Lehigh Sports Forum

Required reading.

http://georgetownfootball.blogspot.com/ ... eague.html

Add to this the smaller piece I had on the subject last season:

https://lehighfootballnation.blogspot.c ... -with.html

Thoughts?

Fairly well sums it up. One of the only points I have an issue with is giving BU, American, and Loyola a "football or else ultimatum." They came on board in good faith and changing membership criterion now would be wrong. It's also the least likely thing you could get the league president's to agree to.

That's a great article. A lot of Lehigh fans have been asking why the team after scholarships has been less successful than the team before scholarships. It seems it's more complicated than you would expect.
The problem is: Do the presidents recognize the problem and, if so, do they want to fix it.
I'm afraid the answer might be no

DFW Hoya -- I think that's who wrote the first piece -- hit the nail on the head in several ways.

You should be able to combine financial aid and merit aid.

You need rosters nowadays of at least 90. Too many injuries. Years ago people played through concussions, broken bones and more. They paid for it later in life. That shouldn't happen anymore.

(Perennially successful FCS Wofford had 96 players. That's 5 percent (!) of its student population.)

Redshirting is key now that freshman are eligible to play.

DIII schools are able to give, essentially, free rides to players. They can give academic merit aid AND financial aid.

DII schools can be loosey-goosey, too.

PL is killing itself. But I doubt the folks in power care. They seem more worried about diversity and experiences, which may, after all, be their bread and butter after academics.

BTW: Why did Saturday's attendance suck vs. Fordham vs. two years ago? Possibly pacing break, and two years ago Fordham and LU had star-studded teams.

Do Presidents care. Philosophically, most do not. Other factors are more relevant. The ppl needed to care are the various alumnis. Money talks. Alumni dont relish their schools becoming a laughingstock in football.
As DFW and LFN point out so well, there are issues that need to be addressed. Council has 5 years' of returns on the current PL program. So far our restrictions have resulted in a waste of millions of dollars in schollies for no return. While stark the options are scrap schollies altogether or modify PL rules to get actual benefit from the scholarships. Scrapping schollies is unlikely as Colgate,Lehigh and Fordham wont agree. Doing nothing is to me the worst choice. It will basically fracture the PL over a few more years.

They need to lift the cap and allow combined need-based aid with scholarship money in order to expand the rosters. Come up with some kind compromise on red-shirting so Lafayette and Holy Cross don't get screwed in that deal. Otherwise, scrap it as a PL sport and let everyone do as they want. Getting any of the non-football members to add such an expensive sport/money pit is highly unlikely.
I do, however, question how "big" a deal it is for the alumni. I think most PL alums rather see their alma maters getting ink about latest research achievements, etc. In general, I see most alums as being "casually interested", but most unwilling to contribute the necessary bucks or even attend the games to cause the schools to want to spend more than they have to.

ngineer wrote: ↑Fri Oct 19, 2018 9:43 pm I do, however, question how "big" a deal it is for the alumni. I think most PL alums rather see their alma maters getting ink about latest research achievements, etc. In general, I see most alums as being "casually interested", but most unwilling to contribute the necessary bucks or even attend the games to cause the schools to want to spend more than they have to.

Engineer is right.

The world has changed.

1) The alums of years ago were all men who attended every game as undergrads. They were past or future military men who cared about camaraderie and loyalty. Now our alums include many diverse, individualistic types.

2) Alums today include women and internationals, perhaps not as excited about football as alums of yesteryear. Plus, alums of yesteryear lived in an around NYC, Philly and the like. Now they are spread out literally all over the world. They don't come back to games -- and their fraternities (if they still exist) -- like they used to.

An aside:

3) Attendance I: When I was in school, the South Side Boosters were huge. They were men and women of The Steel, whose sons and classmates played for LU. Loyalty was big. Attendance, on the road, was big. TV was rare. South Side demographics has changed. (So has local media coverage, which helped to drive interest.)

4) Attendance II: Players' parents come from all over to watch their kids, but not all of them can make it every game. Years ago, most parents were there -- as students came from PA, NY, NJ and other relatively close places.