Did you think I wasn’t going to take a shot at Kyle Neptune this week? Of course I was. I was just waiting for my moment. Slinking in the grass ready to pounce. So when I got the call for Preston & Steve’s pop-a-shot competition during Camp Out for Hunger I knew it was the perfect moment. Speaking of the competition it was me vs. Michael Barkann, Pat Gallen, Jason Martinez, Matt O’Donnell, and defending champ John Clark. Two rounds. Top two scores advance. Lets get to it:

@kylepagancb

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That was a SOLID competition. The NBA maybe should start thinking about replacing the NBA Cup with a pop-a-shot competition. Way more competitive.

Michael Barkann started it off with a solid 49. I’ll be honest with you I didn’t think he had that in him. 49 is impressive. All this time I watched him screaming at pro athletes on the postgame show I was thinking he couldn’t carry their jock. I was wrong. He’s got some stroke. Must be the Syracuse connection. Next up was Pat Gallen. That dude is easily one of the most athletic people in Philly sports media. His stroke is too pure for a pop-a-shot competition. He’s not about to risk his mid-range game and ruin Tuesday night pick-up for an amateur competition and I respect that. Everyone knows pop-a-shot is a quantity over quality game. Where you have people like Gallen stroking it on the other end you have Jason Martinez and I just chucking.

Jason Martinez with the two-handed jump shot just like James Naismith taught his great-great-great grandaddy:

I’ve never been so nervous to do something in my life. My arms felt like spaghetti at the end there and I went absolutely cold in crunch time.


Clink:

Clank:

Clunk:

The next time I criticize the Phillies for striking out in the playoffs again I’ll think twice (no I won’t). A couple more three-point baskets and it’s me vs. Matt O’Donnell in the finals. Instead the people got their back-to-back champion. I’d like to think Johnny Airports will show up wearing the belt the next time he’s chasing a high profile athlete on the tarmac.

For the next couple of weeks I’ll be thinking where the hell that 58 from O’Donnell came from. It’ll bother me at random times of the day and I feel like I won’t fully be over it until next year when I come back to end Airports’ reign of terror. Until then I’ll be at the Buffalo Billiards in Old City every weekend practicing.

Less than 24 hours to donate to Camp Out for Hunger. There’s still a quizzo event tonight and the last day is tomorrow if you’re not doing anything. I promise you it’s worth it! The production, events, and attention to detail behind the scenes is so great I gotta imagine being in the audience is even better. Here’s a list of the events for Friday:

Preston & Steve Show, 6a – 10:30a

  • House Band: Drop Dead Sexy
  • Philabundance CEO Loree Jones
  • Taryn Hatcher
  • Sen. Chris Coons
  • STOMP
  • Donations: Comcast, Subaru, Tito’s, Dave Magrogan, Planet Fitness, Comcast 

Here’s the full competition (event starts at 2:02:43):