Spring Training baseball is underway, and the Nats and Phils have two opposite perspectives on what to watch for this month during the exhibition season as they get ready to accomplish distinct different goals in 2016.  Here’s a look at key issues for both teams as the pre-season unfolds.

Nationals…

 …continue to look for and add depth.

This, in my mind, was one of the biggest issues with the 2015 Nationals.  When injuries came, they had one or two “backup” plans, and when they didn’t pan out, there were major issues.  Acquiring players as the season unfolds, both quality bench personnel, along with high-character guys, are key for this team to make it to the next level.  Washington does not want to get painted into a corner where they have to make a move for someone like another Jonathan Papelbon out of necessity, but should be continuing to look for ways to add depth into and throughout the season.  Just ask the Phillies how important a “minor” addition like Matt Stairs turned out to be.

Speaking of depth, the Nats need to bring up at least one or two players from the minors that will contribute.  With the number of injuries players sustain today, it isn’t realistic to think that five, or even four, members of the starting rotation will make it through an entire year—no matter how good they are.  Plus, they need players to come up and challenge the veterans.  Guys like Trea Turner, Wilmer Difo, Lucas Giolito and others must continue to improve and push the more established players at the Major League level (both Difo and Giolito had nice performances last Friday).

Finding a couple players to contribute as the season wears on is key to driving this team forward–if, for the purposes of just this year, that role is simply to light a fire under a current player who’s underperforming.

 …the return of Rendon—the REAL Rendon.

Anthony Rendon was one of a number of injured players during 2015.  He did play last season, but he wasn’t the Rendon that people wanted…needed for the Nationals to play a legitimate playoff run.  Instead of building on a tremendous 2014 campaign, a string of issues (starting in spring training and lingering throughout the year) kept the third base-turned-second baseman from ever truly hitting his stride last summer.  This spring, following the acquisition of second basemen Daniel Murphy, he’s been returned to his natural defensive position and hopefully will lead the team offensively in the way the team needs him to be.  The Nationals have done a great job, in my opinion, building an offense around the core.  But Rendon is that special player that, if healthy, is the guy who can carry a team during team-wide struggles and also is the guy I’d want at the plate with the game on the line.

Getting him ready for the season is nice, but, perhaps more than any one position player, a healthy exhibition season and a clean, injury-free, path to Opening Day is one of the most important issues for Washington this month.

Phillies…

 …Maikel Franco MUST continue improving.

Much like Rendon, Franco, right now, looks to be the centerpiece of the Phillies position players and will be looked to (until proven otherwise) as the team’s “go-to guy.”  The Phillies have done a great job of building a collection of great prospects, with the knowledge that, while some young players won’t live up to their potential, an increase in the number of blue-chip players in the organization strengthens the chances that SOME of these players make a significant impact.  The organization has been hedging their bets and not riding all their hopes on one player.  However, Franco—a home-grown entity—has been touted as the one key player to build around.  If he regresses, it won’t end the rebuild, but any lack of progress this summer will be tough for Phillies to deal with, especially from a PR-standpoint (see the 76ers situation).   Franco is the guy who Phillies fans can see–right now–in Philadelphia, and he’s shown flashes of amazing ability.  The fan base can be patient if they have some hope that they can see in close proximity.  Philadelphia’s starting third-baseman is off to a great start (he’s already hit as many home runs the first week of spring training as the two previous pre-seasons combined.)  As long as he continues to flourish at the Big League level this summer, it is easier to sell the fact that more players like him are coming down the pipeline.

…the pitching watch.

Through all the horrible 2015 baseball seen in the Delaware Valley…it was made dreadfully worse by poor pitching.  Again, new GM Matt Klentak has done a great job of building an abundance of low-risk, high-reward players, in the hopes that a few can be serviceable major league hurlers—either to be traded away for more prospects, or as veterans to help hold a future pitching staff together with experience.  There’s a number of pitchers to keep an eye on as spring training and the regular season unfolds, and a finding a few gems this season could really help the rebuilding efforts along.

Keep in mind, even the older veteran’s success—pitching or position players–can impact and have a significant influence on the future.  If one or more players is having a solid season heading into July (and approaching the trade deadlines), a contending team may be desperate to add a necessary piece (see the Nats’ with Papelbon a year ago).  Players that don’t figure in as regulars in the Phillies lineup two-to-three years from now (Carlos Ruiz, Cody Asche, Darin Ruf, Charlie Morton and others) might get you a diamond-in-the-rough prospect that helps Philadelphia in future seasons?

