I have been around Lehigh Valley sports for a long time.  Some of you may think it’s been too long.  I hope that is not the majority opinion.  But I digress.  Each year, I attend the VIA All-Star Basketball Classic Banquet.  I am always impressed with the quality of the speakers (Michael Irvin and Chuck Dibilio this year), the formal venue, the attendance and, especially, the Hall of Fame selections.

By my count, there have been 186 individuals inducted into the VIA Lehigh Valley Basketball Hall of Fame.  I have had personal contact, either as a player, coach, or broadcaster with 138 of them – 74%.  The few I did not come in contact with accomplished their success either before I was born or when I was a young child.

This year’s group is no exception.  I know them well.

Darnell Braswell played for William Allen under Doug Snyder from 2002-2006.  In his senior year, he helped lead his team to both the LVC and District XI championships.  He was the second leading scorer that year behind Terrence Roderick.  I remember that season very well.  Darnell went on to play four years at DeSales University under Hall-of-Famer Scott Coval.   He is the all-time leading scorer at DeSales and two-time player of the year in the conference.  His coach thought so highly of him that he is now the assistant coach and Coordinator of Athletic Recruiting.

Deanna Rayam played basketball at Freedom High School during the exact same years as Darnell.  And I remember Freedom’s late-season run.  RCN was there.  In 2006, her team won the District Championship by upsetting Parkland and went on to the third round in state playoffs.  She was the third girl to score 1,000 points at Freedom and was third-team All-State.  She went on to play at East Stroudsburg University leading the team in scoring, rebounding, and assists in the same season!  No one had ever done that before.  She scored 1,000 points at ESU, too.  The ESU coach wants her to be her assistant, but she has chosen to devote time to her family.

I REALLY remember Ron Hassler because I followed him as a player and continued to watch his career as a coach.  I broadcasted the game when he scored 48 points against Bangor in 1974.  I announced many, many of his games when he coached at Catasauqua, Whitehall and Central Catholic.  He won six League championships and 10 District championships.  Basketball has been his life and a Hall of Fame one, for sure.

Jack McCallum is a nationally known journalist who has spent the past thirty years at Sports Illustrated.  He has covered Super Bowls, Final Fours, the Masters, the NBA and he has written 11 books, including the New York Times bestseller, The Dream Team.  He is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.  So how do I know this elite writer?  When I was pitching for Moravian College (1964-1968), Jack covered our games for the Bethlehem Globe Times.  I will always remember his article when I lost a “perfect game” after 6 2/3 innings pitching against #9 Temple University.  His article turned out to be much, much better than the outcome.  I did not register another out!

It is a pretty good career when you have rubbed elbows and, in some cases, thrown elbows with the elite of Lehigh Valley basketball.  I wish I would have known the other 36%.   But then I would be even older!

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. Syracuse and North Carolina will play each other next Saturday in the Final Four. North Carolina beat them twice this year.  Both schools have suffered from accusations of “academic fraud” and I am sure there will be plenty written about that this week. North Carolina should win this game.

2. I, for one, did not like the Notre Dame strategy of holding the ball until there were ten seconds on the shot clock. That approach appeared to me to force Notre Dame into desperation mode each possession while North Carolina was scoring by running their offense.

3. Can Villanova beat Oklahoma? Can anybody stop Buddy Hield of Oklahoma?  He scored 37 against Oregon and has averaged 29.3 points in the tournament.  This Villanova team has an air about them, however.  They held Kansas All-American, Perry Ellis, to four points.  There is a will and tenacity about this team and big-man, Daniel Ochefu, could be the difference.  I like Villanova.

4. I love “Match-play” golf. This week, the PGA featured the WGC-Dell match Play championship.  Scores do not matter – what matters is how many holes have you won against your opponent.  There is a winner every match and a loser.  One goes on; one does not.  Every hole matters.  That’s what I like to play and that’s what I like to watch.

5. As I write this, the Flyers will make the NHL playoffs. They are tied in points with the Red Wings, but own the tie-breaker.  That’s the good news – the bad news is they would play the Washington Capitals, the best team in the NHL.  Do you believe that the ‘76ers have still not won 10 games?  I wrote this same sentence last week.  As of this Monday, they were 9-65, losing four more games this past week.  The Phillies are coming!  And, once again, thank goodness for Villanova.

