There are a couple of weeks every year when the college basketball, college football, and high school football seasons overlap.  This past week was particularly challenging because I was doing my first college basketball game on Wednesday, the District XI AAAA football championship on Friday night, the Lafayette-Lehigh two-hour pre-game show on Saturday afternoon, and the first Lafayette women’s game on Sunday.  So… here is how the week unfolded.

MONDAY
Monday is always “gather information” day.  I put out the request for Easton and Parkland starting lineups and statistics and await a response.  I also begin to formulate the Lafayette-Princeton basketball information.  Luckily there is a plethora of stuff on the internet at the two websites.  I can gather statistics, starting lineups, information about the players and coaches, and begin to get a feel for the match-up.  Hopefully, all is completed by mid-afternoon because I need to write a blog for the RCN website.

TUESDAY
Happily, the high school information arrives that morning so it is time to put together each team’s profile, starters, statistics, stat charts for the game itself, a team stat chart, player name pronunciations, and find out which officials will be working the game.  This pretty much fills up the day.  I am able to come up with the Keys to the Game and the Trivia question of the week if there is still time; otherwise that’s done first thing Wednesday morning.

WEDNESDAY
Keys and Trivia were done first thing (no time the day before) in the morning.  I finish up the prep work for the basketball game that night and start to look at my responsibilities for Saturday at Yankee Stadium.  I leave the office @ noon.  It’s off to the Kirby Sports Center at 4:30 to set up for the Lafayette men’s basketball game.  It’s my first of the season and it literally is like riding a bike.  You don’t forget how to do it.  The Lafayette men win 83-66 over Princeton, a team they rarely beat, and have five players in double figures.  I leave the gym @ 9:30.  It was a good day.

THURSDAY
This is supposed to be a day off, but I spend the morning collecting all the notes concerning the Easton-Parkland football championship game.  There are a number of players in the game who have already set records (season and career) and who are still chasing other records.  I have always felt responsible for giving them the credit they deserve for reaching school and career records.  Also, there is a rich history to the AAAA championship and that needs to be conveyed on the broadcast.  I finish around 1:00 and begin a day off with my wife.

FRIDAY
After reading the Express-Times and the Morning Call article on the high school game that night, I return to the office to prepare for Sunday’s Lafayette women’s basketball game against Hartford.  The Hartford Hawks played on Thursday night so no preparation could have been done before Friday.  Same routine as the men: starting lineups, season stats, human interest stories on the players, coaches’ background info, matchup keys, etc.  When that’s done, I really need to familiarize myself with the Yankee Stadium pre-game.  It is a two-hour show before 49,000 fans on the large Jumbotron screen in the stadium, and also sent out over the internet.  I am told that I will interview the Lafayette and Lehigh presidents.  Now that’s pressure.

The afternoon is taken up with packing a bag for Saturday since I am heading to New York right after the high school football game.  Warm clothes will be essential, but so are a crisp dress shirt, a tie, and a top coat.

Now it’s off to the high school game.  Parkland beats Easton.  Naturally, since I want to head to New York as early as possible, the high school game goes to overtime, but it was a very good game.  I exit Cottingham Stadium at 9:45 and arrive at the Hyatt Regency in Jersey City at 11:15.  The view of the city during the ride in is just awesome.  Now picture this.  I check in to the hotel wearing ski pants, two jackets and a sweater.  I must look like I was heading to Stowe to ski and made a wrong turn.  The check-in receptionist and I have a good laugh as she assures me there is no need to wear so many clothes.  The rooms ARE HEATED!

The view of New York from my beautiful room is spectacular, but fatigue is beginning to set in especially after removing all those clothes needed during the high school football game.

SATURDAY
I eat my $23 breakfast at the hotel and leave for Yankee Stadium at 9:45.  The traffic is bad early on due to construction, but I arrive at the Stadium at 11:00.  A pre-production meeting is held for the 1:20 start of the pre-game and then I get to soak in the mystique of the Yankees and the Stadium.  I visit the Yankee locker room, stop by Derek Jeter’s locker, check out the staff offices (why do I think of George Costanza and Seinfeld at this moment?), look at the historical memorabilia, and then walk out onto the field.  I am awestruck!  It is massive. My initial reaction was there is no way the fans will fill this stadium.  I was wrong.

The place begins to fill up with the 47,750 fans.  The pre-game goes smoothly and kickoff occurs at 3:40.  I watch the game from the sideline and the Leopards dominate with a 27-7 win!  After celebrating with the team a bit, it is back in the car to head home.  I arrive back in Easton at 9:30.

Lafayette Sports Network’s Mike Joseph, Gary Laubach, and Scott Morse at the 150th meeting of Lafayette and Lehigh football at Yankee Stadium on November 22, 2014.

SUNDAY
I review the Hartford-Lafayette basketball information and head to the Kirby Sports Center at 11:45.  First, there is set-up, followed by a nice lunch provided by Lafayette.  The game brings another Lafayette win for the week (the men won on Saturday at Penn).  Lafayette beat Hartford 74-59.

MONDAY
Back at the desk to choose the Patriot League football Players of the Week, contact the Parkland and St. Joe’s Prep coaches for information concerning this Saturday’s PIAA state football game, put in the PIAA media request for permission to broadcast the event, and start to write this blog as you can see.

When seasons overlap…

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!!

 (Last Week – 11-3; Seasonal Record – 112-61-1:  65%)
DETROIT
PHILADELPHIA
SEATTLE
INDIANAPOLIS
HOUSTON
BUFFALO
BALTIMORE
GIANTS
CINCINNATI
ST. LOUIS
PITTSBURGH
MINNESOTA
ARIZONA
GREEN BAY
KANSAS CITY
MIAMI

If you are a college football fan, you are well aware of the games that take on special prominence every year – Alabama-LSU; Michigan-Ohio State; Notre Dame-USC; Oklahoma-Texas, etc.  But these “rivalry” games are just infants compared to the one between the two colleges in our own backyard.

