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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

____________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

However…

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

WOW!!! That’s a lot of games!!!

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

So let’s flash forward to this week.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So tune in to the show this Thursday at 7pm or catch the podcast at rcn.com/atvn/sports-talk and let us know your basketball thoughts at the midway point of the season.

And a special note to our diehard wrestling fans: we’ll be taking a look at the action on the mats and previewing the upcoming post-season action on next week’s “SportsTalk” show (January 26 ).  If there’s a team, athlete or wrestling issue you’d like us to address on that show, be sure to email us at rcnsportstalk@rcn.com and tune-in for our panelists’ responses!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Biggest Turnaround in 2016 (any level)
Penn State football

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

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

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

Most Impressive Team Performance of 2016
Parkland boys basketball

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

And, for the “New Year” Predictions…

Toughest Coaching Challenge Looking Ahead
Dieruff football’s Kyle Beller

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Holidays to you!

I hope everybody is enjoying this special time of year. This week we have the second of three installments in looking back at some of the top players, teams, moments and events that made the 2016 sports calendar year so fun to cover for us here at RCN.

Here are some of the sports categories that come to mind when reflecting back on the last 12 months—along with a few of my thoughts on each (we go into more detail on our special TV program—see below for details)

Best Defensive Football Player in Eastern PA this fall
Jahan Worth. For the record, I touted his defensive on our football season preview show in August. I hope you heard that show; you can check out that show’s podcast here on the RCN-TV website if you’d like proof

Most Intriguing HS Teams
Dieruff boys volleyball / CCHS girls volleyball

Best & Worst Sports Decision Made in 2016 (any level)
Best – Emmaus hiring Harold Fairclough as their head football coach Worst – Just about every programming decision ESPN made this year

Best & Worst “Professional” Sports Story in Philly or DC
Best – Nationals making the playoffs and advancing to Game 5 in NLDS Worst – Caps losing in the 2^nd round of the playoffs for 2^nd straight year

Most Underrated Story (any level)
Successes of the Bangor baseball a and softball programs

A “Shout-out” to one sports personality this year
Catty’s Hanna Edwards (named one of the top 9 softball players in the entire country)

Sports Personality You Would Have Liked to Have Seen More Of
Liberty’s Carlo Perugini (overcame three ACL injuries to play in his first—and last–varsity football game this past fall). Carlo graduates in the spring.

Most Disappointing News of the Year (Any level)
Kyle Haas won’t be coming back to Becahi

Something Witnessed That You Hope To See Again In 2017
Great support for Colonial League title games…jammed packed McIntyre Gym for the Colonial League Basketball championship and a “more than half full” BASD Stadium for Notre Dame/Pen Argyl football championship

Something You Hope Doesn’t Repeat Next Year
Anti-private school comments directed towards kids during games/matches

Best Performance By An Underclassman
Beca’s Alec Huertas and Notre Dame’s Mikey DeGaetano

Don’t forget to check back for our next look-back installment of the top 2016 sports moments in the RCN viewing area, coming up in the next week here at the “SportsTalk Shop.” We are also presenting a special “Year-in-Review” show that is airing throughout this holiday season, in which we touch on even more of these great moments and special people in the Lehigh Valley, Delaware Valley and Washington DC/DMV region from 2016. Check your RCN on-screen guide for details on when this program airs.

You can also hear the podcast of this “Year-in-Review” show at: rcn.com/atvn/sports-talk

And, once again, a very happy holiday season and prosperous New Year’s to all of you faithfully following us here on the blog in 2016!

As often as I try to do this—but probably still don’t do it enough … a HUGE THANK YOU to the wonderful women and men we’ve been so fortunate to have on “SportsTalk” as our guests this past year.  Here’s a quick look at only some of the very memorable people on our program during 2016 (in no particular order):

