Introduction from Chris Michael: Last month we welcomed Cameron Nunez as the newest member of the ATVN Sports family.

She brings several unique experiences to the table.  A member of the National Honor Society and field hockey program, Cameron gained attention as a student-athlete with the first-ever Easton girls wrestling program (one of the first sanctioned programs in Pennsylvania). She is currently an athletic training major while wrestling collegiately at East Stroudsburg University.

This week, she continues her story as the sport continues towards scholastic sanctioning in Pennsylvania.

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Growing up, I was always told that “growth takes time” which has shown to be a deception in recent years for the sanctioning of girls/women’s wrestling. “Women’s wrestling is one of the fastest-growing sports at the scholastic and collegiate levels,” according to the NWCA, which is one of the most astonishing things to hear and see. As much as this is a new developing sport, it is necessary for me to first discuss who came before and broke the stigma of wrestling being a “male” sport.

I had spent most of my life watching male against male wrestling contests until one cold day in 2011 when I saw Kasey Kruczek. My father and I went to watch Easton Wrestling on a frigid winter day when I was nine years old. I was sitting in the bleachers when I noticed this blonde-haired girl from Easton wrestling some boy. Of course, I was taken aback by this and asked my father who she was. His response was, “Oh, that’s Kasey Kruczek, she used to wrestle for the Forks program when Nick was a novice and now she wrestles for Easton.”

This, I believe, was the turning point in my realization that wrestling is not simply a male sport. She will always be my inspiration and one of the people who helped me fall in love with the sport. I’m grateful to her for paving the road for female wrestling in the Lehigh Valley.

When my parents decided to let me wrestle when I was a junior in high school, I was ecstatic and eager to take on the challenge. Of course, you’d assume I beat every boy every time I stepped on the mat. Unfortunately, such was never the case. They’d fling me around even if I weighed twenty pounds more than some of the guys at practice. It made me apprehensive when I had to wrestle boys my own weight.

So, when it came to JV districts, I was mostly worried about what would happen. I believe I put up a good fight but was always pinned in the end. During this time, I hoped I could have wrestled a girl for some friendly competition. We then learned about the MyHouse PA Girls State Championship, which was to be held in Gettysburg, PA. Unfortunately, there were no girls in the room to wrestle at the time, and the boys were preparing for their states. My father chose to contact Kasey Kruczek because she was one of the girls’ coaches at Parkland High School, which had a large number of female wrestlers.

I had no idea those few practices would be the entire reason I wanted to seriously tackle wrestling!

The Parkland High School practices remain some of my favorite wrestling experiences to this day. It was one of the first times I felt like I was a part of something bigger than myself. I also met Brooke Zumas, the head coach of Parkland Girls Wrestling and a key figure in the “#Sanction PA” movement. She would later pave the way for me to speak about women’s wrestling in Pennsylvania. It was my first-ever girls “states” (March 2020), the day following boys states, and I was ready to wrestle. When I stepped in the gym, there were about a hundred females in this small gym, ranging from novice to high school, all vying for the same gold medal.

Unfortunately, I did not place, but it was an experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

A few weeks later, I received a text from Brooke Zumas asking if I was interested in doing a Zoom interview with a reporter, which of course I said yes to and was thrilled that she thought of me. This led to other interviews with numerous local and state news organizations. I even got to meet 2004 Olympic wrestler Tela O’Donnell via Zoom. It was a fantastic start to something wonderful.

May 26th, 2020 was a significant day – not just for the Easton wrestling community, but also for the state of Pennsylvania. My alma mater, Easton Area High School, officially established girls wrestling as a sport on this day. I was overjoyed to learn that I would be able to practice and compete on my school’s official girls team during my senior year.

In the weeks leading up to the start of the season, Pennsylvania would sanction seven more female wrestling  teams. In my final season as an Easton Red Rover, I had numerous wins but also several losses.

Then came March, and it was time for my second MyHouse PA State Championships appearance. There were roughly a hundred more girls this year than last. It was a breathtaking sight to behold!

Again, I did not place, but I was able to see the development of my teammates and other girls I met the previous year, which was far more rewarding than any gold medal.

