The PIAA basketball playoffs are almost upon us and RCN-TV is gearing up for outstanding coverage of your local teams!

To get you ready for the state playoffs, here are some storylines to follow as the schools in the RCN coverage area embark on facing teams from across Pennsylvania over the next several weeks.

“And the Winner Is…”
No “La La Land/Moonlight” moments here, there was no doubt who the Cinderella team was in this year’s EPC & District XI playoffs—the East Stroudsburg North boys basketball team.

While many fans in the Valley incorrectly assumed a game against ESN would be a cakewalk, a few local coaches warned me before the regular season ended that opponents should not take ESN lightly.

The Timberwolves are a scrappy team that’s fun to watch in each of their playoff games, which included wins over Emmaus (EPC’s #1 seed), Whitehall (a higher seeded district team) and a Central Catholic team that also was playing really well entering the post-season.  ESN defeated a very good Pottsville team in the district final, and I’m looking forward to seeing what this team can do in the state playoffs.

Expanded Playoffs = (Some) Weaker Competition
It isn’t enough that 2017 has been widely regarded as a “down year” for a number of the District 12 power house boys’ schools, but by allowing more teams into the PIAA playoffs, it will almost certainly guarantee a weaker-than-normal first (and possibly second) round of states.

With the exception of the 6A boys and girls classifications, there have been quite of bit of complaints by local fans (and less than tremendous turnouts) as many of the district playoff games were less than spectacular, with several blowouts (especially in the 4A boys classification) and frequent sloppy play.  That trend probably won’t change much in the opening round of the PIAAs, with many of Pennsylvania’s top programs squaring off against sub-500 squads and teams that barely qualified for states—even with more spots available—especially outside of the biggest school categories.

Watch the Women’s Teams
While they may not get the attention the boys teams do (but still outnumbered a couple of the routing sections than at the boys’ games), there are a plethora of tremendous girls high school teams in Pennsylvania and several of them are from the Lehigh Valley

Archbishop Carroll is one of the “super teams” across Pennsylvania and are certainly heavy favorites to win a state trophy and, unless your team is playing them, are definitely an entertaining squad to watch.

I predicted on last winter’s “SportsTalk” that the 2016-2017 Lehigh Valley girls basketball teams will combine for are one of the best overall years in terms of the number of talent and competitive teams.  The play of the girls’ games over the last few weeks has only strengthened that contention.  Entering the state playoffs, Bethlehem Catholic, Southern Lehigh, Easton and Nazareth all have strong chances at going deep in the PIAAs and I wouldn’t count out Northampton, Central Catholic, Parkland or Notre Dame-Green Pond from pulling an upset in the opening round.

With the possible exception of the Allen and/or the Becahi boys teams, I think the Lehigh Valley’s best chances of seeing state gold lies with one of the areas girls programs.

Keep An Eye On Allen
Speaking of the Canaries of William Allen high school, Doug Snyder’s team had been ranked number one in the state since early January and, until this week, had not fallen from the top spot, even after their one and only regular season loss to Bethlehem Catholic (also ranked statewide).

Allen was certainly disappointed by its District XI semifinal loss to Parkland (more on them below) last Wednesday, but I still believe that—on paper—the Canaries are one of the best and most complete team in Pennsylvania.

Perhaps the lost to the Trojans will refocus the team as it gears up for the state playoffs and enter what is probably the most competitive of the six boys classifications in this year’s PIAAs.

“Notable By Their Absence…”
I feel it appropriate to borrow an often-used term by RCN Basketball Announcer and Former Head College Basketball Coach John Leone to talk about a few teams that will NOT be in the state tournament.

When the new classifications were released and Whitehall was placed in a category away from tradition rivals like Allen, Parkland, Emmaus and others, many basketball fans in the Lehigh Valley practically guaranteed a spot in the PIAAs for the Zephyrs.

A number of fans within the township thought this year’s team was one of the best Whitehall teams they had ever seen—a statement that I never agreed with.  They definitely had many talented players on the roster and owned one of the best records of any team in the Valley through the first two months of the season.  However, their up-tempo style of offense overshadowed a suspect defense, and the team struggled anytime an opponent forced them to play a half court style of play—a fact that haunted them as they couldn’t protect a lead in their final game again East Stroudsburg North in the first round of Districts.

The Zephyrs ended the year by losing 5 of its last 6 games, leaving many fans in the Whitehall community stunned and disappointed.

