Losing Legends, Icons and Growing in 2014

This is a late but better than never.  It seems like when a year comes to a close, most if not all media outlets do a year in review.  As individuals, we pause to reflect on our own lives and make resolutions for the future.  The resolutions may life changing or they could end up on the scrap heap in our throw away society.

In reporting and broadcasting high school sports for the past 25 years, no two coaches dominate a conversation like that of Joseph "Jazz" Diminick of Mount Carmel Area and Robert Probert of Shamokin Area.  Diminick was a football and track coach often receiving statewide and national attention in football while Probert had statewide and collegiate coaching respect throughout the state and country.  They were also PIAA officials in various sports.

We lost both this past year.  I only played two games against Coach Diminick and none against Coach Probert.  Both were in the twilight of their coaching careers while I was in the dawn of reporting and broadcasting.  Most of their personal interaction with me came from genuine mutual respect.  Both actually liked my work and complimented me personally.  I even got to officiate with Mr. Diminick.

I can't speak for former players if they loved or hated playing for either.  I am sure as time went on in former players lives, they were glad they did with much appreciation.  I don't know what the world of scholastic sports will bring in the next half century in the coal region.  I knew at one time when you left the region, you were looked at in high regard due to the influence of these two men.  They will be missed.

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SO LONG HARRY'S

 

 

On August 16th, 2014, Shamokin said goodbye to Harry's Grille.  The eatery opened by Harry Sanzatto in 1941 and remained in the same spot operated by the same family for generations.  The restaurant was known for a variety of fine food at reasonable prices. 

 

 

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GROWING

 

 

2014 was a bridge for change in my and my sons' lives.   Jonathan, my younger of two boys, completed his final year of Little League Baseball.  Although sports are far from being the be all cure all, his final year and final play brought about some excitement and pride.

 

It started out with Jonathan not wanting to play in his final season.  It then moved to reluctant practice and playing a new position.  As the season wore on, the team started to click together.  Jonathan was having fun playing a kids game.  Isn't that what it is all about?  

 

In his final play as a Little League player, Jonathan had the walk off hit to deliver the league championship for his team.  Although most of this will be forgotten by players and fans who were there by opening day 2015, he was able to see that you can overcame anything with hard work and perseverance.  That is what he will keep in his trophy case.  

Shamokin vs. Mount Carmel for the Coal Bucket

I was a little surprised this week when Mount Carmel hopped on a bus and headed down to Lourdes Regional to practice on Tuesday.  It was two days and high temperatures past the 7 inches of snow in October.  Looking at one or two home playoff games after this week, I am guessing the practice part of the Silver Bowl wasn't that great and Lourdes was just a little bit better.

When I interview Coach Foor about a half hour later for his weekly radio bite, he was a little surprised.  In maybe on of the best quotes in a while Coach Foor said, "I wish I would have known they were up there (Lourdes), I would have asked them to come down to scrimmage."

Once again, Shamokin will be big underdogs when trying to reclaim the Coal Bucket for the first time since 1995.  They do not have the size or speed that the Red Tornadoes posses on either side of the ball. One of the things the Indians have improved on since Southern is turnover ratio which right now sits at +5.  They were near hitting double digits on the negative side.

Mount Carmel comes into the game on the heels of big come from behind win against Southern Columbia with a two-point conversion with 36 seconds left to win 22-21.  However, in week going into week 10, the Red Tornadoes really haven't settled on personnel and have been inconsistent on offense all year.

The match up of the evening will be if Shamokin will be able to play man coverage on Mount Carmel.  The Indians employ Southern's defense to a tee and blitz aggressively.  If the Indians have a coverage problem it can be a long night.

Mount Carmel - Lewisburg Round 1

In a week where the Susquehanna Valley was revisiting June of 1972, there was one football game played in Central Pennsylvania.  Lewisburg hosted Mount Carmel at Christy Mathewson Stadium at Bucknell University.  The Red Tornadoes scored 27 unanswered points for a 27-16 win over last years District IV AA Champions.  The Green Dragons were attempting to beat Mount Carmel 3 games in a row.

You can read the coverage of the game here and here.

Some observations from the sidelines:

Merle Moscarello is the best player in the Heartland Conference.  Runs like Ricco Rosini alum of Southern Columbia.  Moscarello has that rare combination of power and speed.

Mount Carmel although highly touted at this time still has a long way to improve.  Right now, too many fumbles and turnovers on offense very sloppy tackling on defense for a Red Tornado team.

The Mount Carmel O-line was very good in pass protection and very good in the second half.

Lewisburg is very quick on turf and maybe more athletic in week 2 than Mount Carmel.

Mount Carmel should scrap the old option play with Varano trying to read the defensive end.

In team spirit, it was great to see the team rally around Zach Wasilewski especially without Shustack and Lamb in the backfield.

This is a rematch worth seeing sometime in November.


As far as the decision to play football last night.  It was totally up to Lewisburg.  They have to look in the mirror today and wonder if it was worth playing with university students being evacuated and part of the town being flooded a few blocks away.

For the players, it was still hard to gauge, how the weather affected each squad.  I guess we will have to hold judgement until November.

 

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.

Southern Preps for the Playoffs.

