Charlie Manuel & Eagles Preview

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

– A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

Probably the greatest opening line in literature, the start of one of my favorite novels. It’s a phrase I sometimes ponder during the more hectic times of my professional year.

It is a wonderful time right now. There’s excitement over the new football season. The MLB pennant races are kicking in. The NBA and NHL seasons are right around the corner. All of the fall college and high school sports are kicking in. So much to talk about and cover. It seems there just isn’t enough time to do all the sports justice. This was especially the case this past Thursday, coming on the heels of Charlie Manuel ‘s dismissal as the Phillies manager. In addition, there was all that we had to discuss with the local Eagles/Phillies beat writers on our RCN Sports Talk show, not to mention squeezing in a few high school football comments as well.

Because of all the great expertise of Mike LoRe and Brad Wilson, the hour flew by. Time only permitted a few minutes on many different topics that needed to be addressed. Here’s a clip of just a few of the items discussed (to catch the entire program, it will be available on RCN On-Demand for the next several weeks), as well as some bits of information that the men shared this us off-air that we didn’t have time for.

Other Eagles / Phillies notes:

• The Eagles are still approximately $20 million under the cap and they CAN defer that money to next year.

• For the first time, perhaps ever — Joe Craig (our resident Eagles Homer) is not optimistic for Chip Kelly’s first year and has his Birds predicted to win less games than I do (I’m going with 9 and a playoff berth).

• Our panelist seems to hope that Rich Dubee doesn’t return as the Phillies pitching coach next year, with multiple examples of former/current players that have had poor experiences with Dubee and much more positive results with current bullpen coach Rod Nichols. Brad also doubted that Dubee’s possible departure would sway Roy Halladay in his decision to return in 2014.

• I tried to limit our panelists’ “Phillies Wish List” for improvement for 2014 to three items, but they all agreed it’s going to take more than just three ‘significant’ free agent signings to make this team a serious playoff contender. I don’t see how they can make many trades to add big time talent, with only Jonathon Papelbon as a legitimate big trade bullet. How much they could get in return for him hinges on how well he rebounds on the mound this September.

What are your Eagles’ predictions? Your thoughts on Charlie Manuel and expectations for this fall? Post a comment below and tune in each week to talk sports on Thursdays with us.

Happy Labor Day everyone!

1. It looks right now like Michael Vick will be the Eagles’ starting quarterback. Nick Foles would certainly be a fine backup. The Jets, on the other hand, look like they have good backups, but no true NFL starter!

2. A similar battle for the QB spot at Penn State has junior-college transfer, Tyler Ferguson, battling with true freshman, Christian Hackenberg, for the starting role. Neither has ever taken a snap at Penn State.

3. I attended Lafayette football practice last week and the offense looked real sharp. However, college practice leads one into a Catch-22 scenario – if the offense looks really good, it might mean the defense is not so good or vice versa. Is the glass half full or half empty?? The question will not be truly answered until September 7 vs. Sacred Heart.

4. Those of us who played football, either high school and/or college, certainly remember the “dog days of summer”. Those were the first couple of weeks of two-a-days when the heat and humidity coupled with the coaches’ screaming made practice almost unbearable. The low temperatures and low humidity this past week makes it seem too easy for the players. Thank goodness, the coaches still yell!

5. Catasauqua vs. Wilson LIVE on Saturday, August 31. I can’t wait!

You Are Cordially Invited..

It was announced this past Friday that the Lehigh Valley Conference invited the Mountain Valley Conference (except for Lehighton) to join them in the creation of an 18-team super conference, tentatively maintaining the LVC name. And to do it by next season!

With Lehighton moving to the Anthracite League in football and the Schuylkill League in most other sports, the MVC was looking at the scheduling nightmare that goes along with just a 6-team league. Ironically, just a few months ago, the MVC invited the LVC to merge with them, but the request was not made to Central Catholic or Bethlehem Catholic. By omitting those two schools in the initial invitation, it gave the LVC the opportunity to “remind” both schools (particularly Beca) that there could be consequences to very overt recruiting. The message was delivered and the invitation was not accepted.

