Boy I go away for a few months and I am left to decipher everybody's comments.  Since I am finally done with football, with all teams but Lakeland eliminated in our region, let me get to some general comments.
First off, if you consult your Webster's Dictionary for the word Landmark, there is a good chance that Drew University isn't mentioned unless by landmark you mean "former garbage dump converted to university".  That new conference is in desperate need of a name change and they haven't even played one organized game.
That said, it is nice that Drew won't be the only whipping boy for the league with Juniata in there.  That Drew-Juniata bloodbath should set the tone.  A 4-hour drive either way to see a flaming blivit of a game, now that's progress!!
Colonel John took in a game and didn't tell me about his appearance, but then again I didn't get an invite to his wedding so I am still a little sore and may have ignored him.
I did see the highlights from the Martz Center and Scandlon Gym and the one thing I noticed was all the people dressed up as bleachers.  Both schools must have promoted the crap out of those games because so many people dressed alike.  that being said, an empty bleacher looks a whole lot better than those mustard yellow shirts the Colonels have passed out for the past five years.  You could get one of those shirts on E-Bay for the cost of a chicken wing bone.
And finally, the "Catholic Girls Are Easy" chant has been going on since the turn of the century.  I was at a 6th grade girls game at St. Mary's Assumption two years ago and some 50-year old guy in the corner was yelling it at the top of his nicotine-infested lungs.  However, this chant will lose some steam now that the Bishop has put the axe to so many storied schools.  The only things that will miss those institutions are low enrollment, asbestos and no heat in the winter.
Have a wonderful week.

Well with the Pittston Salmanella (er Tomato) Festival in full swing, it is time for the Burdett Clan as we are known, to once again grace the pages of D3Hoops.  Incidentally to those who don't know, my hometown of Pittston is the Quality Tomato Capital of the World, brought to you by a city where maybe five people are capable of growing even a respectable tomato.  the rest go to Papa John's and Domino's to pass off to the losers that frequent those establishments.
And the salmanella refers to an incident around 1985 where 12 people were hospitalized with poisoning from a rouge bunch of mozzarella sticks.  On a side note, my sister was one of them and happened to run into an ex boyfriend when she was dropping off her specimen at the Nesbitt Hospital.  But enough about that.
The Burdetts are always up for a Pizza Summit, but with band and football season two weeks away, we go away until around Thanksgiving so it may have to pass until then.
Finally as a reporter for the company putting out the 50 Greatest games in Scranton, I would put my vote in for a wiffle ball game I participated in around 1984.  The score was about 35-33 and the lead switched maybe 10 times in a six inning game.  don't think it will make the list but it is worth a shot.
A real list would be if the Sunday Dispatch in Pittston did a 50 greatest Seton Catholic Sports Moments, the topper being when Karim Twyman of GAR blocked a shot off the old scoreboard in the corner, knocking out the power in the building.  It was incredible to see at the height of GAR basketball.
Most of this is just for the enjoyment of the locals, and I am sure Colonel John is laughing about all this.  I am still waiting for my invitation to your wedding so you know where to send it.
Take care.

ColdCase:  No disrespect but the last time they cleaned the majestic's grill, I believe Nixon was just getting caught for the first time for Watergate.  If you don't have the implied grease on the grill at local joints like the Majestic, there is no point in going.  Go to Five Guys if you get the chance.
Now onto yesterday:  As much as it was the popular choice to go with Arnold for MVP, the nod here goes to #52, and I am sorry I don't know his name (Lumpy rings a bell).  All kidding aside, when he came back in the second half after getting three fouls in the first, he finally got the Royal inside game established with two quick baskets and the more he stayed on the floor, the fresher Bicknell was when he came back.  Without him, the game would have been lost for Scranton way before the comeback started.
About five minutes into the second half, I said to the group I sat with (and if Adam ever flips me off in Duryea again, brother or no brother I will colostomize him) that if Scranton doesn't get to 65 they won't win.  Well as it turned out, I was dead on with the point predicton, expect that Wilkes didn't get there either.  Tremendous lockdown on defense by the Royals and with everything that happened to them this season, they are 21-6 and don't be surprised to see them represent the Freedom well in the NCAA's.  May even get a home game in the first round.
Good luck to them, and I echo the sentiments of the loss of the five seniors on the Colonels.  They are a great group of guys who will be missed. 

For those who are unfamiliar with the Jason Fisher reference, Jason Fisher is the greatest concealed elbow thrower in the history of the MAC.  He would have you rnerves unraveled right from the beginning because you knew he was great at it and he was never going to get a call against him.  As much as the Colonel contingent hated him for being a Royal, you had to respect him not only for what he got away with, but for being a hell of a player as well.
As far as the officiating answer, I will assume that it will be a crew you have never seen before, or one personally hand picked by Warren Thompson as the cream of the Commonwealth crop. 
If that isn't the case, the one official you do not want to have within 100 miles of the Long Center is Red.  I don't know his name, but he goes about 5'5", a moustache and always finds a way to jam it up both team's asses at inopportune times.  He is the worst of the worst, and should not be officiating biddy ball at the YMCA, let alone the biggest game of the season.
That being said, I am off to Five Guys Burgers and Fries in luxurious Dickson City before heading to the Long Center.  Should be a lot of fun, and a tight game from start to finish.

