{"id":78186,"date":"2016-05-17T15:18:13","date_gmt":"2016-05-17T15:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sandbox.web.rcn.net\/rcntv\/?p=78186"},"modified":"2023-04-13T15:08:20","modified_gmt":"2023-04-13T15:08:20","slug":"behind-mic-sportstalk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/behind-mic-sportstalk\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Mic:  SportsTalk"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I appeared on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rcn.com\/atvn\/sports-talk\/\">Sports Talk<\/a> this past Thursday with Chris Michael and Joe Craig.\u00a0 I always enjoy the repartee between Chris and Joe, and Chris and the guests.\u00a0 The second guest was Brian Ludrof, Lafayette\u2019s Assistant Sports Information Director, who just happens to be my grandson.<\/p>\n<p>It was the 500<sup>th<\/sup> Sports Talk and that deserves special mention.\u00a0 Chris and Joe have continuously made this show better.\u00a0 The guests have gone from just being very local to today, with the advent of Skype, where guests can be from pretty much anywhere.\u00a0 The show continues to look and sound better and that\u2019s a tribute to the \u201cbehind the scenes\u201d group that deals with graphics, audio, and directing.\u00a0 We all look forward to the next 500!<\/p>\n<p>Chris always has a segment on the show called the \u201cRoundtable Discussion\u201d.\u00a0 It is a rapid-fire reaction to some of the current sports stories of the day.\u00a0 The five topics this past week were all intriguing so I thought I would elaborate on my thoughts:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Is <a href=\"http:\/\/espn.go.com\/mlb\/player\/_\/id\/30951\/bryce-harper\">Bryce Harper<\/a> worth $400 million?\n<ul>\n<li>The <a href=\"http:\/\/washington.nationals.mlb.com\/index.jsp?c_id=was\">Washington Nationals<\/a>\u2019 may have the best player in baseball in Harper, but $400 million? Right now, <a href=\"http:\/\/espn.go.com\/mlb\/player\/_\/id\/30583\/giancarlo-stanton\">Giancarlo Stanton<\/a> of the <a href=\"http:\/\/miami.marlins.mlb.com\/index.jsp?c_id=mia\">Marlins <\/a>is signed to a $325 million contract.\u00a0 I have reservations about saying anyone is worth that much, but I also have no doubt $400 million is going to happen soon.\u00a0 Harper is the most likely candidate to get it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Is the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.raiders.com\/\">Oakland Raiders<\/a>\u2019 move to Las Vegas a good idea?\n<ul>\n<li>Not if you ask the NFL. The League would like to maintain the fa\u00e7ade that they are not part of the sports gambling that is associated with the NFL.\u00a0 Putting a team in the gambling Mecca of the U.S., I\u2019m sure, does not sit well with the front office.\u00a0 Secondly, Vegas is very small market compared to the rest of the NFL cities.\u00a0 I do think the Raiders really want to stay in California, so it may very well have more to do with what the San Diego Chargers decide (stay in San Diego or move to LA).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Should or will <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nfl.com\/draft\/2016\/profiles\/carson-wentz?id=2555259\">Carson Wentz<\/a> play three or more games with the Eagles?\n<ul>\n<li>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.baltimoreravens.com\/\">Ravens<\/a>\u2019 <a href=\"http:\/\/espn.go.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/11252\/joe-flacco\">Joe Flacco<\/a> started right out of Delaware, but the Ravens were desperate. The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.philadelphiaeagles.com\/\">Eagles<\/a> are not.\u00a0 Barring injuries to both <a href=\"http:\/\/espn.go.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/13197\/sam-bradford\">Sam Bradford<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/espn.go.com\/nfl\/player\/stats\/_\/id\/12471\/chase-daniel\">Chase Daniel<\/a> or a complete collapse of the team indicated by the win\/loss record, I do not think Carson Wentz will play.\u00a0 The Eagles would be best served to follow the <a href=\"http:\/\/espn.go.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/8439\/aaron-rodgers\">Aaron Rodgers<\/a> plan of learning behind a veteran (<a href=\"http:\/\/espn.go.com\/nfl\/player\/stats\/_\/id\/112\/brett-favre\">Brett Favre<\/a>) for a few years and then making him the franchise QB.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Name a rule change you would like to see in football at any level.