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TABLE TALK: Commemorating 10-Years With Rich Scarcella · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:21
All right, everybody, you're listening to Table Talk here at the Philadelphia Sports
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Table podcast show, the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world.
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That's right. It is April seventeenth, twenty twenty three, and you
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know what that means, folks. It is officially our one year anniversary of
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doing the Philadelphia Sports Table. That's right. Ten years ago on this date,
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we uploaded our very first episode Lenn and I in my basement at the
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time, in the house that my wife and I lived in. He came
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up, We got our equipment together, got the microphones all hooked up,
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we hit record, and we did that very first episode. And that's what
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you are going to hear on this week's regular podcast, which is going to
1:02
be uploaded this Thursday. We are going to replay that, and boy,
1:06
I tell you it's it's something else, folks, It's something else. But
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we wanted to commemorate our ten year anniversary on this date here by kind of
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going back in time and talking to an individual who meant so very much to
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us. It was our very first interview that we had ever done, and
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our guests this week was that very first interview that we had ever done.
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Lenn and I got in our cars, we took all of our equipment,
1:30
and we traveled to Reading, Pennsylvania. We went to the Redding Eagle because
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we wanted to talk some Penn State football with a certain journalist and one of
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the longest tenured Beat reporters that covered Penn State football, and that gentleman is
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Rich Scarcella. We were in a conference room again where we had all of
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our equipment. Lennon and I we kind of didn't know what we were doing,
1:49
even though we were kind of, you know, making our way through,
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you know, waiting through the waters. We were kind of getting there.
1:57
And Rich was absolutely fantastic. I remember remember that discussion talking about that
2:00
particular Penn State football season, and we got added there. Lennon and I
2:05
were thinking to ourselves, boy, we just talked to an incredible individual with
2:08
an incredible amount of knowledge about Penn State football who wanted to actually speak with
2:14
us. And it was bittersweet then and it's pretty bittersweet right now ten years
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later thinking about this. So without any further ado, let's get to the
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discussion with Rich Scarcella again from the Reading Eagle. And I know he's with
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some other publications out there as well. But to commemorate our ten year anniversary
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in that very first interview that we had ever done, We've got a great
2:36
discussion coming your way. Joining us on the podcast. As I said in
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my intro, is the individual who we very first interview ten years ago,
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the one the only from The Reading Eagle covering Penn State football, mister Rich
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Scarcella. How you doing, Rich? Thanks for jumping on. Hey,
2:54
Jeff, I'm really good. How are you today? I'm doing pretty good.
2:58
I feel good about where our podcast asked is at this little podcast that
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we did ten years ago. It's certainly not the biggest podcast in the world.
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It's certainly not the largest podcast in terms of Philly sports, but it's
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something that we absolutely love to do. We still have the passion for it
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and it really I'm not saying that it is an absolute honor to have you
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on, because again, you were the very first individual that Len and I
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interviewed ten years ago. We came out to The Reading Eagle, sat in
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a conference room, we talked about Penn State football and it was a fantastic
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discussion. We came away from its saying, oh my gosh, you know
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we're there's something very cool here with this medium that we are embarking on.
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And I just want to say, right off the bat, thank you for
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that interview ten years ago, my friend. Oh, sure, you're welcome,
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and I do remember it. Unfortunately, time has flown by, and
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you know, we're owned by a different company and we're no longer in three
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Street and reading were so. But I mean, times have changed, but
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I do remember that interview for sure. Yes, times have certainly changed in
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the world of journalism media in general. And I don't want it to get
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into that with you, rich As where as where you know, ten years
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into this particular podcast, because I look at it as the world of media
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and even digital media has certainly come a long way over the past ten years
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that we've been doing this podcast. And heck, we like, like I
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said, you know, traveling, We traveled out to interview you in person.
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Right now we are on zoom doing this, So traveling to do interviews
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it seems like perhaps something of the past here. So when we kind of
4:33
look at the past in a way, when you look back maybe on the
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past ten years, whether it's covering Penn State football, I know you cover
4:42
other sports, as well. I'm wondering what has struck you the most about
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how digital media has really kind of changed over the years here, Yeah,
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Jeff, I think like podcasting. Obviously there's and I'm you guys started it
4:58
ten years ago. But there are so many people podcasting these days, whether
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it's sports or anything else, any other topic. And obviously some are really
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good, some are not so good. That's just the way it is.
