The Lehigh Valley high school summer basketball season is winding down.

Parkland, the defending District XI champions this winter, also won the local summer league regular season basketball title last week.  Ironically, the Trojans boys Head Basketball Coach, Eddie Ohlsen, and a team composed of many former Parkland players, also won the adult summer league championship last weekend, played at the Catasauqua playgrounds.

Meanwhile, Southern Lehigh, with a first-year head coach, was the only Lehigh Valley team to make it through the “Small School” summer league regular season without a loss.

Most local schools are now starting to make the transition from summer sports to preparing for the fall sports seasons (“heat acclimation week” starts at the beginning of August.)

Today here at The SportsTalk Shop, we bring you our final look at pictures from local basketball games involving the student-athletes in the Astound TV Network viewing area…

I will be heading out on vacation but when I return in a few weeks, the ATVN Sports crew and I will be busy bringing you the deciding games in the Blue Mountain League Baseball championship series, as well as getting you ready for a brand new season of high school sports broadcasts on Astound TV Network.

In addition to kicking off the season with the Opening Night of HS football on Friday, August 22nd, we’ll also have our annual football preview show on the Thursday, August 21st edition (live at 7pm) of ATVN SportsTalk, which will also be broadcast on our YouTube channel:  YouTube.com/@AstoundTVNetwork

And, we at Astound have some other exciting news for this new scholastic season involving students-athletes in our community.  Keep checking back to our website and The SportsTalk Shop for details and our broadcast plans for the first few weeks of the football season (along with our annual football “polls” as well, ranking the top teams in the ATVN viewing area!)

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.

The local summer basketball season continues and our ATVN cameras have been out and about covering the local action on the hardwood – or concrete – depending on the locations!

Here’s a look at some still pictures of recent summer basketball action in the Astound TV Network viewing area…

Coming up on this Thursday’s ATVN SportsTalk, we have an exclusive interview with the new District XI Chairman, Steve Panczer.  We’ll discuss his background from his playing days at Bangor high school to becoming the school’s athletic director, along with discussing issues facing the area as well as his plans for the area’s local sports teams.  The show airs live at 7pm on ATVN.

If you have a question or comment for Steve or issues concerning District XI sports, feel free to email us at chris.michael@astound.com and we might read/respond to your questions on our live program.

You can watch the show for free from anywhere by going to youtube.com/@AstoundTVnetwork 

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.

Before we look at more pictures from around the area at local basketball league and tournament action, a quick recap of last week’s “Bash at the Beach” (aka, held indoors at nice, climate-controlled gymnasiums…thank you, Whitehall-Coplay School District!)

The winners for the second straight year were the Parkland Trojans.  In addition to winning the district title and going further than any other boys team this past winter, they have a ton of people back for this year and show no signs of slowing down.

Ironically both Parkland and fellow defending district champion Central Catholic both lost the day before and found themselves in the ‘losers bracket’ for Sunday’s events.

Emmaus, under the direction of a brand new head coach, made a great showing, advancing into the winners bracket Saturday night by beating both the Trojans and the Vikings.  The Hornets then lost to Wilson WL, who lost to Parkland in Sunday night’s finale.

In the small school classification, both Salisbury and Southern Lehi had great weekends, with the Falcons beating the Spartans in the final game in overtime. Veteran Steven Lozada had the game-winning bucket.  Both teams have a ton of talent returning from last year and, as you saw on ATVN last winter, that game was also a close affair that went right down to the wire.

Now, a look at some still pictures of summer basketball action…

Check back for more pictures and updates on local summer basketball action here at The SportsTalk Shop! 

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.

The local summer basketball season is heating up (enough to drive a number of games indoors where there’s air conditioning) but our ATVN cameras have been out and about covering the local action on the hardwood – or concrete, depending on the locations!

Here’s a look at some still pictures of recent summer basketball action in the Astound TV Network viewing area…

Coming up on ATVN Sports, we have the following Blue Mountain League baseball games scheduled for Tuesday nights, starting at 9:30pm….

July 15th – BML Baseball: Dodgers at Orioles
July 22nd – BML Baseball: Bulls at Falcons

All four of these teams remain in the playoff chance, with the Bulls looking to retain their title from last season.

The regular season is scheduled to end on July 22nd.  We’ll have playoff coverage coming up on ATVN Sports.  Check back to our website as we will post the dates, teams and times once we get to that point and that information becomes available to us.

Also, be on the lookout for our weekly Grandview Speedway racing coverage event Tuesday night starting at 7pm on the Astound TV Network as well!

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.

First of all, we here at Astound hope everyone had a wonderful Independence Day weekend and have had a great start to the summer season!

While high school sports take some time off for the summer months, the Astound TV Network Sports department continues to stay busy, bringing you some of the best local sports action from around our region.

