The stage continues to be set for Super Bowl LI (that’s #51 for those of you who are not Romans).  This matchup between New England and Atlanta looks like it could be one of the best games ever.

You know the names – Tom Brady and Bill Belichick versus Matt Ryan and Julio Jones.

Atlanta, this year, was the 8^th highest scoring team in NFL history and Bill Belichick is the best defensive mind in NFL history and this year was no exception – the Patriots have the top-scoring defense in the league.  New England has Tom Brady, but Falcons’ head coach Dan Quinn made Brady and the Patriots very uncomfortable when he was the defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks.  The Falcons, however, gave up more than 400 points during the regular season.

In the playoffs, the Falcons outscored Seattle and Green Bay by an 80-41 combined score.  Matt Ryan threw for 730 yards and seven touchdowns.  And Julio Jones is a super-human receiver.  During these playoffs, he became the first player in NFL history to put back-to-back 150+ yards receiving and two touchdown games together.  Belichick is known for saying he designs a defense to take away the opposing team’s best player.  That is Julio Jones.  If that becomes New England’s goal, then Mohamed Sanu and company should have a big day.

But, you must consider the fact that New England and Belichick have had two weeks to prepare for the Falcons’ offense.  Consider, too, the intangible motivation – the Patriots taking the trophy from Roger Goodell after the four-game suspension penalty imposed on the Patriots and Tom Brady to start the season.  The Patriots have been solid in the playoffs – easily beating the Ravens and Steelers.

So who will win out?  This year’s probable MVP – Ryan, or, perhaps, the greatest QB of all time, Brady?  You have two great defensive minds going against two outstanding offensive units.

I think we can expect lots of scoring – the over/under is 58.5 and that is the highest number in Super Bowl history, and could be attained.  New England is favored by three to win the game.

64% of the time this season, I have correctly picked the NFL winner.  I would like to see a Falcons’ win this Sunday, but it is very hard to go against the dynasty:

NEW ENGLAND – 31                 FALCONS-27
P.S. – Take the under!

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS) 

1. Super Bowl III was the first to use the term “Super Bowl” and the first to use Roman numerals. No Roman numeral was used last year for #50.
2. The top 24 shows watched on network TV all-time are ALL Super Bowl games.
3. Americans eat more food on Super Bowl Sunday than any other day of the year except for Thanksgiving.
4. The first Super Bowl was simulcast by both NBC and CBS. Neither was happy with the other company and they had to build a fence to separate the two production companies and their trucks.
5. No Super Bowl has ever gone overtime – five AFC or NFC championships have gone OT.

ENJOY THE GAME!!

Gary’s Guesses: NFL Picks – (Last week – 1-1; Overall – 168-95-2 – 64%)

A few years ago a local athletic director appeared on our “SportsTalk” show and tossed out the real possibility that Pennsylvania would reclassify its sports teams and expand the playoffs.  At that time several things quickly passed through my mind about those possibilities and what might be the end result.

One that quickly came to mind was what will happen over the next two months.  Let me explain…

In years past, this is a very difficult time of year for everyone involved in local sports, including those of us in the media.  Traditionally for the next several weeks, there are at least five days a week in which we are doing high school basketball playoff productions, which normally triples (and sometime even more) the number of games that we normally prepare for.

That’s three times the amount of coordinating crews, loading/unloading trucks, rolling cables and wires, calling/acquiring/resending information, compiling rosters, statistics, computer graphics, and so on…

It’s always a hectic time, but at least there was usually at least one or two days here and there in which everyone (coaches, players, media members, administrators et al) can try to catch their breaths, recharge their batteries and maybe spend a little time with their families.

However…

Using some rudimentary math skills, if the number of championship tournaments would then be doubled from what we’ve always done in the past, a quick computation would reveal that we’d be doing….

WOW!!! That’s a lot of games!!!

Gone are the days when Mondays were reserved for make-up dates, in the realistic and usually likely situation that there’s significant snow in the forecast in eastern Pennsylvania area over the next two months.  Sundays—once forbidden to be used for any high school playoff games—are now being slated for some games to be played.  And, for some of us who would normally settle for working from home at least a few hours on the “off days”…those hours are now filled with significantly additional prep time, more texts/emails/phone calls and many more games to work.

