Before we take a look at our high school football poll this week, we’d like to spotlight one of the sports that doesn’t get nearly as much attention.

The Eastern Pennsylvania Conference recently conducted its fall championship tournament (hats off to Allen High School Athletic Director Randy Atiyeh for taking over the chair of this position and running a smooth tournament!).

The first round of the district was also held this past week (chaired by Catasauqua’s Tom Moll).

Here are the final brackets of all the champions in the different categories of this fall’s events…

• 2022-23 District XI Girls Tennis- 2A Singles
• 2022-23 District XI Girls Tennis- 3A Singles

******

It certainly was an interesting weekend of HS football on ATVN last weekend.  This weekend should be another good pairing as we have a battle of the #1 and #3 teams in our poll facing off against each other on Friday night.  We also have a suddenly streaking Parkland team playing a Bethlehem Catholic squad that, when on their game, have played very well this year.

Before we look at this week’s high school football polls….. first, here are the details on our polls if you are new to our blog.

We never announce nor release the names of our non-media voters to get their honest opinions on the local football landscape while avoiding any thoughts of retribution or potential “bulletin board” material.  Our “media voters” usually reveal themselves when we have the pleasure of having them on our weekly SportsTalk program, seen on Thursday nights on the Astound TV Network and available to watch at any time for free through ATVN on Demand.

This year, we are breaking the two polls down into EPC and Colonial League schools, within the Astound broadcast area.  With the Colonial teams cross-scheduling and playing teams from the Schuylkill League and the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference playing different “crossover” teams, our poll will be an interesting barometer for teams in the Lehigh Valley since many local teams will not have the same opponents on their schedule.

Below we have high school polls for both leagues in the ATVN viewing area, along with the listing of all of the teams that are included in our respective categories.

EPC TOP 5

1. Emmaus
2. Freedom
3. Nazareth
4. Northampton
5. Parkland

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Northampton, Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Dieruff, Allen, Allentown Central Catholic, Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, and Nazareth.

COLONIAL TOP 4

1. Northwestern
2. Northern Lehigh
3. Southern Lehigh
4. Notre Dame-GP

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Bangor, Pen Argyl, Notre Dame – Green Pond, Wilson, Catasauqua, Salisbury, Saucon Valley, Northwestern, Northern Lehigh and Southern Lehigh.

Be sure to check back to our website for our weekly polls and check our upcoming broadcast information frequently for any changes for our ongoing sports schedule throughout the fall season.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

For over a hundred years some of the greatest video treasures of all time have been produced. Some have been lost in the sands of time and others, soon to be rediscovered, will become fan favorites for a whole new generation.

Each week we will feature just one of the many hidden gems that you can see on ATVN with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.

While the comedic pairing of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello is best known for its radio editions of the hit patter-comedy routine, “Who’s on First,” the duo also had a string of successful hits on the big screen.

Arguably, the pair’s biggest movie success came in the 1949 comedy Africa Screams.

Abbott and Costello had already been a success on stage since 1935 and spent the next several years adding appearances on popular radio shows as guest stars.  In 1941 after getting rave reviews as Fred Allen’s “summer replacement,” they earned their own radio series.

Their success on radio paved the way for a series of money-making motion pictures throughout the next two decades.  The pair made an incredible 24 movies between 1941 and 1948 before embarking on “Africa.”  Among the best received films during this time period includes Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein, One Night In The Tropics, Buck Privates, Buck Privates Come Home and The Naughty Nineties, in which the team duo stole the spotlight when the film featured a retooling of their “Who’s On First” routine.

As the decade was coming to a close, the pair wanted to embark in new territory and incorporate some other popular names of the era, as well as include new settings to their popular comedic formula.

Famed animal trainer and circus mogul Clyde Beatty, along with his famous performing animals, was brought into the mix.  Also added to the cast was popular boxer Max Baer (as “Grappler” McCoy)  and Shemp Howard, who was looking to branch out from his “Three Stooges” success and enhance his star power as a solo performer.

The film also marked the first time that Abbott and Costello worked with Hillary Brooke and Joe Besser — both actors would later become part of the ensemble cast for the duo’s television series.  Besser and Howard would also share time working as part of the “Stooges” franchise over the next few years.

