Robert Coleman

The standings in Public D basketball are now officially unbalanced - two more losses than wins. District 12 chairman Robert Coleman said yesterday that A. Philip Randolph and Science Leadership, first-year Pub members, have been hit with a double-forfeit for playing their first game Dec. 4, a league affair, 1 day before the official PIAA starting date. According to workers at the Delaware Valley Score Service, which supplies high-school results and box scores to the Daily News , as many as 20 nonleague games involving PL schools were played Dec. 1 through 4. Coleman said he is currently "combing through schedules" and trying to be determine exactly which schools committed violations.

On the doorstep of the 2010 high school football season, Barry Thomas finds himself kicked to the curb. Thomas, head coach at Delaware Valley Charter, will not be on hand Friday afternoon when his squad meets Prep Charter in a Public AA opener at the South Philly Super Site. He has been suspended for one game by Del-Val's CEO/principal, Ernest Holiday, as the result of an incident that occurred last Saturday morning following a scrimmage between the Warriors and Samuel Fels at Germantown's Ben Johnston Memorial Stadium.

Part 1 went great. Now, Robert Coleman, the District 12 chairman, wants to make sure Part 2 does, also. Tomorrow, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Temple's Liacouras Center, more than 1,700 athletes currently in eighth to 11th grade are scheduled to receive free physical exams that will make them eligible to compete in PIAA sports during the 2010-11 school year. The preregistered athletes, Coleman said, are enrolled at public, charter and Catholic schools. Physicals will not be given to walkups, he emphasized.

Part 1 went great. Now, Robert Coleman, the District 12 chairman, wants to make sure Part 2 does, also. Tomorrow, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Temple's Liacouras Center, more than 1,700 athletes currently in eighth to 11th grade are scheduled to receive free physical exams that will make them eligible to compete in PIAA sports during the 2010-11 school year. The preregistered athletes, Coleman said, are enrolled at public, charter and Catholic schools. Physicals will not be given to walkups, he emphasized.

A new quarterback is now delivering the football to George Washington High's two Temple-bound receivers, Brandon Chudnoff and Daquan Cooper. Not just any quarterback, either. Tony Smith, who, in two seasons as Father Judge's starter, passed for 2,838 yards and 26 touchdowns, yesterday was cleared to play for Washington by the District 12 committee. Smith, last Saturday, represented Washington in a scrimmage vs. Cardinal O'Hara, and that could have been a problem since Judge had not yet signed off on the transfer.

The School District of Philadelphia is not making cuts to its high school sports programs because of its financial miseries after all, Marty Bednarek, a member of the School Reform Commission, said yesterday. Last week, the district's athletic director, Robert Coleman, told boys' soccer and girls' volleyball chairmen that their junior-varsity programs were being dismantled for the fall. The chairmen told the coaches and, in turn, the coaches told their players on Monday, the first day of practices.

The School District of Philadelphia has a new director of athletics, and his track record suggests that he is a winner. Robert Coleman, 50, assistant to Cliff Hubbard, who retired, has been named to the top post by school district chief Paul Vallas on the recommendation of Marjorie Wuestner, the district's executive director for health, safety, physical education and sports administration. For the last three years, Coleman, who also chairs PIAA District 12, has been interacting with city athletic directors, participating in executive meetings across the state, and facilitating sports competition between area teams and those in other parts of the state.

CLOUT FIRMLY believes that there is no greater joy than finding out what your friends and enemies are worth. So, as soon as we got our hands on the new "actual value" property-tax assessments from the Board of Revision of Taxes, there was only one thing to do: Look up the home values of our elected officials. We can report that they are doing very well for themselves. All the VIPs we checked saw substantial increases in the assessed market values of their homes - which likely means tax hikes if these new assessments eventually go into place.

Public League boys' basketball officials were able to resolve their scheduling dilemma this week by looking ahead to next month. A four-day, 91-game marathon begins this afternoon to complete a regular season that was nearly ended due to a pair of snowstorms. "I'll tell ya, you'd better be in shape," said Communications Tech coach Lou Biester, whose Phoenix are 14-0 in the league's C Division. "The last thing we would want to do is freeze games," said league chairman Charles Sumter, using appropriate language considering the weather responsible for this scheduling mess.

