three weeks to a gluttony of viewing right after my return was a challenge. Even the recliner was beginning to feel like a bed of hot coals.  Suffice it to say that the 14+ hours of watching sport after sport left me completely drained.

I NEED ANOTHER VACATION!

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. It appears the Phillies are as bad as everyone predicted. As I write this, they are already eight games under .500 and have the third worst winning percentage in the major leagues.  At least the Mets are in a slump after their 11-game winning streak, losing seven games in their last 10.  But, do not get your hopes up about the Phils – they appear to be hopeless!
2. So the Eagles took only one offensive player in the NFL draft and five defensive players. Wide receiver Nelson Agholor of USC seems to have been the best available at the time and fills a need at that position.  He will shore up both the wide receiver corps and can return punts and kickoffs.  And the Eagles certainly need defensive help if they want to win championships.
3. All in all, the NFL draft had very few surprises and no wily moves by anyone. The pre-draft analysis sort of spoils the actual picks when that happens.
4. It was nice to see locals Kevin White of Emmaus (Bears), Mike Coccia of Freedom (Eagles), and Ross Scheurman of Lafayette (Steelers) picked up in the draft and free agency. I love watching players in the pros who were on RCNTV.
5. The inaugural Eastern Pennsylvania Baseball semifinals and championship will be on May 13 and 14 on RCNTV. Time to get back to work!

Today’s “Behind the Mic” blog is written by long time RCN personality Scott Barr. He has covered a wide range of sports, including kick boxing, track and field, lacrosse, soccer, volleyball, football, and baseball. Most of our viewers, of course, will know him for his work with District XI wrestling. Fans across the valley have heard him call “Give him six!” after a pin, while working with three legends of Lehigh Valley sports—Gary Laubach, Ray Nunamaker, and Jim Best. Outside of RCN, Scott helps small businesses set up retirement plans for their employees, and lives in Macungie with his wife, Melissa, and their four children.
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In about six weeks, at the PIAA Baseball Championships, I will wrap up my 30^th season on the air.  Most of the hundreds of broadcasts melt together, with a few exceptions.  Gary Laubach has been there for most of the “exceptions”, and we talk about them often.

I thought today I would take a look at those 30 years and share some of those moments.  Some are on the air, some are not.   Some of the details are fuzzy, and some have been enhanced over time, I’m sure.  Regardless, it makes me excited about the next thirty!

Best individual performance—I was on the sidelines for the 1995 AAA football championship.  In that game, James Mungro was ridiculous.  My recollection is that he gained around 320 yards on about 20 carries.  He returned the opening kickoff to the 40-yard line, and on the first play from scrimmage, took care of the rest.  East Stroudsburg won 35-14, and Mungro went on to a long NFL career.

Luckiest TV assignment—I was assigned to be the sideline reporter for the 1990 AAA football championship at Cottingham Stadium.  I forget who was supposed to be the game’s analyst, but he had to cancel at the last minute, so I spent the broadcast in the booth with Gary.  During the game, no kidding, more than four inches of rain fell.  It would have been miserable down there.  Easton won that game over Stroudsburg 41-10.

Longest broadcast, Part 1—Gary and I were broadcasting DXI boys’ volleyball under the old double-elimination format without “rally” scoring.  Easton came out of the loser’s bracket and beat Emmaus in a long, five-set match (which we called).  This forced a winner-take-all championship, which Emmaus won—in ANOTHER long, five-set match.  We were on the air for around five hours.

Longest broadcast, Part 2—Again with Gary, we were covering the Allentown Ambassadors on a getaway game night with the team from Maine.  They absolutely HAD to fit the whole game in, and despite a long rain delay—a really long rain delay—they did.  We finished at around 2:30 a.m.  There were, maybe, 30 fans left at the end of the game.  Team owner, the late Pete Karoly, gave Ambassador t-shirts to everyone who stayed.

Sports event I would watch again, right now—Easy.  The 2012 NCAA Division II baseball championship.  West Chester beat Delta State 9-0, becoming the northernmost team to ever with the title.  The dogpile at the end is one of my fondest memories, since my son John is at the bottom of it.  If I die with a smile on my face, it’s because my final thought was about that moment.

Best finish—Nazareth was way behind in their annual wrestling rivalry with Easton.  They needed pins in the final three weight classes, and got them all.  Fans swarmed the mat, and referee Gene Waas had to be rescued from under the pile by Nazareth principal Vic Lesky.   It’s a scene that could only happen in District XI.