The picture itself was not without issues.  

According to the book, “Abbott and Costello in Hollywood” by Bob Furmanek, the movie’s subplot regarding the affectionate gorilla was originally presented as a female simian pursuing Costello. However, the Breen Office censors that enforced the Production Code in Hollywood at that time demanded that the gorilla’s gender be changed because they felt a female gorilla’s pursuit of a man would be on par with bestiality.

Years later, the original nitrate stock negative of the film had decomposed, but the nitrate fine grain was still serviceable. Furmanek, an author and historian, had obtained the rights to the original print in the 1980s and had it transferred to 35mm for preservation purposes.

This film was also unique in that Abbott and Costello had gone out on their own to independently finance their film for the first time while relying on the “United Artist” umbrella created by Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin to help with the distribution of the movie. 

Africa Screams turned out to be a huge success, grossing over $1.5 million in its release (while working with a budget just under $500,000) and paved the way for other successful releases over the next two years, including Abbott and Costello Meet The Killer, Boris Karloff, Abbott and Costello In The Foreign Legion and Abbott and Costello Meet The Invisible Man.

The success of “Africa” also spawned the creation of the popular “Abbott and Costello” television show, which boasted solid ratings for four years before a reoccurring rift would once again develop between the pair–ultimately separating them for good.

We’ll have more on the sometimes strained relationship and little known facts about the legendary pairing of Abbott and Costello in an upcoming blog entry here at “The Showcase.”  Meanwhile, you can watch Africa Screams by tuning in or setting your DVRs to ATVN this Tuesday at 9:00 am.

To view the complete rundown of classic programming on the Astound TV Network, check out the weekly listings here.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of ATVN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

First of all, my thanks to the people who approached me this past week thanking us at ATVN for featuring the Colonial League last week on our broadcasts.

I’ve heard workers with vast experience in customer relations say that people will not hesitate to approach you with concerns or issues they are having, but it takes a lot to get people to take the time to give praise when you do something they like.

If that theory is true, we must have made a lot of people happy last week!

The Astound TV Network featured a pair of Colonial League teams–Northwestern and Saucon Valley–as our featured Friday night live game.  We also devoted most of last week’s SportsTalk show to discussing issues in the Colonial-Schuylkill “co-op.”

It was our pleasure to feature those teams and talk about the outstanding players in that league (as well as talk about a very competitive league playoff race shaping up).  It is our hope to focus on those teams even more going forward and we hope to see some of these teams go far in the state playoffs!

Sadly, we also had to send some time on last week’s program talking about more tragedies in high school sports–and in our viewing area in particular.

So far already this school year, we have lost two scholastic athletes who died because of senseless crimes committed (at Whitehall and Allen high schools) and a teacher’s aide (at Dieruff High School) killed because of reckless driving.

There have been several football programs in Pennsylvania that have canceled their seasons due to  “undisclosed reasons,” which unfortunately usually occurs when kids (allegedly) commit acts so over-the-line that the school must take quick action as punishment and perform lengthy investigations.

Other schools are canceling sports programs due to lack of interest and not being able to field enough students to participate.  Also, we’ve had a couple reports of students (who happen to be on sports teams) bringing guns to school.

Meanwhile, many games are getting scrapped or rescheduled due to a desperate lack of officials.  At last week’s District XI press conference, instead of leading off with information on the new playoff formats or some of the other positive things going on in high school sports, a good amount of time was spent by local administrators begging for more people to get involved in local sports to referee or umpire games.

We are going to start seeing some rather drastic changes to scheduling local sports playoff games soon–due mostly because there simply aren’t enough officials to have games being played at their “normal” times.

I myself have had several opportunities a number of years ago to decide on whether I wanted to work in the sports or news areas of communications–and I picked the former because I really didn’t want to deal with all the negativity that comes with the latter.

Unfortunately, sports on many levels is dealing more with “news-related” types of stories right now, and it has certainly darkened what once was a very promising local sports season.

