Jan. 30, 2003
By Scott D. Morse
"It's not whether you win or lose. It's how you play the game."
Sure, almost everyone has heard that saying before, probably many times. Does anyone really believe it?
Today's world is overflowing with "win at all costs," "whatever you do, don't lose," "we're in the business of winning," and "just win baby" attitudes. They are everywhere. We live in an ultra-competitive society.
The domain of college athletics is no different. Winning is important. It's as important to the coaches, student-athletes and fans at Notre Dame as it is to the same contingents at Lafayette.
However, colleges and universities are also quite obviously institutions of higher education. There are lessons to be learned every day.
On Jan. 24, when Lafayette visited archrival Lehigh for a men's basketball game, there was a lesson to be learned - and a great story to tell. Unfortunately, almost everyone missed it.
Lafayette coach Fran O'Hanlon found his team in a tussle with the archrivals. After relinquishing a 10-point first-half lead and entering halftime tied at 39, Lafayette trailed by 13 with four minutes remaining. Things did not look good for the Leopards, but with their three-point shooting skills, they still had a chance.
A pair of free throws by Rob Dill cut the deficit to 11. An Andrew Pleick lay-up brought the Leopards to within nine. A Lehigh turnover led to Mike Farrell stepping to the foul line for a pair of free throws with 2:11 remaining. The Leopards were still in it.
As Farrell stepped to the line and was handed the ball, the biggest surprise of the night occurred. A Lehigh student jumped out of the stands and ran wildly across the floor toward Farrell. When he reached his target, he tried - unsuccessfully - to pull down Farrell's shorts in a misguided attempt at rivalry mischief.
After the prankster fled the court untouched - virtually unnoticed - by security personnel in the building, the officiating crew congregated at mid-court to discuss the disruption.
Every knowledgeable fan in the building knew what was coming. Protocol requires that a technical foul be assigned to the home team in situations like this.
The technical would be called and Lafayette would get two more free throws. Four straight free throws would allow the Leopards to cut the margin to five with the clock stopped at 2:11.
A two-possession game with a little more than two minutes remaining? This was too good to be true. The Leopards were down 13 less than two minutes ago. Now they are right back in it.
As the officials - a veteran crew - headed to the scorer's table, O'Hanlon interceded. He must be pleading his case for the technical foul on Lehigh, right?
Wrong. He was asking the officials to NOT call the impending technical foul.
What? Was he out of his mind? Doesn't he want to win?
Wait a minute. This is Fran O'Hanlon.
He is the two-time Patriot League Coach of the Year who has guided Lafayette to two NCAA Tournament appearances and three Patriot League regular season titles.
He is the same Francis Brian O'Hanlon who helped lead Villanova to the 1970 NCAA Tournament quarterfinals and still holds the Wildcats' record for assists in a game.
He is the fourth winningest coach in Lafayette men's basketball lore. He is as competitive as they come. Of course he wants to win.
So, why was he doing this? This is the Lafayette-Lehigh game. This is for bragging rights in the Lehigh Valley. The Leopards have owned Lehigh in the all-time series, winning 130 of the 196 previous encounters. In fact, the Leopards' tremendous success in the O'Hanlon era had many fans going with Lafayette as the favorite in this contest despite the fact that Lehigh entered the game with an 11-5 record and the Leopards were 7-9 on the season.
And Lafayette is right there, within striking distance. The Leopards can trim the margin to just five points.
Why on earth was he doing this?
Well, it certainly wasn't done to gain attention. Anyone who knows O'Hanlon completely understands that is not his style. In fact, all of the media in attendance missed it completely.
Stuck in a remote location well above the court, the newspaper reporters couldn't hear the conversation that was taking place. The television cameras - airing the game to a national audience on DIRECTV - missed the entire incident and the commentators, also located near the rafters of the building, were left wondering what the discussion was about.
That wasn't what was important to O'Hanlon. Winning the right way is. That belief took center stage at this moment. He firmly believes the game should be won or lost by the players on the floor, not by a joker who runs onto the court.
That is why he interceded with the officials and asked that the technical foul not be called - to let the game be decided by the players on the court.
It's refreshing to know that while winning is obviously very important to O'Hanlon, in the heat of the battle he can still remember that in the end, "it's how you play the game."
Scott Morse is the director of athletic communications and promotions at Lafayette and a frequent columnist for GoLeopards.com
