November 28-30

Thursday was the typical holiday for this time of year, nothing special going except for football on TV all day. Black Friday was a hockey night in downtown Reading as the Cincinnati Cyclones made their lone appearance of the season. In hockey it's often said that any strong rivalry is based on playoff history as opposed to the regular season, if that's true the Royals and Cyclones have all that and more. The franchises have met four times in the postseason, the Royals lost to Cincinnati in 2008 and 2010 (both times in agonizing fashion) before ousting the Cyclones in '11 and '13 (the latter on the road to the Cup). On this night at the Arena the Royals fell behind 3-0 and never recovered as the 'Clones took it 4-1. Ethan Cox scored the lone goal for the Royals, Brandon Anderson took the loss in net. Another member of the Cup team returned as an opponent, over the summer ex-Royal Barry Almeida signed an AHL deal with the Nashville Predators organization. He was named the game's #2 star and although now a visitor he was warmly cheered by the crowd. The Royals next play on December 6 in Wheeling before returning home on the 7th. Saturday was largely an open day (Jenny and I had done lunch on Friday since she was at home), in the morning I was at McCaskey for the first basketball scrimmage of the new season. The gym was overhauled over the summer with new lighting and new bleachers, this was my first chance to see the upgrades in person (our gym opened in 1973 so the renovations were certainly needed and welcome). The team is itself in a overhaul of its own, the 2013 squad was senior-dominated so the roster will be virtually brand-new. Susquehanna Township (from suburban Harrisburg) was the opponent, the teams played six ten-minute periods. After it was over Coach Powell was pleased with the effort but correctly noted that there is a lot of work left to be done. Most of the roster comes from the junior varsity ranks, over the last two years the JV combined record was 36-2 so they have had success at that level. It's all a matter of how that success will translate to the varsity level and how quickly the chemistry develops. The talent is there, the experience is not. It will be interesting to see how quickly it comes together. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 25-27

The early part of the week was uneventful, overnight Monday into Tuesday rain moved into the area. Had street hockey still been going we would never have played on Tuesday evening and Wednesday may have been doubtful as well. There were some snow showers on Wednesday but they were of little concern, the big story was the wind and cold. Wednesday was a hockey night in Reading, the ladies and I did afternoon lunch a day early once again (the fact that Thursday was a holiday was another reason). On this night the Elmira Jackals made their third of nine appearances at the Arena and there was a definite feeling of deja vu. For a second consecutive Wednesday the Royals played at home, worked overtime and into the shootout and emerged victorious. The Jackals took an early lead before Domenic Monardo tied it at 1-1. In the second period Monardo struck again to give the Royals the lead, a few minutes later T.J. Syner hit the net to make it 3-1. The Jackals fought back to tie it 3-3 in the third, after a scoreless overtime the Royals took the shootout two goals to one to earn the 4-3 win for Brandon Anderson. The victory ups the team's record to 10-5-0, the boys are at home on Black Friday against Cincinnati. The drive home after the game was dry, the precipitation was long gone but it was still bitterly cold and windy. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 24

Sunday afternoon soccer at the Santander Arena as the Pennsylvania Roar played its second home game. The MISL has seven teams in a single division, four in the eastern part of the country and three in the Midwest. The schedule is geographically oriented, the Roar faces each of the Midwest clubs once at home. The eastern opponents visit more frequently, the Roar host Syracuse and Rochester twice each and Baltimore (as the closest rival) three times. On this day the Milwaukee Wave made its only appearance in Reading, the Wave is a long-established franchise with history dating back to the 1980s. The Roar debuted its mascot before the game as "Roary" (a ferocious black bear "from the mountains of Pennsylvania") made his first public appearance. It's been well-documented that the Roar is very much a new organization both on the field and off, I guess for me the true appeal is bringing my expertise in what I do to the organization and watching things grow literally from the ground up. All things considered I thought the game presentation at the opener went very well, on this day it went even better as everyone seems to be getting more comfortable in their roles (myself included). Indoor soccer officiating crews include a referee who is stationed literally next to me at the penalty bench, before the game I asked him to keep me abreast of fouls called and other non-penalty violations so I could keep the crowd informed and make for a much better fan experience. As an expansion club the Roar has struggled to find chemistry early on, after a road loss on Friday they lost on this day to Milwaukee 21-4. The game was 4-4 in the second quarter before the Wave blew it open, the Roar goals (both of the two-point variety) were scored by Ptah Myers and Chris Williams. The club plays at home again on December 1. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 21-23