Coolest TV related event—RCN scored press passes for Jim Best and me to the 2011 NCAA Wrestling Championships in Philadelphia.  Jordan Oliver won his first championship, and the atmosphere was electric.  This event convinced me that if I have the chance to attend ANY national championship—any sport, any division—sponsored by the NCAA, I will do it.  They put on a great show.

Most offbeat assignment—I actually did play-by-play for a kickboxing card in Mountainville around 1990.  In the final bout, the heavyweight competitor stood up in his corner for the third round, and promptly fell over, face first.  It was weird, and scary.  It took a good twenty minutes for the medical staff to get him into an ambulance, and I heard that he was unconscious for a day or so before making a full recovery.

Most fun season—Gary and I had a great time getting to know the Allentown Ambassadors.  A bunch of talented kids playing for the love of the game, with big league dreams, and coach Ed Ott who was just a great guy to hang out with.  He even let Gary put together the batting order when they were in a slump one night.  I think they still lost.

Favorite assignment—I really, really enjoyed being on the Lafayette football sidelines, and hated when my personal situation forced me away.  The Leopards’ staff is professional and super friendly, and Frank Tavani might be my all-time favorite guy to interview.

Regrets—None.  Absolutely none.  It’s been one hell of a ride.

Gary will be returning with a new blog on May 4.  This week, he’s asked RCN’s Jim Best to guest blog.  Viewers should recognize Jim from RCN-TV’s coverage of high school wrestling.

St. Louis, MO…home of the Gateway Arch, the Cardinals, riverboats, ribs, Budweiser beer, and in 2015 the NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Championships. The Scottrade Center, a beautiful facility which plays host to a variety of indoor athletic events, was the site of the championships this past March. If you are a passionate wrestling fan like me, the Scottrade Center was the place to be for some of the most action-packed wrestling in my memory.

The storylines heading into the tournament were numerous. For one, a young man from Ohio State, Logan Stieber, was taking aim to win his fourth consecutive title. Up to this point in time, only three other wrestlers in the history of the tournament were able to achieve the status of “4-timer!” (Pat Smith from Oklahoma State, Cael Sanderson from Iowa State, and Kyle Dake from Cornell). This particular storyline hit home with many local fans because Stieber’s first championship (his freshman year) included a very controversial win in the finals over Jordan Oliver from Oklahoma State. Jordan is a product of the great Easton wrestling program. In addition to the Logan Stieber story, the team championship title was “wide open” because any one of approximately eight teams had the potential to earn enough points to win the team title. The traditional powers like Iowa, Oklahoma State, Minnesota and Penn State were certainly in the mix. However, the contenders this year also included Cornell, Ohio State, and the tiny Pennsylvania wrestling power of Edinboro. Last, but certainly not least, the seedings of individual wrestlers in certain weight classes left many diehard wrestling fans scratching their heads and saying, “How did this happen?” For example, at 125 pounds (the lightest weight class in NCAA competition), the two-time defending champion, Jesse Delgado from Illinois, entered the tournament unseeded! Granted, he had missed most of the competitive season due to an injury, so his win-loss record was less than stellar, but for a defending champion to enter the tournament unseeded…that is one tough weight class! Another head scratcher occurred at the 149-pound weight class as Josh Kindig, a Blue Mountain product now wrestling for Oklahoma State, also entered the tournament unseeded. Josh was a runner-up in 2014, and, adding insult to injury, not only was he unseeded, but he was also paired against the third-seeded wrestler in the first round! All of the seeding quandaries made for a high level of fan anticipation for the first round of wrestling.

The tournament unfolded over a three-day time period. Similar to the NCAA basketball tournament, brackets for each of ten weight classes are pre-determined by “seeds”. Each weight class has 32-35 qualifying wrestlers, and the first round of wrestling begins on a Thursday morning. Unlike the March Madness basketball tournament, every competitor who qualifies for the tournament has the chance to wrestle at least two matches due to a full consolation bracket. In each round, with the exception of the Saturday morning round (that round is all consolation bracket matches), a championship round is contested, and at least one consolation bracket round is contested, with the exception of the championship finals on Saturday evening. Local wrestlers who qualified for the tournament this year included Zeke Moisey (Bethlehem Catholic/West Virginia University), Ethan Lizak (Parkland/Minnesota), Zach Horan (Nazareth/Central Michigan), Randy Cruz (Bethlehem Catholic/Lehigh), Josh Kindig (Blue Mountain/Oklahoma State), Mitch Minotti (Easton/Lehigh), and Elliot Riddick (Bethlehem Catholic/Lehigh). I am sure that I missed a few names in that mix, and I apologize greatly to those wrestlers, mainly because I know, from personal experience, how hard it is to qualify for that tournament, and every wrestler in the tournament deserves special recognition!

