LFN: Sunday's Word: Thunderstruck

[Lehigh Football Nation]

http://lehighfootballnation.blogspot.com/2011/12/sundays-word-thunderstruck.html


Lehigh's great playoff ride has come to an end in the ThuderDome, where a loud, partisan North Dakota State crowd listened to an AC/DC song with the title of this "Sunday Word", "Thunderstruck", and struck down Lehigh's offense, shutting out the Mountain Hawks 24-0.

It was a disappointing ending to an otherwise wonderful, historic season for Lehigh - one that will go in the record books as one of the best ever.

Yet it's impossible to look at this game at some level and wonder, "What if?"

What if senior QB Chris Lum's favorite receiver were not suspended in an unprecedented move by Montana athletic director Jim O'Day, representing the NCAA's FCS subcommittee?

In other words, what might have happened had junior WR Ryan Spadola not been "thunderstruck" by O'Day and the NCAA?

[Footballhero]

You can stop wondering "what if" They would have lost by virtually the same amount. The real issue is why didn't Lehigh have at least 14 points? Turnovers, bad penalties (legit or otherwise) cost us two scores.

[Cleets]

Flaw in Article:
The idea that O'day was involved in making this decision is mildly retarded (think about it for a moment)
O'day is the mouthpiece for a large organization called THE NCAA, maybe you've heard of it..?
He is instructed what message to deliver - and presently the NCAA is under attack for being soft on discipline so the timing was not good for the Tweeter
If you think O'day wanted to be involved in this controversy in ANY WAY you're not very bright
There is NOTHING to gain for him by even being mentioned in this mess - but - he is the NCAA FCS Committee chairmen and in situations like this I'm sure he wishes anybody else was...


http://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2011-12-09/tweeted-slur-leads-wr-suspension

[NoDak 4 Ever]

Flaw in Article:
The idea that O'day was involved in making this decision is mildly retarded
O'day is the mouthpiece for a large organization called THE NCAA, maybe you've heard of it..?
He is instructed what message to deliver - and presently the NCAA is under attack for being soft on discipline so the timing was not good for the Tweeter

http://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2011-12-09/tweeted-slur-leads-wr-suspension

Agreed. I think think article is a not even thinly veiled attempt at excuse making and sour grapes. It takes almost 2/3 of the way through it to say "it probably didn't matter". Truth is, the RS issue didn't cause the skunk, not having a halfway decent special teams did. That and that dumb wildcat quarterback pass play. Mostly, this was a game won by a top notch championship caliber team.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Flaw in Article:
The idea that O'day was involved in making this decision is mildly retarded (think about it for a moment)
O'day is the mouthpiece for a large organization called THE NCAA, maybe you've heard of it..?
He is instructed what message to deliver - and presently the NCAA is under attack for being soft on discipline so the timing was not good for the Tweeter
If you think O'day wanted to be involved in this controversy in ANY WAY you're not very bright
There is NOTHING to gain for him by even being mentioned in this mess - but - he is the NCAA FCS Committee chairmen and in situations like this I'm sure he wishes anybody else was...


http://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2011-12-09/tweeted-slur-leads-wr-suspension

Mr. O'Day could have not had his name in any way associated with the release, but instead, he chose to put his name out there.

Also, it's fascinating that you think Mr. O'Day had no involvement in making this decision when he's the f-ing NCAA FCS Committee Chairman.

And I'm not the one who's "mildly retarded" and "not very bright"?

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Agreed. I think think article is a not even thinly veiled attempt at excuse making and sour grapes. It takes almost 2/3 of the way through it to say "it probably didn't matter". Truth is, the RS issue didn't cause the skunk, not having a halfway decent special teams did. That and that dumb wildcat quarterback pass play. Mostly, this was a game won by a top notch championship caliber team.

