{"id":82515,"date":"2019-05-20T14:51:15","date_gmt":"2019-05-20T14:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"\/rcntv\/?p=82515"},"modified":"2023-02-14T21:01:56","modified_gmt":"2023-02-14T21:01:56","slug":"athletes-lehigh-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/athletes-lehigh-valley\/","title":{"rendered":"Athletes – Lehigh Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I picked up the paper this morning and read that Sage Karam<\/a>, former Nazareth<\/a> wrestler and son of Liberty<\/a> wrestling coach, Jody Karam, qualified for his sixth Indianapolis 500<\/a> race next Sunday.\u00a0 That is quite an achievement.<\/p>\n

Just last week, I was having lunch and in walked Larry Holmes<\/a>.\u00a0 Larry Holmes lived and grew up in Easton and became the heavyweight champion of the world.\u00a0 He never left the area, invested money here, and has always been a good example of what hard work and perseverance can accomplish.<\/p>\n

Current conversation about great local athletes now centers on Saquon Barkley, not only as a football player for the New York Giants<\/a>, but also as an ambassador for the best qualities in a person.\u00a0 Just this past week, he returned home to the Whitehall area, made a number of appearances and was patient enough to give admirers his time and focus.<\/p>\n

Holmes, Karam, and Barkley made me realize that the Lehigh Valley has produced a number of outstanding athletes who prospered at the top of their game.\u00a0 There are certainly too many to talk about in one blog, but here are a few that came to mind, in no particular order:<\/p>\n

Mario<\/a>, Michael, and Marco Andretti<\/a><\/strong>: For racing fans, this is THE family in the Lehigh Valley.\u00a0 Mario and Marco still live in Nazareth.\u00a0 Michael now is an owner and will again have a team in the Indy 500 this coming weekend.<\/p>\n

Matt Millen<\/strong>: The former Whitehall<\/a> and Penn State<\/a> graduate won four Super Bowls, became an outstanding analyst for NFL<\/a> broadcasts and is now the top analyst for BIG 10 football.\u00a0 He recently had a heart transplant and will return to the broadcasting booth in the fall.<\/p>\n

The Nasty Boys<\/strong><\/a>:\u00a0 Brian Yandrisovitz (\u201cKnobbs\u201d) and Jerry Saganovich (\u201cSags\u201d) were THE top WWF<\/a> wrestling tag team in the \u201890\u2019s.\u00a0 Both are Whitehall High School grads.<\/p>\n

Michelle Marciniak<\/strong>: The Central High School<\/a> grad is a former college basketball All-American.\u00a0 At Tennessee<\/a>, she competed for two national championships and won one in 1996 and was named MVP.\u00a0 She went on to play five years in the WNBA<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ed McCaffrey<\/strong>: A phenomenal basketball and football player at Central Catholic, Ed had a great college and pro football career at Stanford<\/a> and the NFL.\u00a0 He won three Super Bowls as a 49er<\/a> and a Denver Bronco<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Marty Nothstein<\/strong>: The Emmaus<\/a> graduate was an Olympic gold and silver medalist in cycling.<\/p>\n

Dan Koppen<\/strong>: Another Whitehall grad who centered the ball to Tom Brady for eight NFL seasons and to Peyton Manning for one year.\u00a0 Koppen won two Super Bowls with the New England Patriots<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Andre Reed<\/strong>: This Dieruff<\/a> grad is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame after an outstanding career with the Buffalo Bills<\/a> and the Washington Redskins<\/a>.\u00a0 Andre always returns back to Allentown and has done so much for the community.<\/p>\n

I could go on and on \u2013 Chuck Bednarik<\/strong>, Tom Brennan<\/strong>, Pete Carril<\/strong>, Billy Packer<\/strong>, Curt Simmons<\/strong>, etc.\u00a0 The list goes go on and on.\u00a0 And I know you could add to the list and you would certainly be right.<\/p>\n

Is it any wonder that I have enjoyed so many years following local high school and college sports right here in the Lehigh Valley?\u00a0 And the numbers will continue to grow.<\/p>\n


\nABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Before going to Mississippi State<\/a> as the head football coach, Joe Moorhead was the offensive coordinator at Penn State. He was very familiar with the Lions\u2019 back-up quarterback, Tommy Stevens.\u00a0 Now Stevens will have an opportunity to play for Moorhead again after transferring to the Bulldogs.\u00a0 It will be interesting to follow his success after getting beaten out of the starting role this spring at Penn State.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. The Astros<\/a>, Dodgers<\/a>, Yankees<\/a>, and the Cubs<\/a> are all hot and all starting to occupy places that were expected in the standings. The Phillies<\/a> are still the best in the NL East with the Braves<\/a> chasing them.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. I picked the Bucks<\/a> and the Warriors<\/a> to make it to the NBA<\/a> final. It appears that prediction will be correct by the end of the week.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n
        1. Congratulations to the Northampton baseball team and coaching staff for winning the EPC <\/a>baseball championship. To do it, they had to beat undefeated Liberty<\/a> in the final 3-1.\u00a0 Liberty was the third #1 seed to go down to defeat in the championship game.\u00a0 It was Northampton\u2019s first title since 1998.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
            \n
          1. District championship baseball will be LIVE from Coca-Cola Park this coming week on RCN-TV. The games are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, May 28 and 29. But it always seems to rain!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

             <\/p>\n

             <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.\u00a0 I picked up the paper this morning and read that Sage Karam, former Nazareth wrestler and son of Liberty wrestling coach, Jody Karam, qualified…<\/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],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behind-the-mic"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAthletes - 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