Lehigh Wrestling Gets Superstar Treatment at PPL Center. Lehigh Football Needs The Same At Murray Goodman.

"We knew it would be nice," Lehigh wrestling head coach Pat Santoro said. "But it was even better than we expected."

Pat was talking about the reception his Lehigh wrestling squad experienced at Allentown's PPL Center this weekend, when a sellout crowd over nearly 10,000 people came to watch No. 1 Penn State grapple with No. 5 Lehigh in a collegiate wrestling event.

It was, by all accounts, something special to behold. 

"I thought it was really cool and an exciting place to wrestle," said Penn State wrestler Nick Nevills. "These fans were really into it, a rowdy bunch. It's a lot more fun as an athlete to wrestle in an environment like this. I'd say it was one of the most exciting times I have had in my career."

The sense of spectacle at the PPL center, though, puts a spotlight on what more can be done at Lehigh itself to make their athletic contests into spectacles.  It requires money to be spent and energy to be expended.  But the result is the extra excitement that makes the student-athletes' careers.


Lehigh football is very fortunate that they get what amounts to a bowl game at the end of their regular season.

Their Rivalry with Lafayette, the most-played college football rivalry, is something special, and everyone who has ever attended the game can attest to that.

And throughout its history, "spectacle" is what has had the Rivalry thrive over the years.

In the early 1900s, "spectacle" meant smokers in a sold-out gymnasium the night before, with speeches and rallies, complete with basketball and wrestling exhibitions.  "Spectacle" meant Bethlehem Steel's brass band playing in the stands in the 1910s, followed by Lehigh and Lafayette forming their own student marching bands and playing during, and after the games.  And "spectacle", of course, has always involved fans storming the field after the games.

Spectacle in all the different Lehigh sports competitions is different, but this weekend provided a primer as to what it can be, and how special it can be.

"As the Penn State-Lehigh dual came down to the final two bouts," The Centre Daily Times reported, "Nittany Lions fans — with their team trailing by two points — tried to rally the crowd with shouts of “We Are!” That cheer was met with resounding “boos” from Mountain Hawks fans."

Smoke machines for the intros, a beautiful band around the main mat where Lehigh's logo peeked out, the PPL Center's video display in the middle of the venue, detailing the action - it was a big-time atmosphere that both Lehigh and Penn State athletes won't ever forget.

"We were smiling like nerds out there, because it was so cool," NCAA Champion and all-American at 125 lbs, Darian Cruz, said afterwards.  "That was the coolest thing I've been a part of since nationals.  And it's hard to top that.  We were kind of overwhelmed with it.  We couldn't stop smiling, and trying to act tough, because it's a wrestling match, but the elevated mat, the lights... Lehigh did it up for this, and it was so cool."

Pictures from the event were truly amazing, and everyone to a person I've heard from, Penn State or Lehigh, was deeply impressed by what Lehigh and the PPL center were able to do to make this into a spectacle.

What it also does, however, is showcase what needs to be done at Murray Goodman Stadium.

More than most, I think, I try to make Lehigh football games into spectacles in my own way.  I cover the games the best I can.  I go to almost all the home games, and I volunteer to go to many road games as well.  Online, I try to express the entirety of the show that Lehigh football puts forth on the field - whether it's a success or not.

In fact, I hope I make the game a spectacle.  The games are worth watching, and following.  Every week, Lehigh athletes do special things on the field at Murray Goodman Stadium.  It is worth your time to follow it and watch it.

But I can't express to all the fans in attendance a particularly great instant replay on a video board, or surround the field with a graphic bar, or broadcast light on the field to allow for a night game to be played.  As much as I'd like to deliver this type of spectacle for these fans, I cannot.

This weekend's dual at the PPL center reminds us exactly the power of spectacle in terms of collegiate athletics. 

A well-executed spectacle, even in a losing effort, will not only do all those things that Lehigh fans love in terms of their sports programs - i.e. help recruiting and field nationally-ranked teams - but most importantly, it gives the student-athletes something to treasure for the rest of their lives.  That is what is within the power of athletic departments everywhere - to give the kids a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

In terms of football, Lehigh does have at least one spectacle every year - the season-ending bowl game against Lafayette.  Is that a once-in-a-lifetime experience as a player?  Absolutely.

But once inside the stadium, couldn't that spectacle be modernized to be at least somewhat on par as what we saw at the PPL center?

Remember the 150th meeting of the Rivalry at Yankee Stadium?  Remember the cheers that came up from the Lehigh sections when C.J. McCollum came up on their video board? Remember how great you felt when Lehigh came up in the LED "ribbon" around the stadium? 

Certainly Lehigh can't, and probably shouldn't, try to go that far. 

But small things could be added - like an outdoor LED video screen - that not only are not all that expensive to add, but also are a common sight in all of Lehigh's away games. 

Every one of Lehigh's away opponents this year, Monmouth, Wagner, Colgate, Fordham, and Bucknell, are able to afford modest outdoor LED screens to show things like replays and graphics to pump up the crowd.  And increasingly, these types of things are seen as an integral part of the gameday experience.

Maybe there was a time where a video board seemed gaudy or ostentatious, but not anymore.  In fact, many high schools have found the money from donors to add a modest LED video board.

There are multiple ways to pay for a LED video board - a donation to the athletic department from a wealthy donor.  Or another possibility is to play a game against an FBS team for a one-time guarantee of six figures to pay for the one-time installation of the board.  This is how other schools do it.

But the key thing to remember here is how it would do two things - it would give people more reason to head out to Murray Goodman to take in the gameday experience, and it would also add a lot to the experience of the "bowl game" atmosphere that is present when Lafayette comes to town.

It could also be something that makes another unforgettable event for every graduate of Lehigh even more special - graduation.

It also would, as I've argued before, make it better for Bethelehem Steel FC, the minor-league soccer team that is also renting the field, as well.  I've even argued that maybe both sides could split the cost of something like this, to mutual benefit. 

I love the Lehigh football game experience as much as anyone.  I love listening to the Marching 97.  I love watching the games.  And whether there's an LED video board there or not, I'll still be there, watching and covering (and commenting) on the games as they happen.

But I can't help feeling, after seeing the great spectacle that was Lehigh wrestling at the PPL center that similar types of "spectacle" was missing around home Lehigh football games.  There needs to be something extra that bring the experience into the 21st century, and it's going to require more than just one guy with a Twitter account. 

It's going to require something like an LED Video Board, and the added gameday experience it brings, and the sooner folks realize that, the better.  Of course, maybe they could just look at the pictures from the PPL Center this weekend to see how awesome Lehigh football's game experience could be.