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The SportsTalk Shop: HS Football ’15: A Last Look

December 15, 2015 By Chris Michael Leave a Comment

With the PIAA football championships coming up in Hershey this week, it’s time we take our final peek at the highlights of playoff games seen on RCN-TV this fall.

 

Congratulations to all of the teams, coaches and athletes for an entertaining season.  Special honors go out to Parkland, the lone team in the RCN viewing area who will be playing in the state final this weekend (all of the state championship games can be seen on the PCN Network—RCN dial position 97).  Saucon Valley had a great year and, despite their season-ending (and only) loss last weekend, the Panthers handled themselves with class.  In fact, all the players I had the good fortune of seeing and being around this season deserve a tremendous amount of credit for the way they conducted themselves this fall, both on and off the field.

I’d also like to take a moment to thank all the athletic directors, head coaches and their staffs for the wealth of information and insights they provided us during this past high school football season.  Their jobs are tough enough as is, but they never hesitated in helping us gather information about their teams or backed away from telling us about all of their players’ highlights and accomplishments.

You can relive all the memorable moments by watching the playoff games again through RCN’s On-Demand services.  These games will be available for free to RCN subscribers through the end of the calendar year, or you can purchase a DVD of these games by calling or emailing us at the RCN TV studio.

A final reminder…

It’s almost time for our annual “end of the year” awards here at the “SportsTalk Shop” and I’d like to include your opinions once again as we start to reflect on the highlights from both this year’s football season, as well as the top moments overall in the RCN viewing area.  We’re looking for your favorite athletes, teams, games, special plays and unforgettable moments that you saw in 2015.  This includes all teams in the Eastern Pennsylvania and Washington, DC regions and at the scholastic, collegiate and professional levels.

There were certainly some great storylines from this past year.  Just looking at recent events on the football field:

  • Notre Dame going from 0-10 last year to 2A District Champs (not to mention winning its first-ever, two playoff games, setting a school record for wins in a season and its first-ever appearance in the PIAA playoffs)
  • Parkland and Saucon Valley both advancing to the semifinal round of the state playoffs
  • The turnaround of the Nazareth football program—reaching the district playoffs with many names returning next fall
  • The end of the “Ed Christian Era” at East Stroudsburg South High School and all the District XI wins he earned during his illustrious career
  • The launching of the “DC Sports Minute” on our “SportsTalk” show, featuring the high school teams in the Washington, DC and Virginia regions
  • …and many more!!!

If you have a suggestion for someone or some group to get a mention, we’d love to hear from you!  Send us you a favorite sports moment, a really great game or event, a standout athlete or team who really exceeded expectations, via email to RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com.  Be assured that we’ll factor that in when putting together our “Year in Review” selections.  If you are mentioning a sport that we typically don’t cover or a sport that doesn’t usually receive a tremendous amount of publicity, feel free to pass along more information about the program, a contact person or anything that is available to you.

We’ll have our “year-in-review” entry coming up in a couple weeks.  I, just like Jolly Ol’ St. Nick, have already started compiling my list, so please don’t hesitate to send your opinions to us right away!

The SportsTalk Shop: HS Basketball Preview: 2015-16

December 8, 2015 By Chris Michael Leave a Comment

HS Basketball Preview: 2015-16

With scholastic basketball season upon us, I asked three of the most astute basketball minds in the RCN Sports Department, Gary Laubach, Tom Stoudt and John Leone, to join me in giving our thoughts on this winter’s District XI high school basketball season in the RCN-TV viewing area.

Check out our responses to some of the most intriguing storylines of the 2015-16 campaign:

 1.  Who’s your top EPC team (after Parkland)?
Gary Laubach:  Central and/or Emmaus
Tom Stoudt:  Emmaus
JL:  Emmaus
ME:  Allen.  I was very impressed with them in summer league play, although they didn’t win as many games as some thought.  Still remember them challenging Parkland late last winter, and if they can put together performances like that on a nightly basis…?

2.  Who’s your pre-season Colonial League favorite?
TS:  Bangor
JL:  Saucon Valley
ME:  Solehi.   Head Coach Ben Tannous has a great basketball mind and did a great job molding last year’s team into contenders.  I see no reason why they don’t continue to improve and contend for a league title

3.  Top Three HS basketball players to watch this winter?
GL:  Sam Iorio (Parkland), David Kachelries (Emmaus), Zay Jennings (CCHS) , Aidan Ellwood (transferred from Northampton to Central Catholic)
TS:  David Kachelries (Emmaus), Sam Iorio (Parkland),  Taleek Williams (Allen)
JL:  Sam Iorio (Parkland),  Matt Kachelries (Emmaus),  Michael Martino (Bangor
ME:   DeVante Cross (Parkland), Talek Williams (Allen), Amir Griffin (Liberty).  Cross and Williams are two of the most dynamic scoring threats in the area, and Griffin might just be the region’s best defensive player and is really fun to watch

4.  Off the radar player to keep eye on?
GL:  Jahan Dotson (Nazareth), Chance Neilley (Liberty), Talek Williams (Allen)
TS:  Tashon Roberts (Dieruff)
JL:  Mitch Daniel (Notre Dame)
ME:   Mitch Daniel.  He’s getting a late start due to his team’s success on the football field, but he’s always struck me as a player with great ability.  The confidence he (and some of his teammates) built during the fall sports season will carry over for him and the Crusaders during the winter sports campaign

5.  A surprise team to keep an eye on this year?
GL:  Liberty
TS:  Bethlehem Catholic
JL:  Saucon or Bangor
ME: Catty.  They suffered a disappointing season a year ago, and once again didn’t get several of their players due to the football team’s Turkey Day game, but Eric Snyder has worked his magic before.  If a few players step up to join Kevin Bond and Shaquon Mason as scoring options, the Rough Riders could find themselves back in the district playoff picture.

