Lehigh Football Nation

First of all, merry Christmas, dear Readers. Like every one of you, I have wishes for Christmas as well, and I'd like to share them with you. * As a Lehigh fan, I'd like a better offense for the 2010 season. Sure, there were flashes of what was possible in 2009, but I really don't want to sit through another home shutout anytime soon if that's OK with everybody. * Maybe part of that wish above might involve Lehigh hiring a quarterbacks coach, Santa, to help the quarterbacks with mechanics and the like. I know university athletic departments aren't exactly teeming with money right now, but what about inviting a local guy that cares about the program, like former QB Phil Stambaugh , to work with them sometime? This isn't just for next year, either: this would pay off for the next generation of Lehigh quarterback, too. * While I'm wishing, Santa, I could use some Saints playoff tickets. And some round-trip tickets and accomodations to New Orleans for me and my

(Photo courtesy the Chicago Examiner) The guys in the picture to my left are definite diehards. Though it looks like they might be Holy Cross fans, they're actually Baltimore Ravens fans that submitted their picture to the Chicago Examiner 's "Tailgater of the Year" competition. While it's not easy sometimes to summon up that football (or athletics) spirit during the offseason, there's a Lehigh alumni survey that is still open that, among other things, asks about the importance of athletics in your alumni experience. Ordinarily such a survey wouldn't raise many eyebrows. But then again, the landscape around collegiate athletics in general and football in particular has to make anyone have cause for concern these days. Ask the folks at Hofstra - who suddenly and dramatically had the plug pulled from their program thanks to a "double-secret" athletics study that is still waiting to be made public. Ask the folks at Northeastern - who made a deci