December 24-31

The first few days of the new week were very quiet, it's That Time Of The Year and quite frankly I couldn't care less if I tried. I make sure Jenny is taken care of and that's as far as I go, I wish it could be different but it simply isn't in me and it's been years (hell, DECADES) since it was. Jenny and I had our midweek lunch on Wednesday, on Thursday I took the scorebooks over to basketball practice since I would be absent from both nights of our tournament over the weekend. On Friday the Royals returned home from holiday recess, the Newfoundland Growlers visited for the first of a two-game set. It goes without saying that the Growlers play an unusual schedule, since they are from the easternmost city in North America they tend to play at home for as much as two weeks at a time and have road trips of similar length. On this night the Royals fell behind early but rebounded on goals from Alex Roos and Brayden Low to lead 2-1 at the first intermission. Midway through the third Frank Dichiara lit the lamp for an insurance goal, Chris McCarthy's empty-netter put the lid on a 4-1 Royals win. In game #2 on Saturday it was "A-Philly-ation Night", the club wore Flyers-themed orange-and-black sweaters. Goals by Joe Houk and Adam Schmidt fifty-five seconds apart gave the Royals a 2-0 lead five minutes in but Newfoundland rallied to tie the score at the intermission. In the second period Alex Roos put the Royals ahead but the Growlers replied in kind, after two it was 3-3. The deadlock would not be resolved until the overtime shootout, Newfoundland outscored the Royals two goals to one and took the game 4-3. The Royals goaltender of record on both nights was newcomer Callum Booth, on loan from the Carolina Hurricanes organization and the sixth goalie used by the Royals thus far in '18-19. He has been between the Royals and the Hurricanes' AHL club in Charlotte for most of December, he had played five games on the road before making his home debut during the weekend. The Royals finish the 2018 home portion of the schedule with a 6-6-4 mark and 15-8-7 overall, the first home date in 2019 is January 4 against Norfolk. The calendar year ended on Monday with rain and temperatures in the 50s, the newspaper carried a story claiming 2018 as the wettest year on record for our area. 153 of the 365 days featured some degree of precipitation and the yearly total exceeded sixty inches. There were New Years Eve celebrations set for downtown in the evening, with the rain pelting down anyone who was there was either waterproof or a sadist. Thanks for reading, everyone. See you in 2019, take care.

December 21-23

Winter arrived on Friday afternoon but the weatherman never got the memo, it was a rainy day with temperatures topping out in the mid-50s. After supper we convened at McCaskey for the 22-mile bus ride northwest to Elizabethtown for another league crossover game. We have played E-Town sporadically over the years, as far as I can recall this was my first time in their gym since 2011 (that was the "Just Because They're McCaskey" playoff game I talked about in my post from 1-26-18). The night started with a convincing JPM victory in the JV game which improves their record to 5-1, the varsity game was much more competitive. I never go into an opposing gym expecting a easy game because it simply doesn't work that way, especially within the league we always get everybody's best shot Just Because We're McCaskey. We were ahead by five at the half but E-Town hung tough and battled to the end, when the final buzzer sounded JPM emerged victorious 70-67. We were up by four in the closing seconds, an E-Town three-point goal brought them to within one. On the inbound play Makai Ortiz was purposely fouled, he sank both free throws with 0.8 on the clock to ice the win (very much like the season opener at Muhlenberg when Makai came through in a similar spot). Ajani Simmons and Isaiah Thomas tied for game-high with 16 each, Brian Mckenzie had 13 and Makai finished with ten. Also in the book were Jahsaan Greaves with seven. Mohammed Nimmons-Francis with six and Bryam Menendez with two. The club improves to 3-1 within league play and 4-2 overall which surpasses the '17-18 win total just six games in. The boys are off until the 28th and 29th when JPM hosts the annual holiday tournament (which I am out of completely because the Royals play at home both nights). The rest of the weekend was uneventful except for Saturday lunch with Jenny. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 19-20

Had Wednesday lunch with Jenny as is our wont, in the evening we were at McCaskey for another night of basketball. It's interesting to note that our first four league games are crossovers with Section II and the first three of them are against teams formerly in our division. Warwick was the opponent on this night and over the years they have been one of those programs that are a PITA to play against. No matter how good or bad we are or how good or bad they are a game with them just never seems to be an easy assignment. The night began with a classic JV game, JPM prevailed in double overtime 69-66. The varsity game proved to be achingly frustrating, the Red Tornado lost 62-57. We were up thirteen at halftime but in the second half Warwick suddenly could not miss, they outscored us by eighteen and pulled out the win. Jahsaan Greaves led JPM with 13, Makai Ortiz had 12 as the only other man in double figures. Bryam Menendez scored nine, Mohammed Nimmons added eight, Brian McKenzie had six, Anthony Castrero scored four, Ajani Simmons had three and Isaiah Thomas had a field goal for two. The club's record drops to 2-1 league-wise and 3-2 overall, we're back on the floor on Friday the 21st in Elizabethtown. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 17-18