So now, the MVC has been “cordially invited” to join the LVC, bringing all the schools together. In terms of football and basketball, there are certainly plusses and minuses.

On the “plus” side, the super conference will now include all the AAAA schools in District XI. The merger would bring Allen and Dieruff back into the Lehigh Valley football picture and I certainly like that. By merging, all teams would battle for their spots in the District and State playoffs. This eliminates the complaint that some MVC teams got better seeding or easier qualifying because they played a much weaker schedule. Certainly, with 18 teams, the scheduling still may slightly favor one team over another, but that happens now. Also, the MVC will have no trouble filling their schedule.

On the “minus” side, an 18 team conference can certainly look a bit unwieldy when it does come to scheduling. In football, do you create two 9-team divisions and play for a championship? That sounds like a reasonable idea. In basketball, 3 divisions seem to be the best approach, but, if you play your division foes twice and the other teams once, you have the allotted 22 games filled. From there, a championship tournament could certainly be created. Even the “minuses” do not seem so bad.

Although I argued a few months ago, that the LVC was just fine the way it was and did not need to accept the MVC invitation, I do believe the “return to sender” invitation makes sense. I am quite certain the RSVP from the MVC will include acceptance. The nightmare will be for the AD’s to figure out the scheduling for all the other sports. And for a Sports Director at RCN to choose which League games to schedule for our viewers!!

Kudos to the RCN Marketing Department for staging a coup for us!

They arranged for an exclusive one-on-one interview with the 76ers’  staring forward and the former 2nd-overall draft pick Evan Turner  for us, and the interview came on the heels of the Sixers announcement that they FINALLY named a head coach! (Watch Evan’s reaction below when I ask him about the long process).

Before we talk about the on-the-court issues, I asked Evan about (and give him credit for not ducking those questions — including the one on his own future with the team as he’s in his last year of his contract), a quick word about Mr. Turner and his camp. I’ve been to a number of camps with pro and former pro athletes, and I was very impressed with the way that Evan conducted himself with the youngsters. He genuinely seemed interested in the kids and spent TONS of time talking with them (one youngster must’ve had his ear for at least 25 minutes). He never blew anyone off, answered everyone’s questions, and never once—even briefly—acted like he did not want to be there.

He spent time working on drills with his staff (his supporting coaches also really seemed to do a great job), and had some fun with them during individual drills (the kids, of course, loved it when he dunked). It was very nice to see an NBA star be very humble and very accommodating to his fan base. Over the last few years, we’ve gotten a number of people who say they no longer have interest in the NBA. We’ve had more than one viewer call it a “thug league,” based on some of the athletes who bring guns into locker rooms and wear gangsta clothing while on team trips, et al. I myself have never had an issue with a 76er player or a member of their organization (I covered them regularly for four years), and was happy to see that Evan did nothing to divert that opinion.

As far as the interview, we listed a few of the questions below, with the rest of the interview to be show on this Thursday’s “SportsTalk” show at 6 pm and on RCN On Demand for your viewing pleasure.

What do you think of the 76ers off-season moves, the hiring of Brett Brown as head coach, and Evan’s future with the team? Do you think he’ll ‘step-up’ with the new regime, or should the team “tank” for a higher draft pick? Post a comment below and email us at RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com and we’ll address your comment/questions on our next program (our Aug. 22nd show will also include beat writers discussing the Eagles/NFL issues, the Phillies & Charlie Manuel’s departure, and high school sports preview features).

1. Jason Dufner won the PGA on Sunday, the final Major of the year. Doesn’t he look like one of the guys who plays in your foursome each week? No fancy clothes, no pretentiousness, no annoying habits (well, maybe the “chew”). My kind of guy!

2. The Eagles were somewhat entertaining in their preseason opening exhibition game with the Patriots on Friday night. The offense moved the ball and put up 22 points; the defense, however, also, allowed the opponent to move the ball and put up 31 points. Both need to get better; the defense MUCH better.

