February 25-27

Wednesday lunch with Jenny and her mother, in the afternoon I was on my way north to the Arena. The Maine Mariners were in town for the first time since November, this was the opener of a three-game series. The Royals were back home after going 3-1 on a very difficult road trip, on this night Lou-Felix Denis scored  two minutes into the second period to put the Royals up 1-0. The visiting Mariners tied the score and took the lead early in the third period before Gianfranco Cassaro found the net to pull the Royals even. Midway through the period Maine took the lead back, in the closing moments the Royals pulled the goalie for the extra attacker and the strategy worked as Matt Miller knotted the score 3-3 and set the stage for The Dreaded Overtime (patent pending). In the extra period the result was predictably predictable, the Mariners got a break in the offensive zone and won it 4-3. Vinnie Purpura took the decision as the Royals drop to 0-7 in overtime at home, overall the club is 3-9 past regulation with all three wins on the road. The club drops to 8-8-7 at home, 21-22-9 overall. The series with Maine continues on Friday the 28th and Saturday the 1st. Take care, thanks for reading. 

February 17-24

A predictably quiet week ended on Sunday, it's been a while but we're just about out of The Black Hole. Two noteworthy events happened during the week, one of them was particularly sad. After seven years as head basketball coach at McCaskey Freddy Ramos announced his resignation on Thursday. His overall record of 71-81 came from one year at 16-10, four seasons at .500 and the final two years at 7-15 each. It's the first time since 1972 that a basketball coach left JPM via resignation and that circumstance was completely different. It's sad to see Freddy leave, he's a class individual and obviously we wish him nothing but the best. Perhaps our paths will cross again somewhere down the road. On Saturday I had a call from the athletic office, JPM was hosting a district playoff game on Monday and they wanted to make sure I'd be available. I can remember when we routinely hosted playoff games in districts and states but this is the first time I can recall for twenty years at least. The game itself was a Class A consolation round game and one of the teams was none other than Jerry Johnson's club from La Academia Charter School. For me it was a strange situation because I help LA out on those rare occasions when they play a home game (with no home gym they get maybe two or three a year), on this night I was working their game in what was intended to be a neutral-floor atmosphere. The opponent was Dayspring Christian Academy (from suburban Mountville, about seven miles west of the city), La Academia kept their season alive with a 67-53 win. Take care, thanks for reading. 

February 15-16

Had a minor weather event on Saturday, it began to flurry in the morning as I was driving to Jenny's place. By the time we arrived in Willow Street for lunch it was snowing in earnest (and also in Willow Street), from there we were back in the city. There were some plows out working on the streets in my neighborhood, by 3:30 the snow had fizzled out and all we had at that point was a steady rain. The trip north on 222 was no problem but we did pass a few people who slid off the road because they just don't know how to drive under such conditions. When we arrived at the Arena the sidewalks were slushy but at least we were there safely. This was the Royals' lone home game in a twenty-two day stretch, it was the annual Pink In The Rink Night for breast cancer awareness. The Norfolk Admirals were making the fourth of their seven regular season appearances, in three prior games at the Arena the Admirals had skated away with three overtime wins but on this night the Royals finally flipped the script. Shane Sellar's goal three minutes in gave the Home Team the early lead but the Admirals rallied to tie it 1-1 at the intermission. In the second period Matt Miller lit the lamp two minutes in, for the final thirty-eight minutes the game resembled the sort of contest we've seen so often. There would be no come-from-behind magic for the opponent on this night, Vinnie Purpura and company slammed the door on a tough 2-1 Royals win. The victory ends a 1-2-3 skid and brings the mark to 18-21-8, 8-8-6 at home. The club plays its next four on the road, the Maine Mariners visit for a three-game set starting on the 26th. It was still raining after the game, I got Jenny and her mother home safely and myself as well and was damn glad to be there when I arrived. The rain finally cleared out on Sunday afternoon and was replaced by high winds and colder temperatures. Take care, thanks for reading.

