December 31

The final day of the calendar year was a Tuesday more unusual than most. I had a $10 gift card to a local eatery, in the midst of my morning errand run I stopped in and had an order of spaghetti and meatballs for lunch. With a drink added in the bill came to $1.64 (can't beat that with a stick). From there it was south to Quarryville for Jenny and her mother and one final trip to Reading in 2013. The Roar hosted the Baltimore Blast in a game that started at the special holiday time of 5:05. Before the game we observed a moment of silence in the memory of Delaney Brown, an eight-year-old Berks County resident whose valiant fight against cancer ended on December 25 (we had also honored her at the Royals game on the 27th). As an expansion franchise in the MISL it is no surprise that the Roar has struggled mightily, on this night at the Arena against the defending league champions it was no contest as the visitors took a lopsided 24-0 decision. It was the first time the Roar has been shut out at home and the second overall, both against Baltimore. The Blast scored eleven goals in the game including two three-pointers. As the game ended frustration was evident, there was an angry gathering on the field but the referees did a great job of defusing the situation before it could escalate. The Roar remains winless at 0-9 and clearly the only way to go is up. The club has five home games remaining, the next of those is on January 11. With the early start I was home shortly before 9:00 with plans to watch a hockey game on TV and ring in the new year with the usual whimper (it's nothing special, just an excuse to get loaded and I don't do that anymore). See you in 2014, thanks for reading.

December 30

Monday morning at the mall for lunch, in the afternoon we convened at McCaskey for a bus ride to Berks County. This was the makeup date for the game at Reading High which had been postponed by snow a few weeks earlier. For me it was my second road game but my first on the bus, I had driven to Quarryville on my own when we played Solanco. This was the second time the boys had traveled to the Reading area in December, the first being the preseason scrimmage at Wilson. School buses weren't built with people my height and weight in mind, I'm always sore after a trip of any length. Any time I'm in Reading or environs for a high school event I always run into people I know, this night was no exception. Paul "Cooter" Jones (a long-time fixture at Reading High and a dear friend from baseball days in Berks County) was the scoreboard clock operator and RHS's scorekeeper was familiar with my work as well. The evening started with a JV game that can only be described as bizarre. After one quarter the score was 11-9, at halftime it still was. RHS had the possession to start the second quarter and they held the ball for virtually the entire period. For close to seven minutes the ten players on the floor did next to nothing, there was no action to speak of until the last thirty seconds. The game ended up in overtime before RHS won 37-31, the first loss of the season for our guys. In the varsity game we had only nine players in uniform thanks to injury and absence, Coach Powell used seven of them in an 82-73 loss. The club came out flat and trailed by double digits early, they rallied to within three in the second half but could get no closer. Antanee Pinkard led with 26, Kobe Gantz had 17 and Tyler Owens (from the '13 JV squad) added 13 in a reserve role. The loss drops the team's record to 5-4, the four losses (all against non-league opponents) coming by an average of six points. Five of the six non-league games the club will play are in the books, the league schedule continues in the New Year with a home game on January 3rd. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 28-29

