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65 Pard
December 29th, 2005, 10:45 AM
Finding this forum takes me back to Taylor Stadium my freshman year. It was 1961 and I had never been to a sold out college game before. The game started slowly but suddenly Lehigh made a big play....I will never forget the deafening roar that shook me from across the field. I can only imagine the adrenaline rush that the Lehigh players felt from that thunderous response... I never have experienced exactly that feeling since....Must be the acoustics peculiar to old Taylor mixed in with the fervor of the rivalry...and my initial exposure to such intensity...

That was the game where an undermanned Leopard team made a large player substitution and one player never completely left the field, he stood by the sideline in bounds talking to the coaches and took off downfield as the ball was snapped...the ball was thrown perfectly and he made the catch, but alas, he was not fast enough and was caught from behind....Lafayette played a great game only to lose on an Engineer field goal that hit the crossbar and fell over it.

That game will always typify what for me is the greatest college
rivalry...Intense, unpredictable and steeped in tradition.....

Glad I found this site....you guys are very entertaining...

Pard94
December 29th, 2005, 11:19 AM
Finding this forum takes me back to Taylor Stadium my freshman year. It was 1961 and I had never been to a sold out college game before. The game started slowly but suddenly Lehigh made a big play....I will never forget the deafening roar that shook me from across the field. I can only imagine the adrenaline rush that the Lehigh players felt from that thunderous response... I never have experienced exactly that feeling since....Must be the acoustics peculiar to old Taylor mixed in with the fervor of the rivalry...and my initial exposure to such intensity...

That was the game where an undermanned Leopard team made a large player substitution and one player never completely left the field, he stood by the sideline in bounds talking to the coaches and took off downfield as the ball was snapped...the ball was thrown perfectly and he made the catch, but alas, he was not fast enough and was caught from behind....Lafayette played a great game only to lose on an Engineer field goal that hit the crossbar and fell over it.

That game will always typify what for me is the greatest college
rivalry...Intense, unpredictable and steeped in tradition.....

Glad I found this site....you guys are very entertaining...

Thanks for sharing your experience 65. As a former player I can tell you that the crowd at the Lafayette vs. Lehigh games play a huge role.

Welcome to AGS. Contibute as much as you can as we Pards are pretty well outnumbered. Glad to have you.

The Historian
December 29th, 2005, 11:29 AM
Calling the kick that won 1961 Lehigh-Lafayette game a wounded duck is an insult to wounded ducks. It was all of 20 yards and the only field goal ever kicked by Andy Larko. The next year Larko blocked a Lafayette extra point that was key to Lehigh winning that season.

ngineer
December 29th, 2005, 11:42 AM
Welcome aboard. Yes, Taylor was unique. the ol' horseshoe was noisy not due to only the crowds, but the accoustics were exacerbated by the heavy metal upper deck and the surrounding buildings that the noise bounced off of.
Goodman certainly has many more 'amenities' but the atmosphere of Taylor cannot be duplicated. :(

65 Pard
December 29th, 2005, 11:52 AM
Historian
That wounded duck broke a lot of hearts.....We were, I think, the first Lafayette graduating class to go 4 years without a victory over Lehigh, notwidthstanding that anticlimatic 6-6 tie in the much ballyhooed 100th game played my senior year....I still have my 100th game button..

Fordham
December 29th, 2005, 12:05 PM
Great to have another PL-er aboard. Welcome!

Pard4Life
December 29th, 2005, 12:27 PM
Thanks for sharing. Unfortunately I never got to see or visit Taylor Stadium since I am quite a young alum. I did not know that there was such an exciting ending to that game. Somebody someday should compile a nice summary of what happened in each Lafayette-Lehigh game. After all there are 141 of them and I can bet our older alum don't know what happened in the first half of the rivalry. Maybe if I have more time in the future... :)

And welcome to AGS, I noticed our Pard support base here is growing quite nicely.

The Historian
December 29th, 2005, 01:04 PM
There is a book, Legends of Lehigh - Lafayette by Todd Davidson and Bob Donchez, covering the series in detail. I have the first edition, published in 1995, and I think there is at least one later edition.

