with Gary Laubach

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Column Archive   April 29, 2008 January 4, 2008 October 25, 2007 September 18, 2007 August 2, 2007 May 14, 2007 April 21, 2007 February 16, 2007 August 21, 2006 August 4, 2006

Emmy-nominated local sports broadcaster Gary Laubach has served as the voice of the Leopards on television since 1996, handling play-by-play duties for theLafayette Sports Network. The Sports Director at RCN-TV 4, Laubach has been a television sports broadcaster for more than 35 years and has called over 4,000 contests. The Behind the Mic column offers a broadcaster's perspective on Lafayette Athletics.

September 18, 2007

GO FLY A KITE

He was a patriot, a diplomat, a printer, a student of foreign languages and a writer. But he, also, dabbled in science. He invented the Franklin stove, bifocal eyeglasses, and the harmonica (which he called "armonica"). However, the phenomenon that interested him the most was electricity. So much so that, in 1748, he turned over his printing business to his foreman so that he could devote his life to science.

School children best know Ben Franklin for flying a kite in a thunderstorm to show that lightning is an electrical discharge and, from that experiment, he invented the lightning rod. Electricity became a passion for him. His home was Philadelphia and the city has honored his name and image in many ways.

Franklin Field was named for him and I was a bit awestruck when I entered the historic venue on Saturday night. It is located in the heart of Philadelphia and is the home of The University of Pennsylvania football team. It has been their home for a very long time. On October 1, 1895, Penn beat Swarthmore 40-0 and, thus, the first football game was played at Franklin Field. The next oldest college stadium is Harvard Stadium which opened in 1904. Lafayette's Fisher Field opened in 1926.

Over the years, Franklin Field became home to the first scoreboard (1895), was the site of the first-ever telecast of a college football game when Penn destroyed Maryland 51-0 (1940). The game was covered with two cameras. ESPN Game Day visited there in 2002 for the Penn-Harvard Ivy League title game and Franklin Field remains the only Game Day visit for a I-AA game. And every Philadelphian remembers how the Eagles gave Vince Lombardi his only NFL playoff loss the day after Christmas in 1960 (Eagles 17 Packers 13).

Some of the historical thrill began to wear off just a bit when we found our broadcasting location. The trip to the midsection of the home side required one to climb a "thousand" steps and perform the limbo dance without music. You must go low or risk a severe head injury on the metal support beams that hold the media in an open-air cave. The view is great - the amenities are non-existent. I began to fear that I was not that grizzled old veteran of 37 years of broadcasting, but, instead, I had become a spoiled media softie, expecting every stadium to be like Fisher Field at Fisher Stadium. "Get over it!" I told myself. This is Franklin Field. I settled in for the game.

There was no thunderstorm at Franklin Field that night. I bring that up only because the stadium's namesake needed that natural phenomenon to study electricity. And electricity gives one light. There was, also, no light in the "cave." As the sun began to lower itself behind the skyline of Philadelphia, it became quite apparent that we soon would be unable to see our information. Despite what you think, John Leone and I are SO much smarter when we can see our notes! The "spotter" sheets began to fade, our stat sheets were hard to see, and John certainly could not see his "flip charts" which provide essential roster info. The only light in the booth came from my monitor and John's Leopardstrator, a tool that allows John to talk with his mouth AND his hands. Believe me, it had never been more valuable than it was at this moment.

There may not have been electricity in the booth, but, with 5:13 to go in the football game and Lafayette down by a 7-3 score, there WAS electricity in the air that night. Penn had just called a time-out with the ball on their own 1-yard line and facing a punt from their end zone. On the sideline, the coaching staff made a decision - take a safety. They did and with 5:15 to go in the game, the Penn lead was cut to 7-5.

Lafayette started their drive with 5:09 to go from their own 46-yard line. DiPaola, Russo, White, D'urso, and Adair marched downfield to the Penn 10. The veterans had done their job. It was time to call on "the Kid".

Davis Rodriguez is a freshmen kicker from St. Petersburg, Florida. He was 1-5 on field goal attempts for the season. Lafayette had not beaten Penn since 1991 - losing 8 straight. Lafayette had not gone 3-0 since 1988 and Davis Rodriguez was not born yet.

All of those negative numbers were erased with one swing of the leg. The 27-yard field goal was GOOD!! The team swarmed Davis and Frank Tavani attempted a vertical leap! Victory belonged to Lafayette! The Leopards beat Penn at Franklin Field!

I imagine Ben Franklin was looking down on his field that night and he smiled. He was still creating electricity in his own way. I know I felt it!

Go Leopards!