If that weren't enough, there's even an article from the Brown & White telling the students to step away from the tailgates - if even for only an hour - and watch the damn game.
It might even make up for the fact that there's no game this weekend. Read on. (more)
Brown & White: Game Day
Late November each year, despite layers of clothing we are forced to wear in defense against the cold, almost all Lehigh students board buses to the Lehigh-Lafayette football game, the biggest rivalry many of us have ever witnessed.
As a cheerleader for the football team, I look up at a sea of brown and white. Our fans are jumping up and down and cheering wildly, mostly screaming obscenities and insults at "those kids down the road who go to a junior college," an image that is instilled in our brains upon first entry to Lehigh as freshmen.
Considering everyone enjoys this game so much, I can't help but wonder why the student population at regular season games is, overall, kind of unfortunate. At our last home game against Princeton University on Sept. 18, student attendance was weak, to say the least. Our student section made up a few rows, and after halftime it dwindled to smaller numbers.
This worries me because it was a beautiful, sunny day of about 75 degrees, and the team had a good chance at winning, which they did, 35-22. What's going to happen when it gets cold outside? Will there be any student attendance at the games in late October? Of course the regular fans will continue to come, but I'm positive the student section will be almost nonexistent.
This emptiness is truly a shame when you consider hundreds of students take part in tailgates and simply never make the effort to walk the extra 50 feet to the game.
What is it going to take to get you inside? The game is already free for students, and all you need is your ID. I'm sorry, but the university can't give out free beer inside the stadium.
Another thing troubling me is so many of the students who don't give a crap about the football team all season long feel like they should automatically get to go to Lehigh-Laf. These students receive tickets each year before people, such as alumni, who attend each and every home game and continuously cheer on our boys.
LFN's Take: The writer, a current Lehigh cheerleader, does have a point. More pointedly, she asks a good question: what will it take to get more students into come to the games? Personally, I'm all ears. (Speaking from experience, I'm sure competing for the Patriot League title will help immensely in that department.)
LehighSports.Com: Traveling Man CB Jarard Cribbs Finds His Home
Senior CB/PR Jarard "Main Man" Cribbs has called a lot of places home; six to be exact. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Cribbs has also lived in Waterloo, Iowa, Minneapolis and Denver. He attended Lackey High School in Waldorf, Maryland and currently resides in Houston. His mother Deea works as a billing specialist. His younger sister Nakera Jeanette was born in Minneapolis. Despite moving around across the country, Cribbs has found a home at Lehigh, where he has used his outgoing personality to make many friends off the field, while emerging as one of the on-field leaders for the Mountain Hawks defense.
While the Lehigh Valley was one of the latter stops in Cribbs’ journey, he had some familiarity with the area prior to his arrival.
“My grandmother was in Reading for a period of time and her husband was in Allentown,” Cribbs explains. “I spent some time up here one summer. We went to Eagles training camp, but I never thought I’d end up here.
Cribbs continues, “My high school coach in Maryland played linebacker at Lehigh and coach (Donnie) Roberts recruited me hard. I took a visit and after about 30 minutes I knew I was coming here. Lehigh just offered so much in terms of education and the football tradition and the Lehigh-Lafayette rivalry. I could not ask for more.”
Express-Times: DT Ben Flizack Happy with Position Change
Prior to this season, senior DT Ben Flizack made the move from outside linebacker to defensive tackle. The change paid off as the 6-foot-7, 260-pound lineman has tallied 11 tackles in three starts for the Mountain Hawks (2-1) this fall.
"I love it. Outside linebacker you have to worry about covering people in the flat or downfield and lining up on whatever side," Flizack said. "At tackle, I put my hand in the dirt and play football -- just always hitting someone."
Express-Times: QB J.B. Clark Explains Reasons for Leaving the Team
Brown & White: QB Clark Bids Farewell to Hawks
Clark expressed his reasons for departing and sentiments toward Lehigh in his statement to the press:
"At this time I'd like to thank Andy Coen and the entire Lehigh football family for the opportunity of being a part of and representing their University over the past three years. Although it may be perceived to some that I am quitting, it is in fact the complete opposite, because I will not give up on my dreams.
"While I leave behind the team, I believe they are in good hands with Chris Lum at the helm. I am going to miss all the good people that I have met or encountered during my stay.
"I am only 23 credits away from achieving my bachelor's degree at Lehigh and I fully intend on returning in the spring of 2012 to do so."
"At first, it's not what I wanted. I wanted to finish my career at Lehigh. I love Lehigh. But being dropped to third string it didn’t feel right to finish my career that way. In my mind I wanted to prove to myself I wanted to play at that level."
The quarterback said constant pain last fall forced him to go to a doctor and get a CAT scan, which showed the injury. Clark is going "back and forth" with the NCAA in hopes of earning a medical redshirt once he transfers due to the injury.
"It's been bothering me for a good year," Clark said. "It’s feeling a lot better. It’s not like I wanted to come out and say I’m hurt and put myself in a deeper hole than I was. I fought through it but can’t use it as an excuse. Lum and Colvin won it fair and square."
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