Bangor was a more underrated team all year long, despite the fact that I was touting them before the season even started.  They graduate four of their five starters, who captured three consecutive Colonial League titles. I was surprised to see the Slaters fall to Pottsville in the district semifinals.  With only two state playoff spots available in the 5A classification, I knew it would be interesting to see which of a number of talented teams (including Whitehall, Allentown Central Catholic, East Stroudsburg North, Southern Lehigh, Pottsville and Blue Mountain) would qualify.  But I have to admit I though Bangor would definitely be one of those two teams, and am disappointed I won’t get to see Dylan Benton and company play one more time.

Both Whitehall and Bangor can be very proud of their season’s overall, but it will be strange to open the state playoff race without a Lehigh Valley representative in one of Pennsylvania’s largest playoff classifications.

A Record Setting Appearance
Lastly, the Parkland boys’ basketball team (who’ll open their state playoff run against Archbishop Ryan—Saturday, 6pm LIVE on RCN-TV) capped off a phenomenal and historic night for high school basketball in the Valley.   In the first of what will probably be many future games at Allentown’s PPL Center Arena, the Trojans win over the state’s previously number-one ranked team Allen (in front of a record setting crowd of over 7,600 attendees) will be something people will be talking about for months, if not years to come.

We’ll talk more about the state playoffs and get in-depth with our previews, insights and predictions involving teams within the RCN-TV viewing area on Thursday’s “SportsTalk” program!  Email your sports opinions and questions to us at rcnsportstalk@rcn.com and we’ll read and respond on this week’s show.

Any true basketball fan is well aware of March Madness – the term that indicates basketball season is coming to an end, but not before the colleges and high schools battle for conference, district, state and national championships.  It normally builds each week until the final games are played.

For Lehigh Valley fans, March Madness began a bit early – on March 1!  That is the night that District XI decided to take their AAAAAA boys’ semifinals to the PPL Center in center city Allentown.  PPL had hosted two college basketball games in the past and a professional exhibition game, but it had NEVER hosted a high school game.  No one was quite sure what to expect.

District XI officials worried that they may have taken on more than they should have in terms of rental costs and expectations.  After all, the place held 8,000 people, but up until game night “only” 3200 tickets had been sold.  PPL cooperated to make the fees more palatable, but the numbers were still risky, for sure.  What both had going for them were the teams themselves and the individual talent.

You see, this was a basketball “perfect storm”.  There were four great teams (17 total losses – eight losses by one team) and many of those losses coming when they played one another.  There was a plethora of great talent (seven 1,000 point scorers) who, by themselves, were well worth the price of admission all year long.  Three of the four teams had their school’s all-time leading scorer and one school had two players who went back and forth for that honor each time they took the floor.  And there was Allen High School; a team that had grabbed a hold of their fan base in December and watched it grow to immense numbers by the end of the season.  These were four teams who were so talented and so successful that no Lehigh Valley gymnasium could hold the crowd.

Fans poured in when the doors were unlocked.  The upper deck seating, originally thought to be unnecessary, started to be occupied by halftime of the first game.  The fans just kept coming.  By the time the first quarter of game two rolled around a “Sold-Out” sign had to be posted at the ticket windows.  The final count was a paid attendance of 7,661 and an estimated final tally of over 8,000 people, the largest crowd to watch a high school game ever in the Lehigh Valley.  It really didn’t matter so much who won the games, because everyone – coaches, players, and fans, won that night.

Congratulations to all who put this together, who had the foresight to give it a chance.  It is hard to imagine that teams this good, with players this talented, and fan interest this high will happen for a long while, but, on this night, in this arena, with these four teams, it was awesome.

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS) 

1. If you were wondering where District XI big basketball games were played in the past, when there were NO really big gyms, I can tell you that it was NOT in District XI. Way back when I was playing at Wilson High School, we played Bethlehem High School in the District semifinal at the Harrisburg State Farm Show Arena.  We won and returned to Harrisburg for the championship against Larry Miller’s Catasauqua team.  There were @ 8,000 people for each of those games.  Only one classification existed back then.  Catty beat us, if you care.
2. The Lafayette women’s basketball team beat Holy Cross on Saturday. With the win, they became the first Patriot League #10 seed to win a tournament game.  They were getting better as the year progressed and their hard work paid off.
3. The Northeast Regional Wrestling championships were an absolute showcase for Lehigh Valley wrestlers. Nazareth had six champions; Bethlehem Catholic had four; Northampton two; and Freedom one.  That’s thirteen out of fourteen – amazing results.  And talk about fans – perhaps, this is the next high school event at PPL.
4. The Bucknell men will face Lehigh on Sunday, March 12, for the Patriot League basketball championship.
5. Congratulations to Brad Pensyl, the coach of Pocono Mountain West for winning the District XI AAAAAA basketball championship. It was his second and it will be his last.  After 28 years (making the Districts in every one of those years), he has decided to retire.  He will move into administration at Pocono Mountain.  Brad will be very hard to replace and I will miss him on the sidelines.