For those who are unaware of what is going on with Sanction PA, there are currently ninety teams sanctioned out of the required one hundred. Girls wrestling is on the verge of becoming an official sport in Pennsylvania. Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Leighton, Liberty, Palisades, Parkland, Pocono Mountain East, and Pocono Mountain West are among the district eleven teams that have already been sanctioned. We can have formal state finals like the boys state tournaments in Hershey, Pennsylvania, once we get 100 teams sanctioned.       .   

Meanwhile, some collegiate women’s wrestling teams include Alvernia, Cedar Crest, Delaware Valley, East Stroudsburg, Gannon, Lock Haven, and York. Every day, I am grateful for all of the people I have met via this sport, as well as those who have inspired me to continue doing so. As Sally Roberts, one of my inspirations, had written “be a Trailblazer” and “Wrestle Like a Girl!”

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Liberty Girls Basketball Head Coach Jarrett Carnes joined the Astound TV Network in 2022, contributing a regular “video blog” on the local hoops scene during the winter sports season and putting the spotlight on the top news, teams and players in the ATVN viewing area.

Here in the second episode of “Coach Carnes’ Corner,” he talks about the first month of the women’s high school basketball season, along with the Christmas/Holiday tournaments and a busy start to the 2023 schedule in the Lehigh Valley.

Check back for more of Coach Carnes’ insights and highlights on girls basketball in a few weeks!

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PROGRAMMING NOTE:

Among our upcoming scheduling highlights will be a rare “EPC-Colonial League” wrestling crossover event this Saturday, live, at 7pm on ATVN.

It will feature Notre Dame and Bethlehem Catholic–two schools that feature some of the top wrestlers in the nation!

Don’t miss a minute of the wrestling action, in addition to our Lafayette College and high school basketball games coming up over the next several days.

Make sure you bookmark and refer back to our broadcast schedule here on our website for all the exciting local sports action!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Today here at “The Shop,” our newest member of the ATVN Sports Department introduces herself as we look to enhance our coverage of local wrestling–women’s wrestling–in particular, as it continues its march to get sanctioned as an official sport in Pennsylvania.

*****

I, Cameron Nunez, grew up in the beautiful suburban township of Forks in Easton, Pennsylvania, where wrestling tradition has lived for many years. Since I was two years old, my weekends have always been spent in a huge, musty gym. Even though my body hurt so much, and it smelled so horrible on some days, I fell in love with it so quickly that it eventually became a part of me.

In October 2005, my parents decided they wanted my older brother Nick to start wrestling for the local Forks Township pee wee wrestling team. From then on I spent some weekdays in that large maroon and gold wrestling room just running around while my dad watched my brother practice. As the little sister, I occasionally served as the “dummy” for my brother to perform some excruciating techniques on.

Naturally, most of my winter mornings started at abnormal hours as I was hauled to wrestling matches that were sometimes nearby but other times several hours away. The presence of hundreds of sweaty males on the weekends was not something a six-year-old girl would want to do, yet there was something about it that felt like home. I may have seen one or two girl wrestlers at this period, but I didn’t give it any thought until I was older.

Once I got older (about 11 years old), I started to do my own thing in the winter, which was basketball. I loved and enjoyed it so much, but it made me sad that I had to miss many of my brother’s matches for the historic wrestling program of Easton Area High School.

So, in the winter of my seventh-grade year, my closest friend and I agreed to oversee the wrestling program for middle school. Every day I would clean the filthy mats for the boys, which caused my socks to become the most hideous color brown. I enjoyed keeping the score for the middle school team on match nights before seeing my brother wrestle for the high school team. I recall attending my first-ever Easton match against Phillipsburg, our century-long rival. I was astounded by how crowded the gym would become with spectators on both sides, as well as by the powerful electric chemistry between the male competitors. It felt like a fever dream every time and I could not wait to officially be a part of it in the fall of 2017.

