One of the many “guarantees” in my life is that my co-hosting partner of the “RCN SportsTalk” show, Joseph Lynnwood Craig, is constantly harassing me about things he wants…more airtime, bigger coffee mugs, softer cushions for his chair, etc.  One of his regular complaints each summer is that he doesn’t get many opportunities to write an entry on the “SportsTalk Shop” blog, especially, when I go on vacation.

Each year, I give him an opportunity to do this, with the following specifications:

• Please type it
• Please keep it to 8-12 paragraphs
• Please have it ready to go a few days before I leave for my vacation

Each year, he fails to follow all three requests.

Instead, he recently handed me a rolled-up stack of penmanship paper, with his long, hand-written and ink-stained rants about a broad and an incredibly vague topic.  His commentary, he insists, will flood my mailbox with positive support for his point of view.  Then, he promises, the public will demand he scribes even more entries during the year.

Well, now’s your chance to prove him right!

This week, we bring you a taste of Joe’s sports psyche and his thoughts on the recent transactions of his beloved Philadelphia Eagles.  We hope you enjoy the opportunity to hear Mr. Craig’s observations and opinions.  And now, from the “Scrolls of Craig” (and I do literally mean scrolls), here are Joe’s thoughts (with a literary assist from former sports writer Jack Logic) on the recent actions, missteps and future predictions of the Philadelphia Eagles (abridged version).
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The four major professional sports teams in Philadelphia have each taken many different routes in different season.  While the Eagles have had some success in recent years, there have been more disappointments than happy moments surrounding this team over the last few seasons.

After sticking with Head Coach Andy Reid from 1999-2012, (some would argue that was too long a tenure), Eagles Owner Jeffrey Lurie went in a completely different direction.  Reid was a life-long NFL-er, while studying under the coaching tenure and “Old School” mentality of Mike Holmgren.  Reid was very conservative in many ways and would try not to rock the boat very often.  He was like his successor, Chip Kelly, in that he was quite stubborn, but he would rarely try to make a giant splash.

Instead, usually made “safer” player personnel changes to his lineup.  Terrell Owens was, of course, a major exception to this theory, and his time in Philly was cut short.

With Kelly, Lurie went in completely opposite direction.  Kelly had no experience in the NFL as a coach or a player.  He had a radically different approach to many things and was a very polarizing person in the city of Philadelphia.  We would find out later that he seemed to relish developing an “us-versus-them” community and, as time when on, more people found themselves as an outsider in the “Kelly World.”

The Eagles thought they were on the right track when Kelly was hired in 2013.  His Eagles had a 10-6 record and went to the playoffs in Kelly’s first year.  Not many coaches in NFL history had the kind of success Chip had in his first experience as an NFL head coach.

In his second season, Kelly’s team repeated that level of success by once again winning ten games but failed to make the playoffs in an all-out power struggle in the NFC East.

That offseason was a time for change.

Between Kelly, team General Manager Howie Roseman and Owner Jeffrey Lurie, there was a front office shake-up.  Lurie handed the keys to his organization over to Kelly and put long-time front office man Roseman was put on the back burner.

As the Eagles new “GM,” Kelly made a number of controversial moves.  His first and only year as the man in charge of player personnel for the Eagles ended up being one of the worst front office men in Philadelphia pro sports history.  Kelly traded popular and proven players—and some that he clearly did not see eye-to-eye with along with the controversial decision to unload this year’s second round draft pick and, in return, received injured players or players who were not successful for a long period of time.

The two moves that angered Eagles fans (and probably the owner) the most, was the trading of Shady McCoy to the Buffalo Bills for Kiko Alonzo.  They also let the popular wide receiver Jeremy Maclin leave to go join former Eagles Head Coach Andy Reid and received nothing in return for him.

These off-season moves prompted Lurie to fire Chip Kelly before the 2015 season had ended.  Kelly was let go after a 6-9 record and had his office cleared out before the Birds played their final game of that year.

Going forward, the Eagles brought back the former GM Roseman to retake the position he previously had, in charge of the player personnel decisions.  Roseman, by all accounts, has had a good offseason, in my opinion.  Through free agency, trades and the draft, Roseman has plugged many of the holes that Kelly had left behind.

In 2016, the Eagles should challenge for the NFC East division title.  With a veteran cast and the hiring of new Head Coach Doug Peterson (who was mentored by Reid), the team will return to the playoffs.  They also have two new coordinators.  Jim Schwartz will head-up the defense and Frank Reich will oversee the offense.

As for 2017, the Eagles will have started the Carson Wentz Era as he was selected with the second overall pick in this past summer’s draft.  The team will once again return to glory.
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Don’t forget, Joe would love to get some responses for this week’s blog entry, so please send us your thoughts via email (RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com) and let us know if you’d like Mr. Craig’s to participate more often on our weekly blogs.  Also, be sure to hear Joe’s opinions each week on the live edition of “SportsTalk” every Thursday at 7 pm and on our podcasts.

