I just don't get why the department hasn't yet pushed out some kind of canned interview with Brett Nottingham for the New York news media to chew on BEFORE the Ivy media day next week floods the markets with material.
Maybe they have, but I doubt it.
I'm sure someone will cite some arcane rule about not allowing incoming players to speak to the media, but honestly... WHO CARES???
Maybe Nottingham isn't the savior for CU. Maybe lots of other players deserve more attention. Maybe Columbia has lost all hope of ever getting local sports' fans attention.
But I say a transfer QB from a Top 10 BCS program, who suddenly decided to come to an Ivy school in New York City is a DAMN good story that still has not been told to just about anyone who doesn't read this blog or the Ivy sports chat board.
I don't care if highlighting Nottingham makes Head Coach Pete Mangurian skittish, (and I have no evidence that it does).
I don't care if focusing on Nottingham makes some of the other players feel left out, (and I doubt any of them are that thin-skinned).
I don't care if the athletic department office people like to take a few more weeks off.
We need to generate some buzz about this team and Nottingham is the ticket for that until we start winning regularly.
So let's get this done.
21 comments:
My guess is that it might be a more attractive story if Nottingham ( if he is the starting QB) wins a few games first, but it hard to know what the NYTimes might do. It is possible it could make the bottom of the fold of the front page as a good feature story if we get lucky...
BECAUSE the freshman is killing him...setting records in the gym and destroying the 7 on 7. This is far from decided...an article is premature...
Who is allegedly "killing" who is not the point. Jake is saying that someone who leaves a top BCS program to compete for a chance to play for Colummbia is an interesting story. Potentially interesting, perhaps, to others who are contemplating similar moves...
Bill Parcells said "you are what your record is." and Coughlin says "play the game and shut up!"
What's the name of is the freshman QB that is breaking records in the gym?
If they mean the incoming frosh, that would be the enormously talented Kelly Hilinski.
As far as "shutting up" goes, we're way beyond that. Maybe a top BCS team or an NFL team can afford to do that, but Ivy football and Columbia football are fighting for their lives.
Not disagreeing I am only supposing that coach may not turn loose the PR dogs until the competition is complete. Anything could happen to anyone let alone the QB's. Simply advertising that he came here is a tricky one. I agree that it, on its own, has merit. I simply wonder if coach doesnt want to add (or start) or join the hype until a starter is identified/settled. I hear that the team is working very hard.
..."Killing" may not be fair-it was my interpretation of the information. Better to simply say that we will have a strong player at the QB position with this competition.
Some things shouldn't be in the coach's hands. Promoting the team is something Mangurian should participate in, but not manage. He's got other important jobs to do. The fact that this blog thrives is mostly because the department itself is not doing an adequate job. I don't care that the entire university takes the summer off, etc. There's always an excuse. This team and its players need to be promoted 24/7. And instead of letting things get out of hand on Twitter as they did earlier this year, their message needs to be managed better as well. Anyone in the sports business or college sports world looking at how our program is managed would be appalled. Dianne needed to be gone a long time ago and the influence of single people like Campbell, as great as he is, needs to be diluted with new voices. We're in a serious fight here for hearts and minds, and we're losing. I'm sick of it.
... and if anyone in the dept. is angry or offended by this message I say this: stop getting so upset at what you read here and do a better job doing your job, which includes following the Twitter feeds of the players. I STILL see plenty of stuff on those feeds that are not acceptable.
Well said, Jake. Excuses are worthless. Accountability is what matters, and those that say otherwise are going against one of the hallmarks of any successful endeavor.
Here is some video of Hiinski in an elite 11 tryout
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/elite-11-tryout-kelly-hilinski/17bjrwor1?cpkey=87e6a378-a573-1410-339d-dcdc318ceca7%257c%257c%257c%257c
Hard to tell much about Hilinski from that video, but hyping him so strongly when the heir apparent, McDonough (spelling?), has been strongly supported by Coach M., plus of course the Sheriff coming in and another pretty good sophomore in Trumbull, makes me wonder if there isn't some home cookin' involved here. Nonetheless, looks like we may have the best quartet of QBs that we've ever had!
Jake you have officially gone too far.. How about you be positive and support the fact that the athletic department is following the rules instead of breaking them. This blog post is clearly your way of throwing a tantrum about the fact that they arent giving you information you are dying to have so you can play star reporter once again. you can wait till media day like the rest of the world. Patience is a virtue that clearly you lack.
That's the exact opposite of what I want. I want to see our stories and our players featured somewhere OTHER than here! The dept is failing over and over at its job to promote this team properly. There is not any sane person who can say otherwise. This is not a matter of patience, it's a matter of incompetence.
For a primer on how to hype incoming/new players, see Yale and Victor Egu. Our incoming frosh QB, Kelly Hilinski, was JUST as recruited by the big BCS schools with offers from Arkansas and serious interest from Oklahoma and UCLA! And Nottingham was such a sought-after recruit three years ago that Jim Harbaugh himself worked his butt off to unhook him. But Egu is getting all the press and attention. Why? Because our department is asleep.
Again, I don't need any scoops. I've clearly maxed out on my audience until the Lions win championships.
This is something the dept. needs to be doing... and it either won't or it can't.
Either way... pathetic.
Hard to argue that example jake. Sad to to see. Especially if it impacts recruiting down the road…a LOT of things to write about. And I'm ok with home cooking or out of state supporters or of anyone that makes the decision to come here and play for us. If there are facts around how the team or players are performing behind the curtain-please share
Sad to see! WE need to promote our brand; just like Harvard and Yale do in Boston and New Haven. We are in the media capital of the world and nobody knows who we are (as far as athletics). We don't promote our brand at all! Why are their more stories about Harvard and Yale football players in the NY Times than we have? Why???????? Excellent points Jake!
Promotion of our brand will come when we're successful or at least well on the way. Let's give credit to our AD and staff for a lot of improvements that have given us some real hope, including the hiring of Coach M. Appreciation is a big factor in attracting success, please keep that in mind, Jake and all.
I think that we can all agree that Year 1 of Coach Mangurian was a disaster (ponly 3 more years in the 4 year plan). The only record set under his watch was against Harvard 0-69 (when a member of the Harvard Band lettered because they felt bad fpor us). This is even MORE reason for the AD (and yes, Coach M) to try and build up the team in the media. Diane is a disaster; as is evident with her LACK of Championships (last in the Ivies).
Ultimately it is the fault of the NY Times for not covering CU football more. It did for many years until the last decade, and it needs to do so again. The possibility that they currently do not do more coverage because CU does not win enough is a feeble excuse. Columbia has one of NYC's premier college sports programs, and, the Times covers the Mets, Knicks, etc, ad infinitum even when they have repeatedly been losers consistently over streches of many years.
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