Lehigh Football Nation

The press links are below. Pretty they are not, but there they are if you're interested. A couple thoughts for a Monday night, where I'm still a little stunned. The first is: college sports can never test your loyalties, since no matter what happens you're still always a fan of the school that is your alma mater. If the Eagles lose a heartbreaker to the Bears, I can always throw away my Donovan McNabb jersey and buy a Peyton Manning jersey and pretend I've been a "diehard" fan ever since the moving vans left Baltimore. But you don't throw away your Lehigh hat just because the team lays an egg. You're still Brown and White, and you still play every game in the season. And you always want to - maybe have to - beat Lafayette. The other thought involves my players of the week, for which I'm still a bit stunned. I thought it would be fun to put up players of the week every week and have the fans vote on who should be the player of the week. Who ...

(Photo credit Demetra Stamus, Morning Call) In a week when Lehigh's main focus is a huge Holy Cross/Lehigh game this weekend, certain off-the-field Patriot League developments stole some headlines. First was the confirmation of the long-awaited Patriot League presidential meeting to discuss " the future of the league ." Before you cry in horror, thinking that the Patriot League is going to disband, don't worry: by future, they mean they meant to discuss a "vision and strategic plan for the league," according to Dr. Brian C. Mitchell, who is the chair of the Presidential council and the president of Bucknell. The press release, and even the few press reports on the matter (like this Morning Call report ), don't say a heck of a lot. Not even coach Coen has heard much on them. All we really have to go on is the following part of the statement: "The five core program components that were the focus of the retreat discussions were admissions policies a...

I'm trying to get into the other games this week, get into the picks of the other games, but it's not easy. To me, undoubtedly the biggest game this week is Lehigh/Yale. Lafayette/Harvard is not incredibly far off, but Lehigh/Yale seems like a very, very big game not only for the Mountain Hawks, but the Patriot League. And I think part of this is from Yale's actions leading up to the game. I just don't recall ever seeing such a confident opponent before. I mean, the New Haven Register is running probably the most syrupy homer story about junior RB Mike McLeod , calling him "The Complete Package" (ironically stealing the nickname I gave senior QB Sedale Threatt after he led the offense to a 31-28 win over Villanova ). At the end of last week's 50-10 drubbing of Dartmouth, McLeod gave a touchdown to a teammate in a move which just appears to illustrate the confidence of this offense. Now is the confidence actually hubris? We'll see tomorrow. Patr...

In a way, we're really spoiled as Lehigh fans, a fact which I was reminded of when researching the Fordham game this weekend. Not only do you, the Lehigh fan, have this blog to keep you informed about Lehigh, but you also have *two* local papers covering Lehigh, the occasional blog comment from Keith Groller and columnist rants at the Express-Times. Fordham? Their own school paper can't even stay updated on their own team, with the latest story on the Liberty Cup three weeks ago! And the daily newspapers are hopeless: a check of the New York Times showed that after the Liberty Cup, Fordham may as well not even exist as a football school. Same with the New York Post , and the Daily News is simply hopeless on all college football news, while New York Newsday covers the Long Island teams of Hofstra and Stony Brook. Four major newspapers, and not a peep about Lehigh coming to town! On the bright side, it means that my job is extremely easy in doing the mash-up. Patriot Pr...

It's not a situation Lehigh fans are familiar with. A Lehigh team that is 3-1 in September, whose main engine is special teams and defense. The Lehigh defense is getting in the face of opposing quarterbacks, and getting things done. When has this ever been the case? Yet here we are, which you'll see in the mash-up. The win over Harvard impressed votes in the Sports Network Poll, too: jumping in front of Furman and just behind Georgia Southern in the "Others Receiving Votes" category. Five spots above "that school in Easton", Lehigh is 29th in the poll, and should we get a win over Fordham next week, we could possibly be poised to rejoin the Top 25 for the first time this year. And the first recipients for Patriot League players of the Week (aside from freshman RB Kwesi Kankam 's two "Rookie of the Week" awards) were on defense and special teams: junior LB Tim Diamond 's 22 tackles, forced fumble and fumble recovery, and junior P/K Ja...

