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

In honor of Women’s History Month, the Showplace will feature prominent female-driven classic programs and films…and women who “changed the game” and made a lasting impact in the Golden Age of Hollywood and beyond.

While Audrey Hepburn is known as one of the greatest actresses of all time, she also should be remembered for amazing contributions to the world through her humanitarian and charitable efforts.

Hepburn was born Audrey Kathleen Ruston on May 4th, 1929 in Belgium.  To avoid possible occupation at the start of World War II, the family moved to the Netherlands–a decision which proved costly.   

In 1942, Hepburn’s uncle was executed in retaliation for an act of sabotage by the resistance movement. While he had not been involved in the act, he was targeted due to his family’s prominence in Dutch society.  Hepburn’s half-brother Ian was deported to Berlin to work in a German labor camp, and her other half-brother Alex went into hiding to avoid the same fate.

After the war, Hepburn began taking ballet lessons and got her first motion picture role in 1948’s Dutch in Seven Lessons.  After several small roles on film and television, she earned her first starring role in Roman Holiday, winning her first Academy Award for Best Actress.  She also began a lifelong friendship with co-star Gregory Peck, who reportedly insisted her name appear about the title with his, even though she was still relatively unknown before the film’s release.

Later in 1954, she starred on Broadway in Ondine, becoming just one of three actresses to date to win an Oscar and Tony Award in the same year.  Other starring and critically acclaimed roles followed, like Sabrina, (with Humprey Bogart and William Holden), War and Peace (co-starring Henry Fonda), Love in the Afternoon (with Gary Cooper and Maurice Chevalier), The Nun’s Story (with Peter Finch), The Unforgiven (opposite Burt Lancaster) and Paris When It Sizzles (again co-starring with Holden).

Hepburn next starred as New Yorker Holly Golightly, in Blake Edwards’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s, a film loosely based on the Truman Capote novella of the same name. The character is considered one of the best-known in American cinema, and a defining role for Hepburn.   The dress she wears during the opening credits has been considered an icon of the twentieth century, and perhaps the most famous “little black dress” of all time.  According to a November 1st, 1964 article in “The New Yorker,” Hepburn stated that the role was “the jazziest of my career” yet admitted: “I’m an introvert. Playing the extroverted girl was the hardest thing I ever did.”  She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance.

Hepburn teamed with Director Stanley Donen for two classic early 1960s films, Two for the Road (with Albert Finney) and Charade (co-starring Gary Grant).

Grant initially balked at the idea of Hepburn playing his on-screen love interest in the latter film–pointing out a 26-year difference in the actors’ ages.  However, upon meeting Hepburn for the first time before production, he was so enchanted by her that he agreed to do the film.  However, he did demand some of the “love scenes” be re-written to play up the comedic-side of the relationship and downplay the age discrepancy.  Hence, scenes like the famous “Suit in the Shower” sequences were born, and Charade became another one in a series of cinema classics starring Miss Hepburn.

Audrey was just beginning to make her mark in both films, as a female role model and as a person trying to improve the quality of life for those less fortunate.

We’ll examine more highlights in the legendary career and life of Audrey Heburn, both in Hollywood and around the world, next week here at the Showplace.

In the meantime, you can see one of Hepburn’s most memorable performances on the silver screen in the film classic, Charade, on Friday, March 19th at 9:30 p.m. on RCN-TV.

To view the complete rundown of classic programming on RCN TV, check out the weekly listings here on our website.

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

Here’s three local sports observations as we head into District 11 championship week…

 1)  While the coaches are not saying anything, parents, students and Red Rover sports fans had plenty to say about the alleged protocols that forbade its basketball teams from participating in the district tournament.

Over 2,000 signatures were signed to a petition demanding the team be allowed to participate but Easton school administrators held fast and claimed the current rules state that the team cannot participate in the playoffs.

Both the boys and the girls teams were certainly among the top two or three teams in the district’s 6A classification.  The Easton girls defeated the reigning state champions from Bethlehem Catholic — twice — to open the season…only to have their year and prematurely less than two months later.

2) Of the teams that are still left, there’s still plenty of great boys and girls basketball games to be played this week.  The fact that this year’s district tournament is an open tournament and “a win or go home” format has only intensified the interest in each single game, with only the district winners advancing into state competition.  This is personally something I would like to see for the playoffs going forward and would provide many benefits.   However, this obviously would decrease the number of playoff games and therefore the amount of revenue so I doubt it will be something we will see again once everything returns to “normal.”

