Lembo: The victors often get spoiled
11/14/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
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of The Morning Call
It was a bit ironic that late Saturday afternoon Lehigh coach Pete Lembo was talking about expectations and the importance of winning while standing in a building named in honor of Vince Lombardi.
Standing in the hallway of the
In a sports culture that has bought into Lombardi's ''Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing'' philosophy, Lembo knows the deal.
He knows that if his team loses to the Leopards Saturday at Goodman Stadium, many will regard this season as a disappointment.
The Mountain Hawk fan base has come to expect Patriot League titles, playoff berths and wins over
Lehigh got two of the three last year and it seemed far from enough.
If things don't go well Saturday, all of the good things that have happened since Labor Day weekend — pullaway road wins at Harvard and Colgate, a come-from-behind overtime victory over Yale, a riveting overtime battle at
That's unfair, of course, but Lembo understands it's the nature of being involved with one of the nation's most successful I-AA programs.
''We're really spoiled,'' he said. ''We lose a great quarterback in Mark Borda and we're going with a backup [Sedale Threatt] who basically hadn't played at all before and we've won four straight games with him as our starter.''
Lembo feels that has been overlooked as well as the fact that Lehigh and
''We won our sixth game two weeks ago and I got one e-mail from an alum who said 'congratulations on a winning season,' and it reminded me that to a lot of people a winning season is a big deal, but here we're spoiled,'' Lembo said. ''We're spoiled in a good way, but also a bad way.
''We have had a season with a lot of major injuries and yet I don't know if from the outside looking in, or even among our own people, if too much is taken for granted. This team has done a great job of overcoming adversity.''
This season could have been a disaster.
There were a few major changes in the coaching staff, particularly on the defensive side of the ball where Shannon Morrison left and Gerard Wilcher was promoted to defensive coordinator after spring practice was over.
Eight all-league players graduated and the league's preseason offensive player of the year, Borda, went down with a career-ending injury at almost exactly the season's midpoint — the second half of Game 6.
Having to play six road contests, including games at perennial powers such as
Lehigh lost its league opener to Holy Cross in the worst playing conditions in recent Lehigh football history and with some controversial officials' calls aiding the Crusaders, and yet was resilient enough to bounce back.
That's why Lembo will regard this year's team as special and one of major accomplishment, even if the fans don't.
''We're really blessed and I certainly don't take it for granted even if some people do,'' he said. ''An awful lot of people who are close to the program and know the details of what this team has gone through, have an appreciation of what has been accomplished so far.
''It's nice to know another championship is right within our grasp. We have to go at things this week the same way that we've gotten after it the last several weeks.''
There's a chance that Lehigh could still get into the playoffs even with a loss, even without a piece of the Patriot League title.
But it's a chance the Mountain Hawks don't want to take.
The NCAA committee snubbed an 8-3 Lehigh team in 2003, but seemed overly kind to last year's 9-2 squad.
Even the most staunch Lehigh fans were stunned with the awarding of a home game last November, especially considering that
This time, they'd prefer to avoid a sleepless Saturday night spent wondering about their fate.
''Our players know that if they come out and execute against
''If we win, even by one point next week, we'll know for sure we'll be playing somewhere on Thanksgiving weekend.''
And that would be a deserving reward for a team that shown the type of tenacity that Vince Lombardi would have loved.
This story originally appeared in the Monday, November 14, 2005 of The Morning Call. Used with permission.
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