Each December both here at the “SportsTalk Shop” and on our TV show, “SportsTalk”, panelists and I make some sports-based predictions for the new year.  I don’t get caught up in the prediction business ordinarily, but it’s become a bit of a tradition around the holidays to make a couple bold statements to go along with resolutions (of which I don’t do nearly as well).

While some sports prognosticators love to boast about how accurate they are with their futuristic insights, I make it a habit of going back and making public my predictions, and owning up to any that don’t come true.  (I’d also like to take a miniscule amount of credit for the ones that work out—I’m owed at least as much, right?)

Since we’re over the halfway point through the calendar year, and before we start ramping up our fall football coverage (which will be bigger and better than ever before!), I think I should take a peek at how some of my predictions are holding up and make myself accountable for any gaffes on my part.

Philly pro sports teams will win LESS games in 2016
The 2015-16 76ers certainly lived up to their end of my prediction.  Aside from forcing out the team’s General Manager, Sam Hinkie, they were near perfect in their quest for futility, reaching new levels of bad play, even with pressure from Jerry Colangelo (and the league office?) to try to improve.

My prediction will take a hit with the idea that the Sixers will try to go after some more recognizable free agency in all probability this offseason.  They might also win a few more games than expected if they select Brandon Ingram with the first pick in this month’s NBA Draft.  Selecting Ingram would make the team better—short-term—than if they select Ben Simmons or even draft down a few spots, but I don’t see that much improvement in November and December and still believe they’ll ring up more losses in the 2016 calendar year than they lost in 2015 (but the future is very bright for 2017).

I knew the Flyers were going to be improved, but had no idea that they would be as exciting to watch this past season as they were, to say nothing about making the playoffs and having a few good moments against the Capitals before losing to Washington in the first round of the NHL playoffs.  This team ramped up the speed of its rebuild and, with a few tweaks, will be a middle-of-the-pack playoff team, in not better, for next season.

The Phillies also have surprised me with better than average starting pitching, and the bullpen overcame a woeful start to the season and has pitched better, helping the team to a slightly better record than I had anticipated.  This, despite a woeful offense that had seven position players on the roster hitting below .200 after the first month of the season.

However, the Phillies fell (like a plummeting cannon ball) back to Earth hard and fast during the month of May and show very little signs of making a push to get back above, or probably even near, .500 this summer.

With less than half of the Major League baseball season remaining—which will still probably have more losses than wins, and an Eagles team in, at the very least, a retooling stage following the car wreck of the Chip Kelly Era, I’d say I still have a good chance at nailing this prediction.

The Wizards, Nationals AND Redskins – will have even greater success in 2016
With over half of the MLB season and the entire NFL season yet to come (and I’m looking pretty good for both of these teams), we only have the Wizards to look at.  And on the prediction that they would have a better 2016…I admit I put up a major “airball.”

Off a second-round playoff appearance and loss to a high-quality team, I thought the Wizards could improve and—with the right match-up–the Wiz could actually advance a round further.  However, not only did they take took a major step back in win total, they also didn’t qualify for the post-season, ushering in a quick replacement at the helm by bringing in Scott Brooks (formerly of Oklahoma City) as a new head coach.

Rumors of discontent and players “trading barbs” (according to the Washington CBS sports radio station) spread wildly as they limped home to close out the regular season out of the playoffs.  There are different reports as far as remaining free agent possibilities and other speculation about what direction the team could go in.  Also, players are a little less secure than this time a year ago and the forecast is more ambiguous as far as how good this team will be for the upcoming season, even with one of the most exciting, yet underrated players, in John Wall back on board.  I’ll stick to my guns and say they make a jump for the 2016-17 campaign.

Notice, I did NOT include the Capitals in this mix.  Their back-to-back premature failings in the playoffs have me worried about their future, and I’ll also continue to say (as I did following their playoff exit) that they might actually take a step back in the upcoming year.

2016 will be a successful District XI Wrestling season
I have never claimed to be a wrestling expert, but the fact that we had so many talented underclassmen returning for the 2015-16 wrestling season made it easy for me to say that the Lehigh Valley would have tremendous success at the state tournament in Hershey.

Not only did Bethlehem Catholic come away with convincing (mostly dominating) performances in the team PIAA competitions, but they accomplished this goal against the best the state of Pennsylvania had to offer, by competing in the 3A classifications (as critics had ask for, for a number of seasons).

Individually, District XI featured eight gold medalists and 20 overall medal winners.  Special props go out to Palisades’ Tyler Marsh, the lone wrestler in the RCN viewing area to receive the top scholar athlete award.

For an area that has had a long tradition of great wrestling success, it was a tremendous season all the way around for many different schools and I can unequivocally chalk this one up as one I got correct.

Stay tuned for more sports conversations coming up and don’t forget to check back later in the year as I take a look at the rest of my predictions to see how I fared.