Go...gate
December 29th, 2005, 01:24 PM
Taylor Stadium was what College Football is all about. Unique configuration, noisy as hell and a great home-field advantage!! Even though I was usually rooting for the visitors, it was a great place to take in a game.

Pard4Life
December 29th, 2005, 01:24 PM
There is a book, Legends of Lehigh - Lafayette by Todd Davidson and Bob Donchez, covering the series in detail. I have the first edition, published in 1995, and I think there is at least one later edition.

Did not know that, thanks... our school store should sell it. But, they are pretty awful marketers and I have issues with them, but that's for another board xlolx

The Historian
December 29th, 2005, 01:55 PM
The last time I was in the Lehigh bookstore, I saw it there. The bookstore is privately managed, so none of the profits on the book go to Lehigh :) . I think they have a webstore.

ngineer
December 29th, 2005, 02:27 PM
I've got the book too. It's great and still available. Channel 39 had them as a 'premium' last year during the showing of the film on the Lehigh-Lafayette seried--a great dvd if you get the chance.***** (Five Stars) narrated by Harry Kalas..

carney2
December 30th, 2005, 11:19 AM
That was the game where an undermanned Leopard team made a large player substitution and one player never completely left the field, he stood by the sideline in bounds talking to the coaches and took off downfield as the ball was snapped...the ball was thrown perfectly and he made the catch, but alas, he was not fast enough and was caught from behind....Lafayette played a great game only to lose on an Engineer field goal that hit the crossbar and fell over it.

I remember the '61 game very well and mentioned it in another post as the best college football game that I ever attended. Two of my fellow frat rats snuck in a quarter keg and a tap. They offered the first cup to the guy behind them who turned out to be Dr. Bergethon, President of the College. After the game "Bergy" congratulated us on our good manners and decorum despite having the illegal evil suds in our possession. The game was actually so good that no one wanted to get drunk and disorderly - and possibly miss something.

The play that you mention in the quote box above was even better than you describe. Lafayette coach, "Jungle Jim" McConlogue had acquired a reputation that year for bad game management - too many players on the field; too few players on the field. At the beginning of the play you mention, he had his center, Shapiro, going back and forth from the sideline to the huddle, with the sideline motioning for him to return to the huddle and the team on the field motioning for him to leave the game. This was the diversion that allowed Ray Moyer, Class of '63, to wander over and stand just inches inside the sideline. At the same time, the entire team on the bench had moved forward to line up with their toes right at the sideline (you were allowed to do that in those days). Moyer simply blended in with the guys on the bench.

As the team lined up to take the snap, everyone in our section was screaming to McConlogue "You only have 10, you moron" or unprintable words to that effect. The QB took the snap, straightened up, and fired the ball at the bench. Moyer then broke out of all those white shirts and started running down the field. I seem to remember that he then tripped over his own feet making a cut to avoid a defender who was closing on him, but perhaps it is part of the myth that has grown in my mind and he was indeed tackled.

As I mentioned in my other post, The Legends of Lehigh - Lafayette book states that the 4th quarter of this game was perhaps the most exciting 15 minutes in the history of THE Game.

Pard4Life
December 30th, 2005, 11:29 AM
As I mentioned in my other post, The Legends of Lehigh - Lafayette book states that the 4th quarter of this game was perhaps the most exciting 15 minutes in the history of THE Game.

How would you rate the 4th quarter of the 2005 game? I was rocking back and forth in my seat the entire time.

carney2
December 30th, 2005, 11:46 AM
Taylor Stadium was what College Football is all about. Unique configuration, noisy as hell and a great home-field advantage!! Even though I was usually rooting for the visitors, it was a great place to take in a game.

I hated Taylor Stadium. Something always went wrong there - and I don't just mean with the play on the field. Samples:

There was the year that the nincompoops who set up the temporary stands forgot to attach the foot board in front of our seats. We couldn't stand up without falling straight through to the ground. Since everyone stands for much of a Lehigh - Lafayette game, we were out of there sometime early in the first quarter to find a bar with the game on TV.

Then there was the year when we were again in those temporary stands on the visitors' side and we could only see the field from about the 35 at the closed end on down to the open end. In other words, we were blocked from about 1/3 of the field because those same geniuses noted above (Lehigh grads all, undoubtedly) had set up the stands too far back from the sidelines and our view was blocked by the permanent stands. That was Russo's first year and Roger Shepko's touchdown plunge to win the game is to this day a mere rumor for everyone in our section.