The weather has turned sharply colder the last few days, I doubt anybody is heartbroken that street hockey season is over. Morning errand runs were about all that happened on Thursday and Friday, the evenings were spent in the warmth and comfort of home. Friday was the 50th anniversary of a horrible day in American history, the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. There were a number of documentary retrospectives about it on TV. It's been said that anyone who was alive then remembers where they were when they heard the news, I was six years old in 1963 and I remember it as well. I was in the second grade, we were in class and the school principal came on the intercom to tell us he had heard on radio that President Kennedy had been shot. He put the microphone by the radio so we could hear the report as it aired. Over the next few days the aftermath was all that was on television from morning sign-on until late-night sign-off (back in the days when TV stations actually left the air overnight). At my age then I didn't fully understand everything but I knew that something truly terrible had happened. There has always been speculation about what happened that day in Dallas, fifty years later it is still debated and I imagine it will still be talked about in 2063. Saturday was another lunch day for me and Jenny, in the evening I was at the Lancaster Ice Rink. Millersville hosted Rutgers (the well-known university from New Jersey) in what was billed as a Salute To The Troops, a current serviceman and MU graduate dropped the ceremonial first puck. MU fell behind 3-0, rallied to get within one but ultimately lost 4-2. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 19-20

Nothing special going on Tuesday with street hockey done for the season. On Wednesday Jenny and I had our lunch date a day earlier than usual because it was a hockey night in downtown Reading. The Royals split a pair of games on the road over the weekend, on this night the Wheeling Nailers made their second of eight appearances at the Arena. The ECHL schedule is based largely on geography, Wheeling and Elmira are by far our most frequent opponents (even more so since Trenton is no longer in the league). The game stayed scoreless into the second period before the Nailers broke on top 2-0. From there Riley Gill closed the door as the boys climbed back into it on a score by Dustin Gazley. A third-period marker from Yannick Tifu tied the game at 2-2, after an scoreless overtime stanza the Royals took the shootout two goals to none to claim the 3-2 victory. The win is a third consecutive on home ice and improves the club's record  to 8-4-0 (4-3-0 at home). The Royals head back on the road for two over the weekend, the next home game is Wednesday the 27th against Elmira. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 18

The Sunday night rains were accompanied by high winds, I stopped by the rink on Monday morning fearing the worst and that's exactly what we had. The rink surface was absolutely BURIED under leaves, there was no way one man with one Billy-Goat was going to get anything accomplished. I put in an emergency SOS mayday call to our friend with the lawn care business (his name is Grant), he got back to me about twenty minutes later. By noon we were at the rink getting started, after he cleaned up the worst with his heavy equipment Miss Billy and I were able to finish things up. Grant has helped us out in a pinch before, luckily he was available or we may have had no choice but to postpone (besides, he had a vested interest because his team was playing the scheduled game). In the evening we convened for the final game of the season, "the only game in the universe" as the Midwest final came down to a fifth and deciding game. Much as the UniLords did in the East finals the Killbots rebounded from a two-game deficit to win the championship with a 5-2 victory. Two of our three championship series went the distance and both featured comebacks from 0-2 down, I'm not sure that's ever happened in our history. This may also have been the earliest end date for a fall season we've ever had. We only had two dates rained out, those games were all rescheduled within the regular season so the playoffs started with no delays. There have been years when we've been there in December trying to get things done before the first snow. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 16-17