Hopefully things change around very soon.  I would love to spend more time on the positive things going on in our viewing area and deeply hope we don’t have any more tragic events affecting our sports communities for a long time to come!

******

Below we have high school polls for both leagues in the ATVN viewing area, along with the listing of all of the teams that are included in our respective categories.

EPC TOP 5

1. Emmaus
2. Freedom
3. Nazareth
4. Central Catholic
5. Northampton

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Northampton, Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Dieruff, Allen, Allentown Central Catholic, Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, and Nazareth.

COLONIAL TOP 4

1. Notre Dame-GP
2. Northwestern
3. Northern Lehigh
4. Southern Lehigh

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Bangor, Pen Argyl, Notre Dame – Green Pond, Wilson, Catasauqua, Salisbury, Saucon Valley, Northwestern, Northern Lehigh and Southern Lehigh.

Be sure to check back to our website for our weekly polls and check our upcoming broadcast information frequently for any changes for our ongoing sports schedule throughout the fall season.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

For over a hundred years some of the greatest video treasures of all time have been produced. Some have been lost in the sands of time and others, soon to be rediscovered, will become fan favorites for a whole new generation.

Each week we will feature just one of the many hidden gems that you can see on ATVN with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.

Everett Sloane is another one of those names that may not be familiar to video audiences now, but chances are you have seen him in a prominent classic film or television show.

Everett was born on October 1, 1909, in Manhattan, New York.  At the tender age of seven he was featured as Puck in the Manhattan Public School production of Williams Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream and caught the acting bug.  

He worked in a traveling production company until making his New York stage debut in 1928, but took a full-time job as a Wall Street ticket runner.  The famous crash of 1929 cut his Wall Street salary in half, so Sloane delved deeper into the entertainment industry to earn a living and began work doing radio plays.

The “Crash” turned out to be fortuitous for Everett as he became a hit in the new medium and ended up performing in over one thousand radio productions throughout his career, including recurring roles on elite shows like The Inner Sanctum and as the comic relief cab driver on The Shadow.

One of his biggest “breaks’’ was working for Orson Wells’ immensely popular Mercury Theatre, which produced not only some of the most popular shows in the late 1930s but produced the infamous “War of the Worlds” teleplay that spooked the nation into thinking that aliens from Mars were actually invading Earth!

Wells signed a movie production contract with RKO Pictures and incorporated many of his veteran voice actors in his films.  Sloane made a splash in his film debut (to say the least!) with Citizen Kane, the movie regarded by many as the greatest film of all time.

In it, Sloane played Charles Foster Kane’s (portrayed by Orson Wells) confidant and business manager, Mr. Bernstein.  Sloane was featured as both his “older self,” retelling stories from his perspective of Kane’s life, as well as appearing in the flashback sequences through the picture.  Despite the film’s controversies and the alleged attempts to blackball members of the film’s cast and crew, Sloane quickly found work in the theater, performing in over one hundred stage productions of Richard Wright’s Native Son.

Sloane then returned to Hollywood and starred in another Wells’ production of the movie Journey Into Fear, with fellow Citizen Kane cast members Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead and Ruth Warrick.

Among his other film highlights include starring in Marlon Brando’s film debut, The Men, The Prince Who Was a Thief with Piper Laurie and Tony Curtis, Patterns with fashion icon Van Heflin and later in a reunion with Wells in The Lady From Shanghai and Prince of Foxes.

When Everett turned his attention to television he continued to have immediate and continual success by guest starring on some of the greatest shows of all time.  

His TV appearances include Bonanza, The Andy Griffin Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Gunsmoke, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and Perry Mason.

He also did voiceovers in cartoons and narrated the 1965 movie, Hercules and the Princess of Troy — which turned out to be his last role.

Everett was diagnosed with glaucoma and, fearing he would go blind as a result of it, took an overdose of barbiturates and died in his sleep on August 6, 1965.

He was 55 years young. 

You can see Everett Sloane in the 1956 film Patterns (this Tuesday at 9am on ATVN) as well as his guest starring roles in Bonanza and other TV classics on the Astound TV Network.

To view the complete rundown of classic programming on ATVN, check out the weekly listings here.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

If you are a sports fan, you probably have heard the name Mimi Griffin before.