I was so excited to be a part of such a legendary program, even if it was just being a wrestling manager at the time.  I lived for waking up at five o’clock in the morning to go to tournaments like the Bethlehem Holiday Classic or Districts. In the winter of 2019, I remember going to Districts and seeing a girl wrestle one of our boys and thinking to myself, “Wow, I wish I could wrestle.”  Little did I know what next season was going to bring and that girl would later be my college teammate, Avia Bibeau.

The fall of my junior year came; I had just finished my field hockey season and was ready to start cleaning the mats. The night before the yearly winter sports meetings, I saw a post on the Easton Wrestling Twitter page saying, “Girls are more than welcome to join the team this year.” I told my parents.  They were a little concerned since I would be wrestling boys but as long as I did not care, they were ready to fully support me. My passion for the sport grew more and more every day in that room. All the wins and losses did not matter; I was happy to be part of many events, like the first match against Parkland. The thing that helped me realize that this was the right sport for me was when I won the 2020 Dick Rutt Memorial Award for my hard work/dedication in the room. Ironically this was the same award my brother won his senior year. It made me realize that if I keep pushing myself maybe this sport could open doors for me.

The summer before my senior season, my dad found a wrestling club in Stroudsburg where East Stroudsburg University Wrestling Coach Anibal Nieves would be coaching practices.  Little did I know by going to them, it would open up a major opportunity for me. I would go Mondays and Wednesdays to learn from him. I loved going so much that even in the fall after field hockey practice on those specific weeknights, I would head up to Stroudsburg for wrestling practice. One night after practice, Coach Nieves walked up to me and asked if I would be interested in taking a tour of ESU and possibly committing to wrestle at ESU. I remember thinking, “Wow, I really could wrestle in college”. A couple of weeks later, I took an official tour of ESU where I got to meet the Department Chairman of Athletic Training and got to see the wrestling room. I knew right after this would be my home for the next four years because I could wrestle, they had a top-of-line Athletic Training program, and it was close to home. A few months later on November 11, 2020, I officially signed my letter of intent to pursue my athletic and academic career as part of the Warrior Nation, aka East Stroudsburg University.

A few weeks later, my official senior wrestling season came but this year would be different because I would be a part of Easton’s first official girls wrestling team. I was excited to finally be able to wrestle only girls and get a feel for what was going to happen in college. I was lucky enough to have two Division One Leigh wrestlers to coach me through it.

The practices were hard, but nothing ever deterred my passion for the sport. Many wins and losses came that season, but it was great to be able to represent the Easton Red Rovers one last time throughout it all. One memory I carry with me forever is being able to go with my team to PA MyHouse State Championships and seeing hundreds of girls there. Sadly, I did not finish how I wanted, and then, just like that my high school wrestling career was over. This got me motivated for what the next four years were going to bring at ESU.

During the summer, I went to many freestyle tournaments and practices to learn freestyle, which helped me prepare for what women’s college wrestling was going to bring. The fall 2021 semester came;  it was time for my first two days, extra workouts, and weight management. Our preseason was a little thrown off due to Covid-19, but I managed to get in my multiple workouts a day. Early November was our first competition – the ESU Open – and I was tired from cutting weight but overall excited to wrestle in my first collegiate match. Sadly, it did not go my way, but it was an awesome experience. For the next couple of months, I continuously worked on my craft and just got better in the room every day. Our match against Elmira came and Coach Nieves told me I would not be able to wrestle in the actual match, but I would get an extra match against a girl that pinned me at the beginning of the season. Finally earning my first collegiate victory by pinning her, it got me motivated to compete in Regionals in February. My regional tournament did not go as I had hoped, but Coach assured me that if I wrestled the way I had in my two previous matches, I would be unbeatable the next season, and I was therefore eager to get ready for my sophomore campaign.

We are starting to get ready for winter break as I write this. Unfortunately, I am now sidelined due to back and shoulder concerns, so I did not participate in many matches this fall semester. However, I am hoping to resolve my back problems during the break so I can return stronger for the next semester. Although wrestling is essential to me, ultimately my health comes first. Young Cam would probably be awestruck but also proud of where she is now.  “Wrestling is a way of life” is one of my favorite Rudis shirts, and I’m delighted that it is!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

The high school winter sports season is just under way!