So let’s flash forward to this week.

Our studio manager emails out the crew schedules to everyone (and also posts the schedule on a beat-up clipboard on a rusty hook in the side office—for the “Old School” folks) that list our production schedule and everyone’s work assignments.  As our hearty and incredibly talented crew members slowly make their way in to the studio to check out the new schedule, I knew what was coming as their eyes started scanning our upcoming workload…

A glance over the assignment schedule…eyebrows slowly rise,
followed by a widening of the eyes…a quick breath and a glance
to the side to see if the production calendar supports what
is on the clipboard…then, a quick look around for guidance,
but finding none…facades deliberately transform into more
exasperated expressions, and finally forced utterances of …
“Wow…that’s a lot of games!!!”
(or something along those lines)

Make no mistake.  Every single person on our crew roots for the young people in our area, and not a single person in our studio will ever hope that a team that reaches the state semifinals comes home with anything less than then a PIAA gold medal.  I truly don’t think anyone who feels differently would endure these next two months every year for more than a season or two…and we have crew members who have been here for decades!

And so, it now begins. Monday, February 6, will be our first Monday high school broadcast of the year…and don’t ask me when the playoffs end, because I never look that far ahead.  All hands are on-deck and many of our other responsibilities get pushed off until a much later date.

But for all the work we do, it is, in the end, a great experience.  While I don’t enjoy rarely seeing my family over the next few weeks, this time of year is truly special.

When you arrive at the arenas—there’s a different atmosphere that you don’t feel at any other time of the sports calendar year.  There are rising levels of adrenaline in every quarter…every series…every play.  The intensity only increases exponentially once you get to the ‘do or die’ games–in which the losing team sees their long season come to an abrupt end.  The rush is incredible—not to mention thrilling when games go down to the final play and it’s a great honor to have the chance to be on the floor when those exhilarating moments occur.

Memories include the smiles on the faces of the players, the coaches, their staffs and everyone’s family of the winning teams that advance through each round of the playoffs … and the hugs, tears and special moments that you physically and mentally record each year while watching the trophy ceremony after the successful completion of each round.  Those are the memories we are so fortunately to get an up close-and-personal look at, year in and year out….and make a grueling work schedule for a few months, all worthwhile.

So until next week, forgive me if I try to take some pleasure in peaking around the corner of my office and down the hallway, and chuckle a little each time one of our crew members arrive at our studio and make their way over to that beat-up old clipboard on the wall.

It’s been an exciting run of high school sports action so far this winter.  You have your dominant teams (like Bethlehem Catholic & Nazareth wrestling, Allen and–up until Friday–Bangor boys basketball teams that have been undefeated).  You also have teams that are surging of late (Parkland & Liberty boys basketball, Easton & Nazareth girls basketball), along with other schools (Emmaus, Becahi & Whitehall boys, Parkland, Allen and Bethlehem Catholic girls basketball & Parkland, Northampton & Easton wrestling) that have been very consistent all season long.

Things start to get serious for teams as we head into the final two weeks before the post-season commences in all of the winter sports.  Teams fighting for playoff spots start facing “do-or-tie” games in order to qualify, and other schools are looking to solidify as many home games and higher seeds as possible as the league and district playoffs appear on the horizon.  Wresters are also tuning up and trying to zone in on individual matchups and target the weight classes that they will be competing at for the post-season.

This Thursday, we’re going to be taking an in-depth look at the local wrestling season with the Morning Call’s Tom Housenick and RCN’s own wrestling analyst, Jim Best.  They’ll be identifying the top athletes and best match-ups going forward, in addition to talking about the wrestling season overall and handicapping the District XI Team Wrestling Tournament, which will be on RCN-TV the following week.

We’re also going to feature Rodney Williams—a standout high school basketball player from the Washington, DC region who’s now having tremendous success for the Drexel men’s basketball team.

Your comments are most welcome in advance of the show (email us at rcnsportstalk@rcn.com) and tune in this Thursday, live at 7pm on RCN-TV, to hear our wrestling experts’ responses to your questions/opinions.