Also, I don’t think it’ll be too long before we start talking about Pen Argyl basketball again.  With Kyle Hutnik embarking on his third year in charge of the program, I believe we’ll start to see some improvements from the Knights—despite the fact that it will be a very competitive season once again in the Colonial League.

6.  One “must-see” game this winter?
GL: Parkland/Imhotep  (January 24th)
TS:  Parkland/Emmaus (Jan. 5th)
JL:  Freedom/Easton (Dec. 8th) *LIVE on RCN-TV!
ME:   Emmaus/Nazareth (December 18th).  Some of the best, most talented guards in the area will be squaring off against each other.   Two teams I really like and feel they could play with Parkland, so I am curious who’ll win out in this early season showdown.

Who’ll be most accurate with these preseason predictions?  Which teams, players and games do you think we should keep an eye on?  Email us your thoughts to rcnsportstalk@rcn.com and find out as the season unfolds on RCN-TV.  Be sure to check out our broadcast schedule (LINK) for each week’s best games and bookmark it on your browser so you can access it for changes throughout the season!

We’ll also jump deep into the high school hoops conversation in much more detail starting with the January editions of “RCN SportsTalk” (seen live, Thursdays, 7-8 pm on RCN-TV) and our podcasts.

The SportsTalk Shop: Fall Sports 2015 Recaps

November 30, 2015 By Chris Michael Leave a Comment

It was another great fall sports season (and for more than just football!) for the teams, coaches and athletes in the RCN viewing area.  We had some great individual and team performances, with school districts in many regions bringing home district, region and state gold metals.

It was also a busy season here at RCN-TV covering our local sports teams.  We had unveiled new features on our “RCN SportsTalk” show—among them, the “athlete of the week” for the people in the Lehigh and Delaware Valley areas, and the “Sports Minute” for the folks in our Washington, DC region.

Speaking of the “sports minute,” we’re pleased to announce that this element of our show will continue into the winter as we try to cover as many high school basketball teams in our coverage area as possible.  Here are a few samples featuring football teams from the DC area.

Also, we will have video from some of the traditional “Turkey Game” football contests from this past Thanksgiving, coming up on this Thursday’s edition of “SportsTalk” (live, Thursdays at 7pm).

In the Lehigh Valley area, we were able to focus on a number of different girls and boys sports teams from both bigger and smaller school districts over the last several months.  Here’s a compilation of some of our fall sports features.

Now, it’s time to congratulate the teams from the RCN viewing area that have captured state gold medals this fall season.  First, the Parkland girls volleyball team won its second consecutive PIAA championship.  The win marks the third straight volleyball state title won by Parkland (the boys team won it this spring).

We saluted the Emmaus field hockey team on both “SportsTalk” and here at the “SportsTalk Shop” earlier this fall due to Head Coach Sue Butz-Stavin’s tremendous accomplishment—becoming the nation’s all-time leader in wins by a high school field hockey coach in September.  Butz-Stavin added to those numbers as his team once again captured league, district and finally state championship honors, adding another collection of 3A titles (the highest level in Pennsylvania for field hockey) to the Hornets’ trophy case.

It’s starting to become routine for district tournaments to run through the Route-309 exchange as both Parkland and Emmaus seem like they are nearly always in championship games—and usually winning the title contests.  This fall alone, Parkland won four fall sports District XI championships (boys cross, country, girls soccer, girls volleyball and football), while Emmaus won three more (boys soccer, golf and field hockey).  The Hornets’ field hockey team has now captured fourteen consecutive district gold metals and the Parkland volleyball team has won five of the last six district championships.

Special kudos are in order for the magnificent paring of Coco Chen and Logan Lencheski from the Notre Dame-Green Pond High School girls tennis team.  Chen and Lencheski brought home state gold medals in pairs tennis.  I’ve maintained that individual and pair state championships are extremely challenging given all the scrutiny in one or two people, as opposed to an entire team, having to share the workload.  The Crusaders pair was also honored on our most recent “SportsTalk” show as the athletes of the week for their tremendous achievement.

Don’t forget!  All of the above video features and more scholastic “shout-outs” and stories are available to hear on our podcasts (rcn.com/atvn/sports-talk) as well as through RCN On-Demand.  Join us this Thursday live at 7pm for the insights, predictions and analysis of this weekend’s state football playoff games, and also we’ll have strategies and tips for those people involved in fantasy football. Also, we appreciate any feedback or suggestions for sports to cover or to discuss on RCN-TV.  Feel free to email your thoughts to us at RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com.

Now, anyone who knows me very well knows that I HATE the cold weather.  However, I do love the sports that take place during the winter months, and there certainly are some exciting match-ups featuring teams in our area, and a few schools in both DC and Pennsylvania have opportunities to have very special years.  I’m looking forward to embarking on the winter sports season and I hope everyone enjoys our coverage as we move our cameras and microphones indoors.  Next week here at the “Shop,” we start to take a look at the upcoming high school basketball season with thoughts and insights from knowledgeably hoop-minded individuals on the upcoming season.  Also, we hope to have more good news to report on the high school football teams in our viewing area over the next few weeks.

Lastly, a quick reminder for everyone to tune into the “Dream Come True Telethon” that will be seen live on RCN-TV Monday, December 7th. Telethon details are here: www.rcn.com/atvn/2015-dct-telethon

Not only does the event raise money for a tremendous charity but you should also check out the auctions items at www.biddingowl.com/dreamcometrue as there are some wonderful items—and potential holiday gift giving ideas—for you to try to pick up, while benefiting our local kids at the same time.

