We had the opportunity to speak with several important guests on last week’s “RCN SportsTalk,” discussing a number of issues relevant to sports fans in the RCN viewing area.  For this week’s entry in the “SportsTalk Shop,” I’d like to share some of my opinions on these topics and add a few more bits of information that we didn’t have a chance to address.

The first topic of conversation with the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jake Kaplan focused on spring training for the Phillies and also the comparisons between the current Nationals’ starting rotation and the “4 Aces” that the Phillies featured a few seasons ago.

Now, there are several other issues regarding the Phillies exhibition season.  As we close in on the final two weeks of spring training, the Phillies roster is starting to come into focus—and there’s actually some good competition for the remaining roster spots.  The most competitive battle is for the three remaining bullpen spots, with several southpaws standing out.   Andy Oliver, Elvis Araujo, Mario Hollands, Adam Morgan, and Joely Rodriguez all have been throwing well with most of these pitchers not allowing a run so far this preseason.  Oliver (a Rule 5 player who the Phillies risk losing if not on the MLB roster this season) and Hollands (who pitched last year) probably have the edge, but the fact that so many of the young pitchers have looked impressive is an encouraging sign for the future.

The potential starting lineup is also intriguing.  If this team was battling for a playoff spot, the overabundance of left-handed bats would be a definite concern.  Since the Phillies are more in “talent retrieval mode,” the fact that the lefty-hitters are all making contact and squaring the ball up the last few days is worth noting.  Here’s my view of what an Opening Day lineup—especially if an opposing right-handed pitcher is throwing—might look like as of now:

CF – Ben Revere (L)
LF – Odubel Herrera or Grady Sizemore (both L)
2B – Chase Utley (L)
1B – Ryan Howard (L)
C – Carlos Ruiz (R)
3B – Cody Asche (L)
RF – Dom Brown (L)
SS –Freddy Galvis (S)

Also, with Ruiz getting older and coming off another season with an injury, he probably will only start three to four games per week.  This means his backup, unless they do add a significant name, will bat lower in the lineup, and will make the upper half of the lineup even more left-handed.

* * *
The other big subject on last week’s show dealt with the ongoing talk that the PIAA (the governing body for high school sports in Pennsylvania) could realign the classifications for high school football in the Keystone state.  The biggest issue with the new proposal is that it would change the current four classes format (based on male student enrollment numbers) to six classifications.

Here are a few thoughts on the proposal and how it could affect the football landscape in Pennsylvania.

As for District XI fans in the RCN viewing area, here’s a look at the current alignment and the potential breakdown—as of now—for what a six classification format would look like:

Class 4A— over 493 male students
Allen, Dieruff, Easton, East Stroudsburg South, Emmaus, Freedom, Liberty, Nazareth, Northampton, Parkland, Pleasant Valley, Pocono Mountain East, Pocono Mountain West, Stroudsburg, Whitehall.

Class 3A—300-49
Bangor, Bethlehem Catholic, Blue Mountain, Central Catholic, East Stroudsburg North, Jim Thorpe, Lehighton, Pottsville, Saucon Valley, Southern Lehigh.

Class 2A—175-299
Catasauqua, North Schuylkill, Northern Lehigh, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Palisades, Palmerton, Panther Valley, Pen Argyl, Pine Grove, Salisbury, Tamaqua, Wilson.

Class A—1-174
Mahanoy Area, Marian Catholic, Minersville, Nativity, Pius X, Schuylkill Haven, Shenandoah Valley, Tri-Valley, Williams Valley.

Six-class proposal
Class 6A—608 male students and above
Dieruff, Easton, Emmaus, Freedom, Liberty, Northampton, Parkland, Pleasant Valley, Pocono Mountain East, Pocono Mountain West, Stroudsburg, William Allen.

Class 5A—410-607
Bangor, East Stroudsburg North, East Stroudsburg South, Nazareth, Southern Lehigh, Whitehall.

Class 4A—301-409
Blue Mountain, Central Catholic, Jim Thorpe, Lehighton, Pottsville, Saucon Valley.

Class 3A—210-300
Bethlehem Catholic, North Schuylkill, Northern Lehigh, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Palisades, Palmerton, Pen Argyl, Pine Grove, Salisbury, Tamaqua, Wilson.

Class 2A—148-209
Catasauqua, Mahanoy Area, Minersville, Panther Valley, Schuylkill Haven.

Class A—1-147
Marian Catholic, Nativity, Pius X, Shenandoah Valley, Tri-Valley, Williams Valley

My thoughts on this…I’m honestly not so sure it’s a good idea.  I think there are some positives (I’m all for shortening the season) along with some concerns.  There are some major hurdles that different sections of Pennsylvania would have to overcome (the biggest would be scheduling) in order for this to happen.  I also think it would put a strain on some of the newspapers and website outlets that cover high school football, to make the leap from covering (at most) two championships per night to potentially four or more—especially with newspaper staff numbers dwindling.

However, I have known District XI Football Chair Jason Zimmerman and several other proponents of this proposal for quite some time. I believe that Jason and the people he is working with genuinely care about the scholar athletes’ best interests and believe in doing what’s right for the kids in Pennsylvania.  If he feels strongly enough to invest his and other administrators and coaches’ time and energy into exploring this proposal, then I think we should all take a serious look at the ideas presented.