Where do I disagree with this in the article? I said that through the actions of the NCAA, we'll never know if they could have made it a better game. I'm on the record as saying that I don't think it did matter, that I think NDSU would have won anyway. We'll just never know if it would have made a difference.

[Cleets]

Mr. O'Day could have not had his name in any way associated with the release, but instead, he chose to put his name out there.

Also, it's fascinating that you think Mr. O'Day had no involvement in making this decision when he's the f-ing NCAA FCS Committee Chairman.

And I'm not the one who's "mildly retarded" and "not very bright"?

I think you should speak directly to Jim O'day and ask him how the committee makes these decisions - and what the role of the Chairman is in regards to the decisions made
and what roll the NCAA governing body has in this decision - then re-read your article

Then check back with me

[NoDak 4 Ever]

Where do I disagree with this in the article? I said that through the actions of the NCAA, we'll never know if they could have made it a better game. I'm on the record as saying that I don't think it did matter, that I think NDSU would have won anyway. We'll just never know if it would have made a difference.

This article isn't meant to give props to NDSU, it is meant as a swipe to the NCAA. That's very sour grape-sy

[nwFL Griz]

LFN is quickly becoming as readable/relevant as bleacher report.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/AMA/legislative_council/Policies%20Procedures.pdf


Committee chairs are hereby designated as speaking agents of their committees regarding issues within their committees' jurisdiction on which there is consensus, except that positions of Legislative Council Policies and Procedures advocacy on behalf of the committee or the Association to be communicated in writing or orally to persons or entities external to the Association must have prior approval by the Executive Committee or the president of the Association.

What does this mean? It means that in order for Mr. O'Day to "advocate" on a matter of the policies of the Legislative Council (and on a matter such as this one, where this no NCAA rule to violate, this would have had to have been the case) he would have had to apply for an approval from the Executive Committee and perhaps Emmert himself to do this.

Does that sound like someone who was just "going through the motions" of NCAA rule enforcement?

He most certainly was "advocating" a position - the position of the committee the NCAA to suspend this kid even though he technically didn't violate any NCAA rule.

If he had reservations about the committee making an unprecedented decision, he could have not had his name involved at all with the release of the suspension, calling it a committee decision. But he didn't do so. His name is on this. That was his choice.

[NoDak 4 Ever]

LFN is quickly becoming as readable/relevant as bleacher report.

This.

I asked my wife, a PhD candidate in Mass Communication who has a BA and MS in the subject, to review the article and tell me what it was about. It basically said "NCAA, Ryan Spadola, Jim O'day". When I reminded her (an NDSU alum) about the Thunderstruck reference, she said "NDSU isn't really mentioned at all".

[lehighfball]

Where do I disagree with this in the article? I said that through the actions of the NCAA, we'll never know if they could have made it a better game. I'm on the record as saying that I don't think it did matter, that I think NDSU would have won anyway. We'll just never know if it would have made a difference.

Great araticle LFN. I suggest you send it to the NCAA President.

[PantherRob82]

I think you should speak directly to Jim O'day and ask him how the committee makes these decisions - and what the role of the Chairman is in regards to the decisions made
and what roll the NCAA governing body has in this decision - then re-read your article

Then check back with me

They don't do fact checking or research for these stories. xlolx.

Silly Cleets.

[Cleets]

It's tricky because it's one thing to smack and banter on a random football forum about issues and concerns etc.
I believe it's entirely something else to publish an article and then willfully disseminate the information (as a matter of fact) and quite obviously without even speaking to the individuals referenced in the article - as I understand it - Mr. O'day is fairly easy to contact regarding matters such as these, and he could have provided a complete run down of the events as the NCAA and the various committees navigated the process


xeyebrowx

[gotts]

It's tricky because it's one thing to smack and banter on a random football forum about issues and concerns etc.
I believe it's entirely something else to publish an article and then willfully disseminate the information (as a matter of fact) and quite obviously without even speaking to the individuals referenced in the article - as I understand it - Mr. O'day is fairly easy to contact regarding matters such as these, and he could have provided a complete run down of the events as the NCAA and the various committees navigated the process


xeyebrowx

Why let that get in the way of an agenda, though?

