Lehigh grad publishes book on ‘The Rivalry’

Chuck Burton, ’92, has loved football and been a sports nut his entire life.

His first year at Lehigh was the first year after Murray Goodman Stadium was opened, and Lehigh was playing to sell-out crowds at almost every game.

“Around that time there was a real newness to everything,” he said. “And it was very electric.”

Burton has had an affinity for the Lehigh-Lafayette rivalry game ever since his freshman year Gryphon, and all the upperclassmen, told him to wait for the game. Their words built anticipation for a rivalry between the two schools that is an experience unlike many others. The entire week prior to the game is filled with school spirit filled activities that range from the Marching 97 interrupting classes to running down Memorial Waklway for the bed races.

Burton’s first Lehigh-Lafayette game was not only important because it was the first year at Goodman, it was also the 125th game and 100th consecutive game played by the two collegiate rivals. This occurred because the no games were played in 1896 — back when multiple games were played in one year — due to eligibility disputes between the schools, and the football teams played twice a year until 1902 when it was brought down to one a year.

As the Internet age grew, Burton was inspired to start a website. By that point, Lehigh had become a top 25 school in the 1-AA world of college sports.

“Running the blog is a lot of work,” Burton said, laughing. “My wife sometimes thinks I’m nuts for not getting a lot of sleep writing previews, but it’s a rewarding experience. It’s fun to make every game into a big deal and break down each team and see how we’ll do against each other.”

He said that due to the team’s strong fan base, he was able to maintain the site’s audience.

“What I’ve discovered over the years is that there’s a community of Lehigh fans that are just as passionate about the team as I am, so it’s neat to come up with a place to read about the football program,” he said. “Lehigh Sports, The Morning Call and The Express-Times do a great job in reporting, but it’s nice to have a place for fans to read an unfiltered view of the team.”

His blog has turned into a self-published book, based on the 150 games of the rivalry, which he said took a lot longer to write than he wanted it to. Burton figured out after beginning the book writing process at full speed, like he said he does with many other aspects of his writing career, that there was a lot more that needed to be done than he expected.

He had hoped to get the book out in time for the 150th game at Yankee Stadium, but getting everything just the way he wanted delayed the book’s release date.

He drew a lot of the material from his book from his own blog, as he would do profiles of past teams during Lehigh-Lafayette week over the past 10 years. Also included is his work with the alumni magazine for the 150th game. The book took about three years overall and doesn’t cover the entire history, but rather focuses on the years from 1864-1929.

The book was released in paperback on Sept. 15.