Of the local wrestlers, Zeke Moisey was the Cinderella story of the tournament. As a true freshman, Zeke entered the weight class unseeded at the 125-pound weight class. After upsetting three highly seeded wrestlers in the championship round, and bringing over 18,000 cheering wrestling fans to their feet in the process, Zeke made his way into the championship finals. In the finals, he ran into a familiar foe, a redshirt freshman from Ohio State, and Zeke fell just short of becoming an NCAA champion when he lost a hard-fought battle in the finals. Mitch Minotti also achieved All-American status at 157 pounds with an eighth-place finish. Mitch wrestled through injuries for the entire tournament, and ended up have to forfeit his final match, for seventh place, due to medical reasons. All of the local wrestlers competed well, and all are continuing to maintain District XI’s reputation as one of the “toughest wrestling districts in the country.”

At the conclusion of the tournament, Logan Stieber did make wrestling history by winning his fourth title, and Ohio State walked away with their first ever team title.  As I have described to some of my non-wrestling friends and colleagues, attending that tournament is the equivalent to a football fan attending the Superbowl, or a college basketball fan attending the Final Four-it just doesn’t get any better in terms of action and atmosphere. For three days in March, approximately 18,000 diehard wrestling fans converge at the site of the championships to watch the best college wrestlers in the country compete against each other, and then we get to meet at the local eating establishments, in between the rounds of wrestling, to discuss and relive the most exciting moments over a burger and some cold beverages…it truly is a “live, eat and breath” wrestling experience! Next year, the Big Apple (New York City), will play host to the tournament when wrestlers, coaches and fans will flock to Madison Square Garden to grapple in the garden for an NCAA championship. I’m counting down the days!

Gary will be returning with a new blog on May 4.  This week, he’s asked RCN’s John Leone to guest blog.  RCN-TV viewers should recognize John from the Lafayette College basketball broadcasts on the Lafayette Sports Network.
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Another season of March Madness has come and gone and we were again reminded of why so many are so attracted to The Game. While it may not completely explain the meaning of life, when it is played right and for the right reasons, it certainly offers some useful clues. How sad that, at least in some corners, the real “Madness” had as much to do with the sudden finality of a season spent as it did with those elements on the periphery of the game that threaten its core and its fabric. Basketball purists may be the first to take my point, but I fear that in the prevailing culture “purist” means “old”, and the underlying message is bound to be lost in an age of mass media, mega money, and me-first mentality. In the current climate, it’s hard to recall a time when programs were simply teams, when events were games, and when all of it was less for the ESPN highlight reel and more for the real love of it all. The underpinning of integrity that makes the game at all worthwhile is weakening, and in danger of becoming as obsolete as a perfectly executed bounce pass.

Of course, none of the national attention for the game is a bad thing except for the perspective that is invariably lost as succeeding generations of coaches and players have come to believe that “the game” is an end unto itself, leaving untapped the vast reservoir of learning that once accompanied it. After all, haven’t we been told that it’s all about the journey?  There was a time when losing the right way had almost as much value as winning. This loss of perspective has diminished the value of both. As the stakes have risen, the cost of losing and the rewards of winning have, in many cases, driven coaches and players alike to do whatever it takes to engineer an outcome, eliminate risk, and compromise their own integrity to achieve the only prize that matters: win on the scoreboard, and win the adulation and dollars that follow. I am still old-school enough to believe that winning right matters and winning right can still happen even on the largest of stages.

The game itself, when played right, is a thing of beauty that can invoke the same visceral reactions that one might find in a ballet or musical score – choreography, timing, spacing, imagination and creativity, speed and grace, power and skill. We should trust it, embrace it, and allow it to nurture young lives the way it once did – through the same lessons that both winning and losing teach. Any worthy endeavor that engenders the kind of emotional and physical investment that The Game does deserves better than what it’s becoming. There may be a place outside of the current structure for the power conferences and “programs” that choose a different course, but the NCAA needs to reexamine its futile attempt to regulate the basketball fiefdums that have been created on major college campuses nationally. The days of the letter sweater and the mantra of being “true to your school” are as dead as Julius Caesar (thank you Officer Jim Malone) and those concepts, to the likes of Kentucky and Syracuse, are lost in a paradigm of pseudo amateurism.