Oh yeah, how about the final game at "dear old" Taylor - 1989, I believe. The temperature - or the wind chill, who remembers - was 15 and the wind gusts got to 50 mph. There was not enough bourbon in Pennsylvania to get us through that day.

On the other hand, the best student riots always took place at Taylor - in part because, unlike their counterparts in Easton, the Lehigh decision makers didn't "rent" large German shepherds to keep the kids off the field until the end. I remember more than once when there were no goal posts in the second half and both teams had to run/throw for extra points. 1975 was really special when the cops tried to clear the field to start the second half by using mace - and failed.

carney2
December 30th, 2005, 11:57 AM
How would you rate the 4th quarter of the 2005 game? I was rocking back and forth in my seat the entire time.

Loved it, of course. Unlike you, I was not rocking back and forth in my seat, because none of us were doing much sitting. The only time I actually remember sitting down was when I collapsed in agony after that lineman flinched on 4th down, taking the "good guys" out of field goal range.

Even better though, I liked the 4th quarter of the 2002 game when Lafayette made their first statement that the brown guys might have to prepare for more than Colgate when they look at their schedule each year. That was the year, you may recall, when the Lehigh defense had not given up a TD in the 4th quarter all year. Marko Glavic and Joe McCourt led a drive that consumed over 9 minutes and they literally jammed the ball down the collective Lehigh throat. A lehigh player was quoted after the game that "they just wanted it more than we did."

Pard4Life
December 30th, 2005, 12:13 PM
Loved it, of course. Unlike you, I was not rocking back and forth in my seat, because none of us were doing much sitting. The only time I actually remember sitting down was when I collapsed in agony after that lineman flinched on 4th down, taking the "good guys" out of field goal range.

Even better though, I liked the 4th quarter of the 2002 game when Lafayette made their first statement that the brown guys might have to prepare for more than Colgate when they look at their schedule each year. That was the year, you may recall, when the Lehigh defense had not given up a TD in the 4th quarter all year. Marko Glavic and Joe McCourt led a drive that consumed over 9 minutes and they literally jammed the ball down the collective Lehigh throat. A lehigh player was quoted after the game that "they just wanted it more than we did."

I agree, 2002 was my most favorite of the three big wins.

ngineer
December 30th, 2005, 12:33 PM
I hated Taylor Stadium. Something always went wrong there - and I don't just mean with the play on the field. Samples:

There was the year that the nincompoops who set up the temporary stands forgot to attach the foot board in front of our seats. We couldn't stand up without falling straight through to the ground. Since everyone stands for much of a Lehigh - Lafayette game, we were out of there sometime early in the first quarter to find a bar with the game on TV.

Then there was the year when we were again in those temporary stands on the visitors' side and we could only see the field from about the 35 at the closed end on down to the open end. In other words, we were blocked from about 1/3 of the field because those same geniuses noted above (Lehigh grads all, undoubtedly) had set up the stands too far back from the sidelines and our view was blocked by the permanent stands. That was Russo's first year and Roger Shepko's touchdown plunge to win the game is to this day a mere rumor for everyone in our section.

Oh yeah, how about the final game at "dear old" Taylor - 1989, I believe. The temperature - or the wind chill, who remembers - was 15 and the wind gusts got to 50 mph. There was not enough bourbon in Pennsylvania to get us through that day.
On the other hand, the best student riots always took place at Taylor - in part because, unlike their counterparts in Easton, the Lehigh decision makers didn't "rent" large German shepherds to keep the kids off the field until the end. I remember more than once when there were no goal posts in the second half and both teams had to run/throw for extra points. 1975 was really special when the cops tried to clear the field to start the second half by using mace - and failed.

Game was 1987. I was there with my 7 year old daughter who never missed a game with me since she was 3. I had her so bundled up she couldn't walk or hardley see through the slits between her scarf and hat. It was the only game I left before the end. Could subject her to more than the first half. I heard the actual temp was 15 and the windchill was well below 0 with the gusts . Taylor's last year.
I have a brick from Taylor sitting on my credenza in my office with a bronze plaque attached and booklet giving the Stadium's historic facts and figures. I have talked to many players and officials who, to this day, still maintain that the turf of that field was the best in any stadium on the east coast regardless of size. It was beautifully maintained.