Generally speaking, I would think everyone who is employee is evaluated at some point on their performance.  Most of us have nervously and, hopefully, eagerly awaited the trip to the boss’ office so that he or she can assess your past year’s work, ask for comments, offer you suggestions to improve, and set the goals for the upcoming year. Once you hear that there ACTUALLY are goals for the next twelve months, you are then pretty much assured that your job is safe until the next evaluation.  Hopefully you exit the office with a smile on your face.

But what if you were evaluated every day you came to work?  What if each single, solitary decision you made throughout the work day was rated by an observer?  What if your ability to continue working at your current level was dependent upon the watchful eye and determined by an outside judge?   What if bystanders were allowed to boo or cheer your decisions to try and influence the evaluator?  You probably believe none of this could possibly happen.  Well, you are wrong.

High school basketball officials work under the stipulations listed above throughout the regular season, the district playoffs, and the state playoffs.  Since we are currently in the state playoffs, let me describe the system at work.  A game evaluator, normally a retired official who over the years has literally earned his stripes and credibility, will be assigned a game.  Every state playoff game has one.

Once the game begins, every whistle, every stoppage, every potential whistle, every rule interpretation, and every situation is judged.  The categories are familiar to a basketball fan – foul, violation, held ball, technical, no call.  Accuracy is described as follows: Correct Call, Incorrect Call, No-call Correct, No-call Incorrect.  There are usually @ 50 decisions assessed in every game, sometimes many more, sometimes less.

After the contest ends, there is a post-game assessment between the officials and the evaluator.  In a generalized fashion, the evaluator discusses situations, offers helpful tools to improve performance based on years of experience, and jointly analyzes the entire game.  No individual is ever called out in front of his peers. It is not adversarial in any way.

The evaluation is then sent to the state with thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses of a given crew.  The PIAA then decides future assignments based on the evaluations.

The entire process has one goal in mind – improve the quality of the men and women who are working the games. And what fan does not want that?

There may be a lesson to be learned here for all of us.  I certainly am not advocating that someone follows us around all day, but it would not hurt if we all did some self-evaluation every now and then of all aspects of our lives.  If we could move closer to improving our “correct calls” and decreasing the “incorrect calls”, we would all benefit.  Try it.

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. If anyone was shocked by the early exits of all but three of our District XI representatives in the state playoffs, you weren’t watching all season. It was not a quality year in the Lehigh Valley.  However, the Parkland boys’ and the Bethlehem Catholic girls’ teams were outstanding and, as I write this, continue to compete.  I am not surprised.
2. Look at the unbelievable circumstances that led to Lafayette getting the Patriot League championship game at home – (1) Lafayette needed to beat Army in the last regular season game in order for Lafayette to qualify for a quarterfinal home game (they did); (2) Holy Cross needed to upset Boston University in the final game played in the regular season in order for Lafayette to actually get a quarterfinal home game (they did); (3) #4 seed Lafayette needed to beat #5 seed Boston University, a team that beat them by 14 at home in their previous match-up (they did); (4) #4 seed Lafayette needed to upset #1 seed Bucknell at Bucknell, a feat NEVER accomplished before in the Patriot League semifinals (they did); (5)  #6 American University needed to beat #2 Colgate in the following game for Lafayette to get a home championship game (they did).  Up next – the championship game AT Lafayette.  Lafayette has never lost a Patriot League tournament game at home –uh-oh!!
3. An intriguing thought – should Lafayette win the Patriot League, I’m guessing they would have to play in the play-in game. Some projections say the opponent would be St. Francis/Brooklyn which features Jalen Cannon of Allen High School.  Jalen, a 1,000 point scorer, was the Northeast Conference Player of the Year.
4. Bracketology is one week away. Is there a real college basketball fan willing to pick against Kentucky?
5. The Philadelphia professional football, basketball, hockey, and baseball front offices all seem to be cleaning house at the same time. Is it for the better?  Probably not.  But at least the Philly fan base is a patient bunch – SAY WHAT?

Last week here at the “SportsTalk Shop,” I examined the top stories, teams and individuals involved in this year’s District XI boys and girls basketball tournament.  As always, the RCN crew did their usual outstanding job, bringing all the sights and sounds of the local playoffs to our viewers–their schedules stretched to the limit to cover as many basketball games as possible.  And let’s not forget the District XI and Northeast Individual Wrestling coverage our crew provided for our viewers.  This year’s tournaments certainly had their share of thrilling action, great individual performances and exciting finishes.

Here are video highlights from our District XI boys and girls basketball post-season coverage, as well as highlights from our playoff wrestling coverage.

Which highlights were your favorites from this year’s District XI playoffs?  Which teams made for the most exciting finishes?  Send us an email with your thoughts and opinions to RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com and we’ll read some of your comments on an upcoming show.  Also, here’s a reminder of a special “RCN SportsTalk” program on Thursday, March 12, from 6-7pm.  On this show, we’ll be joined by District XI Football Chair Jason Zimmerman and PIAA President Dr. Robert Lombardi to discuss the new “six football classifications” proposal, which could gather momentum later this month and potentially change the landscape for the sport in both the Lehigh Valley and in Pennsylvania.  We’ll also have a live update from Florida on the Phillies’ spring training news, and thoughts on who’ll make this year’s team.