Too much of a good thing has caused a kind of basketball indigestion that has sullied the college game, and in response, the NCAA is using a garden hose to try to extinguish a forest fire of rules violations that are neither entirely enforceable, nor really apropos given the big business that major college basketball has become. There was a time when a fully subsidized college education awarded on the basis of basketball skill would be compensation enough for a college player. But it’s a tougher argument to make these days when at least a couple of the starters at Kentucky will use their time in Lexington as a springboard to an NBA salary of between $1 and $3.5 million after one semester-plus on the campus, and their presence there in real time helps the school bring in millions more.

The Coach as teacher, mentor, and role model is another staple of the game that is an endangered species. Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski tried to give this some perspective a few years ago when admonishing his power conference coaching peers: To paraphrase Coach, don’t let it blow your mind to know that there is some guy out there at a Division III school (or maybe an Ivy or Patriot League school) who can outcoach you seven days out of the week.  The system has evolved in a way that has given rise to coaches who more resemble Gordon Gekko than Norman Dale. The sad part is that had Coach Dale not won in 1952, we may never have heard of him. Would losing that Indiana State High School title have rendered his lessons any less valuable or valid? Would the experience have had less meaning for his players?

These days, in a no-holds barred effort to land the next great high school player, coaches and their staffs seem increasingly willing to shelve their personal integrity and engage in tactics that would make DC politicians blush. Too many of the nation’s academic institutions have become warehouses for basketball aprenticeships that are too often one or two years in length and that have little or nothing to do with academic integrity. In fact, circumventing the rules governing academic progress has become a modus operandi on far too many campuses. Coaches and the institutions that hire them know – or at least should know – the rules by which they are willing to play. When the proverbial stuff hits the fan, it’s almost comical to hear administrators suddenly turn into Casablanca’s Louie Renault, shocked to learn anything underhanded may have been going on.  I was born and raised in Syracuse. I enjoy SU basketball. I admire and respect Duke and what those teams have done on the court, along with North Carolina, Kansas, and the rest. I don’t blame John Calipari – not one bit – for his way of winning championships at Kentucky. The system is what it has become, and as Albert Einstein once said, “you have to learn the rules of the game, and then you have to play better than anyone else”. Unfortunately, the “game” in this case has become recruiting, and the rules stretched beyond recognition.

Jim Boeheim recently stated that he isn’t a policeman, he’s a basketball coach. It’s a statement that sadly presumes that the game has passed him by, and that is more an indictment of the game at that level than it is of the coach. The NCAA responded by saying it wants him to be a policeman. My takeaway: the state of the art resembles little of what it once was, and continues to move in the wrong direction.

As for the purity and beauty of the game, it seems someone has scribbled a mustache on the Mona Lisa. And Diogenes is still a 16 seed.

Diogenes searches for an honest man. Painting attributed to J. H. W. Tischbein (c. 1780)

Gary will be returning with a new blog post on May 4.  This week, he’s asked race announcer Randy Kane to guest blog.  RCN-TV viewers should recognize Randy from the Grandview Speedway broadcasts airing April through August each year.  Click here to read Randy’s bio from the RCN-TV “Our Broadcasters” page.

With the arrival of the month of April, it’s finally time to say, “Gentlemen, Start Your Engines,” on the local level.

In Bechtelsville, PA, it’s time to begin the racing season on the high-banked, third-mile dirt oval known to all as Grandview Speedway. For Grandview it is the 53^rd consecutive season of promoting racing events. For RCN TV, it is the 15^th consecutive season of covering the racing at the track. That marriage, in simple terms, has been a very good one.

RCN TV has covered local racing for many years, starting out with local competition at the now-gone Nazareth Raceway back in the early seventies. It was a marriage that lasted some 17 years. From there they mixed in events on the now-also-gone Nazareth National Speedway, as well as races at the Pocono Speedway.

Eventually, RCN TV headed south to racing asphalt coverage at Flemington Fair Speedway, but that track also closed up after only about three years of television programming. From there, it was on to Berks County along Route 100 and the racing at Grandview.

The years have just clicked off quickly and it hardly seems like 15 years have passed. Over those years award-winning RCN TV coverage has offered viewers a lot of different divisions to watch. Big and small block Modified racing, Sportsman, Sprint Cars, Midgets, Late Models and much more. All rolled into one, it sure has developed into a very popular program.