Philadelphia was certainly in the limelight this past week with the Democratic National Convention taking center stage.  All of the media had a presence there.  However, there was no national sports media.

I bring this up because Ken Griffey, Jr. and Mike Piazza were inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday, July 24.

I watched the great Griffey, Jr. play with the Mariners and the Reds.  His numbers were awesome – 630 home runs, 13 All-Star appearances, 10 Gold Glove Awards, and the statistical list goes on and on.  He received 99.32% of the votes, the highest ever in Hall of Fame history.

Mike Piazza’s story was even more amazing.  As a favor to Dodgers manager, Tommy LaSorda, he was drafted in the 62nd round.  He went on to hit the most home runs by a catcher, bat .308 lifetime, and spent 16 years in the majors.  He was an All-Star 10 consecutive seasons.  He certainly repaid the favor – but mostly as a New York Met.

So what does this have to do with Philadelphia?  The ceremony in Cooperstown made me wonder who the last Philadelphia Phillie was to be inducted into the Hall.  I discovered it has been a while – 21 years to be exact.  On July 30, 1995, Mike Schmidt and Richie Ashburn entered that day.  And Philadelphia celebrated with an estimated 25,000+ fans showing up for the induction ceremony.

Twenty-one years is a long time.  And it will only get longer, it appears.  As you look at the list of “potential” Phillies to get a consideration, you come up empty.  Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and Bobby Abreu will all probably come up short.  Jim Thome, Scott Rolen, Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, and Curt Schilling could possibly get in.  Just not as Phillies.

And it’s not just the Phillies casting a pall over the Philadelphia sports scene.  The Eagles’ last Hall-of-Famer was Reggie White – 24 years ago.  The 76ers’ last was Charles Barkley in 2006.  And neither of these teams appears to be going to get someone in their respective Halls very soon.  Flyers’ fans certainly remember their Hall of Famers Bill Barber (1990), Bobby Clarke (1987), and Bernie Parent (1984), but their inductions were a long time ago.  Mark Howe was the last Philadelphia professional inducted in 2011 in The National Hockey League Hall of Fame.

So as much as we admire the Piazzas and the Griffey, Jr.s of the sporting world, Philadelphia fans would much prefer seeing one of their professional athletes in the limelight.  National politicians?  Not so much.

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS) 

1. The Phillies are batting .218 in their home games this year and are scoring 2.92 runs per game at Citizens Bank Park. That’s the lowest run production in any home park in the major leagues.  Buy your ticket and see no offense at all.
2. Because July 31 was a Sunday, the Major League Baseball trade deadline was extended to 4:00pm on Monday, August 1. As I write this, phone lines around the MLB offices must be buzzing with activity.  Someone might want to trade for the LA Dodgers’ ball girl.  On Sunday, she caught a foul ball traveling at 108.7 miles per hour.
3. If you need a Lehigh Valley reason to watch the Olympics, then let Joe Kovacs be that reason. Joe, a Bethlehem Catholic graduate, is a medal favorite in the shotput in Rio.  He won the world championships last year.  The final for shot put is August 18 @ 8:00pm.
4. Sunday produced another great “Major” finish in golf. The PGA Championship came down to the final putt of the final match.  Jimmy Walker (no, not of “Dyn-o-mite” fame) won his first major.  Every major golf tournament this year was won by a first-timer.
5. The Patriot League Football Media Day was this week, so the pads will be thumping between now and opening day or night. RCNTV has Central Catholic at Freedom on opening night, August 26.

When I first saw the Easton girls team play in an early summer league game, I was this close (imagine my fingers about an inch apart) to saying that they were unequivocally the “team to beat” for the upcoming scholastic season–only to see them lose to Nazareth the next day.

Since then I’ve seen the Blue Eagles play a few times, including capturing their second “Allentown Throwdown” Championship in the last three years.  This is a very special team.  This year’s Nazareth squad seems even deeper than some of the previously successful Blue Eagles teams that brought home various titles. They run their offense through multiple people, and have several different options and players who can score at different spots on the floor.  They have people who demand the basketball at appropriate times and the team plays as aggressive a defense (usually a 2-3 zone) as I’ve seen any summer basketball team play.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, they have the area’s best basketball player in Tessa Brugler, who recently committed to Division-I Bucknell?

This is going to be a fun girls basketball winter season, if the summertime play is any indication. Forget Batman V. Superman, Black Widow against Scarlet Witch, or any other “metahuman” analogy you can tie in with this summer’s box office options.  Nazareth versus Easton is going to be a war.  But as I overhead one Nazareth player astutely mention as she walked off the court after being named champions:  “Now there’s REALLY a big target on our backs!”

This is very much true, given that Easton will not be the Eagles’ only formidable foe with their own Division I caliber athletes and an outstanding supporting cast.

Among the challengers include Parkland, Northampton, Liberty, Bethlehem Catholic, Whitehall and others.