It is simply known as “The Rivalry”.  Lafayette and Lehigh first met on the football field in Easton on October 25, 1884.  Lafayette won that game 56-0.  There have been 148 other games between the two, making this game college football’s most-played rivalry.  The teams met twice annually except in 1891 when they played three games.  The two per year ended after the 1901 matchups.  They played 35 times in that 17-year span.  The two teams did not meet at all in 1896 due to a player eligibility dispute between the two.

This Saturday they will meet once again at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx for the 150^th time and the 122^nd consecutive time (also a record)!  They have only met on a neutral field one other time – in Wilkes-Barre on November 25, 1891 in front of, at that time, a massive crowd of 3,000.  Lehigh won three times that year (22-4; 6-2; 16-2).

The rivalry game has been around for so long that it predated the invention of the forward pass and has been a part of the evolution of the various shapes of the football.  Dislike for one another was created immediately when Asa Packer of Lehigh and Ario Pardee of Lafayette could not see eye to eye on the religious choices of the two men.

Lehigh’s first win occurred in 1887 after Lafayette had won five and tied one.  The exuberance of the Lehigh team, coupled with their dissatisfaction with the administration for what the team considered a lack of support, led to the team burning down the rickety stands that were erected for the game.

There have been two postponements in the series.  In 1904 Lehigh President Dr. Henry Down, who had also been a former Lafayette faculty member, died, causing a postponement.  The second postponement occurred when the game was moved back a week following the death of President John Kennedy in 1963.

And now it is time for the 150^th game between the two.  Lafayette leads the series 77-67-5.  Lafayette won last year 50-28, ending Lehigh’s five-game winning streak.  Prior to that streak, Lafayette had won four in a row. There have been over 49,000 tickets sold for this Saturday, by far the largest crowd to ever see the game in person. The CBS Sports Network (channel 421 and 1421-HD on RCN) will televise the game, and thousands will gather for various viewing parties across the country.

This one should not be missed.  Watch the first 150^th game in college football history.  Watch “The Rivalry”.

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

• By the way, the 100^th Lafayette-Lehigh game was played on November 21, 1964 and ended in a 6-6 tie.
• I will be part of “The Rivalry” pregame show on the field at Yankee Stadium on Saturday. The two-hour pre-game will be shown on the internet only at goleopards.com.  My streak of calling the play-by-play of the game ends after 14 years.  Hopefully, a new streak starts again next year.  I don’t think I’ll be here for the 200^th.
• Do you chalk up the Eagles’ performance against the Packers this past week to having a short week to prepare due to the Monday night game or do you just resign yourself to the fact that they are just not among the elite in the NFL? There was no aspect of the game that one could grade above a D for the Eagles.  Mark Sanchez resembled the Sanchez of the Jets, but, then again, the offensive line looked Jet-like, also.  Up next is 2-7 Tennessee.
• I dare you to put any credence in your ability to pick a Super Bowl winner right now. How do you explain Seattle’s 6-4 record; Atlanta leading the NFC South with a losing record; Denver getting manhandled by St. Louis; Arizona possessing the best record in the NFL, etc.?  No wonder New Jersey wants to legalize sports betting.
• If you love the possibility of a huge upset in sports, you might want to spend the money ($59.99) for the Manny Pacquiao-Chris Algieri Pay-Per-View fight this Saturday on RCN. Pacquiao is 47-0 and the WBO welterweight champion while Algieri is 20-0 with 8 KO’s.  Algieri is four inches taller and his reach five inches longer.  He has plenty of experience fighting southpaws.  Is that enough?  I doubt it, but maybe…

 (Last Week – 9-5; Seasonal Record – 101-58-1:  64%)
KANSAS CITY
CLEVELAND
PHILADELPHIA
NEW ENGLAND
GREEN BAY
INDIANAPOLIS
CINCINNATI
BUFFALO
CHICAGO
ARIZONA
ST LOUIS
DENVER
SAN FRANCISCO
DALLAS
BALTIMORE

While high school football is extremely popular in Eastern Pennsylvania, there was a plethora of great athletic accomplishments achieved by boys and girls in many different sports this fall season.  On our “RCN SportsTalk” show, we highlighted many of these outstanding programs this past year and we’d also like to add more honors in today’s blog entry.  Here’s a sampling of the great non-football Lehigh Valley sports stories that took place.

It was not a surprise the Saucon Valley boys soccer team captured this year’s District XI 2A title—they were one of the preseason favorites, but the girls’ team relished the role of underdogs all season long and joined the boys in action on championship day before falling to Northwestern.  The Panthers’ program was just one of the top soccer squads in the area.  Here’s some interviews with local coaches and athletes on their fall teams.

Southern Lehigh turned in a great storyline in its win over Emmaus in the District 3A soccer final.  The Spartans, led by long-time coach Terry Nevill, who announced he was stepping down after this season, turned in a run few soccer fans will forget anytime soon.  The Spartans defeated the teams ranked first, second and third en route to the championship.  The win marked the first time in Nevill’s career that he won a 3A title.

An exciting season for girls’ volleyball fans ended with very few surprises, as four of the most dominating programs – Parkland, Emmaus, Bethlehem Catholic and Notre Dame – advanced to the district finals.  We caught up with the ladies from the Trojans and Hornets to talk with them about their season and on facing each other four times this season.