If you haven’t, here are just some of her accomplishments as listed on the “bio page” of inductees on the National Collegiate Athletic Associations’ Hall of Fame website:

• Griffin is considered to be the first broadcast expert for women’s basketball
• She served as the “face” for women’s basketball in its early television exposure and laid the foundation and groundwork for women’s basketball on television
• She was the National Director of Promotion for Women’s Athletics for Converse from 1983-85
• Griffin was the ESPN primary women’s basketball analyst from 1983-1999 and was the color analyst for the NCAA Women’s Final Four from 1985-1991
• In 1990, she was the first woman color analyst for a NCAA men’s tournament game on ESPN.
• In 1991, she became the first woman to broadcast the first two rounds of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament on CBS Sports
• Griffin was the Championship Director of the US Senior Open in 1992, 2000, and 2022 and was the Championship Director of the US Women’s Open in 1995 and 2009
• She was the Director of Marketing and Championship Administration for the US Open in 1995 and 1998
• She was the 1994 WBCA Mel Greenberg Media Award winner
• In 2009, Griffin was named one of the “Best 50 Women in Business” by Pennsylvania Governor and the Department of Community and Economic Development

And now, she is joining ATVN!

Enshrined in the NCAA’s Hall of Fame in 2014, Mimi is joining our sports family as an announcer and will be giving her valuable expertise and vast basketball insights on our winter sports broadcasts.

I have had the pleasure of working with Mimi for a number of years–first back in 2009 when she was the Championship Director for the US Women’s Open held at Saucon Valley Country Club.

Our paths crossed again this summer when her organization successfully presented this year’s US Senior Open held at the same location.

Mimi has always been one of the most professional and successful people that I have had the pleasure of meeting, working with and interviewing on several occasions.  She also has a passion for basketball and for promoting student-athletes successes – a trait that many of our current ATVN announcers also possess and look to do each time they put on the microphones.  

While Mimi is still the CEO of her own business, MSG Productions, whose responsibilities include producing and overseeing major golf championships across the country, she is excited about the opportunity to get back into the broadcasting industry.

We are very lucky to have her join our staff…and our viewers will be fortunate to have one of the world’s greatest basketball minds giving analysis on our broadcasts this winter.

Keep checking back to “The SportsTalk Shop” as we unveil more news about our sports coverage and additions to our ATVN Sports family in the coming weeks!

*****

Below we have our weekly high school polls for both leagues in the ATVN viewing area, along with the listing of all of the teams that are included in our respective categories.

EPC TOP 5

1. Emmaus
2. Freedom
3. Nazareth
4. Central Catholic
5. Northampton

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Northampton, Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Dieruff, Allen, Allentown Central Catholic, Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, and Nazareth.

COLONIAL TOP 4

1. Notre Dame-GP
2. Northwestern
3. Northern Lehigh
4. Southern Lehigh

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Bangor, Pen Argyl, Notre Dame – Green Pond, Wilson, Catasauqua, Salisbury, Saucon Valley, Northwestern, Northern Lehigh and Southern Lehigh.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

For over a hundred years some of the greatest video treasures of all time have been produced. Some have been lost in the sands of time and others, soon to be rediscovered, will become fan favorites for a whole new generation.
Each week we will feature just one of the many hidden gems that you can see on ATVN with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.

This blog regularly touches on some of the all time, world-renowned greats in the communications industry. We’ve written about James Stewart, Sidney Poitier, Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Betty White, Jackie Robinson, Jose Ferrar, Audrey Hepburn, Buster Keaton, Cary Grant and other names that should stand the test of time.
But if some of you are not familiar with the name Rick Geho…that is a good thing!

Like most successful directors and executive producers in the television industry, by NOT knowing the name of someone behind the scenes, it’s about as big a compliment as you can get.

The people whose faces appear on your television screen are known as the “celebrities,” whose names, mannerisms and personas–real or created–are what viewers see and most likely remember. The only time you look to see who is the executive producer are the times when things go horribly wrong, or when you get so disgusted by what you are seeing on the screen that you take the time to find out who they are to send them an angry email complaint or phone call.