As much as I love basketball season, I do enjoy the start of the spring sports season.  If the weather cooperates and allows athletes time to get outside (and leads to warmer weather), it’s even better!

I’ve always felt the spring coaches, in general, have the toughest assignments preparing for their seasons.  They not only have to wait for the winter sports teams seasons to conclude to get going, they almost always have to wait for Mother Nature to accommodate them—not just with current weather issues, but snow, rain and cold temperatures during the previous months can literally set sports programs back days, or even weeks.

Then, they have to contend with the mandatory final days of the school year (and sports season) that sneak up on them in seemingly no time.  Factor in all the proms, socials, year-of-school activities, vacations and so many other distractions…it really is tough for high school kids to keep their focus this time of year—not to mention have success on the field (or on the court, for the tennis and volleyball athletes).

There are some interesting Lehigh Valley storylines for the spring sports high school season, including the following:

“Tony’s Return”
Our good friend Tony Cocca is making his return to coaching after a long tenure as both the softball and football coach at Whitehall High School.   Tony compiled a 90-78 record while piloting the Zephyrs teams in the early 2000s.  He takes over a Blue Eagle team that dipped a bit last year, finishing 6-10 in league play (7-13 overall), but still captured a Lehigh Valley Conference title just a few seasons ago.

District XI has always been a hotbed for outstanding softball programs, and this year will not be an exception (both Parkland and Bethlehem Catholic won State Championships a year ago).  Despite losing some very talented players to graduation, the Trojans figure to be one of the top teams in the league again this year, and Coach Cocca will have his hands full with a ton of EPC teams loaded on the schedule.

 “Another ‘Tony’ Moves On”
Speaking of Parkland, one of the area’s top baseball coaches, Tony Galucy, will not be at the helm of this year’s Parkland baseball team.  Tony was very accommodating when we in the media would ask for questions and was a great interviewee, whether his teams won (which they usually did) or lost.  I’m sure the Trojans will be in good hands this year and will be one of several teams expected to do well in the very competitive skyline division (it’s nearly as competitive for baseball as it has been for boys’ basketball).

Another team in their division, Northampton, is rumored to be fielding a very strong team this spring, and we’ll be taking a closer look at this year’s K-Kids team with a feature on them for this Thursday’s “SportsTalk” show.

“Hail Hannah”
It has not been uncommon in recent years to have Lehigh Valley athletes and teams receive national attention, but Hannah Edwards has received some MAJOR accolades on an incredibly large scale.  The Catasauqua senior softball player was just named to the 2016 American Family Insurance Preseason ALL-USA Softball Team.  Hannah is one of three outfielders who were selected on a nationwide team that included a total of 25 players.  The Rough Riders’ star was also recently named to the MaxPreps 2016 Pre-Season Softball Team and has now been named to nine All-American teams during her high school career.

Catasauqua is always competitive in softball and features a number of talented players on this year’s squad, so don’t be surprised if we hear quite a bit about their softball team in the weeks ahead.

“One More Winter Shout-Out!”
The sport that also always gets lots coverage during the winter sports season is the girls and boys swimmers and divers.  With the conclusion of their season, the names of the All-Eastern Pennsylvania Conference members were released to the media last week.

I hope everyone checks out the list of some tremendous accomplishments by these athletes in the pool this winter!

Remember, we are always on the lookout for high school teams and athletes to feature here on our blogs and on our “SportsTalk” TV show and podcasts.  Email your suggestions to us at rcnsportstalk@rcn.com and tune in for our spring shows and high school features!

Before we turn our attention to the spring sports season, we continue our final look back at the high school winter sports season in the Lehigh Valley region with video and recognition of some amazing performances.

“Dynasty-Making”
I’ve seen some great District XI Class 3A girls basketball teams over the years and, quite frankly, have watched  some rather boring district playoff games (due to one team being SO good).  However, the Southern Lehigh girls’ basketball team turned in one of the most dominant performances ever this winter.  In addition to a phenomenal regular season (they lost just their season opening game to Dunbar), the Spartans won every other game the rest of the way until they lost to Berks Catholic (with a chance to win at the buzzer) in the second round of the state playoffs.