The SportsTalk Shop: Football Recaps

November 23, 2015 By Chris Michael Leave a Comment

It’s been a great fall football season on RCN-TV—thus far!

While it’s not quite time yet to take a look back and identify the top teams, games and players in our coverage area, it’s easy to pick out a few of the moments that have stood out from the pack.

First, here are highlights from a few of our recent games on RCN-TV over the last few weeks.

Now, I am very much aware that we have football teams in the RCN area still alive as we move into the state playoff round.  We’ll continue to talk scholastic football on our next “SportsTalk” show—which will be on Thursday, December 3rd.  (Our crew would absolutely KILL me if I suggested we do a live show on Thanksgiving Day!).

For those of you from our Washington, DC region, we’re also going to have video highlights from some of the annual “Turkey Day” games featuring the city teams.

However, it’s almost time for our annual “end of the year” awards and I’d like to include you once again as we start to reflect on the highlights from both this year’s football season, as well as the top moments overall in the RCN viewing area.  If you have a favorite sports moment, a really great game or event, a standout athlete or team who really exceeded expectations, we’d love for you to get in contact with us.  Email us at RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com with your opinions and suggestions. Be assured that we’ll factor those in when putting together our “Year in Review” selections.

I, myself, like to start reflecting on the top people and moments with a few weeks to spare.  There are usually a few special events that can get lost in everything going on this time of year (fall sports teams winding down with winter sports action heating up), not to mention the holiday season.

Talking strictly football, a couple games and teams that I, and many District XI football fans, will remember for a long time, include:

 

  • Saucon Valley vs. Notre Dame and “The catch”

 

  • The 73-54 shootout between Central Catholic & Liberty

 

 

 

  • Freedom football team’s regular season, ending with the school’s first-ever division title (shared with Parkland HS)

 

  • Saucon Valley’s District Semifinal win over Bethlehem Catholic*

 

*(Despite some public opinion to the contrary, it is NOT incredibly rare for a Colonial League team to beat a team from the “big school conference” (the East Penn Conference, the Lehigh Valley Conference, the “EPC18”) in a District championship. Wilson won District XI 3A playoffs in 2008, and Northwestern won it a couple years before that.)

 

 

Check back to the “SportsTalk Shop” in a couple weeks as we look back at this past season and give shout-outs to our favorite moments during this season as well as other sports highlights from this past year.  Also, with basketball season now upon us, we’ll be previewing the high school hoops season and taking a closer look at the top teams and players to watch this winter in both the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and Colonial League.

 

Last but certainly not least: On behalf of everyone at the “SportsTalk Shop” and RCN, I’d like to wish you and your family a safe and heartfelt “Happy Thanksgiving” holiday.  We are very thankful for your readership throughout the year and for the many wonderful comments you pass along to us about our coverage here on this blog and on RCN-TV.  Many thanks to all and have a wonderful holiday season!!

The SportsTalk Shop: District XI Previews – Week 2

November 17, 2015 By Chris Michael Leave a Comment

First, a quick pat-on-the back for all the people who participated in last week’s “SportsTalk” show poll (a.k.a. “Who will win the Easton/Freedom football game?”).  Extra congratulations are in order for all the people who predicted (and/or rooted) for an Easton victory.  The win sets up one of several great contests this weekend and we’ll be previewing all of the match-ups involving District XI teams on this Thursday’s “RCN SportsTalk” show (live, 7-8pm on RCN-TV).

Secondly, in addition to breaking down and making predictions about this upcoming weekend’s contests, I’d like to give the Easton and Saucon Valley fans a chance to give some payback to our adversarial co-host, Joe Craig, who predicted double-possession losses for both the Rovers and the Panthers.  After all, turnabout is fair play. We’d be happy to read your emails (RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com) and take your phone calls about those predictions as well as your thoughts on how your teams will do again this weekend.

Now, as we promised in last week’s blog, a closer look at the teams vying for a Class 2A and 3A title this weekend…

Class 3A Championship
Both of these teams got to the title game with solid defense…underrated defenses at that!

Saucon Valley has been in the spotlight because of the running ability of Evan Culver, quarterback Zach Thatcher’s effectiveness in running the offense and the spectacular and timely catches of sophomore Alstan Wolfe.  However, it has been the defensive efforts of those three—and many others—that has fueled the Panthers’ success over the last few seasons.  Culver, who joined his teammates as guests on “RCN SportsTalk” (see it again On-Demand or on our podcasts here on the website), said that he actually prefers to play defense.  That’s a pretty interesting statement considering he’s third among active District XI players in rushing yards and his 64 touchdowns and 4,129 ground-yardage blew away the school records quite some time ago.

Head Coach Matt Evancho, who ran the underappreciated defenses for those great Wilson teams in the 2000s, has been one of the top defensive minds in the Valley for some time.  Seniors Mike Kane, Christian Carvis, Nate Harka and Mike Paolini have been defensive stalwarts for several years and have made for one of the stingiest defenses—Colonial League or EPC–in the area.

Lehighton also allowed just one score in their semifinal game against Blue Mountain. The undefeated Indians forced four turnovers in the first half (six for the game) and scored a defensive touchdown. Their stout defense allowed QB Tyler Cann enough time to warm up the offense and post several second-half scores to put the game away.

Lehighton is similar to Saucon Valley in that they have a core of seniors who have been building to do some special things this fall.  The Indians have a very good secondary and it will not be easy when (if?) the Panthers look to pass the ball.

