This blog is an attempt to cover some of my interests which are colon cancer, high school sports, and progressive politics. These subjects will vary in interest on any given day, week or month.
I have been working as a free lance journalist since 1988. This translation means stringer. I worked in the print media from 1988 to 1996, and have been working in radio from 1996 to present.
With the start of official practice for scholastic football players in Pennsylvania, there will be at least one team gone from the annual August event. Lourdes Regional will not field a football team and entered into a co-op agreement with Mount Carmel Area High School. Economics and numbers finally caught up to the Red Raiders.
This is kind of a far cry from the early 70's when Mount Carmel, Lourdes Regional and Shamokin won 3 consecutive Eastern Conference titles which was the only championship to be won.
Lourdes Regional has fielded a football since the early 60's when Leo Mulhall was the first head coach and is the namesake for the current stadium.
I will be off to my 25th Class Reunion today at Helfrick's Grove in Elysburg. When we entered Lourdes Regional in September of 1980 the #1 song in the land was "Emotional Rescue" by the Rolling Stones. When we graduated on May 25th, 1984, the #1 song was "Hello" by Lionel Richie.
My favorite was from Bruce Springsteen called "No Surrender".
Shamokin Area School Director Tracey Witmer submits Letter to the Editor in November 14th issue of the News-Item in response to the article published on November 12th.
LourdesRegional
Tonight Lourdes Regional and Tri-Valley will battle for the Eastern Conference Class A Championship tonight at Leo A. Mulhall Stadium in Shamokin. This will be Lourdes first trip to the finals since 1996 losing 48-26 to Lakeland.
Back in 1974, Lourdes Regional tied West Scranton 14-14 for a share of the EC big school championship with Mike Klembara at the helm. During a three-game stretch in that magic season, Lourdes defeated Pottsville, Berwick and Shamokin.
It has been 25 years since I donned on the Cerise and White for Lourdes Regional. We went 9-1 in the regular season and were edged out of the playoffs by a Southern Columbia team who went on to defeat Mahanoy Area 10-0 to win there first EC title back in 1983. As fate would have it, I will be broadcasting the Southern-Line Mountain game on Bill95.
To the 24 players of Lourdes Regional who practice and sweat it out like any other team, savor the moment playing for a championship. One last thing......win, win, team...rah!!!!
District IV'sappearance was a short one for the most teams with only Hughesville, North Penn, Northeast Bradford and East Juniata moving to the next round.
Around the area, Lourdes boys and girls probably had the best chance to advance, but turnovers and poor foul shooting plagued them both. Shamokin girls and Southern boys both ran into teams that have been traditional powers in their divisions.
A mild surprise was that Selinsgrove's boys and girls games weren't even close. One of the main things noticed in the state playoffs the last few years is the ability to get good shots and the field goals to turnover ratios. Area teams have been making too many turnovers and many unforced. (See Shamokin Area boys early exit).
INJURY BUG??
The injury bug hit early and often for most area teams. Not only was it a problem on the high school level, but also on local college.
Bucknell Men - played 5 games this season to date with full roster.
Susquehanna - lost Landmark Conference leading scorer Josh Robinson late in the season.
Milton - lost all time leading scorer Anthony Fannick in District IV Quarters.
Lourdes - lost tough rebounder Tyler Reichwein late in the season.
Southern Area - lost Colin Klebon through much of of the first half of the league schedule.
All we could do is get healthy, stay there and go at again next season.
In the girls basketball game between Lourdes Regional and Shikellamy, two different newspapers reported two different winners. The Daily Itemhad Shikellamy winning 59-58 while the News-Item had Lourdes Regional winning 58-54.
I guess now I have to make a phone call to see who won after buying both newpapers.
How does a team with 24 players and a 6-1 record become so controversial and maligned? Once again as this football season winds down, Lourdes Regional finds itself at 6-1 and challenging for a post season birth. The double edge sword for Lourdes is the post season. If the Red Raiders qualify for district and opt out, they are ducking the competition. If they accept the district bid, their schedule doesn't measure up to any of the teams that qualified or got displaced.
This past Tuesday, I made my way up to Lourdes Regional and asked coach Mike Klembara about his teams post season plans. "It is easy," said Klembara. "The PIAA made the decision for us." "The way the class system is structured right now on the state level, there is no way we could compete." Klembara indicating about the PIAA possibly moving to six classes in the future. "As athletic director, I have to look at what is best for the kids not only in football, but all sports."
Head Coach Jim Roth of Southern Columbia(he has mentioned this to me long before the current situation) along with the PSFCA have long advocated a six class system for football. For the most part, it would move the super schools into a 6A class. The bottom schools population wise would move into the 1A class. The remaining four classes would be divided up among the remaining four classes. Part of the hang up is the local districts loosing control of a playoff format. With 25 to 30 teams in 6A and 1A the 12 district structure isn't really needed. The biggest disparity in Pennsylvania high school football are small quad A's trying to compete with the big boys and small single A's competing with the top of class A.
Looking at the Lourdes situation right now, they have not had a freshman in over 20 years. They cannot commit to a JV schedule due to numbers. On the bright side, the Red Raiders are getting contributions from the basketball team. The first eight players on the basketball team are playing football. Also, the football team competes with soccer and golf for able bodies.
Charlie Roth of the News-Item has a good take on the situation here. HarodRaker of the Daily Item has his take here. 24 student-athletes at Lourdes Regional don't need to apologize to anyone.
