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He made it into my post yesterday, but new of Darin Patmon's commitment to Columbia came too late for me to pass on some added info about the talented safety from Land O'Lakes HS in Florida.

First of all, can we talk about the name of that high school? I actually love it, because you can't ever forget it.

Second, Patmon was noticed as a very smart student and a very smart player very early on in his high school career.

This article about Patmon's brains was published at the start of his junior year in September, 2010.

And this report says Patmon was a "last minute late addition" on the Columbia radar. So, that's an excellent job by the new coaching staff on him.

The Dallas Morning News has a little more info on Niko Padilla's decision to come to Columbia and promises a "compelling story" in a longer piece about Padilla in the days to come.

And this piece gives  us some more details about QB Hank Trumbull's thought process before he committed to Columbia.

The artcile says:

"Trumbull also drew heavy interest from Boston College, Duke, Harvard and Cornell, but called his decision 'a no-brainer."


Quick to 20

We're holding steady at 20 KNOWN incoming frosh as of now, and that's not bad considering the number was zero just a few weeks ago after the coaching change.

National Signing Day is tomorrow and that's sure to give us more news of some of the 10 or so unknown incoming frosh out there.

Clearly, both the current and previous coaching staffs deserve a lot of credit for handling the transition well.

So even before we get the full number of 30 or so known commits, I'd like to extend that credit right now.

M.A. Clone

The Big Green Alert Blog reports that Dartmouth has just grabbed another player from Texas, a QB who reminds a lot of people about Columbia's big QB M.A. Olawale '10.

Watch his highlight video below to see why. (He throws and runs a lot like Millie):

BGA also says that the Green have snagged the younger brother of a player Columbia Head Coach Pete Mangurian coached on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers just a year and a half ago.

Jonathan "AJ" Zuttah's older brother is Jeremy Zuttah who has been an offensive lineman with the Bucs for four years now.

A Gem for Columbia

Las Vegas-area super student Richard Lee is probably not going to play football at Columbia even though he's a varsity player for his high school.

But he sure looks like the kind of kid who uses athletics to hone his talents and academic skills.
Sports and scholastics truly aren't antagonists and Richard Lee is great proof of that.

Yale Needs a "Roar Lions Roar"
I think the guys at the Portal 31 blog do a nice job getting news out about the Yale football program. But they can't really take strong positions advocating for the fans can they?

And BOY do the Yale fans need an outlet like that after what has to be the worst two month period in Eli football history.

Here's what's happened to the program since mid-November:

1) News surfaces of a potential scandal involving Head Coach Tom Williams fudging his resume claiming to be a Rhodes Scholar "finalist."

2) A woman is killed in the tailgating area at the Yale Bowl before The Game in a terrible truck accident.

3) Harvard pounds the Elis in The Game at the Yale Bowl, 45-7.

4) Coach Williams is fired/steps down.

5) Yale's top choice to replace Williams changes his mind after his salary augmentation by the Yale boosters is vetoed by Yale President Richard Levin.

6) Yale settles for a young Tony Reno as head coach, a man who has never even been a coordinator at the FCS level.

7) The news surfaces that Patrick Witt had a very checkered past coming into Yale and the NY Times accused Yale of falsely promoting his Rhodes candidacy in the media when it had been suspended already.

8) Witt's reps and the Times engage in a war of words over the accuracy of the Times' story.

Whew! That's a lot of junk to contend with.

Something tells me the Yale alums would appreciate a blog like this one to register their immediate displeasure with how everything has been handled in New Haven recently.

Too bad they don't have one. ;)

Lion Shots!

Longtime and loyal reader "Old Lion" just got back from an African safari and was inspired by some grea Lion scenes he captured on film.

Check 'em out!

On the prowl

                                                       
                                                                     Roar Lion Roar!

The scene after this coming October's game against Yale!