It was another fun (and extremely hectic) District XI playoff season for us at RCN-TV.  A huge “THANK YOU” to all the representatives of the district, the athletic directors, coaches, statisticians (especially Bob & Pat Whirl!) and everyone involved in the tournament.  The playoffs were not without their share of exciting moments, a few upsets and some great storylines involving the communities within RCN’s Lehigh Valley coverage area.

Here are a few thoughts and observations regarding this year’s tournament.

1)  Parkland and Becahi Delivered
Coming into this season—heck, even over a year ago—the Parkland boys and Bethlehem Catholic girls basketball teams were the definitive teams-to-beat in the 2015 District XI tourney.  On paper, they clearly had the best teams, but that doesn’t always translate to winning a championship.  No matter how dominating their regular season, one bad night could shatter all of their expectations—especially with an early loss in the playoffs.  However, these teams came out and played their best.  What was more impressive was, if one player was having a rare off-night, others stepped up and delivered.  The result?  Neither of these teams needed a late-game, “sweat-it-out” basket to win its game, and entered the state playoffs as #1 seeds.  It’s one thing to appear to be the best team, but there’s something to be said for going out and executing each and every night.  Through many months of hard work and dedication, they made their success “look” easy, and winning every single game against every area opponent is a tremendous accomplishment for both of these schools.

2)  The Nazareth Community
One example of the truly special communities within the RCN area is Nazareth.  From its #1 fan (Andy Weaver) to its classy and professional head coaches (Joe Arndt, Rich Bickert), to its passionate fan base, it’s always fun to broadcast a Blue Eagle game.  Both teams took different routes to advance to the final day of the district playoffs.  The Nazareth girls team has several seniors armed with experience earned during the Blue Eagles’ 2013 championship season, mixed with some of the most talented sophomores in the area.  Many girls basketball experts thought Nazareth’s experience would give them the advantage over the upstart Red Rovers, a team I don’t think got as much attention as they deserved.  Easton has a host of athletic underclassmen and no doubt will be competing for league and district titles for many years to come.  But 2015 belong to the Eagles and I’m looking forward to seeing them in action this Friday in their opening round state game against Mount St. Joseph’s.  Especially with the game conveniently located, I’m expecting the people of Nazareth to take the short trip down Route 191 and continue to support their team as they embark on their playoff run.  (Programming note: Coach Bickert and members of his District Championship team will be guests on the March 19^th edition of “RCN SportsTalk” at 6pm).

Speaking of the Eagles’ fan base, the people of Nazareth weren’t the only area basketball fans who were rooting for the Eagles boys team, a unit that embodied the spirit of the ‘Comeback Kids’ over the last few weeks.  Nazareth had to defeat Northampton (who was fighting for its league playoff life) just to qualify for the playoffs, then came back to beat Liberty (a team many pegged to play Parkland in the Championship) in the first round.  Then, they overcame a 12-point fourth quarter deficit to beat a Stroudsburg squad that had come the closest local team to beat the Trojans.  Finally, Nazareth bounced back from a 15-point third quarter deficit to force overtime against Whitehall in the semifinal, making for the most thrilling fourth quarter of the tournament.  Although Nazareth would go on to lose to Allen on the playoff’s final day, the Blue Eagles made for some lasting memories for many local basketball fans.  The fact that the boys athletes showed up at the girls’ games and vice versa was tremendous to see, and the entire town should be proud of its winter sports athletes.

3)  The “Ultimate” Underdogs
I don’t know if there’s a more underrated boys basketball head coach in the area than Salisbury’s Jason Weaver.  Ever since he took over the Falcons basketball program seven year ago, all they’ve done is win games.  Every couple years he’ll lose the entire starting lineup to graduation, and yet, by game one of the following season, the Falcons are right there, playing as well as anyone in the Colonial League…and each February they’re beating teams in the post season.  When Salisbury lost its top scorer Dasheen Reid before districts started, they came back and posted one of the most impressive start-to-finish games I saw all year in their win over Wilson.  They continued on and lost tough ball games to Central Catholic and Tamaqua to finish out their season, but, like Nazareth, I don’t know how many local basketball fans thought they would preserve through some adversity as well as they did, and should be commended for their effort.

And speaking of Salisbury, how about a shout-out to two of the top girls basketball performers in our area—the Falcons’ Meagan Eripret and also Palmerton’s Jade Farquhar.  Although we didn’t broadcast any of their games, I had a chance to watch both of these standout stars in action.  We interviewed Eripret for “SportsTalk” last year when her head coach Joe Mladosich won his 200^th game and she was very well-spoken and unselfish when discussing her skills and abilities in relationship to the team’s success during her career at Salisbury.  She became the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,787 points and has made her Falcons a perennial post-season contender over the last few seasons.

Farquhar was the Colonial League’s MVP and she scored her 1,000^th point in a game against Pleasant Valley earlier this season.  I was also told that she contributes countless hours volunteering at local organizations and youth activities.  I heard extremely wonderful things about both of these young ladies, both in terms of the performances on and off the court from people who follow girls basketball on a regular basis.

Another such individual I have had the good fortune of seeing often was Wilson’s Phil Pierfy, who’s tremendous scholastic basketball career came to an end in this year’s district playoffs.  He’s a two-sport standout star in basketball and baseball, and I know a number of college coaches in both sports that would love to add him to their teams.  Warrior’s Head Coach Bob Frankenfield would commonly refer to Phil as a great “STUDENT-athlete,” putting the emphasis on the first part of this term.   The high standard players like Eripret, Farquhar and Pierfy live up to are what true champions are made of, and should be celebrated just as much,  and in many cases more, than the trophy that’s raised at the end of the district tournament.