Make sure you bookmark and keep coming back to the RCN TV website for the teams and times of the games we are broadcasting this week and for the state playoffs which begins next Tuesday.

3)  With constant uncertainty throughout the winter months, our pollsters still did a credible job of picking our teams each week.  With the exception of the Easton situation listed above, they have been about as consistent as humanly possible.

For this winter, we are breaking the two polls down into the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference (Lehigh Valley teams only) and Colonial League schools, within the RCN broadcast area.  With the reduced schedules and many of our teams staying mostly “in country” with their opponents this year due to the COVID-19 restrictions, this plan for our polls will keep things interesting since many of the top teams within the local conferences will not have the opportunity to actually face each other this fall.

Like the fall, our pollsters will consist of local media members and coaches/administrators from our local teams, who will remain anonymous so they can vote honestly without retribution and to avoid any “bulletin board” material.  Our media members will reveal themselves when they appear on our show (and if they don’t and have “bad picks,” I’ll be sure to point that out to our audience!:)

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

Feel free to email me at Chris.Michael@rcn.net for your thoughts on this week’s poll and we might read and respond to your emails on this week’s SportsTalk show.

EPC-LV TOP 5

1)   Allen

2) Central Catholic

3) Easton*

4) Parkland

5)  Northampton

*Season concluded due to school district protocols

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

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

COLONIAL TOP 5

1)  Notre Dame    

2) Bangor   

3)  Northwestern

4)  Palmerton

5)  Southern Lehigh

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

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

Be sure to bookmark our high school winter sports broadcast schedule here on the website and check it frequently.  With several games already postponed or canceled so far this season, there could be changes from day to day!

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

In honor of Women’s History Month, the Showplace will feature prominent female-driven classic programs and women who “changed the game” and made a lasting impact in the Golden Age of Hollywood and beyond. 

When you ask a contemporary television viewer, “Where did Betty White get her big TV break,” you probably would get different answers.

She appeared as either a regular or recurring guest star on numerous shows through the 1960s and 70s in classic programs like, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Carol Burnett Show, Jack Parr’s Tonight Show and as host of the annual California Rose Parade or the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade.

Or it could be her numerous appearances on classic game shows like I’ve Got A Secret, Match Game, To Tell The Truth, What’s My Life and also the program, Password, in which she married the host, Alan Ludden, in real life. 

But her big break came on the 1950s sitcom, Life With Elizabeth.  The show was really a reimagining of a show called Hollywood on Television, for which White received her first Emmy Award nomination.

The difference between the two shows was that White was co-owner of Brandy Productions, which bought the rights to the show.  This move made White one of just two women (the other being Lucille Ball) who both starred in AND produced the program–giving her full control of the creative content.

Elizabeth was a unique show in that it consisted of three separate sketches on each show–all featuring White–and was extremely successful.  The only reason the show was cancelled was because of a misguided idea that the show’s distribution company thought the 65 episodes they had already produced would “oversaturate the market” and devalue the show’s syndication financial intake.

White immediately found work in another groundbreaking show — the ABC fantasy-comedy, Date With The Angels.  She would go on to star in a number of early television shows, including two versions of a talk/variety program with her name in the show’s titles.

Betty would also break down by being the first female offered a role on a primetime news show, NBC’s Today Show — a position that was later filled by Barbara Walters.

She would continue to be one of the first actresses to make regular appearances on the iconic talk show, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, along with other popular talk shows, variety programs and game shows throughout the 60s and 70s.

White would continue to star in television roles for the next several decades, starring in more recent programs like The Golden Girls, Golden Palace, Hot In Cleveland and a sitcom version of The Betty White Show.  She was also nominated for several guest starring roles well into her 80s in shows like The Practice, Boston Legal, Modern Family and was the host of the candid camera lookalike program, Betty White’s Off Their Rockers.

She continued to break new ground by becoming the oldest person to ever host Saturday Night Live at the tender age of 88.  She also voiced a toy tiger character two years ago in Disney\Pixar’s Toy Story 4 after celebrating her 97th birthday.  The role was ironic because White has spent most of her life as an advocate for quality animal health.  She worked with and later chaired several organizations raising money for dogs and cats as well as zoo animals.

You can see a special marathon of Betty White in her breakout series, Life With Elizabeth, this Monday starting at 9 pm on RCN TV.  To view the complete rundown of classic programming on RCN TV, check out the weekly listings here on our website.

