Blog Bowl I

Yes dear fans, there is a new tradition beginning right here: The Blog Bowl.

It occured to me that Colgate and Lehigh have two pretty active bloggers and we might be the only match up like this in I-AA. So why not celebrate it? From now on, the yearly winner between colgate13 (The 13 Yard Line) and LFN (Lehigh Football Nation) will get to keep "The Engine 13 Cup" within their blogosphere.
LFN has unearthed some very important documents about this cup that I thought was worthy of sharing with my Colgate brethern. The story of The Engine 13 Cup goes something like this:

"On a cold November day in 1922, Engine #13 of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western RR arrived in Binghamton with a 2-2-1 Lehigh team ready to play a 3-2 Colgate team in the first-ever meeting with the two schools. Colgate students saw that as a sign that their Indians would be able to handle Lehigh's Engineers with no problem - 13 is Colgate's lucky number, as Colgate was founded by '13 Men with 13 dollars and 13 prayers'. Colgate did indeed demolish Lehigh in their first-ever meeting, 37-6, and there's many a Colgate fan at the time who said that it was the good fortune of Lehigh coming in on Engine #13 that gave Colgate the victory.

"Legend has it after Lehigh boarded the train to return to Bethlehem after their sound defeat, Engine #13 broke down pulling out of the station in its last-ever trip, causing the Engineers to stay in Binghamton in a fierce snowstorm an extra day before catching the next train home. Lehigh coach "Tom" Keady was rumored to have said that the experience on Engine #13 rattled the players so much that they lost to Bucknell and to hated Lafayette to close the year, not scoring a single point in both games.

As a result of this experience, Lehigh didn't play Colgate again until much later, in 1960. Coach "Bill" Leckonby is rumored to have insisted on taking a bus up to Hamilton to play Colgate, not wanting to repeat the cursed experience of riding the train up to Binghamton once again.

"Sometimes, in late October, folks living along the old DL&W line have heard strange noises along the tracks. Rumor has it that it's old "Engine #13", running up the tracks on its final journey to Colgate - or is it finally making its return from Hamilton, finally with a Lehigh win?

So there you have it. Colgate and Lehigh now play for The Engine 13 Cup. 24 hours until game time. Let's get it on!