First of all, a big “Happy New Year’s” to all our devoted followers of the SportsTalk Shop blog here on our website.

We are excited to be back and, as we have for the last few years, have some exciting plans to expand our local sports coverage over the next 12 months .. delays will be coming as the new year unfolds!

Before we do that, a shout out to the Astound TV Network crew for capturing one of the biggest moments in Pennsylvania sports…a highlight that was 3rd on ESPN’s “Top 10 Moments,” featuring the Nazareth boys basketball game winner…

Bobby Grzenda’s Happy Holiday Heave To Win!

It was one of a number of competitive games we featured on Astound TV Network to close out the 2025 calendar year. Here are a few more of our highlight packages for games airing on ATVN right before the holidays…

Astound TV Network Sports: Basketball – Liberty vs. Freedom (12/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Basketball – Catasauqua vs. Notre Dame Green Pond (12/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Basketball – Easton vs. Nazareth (12/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Wrestling – Northwestern Lehigh vs. Freedom (12/25)

Lastly, we have already kicked off 2026 with some very competitive high school wrestling and basketball match-ups. Here’s a look at the next few days of our local sports coverage on Astound TV Network (as always, live events will also be streamed on our YouTube channel)….

Tuesday: LIVE: Nazareth @ Northampton (Boys Basketball)
*Nazareth/Northampton Girls Hoops will air delayed exclusively on Astound TV Network

Wednesday: (LIVE) Emmaus @ Nazareth (Wrestling)

Thursday: (LIVE) Salisbury @ Saucon Valley (Boys Basketball)

Friday: Doubleheader – Teams TBD

Check back to the SportsTalk Shop later this week for more local sports insights, highlights and upcoming schedule information!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound 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.

“A Christmas Wish” has become a popular, yet underrated holiday classic for many yuletide video watchers.

Although that was not the original intent of the writers, producers, director and even the company distributing the film, Eagle-Lion Productions.

After all, the ties to Christmas in the movie itself are practically secondary.

Plus, the film hit theaters nationwide on March 1st, 1950 when celebrating the Christmas Spirit is not foremost on people’s minds.

Heck, the real title of the film wasn’t even called “A Christmas Wish”.

Originally released as The Great Rupert, the film primarily was a vehicle playing off the charm and charisma of the great Jimmy Durante and to also feature young stars like Terry Moore (Gaslight) and Tom Drake (Judy Garland’s love interest in Meet Me In St. Louis).

But much like the Gopher in Caddyshack, the animated-yet-seemingly real life squirrel (at least, as best as possible–five decades before the advent of the overused CGI) steals the show.

Rupert the Squirrel’s amazing abilities and unselfish acts take over the film and by its climax one can’t help relishing in the spirit of giving with everyone rooting for Rupert to win in the end (no spoilers here.)

The always lovable Durante shines as the film’s protagonist, Louis Amendola, struggling to provide for his family during tough economic times.

His daughter (Moore) is in love with a son (Drake) of a rich couple, who has little tolerance for dealing with poor people.

But then, a “Christmas” miracle occurs as money begins magically falling from heaven each day – directly into the Amendola’s living room.  While the family thinks the money is the answer to all of their problems, the true holiday spirit comes through when tragedy strikes the Amendola household.

Despite a few somewhat heavy moments in the film (and a slightly intense finale), it’s mostly a very light-hearted 87-minutes of very enjoyable holiday fare and a truly great performance from one of the all-time great personalities from Hollywood’s Golden Age.

For those familiar with Allentown Pennsylvania’s Great Allentown Fair–the role of the florist in this film was played by Candy Candido, who was a popular figure at the fair in the 1980s and 90s.

By the way, Moore is one of the few surviving stars from Hollywood’s first 50 years and will be celebrating her 92nd birthday this January.

You can see “A Christmas Wish” as part of the Astound TV Network Christmas Marathon, seen on ATVN on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

To view the complete rundown of special holiday programming on Astound TV Network, 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 Astound or any other agency, organization, employer or company. 

After yet another busy season of covering local sports and community events, I, and many of us in the Astound TV Network studios, will be taking the next couple weeks off to recharge our batteries and be back, ready to bring you even MORE in 2026.

We’re going to be going out with a bang as you get to look at our plans or our last week of high school broadcast on us on Astound TV Network…

Monday: Northwestern @ BASD Freedom Wrestling

Tuesday:
Northampton @ Parkland Basketball
Easton @ASD Dieruff Basketball (Astound video customers only)

Wednesday:
Wilson @ Bangor Basketball
(ND-GP at Southern Lehigh … Schools rescheduled game to another night)

Thursday:
Allen @ Whitehall Boys Basketball
Dieruff @ Emmaus Girls Basketball (Astound video costumers only)
(Central/Parkland boys/girls doubleheader rescheduled by schools to another night)

Friday:
Freedom @ Liberty Boys Basketball
Notre Dame-Green Pond @ Catasauqua Girls Basketball (Astound video costumers only)

Saturday:
Easton @ Nazareth Basketball (1pm start time)

Before we do, we want to leave you with more video highlights from ATVN‘s coverage this year (see below).

