Me and my 2 million friends

Yes I was nuts, but its something I had to do. To get off for the day, all I had to do was write something about Charlie on how wrong I was and run the picture above.
Mission accomplished.
I knew I needed to be in Philly on Friday, but just wasn’t real sure about going.
I started my trek down after getting some coffee and breakfast and didn’t hit any traffic until that spot on 322 where the McDonald’s, the car wash and the old Miami Motors is. It was a long wait, probably 45 minutes to get those that mess, plus a bathroom break.
But once I got on 95, it was a pretty clear shot to the stadium area. As I was listening to WIP going down, things didn’t sound that promising about me seeing the parade, so I put a game plan in motion.
I go into the stadium area and if its packed and I can’t find a place to park close, I’ll head to a bar/restaurant or turn around and come back.
Well, I found a place to park after a few trips around the block across the street from the bank and there were only a few thousand nuts standing around at 11 a.m.
So as I walked around the stadium, I found out where the parade was going past and much to my surprise there wasn’t anyone standing along the ropes in the left field area along Citizen’s  Bank Way.
How could I be so lucky? So I  got my place right along the rope, met some really nice people and felt like I won a $1 million.
As it started to fill up, we stared to have some fun with the people looking for places to stand and things were looking good. I had a good feel of things.
The sites were something to behold prior to the parade. I thought I was at a distributor for a while, any kind of beer passed my way. Didn’t even realize they still made Pabst.  The people, for the most part were orderly.
About the only regret was there was no one selling anything outside the stadium.
As it came time for the parade to come past my location, it got packed and all at once, the rope went down and I went from the first row (sorry Bob Uecker) to sixth row, but still a prime location.
I cheered loudly as the World Champions went past and then became the long walk back to the car, carefully stepping over thousands of cans.
While it took me four hours to get back, I would have to say this is a once in a lifetime experience that I will always remember and never forget and something I probably won’t do again.
After the summer I had, the Phils winning the World Championship and going to the parade was definitely one of the best days of my life.
I listened to the ceremony waiting in traffic to get on 95 and that had the people stuck in traffic going nuts as well.
I got to see my new heros and a couple of others as well.
Me and two million of my new friends.

Charles Jr. is in charge

This is a tough one. All year in fact since he took over the team from Larry Bowa, I’ve been telling everyone what a bum Charles Manuel Jr. was as a manager of the Phillies.
I think I’ve pretty well detailed over the years the mistakes he made in the dugout, etc. How I wish he would have been harder on the players something like a Bowa. I think I’ve even said he ranked right up there with Terry Francona as one of the team’s worst managers ever.
Don’t get me wrong, I am and always will be a Bowa man. He played the game the right way and managed the only way to knew how too. I will always believe that if the players bought into Bowa’s style, there would have been other championships.
So, I am big enough to admit when I made a mistake and can say that Charlie was a perfect fit for this team, despite some of his strategic shortcomings. Basically, he did it my letting the players play and if they needed a kick in the rear, he did it in private.
He benched MVP Jimmy Rollins for not hustling. That could have been a pivotal moment of the season for the Phils. Instead of tanking the season, it seemed like the team responded.
He had run-ins with run-ins with two other players, Brett Myers and Pat Burrell. He soothed their egos.
Sometimes I think at the professional level, managers and coaches overkill things with their strategy. Charlie will never be confused with some of the greats of the game in that department, but he was skilled enough to only lose two games during the run to the World Series.
My hats off for that.
Charlie and Dallas Green are the only two Phillie managers to win a World Series. Yes, they are probably the best two in team history.
I like Dallas because of his hard nose approach to the game, which worked in 1980, but I'm not sure it would work today. Heck, had it not been for the strike of 1981, he may have won back-to-back titles. Had it not been for that strike, who knows.
So that brings us to Charlie, not exactly the brightest in my mind when it comes to strategy. I lost count of how many games he may have cost us during the regular season.
But down the stretch (I sound like someone calling a horse race), 99 percent of the time he was brilliant.
I've written a lot about Charlie, Chuckles, Bobblehead, Chuck, and many other names, about how his country-bumpkin style and his lack of baseball strategy was killing the team and its fans. I and many others thought he needed to be more hard-nosed, and while  I still feel that way, maybe his style works.
Maybe it's because I am old school when it comes to baseball and many other sports. Perhaps its time I get with the new school, but in some ways, I'm too darn old to do that I guess I may have been wrong about Charlie. Maybe he was the right person for the job after all. Perhaps had Larry Bowa stayed, we would have never reached this pinnacle. Perhaps had they hired Jim Leyland instead, maybe he would have been “out of there” by now getting a pack of smokes.
It took a World Series title, a ring, so to speak, to change my attitude about Charlie. He may have been the best fit for the club.
And if he gets us back to the Promised Land again next year, well, who knows. But next year is a long way off and we need to enjoy the success of this season until then.
Got to admit, I may have been wrong about Charlie's managerial ability. Well, at least this year.