Another impossible week of work, writing, and family stuff is finally done. Sometimes I wish I had 99 teammates at my side doing this - it can be grueling, more grueling than you could ever imagine. But tomorrow, I'll be heading over to Murray Goodman Stadium to see some friends, enjoy some food, and watch Lehigh play some football on what is shaping up to be a perfect afternoon for football. If you can't make it to the stadium, it will be on Service Electric 2 in the Lehigh Valley and AM 1230/1320 in the Lehigh Valley. And if you can't get it there, it will be on Lehighsports.com for listening or viewing. A while ago, I promised my "30 Year Lehigh Team", and I wanted to present my interpretation of that team now, the day before the 1977 Lehigh team that won the Division II National Championship is to be honored at halftime (on " Community Day" at Murray Goodman ). Keep in mind that this team came about from myself and the suggestions of a lot of th...

Somehow, I don't think the photo to my left is of freshman QB J.B. Clark , although he and senior LB Justin Weaver share the same number. (Photo courtesy of Demetra Stamus, Morning Call.) Aside from the missed photo credit, the press seemed pretty rosy about Lehigh this week after their 37-6 drubbing of VMI. In the Sports Network Poll , Lafayette squeezed a few more votes than Lehigh and Holy Cross as the Mountain Hawks and Crusaders continued their slow climb to the rankings. It's still a bit of a way to #25, but only a handful of votes separate Lafayette (37), Lehigh (31), and Holy Cross (30). How did I forget that at halftime the 50th anniversary of the 1957 Lambert Cup team was going to be honored? I should have mentioned that. This weekend, the 1977 Division II Championship team is going to be honored at halftime. I thought I'd mention this now, just in case I forget. Here's the links and mash-up. Allentown Morning Call: Lehigh Starts Fast, Puts VMI Away Ear...

I've got to hand it to the executive director of FCS at the Sports Network (and longtime friend from I-AA.org and College Sporting News ) Dave Coulson, he really knows how to get in good with me (and a lot of other Lehigh fans). In his FCS column this week he mentions that he will be in attendance in this week's VMI/Lehigh clash at Murray Goodman stadium. That means for the 1:07PM kickoff he'll be able to see all the inflatables for the kids, since it's "Kids' Day" at the stadium with lots of activities for the young Hawks in the opening hour. Normally I'd come up for "Kid's Day" with my son, but since I have other things to attend to this weekend, I'll be watching the game over the internet and blogging about my impressions. I sat next to Dave at Princeton last week for Lehigh's win over the Tigers, 32-21, which I wrote about extensively on College Sporting News in a FCS diary entry along with a photo album . With Dave fi...

With Jaren Walker (left) revitalizing the Lehigh rushing game (here converting a key 4th down in the second quarter) and the Patriot League standing tall all over the Northeast, the Patriot League is starting to show up in the national polls once again as the Sports Network Poll has Lafayette at #22 and Holy Cross and Lehigh are starting to show up in the "Others Receiving Votes" list. Look for me to talk more at length at the game on College Sporting News in a special "Diary" (complete with photo album). In the meantime, here's a very quick "Press Mash-Up" since I'm extremely pressed for time. Sports Network: Lehigh Surges Past Princeton Morning Call: Young Backfield Leads Lehigh Over Princeton Morning Call: Freshmen Give Lehigh Unexpected Lift Groller: Late Night With Lehigh Express-Times: Lehigh Cashes In On Five Turnovers Trenton Times: Too Little Too Late for Princeton "We're obviously pleased to get the win," Coen said. ...

It's probably not the most ideal of circumstances under which The Andy Coen Report is launching its inaugural broadcast tonight on lehighsports.com and AM 1230 and 1320 in drive-time at 6:05PM in the Lehigh Valley, if only because Lehigh is coming off that 30-20 loss to Villanova last Saturday. But this brand-new coaches show should prove to be an exciting addition to the increasing number of media presentations Lehigh is offering about their sports programs, but this call-in show is really the first of its kind and will undoubtedly be bolstered by the fact it is on during drive-time in the Lehigh Valley over regular radio. I'll be very interested to tune in and learn what coach Coen and other fans around the Lehigh Valley have to say about the Mountain Hawks. Which leads me to a new feature for the blog: each week, I plan to list six names for "Players of the Week" in the survey on the left, and you can vote on who you think this week's Player of the Week sho...