Last week, we discussed a number of teams in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference or Colonial League post-season races—nearly all of them will look to be major players in the District XI tournament, which starts this week.  Today here at “The Shop,” we take a look at a few more teams that begin their district championship quests over the next few days.

“Give Me Liberty…”
Don’t let a first-round loss in the EPC playoffs fool you.  Chad Landis always seems to find a way to get his team playing deep into the district playoffs—and usually well enough to get at least one of the top-3 district seeds, which would give the Hurricanes a trip to states.

Liberty lost to a very talented Allen team last week.  On paper, however, I think Liberty could play with almost anyone in their bracket.  They have a tremendous talent on the inside in Cam Hoffman and exciting guard play with added depth now that Chance Neilly has returned and gotten some game action under his belt. They’ll open up the tournament by facing Nazareth on Wednesday (live, RCN4 at 7pm).

“…or Fly Like An Eagle”
Nazareth Head Coach Joe Arndt has to be on a short list of underrated basketball coaches in the region.  Following his great run in the post-season last year (more on that later), he has done a great job grooming young talents Jahan Dotson and Kevin Wagner to become one of the strongest 1-2 underclassmen punches among EPC teams.  Nick Youngkin has added scoring punch from different spots on the floor and probably deserves more attention that he’s received this season.  The key will be containing the likes of Hoffman, Andrew Hudak and Caleb Martinez on the inside and for Nazareth to get its share of rebounds.  More inside scoring could go along way for Blue Eagles—the loser of this ball game sees their season come to an end.

The 3A Race Should be Fun To Watch
Central Catholic has an incredibly talented team, filled with underclassmen and amazing potential.  But when you have a younger group of players, there’s always an element–however slight—of ambiguity in reading how they will play together in the post-season.  They lost to a very solid Pocono Mountain West team in the first round of the league playoffs and, unlike previous years, I don’t think the Vikings are your ‘stone-cold locks’ to win the district title.  Salisbury, Notre Dame and Saucon Valley are all good, well-balanced teams who can play with Central Catholic.

Bethlehem Catholic also showed a tremendous amount of poise in hanging with the area’s best team, Parkland, in their EPC first-round match-up and have scored some impressive wins during the regular season.  Ray Barbosa has done a great job in his first year with the Golden Hawks and I don’t think a lengthy run in districts should be seen as a shocker.

Also, waiting “in the wings” is a Pottsville team that just completed a perfect 22-0 regular season.  The Tide will face the winner of Tuesday’s match-up between Saucon Valley/Lehighton (live, RCN4 at 7pm).  There will be very few “easy” games in the District XI 3A Classification this time around, and I doubt very many people could clearly predict just how this bracket will shake out this winter.

This Year’s Cinderella?
Last year it was Nazareth’s boys team that surprised people with a lengthy and exciting run through the District XI tournament—winning a few more games than many expected.

Who will be this year’s dark horse squad to last the longest? Stroudsburg is always an underrated team that seems to find a way to advance deep in the playoffs—despite the fact local experts rarely predict a successful post-season run for the Mountaineers.  If they can get by Freedom on Wednesday, they have as good a shot against Pocono Mountain West, then would face the winner of the Bangor vs. Solehi/Whitehall matchup, so another post-season run by the Mounties certainly looks like it has potential.

Also, there’s a number of talented girls basketball individuals and teams to keep an eye on that don’t get the hype they deserve.  Easton is coming off an impressive performance in its EPC Championship victory and are led by standout stars like Gabby Bloshuk, Leanna Deegan, Olivia George and Shelby Stocker.

However, this might be one of the most competitive District XI girls playoff fields we’ve seen in some time.  Parkland features Emily Piston, Rachel Medlar, Nadine Ewald and Sarah Stagaard.  Among the other top EPC talents include Nazareth’s Tessa Brugler, Northampton’s Aja Blount and Victoria Keenan.  Colonial League players to watch include Southern Lehigh’s Amanda Mobley, Olivia Snyder and Ellie Cassel (all underclassmen, by the way), Palisades’ Karlee Krchnavi, Northwestern’s Erika Thomas and Bangor’s Marissa Fernandez-Tierney.  We talked about a number of these teams and players in last week’s “SportsTalk” podcast (listen here: rcn.com/atvn/sports-talk).

Don’t forget, we’ll be discussing many more teams, previewing match-ups and making District XI playoff predictions on Thursday’s “RCN SportsTalk” show, live from 7-8pm on RCN-TV with the show’s podcast available on Friday.  Guests include RCN Basketball Analyst Tom Stoudt along with Toomey Anderson and Andre Williams from LVBasketballRankings.com.  Email your high schools opinions and questions to rcnsportstalk@rcn.com and our panel will read and respond to your comments live on the air!