What other players should be recognized for great work this past winter sports season, and which individuals deserve “Shout-outs” for their efforts?  Send us an email with your thoughts and opinions to RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com and we’ll read some of your comments on our next show, March 12^th from 6-7pm.  On this show, we are happy to be joined by District XI Football Chair Jason Zimmerman and PIAA President Dr. Robert Lombardi, to discuss the new “six football classifications” proposal, which could gather momentum later this month and potentially could change the landscape for the sport in both the Lehigh Valley and in Pennsylvania.

It is time! And this is a double entendre.  It is time to introduce a play clock in Pennsylvania high school basketball.  In other words, it is time for time!  There are currently eight states that use the shot clock in high school.  They are California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Rhode Island, and Washington.  Some use a 35-second clock and some use a 30-second clock.

I am in favor of a 35-second clock similar to what the men use in college basketball.  Some of the reasons it has been opposed are: 1) it takes away strategy from the coaches to slow the game down against a more formidable opponent; 2) the governing body that oversees the rules (National Federation of State High School Associations) has not adopted the shot clock; 3) this rule would burden schools with another piece of equipment to purchase and more personnel needed to operate the equipment; 4) a shot clock erodes many of the fundamentals of playing the game; 5) there would be more lopsided scores if the weaker teams had to speed up the pace.

Let’s look at these reasons one by one:
1)  35 seconds is plenty of time to run your offense, utilize your game plan, and reward the defense if they stop you. If there is a reward for a well-run offense (a score), then there should be an equal reward for the defense if they stop the offense.

2)  Eight states HAVE adopted the rule and it works very well for them. In fact, all, for the most part, have said that the rule did not change the game much at all.  The rule did, however, eliminate “stall ball”, a fan’s nightmare.

3)  I have no defense for this argument. The cost for the equipment ranges from $2,000-$5,000.  When you add to that the installation, the wiring and the extra worker at the scorer’s table, the investment is high.  Most schools have used sponsorships for their scoreboards.  Perhaps a similar sales pitch would work here.

4)  This argument is often used, but a team still has to pass, dribble, run an offense, set screens, make shots, etc. What fundamentals are missing here?  Shouldn’t defending for a set period of time also be a fundamental?

5)  It is the rare team that uses the “stall” tactic now and most use it because they feel that is the only way their good team will beat a superior team. Poor teams cannot hold the ball for minutes on end.

I do not want this piece to reflect at all on the AAAA championship game that was played between Whitehall and Parkland on Saturday night.  Parkland is the best boys’ team in the area.  I do not think anyone would argue.  Whitehall is a good team.  On Saturday, Whitehall did not stall, but they did try to limit Parkland’s possessions so they could be in a position to win the game at the end.  It was the perfect strategy.  Parkland won anyway and I do not believe a shot clock would have had any effect on the way this particular game was played.

But the game needs to be played.  A 35-second play clock would insure that.

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. The District XI made a big mistake playing a double header in the Blue Mountain gymnasium on Friday night. It is a very nice facility, but was not large enough to handle the crowd.  It holds 1800 people, but each game drew around 1800 people.  Since there was no more room inside, fans were forced to wait an hour in the cold for the first game to end so there would be room for the second group.  Also, parking was atrocious and getting out of the parking lot after the game almost impossible.  I am sure the committee will reconsider their decision by next year.
2. Floyd Mayweather will fight Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas on Saturday, May 2. Now this is a fight worth watching on Pay-Per-View.  Call 1-800-RingRCN.
3. It looks like right now Villanova will be a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. They would join Kentucky, Virginia and Duke.  It’s almost bracketology time.  Start studying.
4. Watch this if you are a basketball fan. It gives you a good feeling.  http://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-high-school-basketball-team-incredible-sportsmanship/

5. Season four begins this week. One is the regular season. Two is the league playoffs.  Three are the districts.  We’re headed to states – season four.  Come along.

The word “recruiting” in high school sports is certainly a derogatory term.  Schools who feel victimized believe another institution has invaded their territory to grab one of their finest athletes in order to make their own team stronger.  Both public and private schools have been accused of “recruiting”.  Private schools can be a bit more open with the practice because, by their very nature, they “recruit” in order to populate their institutions.  They have the advantage of bringing students in from public school territory and, often, enhancing their athletic teams at the expense of a home district.  There’s no blame here.  It’s just the way it is and the governing body of high school athletics, the PIAA, has decided it is not worth the effort or the expense to dispute these transfers in court.  It is very hard to prove allegations especially when parents choose to send their child to a private school or they find a way to establish residence in a geographical area.  “Recruiting” occurs and even though it is disdained, very little can be done to stop it.

This leads me to focus on two private schools in Philadelphia – Neumann-Goretti and Archbishop Wood.  It would not be a stretch to say these schools are two of the nation’s leaders in recruiting athletes.  Neumann-Goretti is currently ranked #1 in the nation in girls’ basketball.  Let that sink in – the very best in the nation!  They are currently beating their opponents by an average of 45 points a game.