Drivers love to watch the racing coverage. Fans love it. Potential sponsors, too. Race teams use the subject of television coverage to try to attract potential sponsors. A sponsor sees television coverage as a great selling point to spit out the word about their business. It gets the potential sponsor’s name into the conversation and just the mentioning of the sponsor’s name gives them the reward that was sought in the first place.

On television these days, you can watch drag racing and NASCAR coverage and all sorts of racing, actually. Racing truly has blossomed. The thing is that RCN TV has been doing it for a long, long time and RCN TV is one of the first in the country to offer it to their viewers. You don’t find local short-track dirt track coverage anywhere on your channel choices, unless it is a special, tape-delayed event. RCN TV has found a formula that works. Roughly six events a season, bringing a good sampling of what the track has to offer. The program offers news, driver interviews, replays of dramatic moments, lap-to-lap coverage, all the feature races, plus the qualifying events. Just enough to give everybody a taste, get the viewer interested and, hopes are, that they make it to the track a time or two and watch in person.

With the weather improving, tracks all over the area, asphalt or dirt, are on schedule to swing open the gates and get the season started. Grandview, though, it is special. Grandview is old school. It’s dirt track racing and it is not a lot of flash or confetti. It is just good, close, competitive competition. It gets your blood pumping. Gets your heart racing and gets everyone watching awfully excited. The cars kicking up large chunks of clay into the air. That smell of racing fuel. The roar of the high-powered racing engines. Cars going at it, trading paint in each corner as they race wheel-to-wheel. It goes on unmatched.

There’s so much there to offer the viewers and you can watch it all, while it unfolds right before your eyes on RCN TV. Local auto racing’s been there and available now for over 30 years. That’s a lot of laps and a lot of coverage throughout the years.

It’s April and time to get those engines started. This year marks a total of 15 years at Grandview Speedway and that’s only a small part of the story. Local auto racing and RCN TV, it simply has been a long and also a very successful marriage. Indeed.

Remember last week how everyone was bemoaning the fact that they were doing so poorly in their office pool?  After this past weekend, I would think there would be less gnashing of teeth and more people still having a little bit of skin in the game.  After all the early upsets, three #1 seeds are still alive and a coach they call the “Master of March”, Tom Izzo of Michigan State, has his team playing in Indianapolis.  Michigan State last won a national championship in 2000 and Tom Izzo was the coach.

I have three teams still alive in our “for entertainment purposes only” office pool: Kentucky, Wisconsin, and Duke.  I picked #2 Virginia to be the other participant, but Michigan State beat them, too, along with the #3 and #4 seeds.  Here is the way I see the match-ups for Saturday in Indianapolis.

#7 Michigan State vs #1 Duke  –  6:09pm on CBS
Both Duke and Michigan State were in the 2010 Final Four. Ironically, the semifinals that year were also the held in Indianapolis.  Michigan State lost to Butler in the semis and Duke went on to win the national title 61-59.  These two teams played earlier in the season in November and Duke won the game by 10.  There is no question that Michigan State is the surprise team in the Final Four.  Even Coach Izzo said earlier he did not believe his team had the size and talent to compete for a national championship.  In Michigan State’s last final appearance in 2009 they lost to North Carolina.  Izzo has his team one game away again.  Despite his basketball acumen, he goes up against Mike Krzyzewski who has taken Duke to nine championship finals and has won four national championships.  I like Duke to win this game, but it will not be easy and it will not be by 10.
DUKE   66   MICHIGAN STATE  61

#1 Kentucky vs #1 Wisconsin
Believe it or not, there have only been three Final Four rematches in history and this is one of them.  Kentucky hit a three with six seconds on the clock last year that kept Wisconsin from their second national championship game.  This is a revenge game for sure.  Wisconsin’s stars, Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker, made it known that they did not go to the NBA just so they could get back to this position again.  Is this one of those “be careful what you wish for” moments?

Everyone knows that Kentucky is 38-0, two wins away from being the first undefeated team since Indiana’s run in 1976.  Kentucky’s John Calipari has a bit of a revenge factor of his own losing in last year’s final to Connecticut 60-54.  After winning it all in 2013, Calipari certainly wants Kentucky fans to put him in the same conversation as the great Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp who won four national championships.  I am awed by the size and the talent that Kentucky puts on the floor.  However, Notre Dame may have shown that they can be beaten losing by just two in the Midwest final.  The last two teams since 1976 to enter the Final Four undefeated were Indiana State (Larry Bird and company) and UNLV (Jerry Tarkanian) in 1991.  Both lost.  I firmly believe that Wisconsin has the talent and the motivation to win this game, but they won’t.