3. Frandsen, Ruf, Asche, Kratz, De Fratus, Diekman, Wells, were all in the Phillies lineup on Sunday. WHO????

4. Since the Phillies are not going to make the playoffs, the next chance for a postseason game in Philadelphia would be an NFL playoff game involving the Eagles. That would be January 4, 2014 (587 days since the last playoff game). Since the Eagles are unlikely to make the playoffs, it would go to 700+ days for either the Flyers or Sixers to end the drought – also, not likely. By the way, the longest drought occurred from 1931 to 1947, a total of 5,652 days.

5. College football practice started last week and high school football practice starts this week. The bad news – summer is ending: the good news – football is beginning!

Running – Why Me?

This past week, I filled in for Chris Michael as the co-host of our weekly show, Sports Talk. I do not do it very often and I am beginning to think that Chris takes great pleasure in picking a topic that I know virtually nothing about. Before you say it, I know there is a rather large spectrum of topics to choose from if my lack of knowledge is the main criteria.

Last year, I hosted a show about hunting and fishing. I have always been a firm believer that seafood stores and butcher shops are the best place to garner a good piece of fish or an outstanding steak. I have never had such strong hunger pangs for catfish, trout, rabbit, squirrel, venison, etc. that I would have the urge to grab my fishing rod and rubber pants or my gun and camouflage jacket and rush out the door so that I would have something to eat. And, besides, I do not own any of those items.

I have not come to this conclusion out of ignorance. I have tried both. I fished up until the day I caught two eels. After the second, I cut my line, went home and sold my fishing equipment. My father and older brother both were hunters. I tried it as a young boy, went out with my loaded gun, fell down in the field climbing over a fence, dropped my gun, and my father and brother both agreed I should stick to football, basketball, and baseball. They were safer (for me AND for them).

But I digress. This week’s topic was about long distance marathon running and the triathlon. Since the invention of the tire and the motor, I have never seen the value of running for long distances. I consider running to my car in a parking lot when it is raining as exercise enough. The marathon was a charitable event run by VIA, a wonderful organization. Luckily, there were three representatives who knew about running and VIA’s cause that a few simple questions got the message out and filled the first half hour.

The second half hour was a single guest with a single, yet similar topic – the triathlon, an event which requires the contestant to swim, run, and bicycle ridiculous distances. If I could not understand a marathoner’s drive, how could I relate to this guy?

Kendrick Smith was the guest and he is an Ironman contestant, having chosen this new career full-time after success as an engineer. He is a very likable, sincere, dedicated, and passionate man. I found his goal of chasing his dream to be admirable and inspiring. He talked about setting goals and accomplishing them; about failure and overcoming it; about good health and achieving it. He summed up his life’s philosophy quite simply:

 “EXCELLENCE is the result of CARING more than others think is wise,

RISKING more than others think is safe,

DREAMING more than others think is practical,

EXPECTING more than others think is possible.”

There certainly is a message there for all of us. You do not have to swim, run, or cycle your way through life to pursue the kind of EXCELLENCE Kendrick espouses. Check out his website at www.K17SPORT.com . You will like it.

As for Sportstalk, I look forward to Chris’ next vacation when I get to discuss The Ups and Downs of Pole Vaulting.

“Paul Bunyan Lumberjacks”

I must admit–when I was a kid, I always thought it would be fun to work at a fair.

Going to the Allentown Fair and other local carnivals always seemed like a fun place to hang out, and I thought it would be neat to travel around the country to new locations for a week, meet new people, host games or do some shows for several days, and then move on and do it again in another new area.

When I was first asked several years ago to do our live “RCN SportsTalk” show from the Farmerama Stage, I didn’t know how a live, local call-in show would work at this venue, especially since the Fair occurs at the absolute WORST time of year to do a show with sports celebrities—both local and national. While it’s certainly no bed of roses to plan and prepare for our three shows from the Fair, preparation actually starts in late winter. I think after a few years of putting it together (and being blessed with some wonderful guests), I begin to look forward to these programs. Aside from working hard trying to coordinate and ensure that we have the best possible shows, I’ve actually learned to have some fun myself.

