Round 2 to the Shamokin Indians, 70-40

"It was the best of times, it was the worse of times." In the opening line of a Tale of Two Citites, by Dickens, you are probably not as good on your best day and not as bad on your worst.

Shamokin Area was able to pour it on Shikellamy this afternoon with healthy dose of team offense, relentless boards, and stifling defense.

Brantley Osborne of Shikellamy who was honored for scoring a 1000 points earlier in the week against Shamokin was held to one field goal and three foul shots. Two came when he entered the game to shoot technical fouls. Andrew Mantz, the Shikellamy big man, was held to one field goal and two points.

The photo of the game below is most of the Shamokin nucleus sitting on the bench enjoying the rest of the fourth quarter.

The Greatest Cardinal of All?

REMEMBERING PAT TILLMAN

In a professional sportsworld filled with vanity, Pat Tillman gave up millions and elisted in US Army Rangers back in 2004. Hopefully, the NFL will remember him this weekend. April will mark 5 years since Tillman was KIA in a "friendly fire" incident in Afghanistan.

Pat, we will never forget.

62 Million for 230 Beds at SCI-Coal Township

It was reported in today's Daily-Item, the SCI-Coal Township is expected to expand by 230 beds or one housing unit.

If you look inside the numbers, that is $270,000 for each bed or $540, 000 for each cell. It would be interesting to see the cost breakdown.

I believe the original prison, built in the early 90's, had a price tag of 55 million. A prison recently built and named SCI-Forest had a 138 million dollar pricetag according to the DOC website in 2004.

Do we have a story here????

Fly on Freebird

Thank you for the music, Billy Powell

Wasilewski a Black Bear

Marcus commits to Maine.

Music for Driving in PA During the Winter

Questions of the Day for Shamokin Basketball?

Why would Shamokin play Shikellamy on Saturday at 12:30 pm (approx.) for a varsity tipoff? The gym at Shikellamy was 85% full on Tuesday night with a loud playoff atmosphere crowd.

Where was the News-Item coverage with at least a picture or a headline? Southern and Mifflinburg wrestling made the headline with a team dual tournament. Lourdes and Tri-Valley girls were battling for a division lead in the Schuylkill League.

Using Dan Burda to cover a mediocre North Schuylkill (10-8) against Jim Thorpe with a 6-win, 10-loss record???? Plus, the game received the largest photo space.

Shamokin and Shikellamy were both 7-0 in the Heartland Conference and the game went down to the wire. Ouch!!!!!!

Happy Chinese New Year!!!

THE YEAR OF THE OX

It was actually yesterday but I couldn't resist.

Shamokin Wins Round One Against Shik

Shamokin 63 - Shikellamy 56

Scott Marcinek sinks foul shot late in 4th

Forbes on Forbes in the 1st

Shamokin got the best of Shikellamy in the first of two games to be played within five days. Both teams played well and Saturday afternoon's rematch should be exciting.

From the game within a game, Osborne did a good job guarding Foster Renn of Shamokin. Sean Ciborowski did a great job on Osborne and also provided 11 points in the first half.

No Smoking In Shamokin

With the PA Clean Indoor Air Act becoming law on 9/11/2008, the Patriot News have obtained a list from the PA Department of Health under a Right-To-Know request. Among the possible violaters was a state office building.

Here is a complete list of 329 possible violaters. Local establishments noted are the Endzone in Kulpmont and Buster's near Danville.

The first Obama radio address

What is going on behind the scenes? Check out Dr. Robert Reich former Secretary of Labor under President Clinton.

As for me, I will be taking in two basketball games today. At Bucknell University, it is Pat Flannery Day. I hope to have some good pictures to post.

The New Shamokin Football Coach is.....

When Shamokin Area hosts Southern Area to open the 2009 season, Daniel Foor will be the Indians head coach.

Foor was not present at the board meeting this evening.

Shamokin to hire new football coach today

Shamokin is scheduled to hire a new football coach when the school board conducts their monthly meeting tonight at the high school.

Sources close to the Coal Region Voice indicate that hire will be from out of the area.