Among the key performances this summer was a strong showing by the Freedom girls basketball team.  The Lady Pats made their debut in the Holy Family Tournament—which also featured annual powerhouse Central Catholic.   The Patriots won six of its 10 tourney games, beating several teams that have had state playoff successes.  The Patriots were the last Lehigh Valley team standing in this year’s competition, not to mention holding its own in other tournament action this summer against strong programs.

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As far as Colonial League girls teams I’ve seen this summer, the one that impressed me the most was Northwestern, followed closely by Notre Dame.

I didn’t get a chance to see the league’s and defending District XI 3A Champion Southern Lehigh, but judging by some of the scores I’ve seen, they must be without some of their key players as they sometimes sustained more losses in one day than they did all of last year–and they’re returning nearly everyone!  If any team does have a chance during the winter to upset the Spartans, I’d look for the Tigers and Crusaders to be among the best bets.

One other note: The Catasauqua girls basketball team had an interesting summer schedule. Despite still being one of the smallest schools in the PIAA’s new classifications (2A), the up and coming Rough Riders were frequently matched against teams from the 4A, 5A and even 6 A (the largest) classifications.

Still, Catty fared well and showed that they continue to make improvements and could challenge for a playoff spot this winter.

We’ll have more summertime basketball action coming your way on RCN-TV next week, as we broadcast the annual Catasauqua “Tournament of Champions.”  Check back to the RCN-TV website for our broadcast schedule.

Last week, I discussed the use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) by Russian athletes during the 2014 Sochi Olympics.  An investigation showed excessive manipulation by Russia’s sports ministry in the drug testing back to the 2011 and 2015 Olympic Games as well as the 2014 games in Sochi.  Twenty-eight sports were implicated in the Russian investigation.

A ruling came down on Sunday of this week from the International Olympic Committee that will allow the individual sports federations to decide which Russian athletes would compete in Rio.  The ruling also said that Russian athletes who have previously served bans due to doping will not be allowed to take part in the Games.

Obviously, there was a great outcry from anti-doping organizations that the IOC simply “passed the buck” and did not have the guts to sanction all Russian athletes from the games in Rio.  The IOC defended their position by saying that an athlete who was not implicated in the drug scandal should be free to compete and need not be punished for the actions of others.

One decision had already been made.  The Russian track and field athletes would not be able to compete.  One female Russian, long jumper Darya Klishina, would be an exception because she was tested outside of Russia.  Others say the federations may not have the knowledge or the time to adequately determine who should or should not compete.

I will let you decide if the IOC was only being fair to the Russian athletes who may be clean or very unfair to the world athletes who are definitely clean.

To me, the most interesting decision was the one to ban former Russian runner Yulia Stepanova from the Rio games.  Yulia had been suspended for two years after being found guilty of doping back in 2013.  During her suspension, she and her husband, Vitaliy, broke the story of how the Russian sports system used large-scale doping with their athletes.

So the very person who brought the scandal out into the open would not be allowed to compete even though her two-year punishment had been served.  She wanted to compete as an individual athlete, not for any country.  She and her husband are currently living in the United States.

So what is the lesson learned?  Will others come forward to expose illegal tactics if they, too, will be punished more severely than the athletes who remained silent?  The Olympic Games will go on starting August 5 and will include Russian athletes.  It does appear that there will be a cloud of distrust that winners won medals without the help of artificial assistance.  I can only hope that great performances will be proven to be just that – great performances!  I have my doubts.

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. The Russians can’t seem to stay out of the news. They are suspected of having released the Democratic e-mails to Wikileaks that showed the DNC treated the Sanders campaign unfairly to help get the Hillary Clinton nomination.  Trump vs. Clinton may be the best/worst competition of the year.
2. NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon did not stay retired very long. He filled in for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at the Brickyard 400.  Earnhardt, Jr. has been experiencing concussion symptoms.  Gordon finished thirteenth.
3. I am not a NASCAR fan, but it appears many more aren’t either. At Indianapolis on Sunday only 50,000 fans filled the 250,000 seats, continuing the steady decline of NASCAR attendance.
4. As NFL football camps open this week, Ray Rice does not have a contract. In case you forgot, Rice was suspended by the Ravens in 2014 for domestic violence.  He has been out of football ever since.  He wants to play again and says he would donate his entire salary to combat domestic violence.  The minimum he would be paid would be $885,000.  Would you sign him?
5. The Blue Mountain League regular season ends this week and congratulations to the defending league champions, Limeport Bulls. They won the regular season and, along with the Yankees, will get a bye to the semifinals.  The playoffs should be as competitive as the regular season.  Get out and watch a game.

Last week here at “The Shop,” we examined the biggest summer hoops teams and tournaments in the Washington, DC and Eastern Pennsylvania regions.  This week, we focus on more of the underrated storylines to our local scholastic basketball action this summer.