We are right in the middle of some great District XI playoff basketball action that we hope you are enjoying on RCN-TV.

First of all, I wanted to take a moment to salute our local girls and boys basketball players who were recently named to this year’s Colonial League All-Star team.

2016-17 Colonial League Boys Basketball All-League Team
2016-17 Colonial League Girls Basketball All-League Team

I think it was a great year in both the girls and boys classifications in terms of outstanding individual play (and as I’ve said for some time on our “SportsTalk” programs, this year has featured some of the deepest teams in terms of number of outstanding players on a given squad in quite some time).

Secondly, because of the expanded post-season format (and games being played this Thursday night), “SportsTalk” will be off until next week.  In the meantime, we invite you to share your playoff comments/questions/opinions with us via email (rcnsportstalk@rcn.com) at any time, and join us on March 9^th as we read and respond to your emails.  Also, tune in for a full recap of all the district playoff games, and previews of the state playoff tournament, which will commence the following day.

Also, be sure to check out our broadcast schedule here on the RCN-TV website for the full rundown of which teams’ games we’ll broadcast, along with airtimes.  Remember, RCN video customers can watch all of our sports productions for free at any time through RCN On-Demand.

Here are just a sample of video highlights from our recent playoff basketball games and wrestling matches, along with interviews featuring one of our local teams in the post-season:

With the PIAA and District XI classifications in basketball going from four to six this year, there were a record number 80 teams that qualified for the playoffs in both boys and girls.  Obviously, some of these teams are not in our viewing audience, but most are.  Putting together a broadcast schedule and gathering the information for those broadcasts is a difficult task.

This past season produced some of the best team and individual performances ever.   The Nazareth, Easton, Southern Lehigh, Bethlehem Catholic and Notre Dame girls had outstanding regular seasons.  Losses were few and far between.

On the boys’ side, Allen got to districts as the number one team in the state, but Parkland, Emmaus, Pocono Mountain West, Bangor, and Bethlehem Catholic were all mentioned in the state rankings, also.

Individual players on these teams created, perhaps, the most talented group we have ever seen in one season.  I fear mentioning names because I will forget someone so, suffice it to say, that this week I did a double header that featured seven 1,000 point scorers – seven!!  To have a couple reach this individual milestone each year is the norm.  We have seen fantastic dunks, amazing point productions, and great team play.

This was a special year, for sure, and with it, came the challenge of many more games.  Preparing for this many games in such a short time is a labor of love, but it would be virtually impossible to properly research all of these games without the cooperation of the coaches and the statisticians.  This time of the year there is, often, just one day to get starting lineups, updated stats, officials, background, etc – information necessary to present a quality broadcast.  Add to that the possibility that the RCN crew will be going into gymnasiums that we have not been at previously.  This, too, requires advanced site surveys and logistical decisions to lay all the wire and get the proper camera angles.

It is certainly a time of necessary chaos, but through the cooperation of athletic directors, coaches, stat guys, and school personnel, it gets done.  Basketball is a game of numbers – threes made, foul shooting percentages, rebounds per game, points per game, assists, steals, blocked shots, team shooting percentages, scoring averages, free throw percentages – the list can go on and on.

So before I start to prepare for the next double header, I just want to thank everyone who helps to make our product better.  There is plenty of basketball left to be played and, before I get caught up in the state playoffs, I just wanted to thank those who help along the way.  Those numbers of people are the most important numbers of all.

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS) 

1. Gonzaga lost their last regular season game of the year against BYU. But does it mean anything as we head to March Madness?  Probably not – with Villanova, Kansas, and North Carolina solidified as the top regional seeds, Gonzaga should and will get the other spot.  The only change may be that Kansas or Villanova will probably be ranked #1 this week.
2. Will Michigan get into the NCAA playoffs? Will Central Catholic’s Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman get a chance to show the hometown fans his skills?  As I write this, he has started 28 of the 29 Michigan games, is the fifth leading scorer (8.9) and is fourth on the team in minutes played.  Michigan is 19-10 and should get a serious look by the committee.
3. I know that NFL rumors abound this time of the year, but there is talk that DeSean Jackson AND LeSean McCoy might both be back in Eagles’ uniforms this year. Jackson is a free agent and Buffalo may want to get rid of McCoy.  I don’t like acquiring either one.  What do you think?
4. Tim Tebow went into broadcasting after his NFL failure and, word is, he is very good at analysis on SEC Network and ESPN. But it appears he still wants to compete.  He is trying professional baseball, a sport he has not played since high school.  Remember Michael Jordan? – that didn’t go so well.
5. First it was Steve Harvey at the Miss Universe contest announcing the wrong name and this past Sunday the wrong Picture of the Year was announced at the Oscars due to some envelope confusion. Embarrassing to say the least. I feel a little better now when I call the wrong player in the heat of a game.  The difference is that I can’t blame anyone else.