Join us on “RCN SportsTalk” in the coming weeks (Thursdays live, 7-8pm on RCN-TV or catch our podcasts here) as we get updates on the Phillies and Nationals’ spring training updates from the team’s beat writers.  We’ll also have discussions on this weekend’s Pennsylvania and Washington, DC high school playoff action on this week’s program.

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

And, so, it’s over.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

After a busy and exciting week of calling District XI high school championship playoff action on RCN-TV, I am taking a few days off as we prepare for RCN’s coverage of PIAA State Playoff action.

So at the “SportsTalk Shop,” here is a highlights package of the playoff action over the past few weeks featuring teams in the RCN coverage area.  I’ll be back next week with more sports insights here at “The Shop” as well as on “RCN SportsTalk” next Thursday, live at 7pm.

Don’t forget to check out RCN’s sports coverage of District XI teams in the state playoffs starting this Friday and best of luck to all the teams participating in the tournament!

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

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

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

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

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

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

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

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

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

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

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

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

There are some great high school match-ups over the next few days that I’m very excited about–especially on the girls basketball side.  Here are some observations and notes about District XI teams in the RCN coverage area to get you ready for this week’s playoff coverage on RCN-TV.

The 4A Girls Bracket
It was a coming-out party for Northampton freshman Victoria Keenan, who made her RCN debut last Friday with a spectacular performance en route to a big win over the second-seeded Parkland Trojans.  Despite her (and her frontcourt mates) getting in some early foul trouble, Keenan showcased her ball-handling and shooting abilities from different spots on the floor all game long.  I immediately noticed her poise and confidence in the pre-game warm-ups and she did not seemed fazed in the least about the win-or-go-home contest in front of her.

She finished with a game-high 23 points (no one else on either side finished in double figures) and set up her team to face their area rivals, Nazareth, in the semifinal matchup (7:30pm LIVE, Tuesday, RCN-TV).

I don’t often make predictions about players, and even more rarely do I single out a freshman, but after seeing Keenan play last week I feel confident in saying she’ll become one of the top girls basketball players in the area, if she’s not almost there already.

Not to be left out was Aja Blount, who came into the quarterfinal match-up averaging 20 points per game.  The Trojans played stifling defense on her and did not allow Blount her usual amount of touches, but Aja returned the favor by playing her own brand of ‘shut-all-windows-and-doors” defense against a talented Parkland frontcourt in the victory. Devon Saul, Lauren Sterner, Jenna Rogers, Brielle Ringo and (despite some quick fouls called on her) Sophia Eckroth all played well and I’m looking forward to seeing their next game on Tuesday.

I have not seen the Blue Eagles in person this year, but I’m well aware of the high level of play from returning players Tessa Brugler and Jessica Durnin, and the strong defense Head Coach Rick Bickert always cultivates.  This semifinal game should go right down to the wire.

I was very impressed by my first look at this year’s Easton game–a squad I saw last year and knew they would surpass those levels from a year ago.  We’ve spoken quite a bit about the Red Rovers on recent “SportsTalk” shows and podcasts (which you can hear here).  Pottsville has been led by two outstanding scoring threats, Kyra Schenk and Sadie Cresswell (the latter really shoots well from three-point land and will play college ball at East Stroudsburg University).  The Tide have some size and could create some interesting match-up issues for Easton (Tuesday, 6pm Live, RCN-TV).

Was Parkland vs. Allen the best HS game in decades?
I had a number of people answer in the affirmative about the above question between the boys teams from Allen and Parkland.   Emmaus’ Saturday victory over the Canaries will keep area fans from seeing a rematch of this contest (Parkland and Allen did not play each other during the regular season).  While I wouldn’t go as far as saying it was the greatest local game in over ten years, I will say unequivocally that on any given night, the Allen boys team can be as entertaining to watch as any team in the RCN viewing area.

Remember, nearly all of Allen’s key players were juniors or younger this winter and should return in 2017.  With Parkland graduating a number of the area’s top performers, I think you could certainly put the Canaries as one of the two or three best teams heading into the next high school basketball season, and should be a fun team to watch during the summer leagues.

With the Hornets win, we’ll see another great Parkland vs. Emmaus battle on Wednesday night (live, 7:30pm, RCN-TV).