We already did two games (both games featured two of the hottest teams through the first nine days of the season) and have seven games/matches coming up over the next ten days (one wrestling match was canceled by the hosting school).

As you check out the new schedule here on our website, I want to point out a few of the highlights for this winter and the next few months…

MORE WRESTLING MATCHES

The Lehigh Valley has been known for years as the best area for wrestling in Pennsylvania (and on a short-list of the top wrestling regions in the nation) with many recent and not-so-recent graduates from local high schools capturing success at Division-I colleges throughout the USA.

Between COVID and other scheduling issues in recent years, it was a priority for us this season to get back to scheduling a wrestling match every Wednesday during the regular season.  PLUS…with some creative techniques…we have added a couple more nights during the winter that will focus on this sport.  We are also going to feature more wrestling schools than any other year in our network’s history, including all four schools that participated in last year’s PIAA championships.

MORE BOYS BASKETBALL TEAMS

As long as Mother Nature doesn’t cancel a ton of games this winter, we are going to be featuring more schools than ever before!

Our schedule will include every Eastern Pennsylvania Conference team from the Lehigh Valley at least once.  Our early season schedule will feature Parkland, Bethlehem Catholic and Northampton–the three boys teams that “lasted the longest” in last year’s state playoffs.  We also will feature some of the up-and-coming teams, including Central Catholic and Liberty–teams that have had really good fall seasons and are predicted to do well this winter.

Additionally we have scheduled games with nearly every team from the Colonial League from our viewing area, including a few schools we have not had on our network in decades.  As always, the weather could ruin our plans and changes beyond our control may occur, but we did work very hard to try to be as fair to as many teams as we could, while putting together a comprehensive schedule at the same time.

GIRLS BASKETBALL GAMES

I know we have had viewers asking about the lack of girls basketball games in the past and we have heard your opinions!

Our winter 2022-23 schedule will feature some of the top girls basketball teams from our area, including Easton, Parkland, Northampton, Bethlehem Catholic, Nazareth and others…plus we will make sure to allow for a number of girls playoff games in February and March.  We believe the girls games we have picked will not only feature some of the top athletes from our area, but will be just as competitive (or maybe more so?) than many of the other boys games that will be played on those nights.

Please note:  All of the above upgrades to our schedule should not take away from featuring all the top games as we get closer to playoff times.  We look to accomplish all of the above before we get to the final three weeks of the regular season, when many of our viewers are looking forward to seeing the most competitive games as squads jockey for playoff positioning.

It was a busy fall preparing for all these new editions to our broadcast schedule for the upcoming months.  We hope we will be able to bring you a very balanced and entertaining selection of games to tune in for all winter long.  As always, your feedback and suggestions will continue to be welcomed for the new year and I look forward to hearing your opinions throughout the seasons by emailing me.

Check back next week for more exciting local sports news and more on our winter coverage this season!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Last week we “teased” that there will be new additions and elements to the Astound TV Network launching this winter that we believe our viewers will like and enjoy going forward.

Today, we unveil one of them here at “The Shop.”

Jarrett Carnes is a local basketball standout from Bethlehem who played at the collegiate level and is now back in the Valley doing some great things with the Liberty girls basketball program.

There is no question that boys basketball has gotten the lion’s share of media attention on local, regional and national levels.

In one of our efforts to help bridge that wide gap and put more emphasis on women’s athletics, Coach Carnes will be featured every few weeks with his opinions and observations on girls basketball and other observations on the local sports landscape.

Here is the first episode of “Coach Carnes’ Corner.”

Check back for more of Coach Carnes’ insights and highlights on girls basketball in a few weeks!

Also, check back to “The Shop” in a few days for some exciting news concerning our high school sports schedule for this new winter season on ATVN, along with other new surprises coming soon!

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PROGRAMMING NOTE:

Our winter schedule season “kicks off” with perhaps our most important broadcast of the year–the 37th Annual Dream Come True Telethon–on Monday, December 5, at 6pm on ATVN.

The bidding on this year’s great selection of auction items has already begun here: www.bidding owl.com/dreamcometrue.