65 Pard
December 30th, 2005, 01:16 PM
I remember the '61 game very well and mentioned it in another post as the best college football game that I ever attended. Two of my fellow frat rats snuck in a quarter keg and a tap. They offered the first cup to the guy behind them who turned out to be Dr. Bergethon, President of the College. After the game "Bergy" congratulated us on our good manners and decorum despite having the illegal evil suds in our possession. The game was actually so good that no one wanted to get drunk and disorderly - and possibly miss something.

The play that you mention in the quote box above was even better than you describe. Lafayette coach, "Jungle Jim" McConlogue had acquired a reputation that year for bad game management - too many players on the field; too few players on the field. At the beginning of the play you mention, he had his center, Shapiro, going back and forth from the sideline to the huddle, with the sideline motioning for him to return to the huddle and the team on the field motioning for him to leave the game. This was the diversion that allowed Ray Moyer, Class of '63, to wander over and stand just inches inside the sideline. At the same time, the entire team on the bench had moved forward to line up with their toes right at the sideline (you were allowed to do that in those days). Moyer simply blended in with the guys on the bench.

As the team lined up to take the snap, everyone in our section was screaming to McConlogue "You only have 10, you moron" or unprintable words to that effect. The QB took the snap, straightened up, and fired the ball at the bench. Moyer then broke out of all those white shirts and started running down the field. I seem to remember that he then tripped over his own feet making a cut to avoid a defender who was closing on him, but perhaps it is part of the myth that has grown in my mind and he was indeed tackled.

As I mentioned in my other post, The Legends of Lehigh - Lafayette book states that the 4th quarter of this game was perhaps the most exciting 15 minutes in the history of THE Game.

I was being charitable to Ray Moyer...He had a big head start but was very slow, I can still see the Lehigh defender cutting across the field to catch him.......As I recall McConologue had cleared that play with the officials prior to the game...

As for the crowd noise at Taylor, I once had season tickets at Michigan Stadium and 100,000 in Ann Arbor did not seem to resonate to equal the roar from the Lehigh side at Taylor....

Neighbor2
December 30th, 2005, 01:25 PM
I, too, attended that final game. I enjoyed Lehigh football at Taylor since 1963. But . . . that final game was too much for me. My 75 year old father-in-law and I struggled to walk from the car to the stadium. It was that brutal. We sold our tickets at the gate and enjoyed the game from home. I feel a little guilty, but several people in attendance were hospitalized that afternoon. I was sure one of us would have been included.

Like ngineer, I have a brick properly displayed in my home office.

Taylor was quite special. The playing field was superb. Every other five yard line was a different shade of green. I think this was due to the mowing pattern. Fans were five yards from the Lehigh bench. Coach John Whitehead scorched my ears on several occasions!

Elderly Southside residents made their way in, in view of the Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces, as they had done so for many years. This was the "as good as it gets" college football enviornment.

Goodman Stadium is better in many ways, but lacking in others. Such is life.

I attempted to get a quality photo of that Taylor experience. I spoke with longtime Bethlehem newspaper photographer Joe Ryan. He turned everything over to Lehigh. But, no luck there. I did see an incredible Taylor Stadium photo at nearby Gus's Crossroads Restaurant. Unfortunately, it was destroyed in a subsequent fire. If anyone has a source of Taylor Stadium photos, please post.

And to all of you doubters, please visit the College Football Hall of Fame. Lehigh and Lafayette are all over the place!

:)

carney2
December 30th, 2005, 03:31 PM
I was being charitable to Ray Moyer...He had a big head start but was very slow, I can still see the Lehigh defender cutting across the field to catch him.......As I recall McConologue had cleared that play with the officials prior to the game...

Actually, Ray Moyer was a pretty good athlete. If he got caught from behind, it took some doin'. Moyer spent some time as a minor league infielder in the Cubs organization and then went to medical school. The last I heard (quite a while ago), he was the head of sports medicine at Temple University Medical School.

ngineer
December 30th, 2005, 03:45 PM
I, too, attended that final game. I enjoyed Lehigh football at Taylor since 1963. But . . . that final game was too much for me. My 75 year old father-in-law and I struggled to walk from the car to the stadium. It was that brutal. We sold our tickets at the gate and enjoyed the game from home. I feel a little guilty, but several people in attendance were hospitalized that afternoon. I was sure one of us would have been included.