Saturday lunch with the ladies in Quarryville, in the afternoon Wally joined me for the drive to Marty's house. From there we headed west across the river to York, the 'Ville was playing hockey at the York City Ice Arena. Wally knew Marty and I were going to this game, he asked to come along since he had never had the chance to see Devyn play. Gettysburg College was the opposing team, they regularly play home games at the YCIA (although in terms of mileage it's probably midway between Millersville and Gettysburg). In the pregame warmup Gettysburg only had six skaters on the ice, a seventh arrived right at game time and three more filtered in during the first period. We found out later that they routinely play shorthanded because they have a small roster. At any rate fatigue quickly became a factor as Millersville scored the first seven goals and won going away 7-2. There was nothing special on the calendar on Sunday, in the afternoon my mother and I took a trip to Columbia to visit relatives. My uncle Chester (my mother's brother) and aunt Marilyn are both in their 70s and have their share of health problems, he was recently in the hospital. My mother rarely gets to see her brother, since I had nothing going on it was a good day to make the trip (although it was hardly a long one, Columbia is only about ten miles west of Lancaster). It was a overcast day with rain in the forecast, the precipitation finally arrived in the evening hours. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 15

Friday afternoon: Jenny and her mother joined me for the drive to Berks County and a milestone evening for a new franchise. The Pennsylvania Roar hosted the Syracuse Silver Knights in the club's inaugural contest at the Arena. I'm familiar to a degree with indoor soccer but the evening was definitely a learning experience albeit an enjoyable one. As an expansion team the Roar will certainly have its share of growing pains, that was evident on this night as Syracuse won the game 18-7. In the MISL scoring is much like basketball, all goals are worth two points except those scored from behind a long-distance arc which are three points. The Silver Knights scored nine goals, all of the two-point variety. The "scores for the Roar" (my goal announcements tagline) came from MISL veteran Ptah Myers and local product Pete Rowley plus a 3-ball from Venezuelan native Angel Rivillo-Ruiz. After the game fans were invited onto the field for an autograph session with the team. In the fall of 2012 the Arena hosted an indoor lacrosse team, the Reading Rockets were successful in their own right but the league they played in was unstable and ultimately folded. The MISL is well-established and hopefully the Berks County fanbase-at-large gets behind this new venture. The Roar's next home date is on Sunday the 24th against the Milwaukee Wave. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 13-14

Still cold and windy on Wednesday as we continued street hockey playoffs at the rink. Both series still in progress could have ended on this night but neither did, the UniLords forged a fifth game in the East finals with a win over Whitmoyer Auto Group and the Killbots drew to within 2-1 in the Midwest with a victory over Yorgo's. Ron and Des worked both games, Wally ran the clock. On Thursday morning Jenny and I did our usual lunch date, in the afternoon I headed north on 222 for a meeting at the Arena. The Major Indoor Soccer League granted an expansion franchise to Reading for the '13-14 season, the Pennsylvania Roar plays its home opener on Friday the 15th. The meeting was for organizational purposes since many on the staff are new to their respective duties. Granted that I'm somewhat of an old hand at what I do but it will still be something different for me as well. From 1988 to 1991 Hershey had an indoor soccer team, the Impact played at the old Arena. I was there quite often and the games were always entertaining. The Roar plays ten games at the Arena, the season ends in March. By the time we were done and I was back in town the evening's hockey games were underway, I went to the rink for what remained. The Killbots forced a fifth and deciding game in the Midwest finals, that is scheduled on Monday the 18th. In the East finals the UniLords capped off their unlikely comeback from 0-2 to win the championship. Had the events of that series occurred at the professional level it would be talked about for years, it will certainly be remembered around here for some time. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 11-12

Monday morning lunch at the mall, from there I stopped by the rink for the now-standard weekend clean-up. The leaves have come down in bunches lately but thankfully the winds have chiefly been out of the west-northwest which is to our advantage. All three divisions are into their finals, on Monday evening the West ended with Dominion Pizza victorious over the Kings. In the East Whitmoyer Auto took a 2-0 series lead over the UniLords, the West final started with a Yorgo's win over the Killbots. Don, Ron and Des officiated with each working two of the three, Don sat out the game his sons played in and Des played in the game he didn't ref. On Tuesday the weather turned sharply colder, daytime highs barely got out of the 30s. We had two games at the rink starting at 6:30, by the time we were done it was below freezing. Yorgo's went up 2-0 in the Midwest with a win over the Killbots, in the East the UniLords staved off elimination with an overtime win over Whitmoyer Auto Group. The UniLords trailed by one in the final minute of regulation time, the tying goal came with one second on the clock. Ron and Steve worked these games, Wally ran the clock for a second straight night. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 10