We’ve talked about both teams quite a bit this season, and on paper, it still seems that the Trojans are heavy favorites.  The Hornets have battled through some tough games this season and we’ll see if Emmaus can come up with a new wrinkle or two to try to frustrate top-seeded Parkland.

SHOUT-OUTS
* Pocono Mountain West’s Lance Singh (a junior) had one of the best individual men’s performances I’ve seen in quite some time.  He scored 35 against Allen in the EPC semifinal and owned the first and last quarters, with the ability to score despite sometimes being triple-teamed, but also set up his teammates well down the stretch run.  Jalen Vaughns (also an 11^th grader) is also a difficult match-up—a guy who can score from different spots on the floor and is also a beast on the boards, and Isaiah Wiggins (another junior, by the way) also has a very similar skill set.  I think it’s safe to say PMW is clearly the single most talented scoring machine that Bangor has faced all season, and the Slaters will have their hands full in their semifinal match-up.

* Speaking of Bangor, props to last week’s “SportsTalk” panelist Toomey Anderson (from “LV Basketball Rankings”) for stating on the show that the Slaters will have a breakout performance and post a statement-declaring win over Whitehall in Saturday’s quarterfinal game.  We have been touting the great teams in the Colonial League since early December here at the “SportsTalk Shop” (feel free to go back through our past blog entries to see for yourself) and it is no surprise to me that there are two Colonial League teams still alive as we advance to the semifinal round of the District XI playoffs.

* Another correct “lock” prediction made on last week’s program was Andre Williams declaring that Bethlehem Catholic would beat Allentown Central Catholic in the so-called “Lehigh Valley Holy War.”   First-year Head Coach Ray Barbosa has done a remarkable job since taking over the program, even before his big win over the Vikings last Friday.  He has his team playing its best basketball of the season at just the right time.  They face undefeated Pottsville on Tuesday night (9:30pm, tape-delayed, RCN-TV).  The Tide have played some quality opponents and are an athletic team.  If Becahi can play like they did against Parkland in the EPC Quarterfinals, they’ll have a shot.  Regardless of this game’s outcome, the Golden Hawks already have had a tremendous season after winning just three games a year ago.

Send us your high school basketball comments and opinions via email (RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com) and enjoy all the playoff basketball action coming your way on RCN-TV over the next week!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

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

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

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

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

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

Last week, we discussed a number of teams in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference or Colonial League post-season races—nearly all of them will look to be major players in the District XI tournament, which starts this week.  Today here at “The Shop,” we take a look at a few more teams that begin their district championship quests over the next few days.

“Give Me Liberty…”
Don’t let a first-round loss in the EPC playoffs fool you.  Chad Landis always seems to find a way to get his team playing deep into the district playoffs—and usually well enough to get at least one of the top-3 district seeds, which would give the Hurricanes a trip to states.

Liberty lost to a very talented Allen team last week.  On paper, however, I think Liberty could play with almost anyone in their bracket.  They have a tremendous talent on the inside in Cam Hoffman and exciting guard play with added depth now that Chance Neilly has returned and gotten some game action under his belt. They’ll open up the tournament by facing Nazareth on Wednesday (live, RCN4 at 7pm).

“…or Fly Like An Eagle”
Nazareth Head Coach Joe Arndt has to be on a short list of underrated basketball coaches in the region.  Following his great run in the post-season last year (more on that later), he has done a great job grooming young talents Jahan Dotson and Kevin Wagner to become one of the strongest 1-2 underclassmen punches among EPC teams.  Nick Youngkin has added scoring punch from different spots on the floor and probably deserves more attention that he’s received this season.  The key will be containing the likes of Hoffman, Andrew Hudak and Caleb Martinez on the inside and for Nazareth to get its share of rebounds.  More inside scoring could go along way for Blue Eagles—the loser of this ball game sees their season come to an end.

The 3A Race Should be Fun To Watch
Central Catholic has an incredibly talented team, filled with underclassmen and amazing potential.  But when you have a younger group of players, there’s always an element–however slight—of ambiguity in reading how they will play together in the post-season.  They lost to a very solid Pocono Mountain West team in the first round of the league playoffs and, unlike previous years, I don’t think the Vikings are your ‘stone-cold locks’ to win the district title.  Salisbury, Notre Dame and Saucon Valley are all good, well-balanced teams who can play with Central Catholic.

Bethlehem Catholic also showed a tremendous amount of poise in hanging with the area’s best team, Parkland, in their EPC first-round match-up and have scored some impressive wins during the regular season.  Ray Barbosa has done a great job in his first year with the Golden Hawks and I don’t think a lengthy run in districts should be seen as a shocker.