So if the name Rick Geho doesn’t ring a bell for you right away, I will thank you on his behalf.

For nearly 50 years, Rick has been the managing force behind our local television station, under the Twin County, C-Tec, RCN and now, Astound Broadband, brands. During his tenure, local programming highlights include, but are not limited to, the annual Dream Come True Telethon (36 years and counting), Lehigh Valley high school sports, Lafayette College sports, current in-studio productions such as “Nuestro Valle,” “SportsTalk” and “Community Spotlight,” and coverage of many community events, like the July 4th fireworks, Halloween parades, Christmas Light display shows and others.

Furthermore, nowhere else in the COUNTRY do you see the amount of local scholastic sports programming than you can in the Eastern Pennsylvania region. Rick has been at the forefront of that development, starting earlier and working longer than most people will ever work in this industry.

Rick’s education began with an associate’s degree from Electronic Engineering Tech, followed by a diploma from the Radio Engineering Institute. He also holds a General (First Class) Radiotelephone Operator license, issued by the FCC.

His many interests include trains (and older railroad stations), baseball, animal welfare, trains, arts and culture, civil rights, social action, human rights, trains, politics, science, technology…and did I mention a love of everything trains?

As someone who has known him for 26 years, I can tell you that Rick is someone who deeply cares about the people in our viewing area and has a passion for both its rich traditions as well as its quality well-being going forward. He frequently worked at all hours of the day, seven days a week, making sure that all the details of every production and every broadcast event would go off as seamlessly as possible. Whether it be sports, public affairs, concerts, parades or anything that is of interest to the people of the region, he worked tirelessly to try to bring it to people’s homes, and to make it a pleasant experience for viewers to watch.

Most importantly to the readers of this particular blog, Rick is one of the people responsible for collecting all of the great classic television shows and movies that you can enjoy on the Astound TV Network. He ultimately is the one to make sure all these programs and movies make it on the air and into your homes, so you can enjoy them at the time that they are scheduled to run–which Rick also had the chore to oversee.

After nearly 50 years of bringing quality local sports, original programming and some of the greatest video works of all time to television sets in the Lehigh Valley and beyond, he has decided to retire from ATVN.

Rick’s last day will be next Saturday, October 1st.

In typical “executive director” fashion, he has denied all in-house motions to do any on-air tributes, mentions or recognitions of his five-decades-long work. He has also declined a request to appear on our live sports show to talk about his career and discuss all that he has accomplished on our network and in the communications industry.
Whether he says it or not, you cannot deny the deep impact he has made on local television in our viewing area and that ATVN would not be what it is today without his hands on the controls.

To check out the fruits of one of Rick’s responsibilities, tune in to the Astound TV Network over the next week to check out our new fall lineup of shows, movies and diverse programming, with something for everyone.

There is a complete rundown here on our website of classic programming as well as lifestyle shows, community, news and cultural programs, local origination and live sports productions on ATVN. Check out the weekly listings here.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

We lead off this week’s blog with a quick programming note!

District XI Football Chair Jason Zimmerman will make his annual appearance on this Thursday’s ATVN SportsTalk.  There are a number of changes this year to the high school football playoff layout (especially for the 6A “largest schools” classification), as well as the site of the state championships and a number of other big issues that Jason will be speaking about.

You can email me, with your question or comment about local football and we may read it on this Thursday’s program.  I can tell you that Jason and our local athletic directors are very busy with a number of challenging issues that they are dealing with at the local scholastic levels and we deeply appreciate Zimmerman giving us his time to appear on our show again this fall to address issues that affect us all.

*******

We have had a number of great sports broadcasts over the last month, including last week’s high school football game (a 5-point game in the “Christmas City Rivalry”) that was broadcast across the state on the PCN Network.