Sunday afternoon hockey at the Santander Arena, the Royals hosted the Wheeling Nailers in the back end of a home-and-home. As a rule Sunday games begin at 4:00 but this game was at 5:00 because of the travel from the night before. The club won on Saturday night in Wheeling 2-0 with Brandon Anderson pitching the shutout in goal, on Sunday at the Arena Riley Gill got the start and the win as the Royals finished the sweep. The game was scoreless in the second period, power play goals by Domenic Monardo and Sean Wiles gave the Royals a 2-0 lead. The Nailers got one back but that would be all as the Royals killed a late Wheeling power play and held on for the 2-1 win. Former Royals defenseman Dustin Stevenson was in uniform for the Nailers, he signed an AHL deal with Wilkes-Barre in the off-season. He becomes the first member of the 2013 championship club to return to Reading as an opponent. The victory is the fourth straight for the Royals and improves the club's record to 6-3-0 (3-3-0 at home), the next home date is Wednesday the 20th. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 8-9

The rainy weather on Thursday brought in chillier temperatures, on Friday it was windy and downright cold. In the evening I was at Rossmere Stadium for a district playoff game, the LCHS Crusaders hosted Lampeter-Strasburg. The schools have a football history, for many years they were rivals as members of LL section III. L-S moved to section II a few years ago when LCHS moved to section I, when the league realigns in 2014 the Crusaders will be in II and the rivalry will be renewed. Both teams were 5-5 during the regular season, the Crusaders earned a higher seed on the basis of having played a stronger schedule. On this frigid night at LCHS the Crusaders advanced with a 49-21 win. LCHS scored first but L-S replied to tie it at 7-7. From there it was all Crusaders as they led 35-7 at the half and were never threatened thereafter. Evan Purvis threw a TD pass to Rafael Mateo and Keenan Riegal scored defensively with a interception return but the game's #1 star (to borrow a hockey term) was running back Trey Miller who rushed for better than 300 yards and scored five touchdowns. The win puts LCHS in the district quarterfinals on the 15th. On Saturday Jenny and I did our usual lunch in Quarryville, in the evening Millersville University played a game at the Lancaster Ice Rink. Susquehanna University (from Selinsgrove, about a hundred miles north of Lancaster) was the opponent. Don's son Devyn has been earning his stripes as a freshman, on this night he enjoyed his breakthrough with three goals (including the game-winner) as the 'Ville won easily 6-0. It is Devyn's first hat-trick as a collegian, his parents and several family friends were there to enjoy the moment. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 6-7

Wednesday night street hockey at Reservoir Park as the East and West divisions began their playoffs. Each division has only the championship series, the top two finishers were the only teams to qualify. In the East Whitmoyer Auto defeated the UniLords to take a 1-0 lead, in the West Dominion Pizza assumed a 2-0 series lead with a win over the Kings. There are only two teams in the West, Dominion Pizza was awarded a 1-0 advantage entering the finals by virtue of the better regular-season record (why there are only two teams in the division to begin with is a convoluted story in and of itself, any attempt at an explanation would only induce a migraine headache). Ron refereed both games, one with Derek and the other with Steve (each man played in the other game). We had shift work on the clock as well, Wally and Devyn each worked one game. The series continue on Monday the 11th. The Thursday weather forecast called for rain in the morning and clearing in the afternoon, the day began just as predicted. I was with Jenny for lunch in the morning, it was still raining in Quarryville when I left to come back to town. By the time I arrived the rain was all but over, I went to the rink to do some cleanup work. The Billy-Goat sucked up the wet leaves (and a lot of the water from the rink's undersurface as well), when I was done the surface was bare. Afternoon winds were strong from the northwest and the sun broke through for a time, by 6:30 game-time the rink was virtually dry except for the area in front of the player benches (that's where the rink drains and it's always the worst spot). The Midwest semifinals continued, both series ended in two-game sweeps as Yorgo's eliminated the BallBlasters and the Killbots won over Brendee's. That game was tied in the dying moments, the Killbots scored the winning goal with one second left in regulation play. The Killbots face Yorgo's in the best-of-five finals beginning on Monday. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 4-5