Archbishop Wood has perennially been one of the best girls’ basketball teams in the state and in the nation.  Wood won three straight state championships from 2009-12 and has been to the state finals in three of the last four years.  They do not like the spotlight shifting to Neumann-Goretti. So the two are caught up in a recruiting firestorm!

One of the best players on the Goretti team is Christina Aborowa, a senior who came from Ondo, Nigeria.  On the day in November that Aborowa signed her letter of intent to play at the University of Texas, an email addressed to the Texas coach and athletic director arrived alleging that Aborowa was in the country illegally and that she was older than the age listed.  The email also alleged that her teammate, Felicia Aiyeotan, a 6’9” junior, was illegal and overage.  The email was sent with a fictitious name and was also supposedly sent to other colleges to discourage them from recruiting Aiyeotan.  Goretti was accused of cheating and the email implied that the FBI was looking into the case.

A Philadelphia newspaper, Philly Voice, investigated and concluded the email came from the Archbishop Wood head coach.  He had issued a “no comment” response when asked about the allegations, but has since resigned according to the Philadelphia Daily News.  The Archdiocese investigated the paperwork on the two girls and concluded that the girls are here “legitimately”.

The Bethlehem Catholic girls’ basketball team, a target in the past of recruiting allegations themselves, is in the midst of trying to win their third straight District XI basketball championship.  They are a very talented team.  State rankings have the Golden Hawks ranked as high as #2 in the state.  There is a good possibility if they are successful in the state playoffs that they could eventually meet up with Archbishop Wood, the #1 ranked team in AAA.  The Hawks could be problematic for Wood, but certainly not as problematic as the firestorm facing the Archbishop program at the moment.  Stay tuned!

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. I sat in the stands this past Sunday for the Lafayette at Lehigh game. I rarely sit in the stands, since I can usually sit at the press table, even when I am not broadcasting.  My wife and daughter wanted to attend the game, so I sat with them.  It did not take me long to realize how bad some fans can be and the vitriolic nature of their disdain for another team or player. I don’t get it.  I’ll take press row seats anytime.
2. One of the positive developments sitting in the stands Sunday was getting to know the parents of Dan Trist, Lafayette’s outstanding center and the leading scorer in the Patriot League. Even though Dan’s a senior, I had never met his parents because they were watching Dan’s first LIVE Lafayette game.  Clive and Helga Trist live in Sydney, Australia and have only been able to watch Dan play through our broadcasts on the internet.  They were sure having fun.  Every time Dan scored, Helga waved a full-sized Australian flag!
3. I attended Wilson High School and played football, basketball, and baseball. I grew up being exposed to some of the great feats of Wilson Warrior athletics.  An anniversary of one such feat occurred this past week. On February 24, 1955, Wilson’s Cal Vogel scored 90 points in one basketball game and tied the state single-game record of Wilt Chamberlain.  Wilson won 95-52 over Pen Argyl.  Amazing!
4. Toot! Toot!  That’s the sound we announcers make in jest to one another when we are praising ourselves.  I am going to do just that.  I watched our District XI wrestling coverage on Saturday night.  Scott Barr and Jim Best are outstanding announcers.  They are our RCN experts and they are the best.  Toot!  Toot!
5. I saw J. K. Simmons’ Academy Award winning performance in Whiplash recently. He plays a music teacher who abuses all of his students, and one, a young jazz drummer, even more so.  It can be uncomfortable to watch.  It reminded me of some coaches I have seen over the years.

Recently here at the “SportsTalk Shop,” we brought you highlights and insights on the larger Lehigh Valley basketball teams in this winter’s playoffs.  This week we look at some of the smaller schools, and a few of the girls teams that I had a chance to catch-up with over the last few weeks.

Like most basketball seasons, Allentown Central Catholic boys team is a favorite to compete for a District XI 3A title.  The Vikings are in search of their fifth straight championship, and may present the best chance of any team in the RCN area to win it.  The #1 seed is Pottsville–a team that also appears quite regularly in the playoffs.  Some winters, the Crimson Tide come into the playoffs with overwhelmingly impressive records…but that doesn’t always translate to postseason success.  Some years their quality of competition is not nearly what teams in the Lehigh Valley face, and the result is a quick exit from districts.  This is NOT one of those years, as Pottsville not only has played some very good teams, but also boasts some outstanding, multi-talented players.  These players also are great all-around athletes who excel at other sports.  Tamaqua is also having an outstanding year, but is in the “upper bracket,” meaning they’ll have to face the Tide in the district semifinal.  A loss to Pottsville means they would have to fight for the remaining playoff berth in the consolation game (FYI: District XI 3A has three teams that can qualify for the state playoff).

Speaking of “brackets,” it’s a shame that so many quality teams from the Lehigh Valley were all grouped together in the same (lower) 3A bracket, which limits the number of teams in the RCN viewing area teams to advance.  Central Catholic will face Salisbury in this Tuesday’s semifinal matchup.  The loser of that ball game will have to win the consolation game Friday in order to qualify for the PIAAs.

In the girls Colonial League championship, Notre Dame really impressed me with it’s lights-out defense and smart play.

The Crusaders held a very talented Northwestern offense to 15 first half points, while having five different players scoring eight or more points themselves.  Notre Dame featured outstanding balance on this year’s team.  Seniors Gabby Altmire, Sam Cabone and Julie Romich are outstanding leaders on and off the court.  Despite having a very young team (six of their nine regulation rotation players are underclassmen), they have many battle-tested players who’ve played in a number of close games against great competition throughout the past year.