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It's just like the newspaper business, the writing business. Um. But there
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are a lot out there. And I did a podcast for a short time
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before I change in ownership. UM did when I think, for like two
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or three years and really enjoyed it. And and I'm a guest on several
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of them, and not just yours and glad to be here with you,
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but others too. And I enjoy it. And I podcasts I like because
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you get a different take on things and people. Um, you know,
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you have a there's a face to it, there's a name to it,
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there's there's a voice to it. And my problem is the other part is
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bloggers, because bloggers could be anonymous, could be anybody. You know,
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you're writing something, and you could write anything that you want to write.
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And it doesn't matter if it's true or not, and there's no accountability there.
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But like with podcasting, it's different. I look at podcasting differently than
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I do blog. Well, I think because you, I mean, you
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come from a journalistic background, and I think that's a really good segue rich
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into the next topic. I kind of wanted to dive into here with you
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because there are folks out there who aren't the biggest fans of where media in
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general has gone over the years and where journalism has gone over the years,
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for example, as you're talking about with bloggers, you know, and bloggers
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are actually becoming credentialed members of the press pool every now and again depending on
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the market, and podcasters, depending on the podcast and the personality and environment
6:45
of the podcast, are actually taken more seriously these days in terms of,
6:48
you know, driving storylines. So I'm wondering, do you think the expansion
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of an amount of individuals within the sports media world that really has exploded over
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the past decade is actually good for the sports world overall? Here? What
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are your thoughts? Well, Well, I mean, it depends on the
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persons who are doing the podcasting the blogging. Yeah, like I said,
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I'm okay with with a lot of people who are podcasting, UM, but
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when it comes to journalism, UM, you know, like if I criticized,
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whether it's we'll just depend state, yeah, James Franklin or even an
7:31
assistant coach or you know, Mildy criticized the player. It's imperative if I
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show up at the next availability, so they see my face and they if
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they want to answer me, if they want to say something, they can.
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You know, if you're a blogger, you know, I don't know
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if you know you can basically say something inflammatory. And if you're not credential
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and you don't you know, you're you're not seeing well, I could say
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anything I want to say. So I mean, so there's see, I
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separate journalism and media media to being a social media is whether it's Facebook,
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Twitter, or Instagram. And journalism is different because we have we're accountable,
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Like I have, I have editors, and you know, my name is
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on all my works, whether it's in The Writing Eagle or the Morning Call
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Now or UM the six other papers in the southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey area,
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UM what we call the Philadelphia cluster that media News group owns. So
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I have an accountability and I have a duty as a journalist to be as
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truthful and objective as I can to look at both sides of things. So
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that's my only issue. Is it good? Is proliferation of podcasters and bloggers
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good? Um? Like I said, I think it depends on who's doing
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that. I think. I think that's a great answer, Rich too,
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because I think also what you're talking about are the relationships that are made.
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From a professional standpoint, relationships are so very important in terms of when you're
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talking about your media availability with regard to James Franklin or an assistant coach.
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You know, the relationships that we build are so important within our industries and
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with certain individuals who simply get on the internet and start typing away and don't
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have those type of relationships. You know that that's where the problems of the
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issues that I have seen in media and journalism overall, where they really do
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stem from it. I mean they even goes deeper. We've talked about on
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this podcast show a number of times how relationships within sports itself is going to
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determine whether a team is going to be successful or not. Relationships are everything
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in this world and I think that's about the foundation of what you're talking about.
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Yeah, I would agree with you, Jeff. I think relationships are
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really important. But it's not like I can't um because if I had a
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good relationship with a coach or an athlete, I can't keep that from reporting
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what we see. Yeah, the true here, the true thank you.
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So that's that's that's the difference I think. I mean, there are there
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are people and I rarely listen to sports talk radio, but there are people
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who get on there and you know, they're they're they're taking a stance on
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something whatever that may be, just so that they can argue with the co
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host or scholars, and you know, that's it's kind of it's a little
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bit contrived. Not now, not everybody, believe me, not everybody.
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There are some really reputable people who do sports talk radio. I'm not saying
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that, but there are some. There are some who just want to say
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something to get to get a rise out of their audience. Yeah exactly,
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yeah, exactly. It's we know too many of those, don't we We
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know too many of those in the in the radio world. I mean,
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I want to be fair, I don't I don't think I don't think it's
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most people there are that. It's not just Philadelphia. I've heard talk shows
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all over this country. Um, you know, I don't I don't want
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to pick on the people in Philadelphia necessarily because I don't if that would be
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fair. But it's all over the country. You have different people who just
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say things just in order to provoke, to get us provoking, to get
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a response from their listener. Yeah. Absolutely, all right, Well,
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moving on here, Rich, I have a two part question for you here.
