Lehigh Football Nation

This may sound strange to a lot of you, but when it comes to sportswriting I really don't know what I am sometimes. Am I a blogger, because I write on this blog religiously? Or am I a sportswriter, since I write for the College Sporting News ? It's something I've genuinely struggled with for years. More often than not, I try to wear both hats simultaneously. Which brings me to the now-infamous Bissinger vs. Leitch spat on Bob Costas' cable show Costas Now . To those too lazy to click on the video, the jist of the beginning is like this (fade on computer guy, opening many pages of Fox box scores and pictures of athletes behaving badly): Instant scores and constant updates... Analysis and breakdowns of thousands of scores in hundreds of cities. What sports fan could complain about that? But there's also.... this. The wild west of the internet. The "blogosphere". A virtual bulletin board where anyone can post anything. Opinions. Photos. Videos.

The long-rumored expansion to the FCS playoffs came true late Friday of last week. Starting in 2010, the NEC and Big South will have automatic bids into the FCS playoffs, and NEC schools and Big South schools couldn't be more delighted with the announcement. Below, I list the three immediate impacts that playoff expansion has on the Patriot League from my perspective. Impacts The NEC and the Big South will be offering more free education. With their brand-new shot at the FCS championship, you can bet that neither league will stand pat and not want to compete. The NEC is likely to bump up their scholarship levels - right now they offer 30, and it's likely to be bumped up to 45 in 2009, and maybe even 63 come 2010. They may find some level of resistance from the smaller schools in their league, like St. Francis (PA) and Sacred Heart, but the pressure of competition is probably too great. Similarly, Big South schools also haven't always been funding a full array of sch