With the expanded playoff formats for both girls and boys basketball teams this year, it is nearly impossible to break down every single team in our coverage area along with insights for every game in a single blog posting—especially since there are more “sub-regionals” featuring many teams that are outside of the RCN viewing area that we haven’t had a chance to see.

Instead, I wanted to focus on four teams inside our coverage area with interesting storylines that you can follow as you watch this winter’s playoff coverage on RCN-TV (and be sure to check out our broadcast schedule each day this week for details on which teams we’ll be announcing, along with our airtimes).

ALLEN BOYS BASKETBALL
Yes, they did drop the regular season finale to a Class 4-A team…but when you look at the team that Doug Snyder can roll out there—and the depth to this year’s team, I don’t think you can realistically argue there is a better team in District XI.

The way Tyrese Martin is playing—he has to be the area’s “MVP” in a very crowded field of talented players (among them David Kachelries, Jalen Vaughns, Jeremy Johnson, Nick King and others).  Martin can play (and score) from any position on the floor.

The Canaries have a host of great ball handlers (Bless Jones, Malik Gordan, Jvon Winslow, Carlos Gutierrez, Diyel Steward) and an imposing front court (Rahmel Johnson, Brandon Moya, Tyrese Stewart, Orion Obade, A’quele Adderlay) that are very underrated in terms of their rebounding and defensive abilities.

Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention the popular preseason MVP choice, Talek Williams, too.

I heard a rumor that some people in Allentown were hoping the Canaries would lose a game during the regular season—so that they wouldn’t go into the playoffs with an undefeated record, and maybe help them refocus while not being too overconfident for the post-season—thereby firing them up for what they hope will be a long run through the state tournament.

Well, if that rumor was true (and it was), they got their wish.

EASTON GIRLS BASKETBALL
The Red Rovers did lose the EPC Championship to an incredibly talented Bethlehem Catholic squad—beating Easton in all three meetings between these two schools.  The Rovers are also not the favorite in the 6A playoff classification, as both Nazareth and Parkland finished with more “power points,” pushing Easton to the #3 seed.

However, the Rovers will not have to face the Golden Hawks again since they are in a different classification bracket, and I think Easton will thrive in the District XI and PIAA playoffs.  They continue to be loaded with talent led by Gabby Bloshuk (team high 13 points vs. Becahi in the EPC title game), Shelby Stocker (8 points) and are a very deep team (Mackenzie Miers, contrary to reports did play last Friday, as I had predicted on last week’s “SportsTalk” show).

Allen has made great strides and has had a fine season, but I don’t see any way the Rovers get tripped up in their opener versus the Canaries this Wednesday, which will fuel them through districts and into the state playoffs.  They’ll most probably have to face another scrappy Parkland team in the semifinals, and then, yet another showdown with Nazareth for the championship.

SALISBURY BOYS BASKETBALL
I have to admit, I am fast becoming a big-time Falcons fan—again–this winter, and for several reasons.

While Head Coach Jason Weaver has always had post-season success, he usually features an up-tempo team that loves to push the ball up-and-down the floor regardless of other team’s approach.

This year, for the first time in Jason’s tenure with Salisbury, he features a more half court oriented team, yet they are still fun to watch.

Big men Jaxon Costello and Ryan Slutsky have had numerous big-time games over the last month—both can bring the ball up effectively, shoot from the perimeter and have great hands.  Salisbury’s front court will create a tough matchup for their opponent—Octorara, a team with just two players over 6’1 and none taller than 6’3”—in their opening round playoff game (which will be seen on RCN-TV live, Friday at 6pm).

Jack Reichenbach and Blake Jones are lethal guards who are also very good ball-handlers.  Reichenbach in particular is extremely flashy and effective in scoring both from the outside and from penetration off his own dribble.

But perhaps the most underrated guard in the Colonial League this year was sophomore Sean Snyder, who’s been receiving praise with two great efforts in recent weeks.

In Salisbury’s regular season finale against Southern Lehigh, Snyder was quiet in terms of his point production, but impressed me with his savvy and maturity out in the court during some key moments in the second half to secure the Falcons’ win.

In Salisbury’s Colonial League playoff game last week, Snyder stepped up when teams were keying on other guys and came up big offensively to keep his team at arm’s length and continued to show poise during heated exchanges with the Spartans.  A number of other Colonial League coaches remarked to me after that game what a talent Snyder is—and will continue to be for the next two seasons.