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It's still talking about media before we get into some Penn State football,
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But I'm wondering what have you Actually We're gonna ask what have you liked and
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disliked most about the quote age of new media here? So let's let's start
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with you've disliked and I think you've kind of gone over that with us here
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a little bit already. But you know, what have you mainly disliked most
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about this age of new media? What are your thoughts? Well? I
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can't yeah, I mean I've kind of touched on things. I will say
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there are people who have started websites who just are kind of I don't want
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to say fans, but that's the truth. Fans of a particular team are
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particular you know, whether that's college or pro, and they're trying to cover
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the team, but they just do it because they're fans of the team.
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And I've seen it depends state, and I mean it's not a lot,
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but it's enough and their credential media. Yeah, and you know it's like,
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okay, are you covering the team or you here just because you want
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to cheer on the team and you want to feel you're close to the team.
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So, UM, I think that's a problem. Um I I mean,
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I don't know how I feel about it. I mean it's it's obviously
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with the newspaper industry hurting as badly as it is right now, UM,
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you know, there there are openings for different people to have voices. Um.
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You know, I know a lot of people. I've been in this
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business forty two years almost, and I know a lot of people friends who
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um you know, are no longer work in the business because they were laid
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off for for you know, for financial reasons, for cutbacks, including it
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our place. And it hurts, but you know, but other people I
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don't, I don't really look at it as like it's a whole new industry.
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I just I just know there are a lot of when you're trying to
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do interviews through a game or after practice, there are a lot more video
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cameras they're being hands held than there were ten years ago. Absolutely, absolutely,
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there's a lot more noise, for sure, a lot more noise probably.
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But what do you what do you like? Is there anything that you
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actually do like about this new age of new media? I mean, I
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like the fact that there are younger people who are very energetic in it.
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I mean it seems that way anyway to me, you know, I like
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their energy. I mean I really I try to. I don't want to
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say mentor that would be too strong word, but at least support the students
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at Penn State who work, especially the ones who worked for the Daily Collision,
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because I did many many years ago. Um, So I like that.
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I like that energy. But I can't I'm gonna be honest if I
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haven't really given it much thought about what do I like about it? What
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do I don't like about it? I just know sometimes it makes my job
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a little harder, yeah than it used to be. Yeah, all right,
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Well, ten years ago we came out there to talk about Penn State
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football came out to the Reading Eagle to talk to you, and I wanted
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to get into a little Penn State football here before we let you go,
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so as somebody who is a Penn State alum, and I continue to follow
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you know, not just yourself on Twitter, folks, and you should follow
15:28
Rich on Twitter if you're not already by the way at Nitney, Rich is
15:31
a great, great follow with regard to Penn State football coverage. The offseason
15:35
here, I think is going to be pretty interesting, is we're ramping up
15:37
for this twenty twenty three Penn State football season because so many of so many
15:41
of us fans, you know, alumni and followers of this team. We
15:46
can't wait to see with this new quarterback and Drew lar is going to do
15:50
this coming season. I mean, I mean, how many years have we
15:54
had the same quarterback and doing some of the same things on the field.
15:58
Having new blood is going to be great to see. You know, we
16:00
saw some ups and downs from him in the Blue and White game recently.
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But what are your thoughts about Drew Laer as we looked at the twenty twenty
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three season. Well, let's let's start with this over in the time that
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I've covered Penn State football, which has been since nineteen eighty nine for the
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Reading Eagle, there have only been three quarterbacks I'm pretty sure who committed to
16:26
Penn State signed with Penn State, who are so high, who have been
16:30
so highly recruited, and Drew Aller is one of the three, Christian Hackenburg
16:36
is another, and Carry Collins is the third. Uh. You know,
16:40
when Kerry came out of Wilson High School here in Burkes County, you know,
16:44
the recruiting rankings weren't as predominant, or they weren't at you know,
16:51
nobody was doing a lot of that individual assessments as they do now. I
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mean, you could just put a name in of a recruit and you could
17:00
find a lot of information about him. So Aler has that He's got a
17:07
lot of expectations, not just from the fan base but from his teammates his
17:15
coaches, because he came here as a four or five star recruit, one
17:21
of the top two quarterbacks in the class of twenty twenty two. What I've
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seen from him, obviously, the most I saw him in action was in
17:32
the Blue White Game, and you can see there are things that he does
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that your normal run of the mill quarterbacks don't do. His presence in the
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pocket is uncanny. His arm strength is off the charts, his ability to
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move his feet in the pocket to avoid trouble. These are things. His
18:00
agressions, everything, Um, I think you know in the Blue White game,
18:06
you have to remember Olu Fashion who wasn't playing for the blue team which
18:11
out in an hour, played for the blue mostly. Um, and you
18:18
didn't. Penn State's Blue team didn't have the top two tight ends, Theo
18:22
Johnson and Tyler Warren. Penn State rarely ran two tight end sets, if
18:27
at all, in the Blue White game. They're gonna be doing a lot
18:30
of that in the fall. Yeah, if they did the last year and
18:33
a half, two tight end sets, even three tight end sets. So
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all of this I don't I don't put a lot of or I'm not.
