More thoughts on Spadola, local hoops and CCHS football

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Just back in from a late-night stop to the grocery store to get ready for my Friday morning flight to Fargo.

No, I didn't buy a Davey Crockett styled-coonskin cap to fit right in with the fine folks of North Dakota.

I will, however, be taking plenty of warm clothing with me, even though Lehigh's game is inside the 70-degree Fargodome.

I am getting ready for my trip and trying to digest all that happened on a memorable Thursday that included the suspension of one of the best players in FCS football and one of the all-time best players in Lehigh University football history. And this suspension is not for a mid-October Patriot League game against Bucknell, but it's for what would have been the biggest game of this kid's life.

I am not going to get into my feelings concerning the ultra-hypocritical NCAA and their often unfair punishments.

The overall feeling of the moment is sadness for what I consider to be a fine kid who had a momentary lapse of judgment.

When you get caught for underage drinking or drug use, I have absolutely no sympathy for you because you indulge knowing full well that it's wrong. That's premeditated self-destruction and I get sick of hearing of people, particularly parents, saying "Ah, kids will be kids" because there's more time to think about your actions when you're invited to a party and offered a beer.

But Spadola's mistake was spur of the moment. That's the nature of Twitter -- get it out quick and fast without even editing your own words most times. I know because I tweet all the time at high school football games to update scores. I just hope my words make sense half the time.

So getting fired up for the game Spadola was goofing around with a friend on Twitter and re-tweeting his friend's inappropriate words. And yes, sometimes it's easy to forget when you're in an exchange between friends that your words can be seen by everyone.

He was wrong, but I've seen and heard a lot worse from kids who had time to think about their actions.

I feel bad for him, but also for the rest of the football team who has worked so hard to get to this point and who may never get back here again. I won't say the Mountain Hawks can't win on Saturday after losing Spadola, but a very difficult task just got much more difficult.

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Just got finished with a long week of compiling high school boys basketball previews and I can't wait to get out to see some games.

That will have to wait until Tuesday at the earliest for me because of this trip to Fargo.

I think we're in for a very good season. I don't think there's a truly great team out there, but there are a lot of good ones and that's going to make for more competitive because the gap between the best and worst has clearly shrunk.

My preseason LVC all-star team -- First team: Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman (Central), D.J. Brown (Allen), Matt Wiseley (Emmaus), Nyreef Jackson (Freedom), Lincoln Holley (Easton). Second team: Derike Chiclana (Freedom); Greg Bobal (Emmaus); Zach Hulobowski (Northampton); Jean Lee Baez (Central); Nick Melosky (Whitehall).

My LVC power rankings -- 1. Freedom; 2. Emmaus; 3. CCHS; 4. Liberty; 5. Allen; 6. Easton; 7. Parkland; 8. Whitehall; 9. Northampton; 10. Becahi; 11. Dieruff; 12. Nazareth.

My preseason Colonial power rankings-- 1. Northern Lehigh; 2. Notre Dame; 3. Wilson; 4. Salisbury; 5. Bangor; 6. Saucon Valley; 7. Catasauqua; 8. Southern Lehigh; 9. Palmerton; 10. Pen Argyl; 11. Palisades; 12. Norrthwestern.

My preseason Colonial all-star team -- First team: Lloyd Irons (Salisbury); Connor Hughes (Notre Dame); Gerald Terry (Wilson); Caleb Johnson (Northern Lehigh); Kerry Reider (Bangor). Second team: Ryan Spirko (Wilson); Chris Mobley (Southern Lehigh); Lucas Pierce (Northern Lehigh); Brent Maron (Salisbury); Justin Ringland (Bangor).

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Tonight's Central Catholic-Archbishop Wood game in Philly could be an all-time classic. It could be a carbon-copy of the CCHS-Valley View game of a few weeks ago. The over/under on this baby has got to be at least 80.

The Vikings have a chance to pull off a very special win, almost as special as last year's state title win.

And, if it should end, the Vikings and their fans should only feel a tremendous amount of pride for what they have done over these past three years. Many people feel as though the golden era of CCHS football was the 1990s, and quite frankly, it was pretty good.

But these three years will long be treasured as three of the best football years in school history, and maybe it still has one more week left.

However, for the record, I am predicting -- Wood 49, CCHS 42. After going 2-2 last week, I am 197-53 on the season -- 78.8 percent.

Wouldn't mind being wrong on this one.

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/