September 23-25

Friday night football in Lancaster, the Red Tornado opened league play at home against Conestoga Valley. Quite a few familiar faces in the house on this night, two of CV's assistant coaches used to play in the league at Reservoir Park and another is a Berks County native who recognized me and gave me the old "aren't you the PA guy in Reading?" bit. At halftime a member of our event staff told me that a fan said to her "your PA guy sounds like Verne Lundquist" (the longtime network broadcaster best known for college football). I would never put myself on that level but it's certainly a nice compliment, at least he didn't say I sounded like crap (or another word somewhat stronger in more ways than one). CV scored the game's first touchdown but JPM responded on a Jathan Gonzalez scramble to tie matters at 7-7. The Red Tornado fell behind by fourteen in the second quarter, just before halftime Greg Nunez (in at defensive end) picked off a CV pass attempt and took it home to make it 21-14. The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, JPM's came courtesy of an R.J. Godwin scoring rush but in the final stanza the game fell apart. CV extended the lead to nine on a safety, two added touchdowns put the lid on a 43-21 decision. JPM drops to 2-2 overall, the next home game is on October 14. The rest of the weekend had little going of note, I had planned on going to York on Saturday night but the Sugar Land Skeeters had other ideas. The Skeeters eliminated the York Revolution in the first round of Atlantic League playoffs, the clincher was in York on Friday. The Revs finished the regular year at 74-66, here in Lancaster the Barnstormers checked in at 67-73. I was at thirty-seven of the Stormers' sixty-six home dates (that grows to forty if you count two exhibition games and the All-Star Game) and for good measure I made it to York thirteen times (impressive in itself since they did away with the Sunday 5:00 games which were always good for me). The end of baseball season is a sure sign of autumn, ice hockey season is just around the corner. Take care, thanks for reading.