A busy Saturday started with afternoon basketball at McCaskey. A newspaper story about Friday's game referred to the proceedings as a "tournament that isn't a tournament", certainly it's been unusual but under the circumstances it was handled the fairest way possible. Attendance for the neutral-floor game on Thursday was light, I was told the turnout was somewhat better on Friday because JPM was playing. On this afternoon the crowd was much stronger for the game everyone wanted to see. Whenever athletic teams from York and Lancaster meet it's always called the War Of The Roses, at the high school level William Penn (the proper name of York's public high school) and McCaskey have history dating back to the old Central Penn League in the 1960s. Perhaps it is in poor taste to call an athletic contest a "war" but this game was a battle and-a-half, it took overtime to decide it before York prevailed 77-74. Antanee Pinkard led JPM with 20, Kobe Gantz had 17 and Donovan Garcia (from the '13 JV squad) hit double figures with 14. Antanee and Kobe were named to the tournament's all-star team. The loss drops the club's record to 5-3 overall, the boys play on Monday at Reading High in the makeup of the postponement from December 14. We started at noon and were done by 2:00, shortly after that I headed to Quarryville for Jenny and her mother. In the evening the Royals and the Kalamazoo Wings hooked up at the Arena in a rematch from Friday. The Royals' home-ice winless streak ended on this night in resounding fashion with a 5-2 victory over the K-Wings. In the first period Yannick Tifu and Ethan Cox scored forty seconds apart for a 2-0 lead, after K-Zoo got on the board Yannick struck again to make it 3-1. Final-period scores from Louie Caporusso and Marvin Degon (an '11-12 Royal who recently returned) salted away the win for Riley Gill. Things got nasty as the teams combined for 118 penalty minutes, eighty-four in the third period alone. The win improves the record to 14-10-1 overall, the next home date is in the New Year on January 8. An all-day rain was forecast for Sunday and that was exactly what happened, after the double-dip on Saturday I was more than happy to say in and relax. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 27

Friday afternoon on the road north to Berks County as the Royals returned home from a three-game trip. The club has played well away from home, they won all three on the trip to run the road mark to 8-2-1. By contrast the boys have struggled at home with a record of just 5-7-0 including four straight without a win. That streak would reach five on this night as the visiting Kalamazoo Wings notched a 4-1 victory, Dustin Gazley scored the lone Royals goal as Riley Gill took the loss. The K-Wings have been a strong road club in their own right, they are 8-3-0 away from home including six straight wins. The franchises have been infrequent regular-season opponents over the years but there is a playoff history, the teams met in postseason in 2010 and 2011 (ironically, Riley Gill was a K-Wing during those days). The club meet again on Saturday in the back end of the weekend set (Kalamazoo visits twice during the regular season, both times for a back-to back series). Saw on the Internet where JPM defeated Franklin Learning Center, that sets up Saturday's game with York as the de facto tournament championship game. As it stands right now the FLC game was the only home game I'll miss, my next absence overall would be on January 8 when the boys play at Cedar Crest. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 26

Earlier in the week there was a newspaper story predicting no more snow for the remainder of the calendar year. Overnight into Thursday about an inch of it fell, it was over by the time I was up for the day but there were reports of traffic accidents all over the area. The snow was very light and fluffy, cleaning the car was no issue at all. I went to Jenny's house for a lunch visit, the worst part of the trip was actually getting out of town. The city streets were not in good shape but once I hit the suburbs there were no problems at all. The sun came out around noontime, by sunset most of the snow was melted down and gone. In the evening we were at McCaskey for the first game of our abbreviated holiday tournament, we got underway at 6:00 as York defeated Franklin Learning Center 65-54. It was odd only having one game and for McCaskey to not be playing in it, our guys were there to watch since we'll play both teams over the next two days. Only having three teams is a logistical nightmare, instead of four games over two nights we are forced to play on a third date so everybody gets their two games. If FLC would beat us on Friday and we would beat York on Saturday all three teams would be 1-1 and there would be no champion although winning a holiday tournament is of little import in the long run. The main thing is to play solid competition and that is what the tournament provides. The Royals played in Elmira on Thursday night and won 6-2, they'll be home for games on Friday and Saturday. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 23-25