Here are highlights of some of our recent broadcasts on the Astound TV Network

1. Astound Sports: Easton vs. Parkland (8/22)
   
2. Astound Sports: Emmaus vs. Freedom (8/22)
   
3. Astound Sports:  Northern Yankees vs. Easton Falcons (7/22)
   
4. Astound Sports: Iron Valley Orioles vs Martin’s Creek Creekers (7/22)
   
5. Astound Sports: Iron Valley Orioles vs. Northern Yankees (7/22)
   

It’s a busy weekend for us coming up as we will broadcast the 2022 National Highland Games athletic championships as a part of ATVN’s coverage of this year’s Celtic Classic.

We will also be bringing you a big high school football game featuring undefeated (and the top team in our poll, see below) Emmaus taking on Bethlehem Catholic, who sports a 3-1 record coming into the contest and is also a top-ranked team in our EPC poll.  The game will be live Friday night at 7pm on ATVN.

********

Below we have high school polls for both leagues in the ATVN viewing area, along with the listing of all of the teams that are included in our respective categories.

EPC TOP 5

1. Emmaus
2. Nazareth
3. Central Catholic
4. Bethlehem Catholic
5. (tie)  Freedom / Parkland 

Eligible Teams from our viewing area (in no particular order):

Northampton, Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Dieruff, Allen, Allentown Central Catholic, Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, and Nazareth.

COLONIAL TOP 4

1. Northern Lehigh
2. Northwestern 
3. Southern Lehigh
4. Notre Dame-GP

Eligible Teams from our viewing area (in no particular order):

Bangor, Pen Argyl, Notre Dame – Green Pond, Wilson, Catasauqua, Salisbury, Saucon Valley, Northwestern, Northern Lehigh and Southern Lehigh.

Be sure to check back to our website for next week’s poll results and come back frequently for any changes to our ongoing broadcast schedule information throughout the season.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Unlike the first two weeks when we had several surprises, things settled down as we stayed the course this past weekend…which was NOT a good thing for some of our local teams.

On the positive side, the top teams in both the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and the Colonial League kept on winning, with Parkland handing Freedom its second loss of the season on the Friday night “ATVN” high school football broadcast.

Elsewhere, Emmaus, Northampton and Central Catholic stuck to their winning ways and all the top teams in the Colonial League posted wins.  Liberty got a much needed win against Stroudsburg after the Hurricanes had lost 10 games in a row dating back to last season.

On the negative side, teams like Whitehall, Allen, Dieruff, Freedom, Catasauqua, Pen Argyl and Wilson were among the teams that lost again last week, which already makes their playoff run chances that much harder.  Teams that have two or more losses before we get to September 15th rarely make the postseason.  In some classifications, the road to the playoffs will be even more difficult this year based on some changes to the District XI’s seating process (something we’ll be talking about in more detail on an upcoming edition of ATVN SportsTalk).

We have an interesting match-up coming up on Astound TV Network this Friday as “Christmas City rivals” Bethlehem Catholic and Liberty square off.  Both teams are making their first appearance on our network this fall.  A win by the Hawks over the Hurricanes (a bigger “sized” school) will give them more “power points” and greatly enhance their playoff chances.  Liberty also needs a “W” to avoid picking up a third loss early in the season.

The game will be simulcast statewide on the Pennsylvania Cable Network.

********

Before we unveil this week’s polls, a few details on how our listings are different from all other local media members.

We never announce nor release the names of our non-media voters to get their honest opinions on the local football landscape while avoiding any thoughts of retribution or potential “bulletin board” material.  Our “media voters” usually reveal themselves when we have the pleasure of having them on our weekly SportsTalk program, seen on Thursday nights on the Astound TV Network and available to watch at any time for free through ATVN on Demand.

This year, we are going to break the two polls down into EPC and Colonial League schools, within the Astound broadcast area.  With the Colonial teams cross-scheduling and playing teams from the Schuylkill League and the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference playing different “crossover” teams, our poll will be an interesting barometer for teams in the Lehigh Valley since many local teams will not have the same opponents on their schedule.

Below we have high school polls for both leagues in the ATVN viewing area, along with the listing of all of the teams that are included in our respective categories.

EPC TOP 5

1. Nazareth
2. Emmaus
3. Parkland
4. Central Catholic
5. Freedom

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Northampton, Bethlehem Catholic, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Dieruff, Allen, Allentown Central Catholic, Parkland, Whitehall, Emmaus, and Nazareth.