Class 2A Championship
Speaking of being underrated, I don’t think there’s been a less-mentioned player who’s deserved more accolades than Northwestern’s Harry Hall, who, oh, by the way leads ALL active District XI players in rushing yards.  Hall came into last weekend’s semifinal with 4,860 yards on the ground and 51 TDs (both school records).

I think the Lehigh Valley fan base looked at all the talent that the Tigers lost to graduation from a year ago, and assumed it would be a rebuilding year up in New Tripoli (although they were the #5 team in the “SportsTalk” preseason poll—just sayin’).  However, Northwestern has gotten solid performances on both sides of the ball and played well—even in their losses this season.

One of their losses was to the team they will face in the championship, Notre Dame-Green Pond.  The Crusaders are led by Tre Jordan, who’s passed for over 7,000 yards during his high school career, and he’s just as lethal running the ball.  Mitch Daniel, an outstanding point guard for the basketball team, has made a name for himself as a tailback.  Destyn Woody, Austin Kaulius, Nick Basenese, Jalen Simpson and Aaron Weller all have outstanding abilities receiving the football.  Christian Candelaria, Julian Wismer, Taino Gonzalez and EJ Medina have all had impressive seasons on the defensive side.

The Crusaders have a ton of weapons, a ton of speed and some outstanding defenders.  One would think Notre Dame just has too many horses for Northwestern to handle, but people have discounted the Tigers a few times now, so I’m expecting a very close game on Friday night.

Don’t forget, we’ll be talking about all the 2A/3A/4A playoff teams in our viewing area in action this weekend on this Thursday’s “SportsTalk” show (if you miss the program, the podcast will be available Friday afternoon here or catch the program On-Demand).  Also, make sure you check out the Easton/Parkland game Friday and Saucon Valley/Lehighton game Saturday on RCN-TV.

The SportsTalk Shop: 4A Playoff Primer

November 10, 2015 By Chris Michael Leave a Comment

The high school football playoff season is upon us with interesting matchups in the PIAA District 2/4/11 sub-regionals.

First, a quick plug.  For the next two weeks, we’ll be spending most of our “RCN SportsTalk” programs (Thursdays, live, 7-8pm), breaking down ALL of the football sub-regional playoff games, along with thoughts on the Eastern Conference post-season as well.  Feel free to contact us before/during the show to weigh in with your thoughts and questions about the playoffs.

Now, some observations and details on the 4A contests involving District XI teams (we’ll look at the 2A/3A playoff teams in our next blog entry).

Easton/Freedom
If this was almost any other year, I would say the Red Rovers have the advantage—if for no other reason than Freedom already defeated Easton once this year…and Easton RARELY loses to the same team twice in one season.  In fact, even though I thought Freedom was the favorite heading into the first game between these two schools, I might have given the Rovers the nod.  But that was before last weekend.

(BTW:  Freedom was our pre-season #2 team in our “SportsTalk” poll, ranked just ahead of Easton).

I was very impressed with the way Freedom played last Saturday against their traditional rivals, the Liberty Hurricanes.  Andres Santos, who came into the season as the number-two back, finished the regular season with 136 carries, 625 rushing yards, 12-touchdowns and a 5-yards per carry average.  He took on a Liberty defense that was determined to try to stop him, and responded with a 200-yard rushing day (a personal best—his previous high was 117) and two scores.

Furthermore, the senior leaders—Brennan Reinert, Cordell Cotto, Alkiohn Dunkins, Joeshua Ortiz—to name just a few, have been outstanding and have made key contributions on both sides of the ball.  Teamed with junior Brady Hornbaker and sophomore Alec Huertas, I really believe this team is special.  The Patriots have already won a share of their first league/division title, but I believe they have the potential for even greater heights this post-season.

Nasir Minney-Gratz had another awesome performance last week against Nazareth, and before that game I thought that Easton might have had the best, all-around defense in the EPC-South.  I’m no longer sure of that opinion, but I do feel it will be a great game (Friday, live, 7pm on RCN-TV).

Del Val/Parkland
When District XI puts the schedule together before the season starts, they should probably just schedule these two teams to play each other, as these schools have run into each other—at least once—for several years in a row.

Del Val boasts senior running back Austin Cernek (156 carries, 920 yards, 9-TDs) and sophomore wide receiver Dylan Kelly (13 catches, 271, 4-TDs).  Junior QB Matt Cavallero 68-128 passing, 975 yards, 8-TDs, 12-INTs) does a good job orchestrating the offense.  However, I don’t think the Warriors are as strong as some of the previous years’ DV-teams that Parkland has faced.

The Trojans themselves are an interesting team.  The one time I’ve seen them in person (against Freedom), they looked flat-out phenomenal.   They have, in my opinion, the best athlete in the area (QB Devante Cross) and are loaded with depth at nearly every position, along with players (Kenny Yeboah, Eric Digirolamo and others) who have appeared quite a bit on the “SportsTalk” highlight reels this fall.

I’ve talked to some of my colleagues who’ve seen them more often and they opined that the team sometimes plays to the level of their competition and/or lacks emotion.  I feel that will not be the case now that the post-season is here, and I’d say that Parkland heads into the playoffs as the favorite in this game…if not the entire sub-regional tournament.

The Parkland/Del Val game will be broadcast on RCN-TV, tape-delayed, Friday at 9:30 pm.

Stroudsburg/Liberty
The Hurricanes may have the best quarterback (Doug Erney) in the area.  They have, in my opinion, one of the best junior running backs (Gunner Anglovich) in the region.  They have an outstanding offensive live and a great collection of receivers.  On paper, they have the advantage in every offensive aspect of the game.

