Ivy League sports fans, and Columbia sports fans in particular, are a realistic lot.
Sure, we Lion supporters get overly optimistic sometimes in the preseason. We even have fantasies of winning league championships from time to time.
But we don't have dreams of winning BCS titles or getting to the Final Four.
That said, there is one near-Ivy school that has had the kind of dream academic calendar year that SHOULD be in the reach of all the Ivy schools IF they really committed to doing things right.
That school is Lehigh, a Patriot League school that really leaves nothing to be desired academically.
And yet, despite an endowment that is dwarfed by all the Ivy schools, the Mountain Hawks achieved a conference football championship, (and first round win in the FCS playoffs), and a stunning run in the NCAA basketball tournament over Duke.
Yes, Lehigh fell last night to Xavier and 2010 Ivy champ Cornell got to the Sweet 16. But it was the combination of football and basketball success that was even sweeter in Bethlehem this year.
Lehigh is a great school, but its academic strengths do not outshine any Ivy, and it shouldn't be too hard for any of the Ancient Eight to match and grab the same quality of players.
Does anybody think Lehigh's standing as an academic institution is suffering because of this amazing run of athletic success?
It's one think when schools like Duke and Stanford beat the pants of us athletically. But when a Patriot League school grabs so much deserved attention, and the Ivies still don't even allow our football champ to play in the FCS playoffs it's maddening.
I realize the academic requirements for Lehigh's athletes are lower than the Ivies, but not really by much. And it's high time the Ivy presidents give more credit to high school students who still achieve strong grades despite grueling practice schedules, etc.
In short, the fabulous success Lehigh is enjoying this year could be ours.
It SHOULD be ours.
One day...
Spring Begins
But for now, the hard work begins.
Spring practice starts now and so begins Head Coach Pete Mangurian's promised process of finding the players he wants to lead this team.
The others may be discarded.
Watch your rosters gentlemen.
2 comments:
Jake, I doubt that is Coach Mangurian's intent. He's just raised the bar for all the players. Nothing wrong with that and a prerequisite to winning in any Ivy League sport. Let's hope that there is no more attrition than usual and that our players step up to the challenge. I believe they will.
I agree with anonymous. Pete is no Jim Garrett. He is smarter and has the chops we need. He turned Cornell into a winner without abusing or berating his players. Never bet against an Armenian!
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