Lehigh Football Nation

It's been an interesting Patriot League offseason - mainly because of statements made by Fordham head coach Tom Masella that the Rams were planning to start offering full scholarships starting in 2010 . This morning, Fordham and the Patriot League made the official announcement: the Rams will be in contention for the Patriot League football title in 2009, but in 2010 will not be eligible for the league title: Fordham has notified the Patriot League that it will begin awarding athletic scholarships to its football class entering in the fall of 2010. As a result, the Patriot League Football Presidents have endorsed an agreement with Fordham wherein the Rams will continue their association with the League but will be ineligible for the Patriot League title and automatic playoff berth beginning that season, announced Patriot League Executive Director Carolyn Schlie Femovich on Friday. Fordham will remain as an associate member in the Patriot League, and will continue to be eligible f...

As Lehigh's recruiting class has shaken out, the Mountain Hawks has lost one of our California recruits but gained another from a state where we've had lots of success in the past - Georgia. LB/TE Jordan Jefferson was nabbed by Yale as the Eli announced their recruiting class for 2013 . Losing the 6'3 230 lb ATH (as listed on Yale's announcement) was bit a disappointment for sure - of course, with Yale being one of the richest universities in the country and with the Eli surely offering him a generous financial aid package (Yale offers arguably the best financial aid package in the country), it's perhaps not all that surprising. Schools like Lehigh are squeezed by the Patriot League - generally speaking, if they're good enough academically to get into Lehigh, they're also good enough to get into Yale. While it will be interesting to see how Jefferson does at Yale, Lehigh fans will surely be more interested in their new WR/DB Bryan Andrews , who had an off...

While I've been taking an impromptu vacation from blogging (I believe it's the longest blog break I've had in ages - 17 days between posts?), Lehigh Sports chose to announce that season tickets for the 2009 season are now on sale . With seven home games, Lehigh is trying something new by adding season ticket "mini-plans" to the mix. Now fans don't only have the option of spending $95 for a full chairback season ticket (or a $75 general admission ticket), there will be a chance for fans to buy a $60 "Ivy League Plan" (Princeton, Harvard, Yale), the $60 "New England Plan" (Central Connecticut State, Yale, Harvard), the $50 "Patriot League Plan" (Georgetown, Holy Cross) and $50 "Monthly Plan" (Princeton, Yale). Best of all, though - buying one of the "Plans" also gives you a ticket to The Rivalry - that legendary game in the third week in November against "that school in Easton". This can be a great de...

It's a lot colder than last year, but this year's Lehigh class of 2009 deserves their day . Congratulations to all of you - especially you student-athletes - you did it! That's it today: no long blog postings about Hofstra, the Big East, football recruiting, or the like - there's plenty of time for that in the days to come. Today is the day of the class of 2009.

When it comes to Lehigh's spring sports, admittedly I don't follow them as closely as I do the winter sports (or, of course, football). But I do tune in when Lehigh's baseball or softball teams qualify for the postseason, and Lehigh softball is down in Gainesville, Florida to play in the Gainesville NCAA regional . Not only this year's team playing against an incredibly challenging regional, the Mountain Hawks, led by senior P/OF Lisa Sweeney 's powerful pitching, could face the No. 1 team in the nation (Florida) and faced off against a powerful Big XII team that was the subject of Lehigh softball's greatest upset ever - Texas A&M. Florida A&M rounds off the bracket - who aren't playing far from their home campus. "Group of Death" indeed. While I was escaping from the world on Friday, Lehigh lost a heartbreaking 1-0 game to TAMU , where Sweeney only gave up four hits but one was a solo home run in the first inning to Erin Glasco that was...

Three days after I opine that perhaps something is awfully fishy down Big East Way , Georgetown athletic director Bernard Muir suddenly fills the vacant AD position at Delaware : Georgetown announced Monday that athletic director Bernard Muir was resigning to accept the same post at the University of Delaware. Georgetown's search for Muir's replacement will begin immediately. "I am grateful for the contributions that Bernard Muir has made to Georgetown," Georgetown President John J. DeGioia said in a statement. "Bernard has recruited outstanding new coaches and bolstered academic support and leadership development opportunities for our student athletes." Sources close to the program said Muir's relationship with DeGioia became strained when he interviewed for openings at Duke and Northwestern in the past year. Many Georgetown and Big East observers are scratching their heads . Why should the athletic director, who told the head football coach he would ...

It started out innocently enough as an article from New York Newsday 's Steven Marcus - a brief, 201-word report, quite frankly, not reporting on much. The headline read: Hofstra explores parting ways with the CAA , and mostly offered the writer's opinion, a cryptic official comment, and an unquoted anonymous source. Hofstra will explore moving its intercollegiate athletic program out of the southern-based Colonial Athletic Association, persons familiar with the athletic program said Thursday. Hofstra did not say what has prompted its exploration, but it appears the university would prefer to have more of a northeast profile. The Atlantic-10 is Hofstra's first choice, those close to the situation said, but no openings currently exist in that New England-based group. ... Hofstra apparently has no interest in returning to the America East. ``We have not had any conversations with representatives from the America East Conference regarding conference affiliation,'' Hofs...