I feel comfortable in putting both Reichenbach and Snyder on a short list of the top guards for next winter and both will be prominently featured in next season’s “player to watch” when we get to December to preview the 2017-18 basketball campaign.

NOTRE DAME GIRLS BASKETBALL
On paper, they were severely overmatched with Southern Lehigh in last Friday’s Colonial League championship, but I was thoroughly impressed by the way the Crusaders hung with one of the most dominant teams in the region throughout its most recent contest.

Leading their hard-fought, never-say-die approach last week were seniors Tori Esposito, Cailee Murphy, Cassie Kelly, Amy Small and Kelsey Gorman.  They played tenacious defense against Solehi and contested every possession. Also, keep an eye on Murphy as she will be playing college ball locally next year for a great collegiate program and will probably be returning to post-season play often at the next level.

As far as the road ahead for Notre Dame, they have a very tough match-up in facing North Schuylkill this Friday in their sub-regional opener.  Even though they are the #6 seed, “North” is a very athletic team that knocked the Crusaders out of District XI play a year ago and will be tough to beat.  But if the ladies from Notre Dame play with the same passion (and can get a few more shots to fall than they did against Solehi), I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if the Crusaders advance into the next round to face the winner of the Jim Thorpe/New Hope-Solebury faceoff.

By the way, Notre Dame fans won’t have to worry about attending that next game at New Hope’s gym.  While the school is beautiful and I love the area, the New Hope-Solebury gymnasium is by far the smallest gym for high school basketball I have ever seen and would clearly not be large enough to hold Notre Dame’s loyal fan base.  Instead, that game will be played at a neutral—and definitely larger—facility.

One more playoff note:  Southern Lehigh needs to make sure it provides a luxury limo for LehighValleyLive.com’s Kyle Craig for their playoff games.  While they (and Becahi) clearly have the most talented girls basketball team in the region, its key player (and daughter of a local officiating great) Avery Bennett always has her best games when Kyle is in the house.  The Spartans could have a long run in the PIAA playoffs but I don’t think it should take any chances and so make sure that Mr. Craig is properly cared for during Solehi’s post-season.

Enjoy your high school playoff basketball action this week!

This past Friday, the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference girls’ and boys’ basketball championships were held at Freedom High School.  Seating capacity at Freedom is @ 2700.  All those seats were filled.

By the third quarter of the first game, it became obvious that the gym would be sold out.  As we were doing game one, District XI personnel had to go tell the long line of people standing outside that many of them would not get in to see the game(s).  And as regretful as that message was to those who came to see great basketball, it was just as rewarding to know that so many people had gotten caught up in the Lehigh Valley basketball scene this year.

And it was easy to see why.  The Bethlehem Catholic girls had lost only twice and neither loss was to a Lehigh Valley team, but to two highly-respected programs – Cardinal O’Hara of Philadelphia and Rock Creek Academy of Maryland.  Their opponent, Easton, had only three losses and two of those were to Bethlehem Catholic by 18 and 19 points.  However, Easton was the defending champion and played like it.  The game came down to a final possession and Beca forced a turnover and won by five: 45-40.  Both teams played as hard as they could.

There was even more electricity surrounding the boys’ championship.  Allen was the #1 team in the state.  They were 23-1, with their only loss in overtime to (you guessed it) their opponent – Bethlehem Catholic.  To increase the drama, Allen had beaten Beca earlier in the season, but by only one.  The stage was set for a great battle.

It never happened.  The #1 Allen Canaries jumped on the Hawks early and never looked back.  With exciting and dramatic plays coming at a frenetic pace, Allen led at the half by 23.  But no one left the gym.  With Allen, you can expect plays, at times, that you have never seen before – whether it be passing, blocking, or, most dramatically, dunking.  No one wanted to miss the play everybody would be talking about tomorrow.  Allen supplies those plays every time they step on the court.  So… almost everyone stayed right up to the medal and trophy ceremony.

It was a great night for Lehigh Valley basketball.  Four good teams battling for two championships before a sold-out, standing room only packed house!  Hopefully, those who were turned away went home and joined the others watching the games on RCNTV.  High school basketball doesn’t get any better.

Or does it?  District playoffs begin this week!  Can’t wait!