The Spartans lost two very key seniors.  However, the team’s core–four of their five starters—is back next year.  Solehi should have no trouble building on this winter’s legacy with dominant playoff runs in the league, district and state playoffs for years to come.  Their players are a multi-dimensionally talented team AND fundamentally sound (a GREAT combination), and should have no trouble putting together successful campaigns in 2017 and beyond.

We talked quite a bit about the overall competitiveness and great amount of depth in girls’ basketball a few weeks back here at “The Shop.” Like many of the other programs we’ve seen or talked about this winter, there was a ton of talent on display, with many teams returning most of their key players. As I stated on last week’s “SportsTalk” show and podcast, I’m looking at Easton (who returns virtually everyone) to be the team-to-beat on the Eastern Pennsylvania Girls Conference side.  With many other underclassmen back in 2017, expect Nazareth, Northampton and many of other teams involved in this winter’s playoffs to be right back in the post-season again next year.

“A Return to Glory”
In addition to a tremendous season (and another state championship) for the Bethlehem Catholic wrestling team this season, there were many individual stars here in the Valley.  As usual (but following a minor dip last year), District XI was well-represented in the state tournament in Hershey, with eight gold medalists and 20 overall metal winners.  Special props go to Liberty’s Andrew Gunning who captured the school’s first PIAA individual wrestling title in over 30 years.

We invite you to go back to hear many of the teams and individual wrestlers discussed on our “SportsTalk” podcasts  from this winter.

Here’s a look at highlights from RCN-TV’s wrestling coverage during the second half of the wrestling season.

There were also outstanding accomplishments this winter by local swimmers, with their season culminating last week with the PIAA meets.  Congrats to Salisbury’s Mahlon Reihman for being named swimmer of the state meet, who beat out fellow District XI competitor Gabe Castano (Allentown Central Catholic) for the Class AA gold in the 100-meter freestyle.  Like wrestling, there were numerous Lehigh Valley athletes in the water who also posted solid performances at last weekend’s final events.

Let us know what were your top moments, teams and athletes from this past winter.  Email us at RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com and tune in Thursdays, 7-8 pm, to hear us talk about your local teams on our “RCN SportsTalk” program.  This Thursday will be our final “winter show” and your last opportunity to talk about this recently completed scholastic season in the RCN viewing area.

“Amusement” is defined as, “the state or experience of finding something funny”; “the provision of enjoyment of entertainment”; “something that causes laughter or provides entertainment”.

RCN, like many companies I’m sure, runs an NCAA basketball bracket pool that is strictly “for amusement only”.  There is no fee to enter; there are no financial rewards, except for a modest gift certificate.  The REAL big prize, however, is owning the bragging rights that come with winning and, trust me, that is the best gift of all.

There is a little extra pressure that accompanies my selection because I am the Sports Director and expected to know what I am talking about (a mistake in their judgment, not mine).  And, when I handed in my pool, it certainly did not help when I bragged at our staff meeting that there was not much sense in anyone else entering the competition.  They would just be wasting their time.  The winning bracket had been filled out and handed in BY ME.

I also placed my selection in a “hermetically sealed envelope” (I have no idea what that means) so that no one could see my picks until the games actually began.  When asked which team I selected to win it all, I refused to answer or, even worse, offered up some obnoxious answer.

Now, truth be told, after last year’s results, my confidence level was way down.  I went into the Championship game needing only favored Wisconsin to knock off Duke and, as it should be, the championship of RCN Bracketology would be mine.  But Duke won!  Not Wisconsin! And I lost to Linda (not her real name – I wish I didn’t have to use my real name either) who made her picks based on uniform colors, nicknames, team mascot, the handsomeness of the coach, or some other nonsense.  Suffice it to say, she knew NOTHING about college basketball.  AND SHE WON!  (I hope I don’t sound bitter).

Linda (still not her real name) rubbed her victory in my face and just this past week offered to aid me with my picks this year and made sure others in the company knew she was willing to “help” me make my selections.  My response was not very nice and, as you can imagine, I could not wait to conquer this year’s bracket and put her in her place.

Until… Friday!  #15 Middle Tennessee State (who?) beat Michigan State 90-81!  You see, I picked Michigan State to win it all!  I did not pick them to lose in the FIRST ROUND, SECOND ROUND…!!  (Did I mention I am the Sports Director?).  And then, to make matters worse, Middle Tennessee State lost in the second round to Syracuse by 25 points!!

