Monday, November 26, 2012

Holiday Cheer




Thanks to a generous gift from an anonymous donor, this blog will be free going forward.

I want to send a special thank you to the many, many people who paid for subscriptions beginning just about a year ago. It meant more to me than I can say that so many of you were willing to pay for something that had been free. I hope I met your expectations.

I know many of you are sometimes disturbed by the comments we see in the comments section, but I want to maintain my policy of total free speech there within standards of decency, (no vulgarities or personal threats, etc). I know it irks the administration and the athletic department that this blog exists as a constant check on their movements, but that's what it should be. 

I'll be back tomorrow to regular blogging with a 2012 report card on the special teams.

Until then, here's the link to the Pete Mangurian blog on his plans going forward. 

21 comments:

jock/doc said...

I read Pete's blog and it seems consistent and coherent (Sorry to all you anonymous "experts") I am looking forward to next year's season and our six (6) wins!

#1 Lion said...

Jake-

I would have paid DOUBLE to keep the Blog alive. I realize that it is a great deal of time to sacrifice, but we are in debt to you for the content and fair representation that you provide.

Thank you!!!

#1 Lion said...

Jake-

I would have paid DOUBLE to keep the Blog alive. I realize that it is a great deal of time to sacrifice, but we are in debt to you for the content and fair representation that you provide.

Thank you!!!

CULionPride said...

Jake,

I agree with #1 Lion's comments. We are in your debt.

Go Lions!

oldlion said...

Dear Jake, while I often disagree with you, I have never doubted your passion and your intensity. Keep up the great work, and here's to a breakthrough recruiting season and a winning record in 2013.

#1 Lion said...

Hey OldLion and the rest of you GS "haters"...

http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2012/11/26/after-iraq-hesselgrave-shifts-focus-school-rowing

Seriously, OldLion, I like your passion, even though you blindly follow Diane and whomever is the Head FB Coach.

I'm having lunch with three Seniors today to help them with the next phase of their lives, so I'll have a deeper understanding of what's going on with the program...

Anonymous said...

Jake, I also want to thank you for your blog and all the time and energy you put into it. Being new to columbia last year , the blog was a way to feel connected to the Football program. You are right, I did not always agree with comments that were made, but did appreciate others opinions. Keep up the good work, i really enjoy the blog.

DOC said...

Jake, for all your effort, and hard work, I feel lucky to be able to read something about Columbia Football every day of the year. I feel the blog represents our alumni, families, and friends of the Lions better than any publication out there.As far as I'm concerned, Roar Lions 2012 grades out to an A+ ......Thank You!!

#1 Lion said...

Mangurrian and Staff are out vigorously recruiting this week. Let’s hope that they recruit SIZE on both sides of the line and SPEED to stretch the field. The 1st recruiting class is scheduled to hit campus this week. Early read on a MA recruit is not good. It is a BB&N kid that was passed over by every Ivy and we “found” him (right in Cambridge’s backyard). Hopefully, we can do better with the remaining recruits…

Anonymous said...

How about if we don't criticize high school kids on the blog?

#1 Lion said...

Recruits are recruits, HS or JUCO, they will be judged equally.

Anonymous said...

Criticizing recruits is classless. Sounds like someone has a little personal vendetta against the recruit. Criticizing the recruit does no good to anyone and is completely destructive to the recruit, the coach and the program. What's that all about????

jock/doc said...

I for one am getting more and more tired of the noise coming rom #1 lion. Give it a break. I don't believe that Pete or any other coach in the Ivies or anywhere else is NOT looking for SPEED and SIZE. ( like slow and small will do?) Your relentless negativity and pompous posturing about how much YOU do for the program is tiresome.
Please filter the crap that you put out and give us all a break for Pete's sake. (get the pun?)

oldlion said...

The HC at BB&N has been a friend to Columbia and has sent two or three young men to us during the Wilson years.

#1 Lion said...

Okay, let's all hold hands, sing KUMBAYA, and hope that things get better. Hey Dorothy, you're not in Kansas anymore!

You are the same people that wished Norries was still here. You are also the same people that claim that Norries' Staff was not abusive. Am I correct??? A claim that even Jake confirmed. I believe we have archived posts to prove it. The problem is that you people don't want to hear the truth. How is that Kool-Aide tasting?

I can't assume that Mangurrian would recruit Size and Speed. We started a 220LB guard. Yes, he played admirably, but he was pushed around by everyone in the league - and every opposing commentator identified that. Also, Mangurrian left a lot of that Size and Speed on the bench this year (ie previous All-Ivy Ward and Nick Gerst - who apparently digressed so much that they couldn't even put him on Special teams???). I can't assume that Mangurrian would do the right thing by dressing the TEAM for home games (meanwhile DIVIDING the team from the kids who are in the stands - per seniors whom I spoke to yesterday). I can't assume that Mangurrian will help these Seniors connect with alums and solidify jobs - because he is NOT).

You are right, I do very little. I try to secure summer/full-time jobs for some of these kids, but I have only been marginally successful. I wish I could do more if I had the means. I send lists of potential recruits to the Staff (where the AI is NOT an issue) that end up at other Ivies. Why? because "... they wouldn't fit in our system..." - NE Prep School Head Coach. That's a cop-out!

