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Spider Football Needs Fan Support
As a long time Spider fan, UR alumni, and ardent football enthusiast; I
feel
the need to address the issue of fan support for the local football
team. I
have attended every home game at UR since 1966 and seen good teams and
bad,
none-the-less, I've been there to support every team. From Buster
O'Brien
and Walker Gillette to our current team, UR fans have been historically
conservative to put it mildly.
With the acquisition of Jim Reid as coach, the team for the first time
since
Frank Jones, has the chance to excel at a national level. But the team
needs the support of all alumni and the City in general. A small, but
vocal
group of alumni has taken upon themselves to lead the charge in getting
the
fans at the game to be more vocal. This group, "The UR Alumni Kazoo
Band,"
has exhorted everyone in the stands (including past and present
University
Presidents) to cheer louder, no one escapes this goodhearted fun.
In an attempt to garner more support, we have instituted themes for
each
home game and solicited the support of the Spider Club. For the final
two
home games we would like total fan support and participation. We have
designated the U. Mass game as "RED" day. We want every Richmond fan
to
wear red that day and fill the stands with an imposing sight for the
visiting team. For the final game with William and Mary, the
designated
theme will be "Classic Car Weekend." Every alum and fan is encouraged
to
drive a classic car to the Spider Club parking lot for pregame fun and
enjoyment. As we discuss the cars, we'll also imploy everyone to
vociferously support the Spiders. The idea here is to have fun and
become
more excited about a quality football program under Coach Reid.
I encourage everyone to come out for these last two home games and be
part
of a growing fall tradition.
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1998 LEHIGH vs RICHMOND PLAYOFF GAME SPORTS COLUMN
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Date: Sunday, November 29, 1998
Page: C01
Edition: SECOND
Section: SPORTS
Column: REINHARD
LEHIGH SUPPORTERS SHOW RICHMOND HOW REAL FANS ACT
by PAUL REINHARD, The Morning Call
Early in the week, Jim Reid glibly suggested that perhaps his
University of
Richmond
football team should play Lehigh on the road because the Spiders had
won six
straight road games.
As the Lehigh football team broke into its celebration mode following
its
stunning 24-23 NCAA Division I-AA playoff victory over Richmond on
Saturday,
Head Coach Kevin Higgins leaped up onto the team bench, faced the
Lehigh
rooting section and pumped both arms into the air.
Those expressions by the men at the helm of the two highly successful
programs were perfect examples of the vastly different approaches taken
to
the game.
Maybe Reid was right. Maybe the Spiders should have been playing
somewhere
else. This city -- and perhaps the university itself -- didn't care
about
the game.
Richmond's ABC-TV affiliate didn't even mention the game on Friday's 6
p.m.
newscast.
The student body had off for its Thanksgiving break, but a cruise
around the
beautiful campus on Friday gave no indication that anyone there knew
its
football team was seeded No. 3 in the tournament and playing a home
game in
the Sweet 16 of the I-AA playoffs.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch did have a story on its lead sports page
Saturday morning. But it was at the bottom of the page, next to an ice
hockey photo, and the headline, "Secret to Lehigh's success?
Financing,"
tells you the story dealt more with how players get into the university
than
how well they play the game.
A Richmond fan, spotting the television cameras placed around the
stadium,
said to his friend, "I didn't know the game was going to be televised."
When
I told him the cameras were for a feed to a station in Allentown, Pa.
(WFMZ-TV 69), a man said, "Man, wouldn't it be nice if a Richmond
station
was interested in doing that?"
In the press box, one writer was talking about what he had to go
through to
program his VCR to record the Virginia-Virginia Tech game.
And in the stands, lots of people had headphone radios tuned to the
Tech-U.Va. game. I know because I heard one of them announce to his
friends
that Tech had intercepted a pass; and later, I heard another give the
score
after a Tech touchdown.
Richmond athletic department reps were almost apologetic as they
announced
that this game would probably be the smallest crowd of the season. You
know,
they said, it's Virginia-Virginia Tech day.
The announced attendance was 10,254. That actually was better than the
Richmond people had expected. Part of that increase could be traced
directly
to the turnout of Lehigh fans.
Lehigh had an allotment of 600 tickets for presale. It sold all of
them. But
the turnout Saturday appeared to be bigger than that. A parking lot
behind
the visitors' stand was packed with Lehigh tailgaters.
A 23-person pep band -- about half the 47 members of the Marching 97
I've
seen at the last three Lehigh games -- was definitely a motivating
presence.
While they wore sweatshirts and T-shirts instead of band uniforms, they
made
themselves known. And, at halftime, they managed to form an "LU" as
they
marched up the sidelines and stopped in front of the fans to play the
university's alma mater.
