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The Video Rivalry: Watching The 145th

If you can't be at the game (or you're only going to the tailgate), there are lots of places around the country to watch the game at telecast parties. Nationally and internationally, "The Rivalry" is broadcast everywhere for Lehigh alums to get together, share a cold one and also sing the old Lehigh alma mater with friends.

There's also, of course, your TV (FCS Central, and Channel 69) and computer as well though Yahoo! Broadcast if you want to host your own viewing party. (If you're technically savvy - and I've done this before - you can route your laptop through your TV and watch the Yahoo! Broadcastt on your regular TV.)

And that's only half the story, too.

One of the more underreported parts of "The Rivalry" involve the media surrounding both schools. It could be the only game in America where there are two full staffs of commentators, play-by-play and cameras covering the game at the same time.

Lehigh and Lafayette both sponsor TV broadcasts of almost all their games - something unusual in a landscape where conferences tend to own the rights and announcing. For example, when Michigan plays Ohio State, you get ESPN announcers, period. You don't have the Ohio State TV people and the Michigan people with their own perspectives.

That means that you can also get the game on the local stations that carry the Lafayette Sports Network - and ESPN360 Online, too, if your cable company provides it.

Two computer outlets, almost every local station in the Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton area (and beyond, in Berks County, upper Bucks and elsewhere), and nationally on FCS Central - and a bunch of individual stations on DirecTV for telecasts, too.

Think about that a minute. I don't think any other game in the country can rival that. Sure you get Army/Navy, but with one set of announcers on one station. Sure, you can get USC/UCLA, but there aren't two places to get distinct streams of the game with full announcing staff.

What drives it is - you guessed it - "The Rivalry". Both broadcasts are sponsored and produced by the schools themselves - with some sponsorship, but mostly paid for by the athletics departments themselves. Like everything else involved with Lehigh and Lafayette, there's competition involved. Lafayette holds LSN up to be the biggest coverage area; and Lehigh claims them to be the best quality broadcasts.

And the idea of leaving the big rival to give them a feed of the game so that they don't need to pay to produce it themselves? Please. We'll do it ourselves, thank you very much. After all, we wouldn't want that (Lehigh, Lafayette) bias to infect the coverage.

It's kind of like Fox and CNN covering the same Obama press conference. It happens all the time in the world of news, but almost never in the world of sports.

In many ways, Lehigh and Lafayette are poster children for free markets and capitalism. "The Rivalry" causes innovation, originality, and drives each other to increase the quality and quantity of coverage each year. For an FCS TV junkie like me, it's paradise.

Comments

Lehigh with the HUGE OT win!!!!! Very proud of the Mountain Hawks today
Anonymous said…
way to go Lehigh!
Anonymous said…
Nice to see the opposing coach blow the game for once.

How do you not kick a FG from the 2? What an arrogant A-hole!

Got what they deserve, although clearly the better team!

Nice job D!
Pride goeth before a fall, obviously they don't teach philosophy at Lafayette. You kick the field goal from the two and put pressure on Lehigh to do something.

So they don't teach philosophy or how to beat Lehigh in Easton.

Also, every time I go to Easton I litter
Anonymous said…
Pee on the Leapord, you'll feel better......
Anonymous said…
And I thought Andy Coen was an ass as far as coaching goes! That guy from LC takes the cake! If you're leading by three TD's or trailing by that many, maybe you go for it...but a tie game...in a contested game....UNBELIEVABLE.

He must be best friends with Coen and wanted to save his job!

WOW!
Anonymous said…
Dear Frank Tavani-

Thanks for the early Christmas present (again!)

Where did you learn to coach? You and Andy must have been co-valedictorians.

Two years straight that Coen's career was likely saved by that Easton mafia boss.

Andy- Sent Frank a large pizza with everything on it.
Anonymous said…
Chuck Burton, you are a sage my friend. Yup, it feels really good to have a few laughs at the expense of the finely quaffed F. Tavani. Great, great win for the boys in Brown. And, yeah, I was the guy asking for a balanced offense. But lo and behold, Andy did know best on this day. The Seniors played with anger and pride and it showed. We have to give Coen credit for not even trying to set the stage with any semblence of a real running gam0e. Those massive Pard DL's are tough to run on, and he and his coaches knew where to exploit all game long, over and over. The Leopard DBs never fail to make JB look like Joe Montana, but I am starting to appreciate the depth of our receiving corp. My father is up there somewhere, very happy tonight.:)
Anonymous said…
Bittersweet Day - We win and we get Andy for two more years.
Anonymous said…
Wait Lafayette was clearly the better team? What game were you watching alcoholic?
Anonymous said…
Lafayette had 200 more yards of total offense. That's pretty lopsided.
Douglas said…
Watching the replay tonight on FCS Atlantic... Since we couldn't hear the commentary at our local sports bar where we watched the game, it chose the Lafayette feed from ESPN Game Plan on the TV's... Being in Florida, all the Florida teams were also on TV including the Gators blowing out FIU which only gave us small TV's with no sound.. Nice to hear Lehigh's announcers tonight!!! Great win but as as others commented, it probably saved Coen's job unfortunately...
Anonymous said…
How the hell does this save a coaches job with another 4-7 season?

4-7 would have clearly been at least a 7-4 season with the proper coaching.

The talent is there as seen on the field yesterday. Our guys made plays all day, particulary our recievers that made our MVP QB's ducks thrown look good!

Of course our D was outstanding again! Coach W knows how to adjust as he did after the first quarter when LC was running all over us. I say give him the job! the players love this guy, he is a motivator, has the respect of his players and has a personality, unlike our head coach.

We all know, nothing will be done with the bone head at the top, I'm just happy for the kids who really deserved this win, despite the horrible coaching week in and week out.

Congrats Seniors!

Andy, if a High School coaches job comes along, do us all a favor and take it!
Anonymous said…
Mississippi had 200 yards more offense when they played Florida. By your estimation Mississippi must clearly be a better team than Florida. You must have played alot of football in your day Alcoholic
Anonymous said…
Well....... Let's see, crack Head! 8-3 versus, 4-7, Nationaly ranked versus playing with Georgetown's and Bucknell's of the world!
Anonymous said…
you should just cry in your beer with the other Laf out loud alumni. Maybe next year you will get another shot douchely
Anonymous said…
I feel so happy for the seniors to go out on a high note, and all the players for the crap they had to put up with this year.

I kinda think Andy was finished long before this game. He has no friends that I know of to support him - players seem too excited about him, and rumor has it that several members of the Administration don't want him around. Team GPA is also sinking, and graduation rate with it. I suspect he has made too many enemies and too few friends.

I also hear that recruiting is a mess this fall.

We'll see very shortly....
Anonymous said…
oh recruiting is definitively a mess. This staff follows up on nothing provided them by former players, alumni and friends of the university. Lousy recruiting bunch that has alienated all past players. The university still recognizes the players that made the storied tradition, the coaching staff does not. Adios!
Anonymous said…
Man...why do some of you people who post on here bother to get up in the morning...is your life really that miserable!...the team and staff won a big game...enjoy it!
Anonymous said…
Anonymous said...
Man...why do some of you people who post on here bother to get up in the morning...is your life really that miserable!...

Some of us are in our later years and it's starting to look like we may not see another PL chanpionship during out lifetime, that's why. The Coen legacy:

6 wins, 5 wins, 5 wins, 4 wins...

Notice a trend, Mr. Optimism?

There's no excuse for what is going on...he can somehow get the troops inspired for Lafayette, and the bottom feeders, but cannot come up with a plan to beat anyone else.

Very troubling!

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