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

Here’s three local sports observations before we take a look at this week’s high school basketball polls…

1)  I mentioned back in early December that this year’s Colonial League campaign–with or without COVID related issues–was going to be one of the most competitive seasons over the past 20 years … and that turned out to be the case!

There were a number of games that went down to the final possession for both the girls and boys teams during its playoffs last week.  

The girls Notre Dame team – the tourney’s number one seed–was upset by Palmerton in the semifinals.  Last week’s games saw several ladies who will be playing Division-I college ball in the future.

For the championships that you saw on RCN-TV last week, we had two great ball games, starting with a back and forth battle between Northwestern and Palmerton girls in game one.

The Bombers, led by Junior Brianna Moore, held the lead early in the fourth quarter before she went down with an injury. The Tigers shortly thereafter took the lead and never relinquished it the rest of the way, although Palmerton tried to make it interesting again late.

The boys contest was also a seesaw battle and featured two of the very best players–not just in the conference–but in the entire region, in Brendan Boyle and CJ Miles. Defense was definitely not a factor as the teams combined for nearly 160 points with the second seeded Slaters taking the title this year.

Both star players scored over 75 points by themselves over the last three games (Boyle scored a school record 42 in the league semi-finals).  Expect to see more fireworks from them as the district playoffs get underway this week.  Both Boyle’s Notre Dame team, in 3A, and Miles’ Bangor team, in 5A, expect some stiff competition.  With this year’s districts being an open tournament and a “win or go home” atmosphere, it’ll be a very exciting next two weeks in the Lehigh Valley.

2)  As far as the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, Nazareth wrestling already has captured the District 11 3A individual title, with the “Super Regional” tournament coming up this weekend.  Also, the Nazareth girls basketball team heads into their postseason action as the team to beat in 6A.

What drives these teams and what are their goals over the next several weeks?  Hopefully, you watched our “SportsTalk” show featuring both of these teams back in January so you already know what drives them and also heard some great stories about their close knit programs. 

Don’t forget, RCN customers can see all previous shows over the last two months for free through RCN on demand.

3)  Speaking of District XI basketball, their playoffs will have several new wrinkles this year as the pandemic has drastically changed the postseason requirements and formats. District Basketball Chair Ray Kinder will be on this week’s “SportsTalk” to breakdown all the changes and talk about what administrators went through to put this winter’s basketball tournament together.

And by the way, the perception that the Easton basketball teams willingly chose to “opt out” of this year’s district playoffs is not the case. More on that story in next week’s blog…

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It’s time to look at our scholastic basketball polls involving the District XI teams in our viewing area heading into this week’s action.

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

Feel free to email me at Chris.Michael@rcn.net for your thoughts on this week’s poll and we might read and respond to your emails on this week’s SportsTalk show.

EPC-LV TOP 5

1) Easton

2) Northampton

3) Central Catholic

4) Parkland

5)  Allen

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

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

COLONIAL TOP 5

1)  Bangor   

2)  Notre Dame

3)  Northwestern

4)  Palmerton

5)  Southern Lehigh

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

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

Be sure to bookmark our high school winter sports broadcast schedule here on the website and check it frequently as there continues to be changes from day to day!

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

Here are three local sports observations before we take a look at this week’s high school basketball polls…

1)  District 11 announced its schedule and sites for its upcoming postseason events for its individual wrestling tournaments coming up for the 2A and 3A classifications:

Regional Wrestling Tournaments (Feb. 27):
AA – Central Dauphin East HS
AAA – The Charles Chrin Community Center of Palmer Township

East Super Regional Wrestling Tournaments (March 6):
AA – Pottsville Area HS
AAA – Quakertown HS

The state tournament will once again be held at the Hershey Arena. In addition to this week’s regionals, last week’s 2A district championships were held at a unique location – the Charles Chrin Community Center. It certainly has been a strange winter sports season!

2) Before the basketball playoffs get underway later this week, we discussed many of the teams in the Lehigh Valley on the latest “SportsTalk” show.

Here’s a sample…

VIDEO: Keith’s Take on Top Lehigh Valley Teams

See the entire discussion this Thursday at 7pm and 9pm on RCN-TV to hear more from on the local hoops scene!