We are also going to showcase many of our auction items on our telethon, with the money raised going to benefit this great local charity in our viewing area.  There are also some very special guests and performing artists lined up for this year’s event, plus very emotional stories told by young people and their families in the DCT program.

We would greatly appreciate you tuning in and making a tax deductible donation to the Dream Come True Foundation.  (It’s also a terrific way to do some “easy” Christmas shopping while also raising money for a worthwhile cause!).

Hope to see and hear from you this Monday at 6pm!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

The week before Thanksgiving is always an extra busy time for those of us in the ATVN studio.

Thanksgiving weekend is typically our first “full” week of state playoff games–which means contacting schools outside our coverage area.  (This sometimes creates for very interesting stories, as we have to prove ourselves to coaches that we have never met before that we are not spies nor trying to get “inside information” for the teams that they are going to face).

It’s also a “tricky” week because the schools are closed, at the very least, on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and it creates a rush trying to get all these NEW schools’ information and compile everything in less days (and also try to have at least part of one day to spend with our families).

In any event, the item that often gets pushed to the back burner is the blog I like to write giving thanks to the many people I come in contact with throughout the year and those who are so incredibly helpful in assisting us bring local sports coverage to our viewers throughout the year.

And I DEFINITELY did not want to blow this off this year!

First of all, I want to thank the coaches, athletic directors, statisticians, administrators and all the people we deal with in preparing and producing our sports broadcasts.  It was great to get through a sports season without a single game canceled because of COVID, but that still doesn’t mean it was an “easy” year.

We’ve talked with quite a few local personalities on our “SportsTalk” show about all the things that they have had to deal with…from a shortage of bus drivers keeping kids from traveling to scheduled games to the lack of officials, which also causes games to be canceled or rescheduled.  These and other “new” issues have wreaked havoc with a “normal” fall, and many of these administrators have had to deal with many issues, while still trying to be super accommodating and as helpful to us in the media as they could possibly be.

Secondly, the people within our Astound family have been unbelievably helpful to me and our studio staff over this past year (and I hope they know who they are).  From promoting our sports programming to allowing me to bring in new voices to our on-air sports family (more on that in a minute) to allowing us to try new scheduling techniques (more on that next week).  We have been able to do a lot of great things this year.  PLUS, we are working on more new vehicles to enhance our local sports coverage over the next few months–details to follow soon!

Next, I’m very thankful for those new on-air staff members who have joined us over the last 12 months.  From a national Hall of Fame inductee and former ESPN announcer to a former Major League Baseball player…from one of the most successful women’s basketball coaches in our area to a former Division-I standout football player who just a couple years ago was in NFL training camps…just a few of the new editions to our announcing staff.  We are still working on bringing in a few more new faces to our broadcasting lineup in the new year!

Lastly, I am thankful for the behind the scenes people at our ATVN studio.  For over 20 years now I’ve seen them do amazing work on our productions while bringing you all of our local sports and community programming.  But this year, they have overcome some incredible personal challenges–a couple have been made public, but most have not.  Trust me when I say that it has not been an “easy” last few months for these men and women, who continued to work through adversity while continuing to do their best this fall AND prepare for everything that is coming up as part of our winter schedule.

It may be a few days late in coming, but this year, more than ever, I am extremely grateful and very thankful for the people who I work with.  Hopefully, things can go a little “smoother” all the way around for our upcoming season.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  Check back next week for more exciting news on upcoming projects for the Astound TV Network as we move into our winter season!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

It was an interesting fall season again here in 2022.

While there were definitely some surprises (as there usually are) as this season’s high school football season unfolded (with several teams still playing–and winning–as the state playoffs opened this past weekend).

But as is often the case, thanks to the time, effort and insights of our rotating selection of pollsters each autumn, we pretty much gave our audience a very accurate overview of who the top teams were in each league, both before, and throughout, the season.

Don’t believe us?

That’s fine, because we ALWAYS hold ourselves accountable and look back at our preseason polls before we unveil our final poll results.

So here we go with our pre-season polls posted online back in mid-August.

