Lehigh Football Nation

Have I mentioned I've been incredibly busy? Ok, I guess I just did. But I'm not too busy to put through my picks for Week One of Patriot League football action, compiled from my picks at the College Sporting News for Thursday's game and Saturday's games . And they all appear under the flip. (more)

So what are you doing during Lehigh's bye week? So there I was, trying to make plans to travel up to Holy Cross to watch the Crusaders take on Harvard. I then get an email asking me if I could use an extra ticket to the Eagles' home opener. Fortunately, he got to me before I could figure out the price of hotel rooms in Worcester, Mass. So I changed my plans for the weekend, instead staying local to take in the other great Patriot League game in the area: Liberty taking on Lafayette, two teams which could make a case for the Top 25 when the game is over. As some of you may know, going to an Eagles/Saints game for me is such a mixed thing since I am a fan of both teams. Growing up I was a rabid Saints fan - I've seen the Saints play in New Orleans, saw them take on both the Jets and Giants in Giant Stadium, and I've even high-fived WR Quinn Early in a game against the New England Patriots almost a decade before they became the most Hated Team In America. And I've...

I figured I'd make my life really easy this afternoon - aside from the "Phillies Fever" that has overtaken my workplace (and the fact I was up late last night watching the Phillies lose to the Dev* I mean Rays 4-2) means that I think I'll tackle only one subject that I've written about elsewhere. On second thought... make that two subjects. But before I do that let me quickly mention that Lehigh's game will be on local and national TV this weekend: on WFMZ Channel 69 at 1:00 p.m. and nationally at 1:00 p.m. on FCS Atlantic, as well as on radio on AM 1230 and 1320 in the Lehigh Valley. If you can't get any of these media outlets, surf on over to lehighsports.com - you can get streaming video of the game online. First, Lehigh beat writer Keith Groller had the opportunity to travel down to Tampa to cover games 1 and two for the Morning Call (lucky dog), and he's been blogging about it . It's real good stuff: witness: One of the funniest Saturday ...

Today's water cooler topic is appropriate enough to me, for sure. Whether you're a Philadelphia Phillies fan (like my wife, 10-4!) or (like me) a Boston Red Sox fan (who stayed up late last night to witness another miracle comeback last night ), chances are you've been spending a lot of time in front of the TV. Now, I am not made of money. I don't have a TV like the one to my left, nor do I have the budget to take a trip up to Harvard this weekend. That means I'm going to be spending a lot of time on Saturday - my first one, as a matter fact - watching Patriot League games on TV and over the internet instead of watching it live. For Lehigh fans and fans of "that school in Easton" that live in the Philadelphia area, we're in luck this weekend. Locally, Channel 69 carries the Lehigh game at Harvard with a 12:30 p.m. start time, and RCN-4 and WPBH-60 carries the Lafayette game at Liberty starting at 3:30 p.m. - ensuring that my home-grown DVR will be...

It's another Freaky Friday around the Office (if not an actual office, just imagine Steve Carrell and the gang instead) - filled with baseball intrigue (the Phillies actually won last night?), financial intrigue (do I have any 401k left?), and, of course, an inconclusive second round of the presidential debate - this time, a town hall style that pretty much everyone thought, well, sucked. But in the world of the Patriot League, the discussion has turned to expansion of the league in all sports, including football. This started a worthwhile thread over on the Any Given Saturday message board. On it, carney2 (my favorite Lafayette poster, and my dear online friend for, well, 363 1/2 days out of the year) quotes Keith Groller's print edition of the Morning Call , where Keith details his conversation with Carolyn Schlie Femovich, the Patriot League executive director: "...expansion for the league 'is not urgent, but is something we're pursuing.'" "The d...

Before I get into my Patriot League picks, admit it: this is a great weekend for the water cooler. There's simply so much to talk about. Want to talk playoff baseball? (Well, maybe not if you're from New York.) Want to talk about Patriot League football weekend matchups? (Well, maybe not if you're from New York.) Want to talk NFL? (Okay, you got me there.) In addition to the always-full buffet of weekend sports in the fall, there was something equally as fascinating last night: the vice-presidential debates. Admit it; you watched them. There were 70 million viewers of the vice-presidential debate yesterday. Don't cha know. You betcha. I talked about them with my family at the kitchen table, wondering how we're going to pay the heating bills this winter. But we'll be OK. We're mavericks; and we'll get extra credit for watching them. too. If the rest of America is like me, I didn't watch the debates out of any civic duty. The issues? Do...

I realized just today (on Lehigh's bye week, unsurprisingly) that I've neglected to make Patriot League picks for the first three weeks of the year. This is largely because I've been such a maniac in doing stuff for the College Sporting News , this blog, Facebook , and (oh yeah) the rest of my life, too. (You should see my garage.) But for those of you that are unaware I write the CSN Way at the College Sporting News, and I make picks over there. This week I pick several games in my regular CSN Way column , and I'll reprint them here for everyone's enjoyment. And I'll add in exclusive coverage of the other games this week. (Besides, I made the poll over there picking how the Patriot League will do this weekend, so I'd better be honest and say what I think too, eh?) For those that care, I'm 4-3 on the year in Patriot League games so far. Holy Cross at Harvard. Holy Cross quarterback Dominic Randolph won’t have Harvard’s Stephen Williams to pick on ...

If you're reading this, chances are you have plans to watch the game on TV (Channel 69, WFMZ), listening to the game on the radio (ESPN AM 1230 or 1320 in the Lehigh Valley) or watching/listening on Lehigh Broadcast and are not some of the heartier souls taking the bus up to Hamilton. I'm going to be catching the replay myself as I'm almost ready to go to see the "Rumble In The Bronx" as Holy Cross plays Fordham. Before I go, however, I wanted to post the press links and my Patriot League picks this week. Patriot League Picks As always, some of these are cross-posted over at the College Sporting News . It's interesting times in the FCS as, quite possibly, a SWAC team may qualify for the playoffs. Read the article to find out how. Holy Cross over Fordham The “Rumble In the Bronx”, a battle between unlikely Patriot League co-leaders in Holy Cross and Fordham, may not determine the eventual Patriot League champion, but it will go a long way in doing so. The Crus...

{Photo Courtesy of Andrew Maier, Brown & White) This is late, and it's going to be very, very quick since I have a busy afternoon. I will be watching the Georgetown/Lehigh game on Lehigh Broadcast tomorrow and I will be offering my commentary after the game as always, but this posting will be brief just to get the picks out there and to list the press links. The game will be carried on Service Electric 2 locally, AM 1230 and 1320, and online at LehighSports.com. A quick note on Lehigh/Lafayette: it is sold out once again . It's the 10th straight year it's been sold out in advance, and I can't remember if it's even not been sold out. There are scheduled to be "standing-room only" tickets to possibly still be sold, but those are dependent on the weather (since those fans will be in the grassy horseshoe area). Let's just hope that my prediction of the game today is wrong, and we don't see any more of that team that we saw last weekend. Patriot...

(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...

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...

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...