Like ngineer, I have a brick properly displayed in my home office.

Taylor was quite special. The playing field was superb. Every other five yard line was a different shade of green. I think this was due to the mowing pattern. Fans were five yards from the Lehigh bench. Coach John Whitehead scorched my ears on several occasions!

Elderly Southside residents made their way in, in view of the Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces, as they had done so for many years. This was the "as good as it gets" college football enviornment.

Goodman Stadium is better in many ways, but lacking in others. Such is life.

I attempted to get a quality photo of that Taylor experience. I spoke with longtime Bethlehem newspaper photographer Joe Ryan. He turned everything over to Lehigh. But, no luck there. I did see an incredible Taylor Stadium photo at nearby Gus's Crossroads Restaurant. Unfortunately, it was destroyed in a subsequent fire. If anyone has a source of Taylor Stadium photos, please post.And to all of you doubters, please visit the College Football Hall of Fame. Lehigh and Lafayette are all over the place!

:)

It's possible the Express-Times would have some in archives since they purchased the old Bethlehem Globe-Times that was Lehigh's 'home' paper. There are some nice photos in the Legends book mentioned above, but I surmise you're interested in getting an individual print. Perhaps the authors could lead you to one of their sources....Perhaps the Epitome archives at Lehigh as opposed to the athletic dept?? Good luck.

*****
December 30th, 2005, 05:00 PM
:lmao:
... I remember more than once when there were no goal posts in the second half and both teams had to run/throw for extra points. 1975 was really special when the cops tried to clear the field to start the second half by using mace - and failed. :eek: :eek: :eek:

65 Pard
December 30th, 2005, 05:01 PM
Actually, Ray Moyer was a pretty good athlete. If he got caught from behind, it took some doin'. Moyer spent some time as a minor league infielder in the Cubs organization and then went to medical school. The last I heard (quite a while ago), he was the head of sports medicine at Temple University Medical School.

Must have looked slow from where I was standing....he was running away from where I was standing while the defender was cutting across the field, but all the guys I was with could not believe he didn't take it all the way....

carney2
December 30th, 2005, 07:43 PM
Must have looked slow from where I was standing....he was running away from where I was standing while the defender was cutting across the field, but all the guys I was with could not believe he didn't take it all the way....

I still have this nagging memory that he tripped over a blade of grass. At least it slowed him down enough to get caught.

ngineer
December 30th, 2005, 10:13 PM
:lmao: :eek: :eek: :eek:

No lie Ralph. I was there, too. The game was out of hand at the half, Lehigh up by about 5 TDs. Students stormed the closed end of the stadium and tore down the goal posts while Lehigh's band was performing. The western goal posts went shortly thereafter. Lafayette actually scored a couple TDs in the fouth quarter and had to run/pass for the extra pts. The scene at halftime was surreal--hard to believe no one got seriously hurt.

carney2
December 31st, 2005, 09:57 AM
No lie Ralph. I was there, too. The game was out of hand at the half, Lehigh up by about 5 TDs. Students stormed the closed end of the stadium and tore down the goal posts while Lehigh's band was performing. The western goal posts went shortly thereafter. Lafayette actually scored a couple TDs in the fouth quarter and had to run/pass for the extra pts. The scene at halftime was surreal--hard to believe no one got seriously hurt.

"No lie" is right. Methinx that the "tradition" started after WWII when upperclassmen made it a freshman duty to "get those goalposts." It evolved into an annual drunken melee. 1959 (before my time) and 1975 were supposedly the high water marks, if things like this can be considered "high" in any way. In '59 the authorities had to open the big gates at the closed end of Taylor Stadium to let in the Pennsylvania State Police in with their motorcycles just to clear the field to begin the second half. In '75 there were frequent stoppages of play in the second half while the players actually stood around to watch "fan" antics that spilled over onto the playing field. In the 3rd quarter a couple of Lafayette drunks stole a megaphone from a Lehigh cheerleader and headed across the field at the 20 yard line. The cheerleader was very fast (should have had pads and a helmet) and dragged them down halfway across the field. Some Lehigh drunks retaliated in the 4th quarter by abducting a Lafayette cheerleader (actually, it was Pete Carill, the Princeton basketball coach's daughter) and dragging her across the 10 yard line. Another on the field brawl ensued.