Not much happening over the last little while save for the morning errand runs, typical of this time of year for me. My feelings on the subject are well known and I don't feel the need to rehash it, let's just say that every year the season comes and as far as I'm concerned it can keep right on going. On Tuesday Jenny was in town on business. She has a brother who lives in the city, I met her over the lunch hour and took her to his house. Later in the day he brought Helen into town from Quarryville, they stayed overnight and spend the day there on Wednesday. Jenny called on Wednesday evening when he took them home to let me know they were safe and sound. As slow as the last few days were the next few should be just the opposite. The annual December basketball tournament at McCaskey starts on Thursday, one of the four scheduled teams dropped out recently and no replacement was available. As a result the tournament format features one game each on Thursday and Friday plus Saturday afternoon. Franklin Learning Center (from Philadelphia) plays York on Thursday, on Friday JPM meets FLC and on Saturday the Red Tornado faces York. It's not the usual four-team tournament format but the important thing is each team still gets to play two games. I'll be there on Thursday, absent Friday for a Royals game in Reading and back on Saturday for the day game at noon. That will be a double-dipper for me, the Royals play at home on Saturday night as well. There is nothing in the offing for Sunday but the final days of 2013 will be busy with a basketball game on Monday and New Years Eve soccer in Reading on Tuesday. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 20-22

Friday night soccer at the Santander Arena as the Roar hosted the defending league champion Baltimore Blast. Baltimore is a long-time hotbed for the indoor game, the franchise has been around since the early 90s. The Roar came into this game looking for its first victory, that search will continue as the Blast won this one going away 21-2. The lone score for the Roar (of the two-point variety) came from the foot of Corey Maret in the fourth quarter. The Roar's next home game is on New Year's Eve when Baltimore returns for a special 5:00 kickoff. Saw on the Internet where McCaskey won their divisional opener at Penn Manor by a count of 78-59, that improves the overall record to 4-2 and I'm not sure we could ask for anything more thus far. The club's next game is at home on Friday the 27th. Saturday was of very little note, that was by design since Sunday would be busy. The last few days have been uncommonly warm for this time of year, on Sunday it was rainy with temperatures in the 60s. Did lunch in Quarryville with Jenny a day later than usual, later in the afternoon she and her mother were along for AHL hockey in Hershey. The Bears hosted the Worcester (Massachusetts) Sharks in the second game of a weekend set. Worcester has been in the AHL since 1994, originally as an independent franchise known as the IceCats and since 2006 the top affiliate of the San Jose Sharks. On Saturday Worcester defeated Hershey 3-2, on this night the Bears turned the tables with a 4-0 victory. Three former Royals were in uniform, Adam Comrie for the Sharks and Patrick Wellar and Brandon Anderson (as backup goalie) for the Bears. Ex-Royals Stanislav Galiev, Patrick Wey and Brett Flemming are also currently on the Hershey roster but were not in uniform for this game. We'll be back in Hershey one final time for the season on January 4. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 18-19

According to a story in Wednesday's paper we've had a total of twelve inches of snow thus far in December, Tuesday's was the fourth measurable snowfall of the month. The forecast for the weekend calls for temperatures in the 50s and maybe low 60s, all the better to melt the stuff down. In the afternoon we convened at McCaskey, the boys were traveling to Solanco HS in Quarryville. I checked in to let them know I was driving there myself, since Jenny lives about two miles from the school it was an opportunity for her to see the team play. We play Solanco once a season as part of the league's crossover schedule, each of our last two visits there (in '09 and '11) resulted in unsettling defeat. I don't know it was a case of our guys thinking it was easy money or our opponent playing like champions, maybe it was a little bit of both. Before the JV game started Coach Powell had the varsity in the locker room, the gist of the discussion was to remind them to take care of business because there is no such thing as a guarantee. In the JV game JPM stayed undefeated with a 48-37 win, the varsity followed suit with a 61-50 victory. Antanee Pinkard led the Red Tornado with 21, Kobe Gantz had 11 and Kyaire Bynum (the lone returnee from last season) added 10. The win keeps the club perfect in league play and improves the record overall to 3-2. The team left for home just as Jenny and I were leaving for her place, when I got back to town the empty bus was just leaving the school so they didn't beat me home by much. Jenny and I had our usual lunch date on Thursday, after supper I took the scorebooks over to practice. The boys start divisional play on Friday, I will be absent for a soccer game at the Arena in Reading. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 16-17

