Lehigh Football Nation

You have to feel bad for Villanova fans this week. No, I'm not talking about their getting turfed in the 1st 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament in basketball by George Mason, though that was certainly not a day that Wildcat fans will wish to revisit anytime soon. I'm talking about the delay of a much-anticipated decision by Villanova to vote on joining the Big East in football. After exploring, fundraising, lining up plans and generally raising their fans expectations to BCS levels, Villanova has seen its plan shot down by the same body that seemed to be begging them nine months ago to join up as an all-sports member. (more)

(Photo Credit: Matt Smith /The Express-Times) Senior QB Chris Lum has found himself in a very unfamiliar place this spring - the unquestioned starter as signalcaller. It's been a long road for Lum, who competed hard for the position against  QB J.B. Clark , the quarterback that broke Lafayette's four game winning streak. As a freshman, he was MVP of the scout team.  As a sophomore, he worked his way to backup, and when Clark struggled, Lum came in.  And last spring, he was faced with an open tryout with the senior Clark for the starting nod. Now, he's probably the one position on the field where he's the unquestioned starter. And with targets like senior WR Jake Drwal and junior WR Ryan Spadola to throw to, he's looking to this spring to allow him to have a breakout senior year. (more)

(Photo Credit: Matt Smith/The Express-Times ) These days, some form of sports entertainment is always going on. The Super Bowl.  The men's and women's NCAA tournaments in basketball.  Baseball's opening day.  Even arena ball's season has kicked off with the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks. It doesn't excuse my missing the start of spring practice for Lehigh football - you know, what this blog is supposedly about - but it is, in large part, one of the big reasons. Now deep into six practices, Lehigh's spring is well under way towards creating the team which Mountain Hawk fans will be cheering for in the fall.  It's about shaking off the rust from the offseason so far, developing the gameplans, starting lineups, and teamwork necessary for an eleven game season (and, hopefully, beyond). Based on the huge (and somewhat unexpected) success of last year, you might think that, at some level, the players might come into spring practice with a bit of the edge off...

The power of the Final Four run by the Rams cannot be underestimated for that school, and the Colonial Athletic Association, the conference which is the home of the Rams in all sports. As I've argued previously , at a bare minimum it has to make a wider pool of schools at least mull over the idea of moving their schools to the CAA. But what's extremely interesting to think about is the affect that the Rams' run might have on them sponsoring a football team. What's known is the CAA and Virginia Commonwealth will benefit in a variety of ways by their run - either through NCAA financial shares, based on NCAA Tournament wins, or through increased "exposure" and the donor money that (sometimes) comes through a title run. With the money and "exposure" - and some old-fashioned jealousy - I think the groundwork is in place for Ram football to start CAA play sooner rather than later.   (more)

(Photo Credit: AP Photo/Chris Steppig/NCAA Photos, Pool/The Kansas City Star) In all honesty, I blame myself for making my wife disillusioned with the Butler Bulldogs. All week I had been talking "Butler"-this, "Butler"-that around my house.  Crooning about the small school that could, the private school with decent academics that graduates its athletes.  I even went with the "Rocky" references, of all things, comparing UConn's introductions to Appollo Cree's parade into the Spectrum.  Forget the fact I spent a lot of years in Connecticut.  I wanted Butler to win, bad, and so did my wife. With about eight minutes to play, the love of my life could stand no more.  "They're throwing the game!", she said as F Matt Howard missed his umpteenth point-blank shot.  "How can you miss that many shots?  They're losing on purpose!" I lasted only a little longer than she did in the 53-41 defeat, but Butler's disappointi...

(Photo Credit: Denise Sanchez/The Morning Call) In 2009, the excitement in Lehigh winter sports was the Lehigh women's basketball team's Patriot League championship, and trip to nearby Piscataway, New Jersey to compete in the NCAA Tournament against Auburn. In 2010, the excitement was shared with both the women's and men's basketball championships.  Both teams were rewarded with NCAA Tournament games against Big XII teams: Iowa State for the women, Kansas for the men. In 2011, it's all about wrestling. Battling history and the wrestler that delivered his only loss of the year, heavyweight Zach Rey did what hadn't been done with the Lehigh wrestling program since 2004 - deliver a national title at the Comcast Center in nearby Philadelphia, PA. (more)

(Photo Credit: Bruce Winter/The Express-Times ) Lehigh held its first-ever Pro Day at Lehigh this Thursday, and the not-exactly-well-kept secret around campus had senior OL Will Rackley , senior DB Jarard Cribbs and senior DB John Kennedy work out for a wide variety of NFL scouts. A full complement of local press was there to capture the day, where the star of the show, Rackley, did an individual workout to complement the partial workout he performed at the NFL Combine in February. (more)