The Whitehall girls’ soccer team captured another District XI championship by beating Nazareth.  The Zephyrs’ program, one of the last “big schools” to form a girls’ soccer team in Lehigh County, has established itself as one of the premiere programs in the region.  We highlighted Kourtney Cunningham (who scored the game winner in the district final) and her sisters playing two fall sports at the same time on a recent “SportsTalk” show.  Whitehall’s field hockey program was also strong once again this year, as was Nazareth, Northampton, Parkland and others, but perennial state qualifier (and often state champ) Emmaus once again won the District XI 3A title.

The Easton cross country team became just the second Lehigh Valley team ever to sweep the 3A District Title in their sport.  The Northwestern girls’ program (guests on “SportsTalk” this past fall) had another successful season as they shared 2A honors with Central Catholic.

The local tennis scene might have had the biggest news of them all.  The Parkland girls’ team that had gone years without a league loss, suffered a few defeats in what turned out to be a “retooling” year for the Trojans in the new Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.  Several teams that had some success in previous years rose to new heights this fall.  We had a chance to interview some of the top girls’ tennis players in the area, including the District XI’s doubles pairings.

And it was a win-win fall season for Emmaus coach Mike Mihalik.  His team not only won a District XI 3A golf title for the second consecutive year, but he was also unanimously approved by the East Penn School Board to be named the new head coach of the highly successful Hornets baseball program, succeeding longtime skipper John Schreiner.  Mihalik was a former Parkland graduate who spent time pitching in several minor league affiliates after originally being drafted by the Phillies.

We welcome you to post or email (rcnsportstalk@rcn.com) other fall sports team or individual highlights to us. We constantly look to honor the young men’s and women’s accomplishments in the RCN viewing area.  Also, to see more of these interviews and as well as recent news on our local sports programs, you can check “SportsTalk” out for yourself through RCN On Demand or live every Thursday at 6pm on RCN-TV.

As we near the “awards season” for high school football, I would like to discuss one a bit early – Coach of the Year for the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference. I bring it up sooner than normal only because my two nominees coach against one another this Friday night in the Sub-regional District #2-#11 semifinal. The nominees are – Steve Shiffert of Easton and Jason Roeder of Freedom. The choices were easy; picking the winner, not so much.

Steve Shiffert is obvious. This is his twenty-second year at the helm. His team is undefeated (11-0). They are the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference South Division champions. They score over 40 points a game and they win by an average margin of 26 points. The closest game they played was a 63-49 win over Whitehall. Mercy rule games (winning by 35 points) were the norm. Easton plays fundamental football about as well as you can imagine. They simply block, tackle, run, and defend the way coaching manuals demonstrate. There really isn’t anything that one could say detrimental about this team or the coach. The program possesses the second most wins in Pennsylvania history, more AAAA District championships than any other team, and Coach Shiffert has more wins (199) than any other Easton coach. In other words, this program just continues to roll along. This seems like an easy vote to cast for Coach of the Year, right?

Well, before you fill out your ballot, consider the other nominee – Jason Roeder. The Freedom Patriots were 2-8 last year, 4-5 in ’12, 3-6 in ’10. Winning seasons have been hard to come by and championships have been non-existent. As they prepare to play in the semifinals of the Districts, they are 9-2 this season. They were 7-0 when their quarterback, Joe Young, tore his hip socket and was done for the season. They lost the next two games against the very best of the Conference, Easton and Parkland. In the past two weeks, Freedom shut out their arch-rival, Liberty 29-0 and beat a very good Whitehall team by a 17-14 score. When you watch this team play, you have to be impressed with the heart, drive, and cohesiveness they demonstrate. There is no doubt that they play for one another, their school, and their coach. Jason Roeder has done a marvelous job putting his team in a position to win their very first District championship.

So, do you pick the coach who, year in and year out, has the acumen and the players to pretty much guarantee a successful season or do you pick a coach who has turned around a dismal year and created a highly successful one?

You should know that Easton beat Freedom 47-27 just three weeks ago and will be favored to beat them again. It would be shocking if the Patriots knocked off the undefeated Red Rovers. Should we wait to see who wins the game before making our selection? Or, better yet, do we recognize the outstanding achievements of both men and their teams and make them Co-Coaches of the Year? Now, that’s something I CAN vote for.

P.S. You can watch the game LIVE on Friday night at 7:00 followed by the Parkland – Delaware Valley game at 10:30 PM.

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

• There was some good sportsmanship on Sunday night when Mike McCarthy, the head coach of the Packers, pulled Aaron Rodgers after he threw six touchdown passes in the first half alone. Even though Rodgers was close to the NFL record of eight TD passes in a game, McCarthy mercifully sat his quarterback down and did not embarrass Chicago any further.
• Arizona Cardinal quarterback, Carson Palmer, has never won a playoff game in his career. His team is off to an 8-1 start, he signed a $50 million contract extension this week with a guarantee of $20.5 million. He suffered a season-ending knee injury on Sunday. So much for a great week.
• Michael Vick believes the Jets would have won more games if he had been their starting quarterback. That’s easy to say since they only won one without him. It is somewhat bewildering that the Jets waited this long to give Vick an opportunity. In upsetting Pittsburgh this past Sunday, Vick became the first NFL quarterback to rush for 6,000 career yards.
• No surprise that the state of Alabama has the highest concentration of college football fans. Facebook did a survey of the highest proportion of the population who root for any college football team. What with the University of Alabama and Auburn enjoying great success, 34% of the population were college football fans. Nebraska, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Iowa fill out the Top Five. The five lowest states showing interest in college football were all from New England. Pennsylvania was 31^st.
• The AAA District XI championship will be decided LIVE on Saturday night on RCN-TV at 7:00. The Matchup is somewhat intriguing – Colonial League co-champion Saucon Valley vs Eastern Pennsylvania Conference member and defending champion Bethlehem Catholic.