KENTUCKY  72   WISCONSIN  69

National Championship Game
KENTUCKY 73  DUKE 71

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
An NCAA Championship Quiz

1. Ten consecutive titles were won by two teams that were known by initials that started with the letter U. Name the two teams.
2. Since 2000, who is the only coach to win back-to-back championships?
3. What former Lafayette head basketball coach won a national championship?
4. Prior to John Calipari, who was the last Kentucky coach to win a national championship?
5. Since 2000, what team has won the most national championships?

ANSWERS:

1. UCLA AND UTEP (1964-1973)
2. Billy Donovan (Florida-2006 + 2007)
3. Gary Williams (Maryland – 2002)
4. Tubby Smith (1998)
5. Connecticut (3)

I received an invitation to the Dance last week.  Lafayette College asked me to go to Pittsburgh for the start of the NCAA tournament and do some internet work for them leading up to the first round game: Lafayette vs Villanova.  RCN was kind enough to allow me to go.  I am glad I did.

In the past, high school basketball conflicted with the NCAA tournament first round so I was never able to attend.  Now, it seems that the college season is pushed back one week and there is no conflict.

We left the Kirby Sports Center on Wednesday morning and arrived in Pittsburgh at 3:00pm.  The first Lafayette press conference was scheduled for 5:15pm at the CONSOL Energy Arena so we checked in to the hotel and went to the Arena.  The student-athletes spoke first followed by head coach Fran O’Hanlon.  Lafayette was allowed to take the floor for a 40-minute workout.  Lafayette had a full workout that morning at Duquesne University, so they went through some quick drills and a shoot-around.  I chatted with Coach O’Hanlon and immediately made the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the next day:

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/marchmadness/2015/03/19/Plenty-will-be-decided-in-the-post-GAME-VILLANOVA-vs-LAFAYETTE/stories/201503190171

Prior to leaving the arena, I did a stand-up report for the Lafayette website and then was quickly corralled by the Villanova radio announcer for some background on Lafayette.  What I thought was going to be a quick discussion turned into a lengthy question and answer session.  It was so long that I missed the team bus when it returned to the hotel.  In all honesty, I was a bit shocked by the lack of pre-game knowledge the radio guy had about the Leopards.  That is not my style, to be sure.

I was able to get a cab back to the hotel just in time for the team meal which was at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, a short walk down the street.  Nothing beats great food and great company.  Some of the players were not accustomed to eating at such an up-scale restaurant claiming Outback Steakhouse was the epitome of their dining experience.

Thursday was game day with Northeastern meeting Notre Dame and Butler playing Texas in the afternoon session.  Our hotel also housed the Butler contingent so the Bulldogs were well-represented throughout the trip.  I went to the arena for the second game and stayed for the rest of the day.  It was interesting to attend the press conferences for the winning and losing teams, experiencing the “thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.”

Although I had press row access for the Lafayette game, I chose instead to sit in the arena seats and had a great view of the game.  Lafayette did not play well; Villanova played like a #1 seed and won easily, a disappointment to all who made the trip.  The Lafayette players handled themselves exceptionally well speaking before the press as did Coach O’Hanlon.  Villanova’s players and Coach Jay Wright spoke about the difficulty of playing against a Villanova icon like Hall-of-Famer Fran O’Hanlon.  He used the word “bittersweet” when discussing the win.

I stayed to watch the LSU-North Carolina State game and I was glad I did.  It came down to the final shot with NC State winning a thriller.

Back at the hotel, everyone was contemplating the end of the season.  A Patriot League championship, three one-thousand point scorers, and a trip to the NCAAs made the sting of that night’s loss a bit more palatable.  Villanova looked that night like a potential national champion. Not so much on Saturday when they lost to North Carolina State and were eliminated from the tournament.

Best of all was the publicity leading up to the game.  MarketWatch and Payscale.com reported that of all 68 teams in the tournament, Lafayette was #1 in return on investment for their college degree.  In the long run, for more than 90% of the athletes playing in the tournament who will never become professional players, that is the most important outcome.  For the Lafayette players, in the most critical of competitions – the game of life- they are the national champions!!

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
No musings this week, just some pictures thanks to Rick Smith/Lafayette Athletic Communications: