December 29-31

Wednesday lunch with Jenny and her mother, in the afternoon we were all together on The Road North for the first time since November 21. The Royals had not played anywhere since December 10, after five postponements (four at home) the club was finally back on the ice at the Arena. The Adirondack Thunder was the opponent for the first of their nine scheduled appearances. Cam Strong's goal in the game's second minute gave the Royals a 1-0 lead but the visitors from the North Country tallied twice within forty seconds to go up 2-1 before the game was three minutes old. Midway through the period Dominic Cormier lit the lamp to tie the score, late in the period Mike Crocock (not known as a goal-scorer) gave the Royals a 3-2 advantage. In the second period the Royals extended the lead to 5-2 on goals from Trevor Gooch (back from a stint in Italy in '20-21) and Brayden Low, the Thunder rallied in the third but never drew even, Hayden Hawkey was the winning goaltender in the 5-4 Royals victory. The calendar year ended with a 3:00 Friday New Years Eve game at the Arena, the Worcester Railers visited for the first of eight scheduled appearances. This was a day for rescheduled promotions, the Royals wore holiday-themed sweaters (originally planned for December 18) and it was also the annual Teddy-Bear-Toss game (reset from December 11). On this day the teams battled through two periods of scoreless hockey, four minutes into the third Patrick McNally scored the "teddy-bear" goal giving the Royals a 1-0 lead. At the six-minute mark Thomas Ebbing upped the lead to two, that would prove to be the last score of a 2-0 Royals win. Newly acquired goaltender Tristan Cote-Cazenave (from the University of Quebec Trois Rivieres) picked up the shutout victory in his professional debut. The Royals finish the 2021 portion of the schedule at 10-6-5 overall, 6-1-2 at the Arena. As it stands right now (and the only thing for sure is Nothing's For Sure) the club plays its next two on the road, we're back home on January 7. Thanks for reading, my friends. We'll catch you on the other side in MMXXII, see you there.

December 27-28

Monday afternoon at McCaskey for an "impromptu" junior varsity basketball game. In 2019 our JV squad played a game at Lancaster Catholic which came about largely due to Freddy's former association there, after a one-season absence (where a lot of other things were absent as well) the teams met on this day at 3:00. There was no admission charged and no other game before or after but I'd estimate there were at least a hundred fans in the house give or take. Those in attendance saw a good ballgame which regrettably did not not go JPM's way, the visitors won 38-36. The thought of an annual LCHS-McCaskey varsity game would be intriguing but from an enrollment/power ratings standpoint it would not benefit us to play it, at the JV level there are no such concerns and it gives the teams an extra game to play during a time when they would otherwise be idle. On Tuesday night we were back at JPM for the opening night of our holiday tournament. This was the first time since 2017 we actually had four teams committed, in 2018 we had only three teams involved and the tournament didn't happen at all in '19 or That Year We Don't Mention. In the opener York defeated Mastery Charter South (from Philadelphia), in the nightcap JPM lost to Harrisburg 73-66. Hasan Williams had a huge night with thirty points, J'Nai Ayala-Hunter hit double figures with eleven. Jared Kumah scored nine, Shamell Burke had six, Jonathan Byrd and De'Shaun McFadden had four each and Eric Centeno rounded out the book with a field goal. The key issue in the loss was rebounding, Harrisburg has a good deal of height which our squad always seems to lack. Year in and year out we always have speed, skill and raw athletic ability but rarely a big man who gets the dirty work done inside, I don't know why but we never seem to get some 6' 9" monster who can dominate the backboards. JPM meets Mastery South in the consolation game when the tournament wraps up on Wednesday, I am scheduled to be absent for hockey in Reading. Take care, thanks for reading. 

December 20-26

What figured to be a slow week with only one event on the calendar became even slower on Tuesday afternoon. Around 1:00 or so it was announced that our game that night in Ephrata was postponed, Freddy said in the text that too many people are sick right now. I noted that many of the other games in the area went on as scheduled including the JPM-Ephrata girls game so I can only assume the issue was either with us or Ephrata's boys. No immediate word on the makeup date, as it stands right now the next game is at home on the 28th. Sometimes there are occasions where there is absolutely NOTHING going on, what do you do when there is nothing to do and nowhere to go? We're at That Time Of Year which means little to me, I've spoken on it before and all you need to do is go back through this blog to every post on or around December 25 to find out. Jenny's presence in my life is the only (and I mean ONLY) reason I pay any attention to it whatsoever, if not for her it would be less than zero which is about all it is anyway. The Big Day was on a Saturday, it was a dark and rainy day which somehow seemed appropriate. I went to her place in early afternoon and we exchanged presents before supper. Helen made an excellent meal of ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, carrots and pumpkin pie for dessert. Jenny's sister Carol joined us along with Carol's daughter Amber and her daughter Mariah, later on Carol's other daughter Nina and her family dropped in from Parkesburg (they are the relatives Jenny and Helen usually spend Thanksgiving with). All things considered everything went well, it certainly beats sitting around the house doing nothing. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 17-19