We also want to thank all our viewers for your patronage and also to all the people who have reached out to us again this year, appreciating the job done by all of our crew members and Astound staff personnel, bringing you so many different events through the past 12 months.  We have even more special plans in store for our viewers and customers in 2026…but you’ll have to check back to the ATVN website in the coming weeks and months to find out more about them!

In the meantime, have a wonderful holiday season and a great start to the New Year!

Astound TV Network Sports: Basketball – Parkland vs. Whitehall (12/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Wrestling – Easton vs. Nazareth (12/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Basketball – Allen vs. Emmaus (12/25)

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

Today here at The SportsTalk Shop, we continue our look back at some of the top players, teams, games and special moments from the 2025 high school football season on Astound TV Network.

Before we do, a quick reminder to tune into this Thursday’s LIVE ATVN SportsTalk show, broadcasting on both Astound TV Network and streaming for free on our YouTube page.  We’ll meet with some of the new head basketball coaches in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference this winter and also talk about some big issues concerning local hoops, along with thoughts on the first few weeks of the season.

Tune in Thursday at 7pm!

Astound TV Network Sports: Southern Lehigh vs. Bethlehem Catholic (11/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Easton vs. Parkland (11/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Easton vs. Liberty (11/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Jim Thorpe vs. Allentown Central Catholic (10/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Nazareth vs. Northampton (10/25)

Don’t forget to check out our broadcast schedule for the best in local high school girls and boys basketball and wrestling, all winter long, on ATVN!

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

We’ve reached the end of the fall sports season on Astound TV Network!

First of all, we want to wish the best of luck to two teams in our coverage area — Southern Lehigh and Northwestern — as they go after state championships this weekend in the state finals.

As usual, Astound video customers can watch the state championship games for free on PCN (dial position 97).

Today, we start our look back at some of the top plays, teams and moments from this past season as seen on ATVN….

Nazareth Gets The Turnover They Need

Naquan Thomason To The House!

Have A Day, Sean Steckert!

Jake Pukszyn’s Record-Tying TD

Astound TV Network Sports: Southern Lehigh vs. Shamokin (11/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Northwestern Lehigh vs. Notre Dame Green Pond (11/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Easton vs. LaSalle College (11/25)

Copies of our productions are also available — contact the ATVN studio for details.

Now, the winter season is already underway! Don’t forget to bookmark and keep checking back to our website all winter long for Astound TV Network‘s exclusive coverage of HS sports!

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

Last one for the fall before the final championship games this weekend… 

Our pollsters this fall will be giving their selections for who they believe are the top 10 performing football teams that you’ll see on the Astound TV Network this fall. 

Each voter will select the top 10 teams – with the top team getting 10 points, 9 points for the second-best team, 8 for third and so forth.  The voting committee itself consists of media members, football coaches and athletic directors in this region (we randomly select different coaches and “ADs” each year to get different points of view). 

One caveat – in order to balance the bigger and smaller schools in the region, each pollster MUST include at least three teams that are NOT a 6A-sized school. 

It’s a different way to gauge the top teams in Eastern Pennsylvania this fall, and we invite you to check back each week throughout this football season to see which teams make our poll…and who’s listed where, as decided by our diverse group of voters. 

One other unique aspect to our poll…the coaches and athletic directors’ names are never revealed so they can vote with their minds…and also avoid any potential “bulletin board” material, so each one can make selections without repercussions. 

Throughout the years that we have done our poll, our voters have always maintained very objective opinions.  If you look back through our archives, you’ll notice that our pollsters have been amazingly accurate and unbiased in their selections, and our polls’ top teams very often finish similarly in the same order as the “power points” system that District XI uses when compiling its standings and playoff positioning’s. 

As far as which media members have a say?  Don’t be surprised if they identify themselves on our Thursday SportsTalk show, which, this fall, will be streamed live on YouTube.com/@AstoundTVnetwork on Thursdays at 7pm, in addition to being broadcast each week on Astound TV Network. 

So, without any further delay, here’s the grand unveiling of this week’s new “Astound 10” poll…(the number in parenthesis is the average points received for each team, with ‘10’ being the maximum.) 

1. Parkland (9.33) 
2. Easton (9.17) 
3. Northwestern (8.17) 
4. Liberty (7.4) 
5. Southern Lehigh Nazareth (5.17) 
6. Nazareth (4.83) 
7. Whitehall (4.67) 
8. Freedom (2.83) 
9. Notre Dame-GP (2.3) 
10. Schuylkill Haven(2.17) 

Other team(s) receiving more than one mention: (none) 

Bookmark and return to our page each week and check back after this weekend’s game to see if your favorite teams moved up or down in the minds of our pollsters! 

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