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS) 

1. If you like offensive basketball, then I am pretty sure you enjoyed the NBA All-Star Game this past Sunday. The game ended with the West defeating the East by the ridiculous score of 192-182 and Anthony Davis broke Wilt Chamberlain’s scoring record by scoring 52 points.  It seems obvious that the game was only played at the offensive end of the court.
2. November 17, 2014 is a long time ago, but that is the last time the Connecticut women’s basketball team lost a game – in double overtime to Stanford. 26 months ago! Following this past weekend, they have now won 101 straight games.  On Saturday, they only won by three points over Tulane.  That was the second smallest margin of victory in the streak.  Could the streak end this year?  Stay tuned.
3. Dustin Johnson won the Genesis Open golf tournament this weekend and jumped to #1 in the world rankings. He is the 20^th player to get to #1 in the 31 years of the rankings.  He replaced Jason Day, who held the spot for 47 weeks.
4. The NBA dunk contest is being rivaled every time the Allen basketball team steps on the floor. Talek Williams and Tyrese Martin produce a highlight reel in just about every game.  The behind-the-back, between-the-legs pass by Martin to create a resounding dunk by Williams in the EPC Championship game this past Friday was just awesome.
5. It’s PIAA playoff time and, for the first time, there are six classifications for both the boys and the girls. That means games almost every night.  Pay close attention to the TV schedule as we wind our way through the next month.

One of the great annual traditions of our “SportsTalk” program occurs this Thursday, when we have local coaches and media experts on our show for a roundtable discussion on the Lehigh Valley’s local league tournaments.

With district/regional/state-wide tournaments expanding ever so often now in every sport, it’s one of the few remaining weeks in which the entire Lehigh Valley is focused solely on the teams within the region—and it’s one of the most-watched shows (and frequently stirs up heated debates) on the calendar for the viewers in the market.  We examine both the girls and boys tourneys in both the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference as well as the Colonial League.

Joining Keith Groller and me will be multiple league-winning former head coach Megan Dellegrotti, along with current head basketball coaches Joe Stellato (Freedom HS) and Eric Snyder (Catasauqua).  Everyone will be giving their thoughts on the regular season and the league playoffs to-date along with making predictions, giving insights and “keys” for all of Friday’s championship games—all of which will be broadcast on RCN-TV (check out our broadcast schedule page for teams and airtimes).

Keith already made waves last week when he said the Colonial League Playoffs should be renamed the “Bangor Slaters Invitational” (as the Slaters have been in the last four title games while winning three of them—one more than any other team has accomplished this century. They also have the best record of any Colonial League team by far).

So tune in to the show this Thursday, live from 7-8 pm, or catch the podcast at rcn.com/atvn/sports-talk and let us know your basketball opinions, questions and predictions. Be sure to email us at rcnsportstalk@rcn.com right now and tune in for our panelists’ responses!

In the meantime, here’s a look at our recently broadcast games to get you ready for the Lehigh Valley’s “Championship Night” coming up this Friday on RCN-TV!

Also, make sure you check RCN-TV’s broadcast schedule throughout the week for details on this week’s league playoff coverage.

Now what?  The Super Bowl has been played so there will not be any football for quite awhile.  The NBA and the NHL are in full swing, but for my interest is limited to the playoffs.  College basketball is heading to March Madness with league and conference championships right around the corner, but that’s still a few weeks away.  I do watch Villanova when I can and I pick up a Michigan game here and there just to watch former Allentown Central Catholic and Michigan starter, Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman, play.  Villanova was on this weekend and so was Michigan.

So, for me, that leaves golf.  There is nothing like the scenery offered up this past weekend at Pebble Beach in California.  With the sun shining brightly, there was beautiful green grass surrounded by the Pacific Ocean.  Even if you were not a golf fan, like my wife, the sight of beaches and whales and yachts and sailboats even drew her in.  For me, when Jordan Spieth is near the top, I will watch.  He has become my new “Tiger”.  I used to watch any tournament that had Tiger in contention, but, as I am sure you know, his back surgery has kept him away and “contention” is a long way off.

Spieth took a six-shot lead into Sunday and for that reason there was little excitement.  Now I would be thrilled if I could move from hole to hole and just get pars, which is what Spieth was doing.  He was playing “prevent defense” and there was no one in the field who could produce a New England Patriots comeback.  Spieth just moseyed his way around the course, had an early and late birdie, and settled for the victory, his ninth on the PGA tour.

Tiger won nine times in 61 starts.  This was Jordan’s 100^th pro start.  But does that matter?   Spieth is now the measuring stick.  Tiger bowed out of the last two events he was scheduled for after coming back.  He was able to play just seven rounds before his back forced him to stop again.  He may never be back.

The good news is there are plenty of terrific, young golfers on the tour and they will make each week a true crapshoot.  My problem is I tend to latch on to a favorite and follow that golfer.  The good news is, for me right now, that golfer is Jordan Spieth.  He is polite, seems to have good family values, has ties to Saucon Valley, and is very competitive.  And, if he is not having a good week, the scenery is still beautiful!