EPC-LV TOP 5 (PRESEASON POLL)

1. Freedom
2. Nazareth
3. Parkland
4. Emmaus
5. Central Catholic

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Allentown Central Catholic, Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Dieruff, Allen, Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, Nazareth, and Northampton

And here is how things ended up…

EPC-LV TOP 5 (FINAL)

1. Parkland
2. Freedom
3. Nazareth
4. Emmaus
5. Central Catholic

In defense of selecting Nazareth ahead of Parkland, I would still say it was a good “pick” as the Blue Eagles lost their best player (and league “MVP”) Sonny Sasso the week before the playoffs started.  The Blue Eagles were the undisputed EPC-South Champions at the end of the regular season.  During the regular season, Nazareth beat Parkland (who did have several injured players at that time) but the Trojans returned the favor in the first round of the playoffs, when Sasso was the player who was sidelined.

While football is more than one person, there’s not a person in the Valley who would say this team was clearly not the same by losing their leader the week before.  It also didn’t help Nazareth’s cause by being paired with a surging Parkland team–one that had several injuries themselves during the regular season, but got healthy at just the right time.

*****

As for the Colonial League…

COLONIAL TOP 5 (PRESEASON)

1. Northwestern
2. Notre Dame-GP
3. Northern Lehigh
4. Southern Lehigh

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Bangor, Pen Argyl, Notre Dame – Green Pond, Wilson, Catasauqua, Salisbury, Saucon Valley, Northwestern, Northern Lehigh, Southern Lehigh and Palisades

And here are the final results…

COLONIAL TOP 5 (FINAL)

1. Northwestern
2. Northern Lehigh
3. Notre Dame-GP
4. Southern Lehigh

Clearly, there weren’t too many surprises for our Colonial League poll-from start to finish.  In fact, the only other team that entered our poll at all, was (for two weeks) Saucon Valley, before losing several games in a row mid-season, including one to Southern Lehigh and fell back out of the poll.

While the teams did rotate spots throughout the fall, (especially when Northwestern beat Nolehi week two and Notre-Dame beat Northwestern week six, etc), our Colonial picks were as close to spot on as you could get.

Both Northwestern and Northern Lehigh ended up winning their respective district classifications, so it was appropriate that both schools ended 1 and 2 in our rankings–similar to the way they had started the year for our preseason poll back in August.

Thanks to all the people who participated in our polls for both their time and their insightful opinions throughout the football season.

Feel free to email me for your thoughts and check back to the SportsTalk Shop over the next several weeks as we recap the fall season in other sports and bring you the area’s “All-Star” lists as they become available to us.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

We had a great week of high school football playoff action last week!

While the weather continually altered plans leading up to last Thursday night’s action, it made for a bunch of entertaining (and rain-free) games over the last few days.

Considering:

• The District XI 6A semifinal went down to the final position and a one-point win for Freedom
• A 62-yard touchdown pass with three seconds left for a dramatic come-from-behind win in the District XI 2A championship game
• A come-from-behind, one-point win by underdogs from Northwestern in the 3A semifinal
• A 4A championship that was a 4-point game up until the final three minutes, and the losing team driving down the field for a third time in the fourth quarter–only to have each drive result in an interception

We talked last week about how it’s not easy to pick which games we can and cannot broadcast this time of year.  But in terms of excitement and entertaining ball games, there were clearly no other games that were as close nor any other contest that was settled by less than three scores by any of the other games in our coverage area!

Be on the lookout for this weekend’s broadcast schedule posted soon right here on our website

 *****

   Next up, here are highlights from some of our recent high school football broadcasts on ATVN…

1.   Astounds Sports:  Emmaus vs. Nazareth (10/22)
   
   
2. Astound Sports: Parkland vs. Bethlehem Catholic (10/22)
   
   
3. Astound Sports: Freedom vs. Bethlehem Catholic (10/22)
   
   
4. Astound Sports: Nazareth vs. Whitehall (10/22)
   
   

*****

That brings us to this week’s input from the ATVN SportsTalk pollsters — a random (and rotating, each year) collection of local coaches, athletic directors and media members. We never announce nor release the names of our non-media voters to get their honest opinions on the local football landscape while avoiding any thoughts of retribution or potential “bulletin board” material.  Our “media voters” usually reveal themselves when we have the pleasure of having them on our weekly SportsTalk program, seen on Thursday nights on the Astound TV Network and available to watch at any time for free through ATVN on Demand.