So as I sit here at my desk ripping up my copy of the NCAA bracket, I await the wrath of my fellow workers.  The worst response will most certainly come from Linda (I hope I never hear her real name again).  She has North Carolina and Kansas in the final and both are STILL ALIVE.  Geez!

So I can assure you, as far as I am concerned, this exercise is far from “for amusement only”.

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. It was nice to see Villanova get by the second round of the NCAA Tournament. And they did it with ease, beating Iowa 87-68, so that no last-second heroics were necessary.  It is their first Sweet Sixteen appearance since 2009.

2. Temple and St. Joseph’s were not so fortunate. Temple lost in the first round 72-70 to Iowa on a last second put-back.  Replays showed the scorer pushed off to get the rebound and should have been whistled for a foul.  And St. Joseph’s put up a strong fight against #1 Oregon losing by five.  That game kept me up until 12:05 on Monday morning.  I find it hard to leave any game once I look in because almost all the games come down to the last few possessions.

3. The team that beat Parkland and knocked them out of the PIAA AAAA Basketball championship in the quarterfinals won the state championship on Saturday night. Roman Catholic beat Alderdice 73-62 and repeated as state champion.  Alderdice was ranked #1 all year long and had only lost one game until Saturday.  So, Parkland lost to the best 73-60.  No shame there.

4. Private schools continue to dominate both the boys’ and girls’ basketball championships in Pennsylvania. They won six of the eight titles this past weekend.  The complaints of an “unlevel playing field” will certainly continue.

5. As I write this, the ‘76ers and the Flyers will not make the NBA or NHL playoffs. Do you believe that the ‘76ers have not won 10 games?  As of this Monday, they were 9-61.  Unbelievably bad!  The Flyers still have a chance.  Thank goodness for Villanova.

Over the next two weeks we’ll take a look back at what has been an extraordinary year for District XI winter high school sports.

“Eight is Enough”
Eight is the maximum number of gold medals one could accumulate while playing two sports—and that feat was accomplished by Parkland’s DeVante Cross.  He and his Trojans completed another dominating performance in District XI, not losing a game in the Lehigh Valley once he and his football teammates were finished with another district title (and playing for a state championship) on the gridiron.

Cross will be taking his talents to the Boston College football team where he will look to follow in the recent footsteps of other Lehigh Valley athletes who’ve had collegiate football success and then moved on to play at the professional level.  In my opinion, I believe him to be one of the top point guards we’ve had in District XI in some time, and my only regret is that we won’t see him on the basketball court again, but I know we’ll be seeing plenty of highlights once the collegiate football season gets underway.

We’ll be talking with Parkland Head Coach Andy Stephens and members of his boys basketball team on the Thursday, March 24^th edition of “RCN SportsTalk” at 7pm.

I don’t think Parkland will drop off too much, despite the graduation of some key seniors.  However, the 2017 boys basketball season will be wide open with so many returning star performers back on the hardwood again, and many will benefit from the extra year of varsity experience.  The same is true for a few key women’s basketball teams—we’ll have more on them next week.

“Save Your Programs”
On both “SportsTalk” and during our high school basketball broadcasts, we’ve talked at length this winter about all the amazing underclassmen talent around the region.  Heck, Allen, Central Catholic and Pocono Mountain West boys’ teams (among others) have virtually their entire teams returning next year.

While Emmaus will lose several quality people to graduation as well, they return arguably the area’s best player, David Kachelries, along with his twin brother Matt.  The Hornets also have some MAJOR size coming up through their system and will return to make the competition for league and district championships in 2017 even more challenging than it was this winter.

One underclassman who won’t be returning is Nazareth’s Jahan Dotson, who will be moving to play at a prominent high school football program this fall.  Dotson was a great athlete to watch and I enjoyed watching him on the hardwood—both being a dynamic scorer and delivering some great passes setting up his teammates.  We wish him the best on what could be a lengthy athletic career.