The brain trusts at each institution decided that the '75 fiasco was the riot to end all riots. At Lehigh they have implemented some reforms such as those stupid sobriety checks that one is required to endure before gaining admission to their mud flats parking lot. At Lafayette they went even further off the deep end of insanity by "thinking" that if they started the game earlier the kids wouldn't have time to get tuned up. The 1976 and 1978 games were kicked off at 10:30 AM! The kids responded pretty logically by determining that this was not an early Saturday game, but rather a late Friday game. They caroused all night and things were worse than ever.

THE Game has been relatively tame for the past 25 years. Goalposts still take a hit, and there is the occasional bloody nose, but, shall we say, nowadays the game is the thing.

Lehigh Football Nation
December 31st, 2005, 10:35 AM
"No lie" is right. Methinx that the "tradition" started after WWII when upperclassmen made it a freshman duty to "get those goalposts." It evolved into an annual drunken melee. 1959 (before my time) and 1975 were supposedly the high water marks, if things like this can be considered "high" in any way. In '59 the authorities had to open the big gates at the closed end of Taylor Stadium to let in the Pennsylvania State Police in with their motorcycles just to clear the field to begin the second half. In '75 there were frequent stoppages of play in the second half while the players actually stood around to watch "fan" antics that spilled over onto the playing field. In the 3rd quarter a couple of Lafayette drunks stole a megaphone from a Lehigh cheerleader and headed across the field at the 20 yard line. The cheerleader was very fast (should have had pads and a helmet) and dragged them down halfway across the field. Some Lehigh drunks retaliated in the 4th quarter by abducting a Lafayette cheerleader (actually, it was Pete Carill, the Princeton basketball coach's daughter) and dragging her across the 10 yard line. Another on the field brawl ensued.

The brain trusts at each institution decided that the '75 fiasco was the riot to end all riots. At Lehigh they have implemented some reforms such as those stupid sobriety checks that one is required to endure before gaining admission to their mud flats parking lot. At Lafayette they went even further off the deep end of insanity by "thinking" that if they started the game earlier the kids wouldn't have time to get tuned up. The 1976 and 1978 games were kicked off at 10:30 AM! The kids responded pretty logically by determining that this was not an early Saturday game, but rather a late Friday game. They caroused all night and things were worse than ever.

THE Game has been relatively tame for the past 25 years. Goalposts still take a hit, and there is the occasional bloody nose, but, shall we say, nowadays the game is the thing.

My senior year in '91 was the closing chapter in this history of Lehigh/Lafayette postgame (and during-game) riots. That year, the goalposts were metal and cemented into the ground, and the field was patrolled by the State Police. After the game, many folks stormed the field, and surrounded the posts, but were unable to tear them down. Frustrated, the "fans" then tore up hunks of grass on the field and threw them at the cops, causing a clash between fans and police. Other fans tore down the (steel) practice field goalposts as well.

I'm glad those days were over. I didn't storm the field that year, but that experience still shakes me a little today.

ngineer
December 31st, 2005, 12:21 PM
My senior year in '91 was the closing chapter in this history of Lehigh/Lafayette postgame (and during-game) riots. That year, the goalposts were metal and cemented into the ground, and the field was patrolled by the State Police. After the game, many folks stormed the field, and surrounded the posts, but were unable to tear them down. Frustrated, the "fans" then tore up hunks of grass on the field and threw them at the cops, causing a clash between fans and police. Other fans tore down the (steel) practice field goalposts as well.

I'm glad those days were over. I didn't storm the field that year, but that experience still shakes me a little today.

