Lehigh Football Nation

It's been quiet as I'm working on my "New Realities of the Patriot League" piece for College Sporting News . Similarly, it's been quiet about spring practice in the media so far. The inside word I have is that spring practice is going OK, and everyone is "working hard and competing well." The trenches are getting particular attention as coach Coen is looking for kids who will be step up and handle the large scholarship line of Villanova this September 8th (our opening day at Goodman this year). Only two weeks until the Brown/White game, where we'll be able to see the progress of both lines! That's it for this week, though in case you hadn't heard, a FCS coaching legend passed earlier this week, former Grambling State coach Eddie Robinson. The winningest head coach in Division I history, he built tiny Grambling State into a college powerhouse, giving the historically black university a formidable national presence. Starting as coach in ...

Not much news so far from Lehigh football's spring practice (maybe there will be more news next week), but I'd like to take this time to alert you about a Frontline Documentary (airing tonight on PBS, and also available soon for viewing over the internet) concerning Lou Gehrig's disease, or ALS for short. I haven't pre-screened it, but judging from the press release it looks like something that deserves the attention of anyone who has been affected by the disease one way or another. It talks about new gene therapies, ways of delivering new FDA-approved drugs to patients, and talks about the ALS Therapy Development Foundation that Jamie Heywood, whose brother has ALS, founded in 2000. Why mention this documentary, or ALS in general? Because the cause of ALS research and finding a cure has been a cause near and dear to the Lehigh football family's heart ever since Brett Snyder ('00) was diagnosed with the disease several years ago. Together with ALSA and the...

I think this will have to be done as an open letter to Mr. Simmons. Basically, for those of you that follow Holy Cross' famous sportswriting alumnus Bill Simmons , yesterday he posted an attempt at humor that pretty much insulted not only his alma mater, but anyone who feels passionately about Patriot League sports. (He also mentioned Holy Cross in his basketball blog that was equally as damaging.) In a nutshell, Mr. Simmons' thesis (you know I'm worked up when I call him Mr. Simmons) is that Holy Cross basketball "has a degree of difficulty every season" that isn't necessary, and (with tongue-in-cheek) makes some "suggestions" to improve the program. Some of his suggestions include NCAA violations ( "I want to be a booster. I want to break rules. I want to make a difference." ), getting a coach which looks the other way during recruiting violations ( "Replace Willard with a disgraced coach looking for a second chance, someone who...

Oh, yeah, it's spring . No doubt about it. I know it's spring because I, like many other crazy Lehigh football fans, are pouring over the new copy of the Spring Prospectus (just released by Lehigh), drinking up on the Alumni Bulletin's cover story on senior QB Sedale Threatt, and reading up on the latest ink from the Morning Call (Keith Groller's " Lehigh Digs In During Spring Drills "). And in all this spilled ink, there's plenty of fascinating information. I'd suggest you click these three links if you love Lehigh football, since if THESE articles don't get you pumped for September, nothing will. Let's start with Mr. Groller's piece in the Morning Call, which starts with the bombshell that four seniors have gotten medical exceptions and will be able to play a 5th year due to medical exemption: LB Travis Stinson, LB Rusty Campion, DB/WR Brannan Thomas , and C John Reese . The addition of these players - three of whom were starters ...

An important correction I need to make people aware of: unless an incoming recruit has *already enrolled* at Lehigh for the spring semester, they CANNOT be a part of spring drills with the team. I posted something yesterday that could lead one to believe that incoming freshman were invited to camp early, which is NOT the case. I've corrected it now and posting this as well to get the word out. Didn't mean to mislead anybody.

Could it already be that time of year? With ice still on the ground, grass still not even close to being ready, bulbs not close to being in bloom? Incredibly, it is. Tomorrow, spring practice starts for the 2007 Mountain Hawks . Every year it's the first peek at what we can hope for in the 2008 season, and (as always) it's the first time the hard-core fans can really start to speculate in earnest how good this football team can be. Except for the Brown/White game (which is free and open to the public) and the Youth Coaches Clinic on April 14th (where the Lehigh coaching staff offers a coaching clinic ($20) for folks who are interested in football coaching at any level), practices are closed and can only be attended if you have special permission from the athletic department. This year (weather permitting) I hopefully my family and I will be going to the Brown/White game - barring that, I may try to arrange to pop my head in on another practice. We'll see. The entire s...

A slow bleed. Southern Illinois didn't win pretty, but they pretty much neutralized both dimensions of Holy Cross' game. They were persistent, they never fell asleep, and withstood Holy Cross' beating underneath. Most of the game they were only up 5, 6, 7 points, but it felt like 13 or 14 points at times. This is one hell of a team - even without a single star, this team should be able to make the Sweet 16. Easily. Sadly it wasn't meant to be tonight. The shame is that Thomas and Simmons were shut down so thoroughly that they weren't really able to shine the way they had all year. Even when they did get open they seemed rattled and took bad shots. At the end, they were even missing foul shots. Game over. In a way, it stinks playing another big mid-major team since it's dissatisfying whether you win or lose. I see now that you want to take down a former national champion or storied member of the SEC, not a small school with thoughts of the Sweet 16. Ev...