New football season, same old LVC

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Until the postseason rolls around the second week of November, Labor Day weekend is the only time all fall that Lehigh Valley Conference football teams can prove how good the conference is.

With Central Catholic, Parkland and Bethlehem Catholic to play on Saturday -- and each of the three could have challenges on their hands -- the LVC is 6-3 on this opening weekend with Nazareth, Freedom, Emmaus, Whitehall and Easton posting very impressive victories and Liberty showing character by rallying past Glen Mills.

Northampton's loss at Stroudsburg may have surprised a lot of people, but Stroudsburg has talent and new coach Joe Bernard has imported lots of enthusiasm to the Poconos. So, while disappointing, the K-Kids loss is not as bad as it may appear.

And then there's Allen and Dieruff.

It sounds like a broken record, I know, but it's time to do something -- past time, really.

These two football programs do not belong in the Lehigh Valley Conference. It's that simple.

Everybody will try to talk a good game again, talk about improving, talk about turning a corner and going in the right direction, talk about getting more competitive, talk about this, talk about that, but it's not going to happen.

Demographically, these two schools belong in the Mountain Valley Conference, although judging by what happened again to Dieruff tonight, I don't think either would fare much better in the MVC.

What I do know is that the only game these two have a legit chance of winning -- once again -- is the one they play against each other at the end of the season.

They are basically a bye week for the rest of the LVC and it's no wonder that no one outside Allentown really cares about them. Teams will happily take the power points for beating another 4A school and get to rest their starters for the rest of the LVC grind. For a team like Central Catholic that may have to play 16 weeks of football, those two "bye" weeks could come in handy again.

There's a lot of reasons for how this happened, and perhaps, a lot of blame to go around. There is definitely a lot of finger-pointing happening out there and I have heard from some of the most vocal critics in the past year or so. They certainly can give you a list of who they think are to blame.

But really, how Allen and Dieruff, and the city of Allentown as a whole, got to this point is not the issue. The damage has been done.

The issue now is what to do about it.

To me, there are three options when it comes to football, and again, I am only talking about football. I know that Allen has a good boys basketball team and Dieruff has a decent wrestling team, for example.

We're talking only football here.

No. 1, petition the PIAA to see if they'll allow the two schools to combine into one football program. I didn't think the PIAA would allow this, but some have told me it has a much better chance of approval than I think. Would a combined Allen and Dieruff contend for a title? Heck no. But a combined team could at least stay competitive in three or four games.

No. 2, get out of the LVC for football only and play an independent schedule where there would be at least a handful of games on the schedule each year where both teams could at least compete. I think the MVC would also provide a more competitive situation but I don't think the MVC is interested in bringing two schools aboard for just football.

From the LVC point of view, a 10-team league for football is perfect. Each team could still play a nonleague game to start the season and then play nine league games, making sure that everybody plays everybody.

No. 3, and I hate to even suggest this one, but the third option is to save the money and not field football teams for a few years. The district is losing money on these programs, I don't think there's any question about that. Does having two teams benefit the district or the overall community in any way, at least enough to offset the costs involved?

I will always believe the sports playing field is one of the best classrooms kids can possibly have as they grow up and mature and learn what life is all about.

But I struggle to find the value in running programs that are completely overmatched by the rest of the league it plays in.

I credit the kids and coaches for continuing to try and compete. Some good work is still being done, and some lessons about discipline and dedication are being taught. We've said it a million times that you can still learn a lot about life from losing. And I am sure some will say having a team that loses by 40 or 50 points every week is better than not having a team at all.

However, another lesson that needs to be taught is that you have a chance to accomplish great things if you work hard.

Right now, no matter how hard they work, I just don't see the football teams at Allen and Dieruff having much of a chance in their current situation.

I hope someone in that administration building will finally say "Enough's enough" and at least attempt to make a change for the better.


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