Before we continue our countdown of the top games and plays from ATVN’s broadcasts from the past sports season, a “heads up” about upcoming editions of our SportsTalk program.

Coming up this spring we will…

• Begin our interviews with this fall’s brand new head football coaches in the Lehigh Valley
• Talk with Frank Scagliotta, the former Bangor Head Football Coach and veteran NCAA official who was recently inducted into the Eastern Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame
• Speaking of officials, we’ll be discussing the widening disparity between the college and scholastic levels, not only in terms of rule differences but also the widening gap in pay and, not surprisingly, a surplus in one area with a steady decline in participation at the other level
• A preview of the District XI baseball and softball playoffs (check back to our website very soon for this spring’s scholastic sports playoff broadcast schedule on ATVN)
• And…for the first time ever, an ‘all-features’ edition of SportsTalk highlighting every spring sport

 “SportsTalk” airs every Thursday at 7pm live and replays at 9pm and Saturday morning at 9am on the Astound TV Network.

Also, if you missed last week’s show featuring this year’s inductees into the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the National Football Foundation’s Hall of Fame, the show is now available on Video-On-Demand, which is free for all Astound Broadband video customers.

Now, we continue our countdown of the best highlights of the past year for games aired on ATVN.

1. Astound Sports: Parkland vs. Emmaus (1/23)

2. Astound Sports:  Parkland vs. Nazareth (11/22)

3. Astound Sports: Individual Wrestling Championship (2/23)

4. Astound Sports:  Northwestern Lehigh vs. Palmerton (2/23)

5. Astound Sports: Allentown Central Catholic vs Pocono Mountain West (2/23)

Check back to “The SportsTalk Shop” here on our website for some news on the ATVN Sports team!

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.

First, a programming note for this week’s “ATVN SportsTalk” show, live on Thursday at 7pm.

This week will be our annual show featuring this year’s inductees from the Eastern Pennsylvania chapter of the National Football Foundation’s Hall of Fame.

Among this year’s inductees include:

James Terwilliger – Quarterback at East Stroudsburg South HS ’03; Quarterback at East Stroudsburg University ’07; Coached (assistant/head) at a variety of local Lehigh Valley high schools; Coached at East Stroudsburg University since 2015 and Head Coach 2018 to present.

Bret Comp – Played football at Newport HS, Perry County ’83; US Marine Corps 1987- 88, East Stroudsburg University ’93; Teacher at Wilson Area HS 1998 to present; Coached (assistant/head) at the following East Stroudsburg South HS, Wilson Area HS (PIAA State Champions), Parkland HS.

Levi Brown – Played football Liberty HS ’08 (All State), Temple University ’14; Baltimore Ravens.

Frank D’Angelo – Principal/Director and served as Interim Superintendent at Easton Area HS, Professor at Bloomsburg University BS’83, M.Ed’85, Ed.D Northcentral University ’06; PIAA Official for 42 years (Baseball, Basketball and Football); League assignor for many leagues and organizations in the sport of: football, baseball, and boys/girls lacrosse; served as a member of the District XI Committee as the Officials Representative.

Scot Dapp, Boyertown HS ’69; West Chester University BS ’73; University of North Carolina Master; Head Football Coach Moravian College ’87 to 2010.

Tom Redding , Alllentown Central Catholic HS ’66; Shippensburg University BS ’70; Kutztown University M Ed ’73; BASD teacher 35 years; Coached Football at BECAHI, Liberty HS, Broughal MS; and PIAA Official in Football and Baseball.

We’ll discuss more about this year’s induction class and the upcoming banquet honoring these representatives on Thursday’s program.

Also, if you missed last week’s show featuring the District XI 6A baseball champions from Liberty High School, the show is now available on Video-On-Demand, which is free for all Astound Broadband video customers.    Now, we continue our countdown of the best highlights of the past year for games aired on ATVN.