Parkland, Nazareth and Emmaus all scored wins again this week and remain as the top three teams in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.  Things got interesting after that as Central Catholic moved up a spot following their win over Easton, while Freedom dropped a spot due to their loss to Parkland.  

Also, Northampton is starting to get some consideration by our pollsters.  However, the fact that they elected to stay in the “North” division, thereby playing teams that are not nearly as strong as the teams in the “South” division, continues to work against them when voters factor in the team’s strength of schedules.

COLONIAL TOP 4

1. Northern Lehigh
2. Northwestern
3. Southern Lehigh
4. Notre Dame-GP

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

Bangor, Pen Argyl, Notre Dame – Green Pond, Wilson, Catasauqua, Salisbury, Saucon Valley, Northwestern, Northern Lehigh and Southern Lehigh.

No changes in the Colonial League poll as Northwestern, Notre Dame-Green Pond, Northern Lehigh and Southern Lehigh all looked good in victories last weekend.  Saucon Valley is making things interesting with a mercy rule win over Wilson but remains just outside the “top 4.”

Be sure to check back to our website for next week’s poll results and come back frequently for any changes to our ongoing broadcast schedule information throughout the season.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

There is a disturbing item on my “to-do” list from last week that I can’t bring myself to remove from my calendar.

I was supposed to meet with my long-time co-worker, Cathy Neelon, to go over the highlights and new additions to our new fall schedule on the Astound TV Network that launched this Monday, but tragically, that meeting never took place.

Cathy was killed in an automobile accident on her way home from covering a local high school football game we did together the previous weekend.

Cathy was 55-years young.

******

Cathy started her career as an intern with ATVN’s former company, Twin County Cable TV, in 1989.  Long-time Studio Manager Rick Geho recalls that for one of her first assignments, the production crew had to run multiple extension cords to telecast a soccer game.  Because so many power lines were used, the breakers kept tripping and it was Cathy’s chore to keep resetting the breakers through the game.

A short time later she asked if the station needed a graphic operator.  She was quickly hired for the role and occupied that position for the next 33 years.

Cathy was a pet lover and would retell many pictures and humorous stories about her beloved cats.  She enjoyed being creative with her drawing and liked the theater.  She was a frequently active participant during the heyday of the Rocky Horror Picture Show midnight performances at the Lehigh Valley.  According to Geho, one of her favorite ‘non-graphics’ duties was to run camera for the original local program, The Sturdy Beggars, an avant-garde sketch-comedy show.  She was particularly proud of an extensive camera move she incorporated during the show’s parody of The Godfather.

Among her favorite experiences with the crew were the pre-game dinners we frequently had when traveling outside the area and after the set-up was completed for an event to be broadcast the next day.  Geho recalls that she enjoyed the opportunity to sit down in a relaxed setting with all her co-workers and share stories with everyone.

Cathy was one of the first people I got to know when I started as a part-time employee in late winter of 1997.

Back then, she was still a “newbie” among the full-time staff members with many of the more tedious responsibilities falling to her.  Because of this, she was a “go-to” person for me in those early days, dealing with paperwork, learning new policies and just getting used to the procedures and the ways things ran at our studio around that time period.

I quickly learned that she held a love for all local sports and athletic heroes, but particularly for her alma mater, Allen High School. (She was thrilled that my first “story” was a feature on the-then new Allen Boys Basketball Head Coach, Doug Snyder).

I also learned that she was an amazing speller and had great success in scholastic competitions back in the day.  She was ecstatic that we had the opportunity to broadcast the spelling bees we used to do from the Farmerama Theater at the Great Allentown Fair (she was devastated when the Fair stopped hosting the event a few years later).

Cathy had a passion for horse racing (some years she even offered to write a blog right around “Triple Crown” time, recalling her memories of watching previous races with her family members).

Among her duties with the Astound TV Network was producing graphics for our local sports and original programming, coordinating messages seen on the ATVN Community Bulletin Board and putting together on-screen guides and television listings for all of our programming, including many of the classic shows and movies often featured here on this blog each week.

