I'm still on the road this week, but there are two key updates to mention today.
DiBillio Out for 2012
I am happy to report that Princeton rising sophomore Chuck DiBillio will not be playing this fall.
You'll remember that DiBillio had an outstanding freshman campaign, rushing for 1,000+ yards and winning Ivy Rookie of the Year honors.
But soon after the season, he suffered a stroke and doctors still don't know what caused it.
The fact that DiBillio, his coaches, and his family were even considering having him return to the field before that cause was found was... well, outrageous.
I shudder to think of the huge tragedy it would be if we had a death on the field at an Ivy game or practice. In fact, that wouldn't be just a tragedy in a preventable case. It would be a crime.
For the record, I think Columbia would have defeated Princeton either way. But DiBillio's life is a lot more important than any game results.
I am glad sanity has won out in the end.
Mangurian's Latest
Now that we're closer to training camp, the latest blog post from Head Coach Pete Mangurian plays things a little closer to the vest. But it's still very good to hear from the coach as we get so close to the actual season opener.
Once again, it's important to note that Mangurian is clearly pushing his strategy to go with a leaner and meaner team. I would not be surprised if the CU roster is closer to 75 players than 100 by the time we reach the end of this season.
2 comments:
I doubt that Coach Mangurian has a specific roster number in mind. Certainly, a 75 man roster invites problems if you have an unexpected number of injuries. My guess is that he has a general number in mind, but one that is in the high eighties or nineties. The key thing here is not the number, but the pride of wearing the number on the field.
Seems to me that the players arriving later are very important to the team's success as without them we would not have the depth we might need to be successful during the season. It's not unusual for college players who are way down on the depth chart at the beginning of the season to see plenty of playing time before the season ends. I believe that Coach Mangurian is just trying to assure that all the players are dedicated to meeting the goals he considers necessary to establish a winning program. I'm with him on that and I believe everyone else agrees with him too.
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