3)  Justin Paz gave one of the top performances by a point guard a few years ago at Bethlehem Catholic and is now having success at the next level at East Stroudsburg University. However, there’s another rising guard with the Golden Hawks, Edixson Gomez, who reminds me a lot of Paz in his junior year. Gomez sports an explosive first step, great court vision and is developing into an excellent passer. In a year where there’s a ton of outstanding guard play, keep an eye on Gomez for the remainder of this year and as one of the top returning guards for 2022.

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It’s time to look at our scholastic basketball polls involving the District XI teams in our viewing area heading into this week’s action.

For this winter, we are breaking the two polls down into the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference (Lehigh Valley teams only) and Colonial League schools, within the RCN broadcast area. With the reduced schedules and many of our teams staying mostly “in country” with their opponents this year due to the COVID-19 restrictions, this plan for our polls will keep things interesting since many of the top teams within the local conferences will not have the opportunity to actually face each other this fall.

With no eastern Pennsylvania conference playoffs this winter, our polls will be an intriguing barometer to who in fact is the best team in each conference (and, of course, bragging rights through the winter months).

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

Feel free to email me at Chris.Michael@rcn.net for your thoughts on this week’s poll and we might read and respond to your emails on this week’s SportsTalk show.

EPC-LV TOP 5

1) Easton 

2) Central Catholic

3) Northampton

4) Parkland

5) Bethlehem Catholic

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

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

COLONIAL TOP 5

1)   Northwestern

2)  Notre Dame

3)  Bangor

4)  Palmerton

5)  Southern Lehigh

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

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

Be sure to bookmark our high school winter sports broadcast schedule here on the website and check it frequently. With several games already postponed or canceled so far this season, there could be changes from day to day!

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

As part of RCN’s celebration of Black History Month, we here at the “Showplace” are putting the spotlight on African American actors who excelled not just on the big and small screens but those who also inspired change with their courage and perseverance.

“The kind of beauty I want most is the hard-to-get kind that comes from within – strength, courage, dignity, the greatest gift is not being afraid to question. God, make me so uncomfortable that I will do the very thing I fear.”   — Ruby Dee

Ruby Dee provided inspiration throughout her life as an actress, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, poet and civil rights activist.  Her courage to portray powerful women and speak out against injustice has produced some of the most powerful quotes ever seen on the screen or in print.

Dee was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1922 and was raised in Harlem New York attending Hunter college high School and later Hunter College, majoring in romance language.  

Dee joined the American Negro Theater as an apprentice, working there with fellow future legends Sidney Poitier (with whom she would reunite to collaborate with on several projects during their careers) and Harry Belafonte.  After appearing on Broadway for many productions, her first onscreen role was in That Man of Mine in 1946. Dee received national recognition for her role in the 1950 film The Jackie Robinson Story.  In 1965, Dee became the first African American actress to tackle leading roles at the American Shakespeare Festival as Kate in The Taming of the Shrew and Cordelia in King Lear.

Furthermore, she participated in various television projects and wrote books, short stories and poetry works, among them include “The Original Read-In For Peace For Vietnam,” “What If I Am A Woman (Volume 1 and 2),” “Tough Poems For Tough People,” To Make A Poet Black” and “To Be A Slave,” (the latter three projects co-written with her husband / actor Ossie Davis.)

She also participated in numerous civil right events, protests, marches and was a predominant speaker, speaking out against prejudice, racism and injustices.  Dee was a member of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the NAACP, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Delta Sigma Theta sorority and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. In 1963, Dee emceed the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom…

“There was so much meanness in the atmosphere, but marvelous things pierce through the darkness of poverty and racism. You meet all kinds of people that help put life in perspective and turn the heart into some kind of lesson or avenue of awakening that lives with you all of your days.”

For the next several decades, Dee continued her work on the screen, in print and as an active voice for civil rights.

In 1970, she won the Frederick Douglass Award from the New York Urban League, a nonpartisan organization advocating for economic and social justice for African Americans and speaking out against racial discrimination.

Dee was nominated for eight Emmy Awards and continued guest starring on television series and was featured in various films in the 1980s and 90s including Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing and Jungle Fever.

In 1995, both Dee and her husband were awarded the National Medal of Arts.  In 1999, Dee and Davis were arrested in New York City, protesting the police shooting of Amadou Diallo.  In 2003, she narrated a series of WPA slave narratives for the HBO Films.

Dee was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2007 for her portrayal of Mama Lucas in American Gangster — and won the Screen Actors Guild Award for that same performance.