*****

So instead of meeting with her last week to finalize my notes on the new fall programming schedule, I spent that time planning a tribute we paid to Cathy’s memory on last week’s “SportsTalk” show, which you can see through ATVN on-demand, if you missed the program.

Our deepest condolences to Cathy’s immediate family as well as the extended family she generated through her decades of dedication and hard work in the local sports community.

She will be missed!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

For over a hundred years some of the greatest video treasures of all time have been produced. Some have been lost in the sands of time and others, soon to be rediscovered, will become fan favorites for a whole new generation.

Each week we will feature just one of the many hidden gems that you can see on the Astound TV Network with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.

In an earlier blog entry we examined the lead characters in the popular, long-running 1950s and early 60s television family sitcom, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet program.

But the Nelson children had an interesting history as well!

Ozzie Nelson was an orchestra leader who sometimes teamed with Harriet (born Peggy Lou Snyder) for events before both were asked to appear at the same time on a national radio show called “The Baker’s Broadcast” in the early 1930s.  One of the initial hosts of the show was Robert Ripley (remember “Ripley’s ‘Believe It or Not?“)

Ozzie and Harriet married in 1935 and decided, as opposed to continuing to work independently, they would see more of each other by working the same gigs.  After appearing on some of the top radio programs in the 1940s, included “The Red Skelton Show,” “The Fred Allen Show” and “Suspense,” which led to their own radio vehicle.

When Skelton was drafted in 1944, Ozzy was left to create his own family situation comedy on Red’s program, giving him valuable experience he would need a couple years later to develop his own television show.  It was there that Nelson “created” a pair of boys for his radio family.

Contrary to popular belief, Ozzie and Harriet did NOT use their real sons at the start of the program.  Instead they auditioned many established child actors for the part, hoping to keep their real children out of show business–at least initially.

Using the names of his real-life children, Ozzie hired Henry Blair to play the role of “Ricky.”  The role of “David” was shared by Joel Davis and then later Tommy Bernard for the first five seasons of their radio program.

Itching to get into show business, the “real” Ricky and David persuaded their parents to let them take over “their” roles during the fifth season of the radio program in 1949.

When the show made the jump to television in October 1952, the entire family was on board.

By 1957, Ricky had become one of the most sought after heartthrobs on television–it is widely believed that the first use of the term “teen idol” was used for him.  During the show’s run, they frequently featured Ricky’s singing talents and he launched a very successful singing career, placing 53 songs on Billboards “Top 100” charts during his career.

David, meanwhile, preferred to hone his acting skills and accepted more dramatic roles in films, starting with the 1959’s thriller, The Big Circus.  He also showed an interest in directing, manning several later episodes of “Ozzie and Harriet” and eventually directed motion pictures.

Many of the “kids” real-life stories were used as the basis of “The Adventures…”  episodes’ plots.  As both Ricky and David got older and married (Kristin Harmon and June Blair, respectively), their wives then joined the cast as well.

In all, the series would go on for a record-setting 14-year sojourn on television alone and all four family members would become household names–which didn’t exactly sit well with Rick (who tried to shed his childhood persona by dropping the “y” from his first name).

As time wore on, Rick looked to move past his wholesome image of the “Ozzie and Harriet” days and be taken seriously as a  rock-and-roll performer of later 1960s and 1970s style music, but many fans of the television show wanted to hear his hits made famous during the 1950s program.

One one occasion at Madison Square Garden, when Rick insisted on playing more modern music, “oldies” fans booed him off the stage.  The humiliating experience inspired Rick to write the song “Garden Party,” which ended up being his final hit song, placing 6th on the pop charts.

Rick died in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve 1985.  He was just 45.

David continued to act and direct films until making his last appearance in the 1990 film, Cry Baby.  He was honored with a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame for his contributions to the motion picture industry in 1996.  In 2011, David died at the age of 74 from colon cancer.

You can revisit the Nelson children in their early years in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, which airs weekly on Sunday afternoons at 1 p.m and Wednesday mornings at 9am on ATVN.

To view the complete rundown of classic programming on the Astound TV Network, check out the weekly listings here.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.