I know one of last year’s “SportsTalk Shop” blogs that drew the most feedback on my part was my analysis following the NFL draft, with thoughts on both the Eagles and Redskins’ selections.  I hope I’m up to the challenge again this year as we take a look at both teams’ efforts last weekend.

REDSKINS: 1^st ROUND
There were a couple ways the Redskins could have gone.  There was a plethora of defensive lineman/linebackers available (including several from Alabama) that Washington could have selected to fill some holes.  They could have moved down to accumulate talent.  Or, they could have gone for a flashing wide receiving name like Laquon Treadwell to groom to potentially replace DeShawn Jackson after his contract expires at the end of 2016.

However, they went with a less flashy, but probably better all-around receiver in Josh Doctson from TCU.  While Treadwell and Will Fuller received more pre-draft hype while a few national mock drafts didn’t even have Doctson going in the first round, many people I talked with thought Doctson was the best receiver in the NFL Draft.  The multi-sport athlete has overcome some adversity during his high school and college careers (one story includes his mother reportedly wanted him to quite football after breaking his collar bone in a scrimmage when he was 16 years old).  With multiple picks remaining and several more defensive options seemingly available for the later rounds (and the fact Washington actually traded down a spot to get him), I’d give the ‘Skins an…

GRADE:  A

EAGLES: 1^ST ROUND
Philadelphia followed the Rams by making a major move up to secure a “franchise” quarterback in Carson Wentz.  While a final, definitive decision on whether this was a good move or not won’t be known for a while, you had to give Vice President of Football Operation Howie Roseman credit for being aggressive and, at least on the surface, making an apparent good deal.

Wentz rated high in all the off-season activities, camps, interviews, et al, and even though he did not play for a major Division I-A school, it seems like they rolled the dice on a quality prospect.  Wentz has the physical skills, a good head on his shoulders and, if Sam Bradford returns to the team, the time to be able to get up to speed of the pro game.  If he turns out to be two-thirds of what some Eagles fans are currently dreaming about…?

GRADE:  A-  (they gave up a huge amount in draft picks with a number of holes yet to fill)

REDSKINS: 2^nd & 3rd ROUNDS
Washington needed help at corner and on the outside linebacker positions, and grabbed two excellent players in hybrid LB Su’a Cravens (USC) and DB Kendall Fuller (Virginia Tech).

Fuller is a great young corner with speed who could make an impact with the ‘Skins this fall.  I remember watching him two years ago and thought then he could be a later first-round option in the draft (before he was injured last year).  I really believed the Eagles could have really benefitted by selecting the DMV native and Good Counsel alum and, quite frankly, I’m shocked they didn’t select him, which makes this an even better pick for their division rivals.

To be completely honest, I had to go to NFL.com to look up more details on Cravens and don’t recall even watching him play on TV, but what I did find online did impress me.  He comes from a long pro-football lineage and there’s nothing I found to suggest he wasn’t a very solid pick at the 53rd spot.

GRADE:  A

EAGLES: 2^nd & 3rd ROUNDS
Coming into the draft, I felt that the Eagles needed to add at least one higher-end cornerback or safety.  After all, they probably need at least two, if not three, quality defensive backs if this team seriously wants to contend this fall–something they apparently think they’re capable of, since they committed $36 million to non-quarterbacks-of-the-future.  After not getting enough depth via free agency (nice job picking up Josh Norman, Washington, by the way), the Eagles clearly had to select someone to help the latter-half of their defensive with their next couple picks after Wentz.

Granted, Chip Kelly’s bone-headed move (or one of them) to trade for Sam Bradford prevented the Birds from a second-round pick in this year’s draft.   And I know the prevailing wisdom (and usually my personal preference) is to draft the “best available” options in which you are presented (something they clearly did NOT do when they drafted Marcus Smith two years ago).  However, to pass on Kendall Fuller, Nick Vigil or Brandon Williams is inexcusable for Roseman & Co.

I like Guard Isaac Seumalo a lot (even though he needs to improve on his pass protection—according to CBS Sports–which is a concern if true).  However, to not select one of the available corners or safeties in the third round or at least try to try to move up to get another pick was a big mistake.

GRADE:  C+

REDSKINS: LATER ROUNDS
There was speculation that the Redskins might try to target an early-to-mid-round quarterback as insurance in case Kirk Cousins regresses this fall.  However, quarterback Nate Sudfeld is probably not a guy who will make Washington fans chant his name if Cousins struggles this fall.

