Saturday recap: It was worth being battered by the Beltway to see Lehigh win title; plus NFL picks

FROM KEITH GROLLER

I hate the ride to Washington.

Those beltways drive me crazy with the way people cut in and out. They make Route 22 or I-78 seem like quiet little alleys.

And then on Saturday, once I got off the beltway and got on the George Washington Parkway -- a scenic road leading from Virginia into the western side of Washington -- I saw nothing but headlights.

Inch-by-inch I went for eight miles. It took me an hour and 20 minutes to cover eight miles.

I was listening to the radio and kept hearing the guy say -- amid traffic reports -- "It's a gorgeous day out there. I hope you'll all getting outside and enjoying it."

Curse words filled my car.

What I encountered gave new meaning to the phrase -- Washington gridlock.

Frustrating ride and there was plenty more fun on the way home.

But it was all worth it to be there to see Lehigh win the Patriot League title -- the program's first outright championship since my first year on the beat in 2001. It also clinched their first playoff berth since 2004.

As I've written many times, I have great admiration for Andy Coen. He has taken a lot of heat over the previous four years, and deserves this kind of success this year.

People kept comparing him to Kevin Higgins and Pete Lembo, but the whole Patriot League/FCS landscape has changed since the other two left and there's more parity in the Patriot League. And you can't expect Lehigh to compete against scholarship schools.

Having Dave Cecchini back as offensive coordinator has been a huge plus, but I was most happy for the guys who have been together for five seasons and stayed the course. (Below photo courtesy of Lehigh Sports Information).



Despite my travel woes, it was great to be there and see good people enjoy a championship.

I don't know how far Lehigh can go.

A Patriot League team hasn't won a playoff game since 2003. To me, the real playoff game is still at Lafayette next Saturday because the fans and alums still want that one more than a win over any of the potential opponents on Nov. 27. A loss to a Lafayette team that has struggled this season would take a lot of shine off that championship trophy for Lehigh.

So, they better get all of the celebrating out of the way and get back down to business fast because the Leopards would still like nothing better to say that they beat the league champs

We'll write more about Lehigh in tomorrow's paper and all week.

But yes, it was still a good day even though I don't care to be back on that beltway anytime soon.

*****************

Still doing a horrible job on NFL picks. Thank God I have stayed away from Vegas.

Totals for season: 66-63 outright, 57-67-6 (a ridiculous 4-8-1 last week) against the spread and 67-61-1 on the over/under totals.

Rico can start counting on me again to deliver the losers.

Did not pick that Ravens-Falcons game the other night. Probably saved me a loss since I was thinking about Baltimore.

HOME TEAMS IN CAPS:

INDIANAPOLIS (-7) 38, Cincinnati 17 --- over the 47.5

Houston (+1.5) 26, JACKSONVILLE 17 -- under the 48.5

Tennessee (pick'em) 24, MIAMI 21 -- over the 43.

Minnesota (-1) 23, CHICAGO 21 -- over the 40.5

Detroit (+2) 30, BUFFALO 17 -- over the 45

CLEVELAND (+3) 21, New York Jets 19 -- over the 37.5

TAMPA BAY (-7) 23, Carolina 13 -- under the 37

DENVER (+1) 24, Kansas City 20 -- under 44.5

SF 49ERS (-5.5) 21, St. Louis 13 -- under the 38

ARIZONA (-3.5) 24, Seattle 14 -- under the 41

NEW YORK GIANTS (-12.5) 30, Dallas Cowboys 20 -- over the 46

SUNDAY NIGHT

PITTSBURGH (-5) 21, New England 17 -- under the 45

MONDAY NIGHT

Philadelphia (-3) 24, WASHINGTON 17 -- under the 42.5

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/