This year, we are going to break the two polls down into EPC and Colonial League schools, within the RCN broadcast area.  With the Colonial teams will be cross-scheduling and playing teams from the Schuylkill League and the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference playing different “crossover” teams, our poll will be an interesting barometer for teams in the Lehigh Valley since many local teams will not have the same opponents on their schedule.

With all that said, here are our second to last poll results for this fall’s high school sports season.

EPC TOP 5

1. Freedom
2. Emmaus
3. Parkland
4. Nazareth
5. Central Catholic

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Allentown Central Catholic, Northampton, Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Dieruff, Allen, Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, and Nazareth.

COLONIAL TOP 4

1. Northwestern
2. Northern Lehigh
3. Notre Dame-GP
4. Southern Lehigh

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Bangor, Pen Argyl, Notre Dame – Green Pond, Wilson, Catasauqua, Salisbury, Saucon Valley, Northwestern, Northern Lehigh and Southern Lehigh.

Be sure to check back to our website for next week’s poll results and come back frequently for any changes to our ongoing broadcast schedule information as we the playoffs roll on.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Before we take a look at this week’s “SportsTalk” high school football game highlights and poll results for teams in the ATVN viewing area, a quick heads-up regarding this weekend’s coverage on ATVN.

There will be a number of big playoff matchups coming your way on Friday night and Saturday. I have already been asked quite a bit over the last 24 hours which games we will broadcast this weekend, and, when you get to this time of year, there are always some tough decisions that have to be made.

This year is no exception and it’s even more of a difficult chore due to the high quality of the teams participating in this weekend’s playoff games and several other issues beyond our control. For Friday’s broadcast, we will have a rematch of last year’s District XI 6A title game – Emmaus versus Freedom, which also is a game featuring the two squads that nearly everyone in the area has been dubbing the top two teams in our region (both have also been ranked in statewide polls). On Saturday, with both games being played at a neutral site (Whitehall High School Stadium), we can cover both the 2A championship featuring Catasaqua and Executive Charter (both schools will be making their first appearances on ATVN this fall), followed by the 4A championship between Bethlehem Catholic and Allentown Central Catholic.

Unfortunately with so many games being played at the same time and at different sites, it is beyond our control to feature everyone this weekend. Hopefully, as many of our local teams keep winning as possible and we will have a chance to broadcast another one of the teams’ games that we will not be able to see this weekend.

Be advised that we will preview this weekend’s games on our Thursday “SportsTalk” show to feature all our local teams in action this weekend.

*****
Next up, here are highlights from some of our recent high school football broadcasts on ATVN…

1. Astound Sports: Northwestern Lehigh vs. Saucon Valley (9/22)

2. Astound Sports: Emmaus vs. Bethlehem Catholic (9/22)

3. Astound Sports: Northampton vs. Bethlehem Catholic (10/22)

4. Astound Sports: Allentown Central Catholic vs. Nazareth (10/22)

5. Astound Sports: Bethlehem Catholic vs. Freedom (10/22)

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Last but not least, here are our poll results with two more weeks remaining in our “poll season.”

EPC TOP 5

1. Freedom
2. Emmaus
3. Parkland
4. Northampton
5. Nazareth

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):
Allentown Central Catholic, Northampton, Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Dieruff, Allen, Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, and Nazareth.

COLONIAL TOP 4

1. Northwestern
2. Northern Lehigh
3. Notre Dame-GP
4. Southern Lehigh

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):
Bangor, Pen Argyl, Notre Dame – Green Pond, Wilson, Catasauqua, Salisbury, Saucon Valley, Northwestern, Northern Lehigh and Southern Lehigh.