Anyone that applies for any head football coaching job in the high school ranks doesn't doubt their own ability with x's and o's. What seperates the successful from the not successful is the ability to motivate 75 kids (junior high on up), parents, caretakers(we are living in those times) and assistant coaches for the greater good of the program. It sounds simple, but it is not easy.

Whoever is hired tonight, I wish them well. For the seniors, even though this is your third head coach in four seasons, it is time to show the leadership that maybe we lacking by your past school boards.

Obama Addresses the Globe

Cheney at the Inauguration

This picture of Cheney was snapped sometime this morning. Courtesy of Robert.

With these words.....

"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President
of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and
defend the Constitution of the United States."

Less than 24 hours to go.

In less than 24 hours we will have a new President of the United States. Barack Hussein Obama will take the oath of office to defend the Constitution at noon tomorrow.

To my conservative friends, don't be scared that someone's middle name is "Who-sane".

New Philadelphia Eagles Fight Song

Almost!!!

It is never good go to an NFC championship and come up short or a Super Bowl for that matter. With a 5-5-1 record at one point in the season, the Philadelphia Eagles almost pulled it off. It is still a good run when you knock Dallas and the Giants out of a the playoffs.

Heck, it was a miracle we were there.

Paybacks are Bitch

UP YOURS BIDWELL!!!!!

Great article by Pat Lester in the Allentown Morning Call. Does an owner really deserve a championship after charging draftpicks for hats on draft day????

Middle of January

Winter Wonderland

Mike Brennan, A Look Back

Mike Brennan decided this past week that it was time to move on and make a move closer to home. Without a doubt, Brennan has been the most scrutinized coach in Pennsylvania over the last 9 seasons. Mostly due to the online community.

Back in 2000, the MCA Board decided to take a chance on a coach who was 7-15 at his alma mater, Pottsville Nativity BVM. All Brennan did was come in a win two PIAA AA titles and one EC title in his first three seasons going 37-5.

Then in 2003, Mount Carmel lost the D4 final to Line Mountain. Yes, Line Mountain!!!! Then the online community was relentless and stayed that way to the very end.

In the end, Brennan went 84-26 at MCA with a 76% winning percentage.

As a broadcaster covering MCA from until 2005, Brennan had a great working relationship with his assistants and valued their input. His greatest talent as head coach was preparing players for the first year as varsity starters and often in different positions.

Two players that come to mind of the Brennan era are Vince Yasenchak and Trevor Demko. Both started out as quarterbacks. Both have achieved all-state status as defensive players. Yasenchak played in the early years while Demko will be a senior next season.

A few years ago, I asked Southern head coach Jim Roth about playing Mount Carmel who at the time played the Red Tornadoes in Week 3. To paraphrase Roth, the Southern head coach said no one prepares people better for varsity football better than Mike Brennan. Going into the games against Mount Carmel, we know what they have based on last season. It is hard to account for the junior varsity guys who make great strides in the off season. No one is better at that than Mike Brennan and his staff.

It is hard to say who will replace Brennan at MCA. The Red Tornadoes have alumni all over the landscape in high school and college head coaching positions. You can even watch Brett Veach on the Philadelphia Eagles sidelines next to Andy Reid. The board and five votes will eventual pick the new head coach. Asking a simple question, would you want your son to play for this person?

Mount Carmel has been in good hands for 9 seasons.

Keep the Curse Alive

By: STEVE LIENERT

It's safe to say the good folks in Pottsville, Pa. will be rooting hard for the Eagles when they face the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday.

Not because they have a particular fondness for the Eagles, but because they have particular disdain for the Cardinals.

In 1925, the Cardinals were awarded an NFL Championship they may or may not have earned.

What is clear is that title originally belonged to the Pottsville Maroons and the people of Pottsville feel the Cardinals and, more specifically, the Bidwill family stole their championship.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and Pottsville Mayor John Reiley campaign for the title to be returned.

The Cardinals have been cursed ever since.

The Maroons, who already had one of the most successful semi-pro teams in the country, joined the NFL that year and took the league by storm.

The Frankford Yellow Jackets, who later became the Eagles, finished with a decent 13-7 record that season, but it included a 49-0 loss to Pottsville. The Maroons, however, went 10-2 with seven shutouts and outscored opponents by a 270-45 margin.