[heath]

It's tricky because it's one thing to smack and banter on a random football forum about issues and concerns etc.
I believe it's entirely something else to publish an article and then willfully disseminate the information (as a matter of fact) and quite obviously without even speaking to the individuals referenced in the article - as I understand it - Mr. O'day is fairly easy to contact regarding matters such as these, and he could have provided a complete run down of the events as the NCAA and the various committees navigated the process


xeyebrowx

When is last time you tried to contact Jimmy?Sending an email doesn't mean he reads it. His secretary was a very busy lady last week trying to answer his calls and emails.End the end,Spadola got screwed but does have one more year to play. Sad thing is, that this was so over blown and handled so poorly that it might affect him next season.

[Cleets]

When is last time you tried to contact Jimmy?Sending an email doesn't mean he reads it. His secretary was a very busy lady last week trying to answer his calls and emails.End the end,Spadola got screwed but does have one more year to play. Sad thing is, that this was so over blown and handled so poorly that it might affect him next season.

First of all everything you said in your post was correct
However it was also irrelevant - Everybody is busy - but too busy to get the facts right when you're going to publish an article..?
Overblown - Of course - Welcome to America, you must be new here... That's what we do, we take the mundane and turn it into the spectacular
I agree that the tweet story was hardly news worthy and I also agree that the suspension was not the proper solution either

But a Lehigh related press release style article - posing as an official observation - needs to be properly researched before published (period)

[Engineer86]

After the Cinncinati Xavier brawl caused by smack talking, in this case on the old fashion radio. There clearly is an issue with smack talking. With Twitter and Facebook, it is way too easy to get things started and you could see more events like Cincy Xavier.

I do not think they realized it when they suspended Spadola (in my view the race word was their key) but a few days later, it was clear this is a real issue.

I expect there will be much more attention paid to this and many more suspensions like RS in the future.

[ngineer]

First of all everything you said in your post was correct
However it was also irrelevant - Everybody is busy - but too busy to get the facts right when you're going to publish an article..?
Overblown - Of course - Welcome to America, you must be new here... That's what we do, we take the mundane and turn it into the spectacular
I agree that the tweet story was hardly news worthy and I also agree that the suspension was not the proper solution either

But a Lehigh related press release style article - posing as an official observation - needs to be properly researched before published (period)


Nowhere is there any indication that his blog is published, disseminated, or "related" to the University. No different than tons of other fans who have blogs with names of the school, mascot, or combination thereof. I agree it would be interesting if LFN interviewed O'Day, and I would think it is worth a try. But don't go painting the blog as an official website or operation of the University. Chuck cleary indicates upfront that it's an individual operation and has never tried to pass his work as being sanctioned or 'approved' by the University.

[Cleets]

[/U][/B]

Nowhere is there any indication that his blog is published, disseminated, or "related" to the University. No different than tons of other fans who have blogs with names of the school, mascot, or combination thereof. I agree it would be interesting if LFN interviewed O'Day, and I would think it is worth a try. But don't go painting the blog as an official website or operation of the University. Chuck cleary indicates upfront that it's an individual operation and has never tried to pass his work as being sanctioned or 'approved' by the University.


You have a valid point...

[ddied]

This whole story was blown out of proportion and mishandled. Jim O'Day had serious conflict of interests. The NCAA "Gestapo" has no business in this matter. So what, He said the N word. It's not the N word of the '60s Civil Rights Movement. It is a word that is used every day by whites,blacks, and any other color people. Everyone posting on here has used the word at one time or another in their lives. Here's the problem. If a black player had tweeted that they were going to put a whoopin on those "crackass crackers" from Lehigh. Nothing would have been said about it. Bryant Gumble
called David Stern "the over seer of the plantation". If a white anouncer had made a similar comment, pointed at a black man. He would be fired from ESPN immediately!!! White guy tired of walking on eggshells. Call Jesse Jackson. Ryan Spadola got screwed over and probably missed getting the all-time yardage record that he rightfully deserved. That's all I have to say about that.