Also, waiting “in the wings” is a Pottsville team that just completed a perfect 22-0 regular season.  The Tide will face the winner of Tuesday’s match-up between Saucon Valley/Lehighton (live, RCN4 at 7pm).  There will be very few “easy” games in the District XI 3A Classification this time around, and I doubt very many people could clearly predict just how this bracket will shake out this winter.

This Year’s Cinderella?
Last year it was Nazareth’s boys team that surprised people with a lengthy and exciting run through the District XI tournament—winning a few more games than many expected.

Who will be this year’s dark horse squad to last the longest? Stroudsburg is always an underrated team that seems to find a way to advance deep in the playoffs—despite the fact local experts rarely predict a successful post-season run for the Mountaineers.  If they can get by Freedom on Wednesday, they have as good a shot against Pocono Mountain West, then would face the winner of the Bangor vs. Solehi/Whitehall matchup, so another post-season run by the Mounties certainly looks like it has potential.

Also, there’s a number of talented girls basketball individuals and teams to keep an eye on that don’t get the hype they deserve.  Easton is coming off an impressive performance in its EPC Championship victory and are led by standout stars like Gabby Bloshuk, Leanna Deegan, Olivia George and Shelby Stocker.

However, this might be one of the most competitive District XI girls playoff fields we’ve seen in some time.  Parkland features Emily Piston, Rachel Medlar, Nadine Ewald and Sarah Stagaard.  Among the other top EPC talents include Nazareth’s Tessa Brugler, Northampton’s Aja Blount and Victoria Keenan.  Colonial League players to watch include Southern Lehigh’s Amanda Mobley, Olivia Snyder and Ellie Cassel (all underclassmen, by the way), Palisades’ Karlee Krchnavi, Northwestern’s Erika Thomas and Bangor’s Marissa Fernandez-Tierney.  We talked about a number of these teams and players in last week’s “SportsTalk” podcast (listen here: rcn.com/atvn/sports-talk).

Don’t forget, we’ll be discussing many more teams, previewing match-ups and making District XI playoff predictions on Thursday’s “RCN SportsTalk” show, live from 7-8pm on RCN-TV with the show’s podcast available on Friday.  Guests include RCN Basketball Analyst Tom Stoudt along with Toomey Anderson and Andre Williams from LVBasketballRankings.com.  Email your high schools opinions and questions to rcnsportstalk@rcn.com and our panel will read and respond to your comments live on the air!

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

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

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

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

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

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

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME SUPER BOWL  MUSINGS)

 Here are my favorite commercials from the Super Bowl:

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

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

The high school basketball playoffs have arrived in the Lehigh Valley region.  Thanks to the expanded playoff format (of which there’s been much debate amongst local sports fans–discussed at length on ‘RCN SportsTalk’), the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and the Colonial League post-season actually got underway last weekend, with the league semifinals to be played on Tuesday and Wednesday (check the RCN broadcast schedule for our coverage).

On this Thursday’s live “SportsTalk” program (7-8pm), we’ll have local coaches and experts Megan Dellegrotti (former Southern Lehigh Head Coach/fmr. DeSales Assistant Head Coach), Joe Jarjous (current Dieruff boys head basketball coach), Kyle Hutnik (Pen Argyl Boys Basketball Head Coach) and Ed Seidick (Catasaqua Girls Head Basketball Coach) on the show to give their insights on the teams involved, along with opinions, predictions and key match-ups to watch for on both leagues’ championship nights for both the boys and girls title games (also to be broadcast on RCN-TV on Friday).

To get you set for the semifinals, here are thoughts on the teams that I’ve seen so far this winter, along with the video highlights from RCN’s regular season coverage of high school basketball in the Lehigh Valley.

EPC:  PARKLAND
Despite just a five-point lead over Bethlehem Catholic at halftime, Parkland looked just as strong in the second half of its opening round playoff game as they have at any point during their season since the football players returned.  I’m sticking with my prediction from early December that the Trojans win the EPC and continue to advance all the way to the PIAA state championship.  A big key for this to happen will be for Parkland to avoid one of the top Philadelphia schools (aka., Roman Catholic) in the first few rounds of the  tourney.  However, this team is so well-balanced and has all the advantages (size, speed, shooting ability et al) over nearly every team they’ll face over the next few weeks.

