Lehigh Football Nation

I'm thinking about starting something daily during the work week - a section of five lunchtime reading links I found interesting. Most times these will involve the Patriot League, FCS football, college football, or something else that I find interesting or amusing. Let's get right to it: Your LFN lunchtime reading for today.

(Photo Credit: Howard Smith /USA Today Sports ) So on the morning of October 5th, I got out of bed. The Lehigh football team was undefeated, of course. WR Ryan Spadola was a receiver on the NFL's New York Jets, and by many indications was in line for more playing time on the biggest of stages, Monday Night football. And G C.J. McCollum , after ripping up the NBA summer league for the Portland Trailblazers, seemed poised to enter the NBA season with a flourish, maybe even competing for Rookie of the Year. By the end of my trip to the Big Apple, all three dreams were shattered. Athletically, most Lehigh people of all stripes had three things in which they take an immense amount of "pride" - the football team, successful on the field for so long, the battle of Ryan Spadola against the odds to make the 53 man roster of the New York Jets, and the first Lehigh player ever taken in the NBA draft, C.J. McCollum.  By the end of Saturday, Lehigh's "pride...

During the football season, I've gotten in the writing habit of picking a "Sunday Word", and using it to describe what happened the previous week. I've been slack in getting this going this preseason, but the only possible word that can perfectly summarize this Lehigh football offseason is " pro ". The NCAA's big ad campaign for years now has been that "most athletes go 'pro' in something other than sports".  And for the great majority of Lehigh athletes, year-in and year-out, this is still true. But this offseason we've seen an unprecedented number of Lehigh athletes trying their hand at 'pro' ball - and Lehigh fans everywhere couldn't be more thrilled or excited.  There are a lot of "pro" adventures to follow for Lehigh fans right now, and it's damned exciting stuff.

(Photo Credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images via the Morning Call) The Oscars?  Not so much, anymore. The Grammys?  Boring as hell to me.  The Tonys?  Are you kidding me? That was my general reaction to all the national awards shows going into this summer - and don't get me started about the 'B' list of such shows, like the Golden Globes, MTV Music Awards, or the like.  (Even the Razzies don't really have my interest level anymore.) But then again, I've never had a personal interest in any of them. You see, ESPN's sports-themed awads show, the ESPYs, nominated Lehigh in their "Best Upset" category with - perhaps you've heard? - their victory over No. 2 seeded Duke in the NCAA Tournament. And, suddenly, and unsurprisingly, ESPYs-mania takes over the Nation.

I've got a confession to make: March 16th, 2012 did not start out well for me. It was not a day that felt like history was going to be made, starting with a sleepless night, and another long workday ahead after already logging more than forty hours at the office. But by the end of the night, all the stress, all the frustration and all the hard work of the last week were gone. There was nothing else but the extraordinary achievement of this very, very special Lehigh men's basketball team. The best Lehigh basketball player I've ever seen out-performed one of the best guards in the ACC - and played a huge part in writing the Mountain Hawks into NCAA tournament history.

You know by now that Lehigh is going to the Big Dance. You know by now that they're facing off against Duke in Greensboro, North Carolina on Friday ay 7PM, to be seen nationally on CBS. You knew, too, that there would be Madness surrounding the trip to the NCAA tournament. But quite this much Madness? When Lehigh faced off against Kansas two years ago, Lehigh's odds of winning the tournament were put at "a Googleplex-to-one".  Literally . This time around, though, I can tell you this - it's not a Googleplex anymore.  And a whole lot of fans around the Lehigh Valley think maybe, just maybe, this team can bring down Mike Krzyzewski 's team on the 20 year anniversary of Christian Laettner 's shot and only two years removed from beating Butler for their most recent championship.

For the men's basketball team, the dream of a repeat trip to the NCAA tournament was dashed in Sojka pavillion in a surprise snow in rural Lewisburg, PA. But for the Lady Hawks, the march for a three-peat continues tonight at home in a matchup that most might have pegged in the preseason for the finals, not the semifinals. The red-hot Lady Hawks, winners of ten straight, look to advance to the Patriot League championship game for the third straight year. And also - just like last weekend's quarterfinal match vs. Lafayette - it allows the Lady Hawks to once again avenge one of their toughest - and lopsided - home losses in recent memory during the regular season. (more)

I found myself saying after this weekend focusing on one positive thing that happened for my teams this weekend: "Well, at least it wasn't Lafayette that performed the double-sweep on Lehigh this weekend." Lehigh's basketball sweep against American was only part of the story, however. In a Wild Card weekend where my defending Super Bowl champion Saints had their hearts broken by a head coach ( Pete Carroll ) that did his best John Calipari impersonation to flee USC in a swirl of NCAA sactions, and ultimately won the game after " off the field thug " RB Marshawn Lynch on Saturday, and a Sunday when QB Michael Vick underthrew a TD pass to secure an excruciating 21-16 defeat at the hands of the Packers, the theme of the weekend would unquestionably be one of collapsing leads and repeated shots to the stomach. (more)

Taking advantage of a holiday weekend - and a 5:00PM start for the women's game - I hustled my family into the car on a frigid Saturday afternoon to make my pilgrimage to Stabler to take in a women's/men's basketball doubleheader featuring my Mountain Hawks. After pulling into the parking lot, we walked into Stabler as a physical, emotional Akron team started to really take it to the flat Lady Hawks, who was playing their third basketball game in five days. The 6-6 Zips, who just fell to Temple 55-43 a few days ago, surged to a 23-14 lead after Akron senior G Ayla Guzzardo stole the ball from junior G Erica Prosser to convert an easy transition basket. (more)