I do like some of the selections made elsewhere in the later rounds.  I love Temple product Matt Ioannidis to add depth along the defensive line (full disclosure: yes, I am a Temple University grad).  Keith Marshall might help out on special teams and as a later-option running back.  The Redskins added a nice piece with Steven Daniels.  I saw him play a couple games at Boston College–he hits hard and impressed me against the run.  Daniels might actually contribute in limited opportunities.

GRADE:  B

EAGLES: LATER ROUNDS
Still no defensive backs…until the 196th (sixth round) pick? Really?  Is Chip Kelly still in charge here?

Blake Countess and Jalen Mills are nice pieces, and the reports say they could play both safety and cornerback.  They did offer additional support with Running Back Wendell Smallwood and Offensive Lineman Halapoulivaati Vaitai to help Wentz (when he’s ready), but the Eagles are still one, or two, or maybe three quality D-back options short and still lack depth at middle linebacker.  I know you can solve every problem through the draft.  I also get the argument that they wanted to add a couple O-line pieces as protection for the quarterback, but there were/are additional decent offensive line options still available to add depth.  And did they HAVE to draft another player from Oregon?

GRADE:  D+

FINAL GRADES:

REDSKINS: A-  (Solid moves all around, taking best-available players in nearly every case while upgrading several positions that needed to be addressed).

EAGLES:  C  (Cornerback?  Safety?  Middle linebacker?  Bueller?)

Your comments, complains, opinions are most welcome via email: rcnsportstalk@rcn.com

It wasn’t the typical start to the baseball season for the Syracuse Chiefs—the top minor league affiliate for the Washington Nationals!

While the parent club posted some nice wins during the first week of the regular season, their Triple-A team, the Chiefs, had to play their “home opener” in another state, and only got two games in (both part of a seven-inning doubleheader) during the first week of the regular season.  Despite that, Syracuse got off to a good start to its season as well.

We had a chance to speak with Syracuse Manager Billy Gardner and a couple of their players to ask them about this year’s team and about an unusual start to the 2016 season.

The Chiefs manager also talked about one of the organization’s top pitching prospects, A. J. Cole, who started their season opening game.  Their first game of the season was supposed to be the previous Tuesday in Syracuse, before it was moved due to unsafe playing conditions at their stadium.  Gardner speaks about Cole pitching in 40-degree temperatures and also talked about how the strong finish to the 2015 campaign can benefit him this season.

One of the top young players in the entire organization is shortstop Trea Turner, who we caught up with to ask about his style of play, his reaction to some high praise from his Triple-A manager and his goals for the 2016 season, which, he (and many Washington fans) hopes will result in a quick call-up to the Nationals.

The Chiefs should be a fun team to watch as they feature a mix of both up-and-coming prospects along with seasoned veterans that should add a lot of depth to the organization overall.   In terms of the team’s success, they do have an opportunity to finish among the top teams as currently constructed in the International League.

As far as prospects, the Opening Day roster features Turner (ranked #2 in the organization according to mlb.com), Cole (ranked seventh), pitcher Austin Voth (ninth), catcher Pedro Severino (tenth) and third-baseman Matt Skole (29^th).  Fortunately, the Nationals have not suffered nearly the number of injuries that they had at this time last year, allowing the Chiefs to benefit by holding on to just about everyone on its roster thus far.

The International League always plays a competitive brand of baseball, and the Chiefs, who have won five of their first nine games, seemed to have ‘weathered’ their rough start to the season and look to be competitive all summer long.

We’ll have more on Washington’s top minor league affiliate, along with interviews with their top prospects during the course of this season, both here at “The Shop” as well as on our Thursday “RCN SportsTalk” show.  Also, you can catch more of these above interviews by viewing the April 14^th edition of “SportsTalk” through RCN On-Demand.

Feel free to give us your feedback and send us your sports comments and questions via email (rcnsportstalk@rcn.com) and tune in to our weekly show/podcast to hear us read and respond.

One of the regular elements of the “RCN SportsTalk” program is that on each show, all of our studio panelists identify a person or a group of people in the sports world for doing something extraordinary (“thumbs up”) and calling out a group or individual for doing something excessively bad (“thumbs down”).    Most weeks, I don’t have much difficulty coming up with at least one “winner” to identify on each week’s show/podcast, but some weeks—like this one—I have a hard time trying to limit my choices to one, or even two.

I’m always interested in hearing what our viewers/listeners have to say and love hearing your feedback, and this week, I’d like to extend that invitation to you to help me figure out who is most deserving of these “honors.”