Bright sunshine on Monday helped to melt down some of the weekend snow, in the evening it was a basketball night at McCaskey. JPM started league play on Friday in Ephrata, both JV and varsity brought home a victory. On this night we hosted Conestoga Valley in another game against a Section II opponent. This was the first time CV had played at McCaskey since January of 2011, for some reason we played at CV each of the last two seasons even though the crossover matchups are supposed to alternate each year. The night started with a scintillating JV game, it took two overtimes before McCaskey prevailed 70-66 to maintain their perfect record at 3-0. The varsity game was another story altogether as the Red Tornado won handily 81-28. We were ahead by fifteen at the quarter and thirty-eight at halftime, the mercy rule kicked in early in the second half. Four players hit double figures for JPM as Kobe Gantz led with 18, Devyn Sloan had 16, Antanee Pinkard added 12 and Andre Dixon (from the JV squad in '12-13) had 10 in a reserve role. Sloan is an interesting story, he played on the freshman team in '10-11 but did not play organized ball in his sophomore or junior years. Every year we always seem to have at least one player who returns to the program and becomes a big contributor, Devyn is this year's example. The win draws the varsity record even at 2-2 (2-0 in league play) and it was a milestone victory #400 for head coach Steve Powell. "Bird" (his nickname from his playing days) was a long-time assistant coach under Pete Horn at JPM in the 70s and 80s, now in his 22nd year as the head man his mark is at 400-185 (.684 winning percentage). The boys play on Wednesday the 18th at Solanco HS, division play starts on Friday the 20th. We had some more of that white crap overnight into Tuesday, in the afternoon it flurried again. A morning errand run was all that happened (without incident, the overnight snow was all slush by then), with a busy week underway I didn't mind an evening in the warmth of home. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 15

The snow on Saturday was followed by a round of freezing rain later in the evening but by Sunday morning it was long gone and there was brilliant sunshine. I cleaned the snow from my car in anticipation of the afternoon drive, by 12:30 departure time the remnants had melted completely. The roads south of town were in good shape, getting to Jenny's place was no trouble at all (it's always a concern because the southern part of the county is largely rural). We allowed extra time for the drive to Reading but had no issues there as well, we actually arrived at the arena a little earlier that usual. This was the Royals' annual Teddy Bear Toss game for Toys For Tots, the team also wore specialty jerseys in the spirit of the "ugly holiday sweater". These had to be seen to be believed, they were red trimmed in green and white with images of reindeer and snowflakes. They were indeed hideously ugly but that was the point, after the game the jerseys were sold online for charity. The game (rescheduled from the night before because of the snowstorm) started at 5:05, the Royals trailed Elmira 1-0 before Ryan Cruthers scored the "teddy bear goal" to tie it. The Jackals took a 2-1 lead in the second period, Yannick Tifu replied to knot it at 2-2. Moments later Elmira retook the lead and made it stand up as the Royals winless streak was extended to five games (including four at home). The loss drops the club's record to 10-9-1, just 5-7-0 at home. The next home game is on Friday the 27th as the Kalamazoo Wings visit for a two-game set. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 13-14

Got word on Friday afternoon that JPM's Saturday night game at Reading High was going to be postponed better than twenty-four hours in advance, with the forecast for that day somewhat ominous the schools' athletic departments obviously felt another time would be better (as it turned out they were absolutely right). In the evening the ladies were along as we ventured north on 222. It was a hockey night at the Arena as the Florida Everblades made their lone regular-season visit. The last time we saw the 'Blades was in the 2013 playoffs when the Royals prevailed in a memorable seven-game series. There would be no reprise of the playoff magic on this night as the Royals' winless streak was extended to four games with a 4-1 loss. Dustin Gazley scored the lone goal for the Royals, Riley Gill was the goaltender of record. All night long we promoted the Saturday home game with Elmira although there was question as to what the weather would bring us. Snow was expected to begin falling during the morning hours with the heaviest coming in late afternoon/early evening. By 9:00 the snow had not yet started but it was definitely on the way, the decision came down that the game had been postponed until Sunday the 15th. The Jackals had played on Thursday in Wheeling and were in Elmira on Friday, they were scheduled to travel to Reading on Saturday morning but with the impending weather conditions and Sunday being an available alternative the proper decision was made. The snow finally arrived in early afternoon, by the evening hours there were reports of accidents all around. It's supposed to be gone overnight with sunshine and temperatures above freezing on Sunday, if the road crews get their job done we should be OK. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 11-12