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS) 

1. 76ers center Joel Embiid has been on the sideline with a torn meniscus in his left knee, yet he was caught dancing shirtless on stage at a concert this past weekend. He missed the entire 2014-15 season with a broken bone in his foot and went on to miss the entire 2015-16 season.  He played this season until February 11 when he tore his meniscus.  It just doesn’t sound like he should be dancing.
2. You probably would not be surprised to learn that the Tom Brady NFL jersey is the #1 seller. Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz is #5.  His jersey accounted for more than 50% of all Eagles’ jerseys sold.  Fletcher Cox is #2 among the Eagles, but #3 will surprise you.  The third highest selling Eagles jersey belongs to Brian Dawkins who has not played for the team in almost ten years.  You now have a good trivia question.
3. Since 2001, the New England Patriots have a 196-60 regular season record. No team is within 30 wins of that record. They have played in seven Super Bowls in that time span and, surprisingly, every one has been decided by one score or less.  In fact, their average point spread in all seven games is 3.7 points.  Remember, they beat the Eagles in 2005 by a 24-21 score.  Sounds like they could have won them all or lost them all.
4. Most people around here are Villanova fans and they are currently ranked #2 in the country after spending the early part of the season at #1. Gonzaga has that spot right now and they are 26-0.  It does not appear, looking at their schedule, that the Bulldogs will lose a regular season game.  Villanova should get a #1 seed in the tournament and then prove they deserve the #1 spot overall.
5. Don’t ask me why, but I watched the Grammys on Sunday night. Thank goodness there were excellent performances during the BeeGees and Prince dedications because almost everyone else was bad or chose a bad song, including Queen Bee (yet no one will say it!); Lady Gaga who killed at the Super Bowl but not so much with Metallica; and even Adele when she sang the George Michael tribute song.  Some great talent wasted.

I have to keep it real here—it was not the most exciting regular season in terms of monitoring our scholastic ranking system this winter.

While we’ve seen some well-played games (last Friday’s Freedom/Liberty game by far the best contest I’ve called this winter) and I’m anticipating a very entertaining post-season, there wasn’t a whole lot of movement among our “SportsTalk” poll results over the course of the regular season.

Before we get to our last rankings of the year, here’s a quick recap if you are not familiar with our program.

Our pollsters are comprised of a combination of local media members (Morning Call’s Keith Groller, RCN Sports Director Gary Laubach and RCN basketball Announcers Tom Stoudt and Dennis Laub and Lehigh Valley Basketball Rankings’s Toomey Anderson).  We also have three distinguished head basketball coaches giving their insights on the top teams in the Lehigh Valley area.

All District XI schools were eligible for the poll and were divided into either our “big schools” (5A & 6A classifications) or “small schools” (4A & below) rankings.

The “small schools” consist of Wilson, Saucon Valley, Bethlehem Catholic, Northwestern, Palisades, Palmerton, Salisbury, Notre Dame-GP, Moravian Academy, Lincoln Leadership, Pen Argyl, Northern Lehigh and Catasauqua.

The “big schools” are Bangor, Central Catholic, Southern Lehigh, Whitehall, Allen, Dieruff, Easton, Emmaus, Freedom, Liberty, Nazareth, E. Stroudsburg North & South, Pocono Mountain East, Pocono Mountain West, Stroudsburg, Northampton, Parkland, and Pleasant Valley.

As far as our “final” results…which looked very similar to what our pre-season poll looked like:

Big School Basketball Poll—Class 5A & up (8 pollsters)

• Allen – 40 points (8 first place votes)
• Emmaus – 26 points
• Parkland – 22 points
• Pocono Mountain West – 14 points
• Bangor – 13 points

____________________________________________________________

Small School Basketball Poll—Class 4A & Below (7 pollsters)

• Becahi – 35 points (7 first place votes)
• Salisbury – 24 points
• Notre Dame-GP – 23 points
• Saucon Valley – 15 points
• Wilson – 5 points

Just to recap, Allen maintained its standings as the area’s (and the state’s) top “big school” team all winter by running the table (through this past weekend), and was only really challenged in a handful of games all year.

Among the “smaller schools,” Bethlehem Catholic lost just three league games to date—all by three points are less, and all of them to bigger-sized schools.

The only other teams that had any significant in-season movement in our polls were Parkland and Wilson.  The Trojans  got off to a slow start and fell off our poll completely before  bouncing back and, now, looking about as good as any team in the region (except perhaps Allen, who they played Monday night on RCN-TV).  The Warriors, under a new coach and armed with a very young squad, have made a late-season push and end the season as our “number five” team.

