Friday, January 24, 2014

Reform Movement


Robin Harris

Columbia basketball’s first road Ivy test is tomorrow and the Lions certainly should have what it takes to beat Cornell in Ithaca and run their record to 2-0 in the Ivies.

But as The Columbia Spectator’s Myles Simmons points out today, Columbia is beginning the most brutal test any conference can offer in college basketball: a five game road trip comprised of all conference games in the midst of a 14-game conference game stretch.

Believe it or not, this is better than it used to be when Penn and Princeton dominated the league. One of the factors that kept those two teams in command for about 40 years was the fact that every other team had to play them on back-to-back nights. 

I know we love traditions in the Ivy League, but the billed “14 game tournament” which is not a tournament at all is really tough to swallow. Anything but a perfect record over the next five games puts the Lions in a tight spot. Even if Columbia is the best hoops team in the Ivies, a slip up here could easily cost them a title. And that’s true of any team that happens to be the best.

And this is all why we need a postseason Ivy basketball tournament, (a real tournament), to help build excitement and assure the best teams that they will be given every possible chance to prove they’re the best.

Many of us have proposed a six-team tournament, excluding the bottom two finishers in the regular season and giving the top two finishers a bye. So, the third place team would host the sixth place team in one game, while the fourth and fifth place teams would face off at the #4 team’s home court in another. The winners of those two games would play the #1 and #2 teams in the semifinals, and so on.

And if there was a dominant Ivy team that someone lost the tournament in this format, then there would be at least a chance that it would still get a NCAA tournament bid. As it stands now, one team gets to dance and one team only.

I would put this proposal for a postseason Ivy basketball tournament in my list of four simple demands true Ivy sports fans should present to Executive Director Robin Harris and continue to do so until some of the demands are met.

They are:


1)      Lift the postseason ban on football
2)      Institute a postseason tournament for men’s and women’s basketball
3)      A.I.: either eliminate it altogether, or relax the rules for the lowest finishers every season. For example, I would give the 8th place finishers in football and basketball two additional lowest band recruiting slots, the 7th place finisher would get one.  
4)      Award each football team an additional week of summer training camp

Just about every one of the above demands are negotiable, but some movement really needs to be seen if we want to have the two major college sports continue to be any kind of draw for the Ivy League.


Until then, best of luck to the basketball team. 

6 comments:

Ungvar said...

The commit with the best name so far.

Lord Hyeamang, DE, 6'4" 238 lbs.
Apple Valley High School, Apple Valley, MN

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/o/1726000/highlights/71984376

Anonymous said...

Ivy teams that rank and have the opportunity to play a playoff game should certainly be allowed to play. It is ridiculous if the rules forbid it.

IIt also makes sense a post-season game such as Thanksgiving weekend, say against a comparable FCS team, would raise the profile of an Ivy program's visibility. It would certainly help recruiting with the TV coverage.

Though there is no return other tnan the thrill of the playoffs and visibility, In today's market, college football post-season is all about revenue. Few FCS schools are able to draw. I'm not sure the numbers but even though New Hampshire, North Dakota or South Dakota, etc have killer programs, who cares, even if it is a championship game?

More practice time should be a consideration though.

Chick said...

Columbia doesn't have the gumption to get out of the Ivy League ....hell, it doesn't even have the gumption to compete within the Ivy League, which is governed by eight old farts. The only hope is to replace our old fart with someone who gives a damn about sports and school pride and fun, and will demand change. It all goes back to the U's President. Only he can push for the improvements listed above. How does Dianne Murphy really affect anything? She can't do anything without Bollinger's approval, and he doesn't give a damn about improving sports. As for Robin Harris, why is she even mentioned?
Is she anything except a clerk for the Presidents?

Big Dawg said...

Chick

Once again, I think you have nailed it. We have (and have for at least 50 years) an abdication at the top re sports.

WOF said...

Great post Chic!

Chick said...

Thanks, WOF. Just trying to get to the bottom line of this huge problem. And Big Dawg, it goes back further than 50 years, which was approximately your time in college and on the team. After Dwight D. Eisenhower left, nobody at the top has really given a damn. The steep decline began after him. Almost incredible but true.

Grant's Tomb is practically on campus, and Grant was
President right after the Civil War when Columbia began playing football--second football game ever played, CU-Princeton. When Bollinger kills Lion football, they should bury it in Grant's Tomb.