Her seven decade acting career crossed all major forms of media, including the film, A Raisin in the Sun, in which she recreated her stage role as a suffering housewife in the projects, and Edge of the City. She played both roles opposite Poitier.

“The world has improved mostly because unorthodox people did unorthodox things … not surprisingly they had the courage and daring to think they could make a difference.”

You can see Ruby Dee starring in The Jackie Robinson Story on RCN TV.  To view the complete rundown of classic programming on RCN TV, check out the weekly listings here on our website.

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

Fans of “RCN SportsTalk” and of Lehigh Valley basketball know that SportsTalk co-host Keith Groller was diagnosed with COVID-19 in December and has had some difficulty overcoming that horrible illness.

No one had been more outspoken during the pandemic in promoting the high school games to continue over the last year.  Without delving into too much detail, it is pretty clear that he did NOT contract the disease by covering local sports events.  That being said, this awful sickness has been a significant setback for Keith and his recovery over the last few months has been much more drawn out than anyone would have liked.

This week, Keith makes his triumphant return to our program and talks for a segment about his ordeal over the last three months and also how his own experience now influences his thoughts on how high school sports should proceed going forward.

Yes, I’ll also be talking sports with him–getting his thoughts on this unusual winter scholastic season, some of the standout performances thus far and his players and teams to watch over the final two weeks of the regular season.

Tune in to hear more insights from Keith, along with our special guests from the Notre Dame basketball team on this week’s show.  The Crusaders posted some of the biggest wins so far this season, including a victory over the defending District XI 6A champions from Allen High School.

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A few other news items for Lehigh Valley sports fans that we’ll talk about on this Thursday’s show…

After a plan was in place and was ALMOST approved, the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference decided to scrap its plan for a basketball playoffs.

The fact that a few schools like Liberty and Freedom, who, at the time the EPC cancelled their post-season, had played just two games COMBINED, really tied the hands of the league officials to conduct a fair playoff format.  With some schools playing well over a dozen games so far while other schools from the Poconos have also been limited in terms of games played, the decision to cancel the tournament seems to make sense.  The decision allows the schools that have been severely sidelined the chance to make up some of those postponed games during the last two weeks of February.

Also, the District XI decision to have all other games completed by February 26 and in time for their tourney to begin at the beginning of March, made it even tougher for the EPC to try to squeeze in their own post-season event.

The Colonial League, meanwhile, has been adamant since Day One that they were going to conduct a post-season event for their teams.

What’s the latest on their plans?  Which might be the Colonial teams to keep an eye on over the next month?  And what are some of the top storylines to keep an eye on over the next several weeks?

Tune in to this Thursday’s show at 7pm to find out.  (RCN customers can also watch the show for free On-Demand or set their DVRs to catch the program).

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

As part of RCN’s celebration of Black History Month, we here at the “Showplace” are putting the spotlight on African American actors who excelled not just on the big and small screens but those who also inspired change with their courage and perseverance.

Of all the zany and popular comedic characters over the five decades that the Jack Benny Program was on radio and television, none was more popular nor drew as much applause at public events than Eddie “Rochester” Anderson.

Guest starring on an episode of Jack Benny’s radio show in 1936, Benny immediately realized that Anderson’s unique voice, comedic timing and quick-witted return of a line would resonate perfectly with Benny’s “slow burn” style delivery.  Benny immediately hired him as a regular full-time character on his team and, in doing so, Anderson became the first African-American regular cast member on a national medium.

Born in Oakland, California he had early aspirations of performing along with his older brother, Cornelius. In his obituary in the Ludington Daily News, Anderson described himself as being a descendant of slaves who were able to leave the South during the Civil War through the Underground Railroad.

Anderson “acquired” his famous raspy voice as a child when his vocal cords were ruptured when he was selling newspapers. The newsboys believed those who would shout the loudest sold the most papers. The permanent damage done to his vocal cords left him with his voice now so familiar to radio and television audiences.

No one brought out the cheapness of Benny’s character better (and funnier) than Anderson, who would frequently test the penny-pincher’s budget and deliver rapid-fire lines underscoring just how little he paid his employees:

     “You can split an apple, you can split an atom, but I defy ANYONE to split my salary.”

According to Benny’s memoirs “Sunday Nights At Seven,” he came up with the name “Rochester” because he felt the way he could draw out the syllables of that name.  Anderson liked it so much he incorporated it as a middle name for any future productions, including non-Benny performances.