Northwestern is also a very fun team to watch and showed lots of determination in the title game by coming back and not quitting, despite facing a 15-point deficit midway through the third quarter.  Seniors Sabrina Mertz and Sarah Segan are both capable of big scoring nights and leading a team that can also play great defense.  They are part of a 3A group loaded with talent. The Tigers figure to be viewed as underdogs heading into their semifinal game.

This brings us to the two best girls teams in the RCN viewing area–Bethlehem Catholic and Central Catholic–that met in the EPC championship this past Friday.

The Golden Hawks earned a hard-fought title, led by perhaps the best player in the state, Kalista Walters, who has scored 2,202 career points heading into the district playoffs.  Very few teams have been able to contain her in her scholastic career, and when they do she’s been amazing at finding the open teammate on the floor and dishing out assists.  Central Catholic might actually have more high-quality players and feature one of the premiere all-around athletes in the area (Darcy Wolf).  Becahi Head Coach Jose Medina has done a great job keeping the rhythm going after taking over the program very late in the process and Central Head Coach Mike Kopp is as good as it gets.  I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if these teams square-off against each other in districts, and make for another great battle.

You can watch the Becahi/Central championship and all of the local leagues’ girls and boys title games on RCN OnDemand.

Be sure to bookmark our RCN-TV website and check back often for updates on our playoff broadcast schedule as we cover the teams in the RCN viewing area over the next several weeks.  Also, we’d love to hear your comments on our local teams and athletes and want to spotlight great on-the-court performances on our “RCN SportsTalk: District Championship Preview Show” with guests Megan Dellegrotti and Joe Stellato, coming up this Thursday, February 26, from 6-7 pm.  Email your thoughts to rcnsportstalk@rcn.com and we may read and respond to your emails on this program.

It is not unusual for me to spout off to anyone who will listen about the value of athletics.  I like to point out that you learn to be a part of a team; you learn to sacrifice your time for the greater good; you learn that hard work and dedication leads to success; you learn that individual accomplishment is often aided by others; and you learn that competition makes you stronger.  That has always been my mantra and, I would like to think that over the years, the young people I have watched garner success have done so the right way and for the right reasons.

And then you get hit with some old-fashioned reality – too many people in sports these days are cheating.  Whether it is illegal recruiting, deflating footballs, using performance-enhancing drugs, offering phantom grades to athletes to keep them in college, shifting residence requirements, etc., the ultimate goal now seems to be to win at all costs.

That lesson was dramatically demonstrated again this week.   This was a particularly bad seven days.  A scandal hit the Little League!  As I’m sure you know by now, the Jackie Robinson West Little League team was stripped of its US title for changing the boundaries for its roster.  It seemed shocking; and we all felt badly for the kids who had nothing to do with the scandal.  Some adults decided that it would be best to create a Little League all-star team in order to have a better chance to win the national title, despite the fact that it was against the rules.  Disgusting, right?  Alarming, right?  But, should we have really been shocked at all?

If kids and coaches are learning anything about athletics these days, it’s that winning is pretty much everything!  Pro athletes take illegal substances in order to perform better.  Colleges allow athletes to forego the academic part of attending their institution by allowing them access to their athletic teams, but not requiring them to meet the standards of the academic institution.  Deflating footballs, illegally taping practices, recruiting athletes for college with promises that can’t be kept – this is the landscape today.

And even worse, so many current day athletes are proud and happy to demonstrate their huge egos, their sense of entitlement, and self-importance over all else.

That is not what sports are to be about.  I want to continue to announce games where kids play for the love of the game, the love of competition, and for their fellow teammates.  Fortunately, at the high school and college-level environment I work in, those attributes seem to still exist. I continue to hope that, for the most part, the glass is still half full.  But it is becoming harder and harder to keep the blinders on and not see what could be a harsh reality – winners cheat!

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. Remember Diana Taurasi who played for Connecticut and won three national championships. That was 11 years ago.  Well, she went on to win three WNBA titles, three Olympic gold medals, and four Euroleague titles.  She announced this week that she will not play in the WNBA this year.  Her body needs a rest.  She will get paid, however, to sit out by her European team from Russia.  They will pay her $107,000 salary to rest.  It is said she makes $1.5 million to play for the Russian team. They want her healthy.
2. Pitchers and catchers report this week for spring training. That means Alex Rodriguez is back soon with the Yankees.  It will be interesting to watch how the Yankees handle him and how Rodriguez handles himself.  Is anyone rooting for him to succeed?
3. There were 321 points scored in the NBA All-Star game on Sunday; it was 122-122 after three periods! Russell Westbrook of Oklahoma City scored 41 points, one shy of the All-Star record held by Wilt Chamberlain.  I guess no one told either team that defense wins games.
4. It’s hard enough to win money when you are legally betting on a sporting event. This past weekend at Churchill Downs, it was so muddy that the wrong horse was incorrectly awarded the victory.  All the horses were caked in mud at the end; the winners were announced; and the bets paid.  Then the horses were hosed down revealing a different winner!  Officials asked that the people who were incorrectly paid return their winnings.  I’m sure that will happen.
5. District basketball starts its two-week run this week, crowning champions on the 27^th and 28^th. With no AA and A boys’ teams in the field from our viewing area, the field is narrowed considerably.  Enjoy the next two weeks.