1. Astound Sports: Parkland vs. Northampton (1/23)

2. Astound Sports: Emmaus vs. Easton (1/23)

3.  Astound Sports: Catasaqua vs. Bangor (12/22)

4. Astound Sports:  Bethlehem Catholic vs. Liberty (12/22)

5.  Astound Sports: Allen vs. Dieruff (12/22)

Check back each week for more of the top highlights from our games from the season right here at “The SportsTalk Shop.”  For copies of these and other productions on the Astound TV Network, you can call 610-443-2909.

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.

The first few weeks of the spring season have been met with a lot of postponed games, because of poor field conditions, rain or a forecast for it.  This has led to a lot of rescheduling, which has affected our Thursday’s “SportsTalk” show guest lineup.

After a little reshuffling, we are proud to announce that on this week’s program, we will have Andy Pitsilos and members of the Liberty baseball team–the defending District XI 6A champions–in our studio this Thursday at 7pm.

Also, if you missed last week’s show (which is now available on Video-On-Demand), we had training tips, clinics and other exercise and workout programs that are now available to improve sports performance–for athletes of all ages.

Now, we continue our countdown of the best highlights of the past year for games aired on ATVN.

1. Astound Sports: Notre Dame vs. Saucon Valley (2/23)
   
2. Astound Sports: Bethlehem Catholic vs Easton (2/23)
   
3. Astound Sports: East York vs. Allentown Central Catholic (3/23)
   
4. Astound Sports: Parkland vs. Garnet Valley (3/23)
   
5. Astound Sports: Allentown Central Catholic vs. Freedom (2/23)
   

Check back each week for more of the top highlights from our games from the season right here at “The SportsTalk Shop.”  For copies of these and other productions on the Astound TV Network, you can call 610-443-2909.

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 had a lot of fun this past basketball/wrestling season bringing you all the sites and sounds of a number of scholastic sports events.

We also welcomed some new faces to our on-air sports staff and appreciate their added contributions and unique insights for all of our broadcasts this year!

Over the upcoming weeks we’ll continue to post highlights of the best plays from our games this year, along with passing along honors and awards given out from the previously played sports seasons.

But today, we are going to post pictures of our new broadcast teams out and about at sports venues and locations from across the Astound TV Network’s coverage area.

Enjoy!

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 high school winter season finally came to an end last weekend.  While no local teams again made the championship round this year, there were still plenty of outstanding games and more than the usual share of highlights from the past season.

On last Thursday’s “SportsTalk” show, we looked back at the top moments, players and lasting memories from the winter season with ATVN analysts Brittany Thomas and John Leone.  This show is available to Astound Broadband customers to watch at any time On-Demand, along with the last two months’ worth of games we broadcast on the Astound TV Network.

Today, we begin our countdown of the best highlights of the past year aired on ATVN.

1. Astound Sports: Allentown Central Catholic vs. Emmaus (2/23)

2. Astound Sports: Notre Dame vs. Northwestern Lehigh (2/23)

3. Astound Sports: Pocono Mountain West vs. Parkland (2/23)

4. Astound Sports: Allentown Central Catholic vs. Emmaus (2/23)

5. Astound Sports: Southern Lehigh vs. Saucon Valley (2/23)

Check back each week for more of the top highlights from our games from the season right here at “The SportsTalk Shop.” Also, join us on this Thursday’s “SportsTalk” show at 7pm on ATVN as we turn the page to the spring 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.

It seems an annual tradition that when the state playoffs start up, soon thereafter begins the increasingly hostile debate on whether boundary and non-boundary schools should be competing within the same state tournament in the PIAAs.

​Such was a topic of debate on a recent edition of ATVN SportsTalk…

Recently within District XI, we’ve had non-boundary schools once again dominating the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and District XI playoff championships.  ​ The debate gets louder and more heated as more and more non-boundary schools dominate competition and scores become more and more lopsided (no boundary school has defeated a non-boundary school in the last eight years of District XI competition and a school like Executive Education Charter school has won it every year of its existence). 

Over the last few years we have had a number of politicians, school administrators, current and former coaches and athletic directors and other people in the sports world weighing in on this issue.  With no easy resolution ever in sight, the only thing people seem to agree on is that it will take an act of legislation to change what is currently in place at the state level.

