South Mountaineer Volume 31, Issue 01

              Volume 31, Number 1
September 2,1988
Bethlehem, Pa.
Football team strives
to overcome injuries
Photography by PAM LOTT
Senior Chris Hite was voted Most Outstanding Defensive Lineman last
year and will be a stabilizing factor for the team this year.
By MEGAN CULHANE
South Mountaineer Editor
"Our biggest concern at this point in
time is how we're going to be hit with the
injury situation and how we're going to
recover from it," head coach Hank Small
said after a Friday morning practice
(Aug. 26). He had just witnessed
free safety Joe Shunk go down with a
knee injury that would sideline him for
the rest of the season.
"Here's a local young man who's just
starting to move in and getting ready to
have a really good season and he's set
back by a big injury," Small said. "So
we're holding our breath like everyone
else."
With all it's knee injuries, this year's
squad may be able to predict the weather
better than the local station. Case in
point, and No. 1 concern to the Brown
and White running game, is tailback Lee
Blum's knee which sidelined him before
completing last year's Delaware game.
Blum, an Associated Press All-
America honorable mention and a preseason Sporting News All-American, will
be a tough act to replace if need be. The
senior tailback was the Div. I-AA top all-
purpose runner earning a total of 2,274
yards rushing and 924 receiving.
Small said Blum is working toward
being 100 percent, but although his rehab
has been rapid, his return is still up in the
air.
"With a balanced style of aggression
the injuries, especially Blum's, might
throw a wrench into the works," Small
said. "It causes us to be looking for a
tailback who can fill in for Lee and be
ready to go depending on his injury.
"We're looking hard for tailbacks. The
situation is one that's under a microscope
now, were looking at every detail and I
think we have four legit candidates. After
just one week of practice that's good to
say, but you'd really like one to be rising
right about now."
Fullback Rich Curtis, the other half of
Lehigh's offensive firepower, is fully
recovered from a post-season back injury
and Small said he is capable of starting the
first game. But senior defensive tackle
Pete Pawlenko has been in and out of
practice so far. The Colonial League All-
See FOOTBALL page 4
Colonial league ponders all-sports future
By MEGAN CULHANE
South Mountaineer Editor
It has been prospected that by the 1990-91 season the
Colonial League - previously a six-team, football-only
conference formed in 1984 - will become an all-sports
league including newest members, Army and Fordham.
The announcement was made in principle by David
W. Ellis, president of Lafayette College and chair of the
League's Council of Presidents, on July 22, 1988 - the
official agreement will be inked
in September.
Founded in 1984, the
Colonial League consists of
Lehigh, Bucknell, Colgate,
Davidson, Holy Cross and
Lafayette. Prior to this year's
activities it was solely a football league, but under the
new agreement it will expand to consist of 21 sports -11
men's and 10 women's.
Lehigh's decision to sever ties with the East Coast
Conference came as a result of conflicting ideologies
and philosophies between state and private institutions
THE
COLONIAL
LEAGUE
who were members. An all-sport Colonial League would be
built upon principles analogous to those of the Ivy League's.
Lafayette and Bucknell also are leaving the ECC.
According to Lehigh University President Peter Likins the
most important of those principles is :
"(To) bring together a group of institutions of higher
learning which enjoy high standards of admission and
acievement, as well as commitments to intercollegiate
athletics."
The Colonial League's independence leaves the ECC - to
which Lehigh, Lafayette and Bucknell are currently patrons
- in a rather large bind. With only five teams left in its
conference, the ECC along with the Metro Atlantic Conference (MAC) are both threatened with the possibility of
losing their coveted automatic berths to the NCAA men's
basketball tournament - the NCAA refuses to recognize
conferences consisting of only five teams.
"We have to act quickly now," Dave Reeder, the ECC's
Information director said in an interview with the Easton
Express. "Our first idea is to save the league. The ECC has
one thing that is very important to a lot of schools - an
See COLONIAL page 2
WFMZ-TV televising
four football games
Four Lehigh football games will be televised
this year by WFMZ-TV Allentown (Channel 69):
Sept. 24 at Dartmouth, October 8 vs. Colgate, Oct.
29 vs. Columbia and Nov. 5 vs Bucknell.
The package includes a weekly coaches show
every Friday evening throughout the season.
Play-by-play will be done by Rich Lerner -
WFMZs sports anchor with color analysis by Kim
McQuilken, former Lehigh AU-American quarterback.
Channel 69 can be viewed within a 40-50 mile
radius and appears on 24 cable systems from
Northeast Philadelphia to the Poconos.
In its forty-first year of broadcasting Brown and
White football, WGPA (1100 AM) will handle all
home and away slates with play-by-play by Bill
Zimpfer and color by John Schweider. The package
is produced by Bob Wolken.
For up-to-date information regarding any
Lehigh sports call the Lehigh Hot-Line at (215)
691-1885.