Here are the nominations…

“THUMBS UP” CANDIDATES
Washington Redskins
The rumors are that the Redskins, who had the number-5 overall pick a year ago will not be looking to make a big splash in this year’s draft.  Instead, the word is they’ll be looking to trade down to get more picks (we’ll have more on both the Redskins & Eagles draft options & possibilities on our April 21^st “NFL Draft Preview Show.”   I like the idea of Washington continuing to accumulate talent and add capable bodies, in lieu of getting caught up in the hip of a “named” player and think the team is continuing to head in the right direction, fresh of their division title from a year ago.

Villanova Men’s Basketball
I put the Wildcats on here for several reasons…

Not just for the fact that they won a national championship.  Not just that they did it in dramatic fashion (for my money, the most exciting finish to the tournament, EVER).  Not just for the fact that they did not have any “big named” stars, but instead won with fundamentals, great team defense, an outstanding coach and a blue-collar, workmanlike approach in their victories.  BUT…they also handled themselves with class, before, during and after the game (unlike someone else—see below).  For more thoughts and comments on the Wildcats great run, check out last week’s “SportsTalk” podcast here .

Flyers
After some tough losses on Wednesday and Thursday of last week, the team rebounded with a tremendous win over Pittsburgh to not only clinch a playoff berth, but to sweep a weekend pair of games (the second win was against the Islanders) and pay tribute to their owner Ed Snider.  Ed was one of the most passionate owners in sports and tried to do whatever it took to put together a winning team each year.  The gritty effort by the Flyers for most of the season, and especially this weekend, was exactly what that organization was all about for many years, with Mr. Snyder leading the way.   He will be truly be missed by fans, players, coaches and everyone surrounding the Delaware Valley region.

Phillies
As I stated in the above video clip (with a great response by ESPN Radio’s Eytan Shander), there were WAY too many Phillies fans that were panicking last week when the team lost its first four games of the season.  Again, it is a REBUILDING year.  No one—including the front office themselves—is looking at winning anything this season.  Take this year for what it is—the team has accumulated one of the deepest prospect pools in all of the major leagues.  It will be extremely unlikely that at least some of the young players won’t contribute at some point.  Patience is what’s needed here, and it is an exciting time to watch these guys develop, along with a few other somewhat interesting storylines (eg., how will Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz’s final seasons play out, will Darin Ruf earn a full-time spot in the future, will Cody Asche bounce back and more).  The team rebounded with two nice wins in New York and will have their share of well-played games.  But please, stop getting carried away over the wins and losses of this year’s team.  The record isn’t what’s important this summer…the maturation of their young stars IS.

HS spring athletes
I know it’s not uncommon for the scholastic spring sports athletes to deal with unreasonably cold temperatures and poor weather conditions for the first half of their sports season.  I have many memories over the last few years (and once again experienced it last Friday) of sitting in a chair in an open space, trying to make notes on games and capturing video (which is hard to do with gloves on) while the cold, gusty winds blow…to say nothing about what the athletes have to endure (hitting a metal bat is one of the most painful ‘regular’ experiences one can have in sports).  With frigid temperatures all last week and snow cancelling games the last few days, many sports programs are going to have a grueling schedule over the next month playing catch-up to get all their games in, and it’s truly not fun, even playing a sport you love, when the conditions are this bad.  However, our area young people will continue to battle and give themselves a chance to keep playing meaningful games—when the weather finally becomes more athletics-friendly.

*******

“THUMBS DOWN” CANDIDATES
Philadelphia 76ers Front Office
I’m still shaking my head trying to figure out what the heck happened to the “Hinkie process.”  Was this purely a Colangelo-family hostile takeover?  Was the organization strong-armed by the league itself to make a change?  Or was there another conspiracy theory that hasn’t gotten much attention, as we speculated on last week’s program.  We’ll try to get a better assessment of the front office changes and the future direction of the franchise on this Thursday’s “SportsTalk” (live, 7-8pm, RCN-TV) as one of our guest will be Eric Goldwein (who runs the ESPN-affiliated site Hoop76.com) and also covers sports for the Washington Post.

Washington Wizards
Wow, what happened here?  Fresh off an impressive 2014-15 season and an optimistic-to-realistic chance to improve coming into this season, the Wizards fell flat and didn’t even come close to making a late run for a playoff berth—let alone not improving on their performance from a year ago.  There’s plenty of rumors as far as who gets the most blame (along with a CBS report of the players taking shots at each other).  Some long, hard questions will have to be addressed this off-season and the once promising future of this team, centered around the talented John Wall, is now very much in limbo.

North Carolina Men’s Basketball Fans
After losing the championship game to Villanova, the Tar Heel fans were so bothered by their upset loss, that they apparently lost their minds.  They are actually circulating a petition calling for the NCAA to reverse the outcome of the national championship because they questioned one of the referee’s calls.