Friday afternoon at McCaskey for the short bus ride southwest through the city to Millersville and the game at Penn Manor. I had originally planned on a longer trip in the opposite direction but we all know the story by now. They are doing a major renovation at PM, each of the last five years we've been there has featured a different traffic pattern due to the ongoing construction. When we arrived they gave me the key to our "locker room" which was actually an unfinished classroom, I asked the guy about the old locker rooms and he told me they no longer exist. The JV squad won its game handily, the varsity won by sixteen but it was a better game than the margin indicates. Every team we play within our league gives us their best shot and especially when it's on their floor, Penn Manor hung around and never folded. We managed to win each of the four quarters by margins of four, eight, three and one, when the smoke cleared the club had its first win 69-53. Some of the guys tried to downplay the victory because our opponent is quite frankly not expected to be a contender but you know that had they won the game they would have celebrated it like it was the NBA title, the World Series and the Stanley Cup all rolled into one. Thirteen players got in for JPM (all that are currently healthy) and eight got into the scoring column: Shamell Burke had a career night with 24, Hasan Williams added 14 and Jonathan Byrd scored 12. Jared Kumah had seven points, J'Nai Ayala-Hunter scored six with Eric Centeno, De'Shaun McFadden and Elias Garcia rounding out the book with two points each. The boys are back on the floor on the 21st for a divisional crossover game in Ephrata. Saturday lunch and an errand run with Jenny was all that happened the rest of the weekend, with hockey in Reading in the toilet there was little else going on. Take care, thanks for reading. 

December 15-16

The madness continues. Wednesday lunch with Jenny and her mother, while I was there an alert came down that the Royals weekend games at the Arena were postponed. We were scheduled for a three-in-three against the same opponent but apparently there are further health issues involved which blew the weekend sky-high. I have to admit that when the vaccines first became available I didn't get it immediately. Jenny and Helen got it in May on their doctor's recommendation, since they are the two people I'm around the most I decided to get it in August. I was never anti-vax, I just wasn't entirely sold on it at first and I'm still not sure I completely am but since they didn't have any problems I figured "why not" and I've had no issues either. In the evening I was at McCaskey for the second home game of the season and my first at the mic. One of the parents working the concession stand saw me and said she was glad I was back, she said my voice and a McCaskey basketball game simply go together. This was a divisional game with Manheim Township and for the Home Team it was a night of abject frustration. The JV squad lost by fourteen and the varsity came out on the wrong end of a 65-55 verdict. We trailed by three at the half and by eleven after three quarters, the last quarter was like climbing a mountain and never reaching the top. Freddy used nine players but only five got into the scoring column: Hasan Williams led with 18, Jonathan Byrd had 17, Shamell Burke hit double figures with 14, Jared Kumah and Elias Garcia had three apiece. The varsity mark stands at 0-3 but it's not indicative of the team's play or talent, we simply have played three very good opponents (Township is expected in be in the hunt within the division). The boys are back on the bus for a Friday night game at Penn Manor, since we have no hockey at the Arena I'll be able to work it. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 13-14