[MTfan4life]

Jim O' Day clearly made the decision himself. He was laughing with his wife and said, "watch me suspend this guy from Lehigh." And bam, Spadola was done. That same day, Jim O' Day traveled to the California State Pen on another recruiting trip. After locking up a couple solid convicts, he went home only to find that the 11 offensive starters for the Griz were caught to be the leaders of a mass execution played out earlier that day. Jimbo gave a side bump to QB JJ and said boys will be boys, dismissing them to play that weekend. It's just ridiculous how hypocritical he is.

In all seriousness.
a retweet of language not even initiated by the star player If Don Imus tweeted me saying "those nappy headed hoes are talking crap," and I said back to him, 'let them nappy headed hoes talk crap.' That is me still saying those words. Just because it was originally said by someone else, doesn't mean they initiated me to say it. I could have just as well said "let them talk crap," but no, I CHOSE to use those words. I wasn't initiated, I wasn't retweeting. I CHOSE to use those words. I'm tired of hearing that it was just an innocent retweet. Waa waa, someone else said it first and then held me at gunpoint to retype the words negatively again.

Jim O' Day, more like Jim NCAA. Someone better stop him before he makes more decisions entirely on his own simply because he was the one to speak to the media.
The football committee was very disappointed with the unsportsmanlike action taken by the student-athlete
When he said the football committee, he clearly meant himself. I bet he didn't even meet with the committee. He just did it to spite Lehigh.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

I love how Montana folks somehow still are laboring under the fantasy that the chairman of the NCAA subcommittee has nothing to do with the operations of the NCAA subcommittee. That O'Day is just a vessel for the feelings of the rest of the committee - heck, he didn't even feel like doing it! He thought it was "too harsh"!" Though did that appear in print anywhere? Not exactly.

Funny, when it comes to Spadola, the misguided folks on here say he should be held to account for his words - words that were actually quoted from someone else. Yet when people try to hold Mr. O'Day's words to account - sorry, the NCAA's, he's just "rewteeting" them, that's their defense - they use the same defense Lehigh fans use to defend Spadola. "The words were not his!" "Oh my, O'Day is just a victim, because he was the unlucky fellow that had to speak to the media!"

I'm still waiting for some response - if O'Day was so against this decision, if he was so powerless to stop it, why did he put his name on the press release? I'm guessing that the folks on here will come up with some fantasy with Mr O'Day at the keyboard, with Emmert holding a gun to his head, having him write a statement.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

But a Lehigh related press release style article - posing as an official observation - needs to be properly researched before published (period)

What an utter load of crap. My piece is clearly an opinion piece. The only observation in terms of this is my own, and those of the many Lehigh fans that read my blog on a regular basis. You need your head examined if you think my blog post looks anything like an official press release.

[TheRevSFA]

So what gain would O'Day have helping NDSU? Potentially getting a "states that border Canada" championship game in Frisco, TX?

Get real...if Lehigh was that good of a team, all around, then they would have played past the loss of Spadola and found a way to win. They didn't, and they got destroyed in the dome.

End of story.

[Side Judge]

In one sense this is why teams aspire to go FBS, where NCAA sanctions are rendered less relevant in this regard. Of course, teams then need to more heavily invest in their PR consultants...

The basic issue here was the complete lack of due process by the NCAA. The correct response needed to be a behind-the-scenes arm-twisting to Lehigh (which may well have occurred but didn't yield the NCAA's desired result), followed by developing a social media policy released in the off-season.

And frankly O'Day as Montana AD needed to recuse himself from any decisions/communications that could in any way affect the competitive balance of the playoffs.

