A Pretty Good Weekend For Lehigh And New Orleans, Huh?

While I wasn't exactly as relaxed as the adorable (ecch) furry thing pictured to my left this weekend, shortly after RB Tim Hightower gave this Saints fan a brief scare Saturday afternoon after the University of Richmond graduate rumbled basically untouched for 70 yards to give the Cardinals a 7-0 lead my blood pressure never blipped above, oh, 121 over 83 the rest of the weekend.

Considering there were four big sporting events this weekend, that's pretty remarkable.  (More)




Start with the 45-7 run by my Saints after Hightower's moment in the sun on Saturday, leading to an unbelievably lopsided 45-14 hammering of the Cardinals that very easily could have been a couple more touchdowns had QB Drew Brees gone all Brett Favre on them.  It was remarkable how Brees - as he has all last year up until the month of December - just nickled and dimed the porous Cardinal defense mercilessly.  RB Reggie Bush came out like a man possessed - not shying away from contact, clearly coming out with something to prove.  His two TDs - the sweet cutback move before turning on the jets for a 46 yard touchdown run, and later his punt return with a huge burst through the middle - pretty much defined the game.

S Darren Sharper - my favorite Saint player - had a recovered fumble and should have had an interception, too.  As impressive as the offense and special teams were, it was the defense - who shut down the Cardinals in the second half, shutting them out - who really must have turned heads around the league.  They ain't the "Dome Patrol", but give me Sharper and I'll show you a team that certainly can win the Super Bowl.  I was having a hard time believing it - especially after that Buccaneers loss in Week 16 - but I sure as heck believe it now.

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After watching a game where I barely swore at the TV, I then enjoyed reading how the wrestlers dominated Navy Saturday afternoon 28-9.  Like the Saints game, Lehigh fell behind early after 125 but then senior 131 lb Matt Fisk, senior 141 lb Seth Ciasulli and freshman 149 lb Joey Napoli just dominated the Midshipmen in three straight bouts, with Fisk getting a fall and Ciasulli getting bonus points. Lehigh is now 5-0 at Leeman-Turner arena this year - and look to build on their top 10 Intermat ranking in the weeks to come.

Want some drama?  The Lehigh women's basketball team sure didn't provide any with a 70-40 pounding of Army at Stabler Arena Saturday night.  After watching online the Lehigh women holding Army without a field goal for fourteen minutes, I finished a relaxing Saturday evening without watching Army end up with 25 turnovers or a 25.5% shooting percentage.  Sophomore C Alexa Williams got the start and got 13 points and 7 boards, while junior G Erica Prosser "just" got 13 points and 4 assists - two of them coming to senior F Kristen Dalton on flip-for-the-three-pointer.  But I didn't see any of that.  I was enjoying the peace.

Finally- today - I was anticipating some drama with the men's basketball team at Christl Arena up at West Point - where Lehigh would face a team that has given them fits over the last three years.  But - again - there would be no drama after I listened to Matt Kerr and Jeff Tourial call a 73-55 thumping of the Knights by Lehigh.  Listening to senior F Zahir Carrington do everything right - getting 20 points and six boards, while not fouling out like he had in his last two games - was refreshing, while hearing senior G Dave Buchburger's name (12 points) also was nice to hear.  Add to that a big afternoon from senior G Marquis Hall (15 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists) and freshman G C.J. McCollum (13 points, 3 assists) and a game that I thought might actually give me a gray hair or two ended up being a blowout.

All this, and the Cowboys lost too.

(What is going on?  Is this some Bizarro-world where I've woken up as a UConn alumnus and the Yankees just wrapped up their 473rd world championship and the Giants have ridden an undertalented QB to their 15th Super Bowl or something?  This can't be Lehigh and the Saints we're talking about.  Can it?)

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Think about this a minute:  Omitting the heartwarming 34-3 Cowboy loss for a second, my teams this weekend outscored their opposition 216-119.  (With the Cowboy Massacre?  Try 250-121.)  The wrestling team were a Marquis Hall 3-pointer away from having a 21 point dual victory be tied for the smallest margin of victory of all four teams.  And of the four games, the only road game was an 18 point win.


I think you could say I've had a pretty good holiday weekend, huh?