Basketball Falcons secure 3rd Seed in District 12

With an 80-68 win over John Bartram, the Falcons enter the state playoffs with the #3 seed in District 12. Well, that’s the good news. The not so good news is that by securing the higher seed, the Falcons will play the loser of the Pennsbury/Conestoga consolation game (Saturday, Feb 28). And, that first state playoff game will be on Saturday, March 7, with the time and location to be determined later.

(Note To All: Seems as though most of the lighting budget went to security. Not the best lighting for taking pictures. We apologize for some of the dark photos.)

Did You Notice…

……The security measures at South Philly High? It was almost as tough getting into this game as it is to get on an airplane in this post-9/11 era. There was a metal detector as you entered the school, and no less than 5 security people, who were there to monitor the detector, wand you and, if necessary, do a search of your person. I would have drawn the line at any body cavity searches. I’m committed to the team, but even I have my limits

.….Speaking of security, did you notice that it took not one, but two security guards to get you into the restroom? One guard, in the NE corner of the gym controlled the door leading to the hallway. She was very pleasant and gave directions to the next stop on the restroom run (through the doors, turn right, walk down hall to mural, second door on the left). While making my way down the hall, another security guard asked me what I needed. My response, “The Head.” He said, “Step right up.” He then unlocked the men’s room. It’s nice to know that so many people are so concerned about my bodily functions

.….the team couldn’t seem to find a locker room in the building. After being directed to the SW corner of the gym, they tried the doors and all seemed to be locked. So, sub-assistant, Tom “Hockey Puck” McKenna went into action and found where the team was supposed to be. But, after the team got into the locker room, someone told Puck that they couldn’t use that room. I thought his head was going to explode.

(Jimmy Dever - left, filming and chatting with his brother, John -right)

.…..Speaking of Puck, he was going into a slight panic at 7:00 when he thought he’d have to film the game because our regular film guy, Jimmy Dever, wasn’t there. I told him to relax, as there’s an hour to go before the game and Jimmy usually shows up about 30 minutes prior. Well, sure enough, at about 7:35 (must have been delayed by the cavity search), Jimmy walks into the gym with camera and tripod. Puck was relieved.

.…..Despite my low expectations, the night was a success. Everyone was nice, the games (girls game prior as well as boys game later) went off without a hitch, and on time. There was a flag in the house and a canned version of the National Anthem (although, we prefer Taylor Rand singing it live).

Faces in the Crowd…..

….The bleachers in the southern part of the gym was like a “who’s who” of North Catholic. Mike McBride was trying to sell NC Athletic Director, Tom Kaiser, an insurance policy

.…..In the second row, Stan Witalec was giving some basketball tips to Temple U head coach, Fran Dunphy

.….Next to McBride and Kaiser, Tom Crossett (Tom’s been promoted to Associate Super Fan) was watching the game from the front row. He was sitting with a guy who looked a lot like Mike Ritchie ’84. Actually, Mike makes it to a lot of games, and we’d mention him more often, but we have to save our space so we can talk about important guys like Mike McBride and Tom Crossett

.…..Hanging out in the North bleachers was former North AD and teacher, Fran Dougherty.

….Keeping his eye on the time keeper was NC time clock guy, Will Puchalski, who was sitting across court from the scorers’ table

….The AOH Div 87 guys, Tim Murph and Tug McGraw, both missed the game, so I can’t really bust on them. They were both excused for the evening. Murph was under the weather and Tug had to work.

The Adventures of Drew Colfer

You gotta love this young man. Drew, wearing his normal NC jersey with the #12 on it (Woody Redding is his favorite player) was at the game. Did you expect him to miss it? A little side note on the jersey. Drew showed up with his white jersey, and then noticed the team was in Red. For normal kids, this would have been a bad thing. But, for Drew, who wears a reversible jersey, it was as simple as ducking into a nearby men’s room to flip the shirt to the red side. Drew reappeared and was ready to do whatever he can for the team. Well, at this game, Drew was responsible for keeping the water cups filled for the players. He even missed shooting his customary half time shots in favor of making sure the players had some water in their cups. (See the photo below of Drew and his dad, Lenny, that one of our interns took at half time.) We don’t yet know who we are playing next, or where that game will be, but just as certainly as the sun coming up in the morning, Drew Colfer will be there, rooting on his team.....and maybe even shooting some up at half time.