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I'm not terribly worried that Alur's not as good as we thought he was.
18:47
I think the Scott what I saw. I saw things once in the Blue
18:52
White game. Um, his improvision improvisation with throwing the past side arm,
18:57
throwing the deep ball deep out of his accuracy on the deep ball. I
19:02
see all this things. I mean, these next two seasons, Penn State
19:07
is poised to make a run at the Big Ten East Big Ten title,
19:12
getting to the playoff. They're poised. That doesn't mean they're the favorite,
19:17
right because Michigan has a lot of people back. Ye. What's going to
19:21
be interesting to see, Jeff, between now and when summer classes begin the
19:27
second summer session, especially at the end of June, is what happens in
19:32
the transfer portal. Where does Penn State get help in the transfer portal.
19:38
You may see them go after a defensive tackle, James Franklin said after the
19:42
Blue Wake, and they're a little thing there. But but to answer your
19:45
question, Drew Aller, I think he's going to have a really, really
19:51
good year. I'm optimistic for sure. I think I think so many within
19:56
you know, Penn State football Nation are so very intrigued by what he is
20:00
going to bring to the table over these next couple of years. And uh,
20:03
I just move it along here, Rich too. I mean, this
20:07
team has certainly lost some players to the NFL Draft because and some of the
20:11
seniors who are just not coming back, who've graduated. So I'm wondering,
20:15
who do you think or maybe a couple of the most under the radar Penn
20:19
State football players in terms of their skills, talent level that haven't necessarily gotten
20:25
a ton of press or a lot of looks thus far during the offseason.
20:29
Who we really need to keep our eyes on it is. This twenty twenty
20:30
three season is gonna you know, it's gonna start a few months. Let's
20:34
go, let's go. Let's start in the back end of the defense where
20:37
Penn State has to replace JayR. Brown, who to me was a very
20:42
underrated talent. He was named to the All Big Ten third team. I
20:47
thought he should have been first team. Manny Diaz, the defensive coordinator,
20:51
was able to move him all over the place. He lined up as as
20:56
a safety, as a nickel, as a corner, a backer. He
21:00
didn't even line up on the line. Sometimes. Um, there's they're gonna
21:04
have to find somebody to replace him. Uh, you know, keithan Ellis
21:07
will start at one safety. The interesting thing to watch is what happens at
21:12
the other safety position. Zarchy Wheatley and Jalen Reid who played there last year,
21:18
who fell out of playing time. Everybody kind of thinks yet that one
21:22
of them is going to win the job, but watch for Kevin who Kevin
21:26
Winston, he's better known as kJ. He's got um freakish athletic ability and
21:33
he stood out in the Blue White Game among with some other people too.
21:37
But that's the name to watch playing safety kJ or Kevin Winston. I think
21:45
that at defensive tackle, I think that the guy to watch is Zane Durant.
21:49
Zane was a true freshman last year. I think he's ready to take
21:53
off and have a really big year after losing PJ. Mustafer to the NFL.
22:00
Defensively, you know, James Franklin said he they're looking for a third
22:06
receiver behind KeAndre Lambert Smith and Harrison Wallace to them and Amari Evans had a
22:11
very very nice game in the Blue White Game. But don't forget about Kayden
22:15
Saunders. Kayden Saunders is one of their top recruits in the class of twenty
22:19
twenty two. Has added a lot of strength and muscle and looked very good
22:29
in the Blue White Game. So those two guys I would watch in particular.
22:33
And the last thing the tight ends. The tight ends I mentioned earlier,
22:37
Theo Johnson, Tyler Warren. They're among the best in the country and
22:40
don't be surprised by how big a part they play in the offense. I
22:44
can't wait to see what these games are going to do. I cannot wait
22:48
to see what these players are going to do this coming season for sure.
