{"id":76576,"date":"2015-03-23T19:34:39","date_gmt":"2015-03-23T19:34:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sandbox.web.rcn.net\/rcntv\/?p=76576"},"modified":"2015-03-23T19:36:50","modified_gmt":"2015-03-23T19:36:50","slug":"behind-mic-invited-dance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/behind-mic-invited-dance\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Mic:  Invited to the Dance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I received an invitation to the Dance last week.\u00a0 Lafayette College asked me to go to Pittsburgh for the start of the NCAA tournament and do some internet work for them leading up to the first round game: Lafayette vs Villanova.\u00a0 RCN was kind enough to allow me to go.\u00a0 I am glad I did.<\/p>\n<p>In the past, high school basketball conflicted with the NCAA tournament first round so I was never able to attend.\u00a0 Now, it seems that the college season is pushed back one week and there is no conflict.<\/p>\n<p>We left the Kirby Sports Center on Wednesday morning and arrived in Pittsburgh at 3:00pm.\u00a0 The first Lafayette press conference was scheduled for 5:15pm at the CONSOL Energy Arena so we checked in to the hotel and went to the Arena.\u00a0 The student-athletes spoke first followed by head coach Fran O\u2019Hanlon.\u00a0 Lafayette was allowed to take the floor for a 40-minute workout.\u00a0 Lafayette had a full workout that morning at Duquesne University, so they went through some quick drills and a shoot-around.\u00a0 I chatted with Coach O\u2019Hanlon and immediately made the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the next day:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.post-gazette.com\/sports\/marchmadness\/2015\/03\/19\/Plenty-will-be-decided-in-the-post-GAME-VILLANOVA-vs-LAFAYETTE\/stories\/201503190171\">http:\/\/www.post-gazette.com\/sports\/marchmadness\/2015\/03\/19\/Plenty-will-be-decided-in-the-post-GAME-VILLANOVA-vs-LAFAYETTE\/stories\/201503190171<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Prior to leaving the arena, I did a stand-up report for the Lafayette website and then was quickly corralled by the Villanova radio announcer for some background on Lafayette.\u00a0 What I thought was going to be a quick discussion turned into a lengthy question and answer session.\u00a0 It was so long that I missed the team bus when it returned to the hotel.\u00a0 In all honesty, I was a bit shocked by the lack of pre-game knowledge the radio guy had about the Leopards.\u00a0 That is not my style, to be sure.<\/p>\n<p>I was able to get a cab back to the hotel just in time for the team meal which was at Ruth\u2019s Chris Steakhouse, a short walk down the street.\u00a0 Nothing beats great food and great company.\u00a0 Some of the players were not accustomed to eating at such an up-scale restaurant claiming Outback Steakhouse was the epitome of their dining experience.<\/p>\n<p>Thursday was game day with Northeastern meeting Notre Dame and Butler playing Texas in the afternoon session.\u00a0 Our hotel also housed the Butler contingent so the Bulldogs were well-represented throughout the trip.\u00a0 I went to the arena for the second game and stayed for the rest of the day.\u00a0 It was interesting to attend the press conferences for the winning and losing teams, experiencing the \u201cthrill of victory and the agony of defeat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Although I had press row access for the Lafayette game, I chose instead to sit in the arena seats and had a great view of the game.\u00a0 Lafayette did not play well; Villanova played like a #1 seed and won easily, a disappointment to all who made the trip.\u00a0 The Lafayette players handled themselves exceptionally well speaking before the press as did Coach O\u2019Hanlon.\u00a0 Villanova\u2019s players and Coach Jay Wright spoke about the difficulty of playing against a Villanova icon like Hall-of-Famer Fran O\u2019Hanlon.\u00a0 He used the word \u201cbittersweet\u201d when discussing the win.<\/p>\n<p>I stayed to watch the LSU-North Carolina State game and I was glad I did.\u00a0 It came down to the final shot with NC State winning a thriller.<\/p>\n<p>Back at the hotel, everyone was contemplating the end of the season.\u00a0 A Patriot League championship, three one-thousand point scorers, and a trip to the NCAAs made the sting of that night\u2019s loss a bit more palatable.\u00a0 Villanova looked that night like a potential national champion. Not so much on Saturday when they lost to North Carolina State and were eliminated from the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>Best of all was the publicity leading up to the game.\u00a0 MarketWatch and Payscale.com reported that of all 68 teams in the tournament, Lafayette was #1 in return on investment for their college degree.\u00a0 In the long run, for more than 90% of the athletes playing in the tournament who will never become professional players, that is the most important outcome.\u00a0 For the Lafayette players, in the most critical of competitions \u2013 the game of life- they are the national champions!!<\/p>\n<p><strong>ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)<\/strong><br \/>\nNo musings this week, just some pictures thanks to Rick Smith\/Lafayette Athletic Communications:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/atvn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/NCAA1.bmp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-76578\" src=\"\/atvn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/NCAA1.bmp\" alt=\"NCAA1\" width=\"568\" height=\"305\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/atvn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/NCAA3.bmp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-76580\" src=\"\/atvn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/NCAA3.bmp\" alt=\"NCAA3\" width=\"564\" height=\"450\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/atvn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/NCAA2.bmp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-76579\" src=\"\/atvn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/NCAA2.bmp\" alt=\"NCAA2\" width=\"567\" height=\"449\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/atvn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/NCAA4.bmp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-76581\" src=\"\/atvn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/NCAA4.bmp\" alt=\"NCAA4\" width=\"566\" height=\"448\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/atvn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/NCAA5.bmp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-76577\" src=\"\/atvn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/NCAA5.bmp\" alt=\"NCAA5\" width=\"483\" height=\"603\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I received an invitation to the Dance last week.\u00a0 Lafayette College asked me to go to Pittsburgh for the start of the NCAA tournament and do some internet work for them leading up to the first round game: Lafayette vs Villanova.