The high school basketball playoffs have arrived in the Lehigh Valley region.  Thanks to the expanded playoff format (of which there’s been much debate amongst local sports fans–discussed at length on ‘RCN SportsTalk’), the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and the Colonial League post-season actually got underway last weekend, with the league semifinals to be played on Tuesday and Wednesday (check the RCN broadcast schedule for our coverage).

On this Thursday’s live “SportsTalk” program (7-8pm), we’ll have local coaches and experts Megan Dellegrotti (former Southern Lehigh Head Coach/fmr. DeSales Assistant Head Coach), Joe Jarjous (current Dieruff boys head basketball coach), Kyle Hutnik (Pen Argyl Boys Basketball Head Coach) and Ed Seidick (Catasaqua Girls Head Basketball Coach) on the show to give their insights on the teams involved, along with opinions, predictions and key match-ups to watch for on both leagues’ championship nights for both the boys and girls title games (also to be broadcast on RCN-TV on Friday).

To get you set for the semifinals, here are thoughts on the teams that I’ve seen so far this winter, along with the video highlights from RCN’s regular season coverage of high school basketball in the Lehigh Valley.

EPC:  PARKLAND
Despite just a five-point lead over Bethlehem Catholic at halftime, Parkland looked just as strong in the second half of its opening round playoff game as they have at any point during their season since the football players returned.  I’m sticking with my prediction from early December that the Trojans win the EPC and continue to advance all the way to the PIAA state championship.  A big key for this to happen will be for Parkland to avoid one of the top Philadelphia schools (aka., Roman Catholic) in the first few rounds of the  tourney.  However, this team is so well-balanced and has all the advantages (size, speed, shooting ability et al) over nearly every team they’ll face over the next few weeks.

ALLEN

Another prediction I made back on this blog before the season started (and I’m sticking with now) is that Talek Williams is one of the most dynamic players in the Lehigh Valley.  From what I’ve seen of his Canaries teammates this year, I don’t believe Allen is a one-star team.  At any given time, Williams and Co. could be the Lehigh Valley team to give Parkland its biggest challenge.  The key for the Canaries is their consistency—they’ve looked great at times, and have also struggled: sometimes game-to-game, other times quarter-to-quarter.  If Allen can put together a string of solid efforts, they could give the Trojans a battle for the EPC Championship Friday (RCN-TV, live, Friday at 7:30pm), provided they don’t look past Pocono Mountain West in the semis.

Emmaus
The Hornets also have the size, guard-play and speed to hang with Parkland, but have not been able to come close to a win in the two meetings between these two juggernauts.  I believe they have the biggest collection of underrated players in the area (Cam Widdoss, Brandon Rapose, Jake Freirtag, Joey Polczynski, Eric Cichocki, Jake Scarnulis).  Because of their regular-season finale loss to Whitehall, they drew Parkland in the semifinal round (RCN-TV, live Tuesday at 7:30pm).  This might be the wrong way to look at things, but if Emmaus loses to Parkland in the league playoff, the old adage of “it’s hard to beat a good team four times” might apply if these area rivals would face each other again in the District XI playoffs—or even a fifth time if they would both clinch and meet in the state playoffs.

Colonial League:  Bangor vs. Saucon Valley
While Bangor’s Michael Martino has been the headline name in the league this past year, I think both the Slaters and the Panthers have a lot of high-talent players, and their semifinal matchup (RCN4, live Wednesday at 7:30pm) should be just as competitive as their regular season meetings.  While Bangor won each contest, Mike Kane was not available for the first meeting between these two teams, and he has shown he can be a difference maker.

Another player to watch?  While he’s certainly gone under the radar, I believe Saucon Valley guard Josh Snead might just be the best point guard in the Colonial League this year.  Equally underrated are Bangor’s guard Reece Jones along with the Slaters’ frontcourt—with some up-and-coming talent also on the way.

Southern Lehigh vs. Salisbury
I haven’t gotten a chance to see in person either of these teams this year, but will this Wednesday in the first Colonial League semifinal contest (RCN4, live at 6pm).  For some great insights on the Falcons from Head Coach Jason Weaver and his players, check out their “SportsTalk” appearance on our podcast here.  In addition to talking about their successes this year and thoughts on the post-season, top scorer Tevon Weber told some great stories about his shot selection, and what he does every time he hits a three-pointer.

If you have a comment or question about the local high school basketball playoffs, email them to rcnsportstalk@rcn.com and tune in Thursday at 7pm for our “League Championship Preview Show” as we read and respond to your thoughts on the local league playoff season in the Lehigh Valley.