In recent years, we’ve had former NFL players Chuck Bednarik, Artie Owens & Bo Orlando on our show, race car drivers and experts from Grandview Speedway racing, and awesome performances by local cheering squads to name just a few. However, I never had an experience like we had in 2012, when I had the honor of hosting our show featuring Lee LeCaptain and the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show. It was completely unrehearsed (HONESTLY!). I really didn’t know what to expect and had great anxiety—especially when I went to do an on-the-spot interview, on live television, with a man I knew was going to make me throw an ax in front of a large crowd.

I was happy with the result (the clip is below) and the RCN-TV crew (which is not an easy group to impress), actually was shocked that I hit the target while not striking any innocent bystanders in the throwing process (which is what I thought would happen).

We are honored to have Lee and his crew back for an expanded role on this year’s “SportsTalk” show at the Allentown Fair, featuring a new live demonstration along with an interview with Lee. Lee truly impresses me with his conversations and vast experience from performing all around the world, in addition to his team. We’re also pleased to have Randy Kane, Mike Feltenberger and race car drivers (and their cars!) back with us again, plus more cheerleading groups and other special shows at the Farmerama for our “SportsTalk” shows on August 27th, 28th and 29th starting at 6pm.

We hope to see you out at the fair! Please post comments below on what you would like to see Joe Craig perform for this year’s demonstrations (you’ll notice on the clip, that he claimed a ‘hip injury’ to stay on stage and steer clear of my throwing lane, which we’ll not accept for this year’s events).

1. Jack, Jr., the Georgetown Hoya’s live bulldog mascot, was fired this week. It seems he injured a small child and it was decided he would be better served living in a home environment. They will be hard-pressed to come up with a new mascot – it certainly will not be a Hoya.

2. Patriot League Football Media Day was this past week and Colgate was chosen to defend its title and win the PL again this year. Lehigh was second, Holy Cross third and Lafayette fourth. Only Colgate and Lehigh received first-place votes.

3. Donovan McNabb had his number (#5) retired by the Eagles recently and Hall of Fame talk began. He becomes eligible in 2017. He has good stats, but, obviously, never won a Super Bowl. His last two years in Washington were, also, very forgettable. He will have a difficult time getting the votes.

4. Eight Eagles, besides McNabb, have had their numbers retired – #15 – Steve Van Buren; #20 – Brian Dawkins; #40 – Tom Brookshier; #44 – Pete Retzlaff; #60 – Chuck Bednarik; #70 – Al Wistert; #92 – Reggie White; #99 – Jerome Brown.

5. I have become a Pirates and Rays fan for the rest of the baseball season – I like both managers and need a reason to stay interested in baseball through August!

Ray Donovan meet A-Rod and Riley Cooper

Showtime has a new program on TV this summer titled Ray Donovan. It is adult in nature and reminds me of The Sopranos, in a way, but with a different “family”. Donovan’s family is made up of entertainment and sports figures. They hire him to keep their scandalous indiscretions out of the gossip pages and, more importantly, out of the mainstream media. His tactics are crude, violent, immoral, creative, and, yes, jaw dropping (dare I say, also entertaining?).

Now on to real life – You have to be living like a recluse this past week if you are unaware of the media bombardment of facts, opinions, and responses to both the Alex Rodriquez and Riley Cooper situations. One is accused of using performance- enhancing drugs in order to play the game of baseball better, the other of spewing an incendiary racial term at a security guard at a concert in order to prove (?) he is a racist.