In the meantime, here’s a look at some of our recent broadcasts of both local wrestling and high school basketball.

We’d also like to let you know that we are now offering exclusive, behind-the-scene tours here at RCN-TV to charities, youth and community groups, schools and local organizations (20 members or less).  Discover how television productions like “Community Spotlight,” “Pennsylvania Crossfire,” “Nuestro Valle,” and even our own “SportsTalk” shows work and learn different aspects of the broadcasting industry. Tour times are flexible and our staff will work hard to accommodate your needs.

If you are interested in a tour, please call our studio manager, Rick Geho, at 610-443-2909 to learn more.

Don’t forget to check the RCN schedule here on the website for our upcoming games as the contests get more heated, with local teams jockeying for a spot in the league and district playoffs—along with fighting for the best possible seeds!

It seems that every year the question on every District XI wrestling fan’s mind is, “Can ANYONE beat Bethlehem Catholic?”  The answer this year is a definitive “maybe.”

This past weekend the Golden Hawks dropped two dual meet matches to #4 in the nation Lake Highland Prep out of Florida and then lost to Malvern Prep, ranked #8 in the nation.  They will wrestle #9 Wyoming Seminary on Thursday, before moving on to the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference “championship day”.

This Saturday on RCN, the #14 Nazareth Blue Eagles will take their shot at the Golden Hawks, in the Eastern PA Conference Championship match.  The teams are each champions of their divisions, and will meet at 7:00pm on Saturday night at the Easton Middle School.  The atmosphere should be much like the old days when fans looked forward to three or four outstanding dual meets each year.  That environment has been missing for a few years, but rest assured the Middle School gym will be rocking, especially if Nazareth can give the Hawks a battle.

Both lineups are peppered with nationally ranked talent, and both offer plenty of balance throughout their squad.  There is a very good chance that Beca, banged up with injuries, can be in the throes of a three-match losing streak by the time Saturday rolls around.  Granted—all three losses are to top-tier academies – but the losses are not something that Jeff Karam’s team is used to.  How will they react?

Nazareth, under legendary coach Dave Crowell, will have their hands full.  They will need bonus points from their blue chippers, and will need to grab at least two tossup bouts.  Even if this all goes the way of the Eagles, they may need one more upset.

If Beca prevails, as I suspect they will, fear not Blue Eagle fans.  This may be the first of three consecutive Saturdays that feature these squads.  There is nothing that can stop a rematch for the District XI Team Championship, and both are favored to make the PIAA State Championship finals.

Scott Barr (who assisted with this blog) and Jim Best will be there along with the RCN television crew to bring you these two powerhouses.  It will certainly take us back to the days when Easton-Northampton, Easton-Nazareth, Nazareth-Northampton, etc. were on every wrestling fans’ calendar.

Those were the good old days of Lehigh Valley wrestling!

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS) 

1. Tom Brady of the Patriots and Matt Ryan of the Falcons text each other regularly during the NFL season. Matt Ryan played his college football at Boston College and Tom Brady always followed him.  Two good friends will try to beat the other in the Super Bowl.
2. Up this way, we do not get to see the Falcons very often, but they were sure impressive yesterday against the Packers. No player was more impressive than Julio Jones – 15 catches, 247 yards, and 3 TDs.  Bill Belichick always says he wants to stop the opponent’s best player, but seven Falcons caught passes on Sunday.
3. How do the Patriots do it? They draft Chris Hogan, a Penn State lacrosse player, and they make him a star wide receiver.  No organization is better at resurrecting careers and finding obscure players.
4. During the Lafayette at Lehigh men’s game on Saturday, Lehigh honored the team that stunned Duke in the first round of the NCAA playoffs in 2012. The star of that team, C. J. McCollum, could not be there because he was preparing to play the Celtics as a member of the Portland Trail Blazers.  He did send a recorded message that was played in the arena.  He went on to score 35 points against Boston and Portland won the game.
5. Only Allen remains undefeated in high school basketball as Bangor suffered their first defeat to Stroudsburg this past weekend. And then there was one.  Allen has Liberty and Stroudsburg this week – two tests for the Canaries!