Wednesday night hoops at J.P. McCaskey as the new-look Red Tornado hosted Chester (Coach Powell's alma mater). Preseason rankings have Chester as the #2 team in the state, they have been a regular non-league opponent since Coach Powell took the reins at JPM in 1993. Every time we play them the game never starts on time because the visiting team invariably arrives late, last season in Chester we got there just as the JV game was scheduled to start. On this night at JPM the JV game was delayed forty minutes because it was their turn to be late (fair is fair, I guess). I've always believed that a good JV game stokes the crowd for the varsity main event and that's exactly what we got. The Red Tornado junior varsity made its season debut a successful one with a tough 58-57 win. In the varsity contest JPM led just once at 5-4 but battled to the end as Chester escaped with an 86-80 verdict. Antanee Pinkard (younger brother of Devonne) led the Red Tornado with 20 points, Randolph Speller and La'Detrius Sibley had 14 each and Kobe Gantz had 11. Pinkard, Sibley and Gantz were members of the JV squad last season, Speller played varsity at Lancaster Catholic and transferred to JPM this year. The loss drops the club's mark to 0-2 but all things considered there is a lot to be encouraged about, a pair of six-point losses to top-level competition is no reason to push the panic button. Every year we play a tough non-league schedule and there is a definite purpose to it. With the late start the varsity game wound down shortly before 10:00, four hours after the evening's scheduled starting time. On Thursday we did our usual lunch visit in Quarryville, in the afternoon I was over at practice to hand over the books for the weekend. The boys play in Ephrata on Friday and at Reading High on Saturday, I will miss both of them because the Royals are at home both nights. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 9-10

The predicted rain never materialized on Monday, a good bit of the slop from Sunday melted down nicely. In the afternoon I went over to basketball practice to get our scorebook for the game on Wednesday night. The boys lost to Roman Catholic on Saturday 84-78, according to preseason rankings Roman is the #1 team in the state so even though we lost the game the competitive aspect of it can only be encouraging. Snow moved through the area early Tuesday morning, by the time I was up it was WHITE outside. I hadn't planned on anything special save for an errand run and lunch, the former was cancelled and the latter took place at home. The snow ended in early afternoon, I warmed up my car, cleared the snow from it and made a short trip to get a newspaper . McCaskey's girls basketball team was scheduled for a home game in the evening, with just about every school district in the region closed for the day the game was postponed. Most of the girls' games are on nights when the boys play as well, this was probably my only chance to see them play. No makeup date was immediately announced, hopefully it will be an occasion that works for me. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 5-8

Had lunch with Jenny and her mother on Thursday, it was a largely dark and misty day. That weather was a prelude to Friday when it rained steadily just about all day. I went over to McCaskey after supper to give the coaches our varsity scorebook since I would be absent from Saturday's opening game. The weather was much better on Saturday, the rain had moved on. After lunch with the ladies we came back to the city and on to Reading for the evening's hockey game at the Arena. Since we last saw the Royals the roster has undergone a fair share of change (a way of life at the minor league level). The biggest development was the return of former captain Ryan Cruthers. Ryan played for the Royals from 2009-2012, over the summer he returned to the area and assumed control of the Royals' youth hockey program. On this night he was wearing his familiar #16 as the Royals hosted the Fort Wayne Komets for the only time this season. The game started poorly for the Royals and went downhill from there as the Komets won going away 7-2 The Royals' goal-scorers were Louie Caporusso and Ned Lukacevic (another recent returnee, Neddy played parts of three seasons in Reading from 2006-2009 and has spent the last few years playing chiefly in Europe), Brandon Anderson took the loss in goal. There was talk of snow in the forecast for Sunday, my mother and a few of her friends had plans to attend an afternoon show in Hershey. They talked it over on Saturday night and it was decided that if I could take her to their house (about ten miles west of town) they would go from there and take her home afterwards. The snow began to fall in the morning, when we left the city driving was already hazardous. There were several accidents all around the area but I managed to get her to her friend's house and myself back home all in one piece. The show started at 3:00 and let out around 5:30, by the time they got out of the parking lot and back to town it was almost 7:30. The snow had stopped by then so I guess all's well that ends well. They want freezing rain on Monday and the chance of more snow on Tuesday. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 4