However…

Over the last two weeks, the Liberty defense has surrendered a whopping 89 points.  They’ve had issues with tackling and have committed untimely penalties at times throughout the season.  They feature some great individual performers, but the team overall has lacked consistency.  If Liberty plays to its potential on Saturday night (live, 7pm, RCN-TV), the game could be a blow-out.  But I don’t see the Mountaineers going away quietly.  If the Canes take Stroudsburg lightly, look ahead to a possible second-round contest against Parkland, or if they lack consistency and focus for an extended period, this game could be much tighter than people are expecting.

Wyoming Valley West/Nazareth
There are some really great athletes at Nazareth right now…perhaps, a few of their future “all-time greats.”  The Blue Eagles have to be cautious heading into their first round match-up.  It’s not uncommon for District XI teams to face a team with a great regular season record, only to mercy-rule them before halftime.  It’s doubtful this will be the case.  The Spartans have played some good teams this year, and have a number of playmakers who will have to be contained.  Junior QB Aaron Austin has passed for nearly 1,500 yards, and running back Sean Judge has rushed for over 1,100 yards.

Nazareth can build on a strong showing last week against Easton, and, regardless of this Friday’s outcome, has exceeded expectations this fall—with many of these players returning next year.  However, I believe this will be a close ball game with lots of scoring, and an all-out shootout could translate to the Eagles coming home with a round-one victory.

Feel free to email your comments on our District XI 4-A football teams to RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com and tune in to this Thursday’s “SportsTalk” for your comments, along with more insights, predictions, players to watch and keys to victory on this weekend’s contests.  If you miss our live show, don’t forget to check out the program’s podcast available on Friday afternoon.

The SportsTalk Shop: “Final” HS Football Poll 2015

November 3, 2015 By Chris Michael Leave a Comment

Our “SportsTalk” pollsters did it again!

As we approach the final week of the high school football regular season, a quick glance back to our pre-season predictions reveal that our pollsters correctly identified all of the teams in our “small school” poll.  In our “big schools,” four of the top five teams were correctly predicted—in order– back in mid-August (our “fifth” team did receive votes).  Moreover, our pollsters’ final results are very much in-line with the District XI power point system—which officially ranks the team at the end of the regular season and determines the playoff positioning.

As I mentioned before the first summer scrimmage, we have been incredibly fortunate over the years to have some wonderful and insightful people participate in our District XI football poll.  My thanks to all of the coaches, athletic directors and media members for their participation in the most comprehensive poll in the region.

And now, the final results…

Big Schools (11 pollsters)

    1. Parkland—55 points (11 first-place votes)
    2. Freedom — 43
    3. Easton — 34
    4. Liberty – 22
    5. Stroudsburg – 6

Other schools receiving votes: Emmaus, Nazareth

Small Schools (10 pollsters)

      1. Becahi – 47 points (7 first-place votes)
      2. Saucon Valley – 43 (3 first-place votes)
      3. Notre Dame-GP – 30
      4. Northwestern – 16
      5. Central Catholic/Salisbury — 5

Looking back, easily the two best games of the regular season (to date) had to be the Easton/Freedom and Notre Dame/Saucon Valley games.

All four of these teams had some great wins this season, and their contests against each other made for some thrilling high school football action.

Looking ahead, there are some interesting match-ups in the regular season finale, as teams jockey for spots in the District XI and the Eastern Conference playoffs.  In 4A, Freedom and Liberty, who play Saturday (RCN-TV, 7pm) have both clinched districts, along with Parkland and Wyoming Valley West.  Easton needs to beat Nazareth to make the playoffs and the Blue Eagles with a loss and a Pleasant Valley victory.

In 3A, there are plenty of spots and important ball games this weekend.  Bethlehem Catholic plays Central Catholic on Saturday.  A Golden Hawk win gives them the number-one seed and knocks the Vikings out of districts.  Undefeated Saucon Valley still has not clinched a spot, but still could get in if they lose to Palisades on Friday.

In 2A, Notre Dame and Northwestern have both clinched district spots and Salisbury would be in with a win over Southern Lehigh.  The Pirates need a win combined with a North Schuylkill loss.

Who’ll win these games this weekend and what are each teams’ keys heading into the regular season finale? Join Gary Laubach, Joe Craig and myself this Thursday live at 7pm for “RCN SportsTalk” as we break down all these games, the various post-season scenarios and the playoff system overall.  Also, our special guest will be Dallas Cowboys Wide Receiver and former Liberty HS standout Devin Street, who’ll talk about his career and also preview this Sunday night’s Eagles/Cowboys game.

The SportsTalk Shop: HS Football Poll – Week 9

October 27, 2015 By Chris Michael Leave a Comment

It’s been a wild last few weeks for high school football in the Lehigh Valley area.  There have been some very competitive games, and contests with several teams beating up on each other.  It’s made for some interesting playoff races as we head into the final two weeks of the regular season.

First, we take a look at some of the highlights of games RCN-TV has broadcast over the last few weeks.

Before we look at this week’s expert opinions on who the top teams are, here’s a quick recap of our poll structure.  Our pollsters consist of many different people over the entire Lehigh Valley region.  Our voting panel consists of local media members from different outlets, along with local coaches and athletic directors from across the entire district.  The voters are not identified so they can give their honest impressions without any worry of outside pressures or “bulletin board” material, and we rotate different pollsters from different schools each year, including guests from our biggest to our smallest schools.

