{"id":77787,"date":"2015-12-29T16:50:40","date_gmt":"2015-12-29T16:50:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sandbox.web.rcn.net\/rcntv\/?p=77787"},"modified":"2023-04-25T14:36:14","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T14:36:14","slug":"sportstalk-shop-2015-year-review-moments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/sportstalk-shop-2015-year-review-moments\/","title":{"rendered":"The SportsTalk Shop:  2015 Year-in-Review Moments"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Each year, I usually spend the final few weeks of December reflecting back on all the exciting, rewarding and positive (and sometimes not so positive) sports moments in the RCN viewing area.\u00a0 We try to come up with some new \u201cawards\u201d each time to keep it fresh and to touch on several different levels of competition of interest to those in our coverage area.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some of our top teams and stories from this past year, and we\u2019ll have more reflections, in addition to a look ahead, in next week\u2019s \u201cSportsTalk Shop\u201d as well.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Biggest Surprise:\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>The <a href=\"http:\/\/washington.nationals.mlb.com\/index.jsp?c_id=was\">Nationals <\/a>NOT winning the division\u2026let alone the pennant.<br \/>\nThere are no \u201csure things\u201d in sports but the Nats certainly seemed like\u2014on paper\u2014they were one of the best two teams in the National League.\u00a0 But injuries, chemistry, managing and then <a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/papeljo01.shtml\">Jonathan Papelbon<\/a> \u201chappened,\u201d and the team didn\u2019t even qualify for a wild card berth.\u00a0 We\u2019ll have more on what to expect from Washington coming up in next week\u2019s blog entry.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Nicest Team: <\/strong>Nazareth Blue Eagles Girls Basketball Team<br \/>\nWhile Easton might have the best girls\u2019 high school basketball team in the District XI (PA) region this winter, the Blue Eagles had the best team on the court during the 2015 scholastic season.\u00a0 We had the opportunity to speak with a number of them on \u201cRCN SportsTalk\u201d this past year, and the ladies were as classy and well-spoken as they were talented.\u00a0 Don\u2019t rule out another Nazareth\/Easton meeting in a championship matchup again in 2016.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Biggest Enigma<\/strong>: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nba.com\/sixers\/?tmd=1\">76ers<\/a><br \/>\nOne of the largest amounts of emails I received this past year was when I made a comment that I had \u201creservations\u201d about the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/executives\/hinkisa99x.html\">Sam Hinkie <\/a>plan\u2014to lose games in order to increase the organization\u2019s chances of drafting top-quality picks and improve the club a few years down the road.<\/p>\n<p>The comment came after news that previous top draft pick<a href=\"http:\/\/espn.go.com\/nba\/player\/_\/id\/3059318\/joel-embiid\"> Joel Embiid<\/a> was hurt more seriously than thought\u2014and he might not play again\u2014ever!<\/p>\n<p>While I didn\u2019t say that I was against \u201cThe Process\u201d philosophy, I had some questions if it was proceeding in the correct fashion.\u00a0 After the show I received a TON of complaints about my statement, virtually everyone saying that they thought the losing was great, they\u2019re completely on-board with everything going on and that they were excited about this team\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n<p>More on the future of the 76ers in next week\u2019s blog, but for now, (which, by the way, is \u201cyear three\u201d of this endeavor) we saw the worst point-total loss in the franchise\u2019s history and a near-record number of losses to start a year.\u00a0 That streak, combined with the way the team finished last year, resulted in a record number of losses by a professional sports team\u2014EVER.<\/p>\n<p>If people think this is the way to go\u2026so be it.\u00a0 But, in my opinion, my reservations and cautions have not been reduced by what I saw in the final months of 2015.\u00a0 And judging by the December hiring of Jerry Colangelo as a \u201cspecial advisor,\u201d the Sixers have some reason for pause as well.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Best Comebacks:<\/strong> Saucon Valley &amp; Notre Dame-Green Pond HS Football teams<br \/>\nBy definition, there can be no better turnaround than the Crusaders bouncing back from a 0-10 season in 2014 to setting a school record with 11 wins in 2015.\u00a0 This year\u2019s team also captured the school\u2019s first ever pair of District XI playoff victories.\u00a0 They also reached their first ever PIAA state playoffs before falling to a very talented Dunmore team.\u00a0 However, many of this year\u2019s \u00a0players\u2019 accomplishments and their records will probably stand for quite some time.<\/p>\n<p>The Panthers\u2014a comeback story?\u00a0 Didn\u2019t they win the Colonial League last year and get to the District Championship game?\u00a0 Yes, they did, but they wanted more.\u00a0 Not only did they avenge last year\u2019s painful loss to Bethlehem Catholic, but they went about their goals in a very workmanlike approach.\u00a0 They also kept their focus\u2014something often lost among the modern- day athletes.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t hang their heads and sulk about how last season ended, but they sought out a higher set of goals\u2014and achieved them.\u00a0 A District XI 3A championship and state playoff victories over Selingsgrove (a perennial state playoff program) and Scranton Prep were achieved as this year\u2019s Panther team became the greatest football team in Saucon Valley history.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Most Impressive Performance: <\/strong>The Philadelphia boys\/girls basketball state champions<br \/>\nBack in March, we talked about the dominance of the Philly schools in the scholastic basketball circles.\u00a0 They had representatives in each championship game and won most of them, which speaks volume to both the talent level of the players, but also the coaches in the Southeastern PA region.\u00a0 It\u2019s one thing to have a great team on paper (see the Nationals\u2014above), but to keep teenagers\u2019 focus\u2014and to have so many programs from a small area (distance-wise) achieve this\u2014was clearly the standout performance that I witnessed in our viewing area.<\/p>\n<p>Late this past fall, we began covering the Washington, DC area football teams more closely and I was impressed by the limited amount of teams that I had a chance to see in November and early December.\u00a0 We will continue our coverage of high school sports in the DMV region in 2016 and I look forward to featuring more of those schools and players on both our television show and here at the \u201cShop\u201d next year!<\/p>\n<p>More \u201cawards,\u201d as well as some predictions for the new year coming up in next week\u2019s blog.<\/p>\n<p>While we hope you enjoy the holiday season, a quick note that we\u2019ll return with new editions of \u201cRCN SportsTalk\u201d (seen live, Thursdays, 7-8 pm on RCN-TV) and our <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rcn.com\/atvn\/sports-talk\/\">podcasts <\/a>\u00a0resuming on January 7<sup>th<\/sup>.\u00a0 Among our scheduled discussion topics include George Washington, Georgetown and American University basketball, local high school basketball and wrestling, the NFL playoffs and other pro sports teams in the Philadelphia and DC regions and more!<\/p>\n<p>Last but not least, a very Happy New Year to everyone\u2026and thanks for reading!<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Each year, I usually spend the final few weeks of December reflecting back on all the exciting, rewarding and positive (and sometimes not so positive) sports moments in the RCN viewing area.\u00a0 We try to come up with some new \u201cawards\u201d each time to keep it fresh and to touch on several different levels of&#8230;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"Yoast SEO Relevanssi index 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