“Colonial League vs. EPC”
While some people like to put down the Colonial League in favor of the bigger schools that comprise the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, I always enjoy the opportunity to see and meet the members of the “smaller school” league in District XI.  We’ve often highlighted their accomplishments (including having both Bangor and Salisbury as in-studio “SportsTalk” guests).  The Slaters and the Falcons posted some tremendous wins this year, with both teams reaching the state tournament after having to battle each other for the Colonial League Championship.

“Rifling”
We also did our first ever feature on rifling this winter.  Many people don’t realize it is a PIAA-sanctioned sport—and has been for some time.  Our chat with members of the Freedom Rifle Team on “SportsTalk” was very informative and certainly brought to light many unique aspects of the sport.

Look for more high school winter sports notes and videos coming your way in the next “SportsTalk Shop” entry.  Also, be sure to tune in for this Thursday’s “RCN SportsTalk” (and then on our podcast here on Friday) as we take a more in-depth look at the boys and girls high school basketball programs in the Eastern Pennsylvania region.

It happened again!  This past Wednesday, Holy Cross stunned the Patriot League and Lehigh by winning the Patriot League Championship and getting the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.  Because they were the ninth seed in the Patriot League tournament, won four road games, after not winning an away PL game all season, and ended the pre-tournament season with a 14-19 record, they will play in Dayton on Wednesday, March 16, at 6:40 PM against Southern to get to the 64-team tournament.  Holy Cross became the lowest-seed to represent the League.

The fourth-seeded Lafayette Leopards won the tournament last year and, at that time, they were the lowest seed from the PL to win the conference title.  For two straight years, regular season champion Bucknell did not represent the Patriot League in the NCAA tournament.  It should be mentioned that the regular season champ does get an automatic bid to the NIT tournament.

So the question that needs to be asked – is it time to stop rewarding the conference champion with an automatic bid?  The answer is not so simple and just leads to more questions:

1. Does a conference want their best team (the regular season champ) to represent them in the NCAAs or do they want their “hottest” team (tournament champion) in the “dance”? The Patriot League will probably NEVER get both.
2. Is it fair to the team that played exceptionally well all season to be beaten out by a team that played exceptionally well for 120-160 minutes over one week?
3. If you favor the regular season champion to represent the league, must you eliminate the tournament all together or give every team one last hope to continue their season?
4. Financially, do these tournaments just make economic sense? The Holy Cross vs. Lehigh championship crowd was the largest in PL history to see a championship.  That cannot be bad for the institutions or the league.
5. Which team deserves the NCAA and which deserves the NIT?

I love the tournaments.  They create terrific basketball with great finishes.  But, I am not sure, like many others, what the answers should be to the questions posed.  I will leave you to ponder your responses.  And I am well aware that, right now, you probably only care about your office pools.

Remember, these pools are for “amusement only”.  That is not the case for conference tournaments as they exist right now.  They are much, much more important!  Should they be?

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
 

1. Our local basketball season came to an end this week in Hamburg and in Southampton when the Parkland boys and the Bethlehem Catholic girls lost in the PIAA quarterfinals. It was a great year!  And with all the talented underclassmen coming back next season, both the Lehigh Valley boys’ and girls’ team should, once again, provide plenty of excitement.

2. The success of District XI wrestlers at the PIAA AAA state finals was even more astounding – seven champions, 10 finalists, 20 medalists, and Bethlehem Catholic and Nazareth finishing as the top two teams in the state. Andrew Gunning won Liberty’s first state championship title in 31 years and garnered Coach Jody Karam’s first individual championship in his 23-year career at Liberty.  Kudos to all!!

3. Oh, the internet – the NCAA brackets were tweeted out before CBS was able to get through the brackets on their Selection Show. And CBS pays how much to be the network that gets to announce the brackets?

4. I had my first Friday night off in a long time this past week and went to see the Red Hot Chili Pipers (not a misspelling), a “bagrock” group made up of bagpipers and others. They were joined onstage for a number of songs by the pipe and drum members of the Liberty Grenadier Band.  The young people were outstanding, thrilled to be performing and reminded me, once again, that there is more to high school athletics than just the teams.  The bands and cheerleaders work just as hard!

5. There was also a little bit of creativity by the “captain” of the Liberty pipers. When he had a chance to play by himself with the Chili Pipers, he took the opportunity to ask a fellow member to the high school prom.  She accepted and it was an “aww” moment.