Yes, I want more. No, WE should demand more! Forget the fact that we can't win. We should at least be better than the other Ivies in the way we treat our players. The Seniors I met with are disheartened by the fact that here is a lack of assistance; other than advising athletes to attend alumni mixers, for jobs and the next phase of their lives. Since we failed them on the field, let's help them off the field.

WOF said...

#1 Lion

You seem emotional about a lot of this and that is understandable, particularly if you have a rapport with these kids.

To me the big question is if Mangurian is an ethical and honorable person and thus far I have no reason to think he isn't.

He came in and changed the entire program, had new and different demands of the players, and required that they all bought in to it. I don't fault kids, especially as Seniors and Juniors, for not buying into something they never signed up for (they are Norries' kids). But I also can't fault Mangurian for making difficult decisions on personnel - sitting more talented and experienced kids - if he did not believe they bought in to the program the way he felt needed to be done..

I can also understand how a coach in a new regime might favor an underclassman if the talent levels were close or if the underclassmen's long term potential might be greater. It is unfortunate for the upperclassman but that is how things work.

McElreavy did the same from my era but he was worse because he had absolutely no sense of honor or integrity. He conveniently lied about players and sullied their reputations to conveniently further his agenda...

I have read all year from emotional people unhappy that some kids aren't getting playing time or aren't being used properly but I have yet to hear that Mangurian is a bad guy who is carelessly hurting the reputations of his kids...

After bouncing back from that harvard game I can't be anything but optimistic and hopeful that Mangurian is moving us in the right direction and fast.

Roar Lion said...

There is a big difference between posting complaints about the coaches -- who are getting paid to generate results -- vs posting vitriol about teen-agers. Grow up #1 Lion and don't pretend you are some kind of recruiting savant.

Judging HS kids is folly in any case: our best freshmen, Connors and Ramjlak, were not among the five 70+ point recruits Pete landed. And because football players get stronger, the best freshman may not be the best senior. Look at Waller. The
ostensible #1 Ivy recruit last year, Countryman of Penn, caught one pass in four games this season.

So it's fun to ponder the skill level of our recruits, but it's ridiculous to posit that you have some special insight into how each kid will fare, much less to rip a kid on a blog.

j said...

jock/doc said:
Wof and Roar Lion:
I could not agree more with you well thought out comments.
Go Lions, win six (6) next year!

#1 Lion said...

There is no reason to think Mangurrian is unethical or dishonorable. I never said that he (or any member of his staff was). It is just disheartening to see this program continually falter for NO REASON. There were some basic miscues this year that could have been easily been avoided and it looks like his ego (or lack of collegiate coaching experience) got in the way. Note, we ended the Penn game with two time outs in our back pocket. The announcers were begging him to use them to stop the clock. Hey, if we wanted nice guys who couldn't coach, we could have kept Tellier. I guess my point now is that since we failed yet another group of seniors on the field, we should help them (jobs, grad school, etc.), and I am seeing none of that.

WOF said...

Respectfully, you really appear to have an emotional issue with Mangurian and I get that. I know you did not say that M is a bad guy, I was just pointing out that a coach in a new regime is bound to make unpopular decisions, especially year one. And sadly, and my group was a victim of this, too, the Seniors seem to unfairly get hurt the most. But the new coach is not the villain here...

I agree CU may have failed our Seniors but I don't think it is fair to blame M for that.

The staff should be doing all they can to help this class get placed, I 100% agree. And trust me, there was virtually ZERO post grad work pipeline for the Class of '87. Anybody else remember coach "No Action Jackson"?

I think you are making a big jump to tie his coaching decisions on his ego. Murphy and Bags make many coaching blunders, too, it is just more hidden because of their talent and depth. Any questionable M makes is magnified.


Forgive me for being a child of the 80's but living in PA I saw firsthand how some guy named Jerry Berndt dramatically turned Penn's program around. His first year at Penn they went 1-9 and many of his decisions were questioned. Mangurian similarly (but not a Title) had a pretty dramatic turnaround at Cornell in only two years...

We will probably know by end of next year if M has it or doesn't. Even if the team's record is not a dramatic shift we will see it in the way the team responds to tough losses and if the boneheaded plays become fewer and fewer. And if the problems continue two years from now we will all be on the band wagon with you but he still deserves a chance to change things.

LionEsq said...

The passion here (and on Voy) is admirable, but its tendency to turn to vitriol is not. Americans are so hot for sports, we forget that they are games played mostly by kids for entertainment. We get a kick out of watching college sports, especially Columbia, and it's certainly more fun if our teams win, but let's not forget these are kids and at the end of the day, it doesn't matter much in the real world who wins or loses. So let's continue to dissect the games, wonder about coaching strategies, complain about the refs, but keep it in perspective. Wilson isn't a villain. Mangurian isn't a villain; Murphy isn't a villain; and all the guys on all the teams are doing their best; even if things are far from perfect, people make mistakes. Criticism is justified, let's just keep it constructive.

And one last thing . . . I disagree that there's no reason Columbia can't win at football. The persistence of losing, season after season, with able men in charge (most of the time) and able players on the field (most of the time), suggests there is a reason. We just haven't figured out what it is yet. Let's hope Mangurian can. Happy holidays to all!