(Last Week – 8-4; Seasonal Record – 92-53-1: 63%)

 
MIAMI
CLEVELAND
CHICAGO
GREEN BAY
SEATTLE
ATLANTA
NEW ORLEANS
WASHINGTON
DENVER
SAN FRANCISCO
SAN DIEGO
ARIZONA
NEW ENGLAND
PITTSBURGH
 

The regular season has come to a close in high school football, leaving many teams putting away their uniforms this week. In addition, the college football teams that have no prospect of continuing their season will play out their schedule hoping to create some positive moments to carry over into next season. These teams must deal with the fact that they were just not good enough to play post-season football and, even worse, they must deal with some fans and parents who will berate them and their coaches for perceived incompetence and failure. Rest assured, the players and coaches hear it and read it. In this day of social media, it is hard to avoid.

I was one who always stayed away from the various forums that are out there which attack individuals, teams, and coaches. I just didn’t feel comfortable lending an ear. And I really dislike the anonymity of the process. You can say anything you want without taking any personal responsibility for it.

But, this past week, I took a peek at what was being said and, as I expected, I did not like it. Players were being accused of quitting. Coaches were referred to as “morons”. School administrators were described as “gutless” for not firing a particular coach. And so on. It was not pretty.

So, I got to thinking – what type of person does this? Do they really understand the game? Did they ever play the game? Do they really think kids practice hard all season to lose? Have they ever tried to coach? Do they know what goes in to preparing to play an opponent? Do they take into consideration the strength of the opponent? Do they believe a coach does not play his best players? What makes them think they know personnel better than a coaching staff? Finally, who do they think THEY are?

Granted, part of the enjoyment of watching any sporting event is walking in a coach’s shoes or a player’s cleats and pontificating on what call you might have used or what player decision you might have made. “Monday morning quarterbacking” is certainly part of the game, but so is the reality that a coach and a player have to make split decisions in a very short period of time. You, on the other hand, only make a call when one fails. Would you have made the same call when one is successful? It’s hard to tell because you rarely talk about the successful plays. Instead, those critical forums, in an anonymous fashion, simply fester and breed negativity. No coach is good enough, no line blocks very well, no defense defends, no quarterback makes the right decisions, etc., etc.

I would like to see forums that are fair, accurate in their assessments, impartial, respectful, and knowledgeable. Aren’t these the same attributes we want to see in our coaches? What’s good for one should be good for the other. The down side for coaches and players is that we know their names; we do not know yours!

What would be our evaluation if we came to see you work?

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
1. So fans went to a NASCAR race in Fort Worth, Texas, and a “hockey game” broke out! Driver Brad Keselowski bumped Jeff Gordon in a two-lap sprint to the finish and eliminated any chance that Gordon had to win the race. Gordon then confronted Keselowski and “all-hell” broke loose between the drivers, the crew members, with NASCAR officials in the middle. Both drivers and crew members were bloodied. There were no “game misconducts” awarded, but there may be some stiff fines.

2. If you’re counting, Tom Brady is 9-3 all-time in regular season match-ups against Peyton Manning after the Patriots destroyed the Broncos 43-21 this past Sunday.

3. Although you rarely hear his name mentioned with Brady and Manning, Ben Roethlisberger has accomplished some things even the two greats haven’t. In the last two weeks, Roethlisberger has thrown 12 touchdown passes – 6 against Indianapolis and 6 against Baltimore. No quarterback has ever done that in a two-week stretch.

4. We have done our last Lafayette football broadcast for the season and I just wanted to thank the RCN crew, the Lafayette sports information staff, my fellow announcers, and the game managers at the various venues we visited. No matter the results on the field, it’s always a pleasure to be a part of such a great team.

5. District football begins this week on RCN-TV with a AAAA doubleheader on Friday (Whitehall at Freedom -7:00; Pleasant Valley at Easton – 9:30). On Saturday, there will be a AAA semifinal doubleheader (Lehighton at Beca – 7:00; Saucon Valley at Southern Lehigh – 9:30). It is step one to a district title and a trip to the PIAA state playoffs.

(Last Week – 7-6; Seasonal Record – 84-49-1: 63%)
CINCINNATI
DALLAS
DETROIT
NEW ORLEANS
BALTIMORE
PITTSBURGH
TAMPA BAY
DENVER
ARIZONA
SEATTLE
GREEN BAY
PHILADELPHIA

The RCN TV crew is gearing up for another exciting high school football post-season. We’ll be busy with the top games on Friday and Saturdays for the next several weeks. Before the fun gets underway, here’s a peek at the teams in our coverage area and a look at what lies ahead over the next few weeks in the different classifications. (We’ll have much more on the playoffs over the next several weeks on our “RCN SportsTalk” show as well).

Class 4A
Easton enters the District XI playoffs as the number one team (10-0) with multiple impressive wins during the regular season. Here are some thoughts from the Rovers themselves on their season to date and experiences this year.

The Rovers have done a great job of keeping their focus week in and week out. Fans and media observers look ahead to the potentially grueling three-games-in-eight day stretch that they have to fight through as a major deterrent to a deep state playoff run. However, a large number of people, both inside and outside of the Easton borders, have raved about this year’s squad. Many have dubbed it the best Easton team in over a decade, which is truly an amazing compliment given their tradition and the great players who have played there. Here’s some of their highlights the last time we saw them in action on RCN TV.