Here’s a look at some of our recent sports action (when Mother Nature has allowed our scheduled events to take place!), including Grandview Speedway racing, Blue Mountain League baseball and the annual McDonald’s charity All-Star football game highlights…all broadcast on ATVN….

Astound TV Network Sports: Blue Mountain League; Northern Yankees vs. Hellertown Royals (6/25)

ATVN Shorts: Xzavier Pusateri Puts On A SHOW!!

ATVN Shorts: Duane Howard Wins Grandview’s Modified Feature (6/28)

Astound TV Network Sports: 2025 McDonald’s Allstar Football Classic (6/25)

In addition to more Grandview and Blue Mountain League baseball action coming up this month on the Astound TV Network, on this Thursday’s “ATVN SportsTalk” show, we’ll have BML Baseball President Bob Varju and members of his staff on our program to talk about this summer’s baseball season.  We’ll tout the top teams and players in the area and look ahead to the end of the regular season as well as the playoffs, which ATVN will be broadcasting for the second straight year this August.  Keep checking back to our “Broadcast Schedule” pages for information on both our regular season and post-season playoff coverage!

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 ATVN with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.

Many people know Jim Backus as Thurston Howell III on the TV sit-com Gilligan’s Island, but it was actually a “millionaire-like” voice for another character that gave him his “big break” in show business.

Alan Young (who would later play “Wilbur” for television’s Mr. Ed), retold the story a few years ago on SirusXM’s “Radio Classics” of how he was developing his own hit radio show bearing his name in the early 1940s.

While Backus had some small, yet versatile roles on various programs in the early days of radio, Young realized that his own softer, humbled and more-reserved on-air radio voice needed a foil for his new show.  Young said he would need someone that would stick out with an over-the-top delivery and convey an air of snootiness, proudness and arrogance–to be a sharp contrast to Young’s much quieter on-air persona for his new show to work.

Enter Thurston Howell III … well, actually his name on The Alan Young Show was Hubert Updike III.

And the rest was history.

From that hit show, Backus began getting more prominent appearances and became a featured guest-star on some of the other top radio programs of the era.

And then, television and major motion pictures.

First, he took on the male lead role in I Married Joan, followed a few years later by his own variety program, The Jim Backus Show, which aired on ABC in 1957 and 1958.

His silver screen appearances included Deadline – U.S.A. with Humphrey Bogart, Pat and Mike with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, Rebel Without a Cause (as James Dean’s on-screen father,) The Pied Piper of Hamelin, John Goldfarb, Please Come Home  and It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

Backus’s versatile voice acting skills also made him an obvious choice to take over the role of a brand new cartoon character, as he brought Mr. Mcgoo to life — for over 40 years — to children of all ages.

In 1963, Jim took on the role of Mr. Howell on the Gilligan’s Island television series and in three subsequent made-for-TV movies made in the late 1970s and 1980s.

He even recreated his “millionaire” persona when he reunited with his “Gilligan” co-star Natillie Shafer (aka Mrs. Howell) for a series of popular commercials for Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn in the 1980s.

Backus’s last acting appearance was in the final “Gilligan” movie, The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island. By this time Backus was suffering from Parkinson’s Disease, and his role was reduced to having a brief comedic line at the very end of the film.

Legend has it that once the director yelled “cut,” Backus turned to his long-time co-star, Dawn Wells (“Mary Ann”) and asked about his short cameo appearance.  “Am I still funny?” he asked, to which Wells gave the beloved star a hug, then went off by herself in tears, upset at seeing him in such a frail state after years of working with him.

While Jim Backus is not a familiar name to today’s media audience, it’s hard to find any medium he did not make an impact in, from 1944 until his death in 1989, whether it be in radio, cartoons, voice-overs, television or film.

You can see some of Jim’s work in I Married Joan, Rescue of Gilligan’s Island and more movies and television guest-starring appearances this summer on the Astound Television Network.

To view the complete rundown of classic programming on ATVN, 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.

Before we delve into the latest news concerning high school basketball in Eastern Pennsylvania, a few programming notes for our ATVN SportsTalk show…

• This Thursday, our special guests will be long-time Head Coach Ed McIntyre and members of his Easton girls softball team.  The Rovers were the eight “seed” in the District XI tournament and defeated the defending champs from Nazareth to win this year’s championship.  There’s also been rumors that this would be “Coach Macs” final season…we’ll tackle those and other issues on this week’s program
• Next Thursday (July 3rd), our guests will be the Bangor baseball team, who captured their first ever district championship in this sport last month.  The Slaters also have some special stories to share about this year’s team…tune in for those details on next week’s show!