Southern Columbia had a stiff test in week 10 as Danville put up an aerial show with nearly 300 yards in the air. The Ironmen fell short 47-34 and so did their playoff hopes. When you look at the scope of 10 weeks, the Tigers replaced many starters, had some injuries and still managed to post a 9-1 record. Southern managed to host a home game when Line Mountain fell from first to third with a 14-12 loss to Millersburg. Millersburg also claimed the Twin Valley Championship. Analysis on Line Mountain will come later in the week.

MOUNT CARMEL

Mount Carmel fell to Selinsgrove at Harold Bolig Stadium for the fifth consecutive time, 34-19. With the number one seed going to Towanda, the Red Tornadoes could have had a game at home with an easier opponent but with get Montoursville in the first round and possibly Loyalsock in the second round. The Red Tornadoes will go as far their run defense takes it. In 1999, Mount Carmel won the district championship being the fourth seed out of four teams. Look for their long bustrips to Biglerville and Chichester to pay dividends now. Although Montoursville and Loyalsock aren't' that far, their will still be the diesel fumes in the air.

SHAMOKIN

There was alot of hoopla when Dave Zielinskie assumed control over the Indians for his second stint as head coach. However, 15 years did pass since the Indians walked off Crispin Field in the playoffs in 1992 in Zielinkie's last season at the helm. With a loss to Southern in the opening week and a week four blowout to Mount Carmel, Shamokin was left without local support to play the rest of the season. To the team's credit, they played the likes of Mifflinburg, Cedar Cliff, Pottsville, Selinsgrove and Blue Mountain tough. They did not bow to the "mercy rule". Week 10 rewarded them with their first win of the season over Shikellamy. Eight out of ten teams on Shamokin's schedule made the postseason. Analysis on the 2007 season and what the Indians need for 2008 will be upcoming.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Electricity expensive? The lights were quick to go out at Danville last week against Southern. With most of the Southern team still on the field and about 100 friends and family the place went black leaving everyone to find a way out.

There was a great article on Mount Carmel's sports information director Phil Gergen in Monday's News-Item. Gergen and long time statician, Jose Gonzalo, have put in so much effort over the years compiling two history books and maintaining records and statistics. Gergen has also undertaken the huge task of putting Mount Carmel game film on DVD. The game film goes back to the the 1940's. Remember that not includes MCA, but any opponent they had since that time. Chris Doleman, a former Minnesota Viking standout, is in one the games when William Penn (York, PA) played Mount Carmel in 1980.

MCA-Chichester......What Happened????

Mount Carmel fans who attended Saturday afternoon's game in Boothwyn are wondering what happened. The others will have to wait until Wednesday night when the see the broadcast on television.



For those of you that weren't there, Mount Carmel rallied from a 28-14 in the final 10:12 of the game only to have Chris Smith complete the winning touchdown pass not once, but twice in the final 47 seconds for the victory. Mike Brennan haters please stop reading here. It is not Mike Brennan's fault and here's why. The problem is not only Mount Carmel's.


For the past three years, I have been covering Shamokin on radio. I have seen the opposition getting deep on third and even fourth and long against the Indians and come up with receptions almost weekly. I think two things to look at are the sign of the times and defensive schemes. Weekly I drive from one of the Shamokin Area to other and do not see kids playing a friendly game of touch football out in the streets, parks or fields. Back in the old sandlot days, you had a quarterback who would drop straight back and have a rusher counting "one Mississippi". The "rusher" would attempt to tag or tackle the QB on a five count or three on third fourth down. the remaining offensive players would go out for the pass while the remaining defensive players would try to cover them. Five seconds of coverage wow......who would of thought??? When these sandlotters joined a team these skills acquired in the sandlot were refined.


Most schemes in high school involve defensive backs playing press or bump and run coverage. In most cases, kids are getting beat off the line. This takes a long time to perfect and be good at it. You can still play man coverage on not have to press. Average quarterbacks look like John Elway. Jon and Brett Veach, Nick Sebes, Dave Evans, Drew Letcavage just to name a few were great in the secondary. They also played offense too. Brennan and his staff pleaded with their team not to let anyone BEHIND them. Teach, coach, preach all of the above were done. The kids have to say to themselves one day, this is our situation and I don't have to ask coach......I already know.

PLAYOFFS

Many of the faithful are worried about the playoff chances, but three teams made the post season last season with 6-4 records. Mount Carmel will be favored in their next two games and have should have close games with Pottsville and Selinsgrove. Mount Carmel thought hasn't played well at Harold Bolig Field over the years and haven't won in Selinsgrove since 1997. The Red Tornadoes are 1-7 against the Seals since 1999.

LEN ESHMONT

Every Season since 1957, the Len Eshmont Award is given to the MVP of the San Francisco 49er's. I would like to thank the reader for sharing the article with me over the weekend on the 50th anniversary of the award. Here is the article.

Dave Shinskie assigned to Single-A Fort Myers

According to a spokesperson for the Twins organization, Mount Carmel Area product Dave Shinskie will be assigned to the Fort Myers long season single-A team which begins play on April 5th. Shinskie had an outstanding season with Beloit in 2006 coming off of injury in 2005. Shinskie was called up to double-A New Britain and appeared in 11 games late in the season. Shinskie had several solid outings in double-A along with a few diappointing ones contributing to some bad stats.

In one appearance that could be found this spring, Shinskie gave up 5 runs with 3 being earned in a loss to the Pirates appearing in the 8th inning.

Fort Myers is the highest single-A classification for the Minnesota Twins.