As far as if there will be anything that ever changes on a local league or regional level, stay tuned over the coming months to see what develops.

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Now here’s highlights of recent sports broadcasts on ATVN, with many of these games still available to watch for free for Astound video customers at anytime!

​1.  Astound Sports: Nazareth vs. Freedom (12/22)

2. Astound Sports: Liberty vs. Freedom  (1/23)

3. Astound Sports: Blue Mountain vs.  Bethlehem Catholic (11/22)

4. Astound Sports:  Parkland vs. Freedom (11/22)

Check back in a few weeks for more samples of the best plays from this past high school winter sports season, along with some final thoughts on the season gone by!

Also, don’t forget to check out this weekend’s schedules of PIAA state basketball playoff games on our website to see which games will be broadcasting on our network.

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.

I had the honor this past weekend to represent Astound Broadband at the 63rd Annual National Football Foundation-Lehigh Valley Chapter 2023 football scholar athletes awards ceremony held this year in Bethlehem, PA.

Each year, the “NFF” helps college-bound student athletes who make outstanding contributions both on and off the football field.  The awards are determined by organization members and local coaches and use a 40/40/20 percentage formula (for academic, athletic and charitable work, respectively). These awards are made available to every public, private and charter high school with a football program in the District XI region, which incorporates Lehigh, Northampton and Monroe counties.

Additionally, financial awards are also granted for outstanding accomplishments made by local colleges within the district footprint.

I’ve had the privilege of announcing the games of, as well as speaking with, a number of this year’s scholarship recipients and it was great to see so many young people’s great efforts, in multiple ways, get rewarded at this year’s event.

Here are some of the images taken from this year’s award ceremony presentation…

The major award winners in this year’s event were…

Small School Winner: Allentown Central Catholic High School – Griffin Patridge

A 6’2”, 185 lb. outside linebacker and wide receiver, he ranks in the top 19% of his class. He is an Honor Roll student and member of the National Honor Society. He earned All-State and First Team All-Conference defensive honors, while serving as team captain. He is the Student Government President, participates in various school sponsored clubs, and is the School Representative for the EPC Student Athletic Character Council. 

Big School Winner: Pleasant Valley High School – Oluwafeola Olaniyan

A 5’10”, 180 lb. outside linebacker and fullback, he ranks in the top 3 %of his class. He is an Honor Roll student, National Honor Society member, and is a state qualifier in the Supply Chain Management test for FBLA. He earned All-Conference First Team offensive and defensive honors, while serving as a team captain. He is the Future Business Leaders of America Vice-President, Key Club Treasurer, and Red Cross Blood Drive Host. He has performed over 500 hours of volunteer work.

Ed Watto Award Winner: Nazareth Area High School – Devin Tavares

A 5’8”, 165 lb. cornerback, he ranks in the top 6% of his class. He is an Honor Roll student and member of the National Honor Society. He is a member of various school sponsored clubs, serving as a club officer, is a Class Officer, and participates in varsity track and field. He volunteers with his church as a Sunday School Teacher assistant, the Red Cross, a Blood Drive, Giving Tree, Nazareth Open House, a youth football camp instructor, and is a volunteer waiter for a local club. 

Coach Michael “Guut” Gurdineer Award – Nate Kemmerer (Parkland High School)

Honorary Award for the Outstanding Lineman of the Lehigh Valley Award selected by the Northampton Area High School Football Staff.

For more information or to become a member of the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the National Football Foundation, you can go to caringcent.org/nff/chapter

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 start our look back at the top teams and plays that you saw on the Astound TV Network this winter, a quick programming note.

Coming up on this Thursday’s ATVN SportsTalk our guests will be Head Coach Dave Lutz and members of the District XI 6A champion Easton Area girls basketball team.

The Red Rovers have been one of the most dominating teams in our area over the last few years–not losing a single regular season game the past two seasons.

They face some strong competition coming up when they play their first state playoff game this Friday against Unionville and they also have traditional state powerhouses like Archbishop Carroll, Archbishop Ryan, Spring-Ford, Red Lion and other strong programs, not to mention potential rematches with local rivals Liberty and Nazareth, who also advanced into the PIAAs from our viewing area.