Rollers, Rollers

• They have rich traditions in athletics.
• They are among the smallest school districts in the state.
• Both communities are economically deprived.
• Both communities love their high school athletics.
The list could go on and on.
But the biggest difference in the two schools, the Crimson Tide and Rollers, at least year on the football field is that you could call the Rollers a Division I college team and the Crimson Tide are a Division III college team.
That’s not a smack in the face to our kids, its just that the Rollers are loaded and basically rolled to a perfect 10-0 record.
In winning 10 straight regular season games, the defending state Class A champs, who are a solid bet to repeat, they scored 381 points, while giving up just 98.
Their three closest games were a season-opening 16-14 win over Susquehanna Township and wins over Mid-Penn Patriot Division rivals, Trinity, 20-14 and Camp Hill, 28-20. They crushed Middletown, one of the favorites in the Class AA field, 30-14.
And they have a number of Division I prospects on the team.
The biggest D-I prospect is running back Jeremiah Young, who sat out last week’s game with Camp Hill, with an ankle injury.
He needs 421 yards to get a new state career rushing record for a season currently held by James Mungro of East Stroudsburg High School. The former Indianapolis Colt rushed for 8,432 yards for his four-year career.
So far this season, Young has rushed for 1,806 yards and scored 20 touchdowns.
But here’s a little history -- Columbia is one of seven schools in the state that has held Young under 100 yards on the ground since the start of the District 3 playoffs when Young was a freshman. In that playoff game, Young was held to 89 yards on six carries. Others in the club are Holy Name (11), Southern Columbia (27), Boiling Springs (3), Bellwood-Antis (35) and Trinity (18).
And he also had a stud blocking for him, fullback Jordan Hill, who stands 6-5 and weighs in at 290 pounds.
Calling the signals for the Rollers will be Andre Campbell, who started last year on the state title title team. This year, he’s rushed for four scores and thrown six touchdown passes.
The team’s leading receiver is Jordan Smith, who has caught 21 passes for 389 yards.
The Rollers have rushed for 2,751 yards this year, while passing for just 666. Run defense was a weakness for the Tide earlier this year, but it has been moved improved over the last four games, but Columbia still hasn’t faced a run game like the Rollers.
That’s because there is a lot of beef\ up front for the Rollers. In the pits, the Tide will face a line anchored by the “Big Cat,” Lloyd Hull, who stands 6-2 and weighs a whopping 320 pounds. Others in the trenches are Will Rozman (6-0, 230), Matt Johnson (6-1, 215) and Justin Williams (6-2, 210).
Leading the way at linebacker for the Rollers is Jordan Hill, who leads the team with 64 tackles, followed by Jeff Davis with 35 stops.
Defensively, a player to watch for the Rollers is LB Jordan Perry, who leads the team in sacks ad cornerback Dionte Willis and Billy Stairs, who lead the team in interceptions.
Roller coach Rob Deibler in his 10th year has won five district titles.
NOTES: Kickoff is 7 p.m. at the Roller’s Cottage Hill Field, which is turf.
The winner gets the winner of the Millersburg-Reading Central Catholic game.
The other seeds are Holy Name (2), Camp Hill (3) and Millersburg (4).
Local ties are Columbia grad Tony Fillmore is a Roller assistant and Columbia assistant junior high football coach Tom Sherk teaches health and physical education at the high school.
Other L-L League teams in the playoffs are: Wilson, Penn Manor, Hempfield, Warwick and E-town (AAAA), Cocalico, Manheim Central, Lebanon, Garden Spot, Northern Lebanon and Elco (AAA) and Lancaster Catholic (AA).
Four of the 10 teams that Columbia played during the regular season qualified for the playoffs. The fourth being Daniel Boone in the Class AAA field.

