Lehigh Football Nation

One day after announcing their mega-deal with the CBS Sports Network, the folks at the Patriot League had another surprise in the offing: that the October 29th clash between Colgate and Lehigh would be one of the two Patriot League games televised nationally on the CBS Sports Network. Two of the most intriguing games of the Patriot League football season have been selected for national television coverage in 2011, as both the Massachusetts at Holy Cross matchup on Sept. 1 at 8 p.m. and the Lehigh at Colgate game on Oct. 29 at Noon will be televised on CBS Sports Network. In other words, "Hate the 'Gate" goes national. (more)

Make no mistake, it's a groundbreaker. Earlier today, the Patriot League reached a new agreement with CBS Sports Network to show Patriot League sports contests on their network. It's an eye opener on a multitude of levels, partially due to its impact on football coverage and some, um, interesting announcements about football coverage coming up in the next couple of days. But the big story today involves the effect on basketball, where the Patriot League says goodbye to ESPN, the network that has carried the Patriot League men's basketball championship since 1991. (more)

When most people think of West Long Branch, New Jersey, you don't necessarily think of Monmouth University. You're more likely to think of reality shows. You might think about the Jersey Shore - and, if not Snooki , perhaps Monmouth alum  Anthony Beltempo , the creator of the mega-hit TV series on MTV . You might even think of fellow Monmouth alums Stephenie LaGrossa or Katie Gallagher , who were runners-up on Survivor: Palau  among other Survivor shows - and further cementing Monmouth University with the unenviable title of Reality Show U. There's another legacy in West Long Branch, however, that's of much more concern to Lehigh football fans. That legacy is Monmouth's growing football program - that lately has been producing a lot more than reality-show entertainment. Their reality show is played on Sundays, and it gets a heck of a lot more viewers than any show on MTV. (more)

In Lehigh football news this week, we see some news on the coaching front - and a couple of updates on the incoming class that have been sitting in my inbox for a while. (more)

(Photo Credit: The Macon Telegraph) You may have missed it, but two pieces of news happened in the last six months that may have a much more profound change on the landscape of FCS football than you might think. In November, Georgia-based Mercer College announced they would be fielding a football team for the first time in 70 years . And in March, their Atlantic Sun leaguemates Stetson in Florida also announced their intent to do the renovations necessary to bring football back to their campus as well after a 55 year hiatus. Chaos theory tells us that small variances (like Mercer and Stetson starting football) sometimes have large, unpredictable ripple effects very far away (like a larger realignment in Midwestern football conferences). Seem crazy? Not exactly. (more)

(Montage Credit: OK! Magazine) So this morning, I wake up and head to the office like I always do.  I get to my cubicle, check all my emails, get my work environment set up, and try to put out the fires that cropped up over the weekend. I check all the cosmetic changes that I made to the blog this weekend, my first major update to the look and feel to the website since 2007 .  Is the statistics counter working?  Yes.  Everything looking OK?  yes.  New banner, telling new and old readers what the blog is about?  Yes. Once complete, I then fire up TweetDeck, the program I use to connect all my social media accounts. And there, to my great surprise, I see: "Trending Topics: LFN | Twitter." Huh?  What the heck happened to @LFN, my Twitter account? If that's not a lead-in to a blog posting on the generational split and the state of blogging and social media, I don't know what is. (more)

(Photo Credit: CLT Blog) No, this isn't a blog posting about Rep. Anthony Weiner 's latest Twitter dust-up, though you might think it from the title. But another sort of dust-up seems to be occurring in the world of FCS football programs. It's a different sort of strange tale than Mr. Weiner's - one of UNC-Charlotte football, Conference USA, the Atlantic Ten, and a bunch of athletic conferences that seem unwilling to add the 49ers to their conference lineup. It also offers a huge opportunity for another FCS conference as well. (more)