\n<ul>\n<li>I have a few \u2013 (1) Make the NFL extra-point rule permanent; (2) Since there seems to be more cheap shots these days, immediate ejection after the second personal foul in one game; (3) Make \u201chalf-the-distance to the goal-line\u201d penalties the full distance in order to attain a first down. \u00a0In other words, a holding penalty on first down at the offensive teams\u2019 ten-yard line should put the ball on the five, but move the chains to make it 20 yards for the first down (that would still make it a true 10-yard penalty).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Name a current athlete who captures your attention.\n<ul>\n<li>Right now, at this time of the year, it\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jordanspiethgolf.com\/\">Jordan Spieth<\/a>. He has become my <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tigerwoods.com\/home\">Tiger Woods<\/a> in the sense that I will watch the tournaments he plays in.\u00a0 He is not dominating right now, but will most probably be ready for the next major at Oakmont.\u00a0 I know I will watch.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/managers\/maddojo99.shtml\">Joe Maddon<\/a>, former Lafayette student, has the <a href=\"http:\/\/chicago.cubs.mlb.com\/index.jsp?c_id=chc\">Chicago Cubs<\/a> playing the best baseball in the majors by far. His team is already eight games ahead of the second-place <a href=\"http:\/\/pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com\/index.jsp?c_id=pit\">Pirates <\/a>in the National League Central.\u00a0 The Cubs are winning 75% of their games!<\/li>\n<li>Speaking of winning, how about those <a href=\"http:\/\/philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com\/index.jsp?c_id=phi\">Phils<\/a>? They are six games over .500, own the second best record in the National League, and are only one game out of first place.\u00a0 Just amazing!!<\/li>\n<li>RCN and The Lafayette Sports Network will be celebrating their 20<sup>th<\/sup> year together bringing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lafayette.edu\/\">Lafayette College<\/a> athletics this coming fall football season. It sure does not seem that long since I sat in the Lafayette Athletic office and cemented the relationship.\u00a0 That was 1996 and it was a long time ago.<\/li>\n<li>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hometeamsonline.com\/teams\/?u=THEBLUEMOUNTAINLEAGUE&amp;s=baseball\">Blue Mountain League<\/a> baseball schedule started this past Thursday and RCN will once again have the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rcn.com\/atvn\/2016-blue-mountain-baseball\/\">BML Game of the Week<\/a> starting Tuesday, June 21.<\/li>\n<li>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.usopen.org\/index.html\">US Open<\/a> is at Oakmont this year which is in Pittsburgh. I played the course a few years back and found it to be the hardest course I have ever played.\u00a0 I spent more time in the sand than I normally do at the beach.\u00a0 My caddy put a sand rake in my bag so he would not have to walk for one every time.\u00a0 On one hole, I avoided the sand, but caught him raking a trap anyway.\u00a0 I asked what he was doing and he replied, \u201cJust staying in practice\u201d.\u00a0 I tipped him anyway!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I appeared on Sports Talk this past Thursday with Chris Michael and Joe Craig.\u00a0 I always enjoy the repartee between Chris and Joe, and Chris and the guests.\u00a0 The second guest was Brian Ludrof, Lafayette\u2019s Assistant Sports Information Director, who just happens to be my grandson. It was the 500th Sports Talk and that deserves&#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":7,"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 exclude","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,4],"tags":[671,672,674,673,570,421,439,446],"class_list":["post-78186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behind-the-mic","category-featured","category-sports","tag-bryce-harper","tag-carson-wentz","tag-joe-maddon","tag-marlins","tag-nationals","tag-phillies","tag-raiders","tag-rcn-sports-talk"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Behind the Mic: SportsTalk - ATVN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Behind the Mic: SportsTalk - ATVN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I appeared on Sports Talk this past Thursday with Chris Michael and Joe Craig.\u00a0 I always enjoy the repartee between Chris and Joe, and Chris and the guests.\u00a0 The second guest was Brian Ludrof, Lafayette\u2019s Assistant Sports Information Director, who just happens to be my grandson. 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