February 10-14

The new week began with a celebration, on Sunday night in New Orleans the Philadelphia Eagles won the NFL title with a 40-22 victory over defending league champion Kansas City. The franchise has been around since 1933, this is the fifth title in club history and the first since 2017. As a youngster my sports allegiances developed around the teams I saw play most often on television, in this area that was Philadelphia (the Eagles, Phillies, Flyers and 76ers) and Baltimore (the Orioles, the Ravens and the Colts before they were stolen from the city by a carpetbagging owner). Right now we are in The Black Hole, with basketball season over and the Royals chiefly on the road there is little happening. The Royals played at home on the 4th, between then and the 26th the club has only one home game which affords us the opportunity to put the wraps on the hoop season at McCaskey. The JV squad finished 8-12, nobody was in double figures but Amir Thompson-Hanson averaged 9.3 in the seven games he played, Kyle Brown-Nunn played the full schedule and averaged 8.8. The varsity finished 7-15 for a second straight year, the club started 2-9 but recovered to go 5-6 in the second half. The team played .500 ball in the division but lost ten of twelve outside of the league. Deandre Jones led the club in points (360) and average (18.9), Jaloney Porter scored 309 points for an average of 15.4. As a team they averaged 60.3 points per game while surrendering 66.4. The most telling point of the season is that every one of the seven wins was a stand-alone victory, the club never won two in a row at any point. In seven years as head coach Freddy's record stands at 71-81 (.467). It's been rough lately but hopefully better days are ahead, time will tell. Take care, thanks for reading. 

February 3-9

Woke up on Monday feeling somewhat out of sorts and with no appetite, not a good omen for as busy as Tuesday was going to be. The alarm rang at 7:00 on Tuesday morning, by 7:30 I was on my way north to the Arena. The annual Education Day game faced off at 10:30 with the Norfolk Admirals in town for the third of their seven regular-season appearances. Goals by Matt Miller and Matt Brown in the second drew the Royals even 2-2 entering the third period, Cam Cook's score early in the period gave the Royals their first lead at 3-2. OF COURSE the Admirals tied it 3-3, OF COURSE the game ended up in overtime and OF COURSE the Royals did not win, Norfolk left town with the 4-3 decision. Vinnie Purpura was the goalie of record as the Royals drop to 0-6 past regulation at home, as often as we have seen this movie one would think an alternate ending might be spliced in somewhere but we have yet to see it. It's always good to get at least one point but sooner or later you have to start mixing some "twos" in there. The next home date is the annual Pink In The Rink game on February 15. Stopped for some eats on the way home after having virtually nothing on Monday, by 5:00 I was at McCaskey for the final game of basketball season. Hempfield was the opponent and both JV and varsity finished with victories, the JV final mark was 8-12 and the varsity finished 7-15. It was Senior Night, before the varsity game we honored Rashad Gray, Chris Hernandez, Sandron Yobo, Adrian Rodriguez, Eddie Bencosme, Avery Stauffer and Deandre Jones as the Class of 2025. I finally got home shortly before 10:00 and was so dog-tired I was lucky to make it up the steps to the second floor. As the week went on I was slowly rounding back into shape, with little to nothing else on the schedule it afforded me plenty of downtime at home. Take care, thanks for reading.

February 1-2

The second month of 2025 started with Saturday night hockey in Reading, the Royals began the second half of their home schedule with a two-game set versus the Adirondack Thunder. On this night at the Arena Shane Sellar gave the Good Guys a 1-0 lead five minutes in but the visitors from the North Country scored twice in the second and carried that 2-1 lead into the third period. In the second minute Robbie Stucker (a defenseman not known as a goal-scorer) netted his first of the season to tie the game, midway through Matt Miller (the club's mid-season league All-Star selection) lit the lamp giving the Royals a 3-2 lead. ADK was not to be outdone, they replied less than a minute later to tie the game and force overtime. In the extra session the Thunder took the win and the extra standings point 4-3, Keith Petruzzelli was goaltender of record. The Royals have played OT nine times thus far (including shootouts), on the road they are 2-2 but with this result they fall to 0-5 at home. The clubs rematched on Sunday afternoon at 3:00 and on this day the result was never really in doubt. The Royals trailed 1-0 and 2-1 and caught up both times (Gianfranco Cassaro in the first period, Matt Miller in the second), in the third the Thunder scored four times with the last two into the empty net for a 6-2 win. Gage Alexander got the start in net and deserved a better fate. On the bright side the club had earned at least one point in the standings in each of the last eight games prior but a four-goal loss on home ice is never good. The record stands at 7-8-5 at home and 17-20-7 overall, we're back home on the 4th for the annual Education Day game at 10-30 (that's AM, in the morning). Take care, thanks for reading.