Watch the show live or set your DVRs to see and hear some of the top girls basketball players in the state on ATVN SportsTalk, this Thursday at 7pm!

And…don’t forget to check out this weekend’s schedules of PIAA state basketball playoff games on our website to see which games will be broadcasting on our network.

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Now here’s highlights of recent sports broadcasts on ATVN, with many of these games still available to watch for free for Astound video customers at any time!

​1. Astound Sports: Nazareth vs. Freedom (12/22)

2. Astound Sports: Liberty vs. Freedom  (1/23)

3. Astound Sports: Blue Mountain vs.  Bethlehem Catholic (11/22)

4. Astound Sports:  Parkland vs. Freedom (11/22)

5. Astound Sports:  Parkland vs. Nazareth (11/22)

Check back in a few weeks for more samples of the best plays from this past high school football season, along with some final thoughts on the season gone by!

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 time period from early February through most of March is by far the busiest timespan for the Astound TV Network in terms of our local high school sports productions.

If all goes well (and our local team keeps winning) we will do as many as 17 productions in any five-day period and will sometimes work six days a week (plus Sundays if there’s bad weather and we get “backed up” on playoff games).  This does not include any Lafayette or any other events or happenings that we may be working on.

Fortunately to help us out during this hectic time of year, we have been able to add an additional new voice to our high school basketball broadcasts.

Dieruff Varsity Basketball Head Coach Marlon Randall is joining us for select broadcasts this month and sharing his insights on local basketball and the current postseason action.

Before coaching in Allentown, he was a head coach at Pottsville HS and an assistant coach on the Reading boys basketball staff that won a state championship in 2017.  Since he has prepared for, studied “film” on and has coached against many of these same teams during the past season, he gives a unique perspective on our local teams during the biggest games of the year.

I’m sure he would rather be spending his “March” coaching his beloved Huskies basketball team in the district and state playoffs right now rather than sitting alongside yours truly, but he’s done a great job with his first few games last week and we are very lucky to have his expertise and commentary as part of our new listing of ATVN announcers this winter.

Also, to help us with our postseason coverage of District XI and PIAA state wrestling, we are pleased to welcome Adriana Dias to join our announcing team.

Adriana made history this winter by being part of the first ever women’s wrestling team at Cedar Crest College.  With her first broadcast on the ATVN, she also became the first woman to announce a high school wrestling match in the Lehigh Valley.

Please join me in welcoming Marlon and Adriana to the Astound TV Network sports family!

PROGRAMMING NOTE:

Join us this Thursday at 7pm for “ATVN SportsTalk” as our own color basketball analyst Megan Kane will be our special guest previewing this weekend’s District XI basketball championship games.

Also, check out our broadcast schedule here on our website for all of our coverage of the Lehigh Valley title basketball games here on the Astound TV Network.

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.

Coach Jarrett Carnes joined the Astound TV Network in 2022, contributing a regular “video blog” on the local hoops scene during the winter sports season and putting the spotlight on the top news, teams and players in the ATVN viewing area.

In his fourth podcast this winter, Coach Carnes reviews the regular season and the EPC league playoffs and previews the upcoming District XI playoffs.

Check back for more of Coach Carnes’ insights on the district and state playoffs for Eastern Pennsylvania girls basketball here on our website in a couple weeks!

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PROGRAMMING NOTE:

Tune in for a comprehensive preview of the entire District XI playoffs on this week’s “ATVN SportsTalk,” complete with keys to victory, player profiles and winning team predictions.  ATVN customers can watch the show anytime On-Demand!

Also, be sure to check out our broadcast schedule here on our website for this weekend’s opening round of the district playoffs and the District XI 3A wrestling championship.  Next week we will also be busy with more district basketball semifinal playoff games and regional wrestling coverage on the Astound TV Network.  Be sure to bookmark our website to catch our broadcast schedule of those big sport playoff matchups when the dates, times and other information about those events become available to us.

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.