In 1942 while touring Europe with his entire cast and performing shows for the Allied Forces, Benny met a soldier who claimed to be a fan of the show and began to have dinner together.  During the conversation it became evident that the soldier’s favorite part of the program were jokes using prejudices (eg., drinking gin, playing craps) against people of color that were rampant during the time period.  Benny immediately got up from the table, told the soldier that he is not interested in “that type” of person listening to his show.  Benny then instructed his writers to never use any of those stereotypes nor any jokes that would be considered racist or offend any ethnicity again –  a promise to Anderson he kept through the rest of his career.

Unlike his character’s persona, Anderson was paid handsomely for his role as Rochester and used his regularly increasing salaries to enhance his love for horses, exotic boats and exquisite mansions, taking up residence in the West Adams district in California.

In the 1940s, the African-American entertainment community began purchasing homes in the district, nicknaming it “Sugar Hill.”  According to the website, westadamsheightssugarhill.com, property owners reacted to their new neighbors by adding restrictive covenants to their deeds, prohibiting African-Americans from purchasing a property or inhabiting it once purchased. The practice was later declared illegal by the US Supreme Court and Anderson lived in that mansion until his death in 1977.

Anderson also had an astute business sense.  In 1948, he saw the value and potential of Las Vegas as an entertainment center and wanted to build a hotel where African-Americans would be welcome.  Anderson failed to attract enough people willing to invest, and he was unable to complete the plan.

When the Benny program moved to television in 1949, Anderson appeared more than any other character and was a part of many of the show’s most popular episodes and funniest bits seen on the small screen.

Anderson was featured prominently in the 1963 mega star film It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. While he was given some of the funniest lines in the film, he was the only African American in the entire ensemble cast.

Anderson would make various guest appearances on television shows, including the Benny television specials until his boss’s death in 1974.  Anderson spoke very highly of Benny in memoriam until Anderson’s own death 3 years later.

You can see Anderson’s iconic Rochester character on the Jack Benny Program, along with guest appearances on other classic sitcoms seen on RCN TV.

To view the complete rundown of classic programming on RCN TV, check out the weekly listings here on our website.

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

Before we take a look at this week’s high school basketball polls…

I was invited to participate in the District XI press conference this past Friday to hear about how the postseason plans will change for this unusual winter sports season. 

 A few of the changes for girls and boys basketball within this region include:

• Districts will start w/pigtail rounds on 3/2 & 3/3 and continue on the “typical” Tue/Fri & Wed/Sat schedule.

• Tournament is an open field, everyone qualifies but teams can “opt out” if they’re not happy with the seating and / or have health concerns.

• If a school has COVID issues, their game will be postponed “as long as realistically possible” — if a team can’t play and officially goes “out” for COVID, then they are out for good and cannot re-enter the playoffs at a later date.

• Games will be at the higher seeded team’s site until championships, that will be held at a neutral site – if possible.

• Hosting site determines restrictions/crowd capacity.

For this winter wrestling postseason, adjustments include:

• Teams championships will take place on Feb. 14th, although District XI Chair Bob Hartman indicated most teams will probably “opt out” this year.

• Individual wrestling tournaments will commence the following weekend (matches will be held on the weekend to avoid scheduling issues with schools)

• Individual wrestling regionals will be held on Feb. 27th featuring the previous rounds top eight wrestlers for each weight class, with “Super Regionals” (Districts I, II, III, IV, XI and XII) the following weekend and PIAA state finals, the weekend after that.

• Currently there is no site available for the local district individual championships — obviously finding a school or other venue that is willing to host this event will be an extremely high priority over the next two weeks!

Plans are already underway for a special district winter sports playoff show discussing these and other issues on the February 25th edition of RCN SportsTalk, debuting on at 7:00 p.m. on RCN TV and will be available for free for RCN customers to view it anytime on demand!

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It’s time to look at our scholastic basketball polls involving the District XI teams in our viewing area heading into this week’s action.

For this winter, we are breaking the two polls down into the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference (Lehigh Valley teams only) and Colonial League schools, within the RCN broadcast area.  With the reduced schedules and many of our teams staying mostly “in country” with their opponents this year due to the COVID-19 restrictions, this plan for our polls will keep things interesting since many of the top teams within the local conferences will not have the opportunity to actually face each other this fall.