As in previous years, we take the 400-male enrollment number as the cutoff for schools within the District XI/RCN footprint.  All schools above that number qualify as “big schools” in our poll. These schools consist of Parkland, Liberty, Allen, Easton, Emmaus, Liberty, Dieruff, Freedom, Stroudsburg, Pleasant Valley, Northampton, Nazareth, E. Stroudsburg-South, Whitehall, Southern Lehigh and Bangor.  “Small schools” (below 400-male enrollment) consist of Saucon Valley, Central Catholic, Bethlehem Catholic, Northwestern, Wilson, Palisades, Palmerton, Salisbury, Notre Dame, Pen Argyl, Nolehi and Catasauqua.  Each pollster will identify their top five teams in each group—the top school gets five points, the second team gets four points and so on, with an average score determining the order of teams in the poll.

Also, if you have a beef about our poll or want to talk about the District XI football season, the different playoff scenerios or any other scholastic football topic, tune in to “RCN SportsTalk” live, this Thursday from 7-8 pm.  Our guests will include local official Joe Diorio and RCN Commentator John Breidinger, as we’ll also discuss football rules, interpretations and some controversial calls made recently.

With the particulars out of the way, here’s a look at how our next-to-last set of polls shake out.

Big Schools (11 pollsters)

  1. Parkland—55 points (11 first-place votes)
  2. Easton – 42
  3. Freedom – 35
  4. Liberty – 19
  5. Nazareth – 6

Other schools receiving votes: Emmaus, Stroudsburg, Whitehall

Small Schools (10 pollsters)

  1. Becahi – 45 points (6 first-place votes)
  2. Saucon Valley – 42 (4 first-place votes)
  3. Notre Dame-GP – 31
  4. Central Catholic – 20
  5. Northwestern — 10

Other schools receiving votes: Salisbury

There were some big changes in each poll.

Among the larger schools, Freedom’s first loss of the season to Parkland puts the Trojans back to the number one position and drops the Patriots back down to third.  Easton’s clubbing of Liberty moves them back into the number two spot.  Nazareth holds on to the final spot—barely—following its loss to Whitehall last Friday and is still very much alive in the district playoff race.

In the smaller schools, Bethlehem Catholic finally reclaims the top spot it had lost following their loss to Liberty the first week of the season.  Saucon Valley (8-0) could reclaim the number one position with another solid showing against undefeated Notre Dame this Friday (on RCN-TV, tape-delayed at 10pm).

Next week here at the “Shop,” we’ll have our final installment of the “SportsTalk” football polls, along with more video highlights of local teams and players and a breakdown of playoff possibilities for local teams as they jockey for post-season positions.

Again, we welcome your comments and opinions on our poll and on high school football in general.  Call our show live this Thursday or email us now (rcnsportstalk@rcn.com) and tune-in to hear it read and responded to during the program.

 

The SportsTalk Shop: Athlete & Game of the Week

October 20, 2015 By Chris Michael Leave a Comment

It has always been the mission of the “RCN SportsTalk” show to provide news and information on more than just the “big” sports.  While football, basketball and wresting receive the most feedback from viewers, and the professional and major college teams resonate with the widest audience, we have gone to great lengths to make sure we cover as many different sports in as many different schools and cities as we possibly can.

Last year, we started doing a “SportsTalk Shout-out” to people in the RCN viewing area for doing something out of the ordinary, with the main purpose of trying to find an achievement that wasn’t necessarily well documented or received a tremendous amount of initial media attention.

This fall, we came up with two additional ways to continue to spotlight our local athletes and teams in the RCN viewing area, in a way we’ve never done before.

Last month, we introduced the “Athlete of the Week” feature that we unveiled during our Thursday night “SportsTalk” show.  This focuses on athletes participating in a sport other than high school football (we also focus in solely on a football player for our “Football Friday” edition of “SportsTalk”).

This segment “debuted” in September by featuring Northwestern senior soccer player J.D. Haff, who recorded a hat trick in four consecutive games.  We’ve followed that up by honoring Meredith Sholder of the Emmaus field hockey team and Dana Evans of the Pen Argyl field hockey team.  Forget the traditional hat trick; these two ladies scored FOUR goals in a single game respectively earlier this year in helping their teams win games.  Diana Hammerstone of Easton’s cross country team outran several schools’ competitors in a dual meet last week ahead of the playoffs, and received honors for her accomplishment on our show as well.

We invite you to be on the lookout for our next “Athlete of the Week,” each Thursday, 7-8 pm, on our show throughout the upcoming school year.

Before we tell you about another new innovation for our program, there were a few more athletes, coaches and teams from the RCN region who deserve some “ink” for their recent accomplishments as well.

Former Parkland multi-sport standout and current track athlete at South Carolina, Olivia Hassler was selected as one of eight representatives of her student body to report to the federal government regarding critical academic, social and financial issues facing young people.  It’s a tremendous honor for a young lady who has endeavored through hardships in her life (her story was documented on ESPN earlier this year) and she’ll be a fabulous representative who’ll do a great job in her new role.

Coach Art Corrigan of Notre Dame High School in Easton recently became the most winningest cross country coach in the United States this fall.   He now has over 11-hundred wins and is still going strong.  We did a story on Art last year, which you can see by going through the archives of our “SportsTalk Shop” blog here on the website or find it here on YouTube under “The RCNTV” section.

Coach Corrigan was one of two Lehigh Valley head coaches who became the winningest head coach in their respective sport this fall.  Emmaus Field Hockey Head Coach Sue Butz-Stavin achieved this honor in September.  Coach Butz-Stavin and her team have also been featured on “RCN SportsTalk” a number of times over the last several seasons.

Two more Lehigh Valley high school alums from rival school districts joined forces to benefit a great cause recently.  Parkland’s Toomey Anderson and Liberty’s Darrun Hilliard (now playing for the NBA’s Detroit Pistons) held an event at Allen HS to benefit Kyle Kostic of Allentown—who’s going through some tough times right now.  One-hundred percent of the proceeds from that event went to benefit Kyle and his on-going battle with an illness and the costs associated with it.