First, Easton has to advance through some tough competition within the district. Easton opens with Pleasant Valley (9:30pm; RCN-TV) this Friday and the Bears have to shake off a disappointing loss to Stroudsburg last week. Easton defeated Pleasant Valley earlier this year—the winner of this game faces the winner of the Whitehall/Freedom match-up (7 pm live, Friday; RCN-TV), which will be a major topic of conversation on our Thursday “RCN SportsTalk” show.

I think Parkland is once again in an interesting position. They lost two regular season games and fell to the #7 seed entering the playoffs. They’re matched up with a Delaware Valley program that has become a consistent opponent for the Trojans over the last few post-seasons. On paper, Parkland has all the weapons on offense, defense and special teams to go far in the playoffs. I still believe DeVante Cross can be one of the most talented quarterback in the state, and they have a stable of quality offensive players led by Jarel Elder. Omar Haddad has been and will be a huge key for them on defense. I would not be surprised if they once again face Easton in the District XI 4A Championship in a few weeks.

Class 3A
Becahi comes into the playoffs winning their last two regular season games, but they still have a bad feeling following their loss to Stroudsburg.

Remembering that loss, and correcting the mistakes they made in that game, might actually help the Hawks over the long haul. I think the frustration of that game, and some of the issues they had to overcome in last year’s 3A championship, might help them focus this playoff season in making sure they take care of business early in games, and keeping the pressure on teams when/if they get an early lead. They’ll start off against Lehighton (7 pm live, Saturday, RCN-TV), a team led by junior running back Wyatt Clements (over 2,000 yards rushing and 37 touchdowns) and junior quarterback Tyler Cann (over 1,100 passing yards). “SportsTalk” co-host Joe Craig already told me he thinks Lehighton will be a tough matchup for the Hawks, but I’d expect Becahi to once again be playing in this year’s 3A final.

The other 3A playoff game might just be the most competitive game all weekend, featuring a rematch of a great game during the regular season between Saucon Valley and Southern Lehigh (9:30 pm Saturday, RCN-TV). The Spartans have really been playing solid football all year long and showcase multiple impressive players on both offense and defense. Here’s a look at some of them in action.

Saucon Valley, meanwhile, defeated Southern Lehigh earlier this year. I’ve been impressed by several of the Panthers this year, including running back Evan Culver, who’s averaging over 10 yards per carry. Early indications are that Saucon Valley could be the team to beat in 2015, but honestly, I’ d have a hard time trying to predict a winner in this year’s matchup between these two rival schools.

Class 2A & A
While I haven’t had a chance to see the teams that are in the 2A playoffs this fall, I have continued to hear many positives about Northwestern. They definitely have the horses to make a run at the 2A District title, and quite possibly more. Harry Hall, Frank Dangello, Cam Richardson, you could go on just talking about all the horses they have on this year’s team. Palisades is once again having a great season, with a terrific coaching staff and one of the top District XI backs in Christian Gretzinger, who went over 3,000 yards rushing the previous week. However, I’d have to think the Tigers are definitely the favorite in this weekend’s matchup, along with whoever they would face next week in the title game.

Also, Pius is having another solid season. They don’t feature the multiple playmakers at the level they were playing at a few years ago when they made a major run in the state playoffs, but Phil Stambaugh once again has some quality kids led by Tre Jordan. The junior quarterback has already thrown for over 3,500 yards passing and is closing in on 50 touchdowns for his career. Much like Northwestern, look for the Royals to be the solid team to beat in the District XI A playoffs.

Of course, we’ll have many more thoughts on the teams and players in the postseason, and we’ll also have comments on the local teams in the “Eastern Conference” playoffs, as well as predictions from our panelists on this Thursday’s “RCN SportsTalk” from 6-7 pm, which is also available On-Demand. You can email your comments and questions to us at RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com and we’ll respond live on the air to your emails on our next show.

As many of you know, I used to make weekly NFL predictions on WZZO. Based on some recent encounters, a number of people took my guesses as gospel. That may have been wise at times and not so wise on other occasions. Thus far, this season is a good example of “win some-lose some”. I have been right 64% of the time this year predicting the winners of all the individual games.

At this point in the season, 18 of the 32 NFL teams have played half of their games and that leaves 14 who still have their bye week remaining. So, even though we are not technically half way through the season for everybody, it seems like a good time to check on my seasonal picks from last August.

Overall, this is not so bad so far. Every division predicted winner is correct. There is just nothing eye-opening going on in the AFC. In every instance where my ranking is wrong at the moment, only one game separates some and, for others, a bye keeps a team from possibly being tied with my predicted spot in the standings.

AFC Grade – B+

My NFC predictions look rather bleak right now. None of my divisional winners is currently in first place. There are plenty of disappointments at the moment led by Seattle, the Giants, Chicago, and Atlanta. Arizona and Detroit seem to be the biggest success stories.

NFC Grade – C-

I still have confidence that, as the second half of the season unfolds, things will change for the better. And please don’t take my predictions as gospel. Stay tuned.

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
1. Anyone who watched the Penn State game on Saturday night had to be amazed at the ineptness of the officiating and replay crews. Ohio State’s crucial first-quarter “interception” was not caught. ABC on every camera angle showed conclusively that the ball was dropped. Yet the replay crew said there was not sufficient evidence to overrule the interception call on the field. Ohio State scored shortly thereafter. The replay is supposed to come from the television production. The equipment supposedly did not work. Add to that, the absence of a “delay of game” penalty on a successful 49-yard field goal. Again replays showed the play clock had expired for about four seconds before the ball was snapped. Does Ohio State even attempt a 54- yard field goal if the flag is thrown? The officials were again inept late in the game with their own clock management that forced Penn State to use their final timeout. The game went overtime and Ohio State won. It was an awful night for the zebras.