One of the biggest Lehigh Valley local sports winter events is happening this Saturday—the District XI AAA Team Wrestling Final & Ultimate Qualifier (live, 4:30pm on RCN-TV).  Local wrestling gurus Gene Waas and Jack Logic were on our “SportsTalk” show to discuss that event, as well as give their opinions on many local wrestling issues.  Among the topics discussed–they gave their takes on the “EPC Challenge” and on the first year of the “revamped” alignments for the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.  Here’s a brief sample of our discussion of the “new look EPC” for wrestling–the entire program along with thoughts on the District XI tournament structure is available here on our podcast.

We’ve also had some great wrestling action on RCN-TV this past winter.  We covered a number of Colonial League teams on our “RCN SportsTalk” show—the interviews and videos are available on-demand for RCN customers.

To get you set for this weekend’s tournament action, here’s a look back at the highlights of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference wrestling matches featured on RCN-TV this season.

In addition to this Saturday’s team district wrestling coverage, we have more wrestling coverage coming up in the next few weeks.  On the Thursday, February 25^th edition of “SportsTalk” from 7-8 pm, we’ll have preview of that weekend’s District XI AA and AAA individual wrestling tournament.  On Saturday, February 27^th at 9:30 RCN-TV will have the AAA Wrestling Final and the following week RCN will be broadcasting the PIAA Northeast Wrestling Final at 9pm.

Keep checking the RCN-TV schedule page here on the website for the latest news and/or changes for our local sports coverage.  Also, don’t forget to email you opinions and feelings the local sports action to rcnsportstalk@rcn.com .

In the fallout of record amounts of snowfall, coinciding with the cold and blustery conditions we suffered through this past weekend, I’d like to pass along the following public service announcement…

“We’re under a month away from the start of Major League Baseball’s opening of spring training!”

I said in an earlier post that I’m more confident in the Nationals’ chances of making the playoffs this year and it should be a great summer/fall for fans in the Washington, DC region.

While many baseball fans will write off 2016 year as a lost year for the Phillies—with most of the organization’s top prospects at least a few months away from being on the major league roster—I think there are many intriguing storylines for the upcoming season.

The “SportsTalk” cameras recently had a chance recently to speak with some of the key members of the organization going forward, new General Manager Matt Klentak, Manager Pete Mackanin, who’ll begin his first full year as the team’s skipper, and young right-handed pitcher Aaron Nola.  Despite the fact that Nola enters the season with just a few months of Major League experience under his belt, he holds the distinction of being one of the “oldest” members of the pitching staff, and could very well be the “eldest” pitcher on the team’s Opening Day starting rotation.

Here is Mackanin’s thoughts on a number of issues, including:

• his approach of how Ryan Howard will be used this season
• a critical season for third baseman/outfielder Cody Asche
• a peek at what his Opening Day outfield alignment could look like
• who has the edge to round out the starting rotation
• the competition for the team’s closer position
• why fans should be enthusiastic about the 2016 Phillies ball club

New GM Matt Klentak answered questions on:

• what are this year’s team goals
• why the team is headed in the right directin
• young, highly touted prospect Vincent Velasquez, who was acquired in the Ken Giles’ trade
• an off-season conversation he had with Ryan Howard, regarding his future with the Phillies

Nola also talked about his expectations for the new season, how he and his teammates will approach a “rebuilding season,” and his insights on how he’s learned to have success, even on days in which he doesn’t have command of all his pitches.

There could very well be a number of additional storylines that develop and players to watch over the next several months for the “Phightins,” as they continue to turn over the roster and look to rebuild after a period that will go down as the greatest era in team history.  With young prospects like Nick Williams, Jorge Alfaro, J.P. Crawford, Roman Quinn, Andrew Knapp and a host of good, young pitching prospects, it may not be too long before the Phillies return to the upper half of the division and resume stringing together playoff appearances.

Check back to the “SportsTalk Shop” as we get closer to Opening Day for more insights on the Phillies, the Nationals and topics of interested for baseball fans in the RCN viewing area.  Also, email us your baseball comments and opinions to RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com and we’ll read and respond on an upcoming edition of “RCN SportsTalk.”

Maybe it was the lack of snow or the warmer-than-normal temperatures over the last month, but it is really hard to believe we are at the halfway point of the scholastic basketball season.  Here’s three Eastern Pennsylvania Conference-related observations from the first half of the winter sports campaign.

