Quick Hits

Jim Maconaghy

Reffed Up

Is it just me, or is it weird that the guy who is the coordinator of the Ivy League officials is ALSO the coordinator for the refs in the Patriot AND the Colonial Athletic Association?

Now I've always liked talking with Jim Maconaghy at Ivy media days, and I'm sure he's a fine person... but you think that might be a BIT too much for one man to swallow?

And do you think that might have something to do with the quality of the officiating in the Ivies?

I don't think it helps.

It may sound like sour grapes for a Columbia fan to say the refs have declined in quality in the last decade or so, but I hear the same thing from my friends who are Penn and Harvard fans too. 

Random Superstitious Thought of the Month

Columbia begins its 51st season since its last Ivy football title this month, just as the Mets finally got their first no-hitter in franchise history in the 51st season of the team's existence.

Oh, and the no-hitter was saved by outfielder Mike Baxter who began his collegiate career at Columbia before transferring to Vanderbilt. 

Senior Leadership

Columbia brings back 25 seniors this fall and about half of them will be starters or probable starters.

That's not a bad mix for a team that too often has had fewer than 20 seniors on the roster. 

But what's really weird is that there are more seniors than juniors currently on the roster, (there are 23 juniors).

I attribute that to the displeasure with the Norries Wilson regime for the guys who didn't at least see the promise of the 2009 season like the class  of 2013 did. 

But there are even FEWER sophomores on the roster with 22, and that's at least in part because of the fallout from last year's very tough 1-9 season. 

So with 31 eligible freshmen coming into camp this August, the first years will once again be the most dominant class there. 

Home Cooking

Columbia defeated Brown at home to end the 2011 campaign and it opens the 2012 season with three straight games at home against Marist, Fordham, and Princeton. 

And that means the Lions have a chance to break their record Wien Stadium winning streak of three right at the top of this season. 

That three game home winning streak at Wien was set in 2010 when Columbia beat Towson, Princeton and Lafayette in three consecutive weeks during a four game homestand to start the season.