There are always “feel-good” stories every year in my world of Lehigh Valley basketball.

Just look a little deeper into the success of the Southern Lehigh girls’ basketball team.  They play with basically an iron five and four of them are underclassmen.  Only Sydney Cyr, who is outstanding, by the way, is a senior.  They won the Colonial League, but Colonial League teams are not expected to win Districts against teams from the bigger conferences.  Even though they appeared in their 31^st District tournament, they were 16-30 in those appearances and 0-2 in the championship games.  That changed this year when they beat a very good Bethlehem Catholic team and won their first District XI title ever!  As I write this, they have won 27 straight games and are into the second round of the PIAA state playoffs.  Obviously, Coach Matt Cooper has done an outstanding job with this young team.  This is a great story which, perhaps, can only get better.

The Easton girls’ basketball team last won a title of any kind in 1970 – 46 years ago.  Head Coach Dave Lutz is a physical education teacher and he has had to stare at the banner every single day as it hangs in the gymnasium.  Even approaching the championship game this year, history showed that they had lost five and won none.  When his team won the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference championship, the first thing he told me was how he could not wait to see the new banner hanging in his office which is the gymnasium.  He knew he would have a good team, but he did not expect to go through almost the entire season without the full roster of players available to him.  This team suffered through injuries, heart arrhythmia, and mononucleosis.  Even now, as they prepare to play the second round of the state playoffs, their starting center, leading rebounder, and tallest player is not available.  Yet, they have continued to win.  They are the only District XI AAAA girls’ basketball team still playing.  Another chapter awaits them this week.

And then there is the Bangor boys’ basketball team.  They won the Colonial League, but that is “ho-hum” for them, having won three of the last four.  What is not “ho-hum” is winning in the District playoffs.  The last time they were in a District championship was in 1988 – 28 years ago.  The best player on that team was Bron Holland, who just happens to be the head coach of this year’s squad.  Bangor was not going to beat Parkland for the District championship.  They are ranked third in the state and no team has beaten Parkland since they got all their championship football players back.  Parkland has won 24 games in a row.  Take that game off Bangor’s schedule and they have won16 straight – 26 overall, a school record for wins.  This team has electrified and solidified a town.  Rumor has it that the town of Bangor is empty when the Slaters play on the road.  Some imply even the police attend (probably just the off-duty ones).  Now they are in the second round of the PIAA playoffs, unheard of for a AAAA Colonial League team.

As I watch the basketball season wind down, these are a few of the stories I will not forget.  They make me and, hopefully, our viewers “feel good’!

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. It must be nice to go out on top. Peyton Manning did it this past week.  He retired from football this past Monday after winning the Super Bowl for the Denver Broncos.  Only John Elway retired after winning the Super Bowl for the same team and becoming their General Manager.  Manning walked away from a guaranteed $19 million contract.

2. I am usually not that interested in NBA scores during the regular season. But, on Sunday, the awful LA Lakers (13-51) beat the Warriors (yes, Stephen Curry’s Warriors), a team that is on track to go down as the greatest regular-season team in history. The Lakers entered with a .190 winning percentage compared to the Warriors’ .917 percentage. By percentage differential, it was the biggest upset in NBA history.

3. The NCAA selection Sunday is March 13 with the NCAA Tournament beginning in Dayton, Ohio March 15-16. Time to jump into the “pool”.

4. Lehigh or Holy Cross will represent the Patriot League in the tournament for the men. Whoever wins their championship game on March 9 may very likely play in Dayton.  The women’s final is Saturday, March 12.

5. As of Monday, March 7, six of our high school basketball teams are still alive in the state playoffs (Easton, Southern Lehigh, Bethlehem Catholic girls; Bangor, Parkland, Emmaus boys). And, even better for our wrestling fans, District XI wrestlers captured EVERY title in the PIAA AAA Northeast Regional wrestling tournament.  On to the State Championships for them.

Spring Training baseball is underway, and the Nats and Phils have two opposite perspectives on what to watch for this month during the exhibition season as they get ready to accomplish distinct different goals in 2016.  Here’s a look at key issues for both teams as the pre-season unfolds.

Nationals…

 …continue to look for and add depth.