• NFL/MLB Associated Press Writer Rob Maaddi
• Hall of Fame/Philadelphia Eagles Radio Play-by-Play Voice Merrill Reese
• Redskins Radio Announcer/Host Scott Jackson
• ABC7 (DC) Sports Director Alex Parker
• Detroit Pistons’ Guard Darrun Hilliard (former Liberty HS great)
• Dallas Cowboys’ Wide Receiver KJ Williams (former Liberty HS great)
• MLB.com Sr. Sports Writer Jim Callis
• Nationals’ Beat Writer Bill Ladson
• Nationals’ Play-by-Play Announcer Charlie Slowes
• Olympians Marty Nothstein & Joetta Clark-Diggs
• DCIAA Women’s Official/Fmr. Pro Football Player (and one of only three Varsity Head Football Coaches ever) Natalie Randolph
• Joseph Basketball Standout / Fmr. DMV Star Isaiah Miles
• George Washington Men’s Basketball Head Coaches Mike Lonergan
• George Washington Women’s Basketball Head Coach Jen Rizzotti
• Longtime Georgetown Men’s Basketball Play-by-Play Voice Rich Chvotkin & other Hoyas athletes
• Lafayette College Head Basketball Coach Fran O’Hanlon
• American University Head Basketball Coach Mike Brennan
• Washington Times Redskins Beat Writer/CBS Radio’s Rick Snider
• Washington Post Beat Writer’s Eric Goldstein
• Philadelphia Daily News’ Jeff Moeller
• Play-by-Play Announcers for Phillies & Nationals Minor League Affiliates: Mike Ventola, Matt Provence & Terry Byron
• Head Coaches from HD Woodson, DeMatha, Sidwell Friends, Gonzaga High Schools
• Championship teams including Parkland boys basketball team, Nazareth girls basketball team, Notre Dame football team, Emmaus field hockey team, Parkland volleyball team and others
• NY Giants Beat Writer James Kratch
• Washington Times Redskins/Nationals Beat Writer Todd Dybas
• ESPN Radio (DC) Morning Show Host Kevin Sheehan
• ESPN Radio (Philly) Morning Show Anchor/Host Eytan Shander
• Redskins “Breaking Burgundy” Creator/Fmr. Comcast SportsNet “Insider” Ben Standig
• “FootballStories” Magazine Editor/Show Hosts Al Thompson & Rock Hoffman
• ESPN Draft Analyst/Fangraph’s Eric Longenhagen
• Members of this year’s PA Football Hall of Fame Inductees
• Writers from The Morning Call, Express-Times & LehighValley.com
• All the RCN Sports Announcers & Commentators
• Interviews with current Phillies & Nationals players & top prospects

Also, a reminder to watch our special “SportsTalk: 2016-in-Review” show that will be airing at different times on RCN-TV around the holiday season as Senior Morning Call Sports Writer Keith Groller and myself will take a look back at the top players, coaches, teams, special memories and more.  Our subject matter will be focused primarily on teams in the RCN-TV coverage area in the Lehigh Valley, Delaware Valley and Washington, DC regions, but we will mix in a few national topics of conversation as well.

You will also be able to hear the podcast of this show at rcn.com/atvn/sports-talk as it will be made available over the next few days.

Now for “part one” of my year-in-review thoughts/reflections for just a few of the most requested topics of conversation over the last 12 months.

• Pennsylvania’s New Classifications & Playoff System for HS Sports

No Lehigh Valley sports story came close to the interest (and complaining) of the revamped classification for PIAA sports and the outline of the playoff system.

• The Rise & Fall of the Philadelphia Eagles

After having covered the Philadelphia Eagles for several years, I know that there’s no fan base that goes to greater extremes than the faithful followers of Philly’s NFL franchise.  Once the Eagles defeated (destroyed?) the Steelers Week 3, there was no containing the (insane?) amount of the enthusiasm for this team and its first-year head coach, first year quarterback, suspect wide receiving core, weak secondary, et al.  It was practically assumed a deep trek into the NFL inevitably and anyone (like, perhaps, me?) suggesting that the team was still a year away was dismissed as being an “overly negative media opinion.”

Then, reality sent in, sending the Eagles’ into a tailspin in which they have yet to recover, with everyone from Doug Pederson to Carson Wentz to Fletcher Cox falling under heavy scrutiny.

• The Nationals Finally Getting to the Playoffs

The “SportsTalk” camera crew and I had the good fortune of seeing the Nationals’ top prospect Trea Turner play for Triple-A Syracuse (boy, did he put on a display!) and talked with him after an April game just shortly before he received his call-up to the Nationals.  Turner did not disappoint once he got to the Major Leagues—even with a position change from shortstop to center field while at the game’s highest level–and showed the same amazing abilities in helping Washington advance to the NLDS.