Went to New Holland on Monday morning to finally put the matter of my car repairs in the rearview mirror (weak pun intended). They still don't know what caused the Check Engine light to come on, they said sometimes the recharge of a weak battery can make unpredictable things happen. They swear everything is OK and the whole thing was simply a fluke. The rental was also turned in without issue, with it all I only drove it for a total of seventy-two miles. Went over to basketball practice after supper to get the scorebooks from Freddy since the boys have two games this week I'll be working. The operation has twenty-seven players overall, the varsity has fifteen players on the roster including four returnees, four from the '20-21 JV squad and seven completely new to the organization. On Tuesday we boarded the bus for the season's first road game, the destination was Reading High School. McCaskey has always been known for playing a very tough non-league schedule, Chester's reputation speaks for itself and all Reading High did in the '20-21 season was win the state championship. A game against RHS is never an easy assignment but it's especially difficult in their building, on this night both JV and varsity took relatively one-sided losses. The JV lost by thirty-six, the varsity lost 79-56. We trailed by twenty-four at halftime but managed to win the second half which is a good sign given that we were in an environment where the home team often plays not just to win but to humiliate their opponent. Jared Kumah (14) and Jonathan Byrd (11) hit double figures, Hasan Williams had nine points, Shamell Burke added eight, Elias Garcia scored seven, Nyaud Frazier had four and John Stewart rounded out the book with three points. We got back to town around 10:45 which was enough time for me to wind down and write this blog post. It's a quick turnaround for JPM, we're at home on Wednesday against Manheim Township. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 11-12

More from the "You Can't Make This $hit Up" department: I'm on my way to Jenny's place for Saturday lunch when I discover a missed phone message, the service center called to tell me my car was ready for pickup. They said they have no idea what caused the Check Engine light to come on, they could find absolutely nothing wrong whatsoever. They test-drove it for about twenty miles and everything is running perfectly, the man said the only explanation he could offer was "it was a fluke". Since this was going to be a busy day and they were only open until 3:00 I elected to take care of it first thing on Monday morning. In years past Jenny's apartment complex had a holiday party for its tenants, gifts were distributed but you had to be present to receive them. There hasn't been a party since 2019 (thanks to the Ongoing BS) but gifts are still distributed to those who are at home when it happens, this was the day for it and for that reason Jenny and Helen were staying home instead of coming to the Royals game in the evening. As it happened they made the right choice because the game never happened. At 2:00 (five hours before the scheduled faceoff) the ECHL announced that the game was postponed due to league health protocols, apparently several members of our opponent had "tested positive" and they wouldn't have enough men to play. That news effectively ended the day, there was no immediate word on a makeup date. The Royals went 2-4-1 on a very difficult road trip and hadn't played at home since November 21, as it stands right now they next play at home on Friday the 17th. Basketball season started at McCaskey on Saturday night, the hockey postponement would have made me available to work but I decided against it. They had substitutes for me in place and I'm not the kind to show up at the last minute and say "OK, I'm here now, you can go home", as a professional that's a stunt I wouldn't pull on anybody. I didn't even attend as a spectator because my presence may have only raised questions and I didn't want to be a distraction (a similar situation occurred years ago in Reading and it became a social media topic). Perennial state power Chester was the opponent, the JV won their game 57-51 but the varsity fell 74-56. Sunday was typically quiet except for a few hours in late afternoon, the McCaskey football team had its season-ending banquet at a local benevolent organization. I was informed of it earlier in the week, it was the usual player recognitions and award presentations with a good meal included. Take care, thanks for reading. 

December 1-10

The first few days of December were as quiet as the last few of November had been but it didn't stay that way for very long. The laptop I had for close to ten years finally died, I got a good deal on its replacement at a local electronics store. This is the third laptop I've owned, the first lasted from its acquisition in August of 2002 until May of 2012 and the second from then until now. On Monday the 6th I stopped in at basketball practice at McCaskey, the boys start their season on the 11th at home versus Chester (and I'm out of it for hockey in Reading). Freddy Ramos is back for his fourth year at the helm, assistant coach Cedric Horne is taking over as head man with the JV squad and Jason Yurchak and Nick McArdle are back on staff as well. I gave Freddy a list of the games I'll be absent from (right now there are five, two home and three road), he was going to give me the scorebooks but I told him it wasn't necessary since I'll miss the opening game. On Thursday I took the car back to the service center in New Holland, the door and radio were being fixed the next day. They called in the afternoon to tell me it was done, when I arrived they tried to bring the car up front and discovered the battery was dead. Somehow the parking lights were left on the entire time it was sitting in the parking lot, they took it back inside to get the battery recharged. While it was inside the Check Engine light came on, they told me they would keep it there to get it figured out and give me a loaner at their expense in the meantime. There is a well-known car rental company attached to the service center, they gave me a 2021 model with 29,000 miles on the meter and a Florida license plate. It will definitely be needed, between lunch with Jenny and her mother in the morning and the hockey game in Reading in the evening there is travel on my calendar for Saturday that simply will not take NO for an answer. As for my car I assume the door and radio are OK, I wouldn't know because I never had a chance to check any of it out personally. Take care, thanks for reading.