ALLEN

Another prediction I made back on this blog before the season started (and I’m sticking with now) is that Talek Williams is one of the most dynamic players in the Lehigh Valley.  From what I’ve seen of his Canaries teammates this year, I don’t believe Allen is a one-star team.  At any given time, Williams and Co. could be the Lehigh Valley team to give Parkland its biggest challenge.  The key for the Canaries is their consistency—they’ve looked great at times, and have also struggled: sometimes game-to-game, other times quarter-to-quarter.  If Allen can put together a string of solid efforts, they could give the Trojans a battle for the EPC Championship Friday (RCN-TV, live, Friday at 7:30pm), provided they don’t look past Pocono Mountain West in the semis.

Emmaus
The Hornets also have the size, guard-play and speed to hang with Parkland, but have not been able to come close to a win in the two meetings between these two juggernauts.  I believe they have the biggest collection of underrated players in the area (Cam Widdoss, Brandon Rapose, Jake Freirtag, Joey Polczynski, Eric Cichocki, Jake Scarnulis).  Because of their regular-season finale loss to Whitehall, they drew Parkland in the semifinal round (RCN-TV, live Tuesday at 7:30pm).  This might be the wrong way to look at things, but if Emmaus loses to Parkland in the league playoff, the old adage of “it’s hard to beat a good team four times” might apply if these area rivals would face each other again in the District XI playoffs—or even a fifth time if they would both clinch and meet in the state playoffs.

Colonial League:  Bangor vs. Saucon Valley
While Bangor’s Michael Martino has been the headline name in the league this past year, I think both the Slaters and the Panthers have a lot of high-talent players, and their semifinal matchup (RCN4, live Wednesday at 7:30pm) should be just as competitive as their regular season meetings.  While Bangor won each contest, Mike Kane was not available for the first meeting between these two teams, and he has shown he can be a difference maker.

Another player to watch?  While he’s certainly gone under the radar, I believe Saucon Valley guard Josh Snead might just be the best point guard in the Colonial League this year.  Equally underrated are Bangor’s guard Reece Jones along with the Slaters’ frontcourt—with some up-and-coming talent also on the way.

Southern Lehigh vs. Salisbury
I haven’t gotten a chance to see in person either of these teams this year, but will this Wednesday in the first Colonial League semifinal contest (RCN4, live at 6pm).  For some great insights on the Falcons from Head Coach Jason Weaver and his players, check out their “SportsTalk” appearance on our podcast here.  In addition to talking about their successes this year and thoughts on the post-season, top scorer Tevon Weber told some great stories about his shot selection, and what he does every time he hits a three-pointer.

If you have a comment or question about the local high school basketball playoffs, email them to rcnsportstalk@rcn.com and tune in Thursday at 7pm for our “League Championship Preview Show” as we read and respond to your thoughts on the local league playoff season in the Lehigh Valley.

One of the biggest Lehigh Valley local sports winter events is happening this Saturday—the District XI AAA Team Wrestling Final & Ultimate Qualifier (live, 4:30pm on RCN-TV).  Local wrestling gurus Gene Waas and Jack Logic were on our “SportsTalk” show to discuss that event, as well as give their opinions on many local wrestling issues.  Among the topics discussed–they gave their takes on the “EPC Challenge” and on the first year of the “revamped” alignments for the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.  Here’s a brief sample of our discussion of the “new look EPC” for wrestling–the entire program along with thoughts on the District XI tournament structure is available here on our podcast.

We’ve also had some great wrestling action on RCN-TV this past winter.  We covered a number of Colonial League teams on our “RCN SportsTalk” show—the interviews and videos are available on-demand for RCN customers.

To get you set for this weekend’s tournament action, here’s a look back at the highlights of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference wrestling matches featured on RCN-TV this season.

In addition to this Saturday’s team district wrestling coverage, we have more wrestling coverage coming up in the next few weeks.  On the Thursday, February 25^th edition of “SportsTalk” from 7-8 pm, we’ll have preview of that weekend’s District XI AA and AAA individual wrestling tournament.  On Saturday, February 27^th at 9:30 RCN-TV will have the AAA Wrestling Final and the following week RCN will be broadcasting the PIAA Northeast Wrestling Final at 9pm.

Keep checking the RCN-TV schedule page here on the website for the latest news and/or changes for our local sports coverage.  Also, don’t forget to email you opinions and feelings the local sports action to rcnsportstalk@rcn.com .