Gary’s Guesses: NFL Picks – (Last week – 1-1; Overall – 168-95-2 – 64%)
SUPER BOWL PICK NEXT WEEK
 

Traditionally, the first half of the college and high school basketball seasons is…. a little peculiar.

Initially, the preseason schedule begins in the shadow of high school football playoff time—and some of the top basketball players aren’t even part of their basketball team for several weeks of the season due to their commitments on the gridiron.  College football rivalry games are in full swing, and many college basketball teams open their season with “Midnight Madness” (or extremely early morning) games or other events conducted while many of us are sleeping and/or are occupied with many other things going on during the latter half of November.

Then, when the football playoffs finally reach the championship, you’re bumping up against Christmas/holiday season.  Then, around the holidays, teams frequently travel to–or host–tournaments involving teams outside their regular area (and, if possible, get a few days to relax with their families).

After New Year’s there are inevitably a few games postponed due to the bad weather (or heavy concerns about a storm’s potential anyway).  Despite no heavy precipitation, both high school and college games in our coverage area have been affected on a couple of occasions already since we flipped the calendar.

Next thing you know, you’re at the halfway point of the high school and college basketball seasons, and it’s time to take stock about what’s gone on so far—and what lies ahead as teams start to jockey for the best playoff positions.

Which brings us to this week’s “SportsTalk” show…

Morning Call Sports Writers Keith Groller and Lynn Worthy will be on the program to break down the first half of both the local college and scholastic hoops season, and also talk NFL playoffs and other issues being debated in the world of sports this week.

And…we’ll also discuss our high school basketball poll in more detail on this week’s program, along with allowing you, our viewers, to chime in and make your opinions be known.

A bit of background on our HS basketball polls, which are a little unique from any other ranking system out there…

Our pollsters are comprised of a combination of local media members (Morning Call’s Keith Groller, RCN Sports Director Gary Laubach, RCN basketball Announcers Tom Stoudt and Dennis Laub and LehighValleyBasketballRankings.com’s Toomey Anderson).  We also have three distinguished head basketball coaches giving their insights on the top teams in the Lehigh Valley area.  We won’t reveal the names of the head coaches to avoid any “bulletin board” material or repercussions towards them—and allow them to be honest about their picks.

All District XI schools are eligible for the poll and will be divided into either our “big schools” (5A & 6A classifications) or “small schools” (4A & below) polls within the RCN footprint.

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

The “big schools” are Bangor, Central, 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.

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 thoughts at the midway point of the season.

And a special note to our diehard wrestling fans: we’ll be taking a look at the action on the mats and previewing the upcoming post-season action on next week’s “SportsTalk” show (January 26 ).  If there’s a team, athlete or wrestling issue 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!

Green Bay vs Atlanta; Pittsburgh vs New England:  Which teams will make it to the Super Bowl?  It’s hard to believe they could be more evenly matched, with each team led by some of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history.  If your fantasy draft was held tomorrow would you take Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers, or Matt Ryan?  Would it even matter – they are each that good!  No team would really seem to have the advantage at the quarterback position, but which one is better at crunch time?  Here is how I see the match-ups for this Sunday with the winner making a trip to the Super Bowl.

Green Bay at Atlanta – 3:05pm (Fox)
As I write this the over/under on this game is 60!  That’s right – 60 points.  Someone forgot the adage that “defense wins championships”.  So, obviously, Las Vegas does not believe either defense can stop Aaron Rodgers or Matt Ryan.

The Packers have won eight straight and Aaron Rodgers is the reason for the streak – 24 TDs and one interception.  And he just finds a way to win the game – the throw to Jared Cook on the sideline to set up the game-winning field goal is the most recent memory of Rodgers’ ability to just make something crucial happen.  And speaking of game –winning field goals, the Packers’ placekicker, Mason Crosby, has made 23 consecutive playoff field goals.  He last missed one in 2010.  At the end of the game, getting in field goal position is Rodgers’ job and winning the game has been Crosby’s job and both are getting their jobs done.

Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons will most likely be the NFL’s MVP and he has a receiving corps led by Julio Jones that is better than the Cowboys.  The Packers have all kinds of trouble stopping both the run AND the pass.  If Atlanta can run enough to keep the Packers concerned about that aspect of the game, Matt Ryan could have quite a day.  Statistically, the Falcons run the ball almost as effectively as the Steelers and the Steelers’ rushing attack is very good.  Dallas was able to exploit the Packers’ secondary.  Most fans, I think, would agree that the Seattle Seahawks’ defense is more formidable than the Packers’ defense.  I am beginning to understand the over/under.

WHO WINS?  – The Falcons are favored; they are at home; but can I bet against Aaron Rodgers?  No!
GREEN BAY – 34     ATLANTA – 31 

Pittsburgh at New England – 6:40pm (CBS)
Is anybody better than Tom Brady in these situations?  Is anyone’s pass rush in the playoffs been better than the Steelers?  The answer to both questions is “No”.  But there are some troubling stats if you are a Steelers’ fan.  The Patriots have lost only once to the Steelers (Brady was injured in that game) in New England in the past 18 years and the Patriots have won nine of the last 12 match-ups between these two teams.

For Pittsburgh to win, and they have won nine in a row, they must be able to run the ball and I believe they will.  Le’Veon Bell was exceptional against Kansas City – 170 yards on 30 carries.  Throw in DeAngelo Williams and the New England rush defense will be severely tested.  Balance that rushing attack with the wisdom of Roethlisberger and his talented receivers, especially Antonio Brown, and life could get miserable for the Patriot defense.  But the Steelers did not score a touchdown against the Chiefs.

“Ho hum” for New England.  Aren’t the Patriots always in this playoff position – in the playoffs and at home?  They are 4-1 in the AFC Championship games and 16-3 all-time at home in the playoffs.  And Tom Brady is Tom Brady!  With the exception of Brady, the Patriots do not have the “name players” that the other playoff teams have, but they do have Bill Belichick.  And those two are the true “killer Bs”.

WHO WINS?  New England is favored; the game is in Foxboro; and Brady and Belichick do not lose.
NEW ENGLAND – 24     PITTSBURGH – 23

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
 

1. Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin made a valid point after the Steelers’ late Sunday win at Kansas City. New England has a day and a half preparation advantage over the Steelers due to the Patriots playing early on Saturday and the Steelers late on Sunday night and having to fly back to Pittsburgh.  Just what the Patriots need – another advantage.
2. I hate to harp on the officiating, but do you agree that splitting up the NFL officials’ crews was a bad idea. There have been so many incidences where the crew just does not seem to be on the same page.  It makes them look bad and most fans think they are bad anyway.  There sure seems to be many more “booth reviews” than ever before.  Suffice it to say, no team is angrier with the officials than the Kansas City Chiefs – a holding call on the two-point conversion kept them from tying the game and sending it into overtime.
3. Packers’ kicker Mason Crosby has been unbelievable – he became the first kicker to make two field goals of 50 yards or more in the last two minutes of a playoff game. His 56-yarder was the third longest in post-season history.  He had to make the game-winning 51-yarder twice after the Cowboys called time-out right before he made the first one.  That makes 23 in a row, a record.
4. New Lafayette football coach John Garrett is certainly not a fan of Crosby’s. His brother, Jason, is the Dallas head coach and he had just put his team in position to go to overtime.
5. Congratulations to both Allen and Bangor as they continue to stay undefeated in the high school basketball season. Allen is 6A and Bangor is 5A so they will not meet in the playoffs.  That’s a shame.

Gary’s Guesses: NFL Picks – (Last week – 2-2; Overall – 167-94-2 – 64%)
SEE ABOVE
 

First and foremost, I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday seasonyou’re your New Year is off to a flying start!

We have some big plans with our sports coverage coming down the pike here at RCN in 2017 and are glad you are on-board for the ride.

Before we get back into the swing of things and resume our double-header high school basketball coverage and weekly “SportsTalk” programming, I thought it would be good to play a little “catch-up” on some of the last video highlight packages we produced for our games and broadcast right before the holidays. Then we’ll get back to the “conference” basketball games on RCN-TV.