Monday afternoon at McCaskey for the start of a busy basketball week. The boys opened league play on the 14th with a home-court win over Lebanon, on this night we made the short bus trip to Conestoga Valley. CV (like Lebanon) is a former division-mate but they are now a crossover opponent thanks to league realignment. The JPM JV squad got the night started with a 55-48 win, in the varsity contest the Red Tornado prevailed 73-55. The win snapped a three-game losing streak to CV and although thanks to graduation CV is a very different club it felt good nonetheless. We led by thirteen at the quarter and ten at halftime, the lead was eleven entering the final period and the boys were able to put it away with little trouble. Coach Ramos used the entire roster and ten of them got into the scoring column: Ajani Simmons had the big night with 21, Isaiah Thomas was the only other man in doubles with 14. Bryam Menendez and Mohammed Nimmons-Francis had nine each, Brian McKenzie added seven, Jahsaan Greaves scored five and Nayquan Martin, Anthony Castrero, Alfred Gonzalez-Santana and Makai Ortiz each scored two. The fact that we won this game in spite of Makai having a rare poor night tells you a lot about the character the team has developed. The victory keeps us clean in league play at 2-0 and improves the overall mark to 3-1 which equals our win total for all of '17-18 (and I will always maintain that team was much better than its record). The gauntlet continues on Wednesday the 19th against Warwick and on the 21st against Elizabethtown. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 14-16

Friday evening: back at the Arena in downtown Reading for the first time in two weeks. The Royals opened a three-in-three homestand, one of two on our schedule (the other one comes up in March). The Allen Americans visited from suburban Dallas, Texas for the weekend making their first-ever appearances at the Arena, the Americans began in the old Central League in 2009 and joined the ECHL when the CHL folded in 2014. Since the Royals last played at the Arena there was a great deal of roster movement, on this weekend several new players were making their home debuts with the club. In the Friday opener the Royals went up 2-0 on scores from newcomers Joe Houk (five-year pro from Richboro, PA) and Alex Roos (first-year man from the University Of Michigan) but the Americans rallied in the second to tie it 2-2. The Royals responded with goals from Chris McCarthy and Charlie Vasaturo to carry a 4-2 lead into the third. Allen made it a one-goal game early in the period but could get no closer, Brayden Low hit the empty net in the final minutes to nail down a 5-3 Royals win. In game #2 on Saturday night it was the annual Teddy Bear Toss game, Brayden Low sent the bears flying midway through the first but the Americans replied moments later to make it 1-1 at the intermission. Steven Swavely scored six seconds from the opening faceoff in the second period to put the Royals back in front, that 2-1 advantage stood until midway through the third when Nick Luukko lit the lamp to put the Royals up by two. The feisty Americans battled back to within 3-2 but another score from Chris McCarthy put the lid on a 4-2 victory. The series wrapped up on Sunday with a late-afternoon start, the Royal again went up early on a Josh MacDonald score. Allen tied the score and took their first lead of the weekend midway through the second but from there it was all Royals. Adam Schmidt struck for the tying goal late in the period, in the third two goals from Chris McCarthy (the last into an empty net) wrapped around MacDonald's second of the night clinched a 5-2 verdict. Newly-acquired Andrew D'Agostini was the Royals' goaltender of record in all three games, he was added as a free agent from Pensacola of the Southern Professional Hockey League. The Flyers organization has had severe issues with its goaltending depth, between injuries and ineffectiveness at the NHL and AHL levels the Royals' goaltending has been in a constant state of flux. D'Agostini has played in the ECHL previously and Royals head coach Kirk MacDonald was familiar with him, his performance over the weekend made him an instant fan favorite. The weekend sweep improves the Royals to 13-7-6 overall, 5-6-3 at home. The boys are back home for a two-game set with Newfoundland on Friday the 28th. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 10-13