Seriously?

North Carolinians couldn’t have just graciously accept a thrilling victory by the Wildcats and give them their rightful honor following a tremendous run in the tournament?  I know quite a few people that support the Tar Heels and really feel badly that some of their fellow-supporters tried to give all of their fan base a black eye for a tasteless attempt at redemption.

Chip Kelly
I still haven’t gotten over the way he gutted the team while harboring a nasty attitude towards just about everyone he came in contact with, then tried to take the ‘weasel’ approach after he left by saying he had nothing to do with the 2015 collapse.  I’ll probably keep him on this list for quite some time.

So, let’s hear it!  Who do you think deserves a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” the most?  Email us at rcnsportstalk@rcn.com and hear us read and respond to your opinions on our weekly show/podcast!

Today here at “The Shop,” we bring you comments from the Phillies minor league prospects followed by some insights on their “ceilings” and potential arrival times in the Big Leagues.

Starting right-handed pitcher Jake Thompson and left-handed hitting outfielder Nick Williams, seems to be the odds-on favorites among the top blue-chip prospects to get the call to the major leagues.

Williams could be helped by the fact that Cody Asche won’t start the season on the Phillies roster and Aaron Altherr won’t be ready until late in the summer.  Both Asche and Altherr were penciled in as starters for the parent club before spring training began.  Because of the ‘numbers’ issue in the outfield—or, more appropriately, LACK of numbers, Williams could be one player that gets bumped up a little earlier than expected.

Plus, Williams had a torrid September last year, during the Reading Fightin’ Phillies playoff run, which the organization’s top brass saw first-hand.  A quick start by Williams might give Phillies fans what they’ve already started clamoring for—and that’s a fast promotion to the Big Leagues for some of these high-profile prospects the team received in trades over the last year.  However, it has usually been the Phillies objective to get young players as much minor-league seasoning as possible before reaching the major leagues.  Given the team is not ready to contend and there’s really no reason to start these players “free agency clocks” (the time teams have players under contract), you probably won’t see many of these players before Memorial Day.

A quick example that supports this theory if Maikel Franco, who got hot in Triple-A to start last season and was promoted while he was swinging the bat well.  Dominic Brown is probably a good example of the ill-effects of rushing a young prospect through a system too quickly.

If a team’s success starts with pitching, Philadelphia should be in good shape when you look at their Triple-A starting rotation.  Joining Thompson are Mark Appel (a former top draft pick), Zach Eflin, David Buchanan and Adam Morgan (the latter pitched well enough to make the Phillies out of spring training but was demoted in favor of power-armed Vincent Velasquez).    The Phillies have so much depth in fact, that two pitchers (Alec Asher and Severino Gonzales) who pitched for the Phils last year will start this season down in Double-A.  While not all of these hurlers may be impact players at the major league level, the team has much needed depth and find themselves in the fortunate situation in which not all of these young arms HAVE TO mature into top-level pitchers in order for the franchise to have continued success.

If a couple of these guys can contribute consistently for the Phillies, they will have a nice pitching staff for years to come.  This is a sharp contract when the team looked at having just a couple blue-chip prospects in the farm system and, when most of these guys fizzled out, the team struggled with very few reliable reinforcements available to help out.

For more insights on the Phillies top minor league prospects, check out our most recent “SportsTalk” podcast, here .

Don’t forget to share your baseball opinions by emailing us (rcnsportstalk@rcn.net) and tune in to hear us read and respond to your opinions on our Thursday “RCN SportsTalk” show live at 7pm and on our weekly podcasts.

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.

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.

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.

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!

There are some great high school match-ups over the next few days that I’m very excited about–especially on the girls basketball side.  Here are some observations and notes about District XI teams in the RCN coverage area to get you ready for this week’s playoff coverage on RCN-TV.

The 4A Girls Bracket
It was a coming-out party for Northampton freshman Victoria Keenan, who made her RCN debut last Friday with a spectacular performance en route to a big win over the second-seeded Parkland Trojans.  Despite her (and her frontcourt mates) getting in some early foul trouble, Keenan showcased her ball-handling and shooting abilities from different spots on the floor all game long.  I immediately noticed her poise and confidence in the pre-game warm-ups and she did not seemed fazed in the least about the win-or-go-home contest in front of her.

She finished with a game-high 23 points (no one else on either side finished in double figures) and set up her team to face their area rivals, Nazareth, in the semifinal matchup (7:30pm LIVE, Tuesday, RCN-TV).

