{"id":83004,"date":"2019-09-17T20:10:24","date_gmt":"2019-09-17T20:10:24","guid":{"rendered":"\/rcntv\/?p=83004"},"modified":"2023-04-13T20:00:56","modified_gmt":"2023-04-13T20:00:56","slug":"friday-13th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/friday-13th\/","title":{"rendered":"Friday the 13th"},"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><\/p>\n

I am not a superstitious guy.\u00a0 I have opened an umbrella in my office.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure I have walked under a ladder (although I was probably NOT using it).\u00a0 I have certainly stepped on a crack and, as far as I knew, my mother never suffered any undue back distress.\u00a0 I cannot remember the last time I spilled salt, but if I did I would just clean it up, not make a bigger mess by throwing it over my shoulder.<\/p>\n

So, once again, I am not a suspicious guy.\u00a0 However\u2026<\/p>\n

This past Friday was the 13th<\/sup>.\u00a0 Yes, Friday the 13th<\/sup>.\u00a0 I know the date has some history to it.\u00a0 The number itself is supposed to be unlucky.\u00a0 Many hotels avoid having a 13th<\/sup> floor.\u00a0 Thirteen disciples came to the Last Supper and that did not turn out well at all.\u00a0 Even Hammurabi (you remember him?) left the number 13 out of his famous code.<\/p>\n

I bring this up because this past Friday was the 13th<\/sup> and I had a football game to do \u2013 undefeated Nazareth<\/a> at undefeated Freedom.\u00a0 I always plan to arrive at the venue by 5:00pm for a 7:00pm game.\u00a0 When I get to Bethlehem School District Stadium I ALWAYS park in the same place \u2013 just across the street from the stadium.\u00a0 It allows easy entrance and, more importantly, easy exit.\u00a0 But, my space was taken!\u00a0 That never happens.<\/p>\n

I was forced to find another.\u00a0 Okay, no big deal.<\/p>\n

About 20 minutes before the start of the game, I was informed that the officials I was given during the week were all changed.\u00a0 This meant that our graphic was completely wrong.\u00a0 Luckily, we managed to make the change before game time, but I was left wondering why the change.<\/p>\n

The game began and, as is the norm, I wanted to get a report from Tony Cocca, our sideline reporter, before the opening kickoff.\u00a0 His microphone would not work and never worked for the rest of the night.\u00a0 He could hear us.\u00a0 We could not hear him.<\/p>\n

When a touchdown is scored, I quickly have to recap the drive and make some notes so I can recap when necessary.\u00a0 Freedom<\/a> scored in the second period to make it 14-13.\u00a0 I started writing \u2013 time of score, who scored, how many TDs the player has scored this season, etc.\u00a0 After all, the extra point was a given.\u00a0 The Freedom kicker, up to that point, was a perfect 14 for 14.\u00a0 He missed, but I missed the miss!<\/p>\n

For the next ten minutes or so, I kept giving the score as being tied \u2013 14-14. \u00a0I asked my color analyst why he didn\u2019t point out my mistake.\u00a0 He told me he missed the miss, also.<\/p>\n

Later in the game, I \u201cpromo-ed\u201d a game we had dropped from the schedule.\u00a0 That\u2019s right, I was building up the viewers\u2019 expectations for another game to follow, but I was wrong.\u00a0 The game was originally scheduled but then dropped from the schedule.<\/p>\n

The culmination of the night was the outcome.\u00a0 Every sportswriter (10 of them) picked Freedom to win the game.\u00a0 Nazareth won 35-33.\u00a0 Freedom was forced to go for a two-point conversion (because of the missed extra point that I originally missed, too).\u00a0 They failed.<\/p>\n

As I walked back to my car wondering where I had to park it, I began to think that maybe this Friday the 13th<\/sup> stuff has some merit to it.<\/p>\n

Thank goodness, it only comes rarely!\u00a0 KNOCK ON WOOD!<\/p>\n

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

    \n
  1. Two of the superstars in the NFL<\/a>, Ben Roethlisberger of the Steelers<\/a> and Drew Brees of the Saints<\/a>, may both be facing surgery after this past Sunday\u2019s games. Roethlisberger grabbed his throwing elbow after throwing a pass and Brees injured his wrist and thumb after hitting the hand of a defensive tackle.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. Time for my Saquon Barkley mention (seems to come up every week). His presence has me now watching the Giants<\/a>, too.\u00a0 He is great; his team is awful.\u00a0 And Eli Manning (I know his offensive line is awful) looks lost out there.\u00a0 He has no one to throw to and he seems to panic at times.\u00a0 It is time to see what his backup Daniel Jones can do.\u00a0 I mean, come on.\u00a0 I want to enjoy the Barkley games.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. Who will beat the Patriots<\/a>? No one until maybe November.\u00a0 That\u2019s when they have Baltimore<\/a>, Philadelphia<\/a>, Kansas City<\/a> and Dallas<\/a>.\u00a0 If they win those and Tom Brady stays healthy, it could be 16-0.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n
        1. Remember Keith Jackson, Don Meredith, and Howard Cosell behind the microphones for Monday Night Football<\/a>? That was (are you kidding me?) 50 years ago.\u00a0 September 21, 1970 was the first broadcast of Monday Night Football.\u00a0 The Browns <\/a>played the Jets<\/a> that night.\u00a0 They played each other this week on (you guessed it) Monday Night Football.\u00a0 The Browns won.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
            \n
          1. The high school football just gets better and better each week. RCN-TV has a terrific football lineup this weekend.\u00a0 On Friday night at 9:30pm, the undefeated Nazareth Blue Eagles take on the once-defeated Golden Hawks of Bethlehem Catholic<\/a>, who \u201cmercy-ruled\u201d Parkland<\/a> this past Saturday.\u00a0 Our LIVE game at 7:00pm features Parkland at Liberty<\/a>.\u00a0 Both teams already have two losses and cannot afford another.\u00a0 Join us.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            GARY\u2019GUESSES (LAST WEEK \u201311-5) \u00a0(YEAR-TO-DATE \u2013 22-9-1\u00a0 71%)<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

            JACKSONVILLE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

            GREEN BAY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

            PHILADELPHIA<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

            KANSAS CITY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

            BUFFALO<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

            INDIANAPOLIS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

            MINNESOTA<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

            NEW ENGLAND<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

            DALLAS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

            TAMPA BAY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

            CAROLINA<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

            SEATTLE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

            CHARGERS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

            SAN FRANCISCO<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

            RAMS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

            CHICAGO<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

            \u00a0<\/strong><\/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. I am not a superstitious guy.\u00a0 I have opened an umbrella in my office.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure I have walked under a ladder (although I…<\/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":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFriday the 13th - 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=\"Friday the 13th - ATVN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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. 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