Don’t forget to check back for “part two” for more commentary on sports highlights from the 2016 calendar year in the next installment of the “SportsTalk Shop.”

And, of course, a very happy holiday season and prosperous New Year’s for all of you faithfully following us here on the blog in 2016!

The holiday season is in full swing (along with high school basketball season, the wrestling season,  crunch time for the NFL, the Hot Stove League, the NBA, NHL…but I digress).

One of our annual traditions is to reflect back on some of the most interesting programs and events from the past year.  RCN-TV is once again doing a marathon of some of your favorite programs and will be showcasing them for your enjoyment around the holidays.

Likewise, we will be continuing our look back at our viewers’ favorite sports moments from this past year.  Senior Morning Call Sports Writer and new “SportsTalk” co-host Keith Groller and I are asking for your votes and suggestions for your favorite topics, standout players, the teams and memorable sports moments involving participants in the RCN viewing area—dealing primarily with the scholastic, collegiate and professional levels.

Right now, the ball is in your court to nominate and vote!  Email us at rcnsportstalk@rcn.com with your suggestion for favorite 2016 sports moments that you would like us to mention and/or video clips and features that you might like to see again.  Keith and I will huddle next week and review the top nominations to determine what you, our viewers, would prefer to see one more time before we turn the calendar year.

Then, check back to the “SportsTalk Shop” for the final weeks of blog entries for the year, along with our “RCN SportsTalk: Year-in-Review Special” podcast and TV program that airs at various times during the holiday season (check the broadcast schedule here on the RCN-TV website or your RCN on-screen guides for the specific dates and times of this show’s airings).

In a previous blog entry, we posted some of the categories of which we are looking for your feedback.  But we also appreciate your feedback on any other subjects you’d like us to address on this year’s special program.

To help “stir the pot,” here are a few of my memorable moments from 2016, in no particular order:

• Joel Embiid finally plays in a regular season NBA game for the 76ers
• Nationals finally make the playoffs (and lasted until the final game of the NLDS)
• Eagles trades paving the way for Carson Wentz and his subsequent rise to becoming the team’s #1 quarterback and instant popularity with the fan base
• After a spectacular 3-0 start, playoff expectations rise and praise abounds for new Eagles head Coach Doug Peterson … the team then sharply reverses course, loses eight of their next 10 and fans call for Peterson dismissal following the November 29^th loss to the Bengals
• DeMatha HS football’s preseason “Top 5” national ranking in USA Today (and other publications)—and then staying there the entire season
• The new classifications and expanded PIAA HS playoff system for all sports
• The Capitals’ early exit (again) from the NHL playoffs
• Nazareth girls basketball’s second District XI championship in three years (followed-up by a summer league title with very stiff competition). With many high-level players returning for both the Eagles, Easton, Northampton, Parkland and other top teams, it’s going to be an exciting girls hoops season in the Lehigh Valley this winter!
• The Flyers quicker-than-expected resurrection and (near) playoff appearance this spring
• HD Woodson basketball’s undefeated, championship season (check out last week’s “SportsTalk” podcast or RCN On-Demand for an interview with head basketball coach Lawrence “Trey” Mines)
• The Phillies “turn the page” and take several positive steps forward with trades, crafty (but not flashy) free agent signings and the development their younger players
• The many examples of high school student-athlete participating in food drives, dance-a-thons, homeless shelter visits and other wonderful, charitable acts from various schools across our viewing area this past year. Fortunately, just the stories alone that I’ve been told are too numerous to mention in a single blog post, and it would be too difficult to identify a single team/action for this.

Also, here are a few highlight videos from recent games of RCN’s coverage of the Pennsylvania state football playoffs.

And…don’t hesitate to look back through the last eleven months-worth of our blog postings here on the RCN-TV website if you want to refresh your memory on some of the musings from Gary Laubach and myself and select one of your favorite discussion points or videos from the past year.

Again, the decision is yours for our annual program and blog postings…but don’t wait!  Feel free to vote on any of these above topics or suggest your own by emailing rcnsportstalk@rcn.com before voting ends this Sunday night (December 20^th).  Have fun!