That '91 game was indeed scary. I saw the students in the horseshoe pelting the police with clumps of sod and then some of the antics carried on up into the stands with cops in pursuit. I had both my kids with me and was concerned when a crowd like that starts up--'mob mentality' is a frightening thing to behold... It has been relatively tame since then and despite the restrictions that have been put in place, I think they have been necessary and have allowed more focus on the Game. Too many people used the game as an excuse to get totally obliterated without any real interest in the game. So while they now hold down the attendance to 16,000 +/-(in years past there were crowds around 20,000), it has resulted in a better game atmosphere as to opposed to a drunken melee.

carney2
December 31st, 2005, 01:46 PM
My senior year in '91 was the closing chapter in this history of Lehigh/Lafayette postgame (and during-game) riots. That year, the goalposts were metal and cemented into the ground, and the field was patrolled by the State Police. After the game, many folks stormed the field, and surrounded the posts, but were unable to tear them down. Frustrated, the "fans" then tore up hunks of grass on the field and threw them at the cops, causing a clash between fans and police. Other fans tore down the (steel) practice field goalposts as well.

Two memories from the aftermath of that '91 game: (1) A kid from my neighborhood who was a sophomore at Lafayette playing "keep away" with some overweight, middle aged cops in front of what had been the Lafayette bench. I always thought that he and his family had better sense. I now remind him of it, but never in front of his kids. (2) The police finally had "enough," and pulled their mobile incarceration unit on to the field so that they wouldn't have to haul the rowdies to it.

Pard4Life
December 31st, 2005, 03:48 PM
Geez... this game sure has gotten tame. And since these games have been for championships lately, the fans seem to forget about the posts. I remember that one or two kids made a dash to the posts with a mob on the field. He tried to get people to follow him, but nobody seemed to care. Everyone was mobbing the players and cheering on Tavani and the trophy.. (and chanting 'scholarships!' and booting Rothie.. our own fans were probably ready to go after our own president rather than Lehigh people xlolx )

Now, my only complaint is getting yelled at ONLY by drunk middle aged women in the parking lots for wearing Lafayette stuff... guess it must be those 70s leftovers :nod:

ngineer
December 31st, 2005, 05:01 PM
Geez... this game sure has gotten tame. And since these games have been for championships lately, the fans seem to forget about the posts. I remember that one or two kids made a dash to the posts with a mob on the field. He tried to get people to follow him, but nobody seemed to care. Everyone was mobbing the players and cheering on Tavani and the trophy.. (and chanting 'scholarships!' and booting Rothie.. our own fans were probably ready to go after our own president rather than Lehigh people xlolx )

Now, my only complaint is getting yelled at ONLY by drunk middle aged women in the parking lots for wearing Lafayette stuff... guess it must be those 70s leftovers :nod:

And the way it should be...Of course the goal posts are now steel I-beams anchored in concrete. Not the old decorative slats of wood that could be broken up and painted with the score and put in the fraternity trophy case.

Pard4Life
December 31st, 2005, 07:37 PM
And the way it should be...Of course the goal posts are now steel I-beams anchored in concrete. Not the old decorative slats of wood that could be broken up and painted with the score and put in the fraternity trophy case.

However, I've noticed the past two Lafayette-Lehigh's had the wooden, two-post base goal posts. They look like they are wood, but maybe not. I guess after 2002 when Lafayette tore 'em down and carried it across the field, the administration realized no matter how hard they tried to prevent it, either through physical security or expulsion threats, they'd come down anyway. Better safe than sorry and put up the wood ones, they likely thought. Plus, I am betting those were alums starting to tear them down in 2002, not students (although they prob joined in later).

ngineer
December 31st, 2005, 09:37 PM
You may be right--I can't say I went down and tapped them to test 'em, but they looked a lot more substantial than the old double posts.

Pards Rule
January 2nd, 2006, 09:09 AM
Ah, my first Taylor game was the famous 1981 contest (is it the 25 year anniversary already?)...I was at Fisher as a freshman the previous year but that was a moribund Leopard team. 1981 was Russo's first year and the two teams came in quite evenly matched, but Dunkel Index (does that still exist?) gave the Engineers a 6 or 8 point spread. I think that riled up LC's squad. What a game! I was one of only probably 2,000 or less to stay at Taylor the whole 1987 game (mainly cause I was froze to my seat). I remember going back to the Hotel Easton where I had a room that night to take a warm shower - but - the only temps out of that faucet were scalding hot or freezing cold. The Hotel Easton closed up a few years later after someone spent some BIG bucks modernizing it but never getting the plumbing right!