That 23-person band was 23 persons more than Richmond could muster in
the
way of a band.
The Lehigh fans, recognizing that they were outnumbered, didn't let the
fact
that they were in enemy territory stop them. Some of them may have done
more
cheering Saturday than they had ever done. And it didn't go unnoticed.
"They were so vocal, and it meant so much to the team that I wanted to
let
them know it," Higgins said when asked what he was thinking as he went
through his postgame gyrations. "They were really behind us."
When the Lehigh players came out of the locker room before the game,
the
decibel level of the cheering was unreal. Fans were up to exhort the
defense
and the offense on big third-down plays. Even after the team fell
behind
14-0 early, they didn't go into hiding.
If the Lehigh fans were more into the game than the entire city of
Richmond
was, so, too, was the football team.
After having a good first-possession drive stopped by a fumble, then
falling
behind by two touchdowns, Lehigh, which has built a reputation this
season
of playing its best when the conditions seem the worst, put its game
into a
higher gear.
I'd have to write an entire game story to give the credit to everyone
who
deserves it, but I think that co-captain Nick Martucci may have said it
best
after it was all over.
Martucci, the senior defensive end from Pius X High School, where his
senior
class consisted of only 27 students (not 27 boys as I wrote a couple of
days
ago), had said after the Lafayette game that he just didn't seem
totally
fulfilled.
But on Saturday, he said, "Speaking for the defense, we didn't leave
anything on the field today."
He was physically spent from taking a pounding from a good Richmond
offense
all afternoon, and he was emotionally spent from the way things ended
with
Jaron Taaffe's 30-yard goal with 3 seconds to go.
But he's also looking forward to playing again. Following the Lafayette
game, Martucci had promised the media that halfback Brian Baker,
injured
against Colgate, would play another game. That possibility remains
open.
I don't know how much stock I put into that stuff about teams of
destiny,
but having come aboard the Lehigh Express the last month has made me a
believer in what's taking place in South Bethlehem. Lehigh, simply,
refuses
to lose. And that's special.
I could find only one downside to the outpouring of support for
Lehigh's
effort Saturday. The team's biggest fan never saw the touchdown that
put
Lehigh in front early in the fourth quarter or the game-winning field
goal
at the end.
In the opening minute of the final quarter, the Mountain Hawk left the
playing area. Oops!
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REBUTTALS to PAUL REINHARD'S ARTICLE
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Date: Tuesday, December 8, 1998
Page: A14
Edition: FIFTH
Section: COMMENT
RICHMOND UNIVERSITY A CLASS ACT
The Morning Call
To the Editor:
I read with interest Paul Reinhard's comments on Nov. 29 about the
thrilling
Lehigh University vs. the University of Richmond I-AA playoff game.
Having
attended the game I agree with much of what he had to say, but I would
like
to add the following observation.
Although the game did not sell out, I found the Richmond fans who did
attend
the game to be a class act. After the game, many of them came up to me
to
offer congratulations and compliments about the Lehigh team and its
followers. Seldom have I been made to feel as welcome at a game as I
was by
the University of Richmond fans.
JOHN D. ROHAL
BETHLEHEM
Date: Monday, December 7, 1998
Page: A10
Edition: FIFTH
Section: COMMENT
UNFAIR TO COMPARE SPORTS FANS
The Morning Call
To the Editor:
I am a graduate of the University of Richmond School of Law. I was
upset by
the Nov. 29 column by Paul Reinhard deploring Richmond's lack of
interest in
the Richmond-Lehigh game. Richmond and Lehigh are separate and distinct
schools. It is unfair to compare their fan support.
Anyone who has been on any campus in the southeast will tell you that
basketball is king. Richmond is no exception. The Spiders have a record
second to none in the past 15 years of knocking off much higher seeds
in the
NCAA tournament. Support for Spider basketball is fervent and
fanatical.
In 1982, Barry Redden, the school's all-time rusher, was drafted in the
first round by the Rams. It is a rarity to have a Richmond football
player
drafted, let alone in the first round. Redden was even mentioned for
the
Heisman. But that took a back seat to the basketball team receiving an
NIT
bid.
Most of the undergraduates who attend Richmond are from out-of-state
and not
from the Richmond area. There really is no local following for the
school.
Most Virginians attend the state schools. Richmond is three times the
size
of Bethlehem and there is much more to do on a Saturday. Fewer students
attend Richmond than attend Lehigh.
Mr. Reinhard is correct about one thing. The campus is beautiful.
KEITH CACCIATORE
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND SCHOOL OF LAW
Class of 1983
Bethlehem
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