Lehigh Football Nation

This weekend on the hardwood at 3:30 PM, the Lady Hawks (18-3, Real Time RPI: 75) might be tempted to look past 6-15 Holy Cross (Real Time RPI: 271) due to the fact that the team they trail in the Patriot League standings - American - comes to Stabler this coming Wednesday. That might normally be the case - for just about any opponent except Holy Cross. The Lady Crusaders have always been the team that the Lady Hawks have always struggled to beat.  The all-time record?  Try 37-8 - in favor of the ladies in purple.  While last year was a rare sweep of Holy Cross by Lehigh, in the postseason the Lady Crusaders have owned the Lady Hawks - winning all seven matchups in the tournament, including an overtime heartbreaker a couple of years ago. Lehigh's women's basketball team likes to think about streaks - 29 straight win at home, six straight wins anywhere.  But head coach Sue Troyan would undoubtedly be satisfied with three straight wins against Holy Cross.  (more)

A little known fact about my blog is that one of the most popular pages I do on this blog is the "Patriot League football commit tracker".  You'd think that it would by my recap of the 27-21 overtime win over "that school in Easton", or perhaps my postings on "How to save the Patriot League" or the post I wrote last week that positively gushed about the Saints making the Super Bowl. But thanks to the Patriot League policy that their institutions are not required to participate in the "Letter of Intent" program, all seven schools do not announce their recruiting classes on "Signing Day", scheduled to happen next week.  (Check out this blog posting I made on this subject that still applies today .)  In a nutshell, while some Patriot League schools tend to announce on signing day anyway, unlike most FCS schools they are not obligated to do so - and in fact, some wait months before officially announcing their incoming classes. Below

Perhaps it was inevitable on an evening where Lehigh's men's and women's basketball teams would need to guard against letdowns against Bucknell that some big football news would also break from Lewisburg: that Rutgers assistant Joe Susan is reportedly going to be named the next Bucknell head football coach at 6PM today - just an hour before the men face off against the Bison at Sojka Pavillion.  (Home of the Sojka "I Hate Them" Psychos, pictured to my left.  Seriously.  I do.) The announcement of the hire concludes a delicate month-long dance after former head football coach Tim Landis accepted a coordinator position at San Jose State .  But in taking their time, it sure seems like Bucknell got the right guy for the job.  (More)

(All these great photos courtesy of the Philadelphia Eagles , the Pro Football Hall of Fame , and Jim Deegan's blog on Lehigh Valley Live .) What always strikes me about "Concrete Charlie" are his hands.  When you look at them, there's no mistaking that he played football his whole life and played with broken hands.  His fingers jut at angles that physically seem impossible - and they seem, against all reason, to have a football permanently in its grip. Last week,  the "last of the sixty minute men", Penn graduate and Philadelphia Eagle legend LB/C Chuck Bednarik, was in town to promote his new book, " Concrete Charlie: An Oral History of Philadelphia's Great Football Legend " at a book signing.  Fortunately for all Lehigh fans, David Coulson of the Sports Network was also there to give the loquacious Bednarik an interview.    In his interview, "Concrete Charlie" talks fondly about where he developed his love for football: Lehi

I know you're probably coming here to read something about Lehigh's sweep of Lafayette on the hardwood, possibly to find out about how Lehigh's football recruiting is going - or maybe you want to see what's up in the world of the Patriot League.  But there will be time to do all of that tomorrow.  This morning, it's going to be all about the Saints. I don't like, generally, to make my Lehigh blog ALL about the Saints (or any of the other pro teams I root for passionately), but when something comes along worth writing about and celebrating, you better believe I'll mention it here.  For this long-suffering Saints fan, it's something amazing and unbelievable.  Rooting for this franchise has finally - finally! - paid off in some way, and I have to tell the world. It may not be written as such by many in this way by many East Coast or West Coast sportswriters who can't find themselves giving a crap unless a New York, New England or Oakland team is