This past Saturday, The Eastern Pennsylvania Conference ended its first regular season of basketball.  And to the delight of the fans, the final weekend was loaded with games that had significant meaning for more than half the teams involved.  Four teams were fighting for two playoff spots and others were battling for home court advantage by trying to upgrade their seeding in the first EPC tournament which will determine the overall champion.  That tournament will be played this week.  After Saturday’s win by Allen, the tournament pairings are set: Parkland-Whitehall; Liberty-Easton; Stroudsburg-Central Catholic; and Allen-Emmaus.  Parkland is the overwhelming favorite to win the title on Friday night, but there are no guarantees.  Every sports fan knows the cliché, “That’s why they play the games”.

However, one has to ask if these final pairings were “fair”.  Is the new league set up in the best possible way?  After this first year, is there room for improvement?  And the answers are an emphatic “YES!”

There are 18 teams in the EPC, broken down into three divisions of six teams.  Each team plays their division opponents twice and three selected teams from the other two divisions – 16 conference games in all.  This system creates a schedule where each team does not play six teams in the conference.  This allows some teams to play a much more difficult schedule than others if that team happens to get six of the stronger teams and another gets some of the weaker teams.  This was especially true for the Lehigh Valley teams that had the much weaker bottom-echelon Mountain Division teams on their schedule while others did not.

In addition, the Skyline Division was so much stronger top-to-bottom than the other two divisions that having to play those teams twice was certainly detrimental to some.  It also means that some historically great rivalry games were lost – Allen did not play Central Catholic, their cross-town rival; Nazareth and Easton did not meet; Liberty and Parkland did not play.  I think you get my point.

Granted this league is in its infancy and certainly some growing pains were expected.  But there is a quick and fair fix.  Just eliminate the divisions (they really did not serve much of a purpose anyway) and have each of the 18 teams play each other once.  Everybody plays everybody!  That creates 17 conference games, allows five independent match-ups, and creates a regular season champion.  The only drawback I see is that a team has a home-court advantage for that one game, but that will be reversed the following year.  Choose your top eight based on the standings that were created where everyone is being judged equally because each team played the same schedule.

We have all been told by parents, teachers, coaches, and bosses that “Life isn’t fair”, but if there is a way to make it fair, then do so!

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. I worked the Lafayette-Bucknell game this past Wednesday night with John Feinstein, noted author of many top-selling non-fiction sports books (A Season on the Brink, The Last Amateurs, etc.) and young-adult fictional works. He also writes for the Washington Post and is a guest commentator on the Golf Channel.  He told me his next book will be about three of college basketball’s most iconic coaches – Jim Valvano, Dean Smith, and Mike Kryzewski.  John was good friends with all of them.  Dean Smith died this past Sunday at the age of 83 from complications caused by dementia.
2. Tiger Woods withdrew from the Farmers Insurance tournament this past week because of a bad back. Despite coming off his worst year on the tour in 2014, he still earned $55 million from golf and endorsements, so in case you think his future income is threatened, ponder this.  Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus made $40 million and $22 million respectively last year.  I don’t think “washed up” works here.
3. The New England Patriots players received $97,000 for their win in the Super Bowl, the Seahawk players got $49,000. That may seem like a nice paycheck for one game, but considering that the players on the winning team in the Pro Bowl got $55,000 each and Tom Brady got $1 million a game this year, not so much!
4. Let the playoffs begin! Crowning EPC and Colonial League champions in boys and girls basketball and District champions in basketball and wrestling are all on tap in the coming weeks. Please join us for the best in high school basketball.
5. I actually had a rare Saturday off this past week because Lafayette’s game with Loyola was picked up by CBS Sports Network and broadcast on Monday, so my wife and I, daughter and son-in-law went into New York to see a show and watch my granddaughter perform at The Pit, an ”improv” theater. The show was “Beautiful- The Carole King Musical” and my granddaughter is Abigail Ludrof.  Both were great!

The Pennsylvania high school boys basketball playoffs have begun, with tons of talented teams ready to square off against each other over the next five weeks.

As we begin the road to state gold in Hershey, here are notes and highlights on some of the 4A teams that I’ve covered this winter for RCN Sports, along with a few predictions on what we might be able to expect from these teams this post-season.

PARKLAND
We’ve spend a few blog entries talking about just how good this year’s Trojan team is, and they have not disappointed, entering the playoffs with an undefeated EPC record. Quite frankly, Parkland was rarely tested in any of their league games and appeared to “turn on the switch” whenever they wanted to, to put games away and win contests by significant margins.

One aspect of the team that we have not addressed in previous blog entries is the Parkland “role” players.  Jack Dreisbach, Kenny Yeboah, Justin Jones and Kevin Dulorie are four players who haven’t gotten much attention in the media this basketball season.  Yet, when opponents try to stop some of the other top players, these four guys have stepped up and led the team to sound wins.  Dreisbach recently scored in double figures when Nazareth tried to double-down on other players.  Yeboah is a force in the paint, averaging seven points and nine rebounds per game.  Jones recently fueled a “put-away” run with seven points in limited action against a very good Emmaus team. Dulorie is a player with moves that would probably make him the go-to-guy if he was on at least half of the other teams’ rosters in the Lehigh Valley area.