22:51
And again, folks, we're talking to Rich Scarsella from The Reading Eagle and
22:56
a conglomerate of other publications as well in the Morning Call. And it's somewhere
23:03
you can follow them on online is on Twitter of course, at Knitney rich
23:07
as I mentioned, And I guess to close us out here, rich As,
23:11
we're you know, commemorating our ten years here, and as somebody who's
23:15
a seasoned reporter like yourself. You're a season beat reporter with regard to the
23:21
Penn State football program, been covering them for so so many years. I'm
23:25
wondering, like what advice you would have for younger folks who who want to
23:29
get into the journalism business, who want to cover sports. You know,
23:32
maybe it's not necessarily starting your own website and just quote acting like a reporter,
23:38
perhaps, but I'm wondering for somebody who wants to do it right,
23:42
for somebody who wants to do it the right way, what would your advice
23:45
be for them. Well, you know I'm biased, but I mean,
23:48
you've got you have to go to a good journalism school, such as a
23:53
Penn State, such as a Temple. Just for two schools I'll mentioned that
23:59
are in our area. You know, they're too great journalism schools. But
24:03
these are tough j if. These are different times than when I started in
24:07
nineteen eighty one, there are fewer opportunities in the newspaper industry. I mean,
24:15
are are some newspapers that are only printing three or four times a week.
24:19
We're still printing seven days a week, so it's hard. But you
24:22
know, I would advise that going to a good school for journalism, and
24:27
then if you're fortunate enough to get a job, even take a part time
24:36
job, get your foot in the door. And maybe that's a way to
24:37
impress the people who are above you. But if you get in that door,
24:45
be true to yourself. Don't try to be someone you're not. I
24:48
wrote this stuff down. Read a lot of really good writers, who you
24:52
consider good writers. See how they do it. And the last thing is
24:57
really important, willing to work long hours at lopey. Yes, that's the
25:04
truth for sure, again, folks. Rich Scarcella from the Reading Eagle at
25:10
Nitney rich on Twitter. Rich it was so great seeing you here, you
25:14
know, on my computer screen, and I know everybody's listening has enjoyed the
25:18
discussion here as we're commemorating our ten year anniversary. Thank you, my friend,
25:22
for coming on our table talk interview show this week. And you know
25:26
what, let's not wait ten years to talk again. Let's talk again in
25:29
the foreseeable future, my friend. Okay, thanks Jeff, thanks for having
25:33
me. I enjoyed it. What a fantastic discussion with rich Man. It
25:37
was just great to get his insight about where the world of media has gone.
25:41
And really and honestly, you know, when I was asking that final
25:45
question to him, Please, I do not take offense if you are one
25:49
of those individuals who have a sports website out there, who is you know,
25:52
reporting on the team or providing your thoughts and insights. There is a
25:57
difference between actual journalism and having a fan site. There's absolutely nothing wrong with
26:03
having a fan site. Want to be very very clear about that. But
26:07
you know, getting back to the discussion with rich it is amazing to see
26:11
where the world of journalism and media has gone over the past decade. That
26:15
we have been doing this podcast and we're looking forward to continuing here at the
26:22
PST Podcast Show. And I want to say again, thank you, thank
26:26
you, thank you to each and every listener. If you're new to this
26:29
podcast, we do hope you stick around, of course, hope you enjoy
26:32
the content. But for a lot of long time listeners, you know,
26:34
who have been with us for eight years, nine years, ten years,
26:40
if you've been with us that long, just thank you so much. You
26:42
know, we know a lot of you and we appreciate your friendship. We
26:45
appreciate the relationships that we have with so many individuals. It means so so
26:51
much to us, it means a lot to me. So thanks so much,
26:55
and we're gonna end this table talk interview show right now. We've got
27:00
a great opposition territory show coming to you this week, where we're going to
27:03
be getting into the New York Jets and what their offseason has looked like.
27:07
And then our regular show this week, it's actually going to be us replaying
27:12
here in our ten year anniversary week. It's going to be us replaying Len
27:17
and my very first episode. That's right, episode one from ten years ago.
27:22
We are going to be replaying that this week. Those of you who
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may not have heard that, you're definitely gonna want to hear it because it
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was like terrible awful good. That's what it was. It was terrible awful
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good. So stick around for that. Take care everybody, and we will
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catch you next time.