Parkland looks even better than last year

They not only have practically the same team back from a year ago, but they have more depth and can beat you in more ways than they did during last season’s run to the state playoffs.  They barely missed a beat without some of their football players on board to start the season—giving the “reserves” an extended varsity experience.  However, the returning players seem even more determined than a year ago, and I don’t think anything less than a state title game is what they are setting their sights on.

The only question might be what teams they’ll face—and when—in the PIAA tournament.  There’ll be several of the high-octane offenses from Philadelphia that love to push the tempo and Parkland doesn’t get a whole lot of chances to see that from teams in the Lehigh Valley—not to the extent of the Philly teams.  However, the team has gotten some significant tests early (and a couple more still to come before states).   I would be surprised if the seniors refuse to take every opportunity to match the football team’s success, and it certainly looks like they have the weapons to go much deeper into the state playoffs.

Central’s coming on strong
I saw Central Catholic a few times in December, and, they looked like a young team that had a ton of potential, and, after going through some growing pains, they would eventually have great success.

I’m not sure if Santa granted the Vikings a flash forward to their learning curve, but in the times I’ve seen them since Christmas, it seems like the younger players are not only buying into the team-defense approach, but they are becoming much more comfortable playing—and scoring—together on the court.  I think some of the Class 3A teams were hoping Central Catholic might have to wait until next year to once again be considered the favorite in the District XI playoffs, but the way the Vikings have been playing the last few weeks, I think they have a great chance at being in the EPC playoffs as well as being the ‘team-to-beat’ in their district classification.

Freedom as a dark horse?
There are some interesting teams in the “Steel” division of the EPC—and probably several of those teams could make the playoffs with a quality run over the next few weeks.  If I had to pick one of them to surprise area basketball fans over the next month, I’m leaning toward Freedom.

They have one of the area’s best head coaches (Joe Stellato), a great coaching staff, and some really good athletes.  On paper, they may not be the best team, but they’ve had some nice wins and have been “in” most of their losses.  Not many people are picking the Patriots to do much in the post-season, but of all the teams not directly in the area’s media spotlight, I think Freedom might be one team to make some noise over the next month.

Allen and Whitehall were also featured on RCN-TV recently and are two more teams that have played well this season.  With a number of talented teams, the Canaries, Zephyrs and a few other teams all very well could contend in the playoffs this February.  Also, Bethlehem Catholic was a team to watch on our basketball preview show back in December, and they have done very little to disappoint so far.

We’ll have more opinions and video highlights of other high school sports teams, in addition to wrestling videos, coming up over the next several weeks here at the “SportsTalk Shop.”

Also, keep checking back to the RCN-TV website for our schedule the latest games to be broadcast on RCN-TV and feel free to send your sports comments and opinions to us at RCNSporsTalk@rcn.com

While I always enjoy an extended vacation and quality time at home with my family during the holidays, I was excited to get back into the local high school basketball scene this past week and to talk with some of the local players, coaches and media members about the first few weeks of the hoops season.

There are several interesting storylines developing in the District XI region.  Here are three of note:

1) Salisbury is good—AGAIN…
I honestly don’t know if there’s a more underrated head basketball coach than Jason Weaver…and a more underrated program than his Salisbury basketball team.  We’ve been touting Weaver and his programs for years on both the TV edition of “SportsTalk” and on this blog.  Every season he has a winning team—and most years he loses most (all?) of his entire core of players to graduation, only to come back the following year and find success.  And not only do his teams rebuild during the offseason and have good years—but they always play well out of the game—something truly extraordinary when you’re bringing in nearly a whole new set of starters most seasons.

They’re coming off a huge win over previously undefeated Bangor (a 4A school) and have a few other 4A-level teams on its non-conference schedule over the next few weeks.  Despite not getting much hype, the Falcons look like they will “surprise” people again in February, when they most likely will play deep in the league and district playoff rounds.

2) …and so are a number of other Colonial League teams.
Salisbury does not own a monopoly on quality basketball play in the Colonial League this winter.  Bangor and Southern Lehigh have just one league loss—both losing its first Colonial game of the year last week (both losses to Salisbury).  Both teams are well-balanced and led by incredibly knowledgeable head coaches, and both the Slaters and the Spartans had battle-tested contests one year ago, which will help them come crunch time(s) this winter.

Also, don’t count out the teams that got a late start due to their school’s football team playing late into the fall.  Saucon Valley, Notre Dame and Catasauqua all posted wins over quality opponents last weekend, and all three teams have climbed back above .500 in league play.