Northampton &  Pocono Mountain West
Perhaps no single game I’ve seen this summer was more physical than when these two EPC teams squared off against each other.  I counted at least four times when players went down hard on the concrete in order to secure a loose ball in a contest eventually won by PMW.

Northampton got a lift this summer when Aiden Ellwood announced he was going to be returning to the Konkrete Kids after leaving Central Catholic, but he was not available for the local summer tournaments.  Nevertheless, Northampton has played well this year and should benefit from having some nice size upfront and, as they’ve shown both this summer and over the last year, a lot of gritty players.

Pocono Mountain West sometimes gets overshadowed by Lehigh Valley teams, but they are definitely on a short list of the top teams in the district.  They play with a brand of quickness and athleticism that not many other teams in the area can showcase.  They had some personnel issues at the end of last season, but if they can keep everyone focused, there’s no reason they can’t translate their summertime success (they’ve already one won summer tournament) into winter championship titles

Bangor & Freedom
These two teams played each other last Saturday evening in an entertaining matchup and both schools have had some very impressive summers thus far.

The Slaters’ overall sports programs’ successes in 2016 might just be THE Lehigh Valley’s sport story of the year—and a lion’s share of their accomplishments belong to the boys basketball team.

Bangor is proving that life without Michael Martino (the Slaters top scoring point guard in the school’s history) won’t be as tough a transition as some might have suspected.  Bron Holland’s teams have posted a number of impressive performances this summer, including over EPC foes, and players like Reece Jones (who had some stellar games last winter) are determined to carry on the Slaters’ new tradition of excellence.

As far as the Patriots, this summer’s team might have been the most underrated group of kids I’ve seen.  They have not gotten deep into much “final day” of summer tournament action (so far) and they will most definitely be picked behind at least Liberty in their EPC division come late fall.  However, the Freedom players really impressed me with their pose over the last few weekends and look like a scrappy bunch that can’t be overlooked by anyone in their conference.

I think if they can avoid some of the personnel issues that plagued them during key stretches of the 2015-16 scholastic season, they can make a run and qualify for at least a district playoff berth this winter.

Allentown Central Catholic
Rumors of the Vikings going through a rebuilding year have been greatly overblown after Central Catholic lost Zay Jenning to graduation and a few more players due to transfers.

Central Catholic not only had perhaps the biggest team I’ve seen this number (in terms of number of players–18 to be exact) but have a very nice blend of size, speed, ball handlers and outside shooters.  Plus, they have several returning players that have experience in big game situations and they’ve look to continue their ability to play lock-down defense–something that was very apparent in most of their second half games last winter.

NOTRE DAME
If Freedom is a dark horse in the EPC, then a team you should not underestimate is Notre Dame-Green Pond.  They battled a few tough opponents over the last few weekends including Central Catholic.

From what I’ve seen—and I’m speaking strictly on intensity—they were second only to Bangor among the Colonial League teams I had the chance to watch this month.  They’re always on the pre-season list as a probable playoff team, despite not getting to the title game a year ago, but I wouldn’t forget about them when looking to make prognostications for the 2017 campaign.

Salisbury
I think if there’s an award for coaches who yelled “defense” this summer—it would have to go to Salisbury Head Coach Jason Weaver.  As usual, he had his team operating at a breakneck pace—usually matched up against schools that have a much higher enrollment number—and has kept the intensity on all month.

It seems like they did have difficulty in the transition game against a few teams (including a surprisingly strong Souderton team), but if history is any indication (along with the talent they have returning this winter), the Falcons will once again get off to a great start in December and will be one of a handful of teams competing for a Colonial League championship.

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Fans of girls hoops…don’t despair.  We’ll have news and insights on some of the top ladies’ teams’ performances in the next installment of the “SportsTalk Shop.”

You can also hear more insights on summer league hoops and other sports issues by checking out last week’s “SportsTalk” podcast.

Last but not least, be sure to come out to a special “SportsTalk Gets Wild” this Thursday at Whitehall’s Buffalo Wild Wings (on Grape Street in front of the Whitehall Mall)—an event to raise money for the Miller Keystone Blood Center.   The show will feature the State Champion Parkland Girls Volleyball team, along with a special guest to talk about an event Parkland football fans will want to know more about coming up this fall.  You can learn more about this event, as well as going to http://rcn.com/atvn/bww-sportstalk-2016, click on the “Miller Keystone Blood Center” link for the July 21^st event.  Then print the “dine-and-donate” flyer and bring it with you to the program to help raise money for our local charity.

The Olympic Games begin in Rio on August 5 and will run through August 21.  During the Olympics, inevitably there will be conversation about performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs).  The focus on enhancing performance through the use of drugs was magnified in 1976 when the East German female swimmers won 10 gold medals out of 12, six silvers, and one bronze.  The previous Olympics, the East German female swimmers had won only four silvers and one bronze.  After the Berlin Wall fell, documents were found that showed that the swimmers without their parents’ knowledge had been given a drug regimen since the age of 11 to dramatically improve their performances.