Had lunch at the mall on Monday morning, from there I did some preliminary cleanup work at the rink. There were leaves all over the place from the weekend, I figured to get it over with early so there would be less to do in the evening. The regular season ended on this night with two meaningless East/West crossover games, the UniLords beat Dominion Pizza and the Kings defeated Whitmoyer Auto. Don and Ron officiated, Wally ran the clock. Talked to Jenny on the phone when I got home, she said she wasn't feeling well and was going to bed early. Later on she posted on social media that she had chest pains and had called an ambulance, I called her immediately to find out what was going on. She was home alone since her mother was at a relative's house babysitting, I kept her company on the phone until the medics arrived. On Tuesday morning I called her house, Helen said Jenny was kept overnight for observation. The hospital is in town near where I live, I went to stay with Jenny until she was discharged in early afternoon. They think it was just some bad acid reflux but with chest pains you never can tell, Jenny did the right thing by having it checked out. At the rink in the evening the Midwest semifinal playoffs got underway, the Killbots beat Brendee's and Yorgo's defeated the BallBlasters. Derek and Des refereed, Wally ran the clock again. The winners take a 1-0 lead in their series, the next games in the Midwest are on Thursday. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 2-3

Saturday afternoon lunch with Jenny and Helen, later on Jamie was on hand again as we headed to the Arena for Royals hockey. The club has struggled offensively thus far, on Friday they finally broke out with a 6-3 win in Wheeling. On this night the Elmira Jackals were in town for an evening that included a pregame salute to veterans. The Royals took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a score by Dustin Gazley (a former Jackal) before Elmira replied to tie it. Sean Wiles (a third-year pro with AHL time on his resume) gave the Royals a 2-1 advantage in the second period, goals by Matt Campanale (another ex-Jackal) and rookie Domenic Monardo upped the lead to 4-1. The Jackals got one back before defenseman Aaron Gens hit the net to bring the final to 5-2, Riley Gill picked up the win in goal. The victory improves the Royals' mark to 4-3-0 on the young season, the boys play next on the 9th in Wheeling before hosting the Nailers the following afternoon. On Sunday I was at the Lancaster Ice Rink as Millersville hosted the University of Maryland-Baltimore County. The game got underway around 2:20 or so and it was chippy, the clubs had met a few weeks earlier and there was some obvious bad blood. Devyn was back in the lineup for the 'Ville, he didn't play the last time I saw MU. Nobody was able to dent the net for Millersville as UMBC won it 6-0. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 1

The rain stayed around overnight, it came hard during the early morning. By afternoon it was gone and the sun came out as predicted. In the evening it was week #10 of high school football season, I was at Rossmere Stadium as the LCHS Crusaders hosted McCaskey. In 2010 the city rivalry was renewed after being dormant since 1989, first as a non-league game then as a divisional contest when the Crusaders moved into Section I of the LL League. In 2014 the LL realigns by enrollment, right now it looks like LCHS will drop down to Section II so this may be the final meeting on the gridiron between the schools for the foreseeable future. It was Senior Night, before the game we had ceremonies not unlike those at McCaskey the previous week. The game itself was exactly what most expected as LCHS won handily 49-6, it was 35-0 at halftime as the mercy rule kicked in at the start of the second half. The Crusaders scored four rushing touchdowns, two by Trey Miller and one each by Keenan Reigel and Brian Downey. Evan Purvis threw for three scores, two to Harrison Heise and one to Rafael Mateo. The lone score for the Red Tornado came in the fourth quarter when Kyaire Bynum (back in the lineup from injury) ran for a touchdown. JPM ends the year at 0-10 for the first time since 2008, the last winless season before that was 1975 (that team was 0-11). LCHS finishes the regular season at 5-5 (5-2 in league play), they will qualify for the district playoffs in the class AAA bracket. Take care, thanks for reading.