Once more, there’s some interesting head-to-head battles over the next few weeks, which include (but are not limited to):

Jan. 13
Southern Lehigh at Bangor
Catty at Saucon Valley
Northwestern at Notre Dame-GP

Jan. 15 (and again on Jan. 25)
Saucon Valley at Notre Dame-GP

Jan. 22
Saucon Valley at Bangor (on RCN-TV)
Southern Lehigh at Catty

Jan. 25
Salisbury at Notre Dame-GP

Jan. 26
Saucon Valley at Salisbury

Jan. 28
Catty at Notre Dame
Southern Lehigh at Saucon Valley

Feel free to check out the Colonial League’s website  for the latest league news, scores and schedules.

Don’t forget, RCN-TV is scheduled to broadcast the Colonial League semifinals as well as the boys and girls championship games.  Keep checking back to the RCN-TV website for scheduling updates!

3) Glovas returns!
After an outstanding playing career at DeSales University and becoming one of the schools’ all-time top scorers, Sondrine Glovas has returned to Wilson High School to continue her career as the head coach of the same Warriors program that she once played for.  In addition to a tremendous student-athlete career and being a standout player in a high quality collegiate program, Glovas benefitted from legendary Bulldogs Head Coach Fred Richter and his outstanding staff in preparing her to take over at her alma mater.

Glovas’ Warriors have gotten off to a good start and have their targets set on qualifying for a District XI playoff appearance this winter.

Keep checking back here at the “SportsTalk Shop” for more winter sports updates and news and features on teams and players in the RCN viewing area.  Next week we’ll put the spotlight on our local wrestling teams with video highlights and insights for next week’s blog entry.  We’ll also be talking wrestling on this Thursday’s “RCN SportsTalk” show (live, 7-8pm on RCN-TV) and featuring long-time wrestling Head Coach Dave Crowell and members of the Nazareth wrestling team, along with a feature on the Bangor wrestling program.  The podcast of the show will also be available on Friday and can be found at rcn.com/atvn/sports-talk.

Finally, a big “THANK YOU” to all the people who voted for and watched the “Best of RCN-TV” marathon on New Year’s Day.  The event was a huge hit and while the RCN marketing team developed the idea and deserve all the credit, I’d like to think “RCN SportsTalk” had a tiny role in the outcome, as one of our programs—“NFL Draft Preview”—was one of the shows selected as the “best of” for 2015.  Again, thanks for voting for all of our RCN-TV programs and we are already planning on another NFL draft-oriented preview show once again in 2016.

We had a chance last week to address some of the top stories in 2015.  We’ll identify one more “award” here in this week’s blog entry along with a few predictions I’d like to make for the new year (if you read my blog last year, you’ll remember that I do hold myself accountable and will correctly identify if I get my predictions right or wrong!)

Best Story of 2015:  Four District XI State Championship teams in a single “sports season”
There have been some tremendous state champions over the years, but there has also been a number of sports seasons in which no team from the Lehigh Valley  team ends their season with state gold medal.  However, this past spring, there were not one, or two, or three, but FOUR different teams that captured a PIAA title (this doesn’t include individual honors for tennis and track-and-field).  Parkland boys volleyball team, the Parkland and Bethlehem Catholic softball teams and the Moravian Academy tennis teams all won high school’s biggest prize.  We had the pleasure of hearing the stories of all of those teams on “SportsTalk” this summer—each one with its share of challenges en route to the championship.  Just to have one representative from an area that is dwarfed in school enrollment numbers by the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh schools is pretty impressive, but it was tremendous to have four outstanding programs from the Lehigh Valley viewing area win state gold, all within a few weeks of each other.

Now, as promised, some predictions for 2016:

1. Philly pro sports teams will win LESS games in 2016

Wait, they’ll win less games.  Is that even possible?

Well consider this…

The Eagles are going to have to rebuild and the NFC “Least” cannot possibly be worse, and this fall’s schedule wasn’t really all that tough to begin with, so their level of competition will be tougher next year.  The Birds will need at least one year to turn around the mess that Chip Kelly has left behind.  Plus, they desperately need to find value in a draft—one that was depleted thanks to the Sam Bradford trade.  Plus, with the 13^th overall pick they’re not going to find a front-line premiere position player.  Add in the fact that some of your top players will be a year older and you still have to revamp the offensive line, receiving corps, a couple defensive updates and…oh, yeah, decide on a quarterback.  Yeah, I don’t think an increase in the win total is likely, much less a playoff berth for the Eagles in 2016.

The Phillies will be starting the season without some very talented names from last year’s team, among them Chase Utley, Cole Hamels, Ken Giles, an optimist’s version of Aaron Harang (remember how good he was the first half of the year?)  Plus, Ryan Howard, Carlos Ruiz and other veterans are a year older—with slower bat speeds and a higher percentage of injury.  I like the team’s strategy of going after some “reclamation projects” and “diamond in the rough” gambles for next year—hoping to get a player or two you can hold onto until the younger, blue-chip prospects get here in 2017.  But, while the youngsters will be fun to watch, the Phillies will probably challenge their 99-loss season again in ‘16.

