September 9

Out and about in the morning, I noticed an unusual object in the sky overhead. It was bright, shiny and looked familiar, then I realized what it was: THE SUN (well, it has been several days since we've seen it). In the evening I was at McCaskey for football as the Red Tornado hosted York. This was the high school version of the War Of The Roses much as the Barnstormers and the Revolution play it in pro baseball. For the second straight week the JPM offense put on a show but the defense was again the downfall in a 41-33 loss. Jon Hulyo threw three TD passes, two to Diante Cherry and one to Aaron Swinton. Swinton scored three touchdowns in three different ways, he also ran for a score and returned a kickoff for a touchdown as well. The loss drops the club to 0-2 and the road does not get any easier, on the 16th they meet Lancaster Catholic at Rossmere Stadium. It will be the Crusaders' home opener and for me the start of my fifteenth year doing the PA there when I'm available. JPM and LCHS met in 2010 for the first time since 1989, that game was at McCaskey and it was a strange feeling for me. I can imagine the game at Rossmere will be even stranger. The Eastern League playoffs are finally underway, after dropping the first game in New Hampshire the R-Phils rebounded with a win on Friday so the two games scheduled for Reading are all systems go. Game three is on Saturday with game four on Sunday, the R-Phils holding home-field advantage in what has become a 2-of-3 series. Take care, thanks for reading.