[Doc QB]

In one sense this is why teams aspire to go FBS, where NCAA sanctions are rendered less relevant in this regard. Of course, teams then need to more heavily invest in their PR consultants...

The basic issue here was the complete lack of due process by the NCAA. The correct response needed to be a behind-the-scenes arm-twisting to Lehigh (which may well have occurred but didn't yield the NCAA's desired result), followed by developing a social media policy released in the off-season.

And frankly O'Day as Montana AD needed to recuse himself from any decisions/communications that could in any way affect the competitive balance of the playoffs.

Although I am an obvious Lehigh homer, totally agree with the above. And, NDSU would still have won the game regardless.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

In one sense this is why teams aspire to go FBS, where NCAA sanctions are rendered less relevant in this regard. Of course, teams then need to more heavily invest in their PR consultants...

The basic issue here was the complete lack of due process by the NCAA. The correct response needed to be a behind-the-scenes arm-twisting to Lehigh (which may well have occurred but didn't yield the NCAA's desired result), followed by developing a social media policy released in the off-season.

And frankly O'Day as Montana AD needed to recuse himself from any decisions/communications that could in any way affect the competitive balance of the playoffs.


Although I am an obvious Lehigh homer, totally agree with the above. And, NDSU would still have won the game regardless.

This.

[nwFL Griz]

In one sense this is why teams aspire to go FBS, where NCAA sanctions are rendered less relevant in this regard. Of course, teams then need to more heavily invest in their PR consultants...

The basic issue here was the complete lack of due process by the NCAA. The correct response needed to be a behind-the-scenes arm-twisting to Lehigh (which may well have occurred but didn't yield the NCAA's desired result), followed by developing a social media policy released in the off-season.

And frankly O'Day as Montana AD needed to recuse himself from any decisions/communications that could in any way affect the competitive balance of the playoffs.

Why? You imply that by having his name attached to the release, it somehow tarnishes the "competitive balance of the playoffs." I call hogwash. The fact is, he is the head of the subcommittee, so it was completely appropriate that his was the name attached to a release from that subcommittee.

I also fail to see how this would help Montana in any way, even if it were all up to him, as you seem to suggest.

Truth be told, if I'm the Griz, I'd much rather play Lehigh than NDSU.

[Side Judge]

Why? You imply that by having his name attached to the release, it somehow tarnishes the "competitive balance of the playoffs." I call hogwash. The fact is, he is the head of the subcommittee, so it was completely appropriate that his was the name attached to a release from that subcommittee.

I also fail to see how this would help Montana in any way, even if it were all up to him, as you seem to suggest.

Truth be told, if I'm the Griz, I'd much rather play Lehigh than NDSU.

As a general rule, if you have skin in the game you recuse yourself from these situations.

Look, when you say "if I'm the Griz, I'd much rather play ___" you point out the exact problem.

As Montana's AD, O'Day wants the football team to win the national championship. As committee chair, he can render decisions that impact a team's ability to compete. As a result, his decisions can impact the outcomes of the playoff games. When this in any way influences how Montana does in the playoffs, it becomes a conflict of interest.

Hence, he should recuse himself.

[MTfan4life]

Funny, when it comes to Spadola, the misguided folks on here say he should be held to account for his words - words that were actually quoted from someone else.



I know how twitter works. There were no quotations, there were no retweets. The only claim of this was from Spadola saying it wasn't his original words. The tweet is his tweet. He had to type that out. It wasn't the same exact words mattyfai used. It was a response to mattyfai. Therefore, the tweet is SPADOLA's words. Quit saying he wasn't using his words or that he quoted it from someone else. If he wanted to retweet this mattyfai's tweet, it would have been MUCH easier than posting his own tweet.

[MTfan4life]

I'm still waiting for some response - if O'Day was so against this decision, if he was so powerless to stop it, why did he put his name on the press release? I'm guessing that the folks on here will come up with some fantasy with Mr O'Day at the keyboard, with Emmert holding a gun to his head, having him write a statement.