I don’t often make predictions about players, and even more rarely do I single out a freshman, but after seeing Keenan play last week I feel confident in saying she’ll become one of the top girls basketball players in the area, if she’s not almost there already.

Not to be left out was Aja Blount, who came into the quarterfinal match-up averaging 20 points per game.  The Trojans played stifling defense on her and did not allow Blount her usual amount of touches, but Aja returned the favor by playing her own brand of ‘shut-all-windows-and-doors” defense against a talented Parkland frontcourt in the victory. Devon Saul, Lauren Sterner, Jenna Rogers, Brielle Ringo and (despite some quick fouls called on her) Sophia Eckroth all played well and I’m looking forward to seeing their next game on Tuesday.

I have not seen the Blue Eagles in person this year, but I’m well aware of the high level of play from returning players Tessa Brugler and Jessica Durnin, and the strong defense Head Coach Rick Bickert always cultivates.  This semifinal game should go right down to the wire.

I was very impressed by my first look at this year’s Easton game–a squad I saw last year and knew they would surpass those levels from a year ago.  We’ve spoken quite a bit about the Red Rovers on recent “SportsTalk” shows and podcasts (which you can hear here).  Pottsville has been led by two outstanding scoring threats, Kyra Schenk and Sadie Cresswell (the latter really shoots well from three-point land and will play college ball at East Stroudsburg University).  The Tide have some size and could create some interesting match-up issues for Easton (Tuesday, 6pm Live, RCN-TV).

Was Parkland vs. Allen the best HS game in decades?
I had a number of people answer in the affirmative about the above question between the boys teams from Allen and Parkland.   Emmaus’ Saturday victory over the Canaries will keep area fans from seeing a rematch of this contest (Parkland and Allen did not play each other during the regular season).  While I wouldn’t go as far as saying it was the greatest local game in over ten years, I will say unequivocally that on any given night, the Allen boys team can be as entertaining to watch as any team in the RCN viewing area.

Remember, nearly all of Allen’s key players were juniors or younger this winter and should return in 2017.  With Parkland graduating a number of the area’s top performers, I think you could certainly put the Canaries as one of the two or three best teams heading into the next high school basketball season, and should be a fun team to watch during the summer leagues.

With the Hornets win, we’ll see another great Parkland vs. Emmaus battle on Wednesday night (live, 7:30pm, RCN-TV).

We’ve talked about both teams quite a bit this season, and on paper, it still seems that the Trojans are heavy favorites.  The Hornets have battled through some tough games this season and we’ll see if Emmaus can come up with a new wrinkle or two to try to frustrate top-seeded Parkland.

SHOUT-OUTS
* Pocono Mountain West’s Lance Singh (a junior) had one of the best individual men’s performances I’ve seen in quite some time.  He scored 35 against Allen in the EPC semifinal and owned the first and last quarters, with the ability to score despite sometimes being triple-teamed, but also set up his teammates well down the stretch run.  Jalen Vaughns (also an 11^th grader) is also a difficult match-up—a guy who can score from different spots on the floor and is also a beast on the boards, and Isaiah Wiggins (another junior, by the way) also has a very similar skill set.  I think it’s safe to say PMW is clearly the single most talented scoring machine that Bangor has faced all season, and the Slaters will have their hands full in their semifinal match-up.

* Speaking of Bangor, props to last week’s “SportsTalk” panelist Toomey Anderson (from “LV Basketball Rankings”) for stating on the show that the Slaters will have a breakout performance and post a statement-declaring win over Whitehall in Saturday’s quarterfinal game.  We have been touting the great teams in the Colonial League since early December here at the “SportsTalk Shop” (feel free to go back through our past blog entries to see for yourself) and it is no surprise to me that there are two Colonial League teams still alive as we advance to the semifinal round of the District XI playoffs.

* Another correct “lock” prediction made on last week’s program was Andre Williams declaring that Bethlehem Catholic would beat Allentown Central Catholic in the so-called “Lehigh Valley Holy War.”   First-year Head Coach Ray Barbosa has done a remarkable job since taking over the program, even before his big win over the Vikings last Friday.  He has his team playing its best basketball of the season at just the right time.  They face undefeated Pottsville on Tuesday night (9:30pm, tape-delayed, RCN-TV).  The Tide have played some quality opponents and are an athletic team.  If Becahi can play like they did against Parkland in the EPC Quarterfinals, they’ll have a shot.  Regardless of this game’s outcome, the Golden Hawks already have had a tremendous season after winning just three games a year ago.

Send us your high school basketball comments and opinions via email (RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com) and enjoy all the playoff basketball action coming your way on RCN-TV over the next week!