The early part of the new week was relatively quiet, I made the usual Monday visit to the mall and had my mother to a doctor appointment on Tuesday morning. Jenny and I did lunch on Wednesday, in the evening we were at McCaskey for the first home game of the season. Reading High was the opponent, they are one of our traditional non-league foes and are one of the better programs in the state year in and year out. In a way it sounds silly to say a team with eight returnees is "starting over" but that is very much the case with our club. The players know each other but they are playing under a new coaching staff with a new system and the bond takes time to build (although from what I've seen the process is coming along very nicely). On this night at JPM the boys battled to the end but came out on the short end of a 58-42 decision. We trailed by nine at the quarter and thirteen at the break, the deficit was ten going into the final quarter before RHS pulled away. The whole point of playing tough non-league opposition is to find out where you stand and learn from the experience, a loss to a quality program like RHS is nothing to be ashamed of. Makai Ortiz led JPM with 11 points, Isaiah Thomas had 10, Bryam Menendez added six, Ajani Simmons and Brian McKenzie had five each, Tyrell Melendez and Nayquan Martin each had a field goal and Jahsaan Greaves was 1-for-2 at the line. The team is back on the floor at home on the 14th against Lebanon for the league opener, I'm out for hockey in Reading. On Thursday night the JPM girls played their first home game, one of two they have on nights when the boys are off. Wilson was the non-league opponent and it was not a good night for JPM, both JV and varisty took an L. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 7-9

Jenny and I did our weekend lunch visit on Friday instead of Saturday, it was her idea and it was a good one. She had a few errands she needed my help with and since I had nothing else going on Friday it afforded us more time than Saturday may have. I did my usual Friday run the next morning, in the afternoon I was at McCaskey for the first bus ride of basketball season and the start of Year #31 for me personally. The destination was the northern suburbs of Reading for a game at Muhlenberg High School in Laureldale. In forty years of involvement in pro sports in Berks County I always knew where Muhlenberg was but I had never been there for any game of any kind, they are a new opponent on the non-league portion of our schedule. The JPM varsity roster features fourteen players including eight returnees, one from the '17-18 JV squad and five completely new to the program. The JV roster has thirteen players, all newcomers. The night began with a barnburner JV game, the Red Tornado won 46-44 on a shot with two seconds remaining. The varsity contest was more of the same, JPM prevailed 81-79. The score was tied in the final thirty seconds, Muhlenberg had possession and their coach was frantically calling for a timeout. Neither official acknowledged the request as Bryam Menendez stole the ball and was fouled as he scored a layup, the converted free throw gave us a three-point lead. With one second left a Muhlenberg player was fouled in the act of attempting a three-pointer, he made only two of the three to leave them a point short. On the subsequent inbound Makai Ortiz was fouled, he converted one-of-two with 0.3 seconds on the clock to ice a heart-stopping two-point win. Five players finished in double figures: Makai led with 23 (including 11-13 at the line), Ajani Simmons and Brian McKenzie had 14 each, Isaiah Thomas scored 13 and Bryam Menendez added 10. Also in the book were Carter Gingerich with four, Tyrell Melendez with two and Jahsaan Greaves was 1-2 at the foul line. The win is the first for Freddy Ramos as the program's new head coach, hopefully it is the first of many. The boys are back on the floor on Wednesday the 12th at home against Reading High (never an easy touch), the league season starts on the 14th. Take care thanks for reading.

December 1-6

The final month of 2018 started with Saturday lunch with Jenny which was the highlight of an otherwise quiet weekend. On Monday night we were at Reservoir Park as the curtain rang down on the fall dek hockey season, the Misfits defeated Risky Business 3-1 to win the championship in a three-game-straight sweep. The teams traded goals in the first period, the Misfits scored twice in the second and made them stand up. The series may have been a sweep but it was very competitive, total goals were just 10-6 in the Misfits' favor. Risky Business was a first-year team with several youngsters mixed in with veterans, they had a fine season and have nothing to be ashamed of. The season started on September 24 and ended exactly ten weeks later, not bad when you consider that we lost six nights of play to the weather. On Tuesday afternoon I went to the rink to clean up and put away for the winter, in the evening I was at McCaskey as the basketball team hosted Wilson for their final preseason scrimmage. It's hard to describe but there is a different feel to the program, there seems to be a level of enthusiasm that hasn't been present in recent years. The guys are pulling together as a unit and there doesn't appear to be any ego problems which is good to see because quite frankly it hasn't always been that way. JPM starts the season with a non-league game at Muhlenberg on the 8th, that is one of nine games on the slate against opponents outside the league. The LL realigned over the summer from three divisions to five and re-instituted crossover play after a two-year absence, we play our division-mates (Manheim Township, Penn Manor, Cedar Crest and Hempfield) twice each with one game against each team in the reconstructed Section II (former division opponents Lebanon, CV and Warwick plus Elizabethtown and Ephrata). All told the club plays twelve of its twenty-two games at home and I miss five of our home dates thanks to hockey in Reading where obviously the professional commitment must come first. On Wednesday Jenny and I had midweek lunch, I spent that evening and the next in the warmth and comfort of home. Take care, thanks for reading.