He put his name on the press release because he is the Chairman of that subcommittee. As a leader, regardless if you support your group fully, you back them up. Just because he's the one that spoke, doesn't mean he's the sole decision maker. It simply means Jim is a quality Chairman. Willing to stick his neck out there in front of the other members of the committee. Go ahead and call him the biased person. We don't know his full effect on the decision, but we do know that he kept true to his leadership position by being the one to be labeled with the decision.

[Cleets]

What an utter load of crap. My piece is clearly an opinion piece. The only observation in terms of this is my own, and those of the many Lehigh fans that read my blog on a regular basis. You need your head examined if you think my blog post looks anything like an official press release.

You're right - I admit I was wrong about your schlocky self serving opinion piece - it is clearly just "one angry mans opinion"
The funny thing is 90% of the folks out there feel just like you and me - that the suspension of the player was wrong - we all agree with you
but Lehigh alum have done EVERYTHING humanly possible to turn the crowd against them - we want to be on your side
but you're such a whiny self serving graceless buffoon it's almost impossible to stand next to you - even though we agree with you

[Side Judge]

You're right - I admit I was wrong about your schlocky self serving opinion piece - it is clearly just "one angry mans opinion"
The funny thing is 90% of the folks out there feel just like you and me - that the suspension of the player was wrong - we all agree with you
but Lehigh alum have done EVERYTHING humanly possible to turn the crowd against them - we want to be on your side
but you're such a whiny self serving graceless buffoon it's almost impossible to stand next to you - even though we agree with you

You know - it's funny when Ursus posts while drunk - but it's just not the same when you do it. Dunno why, maybe it's envisioning you sneaking a generous "splash" or three of JD from a hidden flask into your second Starbucks decaf latte at the morning staff meeting in your Seattle, er, Redmond office. Just not the same effect as Ursus stumbling out of a Missoula gay bar after "busting chops" with some out-of-town Iowageans, firing up his x486 and modem back in Chris's bedroom, and lambasting random AGS posters here, ya know?

Oh, and congrats on your upcoming post milestone - I'm guessing it'll be a doozy...

[Cleets]

You know - it's funny when Ursus posts while drunk - but it's just not the same when you do it. Dunno why, maybe it's envisioning you sneaking a generous "splash" or three of JD from a hidden flask into your second Starbucks decaf latte at the morning staff meeting in your Seattle, er, Redmond office. Just not the same effect as Ursus stumbling out of a Missoula gay bar after "busting chops" with some out-of-town Iowageans and lambasting random AGS posters here, ya know?

Meh,
You're right I need to back off
This particular thread, in conjunction with the other half dozen "poor Lehigh" threads has me in a foul mood

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Meh,
You're right I need to back off
This particular thread, in conjunction with the other half dozen "poor Lehigh" threads has me in a foul mood

That and the fact that your Vikings lost to Oregon last night... xlolx

[LEHIGH61]

Why? You imply that by having his name attached to the release, it somehow tarnishes the "competitive balance of the playoffs." I call hogwash. The fact is, he is the head of the subcommittee, so it was completely appropriate that his was the name attached to a release from that subcommittee.

I also fail to see how this would help Montana in any way, even if it were all up to him, as you seem to suggest.

Truth be told, if I'm the Griz, I'd much rather play Lehigh than NDSU.

And I sincerely hope you don't even get the chance to play NDSU. You probably won't, since you don't have another "HOME GAME".

[Cleets]

That and the fact that your Vikings lost to Oregon last night... xlolx

I'm used to that...
"Poor Vikings" is a chant that reverberates through many stadiums in the North West

[NoDak 4 Ever]

I'm used to that...
"Poor Vikings" is a chant that reverberates through many stadiums in the North West

The Midwest too.