In addition to these highlights, don’t forget to check into “The Shop” next week as we resume our full-time coverage of high school hoops—and also give our insights, predictions and interviews about the second half of the high school basketball season.

As always, we appreciate you feedback and opinions of our sports coverage and any team or individual achievements during the first month of the winter sports season that might deserve some extra attention and/or mention during our “RCN SportsTalk” program.  Any sports comments about pro, college and high school sports are welcome as well.  Please email your thoughts to rcnsportstalk@rcn.com.

Also, don’t forget to catch our first “SportsTalk” show of 2017 as our in-studio guests will be Head Coach Doug Snyder and members of the Allen boys basketball team—recently named the #1 scholastic team in all of Pennsylvania.  The Canaries will talk about their season today and look ahead to a tough league schedule, this Thursday at 7pm on RCN-TV.  The show will also be available to watch through RCN On-Demand and you can hear the podcast at rcn.com/atvn/sports-talk.

Be sure to tune in and support the Allen basketball team!

Each New Year, we are made to feel guilty because we adopt resolutions for ourselves that we rarely keep.  Supposedly, this tradition was started by the Babylonians when they promised to pay off their debts.  I’m sure even the Babylonians had trouble keeping that resolution just as I am sure we continue to make resolutions and not keep them.

I guess the overall concept is for each of us to aspire to self-improvement.  That’s not a bad thing so I guess we could all be due for a little introspection.

Again, as in years’ past, since I rarely ever even think about New Year’s resolutions, I sought some guidance to come up with some.  I found a list of the top ten so I analyzed them for myself:

1.  Stay Fit and Healthy
Not only is this a good idea, but our company really tries to help us do this.  They offer a weekly tip on exercise and diet.  But the cuisine at most stadiums and gymnasiums is not usually made up of greens and vegetables.  For my workout, I do try to run to the refreshment stand to get my two hot dogs.

2.  Lose Weight
Much like Oprah, I struggle to lose the poundage.  Now if Weight Watchers would just offer me a small percentage of Oprah’s contract, then I think I could wrap my waist around the idea, but NO CONTRACT = NO DICE!

3.  Enjoy Life More
Now here is a resolution I can wrap my head around.  I will do my absolute best to fulfill this resolution, so if it looks like I am ignoring #1 and #2, you have the reason why.

4.  Spend Less, Save More
Why tell me?  Tell my wife, my kids, my grandkids, and the people who run the Sands Casino.  They could all REALLY help here.

5.  Spend More Time With Family and Friends
I like the concept, but I think my family and friends see just about enough of me.  I have no way of gauging this, but no one seems to be clamoring to spend more time with me.  In fact, my wife often says, “Don’t you have somewhere to go?”  So, until they make it perfectly clear that this is one of their resolutions for me, I am going to ignore this.

6.  Get Organized
Check!  I am organized – on getting work done at work and avoiding it at home.  It’s an art, you know.

7.  Learn Something New/New Hobby
I already do crosswords, read, play golf, watch the NFL, college football, college basketball and attend hundreds of sporting events.  Leave me alone!

8.  Travel More
Okay, but does anyone know how to do that and “Spend less, save more”? (See #4)

9.  Read More
Look – I have a Nook Reader and  use it quite a bit.  I could probably work on a more intellectual reading list, but I like Stephen King.

10.  Don’t Make Any Resolutions
This was actually a resolution made by 16% of the people polled by the Nielsen people.  So I think I have figured out this resolution thing.  If you have a good job, a nice family, good friends, and a wonderful wife, there is only one resolution that really matters –Don’t change anything!!

I’M GOOD FOR 2017!

