The "W" Word

Hoop Nightmare

Saturday night was another horrific night in recent Columbia sports history as the men's basketball team blew a 21 point second half lead and fell to Yale by one point at the buzzer.

It would have been the perfect night for a win; a sold out crowd was in attendance and the place was rocking.

The result was eerily familiar to the last two Columbia football Homecoming games where the Lions lost heart breaking games in front of the biggest crowds of the year. This last October's excruciating loss to Penn was the worst of them all.

But these losses provide a teachable moment for all of us who spend too much time talking about everything BUT winning at Columbia.

We talk about attendance. We talk about student excitement. We talk about player retention. We talk about academics. We talk about All Ivy teams.

ALL of the above issue are very important of course. But these students are playing to win. And we need this program to start winning.

The basketball game last night was the perfect example. All the butts were in the seats. All the excitement and enthusiasm was there.

I am as guilty as the next guy when it comes to focusing on issues other than winning, but this year I have vowed to make sure we all know that winning is the main goal.

Of course, other topics and issues will always be addressed, but we have to keep our eyes on the prize.

Mangurian Letter

And with that it mind, it's the perfect time to talk about the letter new Head Coach Pete Mangurian sent around this week.

The letter is as singularly focused on winning as anyone could hope it would be. And we should all appreciate very much the accountability for winning or not winning that Mangurian is taking right off the bat.

Here's another picture of a signing ceremony.  This one is of Max Keefe with his parents in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

There's more of Keefe's story here, (there is one mistake in it: Max's brother John is about to become a sophomore, not a junior).

If anyone has access to more pictures like this, please email them to me whenever you can.

Getting Back to Napier

Another key entrant in the "overlooked because we kept getting so many commits every day" file is Daren Napier from Houston's St. John's high school.

How many times have we all called for a big defensive tackle to finally stop the opposing run? Napier sure seems to fit that bill at 6-5 and 280 pounds. Just about every scout, including the ESPN guys, listed run defense as his top trait.

Napier also played offensive tackle and one has to wonder if Mangurian will see if he's a better fit at that position where the Lions appear thin on depth especially in 2012.

Napier's music group has the beats


Napier is also interested in music. He's a member of a rap/hip hop group that he co-founded with two school mates that was profiled in this piece last summer.

VALENTINE'S DAY IS COMING, GENTLEMEN!!!!

IT MAY NOT BE A BAD A IDEA TO CHECK SOME OF THIS STUFF OUT TO REMIND YOUR HONEY THAT LIFE ISN'T ALL ABOUT FOOTBALL AND YOU KNOW IT!!!

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