Wednesday afternoon: went over to McCaskey after supper for the boys' basketball practice, they were scheduled for 5:30 to 7:30 since this week is the girls team's turn at the 3:30-5:30 slot. I was there because Coach Powell had planned to issue uniforms and I wanted to get the player's numbers for the scorebooks. Over the last twenty years or so the varsity has received new uniforms every three seasons, the current unis are then handed down to the JV and theirs are given to the freshman team. I figured we were due for new uniforms but I was surprised to see that the coaches elected to outfit both varsity and JV with brand-new gear. The new uniforms were ordered with numbers from 0 to 5, 10 to 15, 20 to 25, 30 to 35 and 40 to 45. In the past our JV teams wore the same number series the varsity had, the new jerseys allow movement between rosters with no worry of duplicate numbers (makes my job easier). Twenty-six uniforms were handed out, eleven to the varsity and fifteen to the JV. The opening-night varsity roster consists of one returnee, seven players from the '12-'13 JV squad and three newcomers. By contrast Coach Mike Mitchell's JV squad has two returnees, it's a rare occurrence when that number is greater at the junior varsity level. If I were a forecaster I would say that the varsity has the potential to be very good once the relative inexperience catches up to the talent. I don't expect an undefeated season but I don't think we'll be 5-17 either, it's just a matter of how quickly things mesh together. The typically tough non-league gauntlet begins on Saturday the 7th, the varsity meets Philadelphia Roman Catholic at Lower Merion HS in Ardmore (suburban Philly). The first home game is on the 11th against Chester, that will be my season debut since the Royals are at home on the 7th. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 1-3

The final month of 2013 began with Sunday afternoon soccer at the Arena. It was the end of a three-games-in-five-days stretch for me there and with a Saturday night boxing card figured in the building's changeover crew has been keeping double-time as well. On this day the Syracuse Silver Knights made the last of their two regular season appearances, they were the Roar's opening-night opponent two weeks earlier. The Roar fell to 0-4 on the season with a 10-9 loss but the effort was far and away the club's best thus far. It takes time to build chemistry and teamwork, this game was definitely a step in the right direction. The Roar took a 2-0 lead on a score by JerJer Gibson, Syracuse tied it 2-2 before Gibson struck again to make it 4-2. The Kinghts knotted matters once again, at halftime it was 4-4. In the third quarter Corey Maret gave the Roar a 6-4 lead but Syracuse scored the next three to forge a 10-6 advantage. In the closing moments Maret scored from beyond the three-point arc to pull the Roar within a point but a furious rally down the stretch went for naught as the Knights held on for the win. The Roar's next date at the Arena is on Friday the 20th against the defending MISL champion Baltimore Blast. Monday was quiet save for lunch at the mall, on Tuesday the basketball team had a scrimmage at Wilson HS in suburban Reading. The bus left at 4:30 for the 6:00 scrimmage, I rode along just for the hell of it. It always feels strange to travel north on 222 in a vehicle that I'm not driving. At McCaskey the gym has two floors for scrimmages but not so at Wilson, on this night the junior varsity squads played at one of Wilson's middle schools. We dropped them off on the way and picked them up on the way home, with it all we were back in Lancaster by 8:45. Take care, thanks for reading.