Remember, everyone can watch a free live-streaming edition ATVN SportsTalk in addition to watching on the Astound TV Network.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel and get free alerts when ATVN is going “live” by going to: YouTube.com/@AstoundTVnetwork

Now, as far as the local high school basketball action, the “usual” suspects continue to play well as the outdoor temperatures rise.  Parkland, Liberty, Executive Charter and Northampton continue to be among the top local “big school” teams in our coverage area.

Emmaus and Nazareth are working with “new” head coaches this summer – although both hires were familiar names (more on that in a future edition of the “SportsTalk Shop”).  Lehighton, fresh off its first year in the Colonial League, also continues to play well and should be a team to watch again this winter.

Here are some of the pictures I took from recent action around the Valley…and check back for more in future blog entries!

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 are winding down our coverage of HS sports in the ATVN coverage area for the 2024-2025 school year.

Before we turn the page to our summer sports coverage on Astound TV Network (more on that below), let’s take a last look at video highlights of our coverage…

Astound TV Network Sports: Baseball – Notre Dame Green Pond vs. Wilson (4/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Baseball – Parkland vs. Neshaminy (5/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Baseball – Liberty vs. Parkland (5/25)

Next, here are the “All Star” listings for girls field hockey for the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference…

Now, as far as what’s coming up on the Astound TV Network for this summer:

• Grandview Speedway Racing
• McDonald’s Football All-star game
• Blue Mountain League Baseball “Game of the Week” every Tuesday through the regular season, PLUS championship round playoffs coverage
• ATVN SportsTalk shows featuring local teams and personalities, plus stories on summer-time sports, every Thursday night LIVE on both ATVN and streaming for free on our YouTube Channel (and a “surprise guest” which will be of a lot of interest coming up this summer..stay tuned to our website for details!)
• High school football is just around the corner..we’ll have previews with some of the top teams, coaches and players as we begin counting down to the new season, along with interviews w/some of the new head coaches in the area.  The new season kicks off on August 22nd!

I’ll be off next week, but check back to “The Shop” in two weeks and as we start our look at summertime sports.

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.

As we reach the end of the school year, we are making our “last call” for honors, awards and special achievements by students in the ATVN coverage area!

We are making the transition to the “summer season” and will have some exciting events coming up over the next few months.  Plus, we will be having some special people on our Thursday night “ATVN SportsTalk” program – keep checking back to “The Shop” for more information and broadcasting dates.

Before we change this over, I wanted to send out one more “call” for information to highlight athletes.  Please email them to me at chris.michael@astound.com over the next few days to be included in our “final” blog for the past school year.

Speaking of “finals” (sorry for the pun for those students taking them this week), today we take our last look at the local high school tennis results for the spring…

Here are the 2025 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Championship tourney results: View Results

Next, here’s the 2025 Spring “All-EPC” listings… View Boys EPC Tennis Championship Bracket

Last but not least, here are the results from the District XI tourney, along with pictures of the 2A champions, Moravian Academy and the 3A champs, Liberty…

• 2024-25 District XI 2A Boys Team Tennis Finals
• 2024-25 District XI 3A Boys Team Tennis Finals

Congratulations to all these outstanding accomplishments!

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 continue our look at some of the top video highlights and moments from the spring sports season of games broadcast on the Astound TV Network.

Among today’s highlights include:

• Parkland baseball winning its first District XI 6A title since 2015 (and ATVN Sideline Reporter Gabrielle DiPaula helping to set up the team’s “ice bath” of Head Coach Kurt Weber)
• Southern Lehigh girls lacrosse winning its fourth consecutive 3A championship (and clips of our exclusive post-championship interviews)
• Northwestern girls reaching its first ever district title game – AND coming within a minute of going to overtime
• Central Catholic boys lacrosse winning its 8th district title in the last 15 years
• Easton going back-to-back with another 3A boys lacrosse championship
• A very young Notre Dame-Green Pond baseball team overcoming a slow start to win a title AND state playoff game

Here’s a look at all those big moments….

ATVN Shorts: Parkland Trojans Win District 11 Gold

ATVN Shorts: Parkland Pitcher Sawyer Marsteller

ATVN Shorts: Parkland Manager Kurt Weber Celebrates District Gold

ATVN Shorts: Southern Lehigh Coach Eric Tesche Talks Titles

Astound TV Network Sports: Lacrosse – Northwestern Lehigh vs. Southern Lehigh (5/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Lacrosse – Moravian Academy vs. Allentown Central Catholic (5/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Lacrosse – Easton vs. Parkland (5/25)

Astound TV Network Sports: Baseball – Palmerton vs. Notre Dame Green Pond (5/25)

ATVN Shorts: Easton Red Rovers Strike In OT To Win District 3A Gold

Check back to “The SportsTalk Shop” for more memorable notes, interviews and highlights from this spring’s playoff season!

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.