It's playoff time

The District Three football playoffs begin tomorrow night across Central Pennsylvania.
There are a number of interesting first round match-ups as 13 teams from the Lancaster-Lebanon League begin their quest for district gold.
Many will see their seasons end tomorrow night, while a few could extend their seasons into December.
One of those teams looking to extend their season into at least next week is Columbia.
But they have a tall order in the defending state Class A champions, the Rollers from Steel-High.
Folks, the Rollers are as good as last year, if not better. Yes, Columbia has an up hill climb.
But folks, this is also the playoffs were the pressure increases as the favorites don’t  want to stumble and see their seasons end early.
While it will take an almost perfect game and some luck for the Tide to win, there’s always that chance of a major upset.
Let’s see, the Rollers are coming off a highly emotional win over rival Camp Hill. The are a little banged up as franchise player Jeremiah Young missed last week’s game with an ankle injury. I understand there are also a couple of other Rollers nicked.
Yes, they have a number of D-I recruits, but there’s always a chance  the Rollers might be overlooking the Tide just a tad.
They probably are thinking Columbia should be a push over given their 3-7 record. They could be right.
But I see tomorrow’s game as a chance to the Tide to let it all hang out, play one of their best games of the season and possibly record the upset.
As I’ve said previously for those of who that have jumped off the bandwagon, Columbia has gotten better over the last few weeks. They’ve played better defense and chopped more than 100 yards off their defensive average and moved the ball effectively.
One thing Columbia will have to overcome if a hostile environment, something they really haven’t faced this year. The Roller crowd is much like a Columbia crowd, they want to win and want to see their kids have some success.
They will also get to play on turf for the first time this season and probably better turf than Pequea Valley in the L-L League.
If Columbia comes out and plays their best and gives 100 percent, if should be a good game.
If the Tide comes out and plays like they want the season over, it will be a long night.
One will be able to tell that part of the game early on.

Odds and ends...

• Since I didn’t get to the concession stand on Friday night, and boy, was I hungry, I have to rule Donegal out of the “Concession Stand of the Year” award.
That honor, at least hot dog wise goes to Annville-Cleona.
The honor for the honor for the worst soup goes to Northern Lebanon, which also in my mind what honors for the best kept field.
• Good luck to the Columbia marching band on Sunday as they compete in the state Cavalcade of Bands in Hershey.

Lightfoot is league's best

There’s no denying that Friday night was a big night for Columbia running back Dakota Lightfoot.
The fleet-footed senior had what could be termed a “three-peat” night against Donegal.
• He rushed for more than 300 yards for the second time this season, breaking his home single-game rushing record with 360 yards.
• He broke the Columbia single season rushing record set last year by Ben Guiles of 1,665 yards.
• He also won the L-L League’s overall rushing title.
Lightfoot finished the game with 360 yards, 29 more than his record setting night earlier in the season against Daniel Boone, when he stunned the Blazers rushing for 331 yards.
Lightfoot now has 1,746 yards going into tomorrow’s playoff game with Steel-High.
In addition to his running prowess, Lightfoot has caught four passes for 59 yards and also changed how teams kickoff to the Tide, after running back the opening kickoff of the season against Eastern. Ever since, most teams have elected to squib kick or kick the ball out of bounds to keep it out of Lightfoot’s hands.
The record breaking night also allowed Lightfoot to pass Cocalico’s Kyle Fisher, who he trailed by 13 yards going into Friday’s game with Donegal to win the overall league rushing title.
Here are Lighfoot’s numbers for the season.
• Eastern: 20 carries, 111 yards.
• York Suburban: 24 carries, 196 yards.
• Daniel Boone: 22 carries, 331 yards.
• L-S: 11 carries, 25 yards.
• Elco: 25 carries, 239 yards.
• Northern Lebanon: 22 carries, 85 yards.
• Annville-Cleona: 26 carries, 128 yards.
• Lancaster Catholic: 10 carries, 81 yards.
• Pequea Valley: 17 carries, 190 yards
• Donegal:29 carries, 360 yards.
Here are some other stats about the Tide heading into tomorrow’s playoff game.
• Columbia as a team has rushed for 2,073 yards. Second on the team in rushing is Jason Combs with 117 yards.
• Columbia scored 22 touchdowns on the ground.
• Quarterback Matt Kreiser is 46-127-15 with nine touchdown passes for 925 yards.
• Yahya McIntyre leads the Tide with 33 catches for 728 yards and six scores. Second on the team is Derrick Smith with five catches.
• McIntyre, Smith, Felix Mendez and Clark Meshey have caught touchdown passes.
• On special teams, Meshey is 18 of 24 with PATS.
• McIntyre leads the Tide in kick returns.
• On defense, Lightfoot is the team’s leading tackler with 67 stops, followed by Joey Charles with 57 and Marcus Fischer with 44.
• Dominic Trout leads the team in tackles for losses with three.
• Fischer leads the team in fumble recoveries, while Alex Beckley leads the team in sacks.
• Combs, McIntyre, Meshey, John Markley and Smith have picked off passes for the Tide this season.
• The Tide gave up 1,862 yards on the ground for the first five games of the season and 1,054 over the last five.
• Passing-wise, Columbia gave up just 342 yards over its first five games, but 768 over its last five games.
• Columbia is also minus nine in the turnover department.