Last but not least…after graduating 17 seniors from last year’s team, the Salisbury boys soccer team has had an amazing fall season to date.  The Falcons’ story is just one of the many local high school sports features we’ve featured on “SportsTalk” over the last two months—all of them available for you to watch on RCN’s On-Demand services.

But wait, there’s more!

Starting on Thursday, October 29, RCN-TV is looking to launch another brand new feature.  Each week on our “SportsTalk” show, we’ll have highlights and details of one of the biggest high school games played during the previous week for our viewers watching us in the Washington, DC/Virginia area.  With so many talented individuals and squads playing in that region, it won’t be an easy choice to see who will be in the spotlight each week, but we hope you’ll tune in and find out for yourself and enjoy our recap of our “game of the week.”

As always, if you have a suggestion for a team to spotlight or have opinion on our local sports features, whether it be in our Pennsylvania or DC markets, we welcome your feedback!  Please email us at RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com at any time and keep watching RCN-TV and checking in with our blogs for the latest in spectacular achievements made by the young men and women in the RCN coverage area.

The SportsTalk Shop: Biggest Philly/DC Disappointments

October 14, 2015 By Chris Michael Leave a Comment

Many national pundits had the Eagles going to the Super Bowl this year, and the Nationals were odds-on favorites to win the pennant.

The Birds were flirting with what could have been a catastrophic 1-4 start to their season (it was looking that way following Sam Bradford‘s second red-zone interception in the first half against the Saints on Sunday).  That combined with the fact that the Nats had already crash-landed well before the MLB playoffs got underway last week, got me thinking about some of the major sports disappointments that both Philadelphia and Washington, DC residents have had to endure.

Without question, there have been some horrendous teams in both of these cities.  But I’m talking about having even the most stoic fans getting caught up in a frenzy, ready to ride a sea of momentum to glorious new heights, only to have one’s hopes dashed to smithereens, leaving you feeling emotionally drained when your team failed to live up to the extraordinary expectations.

Just how does this year’s Nationals season and the Eagles slow start compare with the other major sports catastrophes in the region?  For argument’s sake—and to avoid using up too much of the internet’s bandwidth–I thought I better limit my Philly/DC-based disappointments to not more than the last 15 years.

Here are my thoughts on what have been the “other” biggest pro sports disappointments for fans in the RCN viewing area.

The Phillies 2011 Playoffs
From December, 2010 until the final week of the regular season, it seemed like it was a magic carpet ride for Phillies fans.  Launched into a frenzy over the signing of Cliff Lee, the regular season and preliminary playoff rounds were a mere formality, and everyone wanted to see the “Aces” baffling hitters right and left en route to another World Series appearance…and presumed victory.

For reasons I’ll never completely understand, nor agree with, Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel decided to play all of his regulars the final weekend of the season, instead of giving a couple blows to his everyday players, who had started advancing in years (by athletes’ standards, that is).  By playing their top players, and ultimately sweeping the series, the final three of those meaningless games (the Phillies had long since clinched the division title), the team missed an opportunity to rest its players, and knocked its opponents, the struggling Braves, out of the playoff race.  While the last three Phillies wins set a new club record for regular season victories for Manuel, it also gave rise to the hard-charging St. Louis Cardinals, a team the Phils did not match up against well, and positioned the Redbirds into the opposing slot to face the Phillies in the wild card playoffs.

Philadelphia’s tired hitters struggled to gain any traction against the Redbirds after the first game, and the team that everyone assumed would become the greatest Phillies team of all-time, went out with a game-five whimper—a 1-0 loss to St. Louis.  That team might have been the most talented club in the organization’s history on paper, but they failed to bring home a single playoff series win, and started what has become an incredibly long, drawn-out, rebuilding cycle.

The Redskins 2000 season
In 1999, the Skins were coming off a 10-6 season and had won the NFC East.  Mix in a renewed belief that the front office was “all in,” and that a promise of spending money in the offseason fueled the fervor that Washington was beginning to build another dynasty in DC.

They did, in fact, spend money and added some great players, including LaVar Arrington, Bruce Smith, Jeff George, Mark Carrier, Chris Samuels and–last and certainly not least flamboyant–Deion Sanders.  This complemented the return of the core of a talented offensive unit and a number of their defensive players.  Many expected another division title was a no-brainer with many people banking on Washington to at least get to the Super Bowl.  The Redskins won six of its first eight games, before the injuries set in to some of its key offensive players and…of all people, their kicker (sound familiar, Eagles fans?).   Then, Head Coach Norv Turner was let go (perhaps foreshadowing, Philadelphians, especially if the Birds don’t at least get back to 8-8?).

Instead of building on the ’99 team’s success and establishing a string of winning campaigns, Washington ended up losing six of its final eight games and failed to cash in on all the revitalized excitement that the ’99 team brought.

Marty Shottenheimer would then take over the head coaching reins for one fateful season the following year, going 8-8 that fall.  But the failure of 2000 started a seemingly endless cycle of revolving coaches over the last 15 years, with none of the seven subsequent head coaches to follow Turner owning a winning record while at the helm of the Redskins.

The Wizards’ “Michael Jordan Era”
After failing to win a playoff game for over 12 years, it seemed like the Wizards were finally headed back in the right direction when, in January 2000, Michael Jordan became the part owner and President of Basketball Operations.   Aside from his baseball experiment, everything that “MJ” had touched during his career had turned to gold.  His basketball playing career, his merchandising and advertisement campaigns…heck, I even liked “Space Jam.”  With his playing days finally behind him, he could focus completely on revamping the franchise using his acute basketball knowledge and business savvy.  Surely, Jordan would have the Midas touch to turn this franchise around and at least get Washington back into the NBA playoffs—whose eight-team format allows for even the most mediocre teams to have a shot at reaching the post-season.