The Flyers have been playing better of late, but when I consult with the hockey experts I know, they’re not real thrilled with the current crop of players, nor are they optimistic  about a fast rebound in 2016.

The 76ers are already surpassing last year’s record of mediocrity and won’t win a ton of games the rest of this season to surpass last year’s level of mediocrity.  Next year’s highly important draft picks?  Even if they do hit the jackpot and are able to land a few HUGE names, they won’t be able to gel competently for the first few months.  We’ll find out if the “Hinkie plan” is a success in 2017 or 2018, but pro basketball fans will actually have to suffer another calendar year of futility, before we even get a chance to find that out.

2. The District XI 5A football tournament may be renamed the Spartan/Zephyr Bowl

In additional to this classification being one of the smallest groups (in terms of number of teams), the new “5A” looks to be dominated by two teams.

Whitehall, of course, has been playing—and winning—against larger schools for years.  Despite the numbers disadvantage, the Zephyrs have faired quite well, if not better than, other current 4A schools in the area.  There’s no reason to think they won’t continue their success and be perennial favorites in this new classification.

Southern Lehigh, meanwhile, has become perhaps the most consistently winning program (along with Northwestern) in recent Colonial League history.  The talent level continues to rise every year, and a number of talented juniors and sophomores, from this past fall’s team, all will be returning.  There’ll be something seriously wrong if the Spartans don’t parlay their current and future players into multiple championship appearances, along with capturing the school’s first ever district title, at some point on the foreseeable horizon.

Don’t be surprised if the PIAA turns this into a “Subregional” (with District XI schools playing teams from other areas in the playoff’s first round) like the current 4A teams have been doing.  Otherwise, you may just see Southern Lehigh and Whitehall squaring off against each other for the District XI championship for many years to come.

3. The Wizards,  Nats AND Redskins – will have even greater success in 2016

I think all three programs are headed in the right direction, and each organization has quality people making personnel decisions.  I like some of the moves the Nationals have made so far as they are continuing their search to acquire depth.  This was an area of concern from a year ago and I think they will make the necessary tweaks to give Washington fans their long-awaited playoff appearance in 2016.   The Redskins will be without the distraction of Robert Griffin III next year and will add the certainty of a proven quarterback—along with another year of experience for some of the young talent acquired last season.  If they can add quality players through this year’s NFL Draft and a few key free agency signings, they can absolutely add more victories in the coming year.

I wrote last summer about how much confidence I have in the Wizards to add around the solid core of John Wall, and my contacts around the DC area have given no indication that I should change that opinion.  In fact, I think the chances of an extra winning playoff series is much more likely this summer than it was a year ago.

Imagine a 2016 with all four major sports teams in the playoffs?  I think you can probably count on it!

Feel free to email us your sports predictions for 2016 to RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com and join us on Thursdays, 7-8 pm on RCN-TV and on our podcasts here on the website for topical conversations and interviews with special guests dealing with sports in the RCN viewing area.  We’ll resume our live shows this week, so tune in!

Each year, I usually spend the final few weeks of December reflecting back on all the exciting, rewarding and positive (and sometimes not so positive) sports moments in the RCN viewing area.  We try to come up with some new “awards” each time to keep it fresh and to touch on several different levels of competition of interest to those in our coverage area.

Here are some of our top teams and stories from this past year, and we’ll have more reflections, in addition to a look ahead, in next week’s “SportsTalk Shop” as well.

Biggest Surprise:   The Nationals NOT winning the division…let alone the pennant.
There are no “sure things” in sports but the Nats certainly seemed like—on paper—they were one of the best two teams in the National League.  But injuries, chemistry, managing and then Jonathan Papelbon “happened,” and the team didn’t even qualify for a wild card berth.  We’ll have more on what to expect from Washington coming up in next week’s blog entry.

Nicest Team: Nazareth Blue Eagles Girls Basketball Team
While Easton might have the best girls’ high school basketball team in the District XI (PA) region this winter, the Blue Eagles had the best team on the court during the 2015 scholastic season.  We had the opportunity to speak with a number of them on “RCN SportsTalk” this past year, and the ladies were as classy and well-spoken as they were talented.  Don’t rule out another Nazareth/Easton meeting in a championship matchup again in 2016.