2. I’m sure the Lafayette-Lehigh people were hoping that the 150th matchup to be played at Yankee Stadium would have major implications for a Patriot League championship. That will certainly not be the case. Lafayette is 3-5, 1-2 in the league and Lehigh is even worse at 1-6, 0-2 in the League. I have been around the game enough times to realize it does not need much added hype, but it would have been nice for it to have added significance.

3. Congratulations to Easton for winning the first Eastern Pennsylvania Conference South Division championship. The Rovers have all the ingredients (except maybe a kicking game) to do well in Districts and States (if they get there). I, for one, would have liked to see a true EPC champion. Stroudsburg in the North is also undefeated and that would have been an interesting matchup.

4. Speaking of District football playoffs, here are the local teams that have clinched a spot: AAAA – Easton, Whitehall, Freedom, Parkland; AAA – Bethlehem Catholic, Southern Lehigh (and almost certainly Saucon Valley); AA- Northwestern, Palisades (and Palmerton or Northern Lehigh); A- Pius X. Good luck to all of them.

5. On the flip side, #8 Pleasant Valley, #10 Liberty, and #11 Emmaus are all trying to garner the eighth and final spot available in AAAA District playoffs. All, ironically, are underdogs in their games – PV vs Stroudsburg; Liberty vs Freedom; Emmaus vs Parkland. If they all lose, Pleasant Valley is in.

(Last Week – 9-6; Seasonal Record – 77-43-1: 64%)
NEW ORLEANS
SAN DIEGO
CINCINNATI
CLEVELAND
WASHINGTON
HOUSTON
KANSAS CITY
ARIZONA
SAN FRANCISCO
DENVER
SEATTLE
BALTIMORE
INDIANAPOLIS

The Phillies organization is at a crossroads. After seeing the team steadily decline each year since their 2008 World Championship, the team hit rock bottom this summer. Finishing last in their division and wincing from a sharp drop-off in attendance, the Phillies must swing into action to recapture the city’s interest. They need to give fans reason to think the Sixers won’t be relevant more quickly than the Phillies, and I’m not buying in to Acting CEO Pat Gillick’s suggestion that the team is content to wait until 2017 to make a playoff run. With the Delaware Valley nearly universally disappointed that Ruben Amaro, Jr. is coming back as the General Manager, the focus on off-season moves will be even more scrutinized than ever, and Amaro’s future is clearly resting on what he does over the next few months.

With that in mind, here’s an itinerary of issues that must be addressed before we (hopefully) see many dominos fall this winter. Or, if they don’t make major moves, here’s why.

1) A. J. Burnett – One of the biggest underperformers of the 2014 season is going to have a huge effect on what the Phillies can do this offseason. He is contemplating retirement and, five days after the World Series concludes, he must decide if he is going to return or not. If he does, he’s guaranteed $12.75-million (more with incentives) and his decision will largely affect what else the team does this winter.

If he does return, the Phillies’ available cap space would be slashed from over $30-million to around $17-mil, which will drastically change who the team tries to target via the free agent market, or if they can somehow swing a deal for a big-name player. If Burnett does NOT return, they’ll need to find a new “#3 pitcher”…although replacing Burnett’s numbers from this past season shouldn’t be too difficult. There’s a handful of players (Ervin Santana, Ryan Vogelsong, Brandon McCarthy and others) that should bring you better quality at a lower per-year cost. The downside is that it will detract from what should be the team’s top priority (and should have been for the last several winters), which is improving the lineup. From my sources, I would lead towards Burnett’s return, which is why they already spent money re-signing Jerome Williams to bolster the back end of the rotation (see more below on him).

2) Ryan Howard – The Phillies have already decided what they’d “like” to do with their former All-Star slugger. It’s a question of ‘can the team unload him in the “right” deal?’ They’re willing to each money, and they’d like to get at least something in return for him, but other teams are well aware of their strategy. It will be difficult to swing any deal in which other franchises don’t try to take the Phillies to the cleaners. Whether or not Howard returns is also a major factor in the team’s offseason priorities…dealing him increases their long-term salary relief, plus they’ll have to find another #4 hitter (Yasmany Tomas?) and figure out who will take over first base (Maikel Franco, Darin Ruf, Chase Utley?) BTW: If the Phillies don’t get Yomas but do unload Howard somehow, don’t be surprised if Pablo Sandoval becomes a target. Not likely to happen, but he would be your next, best offensive upgrade.

3) Dominic Brown/Antonio Bastardo – Two former golden boys with the organization that turned in a less-than-stellar 2014 campaign. Both have members of the Phillies’ front office championing their cause, fighting to give them one more chance in 2015, but both could also use a change of scenery. The problem in trading them is similar to Howard’s situation: you’re not going to get much in return, and they’re both young enough that they could one day hit their stride (raise your hand if you’re tired of seeing ex-Phillies players making contributions on playoff teams!) It might just be in the organization’s best interest to hold onto both of them, especially Brown. However, doing so means you’re giving up a roster spot to a potential improvement and cutting into your team salary by about $3-million per player.

4) The Bench – Another glaring weakness of the ’14 team that needs a major boost—seeing the declining ability of aging vets like Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Marlon Byrd as the season wore on only heightens their need for improvement. Following the re-signing of Grady Sizemore, the decisions on Howard and Brown will affect which direction the team goes for the remaining reserve spots this offseason, and what positions they’ll need to target in acquiring players. Personally, filling in bench personnel has been almost as under-executed as developing pitching through their farm system. Cesar Hernandez and Freddy Galvis might be decent “day-off” players when spelling Utley or Rollins, but having to force John Mayberry or Carlos Ruiz into the heart of the batting order shows a serious lack of depth in the power department…and there are very few free agent options available. Also, and this will be even more necessary if one of the relievers is moved, the team could use another veteran with experience for the bullpen to add stability in case one of the younger pitchers takes a step backwards in 2015.