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS) 

1. As bad as Wild Card weekend was in terms of interesting and competitive games, this weekend should be just the opposite. When you look at the match-ups – Seattle at Atlanta; Houston at New England; Pittsburgh at Kansas City; and Green Bay at Dallas, only the New England game looks like a rout.  I was 4-0 making the picks last week.  That won’t happen this weekend.
2. It was reported by ESPN that Odell Beckham, Jr. punched a hole in the wall and banged his head against the door outside the Giants locker room in Green Bay after their loss on Sunday. As uncharacteristic as his performance was on Sunday, his reaction in the locker room seems just about normal for him.
3. Penn State star and Whitehall graduate Saquon Barkley attended the Freedom at Whitehall game this past Friday just days after his amazing Rose Bowl performance. It happened to be Whitehall’s Hall of Fame night.  Saquon already has a lock on admission to that group.  Many fans wanted “selfies” and autographs. Saquon was cordial about it all, but seemed shy about his fame.  He better get used to it.
4. Lafayette’s Matt Klinewski scored a career high 34 points this past Sunday. It was his second 30+ performance in the last four games and his third of the season.  No Leopard has ever had three 30-point games in one year since Lafayette joined the Patriot League in 1990.
5. I don’t know if you noticed, but the Philadelphia 76ers are not the worst team in the NBA at the moment nor the second worst team. As I write this, they are 1.5 games ahead of Miami and 2.5 games ahead of New Jersey.  It must be a “cold day in…” the Lehigh Valley and it is!

Gary’s Guesses: NFL Picks – (Last week – 4-0; Overall – 165-92-2 – 64%)
PLAYOFFS – WEEK 2
ATLANTA
NEW ENGLAND
KANSAS CITY
DALLAS

Wishing you a very happy 2017!

Gary’s Guesses: NFL Picks – (Last wek – 11-3-2; Overall – 161-92-4 – 64%
NFL Playoffs

HOUSTON
SEATTLE
PITTSBURGH
GREEN BAY

Thanks for checking back for our third and final installment of our reflections of the past year (please check out the last two weeks’ worth of blog entries for even more insights and memories of the year gone by).

Here are more of the sports categories that co-host Keith Groller and I came up with, in addition to topics suggested by our viewers, along with my “two-cents worth”:

Most Overplayed Story of 2016 (any level)
Athletes and coaches giving their political opinions and commentary on the Presidential race. Many have NO clue of what they are talking about. I could tell you many stories from when I covered pro athletes proving that they truly do not have a sense of the “common person issues.” For example, one Major League player once said the average person’s yearly salary was about $600,000!

Biggest Turnaround in 2016 (any level)
Penn State football

Most Lasting Image of 2016 (Local/National)
Local – Solehi girls basketball dominance in the local playoffs (both league after districts)
National – Penn State fans storming field after Ohio State game

Best Coaching Job of 2016
Nazareth Girls Basketball Head Coach Rich Bickert

Most Outstanding Individual Performance of 2016
Nazareth’s Travis Stefanik — in two sports … at the wrestling EPC Challenge (I think) … and in the 2nd half of his football game vs. Freedom: a force, just wouldn’t quit, took a few hard shots and just kept going and almost led his team all the way back from a 28-0 deficit.

Most Impressive Team Performance of 2016
Parkland boys basketball

Favorite Sports Moment of 2016
The many examples of teams getting involved in the community, out at young kids’ events, going to homeless shelters and other great charitable work I heard about this year!

And, for the “New Year” Predictions…

Toughest Coaching Challenge Looking Ahead
Dieruff football’s Kyle Beller

One team and player to watch in 2017
Players: Bangor’s Isaiah Jones (So) and Catty’s Jaylen Green
Team: Pen Argyl Girls Soccer program

Something “New” You’d Like to See in 2017
“Real” football playoff doubleheaders

One Piece of Advice for an Athlete/Coach in 2017
Head Coaches: “Hang in there” through adversity and other “strange stories” that they share with me — some of them VERY hard to believe what they have to go through!

These topics plus many more are discussed in much greater detail, along with some discussion/debating going on between Keith and me on the 60-minute special program. Be sure to catch the encore edition of our special “Year-in-Review” show that will be airing a couple more times over the next week. Check your RCN on-screen guide for details on when this show is airing.

In addition, you can also hear the podcast of our “2016 Year-in-Review” show at: rcn.com/atvn/sports-talk and RCN customers can watch the show, for free and at anytime, through RCN On-Demand.

I hope everyone has a great start to 2017 and joins us next week for more coverage, videos and sports highlight of teams in the RCN viewing area!