One other note, while Pocono Mountain West slid down from its “number two” position in our preseason poll, I had one local head coach whose opinion I really trust tell me last weekend that he is seriously concerned about “West” and does not want to face them in the post-season.  The Panthers dropped a few regular season games that, on paper, they probably shouldn’t have lost—but with all the talent on that squad and the match-up problems they could create–they very likely could play deep into the league and/or district tournaments.

To help break down these results in further detail and to talk about the Colonial League and Eastern Pennsylvania Conference playoffs, RCN Sports Director Gary Laubach will join us on this week’s “SportsTalk.”

We’ll also talk about high school basketball in the DC region on this Thursday’s show as DMV Elite’s Marcus Helton will join us via Skype to talk about the area’s regular season, identify the top players and teams and look ahead to a busy final week of the regular season.  Marcus will also give us some upcoming “match-ups to watch” along with his take on which teams will have the most success in the region’s post-season tournaments.

So tune in to the show this Thursday at 7pm or catch the podcast at rcn.com/atvn/sports-talk and let us know your basketball opinions and questions. If there’s a team, athlete or playoff match-up you’d like us to address on that show, be sure to email us at rcnsportstalk@rcn.com and tune-in for our panelists’ responses!

I do not think anyone would argue the fact the Super Bowl #51 was one of, if not the best, Super Bowl game ever.  The drama, the comeback, the overtime, the improbable plays, etc. all made for just a tremendous game.  And the telecast had everything from the commercials, to the human interest, to the Gaga extravaganza.  As I watched the game, I made some random notes about it all.  I thought I would share them with you in just the random way I wrote them down.

1. Joe Buck made an early mistake calling an Amedola catch an Edelman catch and then he compounded it by making the mistake again after correcting himself. Obviously, I have been there and from experience I can tell you there is nothing worse than getting off to a bad start during a broadcast.  It affects you right away.  Naturally, Joe Buck recovered much better than I ever did.  I like Joe Buck and Troy Aikman – I am not sure why so many do not.
2. Don’t you want WATSON to do your taxes? That’s what H&R Block says they are using.  I just get a sense WATSON would find ALL the possible deductions.

3. There was a small snippet about motorized tackling dummies used for the safety of the players. It was intriguing, but fleeting.  I certainly wanted to know more.  I guess whoever promoted it couldn’t afford more air time.

4. To me, the Honda yearbook commercial was the best and the most creative. It took quite awhile to realize it was a Honda commercial, but the message to chase your dreams from yearbook “nerds” who did just that was intriguing and meaningful.

5. The Bradshaw stain followed by the journey to a Tide removal was funny. Even James Brown got into the act later in the game.

6. Watching Julio Jones of the Falcons make catches is sheer artistry. He comes off as being almost superhuman.  He would have been the hero if…
7. The last offensive play by New England, a flat pass instead of throwing into the end zone, was the worst call of the game. Time could have easily run out if the receiver had not been tackled right away.  Therefore, no field goal and, therefore no overtime, and therefore, no victory.  A win made that play disappear from everyone’s memory.
8. Did you find the CURE auto insurance with Todd approaching Mandy the creepiest commercial of the day? The message was “don’t follow too closely”, but Todd was a weird stalker.  It was not funny and bordered on “icky”.

9. How will someone follow the Lady Gaga spectacular? From the 400 drones (amazing), to the leap from the stadium roof, to the show itself, Gaga delivered a Super performance!
10. In the midst of a critical third down play by Atlanta at the start of the second half, I assume, like me, all of Pennsylvania got an Amber alert. The system, obviously, works.  It can even interrupt the Super Bowl.  I hope the little girl was found and is back home safely.
11. Did you wonder, as I did, why New England did not seem to be in any hurry offensively when they were down 28-3? And the slow and steady pace continued right into the fourth quarter.  There was no sense of urgency except in my family room.
12. There must have been @ 10 commercials that I either did not know the product or did not understand the connection to a product. Is that a good commercial?  I’ll check with marketing.
13. I want an Alfa Romeo!

4. In the excitement of the New England late drives, it seemed like everyone on the broadcast forgot about the spectacular Julian Edelman catch. He deserved more credit for the victory.
5. Tom Brady IS the best quarterback ever!
6. The NFL overtime rule is totally unfair. Each team should have the opportunity to have a possession.  Allowing a coin toss and one successful drive is unfair to the opponent.
7. I know there are plenty of Brady haters, but the scene with his mother after the game was heartwarming.
8. I saw Bill Belichick smile!
9. The New England crowd booed during the entire Roger Goodell trophy presentation, remembering Deflategate and the Brady suspension.  Maybe that is when Belichick smiled!
10. My blog prediction last week was New England – 31 Falcons – 27; it was 34-28 – pretty close!

 Final results – NFL Picks – Last week – 1-0
169-95-2 – 64%