5) Pap – Jonathon Papelbon continues to be a wild card—in more ways than one—to the Philllies’ future plans. On the one hand, he’s been a steady mentor to the younger players both on and off the field, he’s still one of the game’s top closers and has been a hallmark of consistency and has remained injury-free during his time in Philadelphia. On the other hand, he commands a ridiculously outrageous salary, he’s seen as blocking the development of Ken Giles and Jake Diekman and also has shown a propensity to act like a horse’s…uh, rear end. Detroit is probably lamenting declining the Phillies’ offer to ship him to the Motor City, since the Tigers’ faulty bullpen leads directly to the team’s undoing in the playoffs. The fact that Detroit was afraid he’d be a clubhouse disruption shows to what extent other teams will go to NOT acquire Pap. And perhaps, with everything considered, it’s not the worst thing in the world to have him return.

Right now, this is how your 2015 Phillies pitching staff is shaping up.

SP – Cole Hamels
SP – Cliff Lee (if healthy)
SP – A. J. Burnett (or another free agent if he declines his option)
SP – David Buchanan
SP – Jerome Williams
SP/RP – Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez
RP – Antonio Bastardo (if not dealt)
RP – Luis Garcia (or an low-risk/high reward veteran?)
RP (2nd lefty) – Mario Hollands
RP (7th innnng) – Justin DeFratus
RP (Lefty Specialist) – Jake Diekman
RP (Set-up Man) – Ken Giles
RP (Closer) – Jonathan Papelbon

Keeping Papelbon, whether they really have a choice or not, adds stability to the overall staff. Also, I do like the signing of Jerome Williams which took place last week (one-year, $2.5-million). I know a few people complained to me that they spent money on a pitcher who only had a good two-month stretch with the Philllies (and a horrific first four months with other teams). However, for his “small cost” (by modern day pitchers’ salary numbers) he gives you someone that you can count on to fill out the rotation and also has versatility to help out in the bullpen. Think a younger, cheaper version of last year’s Roberto Hernandez, who actually pitched pretty well during his time in Philly last year. Assuming everyone is healthy, you now have a decent-enough pitching staff and can devote the rest of your offseason to tweaking the offense.

One more thing…Cole Hamels. It would definitely be a game-changer if they trade him this winter. I wouldn’t think—if it happens at all—that this is likely to happen early in the hot stove season as the loser(s) in the Max Scherzer/James Shields/Jon Lester free agency races will be more desperate (and willing to ante-up more) for a top quality, #1 pitcher like Hamels. Of course, the Phillies could still enter the “buy-an-ace” sweepstakes  as I had suggested during the season.

OK. Wind your clocks and start watching the transaction roll-in. But remember to keep an eye on the items mentioned above if you start scratching your head wondering when the ‘what-the-heck-are-they-doing’ moves start to take place.

We hear from our viewers quite often, either by email or at the various stadiums we visit each weekend, and, happily, for the most part the comments are quite complimentary. But as they say, you can please some of the people some of the time, but you can’t please everybody all of the time. That seemed to be the case this past Monday when I returned to the office after a weekend at Harvard to do the Lafayette game. There were two e-mails in my inbox complaining that we have had the Easton Red Rovers on too much and were concentrating on the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference at the expense of the Colonial League. I understand this is only two people complaining, but there is an adage that for every two there are… (I forget the number) unhappy people. The adage doesn’t matter to us. We take every complaint to heart. So I looked a little more closely at our TV schedule.

Counting this upcoming weekend, we have had 12 EPC schools and six Colonial League teams on television this season. This seems like a reasonable representation of almost all the schools in our viewing audience.

The two viewers are right about Easton. We have had them on more than any other school; they also are the ONLY undefeated team in our viewing area. The Liberty-Easton game, which was on last week, was a direct result of the Pennsylvania Cable Network wanting to do that game and scheduling it at the beginning of the season. We even asked if they would consider us changing the game to Freedom-Parkland, but they wanted two teams they had not had on their network. A second game was not an option for us because our other production crew was in Boston.

When scheduling games for the season, there are basically two considerations – 1) what games will warrant the most interest from our customers; 2) can we get as many of our local teams as possible on the air at least once. We believe we have accomplished the second consideration while paying close attention to the first. Dieruff is the only EPC team that has not been on RCN TV and that has more to do with their schedule which predominantly features teams outside our viewing area. We have featured Colonial League teams for about one half of the football weekends.

It is also very important to us to bring the games that most fans want to see. On Friday, October 10, we presented Easton-Parkland and Freedom-Whitehall, two games that featured an undefeated team against a one-loss team. The ratings that night showed that 20,000 household tuned in to watch our high school football. That is supposed to mean we had @ 50,000 viewers. We were #6 out of all channels on the RCN dial that night for viewership. This tells us that the “fans” want to see the best teams playing the best opponents. That is why we will do Easton again this weekend (undefeated) against Freedom (one loss). That will be followed by a Colonial League game.

I understand the passion our audience has for their particular team and I applaud that. We also like to think that wanting your team featured on RCN TV is, in some way, a compliment to us that you want us to cover your school. We hope you continue to support your team while understanding our weekly dilemma. Be assured that we try to do our very best, but you can’t please all the people all the time.

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
1. You might be wondering what will determine the four finalists for the 2014 national collegiate football championship. There is a committee that makes the final choices. Up until this past week, that committee was made up of thirteen individuals. However, Archie Manning, the father of Peyton and Eli, stepped down this week due to health issues relating to his knee replacement surgery. That leaves 12 members to decide and there could be a potential 6-6 tie when voting on a team or teams. The Committee will continue to discuss and re-vote until the deadlock is broken. The first Committee rankings come out October 28.