Late in the season, according to the Eagles Encyclopedia, the Maroons traveled to Chicago's Comiskey Park to play the Cardinals for what was considered to be the 1925 NFL Championship Game. The Maroons went on to defeat the Cardinals 21-7.

After that, though, the Maroons scheduled a game against a former Notre Dame all-star team, including the legendary Four Horsemen, to be played in Philadelphia. The only problem was that the NFL said the Maroons couldn't play in the city because it was Yellow Jackets' territory and, perhaps more importantly, the Yellow Jackets had a home game scheduled the same day.

Then NFL Commissioner Joe Carr warned the Maroons in writing not to play in Philadelphia, but the Maroons did anyway, defeating the college all stars 9-7 in front of their former coach, Knute Rockne. Considering that college football was regarded as a better brand of football at the time, it was widely regarded that the win helped legitimize the NFL.

However, Carr was not amused. He canceled the Maroons' last game of the season, suspended the club and returned the franchise to the league. Pottsville had its franchise returned in 1926, but the Cardinals, who allegedly played its last home game against a team that was so bad it used high school players during the game, were awarded the 1925 title because it had two more wins than the Maroons.

According to a story published last February in the Super Bowl XLII preview edition of ESPN the Magazine, then Cardinals owner Chris O'Brien called the championship "bogus" and never accepted it.

Seven years later, though, the Bidwill family bought the team and decided they wanted the 1925 title to call their own. Until then, the Maroons were recognized as the champs. Just like that, Pottsville's only claim to NFL fame was gone and the townspeople put a hex on the franchise.

As recently as 2003, at the NFL owners meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell tried to have the title returned to the Maroons in time for Pottsville's bicentennial celebration in 2006.

Even President George W. Bush chimed in on the subject. According to the article in ESPN the Magazine, Bush sent a handwritten note to ESPN calling the Maroons' case "illuminating."
However, the owners, on the behest of current Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill, shot down the request by a 30-2 vote. The only two votes in favor of awarding the Maroons the title were by Steelers owner Dan Rooney and Eagles Chairman/CEO Jeffrey Lurie.

Arizona fans have bought into the curse put on them by Pottsvillians. They have discussed raising money to send a replica trophy to be given to the city. But until the 1925 NFL Championship is returned to Pottsville, the Curse of the Maroons will haunt the Cardinals.
It may not mean anything, but the Eagles will be happy to take any help they can get.

Cross-posted at Save the Maroons.

Mike Brennan resigns at Mount Carmel

The Coal Region Voice has learned Mike Brennan has resigned to take the head coaching job at Blue Mountain. More on this story as it develops.

Also, six candidates for the vacant football job have been interviewed by Shamokin Area athletic committee. Expect Shamokin to name a coach on January 21st at the meeting of the board.

Eagles advance to NFC title game

TAKE THAT!!!!!

It wasn't Chuck Bednarik laying out Frank Gifford for 18 months in 1960, but it was good enough for me as the Eagles advanced to next weeks NFC title game against the Arizona Cardinals.

These are the same Cardinals owned by the same chump Bidwell family since 1932. Remember them? They claimed the 1925 title even though the lost it on the field to the Pottsville Maroons. Time for the curse of the Maroons to rear it's head next Sunday at 3:00 pm.

Final Thoughts on the Bowl Season

Once again 66 universities, the press, some coaches and a computer decided Florida is the best team in the country. David Jones of the Patriot-News outlines it best.

As I see it, the current economy will have to affect the ever expanding bowl line up. The Big Ten with two teams in BCS games and teams in 5 other bowl games shared over 40 million dollars. With that type of change floating around and conference that went 1-6 in the postseason, don't look for a playoff anytime soon.

Mount Carmel Girl Gets the Boot

Dominique Carta from Mount Carmel was eliminated on last night's airing of The Bachelor. She was a neighbor of mine when I resided in Mount Carmel.

Shamokin bests Danville in Round 1

Joe Klebon making a point after a Shamokin technical foul

Forbes closes out 3rd quarter

Colon Cancer News

Erika rocks in 2009!!!!

The Rematch, Shamokin and Danville

Do the Indians want revenge???