The controversy still remains and may be at an all-time high.  Forty-two athletes were stripped of their medals or disqualified from competing in 2012 due to finding banned substances in their systems.  This year, 10 nations and 20 athlete groups have requested that the entire Russian delegation be barred from the Summer Olympics because of state- sponsored doping programs.  Even Russia’s anti-doping lab director said that the government ordered him to cover up the widespread use of PEDs during the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

On Monday, a report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency was issued and determined that state-sponsored doping of Russian athletes occurred in preparation for the Sochi Olympics.  The US and Canada have asked that “no athlete can represent Russia at the Rio Olympic Games.”  The Commission is leaving that decision up to the International Olympic Committee.

The United States is not free of guilt here either.  It has also had its share of athletes stripped of their medals.  Lance Armstrong and Marion Jones are the most famous.  Since 1968, 11 US medals have been revoked, second only to Russia.  The event that has been disciplined the most with athletes of all countries is Men’s Weightlifting.

So with all the attention that is now focused on PEDs, can we expect the stories coming out of Rio in a few weeks to be about the super-human performances or will they be about how these performances were achieved?

I would like to think when I sit down to watch the competitors that technology has advanced to the point where if you cheat, you will be caught.  And those who win gold medals have done so fairly or, if not, those medals will immediately be revoked.  If that is the case, it will be the first time since 1968, when the first Olympic doping cheat was found, that medals have gone to all who deserve them.

So when I am cheering “USA!  USA!” on the outside, I am hoping “No PEDs! No PEDs” on the inside.  Let the Games begin!

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. The Liberty boys and the Nazareth girls won the basketball Sportsfest titles this past weekend. The winter season looks like it will be very, very competitive with so many strong teams in both boys and girls.  Emmaus, Whitehall, Allen, Pocono Mountain West, Parkland, and Bangor look very strong on the boys’ side and an equal number of strong challengers for the girls.
2. The British Open final round was one for the ages. Henrik Stensen outdueled Phil Mickelson in a match-play-like finale and shot an amazing 63 with 10 birdies.  He had the lowest score ever over 72 holes in a major (264).  Mickelson shot 65 and did not bogey a hole.  His total of 267 was the fourth best score in major history and he did not win.  Colin Montgomery had the same score and did not win in 1995.  Stensen won $1.5 million.
3. The folk hero of the British Open was Andrew Johnston – “Beef”. The somewhat overweight, heavily-bearded Brit finished eighth and won $224,196.  Ranked 104^th in the world, it was his look, his demeanor and, more importantly, his play that captured the crowd’s support.  His father died when he was 17, and he welled up coming up 18 thinking of him.  Let’s hope he continues to play well.  He seems to represent the average Joe.  By the way, his wedge has nine different types of beef engraved on it – rib-eye, brisket, sirloin, t-bone, tri-tip, flank, filet mignon, porterhouse, and skirt.
4. I never did this playing a round of golf, but if I wouldn’t have to pay for a new club, I probably would have:

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/07/furious-golfer-snaps-golf-club-throws-it-in-a-bush-at-british-open

I did play once with a golfer who after a bad shot on hole #18, took each club out of his bag, one by one, and threw them into the nearby woods.  Then, he had second thoughts and painstakingly retrieved them.

5. When you are a real fan, and a baseball game takes six hours and 18 innings to be completed, your emotions run the gamut. Watch:

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/07/young-pirates-fan-18-inning-game-emotions-nationals-mlb

Summertime basketball has really exploded in the RCN viewing area over recent years, with rules expanding to make it more “coach friendly” (most of the time) and to increase the exposure of young athletes in both the Washington and Eastern Pennsylvania regions.

Some of the best teams in the country come into the Lehigh Valley, Philadelphia and the DMV area, and many players in these areas get to showcase their talents.  As we’ve seen over the last few years, players (Victor Oladipo, Darrun Hilliard, and others) pave ways for themselves that could lead to one day playing in the NBA.

Over the next couple weeks we’ll take a look at some of the tournament action in the RCN viewing area, along with news on the players and teams that we cover on ‘RCN SportsTalk.’

Goodman Basketball
In the DMV region, Goodman Basketball has been a long-standing tradition that was in danger of dying out a few years ago, but has come back with a vengeance and bigger than ever before.  A number of talented athletes each year both participate (and later return for) this event each summer.

Here’s a video detailing more of this year’s event and the history of the Goodman tourney…

Bonner Prendergast
The team looked very solid with double-digit wins over Phillipsburg and Berks Catholic recently, while playing without its best player.  Lane Christian and Mike Perralta were key players in several games this past weekend, but they have a very well balanced team and could be a player in this winter’s district playoffs.

Bonner Prendergast was one of just eight teams this weekend at Cedar Beach (Allentown) that made it to the final day of the tournament with an undefeated record.