\u00a0 RCN was kind enough to allow me to go.\u00a0 I am glad I did&#8230;.<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behind-the-mic","category-featured","category-sports"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Behind the Mic: Invited to the Dance - ATVN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/behind-mic-invited-dance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Behind the Mic: Invited to the Dance - ATVN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I received an invitation to the Dance last week.\u00a0 Lafayette College asked me to go to Pittsburgh for the start of the NCAA tournament and do some internet work for them leading up to the first round game: Lafayette vs Villanova.\u00a0 RCN was kind enough to allow me to go.\u00a0 I am glad I did....\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/behind-mic-invited-dance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ATVN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-03-23T19:34:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-03-23T19:36:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gary Laubach\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gary Laubach\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/behind-mic-invited-dance\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/behind-mic-invited-dance\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gary Laubach\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/149d57a8e347f18c57a13b75a3c0f3ee\"},\"headline\":\"Behind the Mic: Invited to the Dance\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-03-23T19:34:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-03-23T19:36:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/behind-mic-invited-dance\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":718,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Behind the Mic\",\"Featured\",\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/behind-mic-invited-dance\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/behind-mic-invited-dance\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/behind-mic-invited-dance\\\/\",\"name\":\"Behind the Mic: Invited to the Dance - ATVN\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-03-23T19:34:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-03-23T19:36:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/149d57a8e347f18c57a13b75a3c0f3ee\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/behind-mic-invited-dance\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/\",\"name\":\"ATVN\",\"description\":\"Local Programming &amp; Astound Digital Cable, Internet &amp; Phone Services\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/149d57a8e347f18c57a13b75a3c0f3ee\",\"name\":\"Gary Laubach\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"\\\/atvn\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/Gary-Laubach-Behind-the-Mic-Author-Image.jpg\",\"url\":\"\\\/atvn\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/Gary-Laubach-Behind-the-Mic-Author-Image.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"\\\/atvn\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/Gary-Laubach-Behind-the-Mic-Author-Image.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Gary Laubach\"},\"description\":\"Gary began his broadcasting career with Twin County in 1972. Twin County eventually became C-TEC and then Astound Broadband. Gary is currently a Sports Broadcaster for Lafayette College.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/author\\\/rcntvgary\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Behind the Mic: Invited to the Dance - ATVN","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/behind-mic-invited-dance\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Behind the Mic: Invited to the Dance - ATVN","og_description":"I received an invitation to the Dance last week.\u00a0 Lafayette College asked me to go to Pittsburgh for the start of the NCAA tournament and do some internet work for them leading up to the first round game: Lafayette vs Villanova.\u00a0 RCN was kind enough to allow me to go.\u00a0 I am glad I did....","og_url":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/behind-mic-invited-dance\/","og_site_name":"ATVN","article_published_time":"2015-03-23T19:34:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-03-23T19:36:50+00:00","author":"Gary Laubach","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gary Laubach","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/behind-mic-invited-dance\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/behind-mic-invited-dance\/"},"author":{"name":"Gary Laubach","@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/#\/schema\/person\/149d57a8e347f18c57a13b75a3c0f3ee"},"headline":"Behind the Mic: Invited to the Dance","datePublished":"2015-03-23T19:34:39+00:00","dateModified":"2015-03-23T19:36:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/behind-mic-invited-dance\/"},"wordCount":718,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["Behind the Mic","Featured","Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/behind-mic-invited-dance\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/behind-mic-invited-dance\/","url":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/behind-mic-invited-dance\/","name":"Behind the Mic: Invited to the Dance - ATVN","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-03-23T19:34:39+00:00","dateModified":"2015-03-23T19:36:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/#\/schema\/person\/149d57a8e347f18c57a13b75a3c0f3ee"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/behind-mic-invited-dance\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/","name":"ATVN","description":"Local Programming &amp; Astound Digital Cable, Internet &amp; Phone Services","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/#\/schema\/person\/149d57a8e347f18c57a13b75a3c0f3ee","name":"Gary Laubach","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"\/atvn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Gary-Laubach-Behind-the-Mic-Author-Image.jpg","url":"\/atvn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Gary-Laubach-Behind-the-Mic-Author-Image.jpg","contentUrl":"\/atvn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Gary-Laubach-Behind-the-Mic-Author-Image.jpg","caption":"Gary Laubach"},"description":"Gary began his broadcasting career with Twin County in 1972. Twin County eventually became C-TEC and then Astound Broadband. Gary is currently a Sports Broadcaster for Lafayette College.","url":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/author\/rcntvgary\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76576"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76583,"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76576\/revisions\/76583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}