2. Speaking of college football, I did get home in time from Boston on Saturday night to catch the fourth quarter of the Notre Dame-Florida State game. I listened to the first three quarters in the car. It was a classic. What did you think of the offensive pass interference call at the end? As much as I wanted Florida State to lose, I do think the official made the right call. It’s not called all the time, but what infraction is?

3. Percy Harvin is now a New York Jet. He leaves a Super Bowl team and joins a 1-6 team. Harvin has a history of creating problems, both with his teammates and his coaches, evidenced by the fact that the Seahawks virtually gave him away. Does a leopard often change his spots? No.

4. You know the song “Royals” by Lorde, the one you can’t get out of your head when you hear it. Well, for the next few weeks you will not hear it in San Francisco. Since the Giants are playing the Kansas City Royals in the World Series, two San Francisco radio stations have said they will not play that song for the duration of the series.

5. Will we crown the first Eastern Pennsylvania Conference South Division Champion this Friday night when Easton takes on Freedom? If Easton wins, they will be the title holders even though they have one more league game on their schedule. If Freedom wins, they could share in the title, but that would not be determined until the final weekend. Watch the game LIVE at 7:00pm on RCN TV.

(Last Week – 9-6; Seasonal Record – 68-37-1: 65%)

DENVER
DETROIT
TAMPA BAY
NEW ENGLAND
KANSAS CITY
SEATTLE
BUFFALO
MIAMI
HOUSTON
BALTIMORE
PHILADELPHIA
INDIANAPOLIS
CLEVELAND
GREEN BAY
DALLAS

The Eastern Pennsylvania Conference’s first football regular season is heading down the home-stretch with several “big” (Class 4A) schools all looking impressive and making a run for the District XI playoffs. Here we take a look at some of the top teams in this category so far this season (we’ll take a look at the smaller schools in an upcoming blog post).

STROUDSBURG
The Mountaineers proved their mettle with a hard-fought win in an “interesting” back-and-forth contest with previously undefeated, league-favorite Bethlehem Catholic last weekend.

S’burg rode the back of Gerald Douglas for a large part of the Becahi game and he responded, showing why he’s one of the top tail backs in the district. John Jakobsen delivered some clutch passes to Joel Ozoemena, Marcello Riccardi and other receivers when his team needed him to, and the defense led by Quintin Small stepped up and made some big-time plays in keeping the team undefeated. Riccardi also proved to be a key weapon and changed field position with his returns, and Nico Ruiz displayed one of the most powerful legs in the region. The Mounties have already taken a huge step in proving themselves in the new EPC (on our fall preview show in August, I promised they would) and, depending on who they match up against in the first round of the playoffs, the Mountaineers could advance past the first round this fall.

FREEDOM
Patriot fans may not want to hear this, but regardless of what happens the rest of the season, you already have to count the 2014 season as a success for their tremendous turnaround. If you take an absolute worse-case scenario the rest of the season, the Pats finish 7-3 with a District XI playoff appearance. Objectively, to go from 2-8 a year ago and make that kind of about-face in the EPC 4-A classification is nothing short of remarkable. In my opinion, Jason Roeder deserves to be named “Coach of the Year” right now. I think they match up very well and can beat Liberty next weekend and could beat more than half of the teams that they could face the following week. They will miss quarterback Joe Young, but they have enough young talent still available (and many will return for 2015), and have shown me enough to buy in to this year’s team. Their highlights include a close contest versus Parkland, but their signature win so far this year was their overtime victory at Whitehall.

WHITEHALL
The Zephyrs impressed the entire area with their win over Parkland, and followed that effort up with one of the wildest games in recent memory against Easton. With two losses, people will forget about Whitehall come playoff time—which is a very dangerous proposition. Don’t forget, this was a team that featured perhaps the best back in the area, numerous explosive weapons on offense, and a big, fundamentally sound line that people were raving about two weeks ago. They should win their final two regular season games and clinch a district playoff berth. Once in the postseason, I think the Zephs will make the adjustments necessary to have a run at advancing in the tournament.

PARKLAND
I have not had a chance to see a Parkland game in person so far this season, but RCN’s Tony Cocca has, and on our most recent “SportsTalk” show, he felt that the team was just not jelling the way Parkland teams normally do by this time of year. Their track record has been to lose to a team or two early, and then storm back and win when the games matter most. That could play out again as, on paper, they could be the best team in the area. The Trojans should defeat both Nazareth and Emmaus to finish the regular season with just two losses, which would put them directly behind Easton and Stroudsburg in the district rankings and could pave the way for an eventual rematch from their tight-fisted affair against the Rovers.

EASTON
The Rovers will be able to talk about their successful season for themselves as they will be our guests on the October 30th edition of “RCN SportsTalk” (live from 6-7pm). We invite you to tune in to get their opinions on the 2014 season and their thoughts on the upcoming playoff picture. Plus you can contact us during the show with your comments and questions and perhaps win a nice prize. In the meantime, here’s a look at some of the highlights from their record-setting game against Whitehall.

While we invite you to keep watching the football playoff games the next two weeks as the teams jockey for playoff positioning, don’t forget to check out RCN’s special Halloween programming. It starts on Thursday, October 30th at 11:30 pm and runs through early Saturday morning (with a break for Friday night’s high school football games) featuring some of the greatest and most terrifying horror classics of all-time. And there’s a special surprise for this year’s movie marathon. You’ll have to tune in for yourself to find out what it is…if you dare!