[GannonFan]

Meh,
You're right I need to back off
This particular thread, in conjunction with the other half dozen "poor Lehigh" threads has me in a foul mood

I don't know, I thought you hit the nail on the head there. Plenty of people would've been pro-Lehigh regarding the suspension being too severe, but it was impossible to agree with the rationalizations from the Lehigh folks on why this wasn't a big deal - trying to pretend he didn't type out that tweet to saying that as a rich white kid he wouldn't have known that word was taboo and then to this strange and sordid attack now on the Montana AD - it was just too unsavory to agree with people taking that tact. Go figure.

[Side Judge]

I don't know, I thought you hit the nail on the head there. Plenty of people would've been pro-Lehigh regarding the suspension being too severe, but it was impossible to agree with the rationalizations from the Lehigh folks on why this wasn't a big deal - trying to pretend he didn't type out that tweet to saying that as a rich white kid he wouldn't have known that word was taboo and then to this strange and sordid attack now on the Montana AD - it was just too unsavory to agree with people taking that tact. Go figure.

It's not just the Lehigh folks that are keeping this thing alive - shouldn't you be breaking down the Dayne Crist intangibles?

[BearIt]

And frankly O'Day as Montana AD needed to recuse himself from any decisions/communications that could in any way affect the competitive balance of the playoffs.

By this logic there should be no AD's that will potentially have a team in the playoffs allowed on the committee.

We should hand over the playoff committee to the Pioneer, SWAC and IVY.

Trust me. If O'Day was really looking out for Montana's interest Spadola would have played.

[TheRevSFA]

By this logic there should be no AD's that will potentially have a team in the playoffs allowed on the committee.

We should hand over the playoff committee to the Pioneer, SWAC and IVY.

Trust me. If O'Day was really looking out for Montana's interest Spadola would have played.

Put Southeastern Louisiana, Lamar, and Nicholls State's ADs on the committee too

[Lehigh'98]

Its over Johny...Just frustrating for us because these opportunities don't come along every year.

[heath]

So what gain would O'Day have helping NDSU? Potentially getting a "states that border Canada" championship game in Frisco, TX?

Get real...if Lehigh was that good of a team, all around, then they would have played past the loss of Spadola and found a way to win. They didn't, and they got destroyed in the dome.

End of story.
Lehigh = Boise ST or Houston of FBS. The NCAA couldn't wait til Boise or Houston lost so their BIG conference teams would make the BCS field.No FCS committee member really wanted a non-scholly team out of a crappy league making any noise in the playoffs. Lehigh was going to be treated differently than the rest,because in the NCAA's mind, they did not belong!

[BearIt]

Lehigh = Boise ST or Houston of FBS. The NCAA couldn't wait til Boise or Houston lost so their BIG conference teams would make the BCS field.No FCS committee member really wanted a non-scholly team out of a crappy league making any noise in the playoffs. Lehigh was going to be treated differently than the rest,because in the NCAA's mind, they did not belong!

Exactly.

That explains why they gave them the 1st round bye and made teams from the CAA play in the first round. It was because the NCAA felt like they didn't belong. They weren't given an equal opportunity to prove themselves by playing that extra game.

[ngineer]

Lehigh = Boise ST or Houston of FBS. The NCAA couldn't wait til Boise or Houston lost so their BIG conference teams would make the BCS field.No FCS committee member really wanted a non-scholly team out of a crappy league making any noise in the playoffs. Lehigh was going to be treated differently than the rest,because in the NCAA's mind, they did not belong!

Not sure what you mean by that. The PL actually represents what a lot of collegiate conferences should aspire. Quality academics where athletics are considered part of the educational experience and not a money making endeavor. Typically, the competitiveness is pretty good among the majority of schools. Yes, there may always be one or two "down" schools, but so do most leagues. Though about basketball, read Feinstein's book, The Last Amateurs, as it gives a good perspective of what the Patriot League is all about.