Biggest Enigma: 76ers
One of the largest amounts of emails I received this past year was when I made a comment that I had “reservations” about the Sam Hinkie plan—to lose games in order to increase the organization’s chances of drafting top-quality picks and improve the club a few years down the road.

The comment came after news that previous top draft pick Joel Embiid was hurt more seriously than thought—and he might not play again—ever!

While I didn’t say that I was against “The Process” philosophy, I had some questions if it was proceeding in the correct fashion.  After the show I received a TON of complaints about my statement, virtually everyone saying that they thought the losing was great, they’re completely on-board with everything going on and that they were excited about this team’s direction.

More on the future of the 76ers in next week’s blog, but for now, (which, by the way, is “year three” of this endeavor) we saw the worst point-total loss in the franchise’s history and a near-record number of losses to start a year.  That streak, combined with the way the team finished last year, resulted in a record number of losses by a professional sports team—EVER.

If people think this is the way to go…so be it.  But, in my opinion, my reservations and cautions have not been reduced by what I saw in the final months of 2015.  And judging by the December hiring of Jerry Colangelo as a “special advisor,” the Sixers have some reason for pause as well.

Best Comebacks: Saucon Valley & Notre Dame-Green Pond HS Football teams
By definition, there can be no better turnaround than the Crusaders bouncing back from a 0-10 season in 2014 to setting a school record with 11 wins in 2015.  This year’s team also captured the school’s first ever pair of District XI playoff victories.  They also reached their first ever PIAA state playoffs before falling to a very talented Dunmore team.  However, many of this year’s  players’ accomplishments and their records will probably stand for quite some time.

The Panthers—a comeback story?  Didn’t they win the Colonial League last year and get to the District Championship game?  Yes, they did, but they wanted more.  Not only did they avenge last year’s painful loss to Bethlehem Catholic, but they went about their goals in a very workmanlike approach.  They also kept their focus—something often lost among the modern- day athletes.  They didn’t hang their heads and sulk about how last season ended, but they sought out a higher set of goals—and achieved them.  A District XI 3A championship and state playoff victories over Selingsgrove (a perennial state playoff program) and Scranton Prep were achieved as this year’s Panther team became the greatest football team in Saucon Valley history.

Most Impressive Performance: The Philadelphia boys/girls basketball state champions
Back in March, we talked about the dominance of the Philly schools in the scholastic basketball circles.  They had representatives in each championship game and won most of them, which speaks volume to both the talent level of the players, but also the coaches in the Southeastern PA region.  It’s one thing to have a great team on paper (see the Nationals—above), but to keep teenagers’ focus—and to have so many programs from a small area (distance-wise) achieve this—was clearly the standout performance that I witnessed in our viewing area.

Late this past fall, we began covering the Washington, DC area football teams more closely and I was impressed by the limited amount of teams that I had a chance to see in November and early December.  We will continue our coverage of high school sports in the DMV region in 2016 and I look forward to featuring more of those schools and players on both our television show and here at the “Shop” next year!

More “awards,” as well as some predictions for the new year coming up in next week’s blog.

While we hope you enjoy the holiday season, a quick note that we’ll return with new editions of “RCN SportsTalk” (seen live, Thursdays, 7-8 pm on RCN-TV) and our podcasts  resuming on January 7^th.  Among our scheduled discussion topics include George Washington, Georgetown and American University basketball, local high school basketball and wrestling, the NFL playoffs and other pro sports teams in the Philadelphia and DC regions and more!

Last but not least, a very Happy New Year to everyone…and thanks for reading!

Without question one of the top turnaround success stories on the NCAA basketball court belongs to Head Coach Mike Lonergan and the George Washington men’s basketball program.

After a highly successful tenure at Vermont, Coach Lonergan’s Colonials posted back-to-back 20-plus win seasons for the first time since 2006-07 and have gotten off to an incredible start in the 2015-16 campaign.

After consecutive seasons of NCAA or NIT post-season entries, anyone thinking of a letdown this year has been sadly mistaken.

George Washington came out in mid-November and provided the nation with one of college basketball’s first big losses to a team ranked in the top 10, with a 73-68 win over Virginia.  The Cavaliers were the sixth-ranked team in the country at the time of that contest.  The Colonials continued their dominating performances by winning ten of its first 11 ball games (a perfect 8-0 at home), with many victories coming by a double-digit margin.

Moreover, Lonergan’s guidance has led to a resurgence among the Colonial fan base and an extra level of excitement to his team’s contests at the Smith Center.

We had the opportunity on “RCN SportsTalk” to talk with Coach Lonergan about his GW men’s basketball program, their previous years’ successes and about his team’s hot start to the current season.