It’ll be hard enough for many of the Trojans’ upcoming opponents to try to contain Kyle Stout, Sam Iorio, and DeVante Cross…but when these role players step up, as they have been doing of late, it might just be the icing on Parkland’s cake for a serious run in the state playoffs.

LIBERTY
The Hurricanes are probably one of two teams in the Lehigh Valley that have a legitimate shot at beating the Trojans on a given night.  Armed with an outstanding coaching staff, they have great balance  led by senior wingman Ludwin Gonzalez, and have the depth enabling them to attempt to beat Parkland with an up-tempo game.  They have an outstanding–and incredibly young–backcourt that would make for an exciting challenge for Cross to deal with.  Through no fault of their own, they haven’t been as battle-tested against the elite squads as other teams, thanks to their placement in the “Steel” division and the random selection of their non-division opponents.   However, they’ve proven themselves with dramatic victories over Allen, Freedom and Becahi, to name a few.

ALLEN
The Canaries might be the most athletic team in the area–period.  Although they didn’t face Parkland or Central Catholic, they have recorded more than their share of big wins.  They’ve also lost to Liberty twice, plus Nazareth and a few other teams that don’t have Allen’s solid winning percentage.  They have several scoring options in guards Bryson Walton, Koi Kostic and Talek Williams and from big men Isiah Hinton Gray, Jamiere Myers and Naequan Feliciano.  I don’t know if they have the consistency to be considered the leading candidates to win a league or district title.  That being said, they have the personnel to do it.  If they can channel the way I saw them play in the summer leagues, the Canaries might just win a winter title after all.

EASTON
I have not seen the Rovers in person, but watching them on RCN On-Demand made me think they can definitely win a few playoff games.  They enter the post-season as one of the hottest teams in the EPC.  Following their loss to Wilson in the Rotary Classic over the Christmas holidays, many thought Easton would have trouble making the District XI playoffs, let alone the league’s.  The Rovers have very good balance and nice size up front.  If they can continue the momentum they maintained in January, I think the die-hard Easton fans will be happy with their team in the playoffs.

WHITEHALL
Besides Parkland, no team played better on their home court than the Zephyrs.  They provided just enough offense and showcased a very impressive “match-up” defense to qualify for both the league and district post-season. Brett Radocha is the team’s only player scoring in double figures and Mikey Esquilin is one of the most exciting freshmen in Eastern Pennsylvania this winter.  However, Whitehall didn’t finish the season as strongly as many fans of the maroon-and-gold would have liked, and the Zephs never did seem to have the level of success away from the newly christened “Coach Tracy Court.”  On the positive side, they recorded very impressive wins over Liberty and Emmaus and will need similar efforts to have playoff success.

EMMAUS
The Hornets’ non-conference schedule might have been one of the most challenging of any team in the state.  The hope was that the high quality of competition they faced–and their wins in a few of them–would help Emmaus when they came home to play EPC teams.  They’ve had to withstand injuries to their top two players–twin brothers David and Matt Kachelries–who have both returned and picked up right where they were last season.  Junior center Joe Polczyski is one of the more underrated players in the league, but Emmaus fell short in several big divisional games in the season’s second half.  Head Coach Steve Yoder has done a remarkable job of rebuilding this program, I think, and his bench might be as deep as any in District XI.  I personally have yet to see the consistency in this team to put them in the “favorites” category to win a championship–this year, anyway.  I do think the team’s winning ways will continue even if they don’t win a title this season.

NAZARETH/NORTHAMPTON
Both of these teams’ head coaches, Joe Arndt and Coy Stampone, are two of the nicest guys in the area.  Both the Eagles and the K-Kids posted several big wins during the season.  Northampton is the “feel good” story of the winter with their dramatic turnaround from a sub-.500 season last year.  They could use their disappointment of missing out on the league playoffs (the “power point tiebreaker” kept them out of the playoffs by a couple one-thousands of a percentage point) to use as motivation in districts.  Nazareth defeated Northampton twice during the regular season and scored an impressive win over Allen as one of their highlights during the season.  Nazareth and Northampton both played a thrilling game against each other in the regular season finale and both teams could come back stronger than ever in 2016.  I don’t know if either team will have the firepower to contend this season, but they should be very proud of how well they played and how far they’ve come this winter.

SOUTHERN LEHIGH
Basketball fans may not realize that the Spartans are a 4A team this year, but the way they finished the regular season (wins over Saucon and Salisbury) has certainly given them a ton of momentum heading into the playoffs.  Currently, Southern Lehigh is ranked at the very bottom of the District XI standings, meaning they could face the toughest competition in the playoffs.  However, a Colonial League title win later this week would boost them up to a #2 seed and keep them away from facing Parkland as long as possible.  I like the job that Ben Tannous has done in just his second year, and he told me a few weeks ago that he would not count this season as a “success” until they posted wins over elite teams.  I think with their recent wins that they now have achieved that level and feel that there will be many more reasons to cheer this team going forward.

What are your thoughts on the top EPC teams and which players will shine during the league playoff season?  Join RCN Sports Director Gary Laubach, Joe Craig and myself on this Thursday’s “RCN SportsTalk” show live from 6-7 pm as we preview the EPC and Colonial League girls and boys championship series and preview the next round of the playoffs for all classifications within the RCN viewing area.