My thoughts from an entertaining evening at the Scandlon Gymnasium:
First off, King's not having Nenstiel hurt them greatly.  Soboleski would have got more rest and would have been fresh down the stretch.  That being said, Soboleski showed why he will be the premier big man in the Freedom for the next two seasons.  He worked his ass off when most of his teammates were asleep at the wheel.  If he didn't show up, the game would have been over earlier.  Between Cousart, Scalzo's big second half and Soboleski, nobody else had any desire to be there last night and it showed. 
As for Wilkes, apparently someone went to them before the game and told them they are the best team in the conference.  The Colonels took every shot the Monarchs gave them in the second half and never let the game get away from them like they did earlier in games against Lyco and Del Valley. 
Shovlin was able to get to the basket any time he wanted and as good a defender as Dwebeng is, he couldn't hang. The bench won this game for the Colonels, with Sclafani, Adams and especially Kable providing big plays all evening.
As for the Scranton game, it sounded like Lyco had every shot to win an ugly game and couldn't get over the top.  Pribble unfortunately picked a bad night to have a bad night.  Credit the Scranton defense for an enormous effort.
Wilkes-Scranton 3 for the NCAA Berth on Saturday.  Could go either way and should be a great game.

Well I am all for the All-Freedom League selections until you get to the DeSales contingent.  How could the team that didn't get into the playoffs have two guys?  I have no problem with Christman.  Even though I didn't get to see him this season, from all indications he is a quality all-around player and the nod is well-deserved.
In Stricker's place you could have went with a few guys (Bicknell, Constantine, Soboleski, Scalzo), but I am not going to bust a vein over this one. 
Where I will bust a vein is the special awards.  Pribble is a no-brainer Player of the Year.  I think everyone here would concur.  However, Friday as COTY and Sye as ROTY?  This is one of the bigger conspiracy theories since Hoffa being buried in the Meadowlands (incidentally, if they didn't chop off Hoffa's arm, he would be a better QB for the Jets than Pennington.).                                        This year's awards were voted on at the luxurious Days Inn in Montoursville. The voting committee this year must have been writers from the Williamsport Gazette, the Milton Standard Journal and the Press-Enterprise.  Nobody else made it becuase the voting took place the weekend when the terrifying blizzard of one inch fell in the region and nobody made the trip to Billport. Thus the sweep of the awards.  Seems simple enough to me.
Danzig took a team with 10 guys and guided them to the #1 spot when it looked like before New year's that they could be looking at 5th in the conference.  Easy choice there.
Big night tomorrow with Wilkes-King's 3 and Pribble vs Scranton.  Should be a lot of fun.  No odds-on choice in either game if you ask me.  Any of the four teams could win it. 
Have fun wherever you go.

All I could say about last night is Johnathan Freakin Pribble.  What a performance from a kid who was pretty much shut down for the first half.  It was a tale of two halfs, with Constantine shooting the ligths out in the first half as the Colonels built a double digit lead ony to have Pribble turn the tables going 8 for 9 from deep in the 2nd half, including one from about 30 feet.
Pribble may quietly be the MVP of the Freedom League this season.  Wilkes threw about five different looks at him and he still came off screens ala Richard Hamilton.  More importantly Pribble put the Warriors back into the thick of the Freedom League playoff hunt. 
Pribble's performance rivaled Brian Horgan's effort last season at the Martz Center.  Simply sensational and a pleasure to watch.
Right now, if you want to argue 1st team MAC Freedom, you have four outstanding guards (Arnold, Pribble, Cousart and Constantine) battling for two spots unless they vote in four guards, which I would have no complaint about.  I know I am leaving out someone from DeSales so please bear with me.

I am happy to be back in the chat room and even happier that I didn't skip last night's game.  For the most part, the game kinda stunk, especially the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half where the refs tightened things up and neither team could hit a shot.
King's downfall came when they started going to the free throw line with 6 to play and increased their lead to 9 with two to go.  When Wilkes cut into the lead, King's didn't have anyone take a legitimate shot.  Their offense sputtered and a key turnover led to the tie-breaking shot for Shovlin, who played one of the worst games of his career, high school, college or otherwise but once aain showed that you don't give him a chance to beat you because he is one of those few players that can.
Big test at DeSales Saturday.  By the way, there was about 2,800 fans at the game last night, a tremendous crowd considering first league game of the year.  Even worse is the schedule showing that the rematch takes place on Feb. 14th.  Scandlon won't see half of that crowd as everyone gets suckered into blowing their money on love! 
Anyway, great start to the season!  Talk to you again!