Before coming to George Washington, Coach Lonergan had great success at Vermont. His teams compiled a .700 or better winning percentage in four of his last five seasons and qualified for the NCAA tournament in 2010 (overall record 25-10).

Before this season started, George Washington had two players, Patricio Garino and Kevin Larsen, named to the All-Conference Second Team, with Garino also named to the A-10 All-Defense Team.  The Colonials also were picked by A-10 experts to finish in the top four spots in the league this winter.

Pre-season Atlantic-10 Poll

1. Dayton (12 first place votes) – 352 total points
2. Rhode Island (8) – 347
3. Davidson (6) – 329
4. Washington (1) – 285
5. VCU – 277
6. Richmond – 262
7. Saint Joseph’s – 194
8. Bonaventure – 177
9. La Salle – 164
10. Massachusetts – 142
11. Duquesne – 113
12. Saint Louis—96
13. George Mason – 52
14. Fordham — 45

The Colonials are looking to continue their current four-game winning streak through the holiday season, with some intriguing match-ups on the horizon.

Upcoming Schedule

Dec. 22^nd              at DePaul
Dec. 29^th               at UCF
Jan. 3^rd                  vs. Fordham*
Jan. 6^th                  at Saint Louis*
Jan. 9^th                  vs. Duquesne*
Jan. 12th              at UMass*
Jan. 15^th                at Dayton*
Jan. 22^nd               vs. Rhode Island*
*Atlantic-10 Conference games
All home games are played at the Smith Center

We hope that basketball fans check out the Colonials in action as they’ll look to have a number of exciting match-ups coming up over the next few months.  Also, keep checking back to the “SportsTalk Shop” and the “RCN SportsTalk” show for more great guests and insights on this winter’s NCAA basketball season.

With the PIAA football championships coming up in Hershey this week, it’s time we take our final peek at the highlights of playoff games seen on RCN-TV this fall.

Congratulations to all of the teams, coaches and athletes for an entertaining season.  Special honors go out to Parkland, the lone team in the RCN viewing area who will be playing in the state final this weekend (all of the state championship games can be seen on the PCN Network—RCN dial position 97).  Saucon Valley had a great year and, despite their season-ending (and only) loss last weekend, the Panthers handled themselves with class.  In fact, all the players I had the good fortune of seeing and being around this season deserve a tremendous amount of credit for the way they conducted themselves this fall, both on and off the field.

I’d also like to take a moment to thank all the athletic directors, head coaches and their staffs for the wealth of information and insights they provided us during this past high school football season.  Their jobs are tough enough as is, but they never hesitated in helping us gather information about their teams or backed away from telling us about all of their players’ highlights and accomplishments.

You can relive all the memorable moments by watching the playoff games again through RCN’s On-Demand services.  These games will be available for free to RCN subscribers through the end of the calendar year, or you can purchase a DVD of these games by calling or emailing us at the RCN TV studio.

A final reminder…

It’s almost time for our annual “end of the year” awards here at the “SportsTalk Shop” and I’d like to include your opinions once again as we start to reflect on the highlights from both this year’s football season, as well as the top moments overall in the RCN viewing area.  We’re looking for your favorite athletes, teams, games, special plays and unforgettable moments that you saw in 2015.  This includes all teams in the Eastern Pennsylvania and Washington, DC regions and at the scholastic, collegiate and professional levels.

There were certainly some great storylines from this past year.  Just looking at recent events on the football field:

• Notre Dame going from 0-10 last year to 2A District Champs (not to mention winning its first-ever, two playoff games, setting a school record for wins in a season and its first-ever appearance in the PIAA playoffs)
• Parkland and Saucon Valley both advancing to the semifinal round of the state playoffs
• The turnaround of the Nazareth football program—reaching the district playoffs with many names returning next fall
• The end of the “Ed Christian Era” at East Stroudsburg South High School and all the District XI wins he earned during his illustrious career
• The launching of the “DC Sports Minute” on our “SportsTalk” show, featuring the high school teams in the Washington, DC and Virginia regions
• …and many more!!!

If you have a suggestion for someone or some group to get a mention, we’d love to hear from you!  Send us you a favorite sports moment, a really great game or event, a standout athlete or team who really exceeded expectations, via email to RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com.  Be assured that we’ll factor that in when putting together our “Year in Review” selections.  If you are mentioning a sport that we typically don’t cover or a sport that doesn’t usually receive a tremendous amount of publicity, feel free to pass along more information about the program, a contact person or anything that is available to you.

We’ll have our “year-in-review” entry coming up in a couple weeks.  I, just like Jolly Ol’ St. Nick, have already started compiling my list, so please don’t hesitate to send your opinions to us right away!