This, in my mind, was one of the biggest issues with the 2015 Nationals.  When injuries came, they had one or two “backup” plans, and when they didn’t pan out, there were major issues.  Acquiring players as the season unfolds, both quality bench personnel, along with high-character guys, are key for this team to make it to the next level.  Washington does not want to get painted into a corner where they have to make a move for someone like another Jonathan Papelbon out of necessity, but should be continuing to look for ways to add depth into and throughout the season.  Just ask the Phillies how important a “minor” addition like Matt Stairs turned out to be.

Speaking of depth, the Nats need to bring up at least one or two players from the minors that will contribute.  With the number of injuries players sustain today, it isn’t realistic to think that five, or even four, members of the starting rotation will make it through an entire year—no matter how good they are.  Plus, they need players to come up and challenge the veterans.  Guys like Trea Turner, Wilmer Difo, Lucas Giolito and others must continue to improve and push the more established players at the Major League level (both Difo and Giolito had nice performances last Friday).

Finding a couple players to contribute as the season wears on is key to driving this team forward–if, for the purposes of just this year, that role is simply to light a fire under a current player who’s underperforming.

 …the return of Rendon—the REAL Rendon.

Anthony Rendon was one of a number of injured players during 2015.  He did play last season, but he wasn’t the Rendon that people wanted…needed for the Nationals to play a legitimate playoff run.  Instead of building on a tremendous 2014 campaign, a string of issues (starting in spring training and lingering throughout the year) kept the third base-turned-second baseman from ever truly hitting his stride last summer.  This spring, following the acquisition of second basemen Daniel Murphy, he’s been returned to his natural defensive position and hopefully will lead the team offensively in the way the team needs him to be.  The Nationals have done a great job, in my opinion, building an offense around the core.  But Rendon is that special player that, if healthy, is the guy who can carry a team during team-wide struggles and also is the guy I’d want at the plate with the game on the line.

Getting him ready for the season is nice, but, perhaps more than any one position player, a healthy exhibition season and a clean, injury-free, path to Opening Day is one of the most important issues for Washington this month.

Phillies…

 …Maikel Franco MUST continue improving.

Much like Rendon, Franco, right now, looks to be the centerpiece of the Phillies position players and will be looked to (until proven otherwise) as the team’s “go-to guy.”  The Phillies have done a great job of building a collection of great prospects, with the knowledge that, while some young players won’t live up to their potential, an increase in the number of blue-chip players in the organization strengthens the chances that SOME of these players make a significant impact.  The organization has been hedging their bets and not riding all their hopes on one player.  However, Franco—a home-grown entity—has been touted as the one key player to build around.  If he regresses, it won’t end the rebuild, but any lack of progress this summer will be tough for Phillies to deal with, especially from a PR-standpoint (see the 76ers situation).   Franco is the guy who Phillies fans can see–right now–in Philadelphia, and he’s shown flashes of amazing ability.  The fan base can be patient if they have some hope that they can see in close proximity.  Philadelphia’s starting third-baseman is off to a great start (he’s already hit as many home runs the first week of spring training as the two previous pre-seasons combined.)  As long as he continues to flourish at the Big League level this summer, it is easier to sell the fact that more players like him are coming down the pipeline.

…the pitching watch.

Through all the horrible 2015 baseball seen in the Delaware Valley…it was made dreadfully worse by poor pitching.  Again, new GM Matt Klentak has done a great job of building an abundance of low-risk, high-reward players, in the hopes that a few can be serviceable major league hurlers—either to be traded away for more prospects, or as veterans to help hold a future pitching staff together with experience.  There’s a number of pitchers to keep an eye on as spring training and the regular season unfolds, and a finding a few gems this season could really help the rebuilding efforts along.

Keep in mind, even the older veteran’s success—pitching or position players–can impact and have a significant influence on the future.  If one or more players is having a solid season heading into July (and approaching the trade deadlines), a contending team may be desperate to add a necessary piece (see the Nats’ with Papelbon a year ago).  Players that don’t figure in as regulars in the Phillies lineup two-to-three years from now (Carlos Ruiz, Cody Asche, Darin Ruf, Charlie Morton and others) might get you a diamond-in-the-rough prospect that helps Philadelphia in future seasons?