In one corner: Ss. Neumann-Goretti, the team with three consecutive Catholic League basketball championships and 54 straight league wins. In the other: Imhotep Charter, the squad with the same number of consecutive Public League titles and 55 wins in the last 57 league outings. Ding, ding, ding! . . . Almost. Nudged hard late yesterday morning by the Daily News, District 12 chairman Robert Coleman spent much of the afternoon trying to schedule a real City Title showdown between these powers for later this week.

On the doorstep of the 2010 high school football season, Barry Thomas finds himself kicked to the curb. Thomas, head coach at Delaware Valley Charter, will not be on hand Friday afternoon when his squad meets Prep Charter in a Public AA opener at the South Philly Super Site. He has been suspended for one game by Del-Val's CEO/principal, Ernest Holiday, as the result of an incident that occurred last Saturday morning following a scrimmage between the Warriors and Samuel Fels at Germantown's Ben Johnston Memorial Stadium.

A new quarterback is now delivering the football to George Washington High's two Temple-bound receivers, Brandon Chudnoff and Daquan Cooper. Not just any quarterback, either. Tony Smith, who, in two seasons as Father Judge's starter, passed for 2,838 yards and 26 touchdowns, yesterday was cleared to play for Washington by the District 12 committee. Smith, last Saturday, represented Washington in a scrimmage vs. Cardinal O'Hara, and that could have been a problem since Judge had not yet signed off on the transfer.

Part 1 went great. Now, Robert Coleman, the District 12 chairman, wants to make sure Part 2 does, also. Tomorrow, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Temple's Liacouras Center, more than 1,700 athletes currently in eighth to 11th grade are scheduled to receive free physical exams that will make them eligible to compete in PIAA sports during the 2010-11 school year. The preregistered athletes, Coleman said, are enrolled at public, charter and Catholic schools. Physicals will not be given to walkups, he emphasized.

Part 1 went great. Now, Robert Coleman, the District 12 chairman, wants to make sure Part 2 does, also. Tomorrow, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Temple's Liacouras Center, more than 1,700 athletes currently in eighth to 11th grade are scheduled to receive free physical exams that will make them eligible to compete in PIAA sports during the 2010-11 school year. The preregistered athletes, Coleman said, are enrolled at public, charter and Catholic schools. Physicals will not be given to walkups, he emphasized.

Public League boys' basketball officials were able to resolve their scheduling dilemma this week by looking ahead to next month. A four-day, 91-game marathon begins this afternoon to complete a regular season that was nearly ended due to a pair of snowstorms. "I'll tell ya, you'd better be in shape," said Communications Tech coach Lou Biester, whose Phoenix are 14-0 in the league's C Division. "The last thing we would want to do is freeze games," said league chairman Charles Sumter, using appropriate language considering the weather responsible for this scheduling mess.

CLOUT FIRMLY believes that there is no greater joy than finding out what your friends and enemies are worth. So, as soon as we got our hands on the new "actual value" property-tax assessments from the Board of Revision of Taxes, there was only one thing to do: Look up the home values of our elected officials. We can report that they are doing very well for themselves. All the VIPs we checked saw substantial increases in the assessed market values of their homes - which likely means tax hikes if these new assessments eventually go into place.

The standings in Public D basketball are now officially unbalanced - two more losses than wins. District 12 chairman Robert Coleman said yesterday that A. Philip Randolph and Science Leadership, first-year Pub members, have been hit with a double-forfeit for playing their first game Dec. 4, a league affair, 1 day before the official PIAA starting date. According to workers at the Delaware Valley Score Service, which supplies high-school results and box scores to the Daily News , as many as 20 nonleague games involving PL schools were played Dec. 1 through 4. Coleman said he is currently "combing through schedules" and trying to be determine exactly which schools committed violations.

The School District of Philadelphia is not making cuts to its high school sports programs because of its financial miseries after all, Marty Bednarek, a member of the School Reform Commission, said yesterday. Last week, the district's athletic director, Robert Coleman, told boys' soccer and girls' volleyball chairmen that their junior-varsity programs were being dismantled for the fall. The chairmen told the coaches and, in turn, the coaches told their players on Monday, the first day of practices.