Be sure to check back to our website for next week’s poll results and come back frequently for any changes to our ongoing broadcast schedule information as we the playoffs roll on.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Before we take a look at this week’s high school football polls, here are a few of the storylines heading into this fall’s postseason action…

• Can Freedom repeat its 2021 storyline…PLUS ONE?
  Last fall, the Patriots started the year losing two of its first three games before running the table through the remainder of its Lehigh Valley schedule, capturing a district title and coming within a whisker of upsetting a District 12 powerhouse.  Freedom has taken a similar course here in 2022, led by a great running back and solid defense.  IF it can win another title, can it also take the next step and win a state playoff game?

• Can Northampton get over the “Southern Bump”?
  Northampton chose to play in the “north” division of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference a few years ago and played a much weaker schedule while setting school records in back-to-back seasons with new regular season win totals.  The gripe against the K-Kids’s success carries weight when they don’t beat teams from the southern division of the conference, but Northampton has proven itself with four wins over those teams in their last four tries.  Can they win one in the playoffs, however, remains to be seen?  Many insiders say this year’s team has the ability to do just that.

• How will the expanded “3A” playoffs shake out?
  One of the changes to the District XI playoff structure this year involves adding more teams (and more playoff spots) to the 3A classification.  There’s a number of teams that had success, but with completely different styles.  Which team’s strengths will win out and which “side” of the district will bring home the gold medals this year? (there were no Lehigh Valley teams in last year’s 3A championship game).

• Will it be an “All Lehigh Valley” 6A Championship game in three weeks?
  Another playoff change for this fall was the addition of a “sub-regional,” with teams from District 2 and District 4 competing for postseason spots with District XI.  Standings-wise, there were no non-Lehigh Valley teams in the top four spots, but that doesn’t mean we can’t see one of those teams going deep into the playoffs (anyone remember Nate Eachus from Hazelton?)  Any District XI team would be wise not to look past any “outsider” squads this fall.

We’ll be talking about these and other things to watch for as we embark on the playoffs this season (check out our website for our coverage schedule).  To further help you get ready for the local post-season action, we will have a special guest on this Thursday’s “SportsTalk” show. Former Easton Head Coach Steve Shiffert, one of the winning coaches in Pennsylvania history, still remains active watching and attending local games and will be a panelist on this week’s program to break down all the “film” from the regular season’s games.  He will be joining us to give his insights and predictions for many of this weekend’s big games.

You can email me, with your question or comment about local football and we may read it on this Thursday’s program at 7pm on the Astound TV Network.

Also, be sure to tune in this weekend for ATVN’s coverage of the first round of the playoffs!

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Additionally, a big “thank you” to our friends from the Pennsylvania Cable Network for selecting ATVN to broadcast our feed of last Friday’s Parkland/Emmaus game to a statewide audience!

It’s always an honor when they select a station to broadcast their “game of the week”. To have the rare distinction of being asked to do it twice in eight weeks (something that hadn’t occurred in my 20-plus years working in the cable television industry) was truly a reflection of the outstanding work by our ATVN sports crew members.

The ladies and gentlemen manning the cameras and all the technical positions in the production trucks did their usual stellar job for both games we broadcast on PCN this fall.  The teams also accommodated us for both contests by giving the Commonwealth audience good, competitive contests that were fun to broadcast!

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Below we have high school polls for both leagues in the ATVN viewing area, along with the listing of all of the teams that are included in our respective categories.

EPC TOP 5

1. Freedom
2. Nazareth
3. Emmaus
4. Northampton
5. Parkland 

Eligible Teams from our viewing area (in no particular order):

Northampton, Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Dieruff, Allen, Allentown Central Catholic, Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, and Nazareth.

COLONIAL TOP 4

1. Northern Lehigh
2. Northwestern
3. Notre Dame-GP
4. Southern Lehigh

Eligible Teams from our viewing area (in no particular order):

Bangor, Pen Argyl, Notre Dame – Green Pond, Wilson, Catasauqua, Salisbury, Saucon Valley, Northwestern, Northern Lehigh and Southern Lehigh.

Be sure to check back to our website for next week’s poll results and come back frequently for any changes to our ongoing broadcast schedule information as we the playoffs roll on.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.