Join us on “RCN SportsTalk” in the coming weeks (Thursdays live, 7-8pm on RCN-TV or catch our podcasts here) as we get updates on the Phillies and Nationals’ spring training updates from the team’s beat writers.  We’ll also have discussions on this weekend’s Pennsylvania and Washington, DC high school playoff action on this week’s program.

Scott Barr is the RCN wrestling “guru”.  He has even written a book about District XI wrestling which goes back to its inception.  This past weekend, Scott announced the District XI individual wrestling championships as he has done for so many years.  He, along with Jim Best, did their usual impeccable job.  But one occurrence happened for Scott while doing the match that has NEVER happened before – the Easton Red Rovers did not crown a champion!  I asked him to reflect on the end of what came to be known as “The Streak”.  Here is his essay:

And, so, it’s over.

Just like that, when the buzzer sounded on the final weight class of the 2016 District XI Wrestling Championships, it was over.  After 14 championship bouts, for the first time since 1947, none of the winners was wearing an Easton Red Rover singlet.  All I could muster, on the air, was, “It feels weird.”

Jack Logic first told me about “The Streak” in the late 1980’s.  Nobody except Jack was really talking about it, but it was a remarkable accomplishment even then.  By the turn of the century, with The Streak still intact, I began calling it “the greatest streak in all of high school sports.”  Though I can be prone to exaggeration, I believed this statement to be true.

When Dick Rutt won the first championship, ever, for the Red Rovers, Harry Truman was president.  It was the first time that Easton had ever fielded a team.  His coach was Gust Zarnas, a man who played professional football for the Bears and Packers before World War II.  Last week, we were in Liberty’s Memorial Gymnasium to see if Easton could crown their 186^th champion, 69 years later.   Of course, they could not, and The Streak went from reality to immortality.

There were years where the Red Rovers had only one champion.  Bob Ferraro, Dwight Danser, Dan Kasperkowski, Greg Geiger, and Elijah Brown come to mind.  More often, multiple champions represented the legendary teams from Easton.  In 1949, there were nine champions.  In 1996, the first seven weight classes had Red Rover champions.   A friend of mine, Pete Stoelzl, was crowned as the 100^th champion in Easton history in the mid-1980’s.

The Streak was already six years old when Steve Powell, Easton’s current coach, was born.  Steve is on my “Mount Rushmore” of District XI wrestling, and I can’t imagine the pressure he has endured throughout his tenure.  He told me, years ago, that he never thought about keeping The Streak alive.  I’m sure he was lying.   By tournament time, for the past 10 years, it’s all anyone was thinking about.

Face it—no matter who you cheer for, you liked The Streak.  When you talked with wrestling fans in other parts of the country, you told them about it.  And you spoke with pride about how tough District XI is in wrestling.  You may even have called it “Wrestling Country”.  And you told those folks how one school has epitomized the consistent excellence produced in this area.  You have been amazed by The Streak, and you wanted them to be amazed, too.

Perhaps, in a way, it’s fitting that 2016 should be the end.  This season, District XI Wrestling has lost icons Ray Nunamaker and Tony Iasiello who passed last summer.  Bill McCoach, the “voice” of the wrestling tournament for 50 years, has announced that he will not return.  Bob Kern, the long-time referee and coach, announced his retirement as well.  And now, we will not have The Streak, either.

At the end, it was long-time rivals from Nazareth and Northampton that had the honor of dispatching The Streak.  It was a merciful blow, dealt by deserving champions.  Like Maximus lying on the floor of the Coliseum in the climactic scene of “Gladiator”, we all knew that the time had come to honor this ‘once in forever’ accomplishment.  None of us will be here when this record is broken.

Indeed, the wrestling gods have spoken and The Streak is dead.  Long live The Streak.

After a busy and exciting week of calling District XI high school championship playoff action on RCN-TV, I am taking a few days off as we prepare for RCN’s coverage of PIAA State Playoff action.

So at the “SportsTalk Shop,” here is a highlights package of the playoff action over the past few weeks featuring teams in the RCN coverage area.  I’ll be back next week with more sports insights here at “The Shop” as well as on “RCN SportsTalk” next Thursday, live at 7pm.

Don’t forget to check out RCN’s sports coverage of District XI teams in the state playoffs starting this Friday and best of luck to all the teams participating in the tournament!