Lincoln Leadership
This summer was actually my first chance to see this team in person—and they did not disappoint.  Although they did not make it to the later rounds of some of the Lehigh Valley’s tournament so far (they have been one of the smallest schools in the summer leagues), they have a nice team with good numbers and played very scrappy basketball each time I saw them.

Liberty
Last year around this time I remarked how impressed I was with gritty Hurricane players like Cam Hoffman, Alex Serrano and company.  They had an impressive showing in their games this past weekend, making it through to the morning of the final day without suffering a loss.  With several weeks remaining in different summer leagues and tournaments, Liberty should be a fun team to watch the rest of the summer, not to mention be fierce competition for Allen and Parkland for top spots in the EPC this winter.

Nazareth
While Nazareth will be going through a retooling effort—at least this summer—after losing so many key parts of their team, an under-the-radar player to keep an eye on might be Mayo Raman.  In a game versus Saucon Valley he came up big in pressure situations—scoring 12 points in the second half of that game and hitting a clutch “3” to send the game to overtime.

We’ll have more high school summer basketball talk and insights on this Thursday’s “RCN SportsTalk” program (live, 7pm on RCN-TV) and next week here at the “SportsTalk Shop.”

It’s the mythical half-way point in the major league baseball season.  It’s hard to believe that the first games were played back on April 3.  I made my predictions for the season the very next day so just as it is time for each team to get their mid-term grades, I suppose I should see how I am doing with my season predictions.  I have listed the teams in the order I felt they would finish.  The number in parentheses indicates where each team currently stands in the division.

American League
West

1. Houston (2) – Got off to a terrible start, but playing better now. Can they catch the Rangers?  Not with another slump in the second half.
2. Texas Rangers (1) – I didn’t see them being one of the best teams in baseball – I was wrong – again!
3. Seattle (3) – Offense has looked good; their pitching has not. They are right where they should be.
4. LA Angels (5) – Veterans have not been good; playoffs seem out of the realm of possibility and most feel they have the worst farm system in baseball. Dare I say bleak future?
5. Oakland (4) – Better than expected? Or are the Angels just worse?  Nothing they have done has worked out so far.

Central

1. Kansas City (4) – My worst pick of the entire list of teams. Their starting pitching is just awful, as was my pick for them to win the pennant.
2. Cleveland (1) They look like the best in the Central – good pitching and an improved offense. Cleveland wins the NBA and now, maybe the World Series?
3. Chicago (3) – Really started the season well and then they fell apart going 15-19 in last 34 games. They will not contend.
4. Detroit (2) – Most thought they would be better than I did. They were right, but this is a wide-open division.  I might end up being right.
5. Minnesota (5) – A complete disaster.

East

1. Toronto (3) – Still in the playoff hunt and they have the potential to be very good at the end of the season.
2. Boston (2) – They score more runs than any other team and have the highest team batting average; starting pitching has been good. Could be in first by season’s end.
3. New York Yankees (4) – Where have the real Yankees gone? They really were not expected to contend, but they are the Yankees (or are they?)
4. Tampa Bay (5) – One of the worst records in baseball – they need the Joe Madden magic.
5. Baltimore (1) – Obviously, I botched this pick. They hit the ball.  Starting pitching might falter, however, so I could still recover from this pick.

My pre-season prediction: Kansas City will win the American League pennant.
My Grade – F

National League
West

1. San Francisco (1) – The Giants win in even-numbered years (what? – I read it somewhere); will battle the Cubs for supremacy.
2. LA Dodgers (2) – They should make the playoffs, but I do not see them catching the Giants.
3. Arizona (5) – They were expected to contend, but starting pitching is woeful.
4. San Diego (4) – Will not contend; rebuilding after trying their best with deals last year.
5. Colorado (3) – The Rockies are competitive, but not strong enough to challenge for West title.

Central

1. Chicago (1) – Great start – 11-11 since, but they could break the championship drought. The All-Star break will probably help them.
2. St Louis (2) – They will be in the playoffs, despite not winning much at home in the first half of the season. They will hope that Chicago swoons again.
3. Pittsburgh (3) – The lack of pitching has hurt the Pirates this year. They are potentially still a very good team.
4. Milwaukee (4) – This team is better, but they are in the toughest division and exceeding expectations.
5. Cincinnati (5) – The Reds have done what they were expected to do – lose.

East

1. NY Mets (2) – They struggle to score and Washington just is better. Should still make the playoffs.
2. Washington (1) – Great starting pitching with enough offense makes the Nationals the East champion. No collapse this year.
3. Miami (3) – The Marlins have really improved as demonstrated by their record. They probably will not make the post-season, but currently have a very successful year.
4. Philadelphia (4) – Rebuilding and winning more. Neither is a bad thing.  Even though they are in fourth place, the future looks brighter every week.
5. Atlanta (5) – They have lived up to their very low expectations. They will lose 100+ games.

My pre-season prediction: Chicago will beat the Mets for the N L pennant.
My Grade – A-
Overall Grade – C-

Cubs win it all!!  Only time will tell.