To me, the common denominator here is not that these two men are prominent professional athletes who made some very bad decisions, but that they both committed serious offenses in a world where Big Brother is constantly watching and they should KNOW it. Throughout history, the sinner has never thought so much about “Don’t do it” but more about “Don’t get caught”. Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, Anthony Weiner, Pete Rose, Lance Armstrong, (you can add as many as you want) are all good examples of noted individuals who lived in the limelight and thought they could get away with indiscretions and lies.

We have all heard the expression, “History teaches us that…” Obviously, this message does not resonate at all. Every day in the news and, perhaps, in our own lives, we make choices that we hope no one ever finds out about. That goal is so much more difficult these days with the advent of security cameras that are virtually everywhere and phones, with cameras, that ARE everywhere. Any high profile individual who thinks they can “do it” and “not get caught” is highly delusional.

I am sure A-Rod felt the pressure and stress of succeeding and coupled that with the “everybody is doing it” belief in order to convince himself PED’s would not only help him succeed, but he could use them without getting caught. Riley Cooper can fall back on the alcohol excuse, but, to his credit, he has accepted responsibility for his inappropriate actions. However, one could logically ask if either man would honestly feel they did anything wrong if they had not gotten caught.

And that is the shocking aspect. In this day and age, when virtually everything a high profile person does has the potential for being seen by others in some form through social media, one would think our athletes, entertainment figures, and politicians would be wiser. I am sure they each have their own “Ray Donovan’s”, but, unlike the Showtime series, they do not always succeed in making the problem go away. Change the adage: “Don’t do it because you WILL get caught!”

“History teaches us…” – Never mind!

Eastern PA Leaders
There are some wonderful people in the RCN viewing area who quietly do work that often goes unnoticed, and as much as possible, I’d like to try to identify their efforts as much as possible on this blog and on our “RCN SportsTalk” program.

The first one—and I can prove that I’m not trying to suck-up here—is my son’s T-Ball coach, Dave Fries.

Actually, and I’m optimistically saying you could probably insert the name of hundreds of names here who silently do work for our young people with any recognition or financial rewards, but I want to give Coach Fries some attention.

For anyone that has spent time around three-, four-, five- and six-year olds, trying to keep them on the field (forget being focused on the game itself) is a major chore. Kids that age can have the attention span of a gnat and trying to teach them the finer points of America’s pastime can be more than trying. Add the complete lack of pay and working a full-time job, a family, mortgage, et. al, the extra burden of youth coaching may not seem worth it. But Coach Fries was extremely patient with the kids and did his best to give instructions throughout the season—even if most kids seemed more intrigued by playing in the dirt behind second base.

I purposely waited until his season was over, and got word that he has officially retired from t-ball coaching before I wrote this post to avoid any bias. Truly, he had the patience of a saint, and I think he’ll be very hard to replace when my son goes out for the team next year.

Speaking of identifying unsung heroes in our community, former sports writer Joe DeVivo is running a very special golf tournament for the second straight summer—an event in which he turned a tragic event in his family’s life, into a fun outing that’s used to help out local students.

The second annual Joseph J. DeVivo Memorial Golf Tournament, which pays tribute to Joe’s dad, who was abducted from his home in the Poconos and murdered in 2012, was held on Sunday, July 21 at Country Club of the Poconos in Marshalls Creek (because of a technical issue, we weren’t able to post this prior to the event). Last fall, thanks to the generosity of individual and corporate donors, we established the Joseph J. DeVivo Memorial Scholarship Fund and were able to raise $9,000 for Ashley Kennedy, a graduating senior at East Stroudsburg North High School.

Last year, they gave out 135 prizes, so practically everybody got something. Most won 3 or 4 prizes and one woman won nine. They have a large number of very good raffle prizes again including tickets to the Aug 4 NASCAR race at Pocono Raceway, baseball tickets for the regional minor league teams, greens fees to a variety of golf courses in Northampton County and the Poconos, “Day at the Races” packages and numerous restaurant gift cards in the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos. More information is available on its new website (click on the tourney’s name above for the link).

Who are some other community leaders and coordinators who deserve some notice? Post your suggestions below as we try to salute people who very quietly do wonderful work in our area.