While both local leagues are trying to press on with conference playoffs, the possibility of being able to crown league/district champions is still not 100-percent definite thanks to the pandemic.  Our polls will be an intriguing barometer to who in fact is the best team in each conference (and, of course, bragging rights through the winter months).

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

Feel free to email me at Chris.Michael@rcn.net for your thoughts on this week’s poll and we might read and respond to your emails on this week’s SportsTalk show.

EPC-LV TOP 5

1) Allen 

2) Central Catholic

3) Dieruff

4) Parkland

5) Northampton

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

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

COLONIAL TOP 5

1) Notre Dame

2) Northwestern  

3) Bangor

4) Palmerton

5) Southern Lehigh

Eligible Teams (in no particular order):

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

Be sure to bookmark our high school winter sports broadcast schedule here on the website and check it frequently.  With several games already postponed or canceled so far this season, there could be changes from day to day!

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

This February, in celebration of Black History Month, we here at the Showplace are putting the spotlight on those who have inspired change and broken social barriers, both inside and outside of the entertainment industry. 

Recently here at the Showplace, we began our look at one of the world’s greatest living actors / directors / activists … Sidney Poitier.  Today, we continue to highlight his legendary career . . .

After a successful nine-year run in films in the ’50s, Poitier would close out the decade by breaking new ground in the 1959 production, A Raisin In The Sun.  The play was unique in that it was the first play written by an African American woman to be produced on Broadway, as well as the first with a Black director.

According to NPR archives, writer Lorraine Hansberry noted that her play introduced details of an African American family’s life to the overwhelmingly white Broadway audiences, while director Lloyd Richards observed that it was the first play to which large numbers of Black people were drawn.  Frank Rich of “The New York Times” said that A Raisin in the Sun (for which Poitier earned a Tony Award for Best Actor) “changed American theater forever.”

Sydney would continue to look for roles that challenged racial issues throughout the 1960s.

In 1967 alone, Poitier starred in three film classics–all testing social boundaries and exploring race relations in America: To Sir With Love, Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner and In The Heat Of The Night (which also inspired two additional films based on the success of Poitier’s portrayal of Detective Tibbs).

Poitier received outstanding reviews in all three films and all three pictures received widespread acclaim from people of ALL races.

According to Mark Harris’s book, “Pictures at a Revolution: Five Films and the Birth of a New Hollywood,” Poitier was very much aware of his status as an actor breaking society’s limits in entertainment, but was conflicted on the matter. He wanted more varied roles.  He also felt obliged to set an example with his characters, by challenging old stereotypes as he was the only major actor of African descent being cast in leading roles in the American film industry at that time. For instance, in 1966, he turned down an opportunity to play the lead in an NBC television production of Othello with that thought in mind.

His advocacy for social change went beyond plays and films.  Among his non-production efforts in the 1960s, he joined Charlton Heston, Harry Belafonte and other celebrities for the March on Washington in 1963.  He frequently spoke out and was very vocal in advocating for civil and economic rights for African Americans.

In the 1970s Poitier stepped out of the spotlight to an extent.  While starring in less films than he had in the previous decade, he increased his presence behind the scenes.  Among his successful big budget films as a director was Stir Crazy, starring Richard Pryor, which for many years was the highest-grossing film directed by a person of African descent.

Poitier accumulated best acting awards from various outlets and countries, including winning the Academy Award in 1964 for Lillies Of The Field.  He has captured a SAG Lifetime Achievement Award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, multiple NAACP Image Awards and an Honorary Oscar – “for his extraordinary performances and unique presence on the screen and for representing the industry with dignity, style and intelligence.”

A complete listing of all of Poitier’s awards, accolades and expressions of gratitude for inspiring others would be too numerous to mention.

Poitier has occasionally starred in films over the last 30 years (later this month he will celebrate his 94th birthday).  He is currently the oldest living actor to have received an Academy Award and is one of just a small handful of surviving members of the American Film Institute’s Top 100 Actors of the first 100 years of cinema.  Among his non-film responsibilities in recent years is being Jamaica’s Official Ambassador to Japan, and a ten-year stint as a board member for The Walt Disney Company.

Poitier’s legacy both in front of and behind the camera cannot be overstated as his roles and performances continue to be an inspiration to people around the world.

You can see Sidney Poitier starring in classic films on RCN TV and check back to the Showplace all month long as we continue to feature people of color breaking barriers in the entertainment industry.  To view the complete rundown of classic programming on RCN TV, check out the weekly listings here on our website.