 
ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. Did you see where NFL.com listed Eagles’ coach Doug Pederson at the very bottom of their power rankings for coaches? That’s right – he was ranked #32 out of #32.  Nowhere to go but up!
2. By the way, Bill Belichick ranked #1 and former Eagles’ coaches Andy Reed and Chip Kelly were #6 and #20, respectively.
3. Golf rules played another major role this past weekend in the US Women’s Open championship. In a three-hole playoff, Anna Nordqvist brushed the sand on her backswing on the second hole and incurred a two-stroke penalty.  She was not told until the third hole.  Television replays clearly showed that she committed the violation.  To make matters worse, the USGA President repeatedly congratulated “Bethany Lang” for her win.  The winner was Brittany
4. Since my last blog, notable sports icon Pat Summitt passed away. She may have been the best-ever as a women’s basketball coach.  Buddy Ryan also passed away.  There were very few similarities in their coaching style.
5. The RCN Blue Mountain League crew had a nice reunion with the volunteer workers at Balliet Stadium in Coplay last week. They have done a wonderful job on the field and continue to work to improve the entire summer baseball experience.

I wrote my blog last week before the USGA embarrassed themselves by not immediately enforcing a rule that penalizes a player if he causes his ball to move.  The USGA hinted that they were going to penalize eventual winner Dustin Johnson, but only after the round ended and Johnson had a chance to explain himself.  Thus, no one knew for sure whether Johnson would lose a stroke or not. At the time, Johnson only led by one stroke.  He was penalized after the round, but the penalty did not cost him the Open championship.

Worse than that, he probably had very little to do, if anything, with the ball moving.  And even worse than that, golf is a game where the integrity of the players is essential.  In fact, the day prior to Sunday’s round, Shane Lowry, who ironically was one stroke behind Johnson when he heard about the potential one stroke penalty on Sunday, called a penalty on himself.  Dustin Johnson flat-out said he did not cause the ball to move.  Shouldn’t the player’s word be enough?  And there was no gained advantage to the ball moving ever so slightly so why the rule in the first place?

This led me to investigate (okay, Google) some other downright strange rules in the world of sports.  Here are just ten:

1. If a baseball player attempts to catch a ball with his hat or a catcher with his mask, the hitter is granted a ground rule triple.
2. Soccer goalies must wear long-sleeves and cannot roll them up at any time during the match. Referees need to know it’s the goalie who touches the ball with his hands.
3. In water polo, grabbing, kicking, or hitting the groin is prohibited (so is splashing water in an opponent’s face).
4. In the NFL, if the third string quarterback enters the game, the first and second string quarterbacks may not play in that game again.
5. In major league baseball, if a player is announced on the PA system, he must enter the game or be declared ineligible for the rest of the game.
6. In the NFL, if a punt returner calls for a fair catch, his team can opt to go for an uncontested field goal.
7. In MLB, if a ball becomes lodged in an umpire’s mask, all runners will advance a base.
8. A professional hockey goalie cannot cross the red line that marks the center ice.
9. If a batter in baseball, bats out of order, he is out immediately and the teammate he batted for is charged with the time at bat. The batter who made the error must then bat again in his proper spot.
10. If a MLB pitcher licks his hand, wipes his brow, or touches his waistline he must first wipe his hand on his shirt before touching the baseball.

There are plenty of others in every sport. Now the USGA says they are going to try to simplify the Rules of Golf and make them more understandable to the average player and viewer.  All other sports’ bodies should take heed and do the same.

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. If you are a Phillies fan, you may be wondering how Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Cole Hamels are doing this year. Jimmy Rollins signed with the White Sox after a bad year statistically with the Dodgers.  He was assigned to the minor leagues and was hitting .221 before they chose to reassign him again.  Chase Utley is still a Dodger and is having a pretty good year – .261 average, 10 doubles, 2 triples, 5 home runs, and 25 RBI’s.  Cole Hamels is 8-1 with a 2.79 ERA.  He, also, has stayed healthy and is taking his rotation spot on a regular basis.
2. It is obvious that Ryan Howard will not be a Phillie next season. The penalty – he will get $10 million NOT to play with them next season.  I wonder how much I could get NOT to announce (place your wise comment here).
3. Remember the name Charlie Woods – the 7-year-old son of Tiger recently tied for second place in 9-hole junior event. He shot a 55, 19 over par.  The winner shot a 50.  There’s already a nickname – the Little Cat.
4. With the selection of Ben Simmons as their #1 draft choice, the 76’ers may (dare I say it) compete next season. If Joel Embiid can play (and he hasn’t since March 1, 2014), the combination could be a real force in the league.  And the 76’ers still have Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor on the roster.  Someone will have to go.  Bottom line – the team might start winning – Oh, my!!
5. A Jamaican sprinter on the 4X 100m relay team announced this week that he has the Zika Virus.  A sign of things to come?