In a short time, he made some positive moves by shedding payroll and unloading some of the dead weight that existed on the team and it looked like he was moving the franchise in the right direction.  Then came the 2001 NBA Draft and the selection of Kwame Brown (who ended up being traded to the Lakers after four inconsistent seasons).  Jordan brought in his former head coach in Chicago, Doug Collins, as the head coach, followed by his announcement that he, himself, would return as a player.

In his first year back (which followed his second retirement, for those keeping score at home), he battled injuries and the team he assembled was just not good enough to compete.  To his credit, he was active from a personnel standpoint prior to the 2002 season and tried to bring in headline names to improve the team.  While he continued to add talent and even agreed to take a reserve role for the betterment of the team (although he ended the year as the team’s top scorer), the chemistry never worked, and the team failed to finish at or above the 500-mark during his tenure, much less had a chance to make the playoffs.

Jordan was then unceremoniously fired as the team President and left the organization in disgust, pushing back the organization’s rebuild efforts for years.

The team finally has made great strides over the last few seasons, a trend I am fully expecting to continue this winter.  But the failures of Michael Jordan left Washington fans, along with MJ supporters around the world, with an empty feeling, and tainted the final on-court chapter of one of the greatest basketball players of all-time.

The 76ers 2001 Playoff Run
I know.   Philly sports fans could just as easily identify this team as one of its brightest moments over the last 15 years.

To be honest, I don’t remember glorious preseason expectations for the 76ers.  However, the way that the team played in the fall of 2000, led by the gutsy, and largely, very focused efforts of Allen Iverson that year, the 76ers quickly captured the attention of the entire Delaware Valley.  Iverson was living up to all his glorious potential, and the team won 41 of its first 55 games.  Even when starting center Theo Ratliff came down with an injury (he was initially supposed to miss 16-20 games per ESPN), it still seemed like the old-time Philly basketball mojo was flowing strong.  The Lakers were heavily favored to win the championship, but if Ratliff could get healthy, he could combine with Todd MacCulloch, Matt Geiger and Nazr Mohammed to form a formidable “hack-a-Shaq” tandem that could neutralize Shaquille O’Neil, and the Sixers speed could push the tempo and have an advantage against most teams in the post-season.

Until….

February 23, 2001, when the Sixers traded Ratliff, Toni Kukoc (one of just two players with NBA Championship experience) and others to Atlanta for Dikembe Mutombo.

Don’t get me wrong.  Mutombo is not only a wonderful person (he was incredibly gracious the few times I had the opportunity to interview him), a great humanitarian, and one of the best centers—when he was at his peak—of that era.  He was still one of the better centers in the game, but his slow, plodding-style kept the 76ers from utilizing its speed against Los Angeles in the championship round.  Furthermore, while that trade might have looked good on paper, the team never quite recaptured the swagger that it had before the Mutombo trade (the Sixers were 15-12 the rest of the regular season).

Iverson’s late game-one jumper and subsequent iconic stomp over Tyronn Lue became a sports moment few Philadelphians will ever forget.  But I remembered thinking when it happened, something along the lines of “yea, we weren’t suppose to be here, and we’re winning tonight’s game, and all things considered, we’re going to be proud of that moment.”  But the adrenaline rush soon subsided, and the O’Neil/Bryant pairing led Los Angeles to four consecutive victories, in which they outscored the slow-footed Sixers by 40 points in the final four games.

In retrospect, the Sixers certainly exceeded what most people had expected out of that team before the season started.  Much like the 1993 Phillies team, the entire Delaware Valley had gotten swept up in the blue-collar efforts and good vibes through that entire fall and winter season, but the feeling was never quite the same as the 76ers finished out their spring playoff run.  Did they overachieve?  Certainly.  It featured a tremendous team effort and the gritty performances of Iverson, Eric Snow, George Lynch and company.  But the team has never really been the same since, and what could have been still lingers among those long-time fans patiently waiting for the “Hinkie Plan” to develop.

Final Eagles game at the Veteran’s Stadium
If there ever was a time in my life when I thought I could bet the house—literally—on a game, it had to be the Eagles/Buccaneers game in January, 2003.  As someone who grew up—both as a fan and a reporter—at what had become an old, rundown ball field, I thought the “Vet” would work some magic one last time for its final professional football game.  And what a game it was.  The Birds were 12-3 coming in.  Donavan McNabb, the franchise quarterback, was living up to what Head Coach Andy Reid had envisioned when he drafted him.  The Birds had the defense, the offensive playmakers, and special team stars.  Even Mother Nature seemed to be helping out—and Tampa Bay had struggled mightily in cold conditions in previous games, and a wind chill in the teens seemed to be the final signal that the Eagles were finally going to advance to the Super Bowl.

Instead, Philadelphia looked flat, was manhandled physically and truly sent Eagles fans home dejected and with lumps in their throats—and not just because of the sorry way the team closed out its tenure at a worn-out stadium.

That game may be lost in an era of missed opportunities and “what could have beens.”  While optimists can say it was the golden era for Eagles football, one can also point examples of post-season futility.  During a ten-year span where the Birds won six division titles and finished second two more seasons, they lost two Wild Card games, two divisional round playoff games, three conference final losses and a pitiful end to the 2004 Super Bowl.

What are your thoughts on this list?  Should other pro sports teams be included, and where would you rank these, along with the 2015 Eagles and Nationals seasons?  Email your opinions to RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com and we might just read your comments on an upcoming “SportsTalk” program.

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