Joey Falcone
My favorite Columbia sports story of the last five years has
to be the decision of Afghan war veteran Joey Falcone to transfer to Columbia’s undergrad School of General Studies and
walk on the baseball team.
And it’s a story that’s still very much alive as the
27-year-old Falcone has two more seasons at CU ahead of him.
The fact that his story is unique is part of the problem, as
it exemplifies Columbia’s obvious lack of desire to improve its varsity sports
teams.
GS is an honorable institution at Columbia. And in recent
years it has become even more honorable as more and more Iraq and Afghan war
vets are enrolling in the school. Perhaps the best thing Columbia has done in
the last 50 years is matching the US government's tuition contribution for veterans. For a very
big numbers of vets, going to GS is tuition free.
Even before this policy went into effect, many of us started
calling for Columbia coaches to use GS as a way to reach out to potential
varsity athletes coming out of the military. Now with Falcone’s success story
well-documented we’re STILL not seeing our recruiters using this avenue at all.
GS, whether it’s for veterans or not, is an excellent and honorable way for
Columbia to start leveling the athletic playing field in the Ivies. I remain at
a loss for why we’re still ignoring this avenue.
Childress’ Brother
Lost… but maybe not for Good
GS is also a perfect place to deposit promising transfers.
It’s been done before, but still not nearly enough.
One player who should have been on Head Coach Pete Mangurian’s
radar at least a year ago was West Virginia QB Ford Childress. Ford is the
brother of graduating senior Wells
Childress, who was a transfer from Texas A&M.
Ford has just transferred to a junior college after running
into some difficulties early on at WVU. But I still believe in him and his
potential, (he comes from a really great family), and he should have been a
prime transfer target. GS could still be a landing spot for him next year if we’re
smart.
Are we?
24 comments:
I just looked up and read a bit on Ford Childress. If he bumped heads with his coaches at WVa, imagine the problems he would have with Pete. He is better off in his home state with the good ol' boys.
A little player revolt is just what the doctor ordered... but in all seriousness, Childress will mature. He's a good bet to do that thanks to his family.
Jake, heavy reliance on older GS students will put us at odds with the league. Because the admissions standards at GS are quite lax, it will also lead to significant issues about bringing in ringers and students who do not meet general Ivy academic standards. And while I strongly support our veterans, I do not think this is a panacea.
It's not a panacea, and the key will be not to overuse this practice. I'd say 1-2 players per year max. As far as being "at odds with the league," I say bring it on. Harvard is definitely doing something funky with basketball for 5-6 years now. Penn uses Wharton to its advantage. Cornell has the AG and Hotel schools. It's time we used our natural advantages a bit.
I think that Wharton is harder than Arts & Sciences, both on admissions and on coursework. It is true that Penn uses Wharton to its great advantage, but that is because no other Ivy has a comparable undergrad business school. As far as Harvard basketball, the only information I have seen is that Harvard has by far the lowest ranked basketball team in the Ivies, based upon the criterai which are applied by all 8 Ivy Schools.
Jake, if you don't have any communications with the AD, how do you know that they're not looking into GS?
Jake, Parker Thome is still listed as Parker "Thorne."
They haven't landed anybody in GS, look at the roster. To be consistant, this was the same argument with Norries. The point is to look at the success with the baseball team. Why can't we grab 1-2 players who want to transfer to an Ivy? Jake's been an advocate for this program (for ALL athletics) for years. The point is that the AD should promote it!
Seems to me that when you're starving to death, you don't get picky about what's in the sandwich. If GS can offer some talent, or be a back door, we go for it as long as we stay within the rules.
What's the debate about? The NCAA grade reqs still apply. Are we that noble?
Exactly. I love how we negotiate against ourselves all the time to talk ourselves out of doing something new and aggressive. IF, (sorry RLB, I just like the CAPS sometimes), and only IF the other Ivies lodge some kind of formal complaint should we even spend a moment more on worrying about what they'll say or do. Matriculated GS students are eligible to play varsity sports and have on several occasions in the past. The last GS player for football was the very good All Ivy honorable mention DB Adam Mehrer. No one complained. Great guy, etc.
Our Admin.loves to be the poor relative that sits on the folding chair at the corner of the table. Or maybe they just hate football.
Does anyone have any insight into how the Ivy AD powers that be manage themselves? Maybe one of Jake's archived blog entries describes this. I cannot locate the conference athletics bylaws or a constitution online. They must meet at least annually or convene by conference calls to discuss issues. There are undoubtedly understandings among them and items they have mutually decided not to alter (no playoff participation, etc.). I would be curious how they treat football specifically or if it is just 1 of several athletics items on an agenda they just treat as business formal.
In fact, I'm thinking out of the box here, why not a major in GS like "sports management" or "philosophy of pass defense".
Bottom line, we have a huge potential pipeline of legit CU students who aren't competing against future brain surgeons. If they meet NCAA guidelines, why can't they play?
There are league rules which include banding for admissions for athletes. That's why we can't just look to NCAA requirements.
How about a shout out for men's' BB in winning two in a row after being robbed by the call that will live in infamy against Harvard? And how about coming out on Sunday for the Yale game!
Big shoutout, Old Lion. And if our Admin will stand up to the league office et al. re refereeing, maybe a title or a real run for one next year.
Yes, there are league rules but why can't they be changed? Is it just coincidence that CU football went to hell after the " official " Ivy League came into being?
Very nice win by Lions today (Sunday) over Yale. Brings
them to 17-10....should be 18-9 without refs' steal in Harvard game, but they've bounced back well and 17-10 is very respectable.
I hope Admin won't let Smith be lured away. His players show improvement from one year to the next, and current group should peak next season.
Jake or anyone, I heard a couple of very good recruits will arrive then too. Any details? It would be great to see them contend for the title.
18 01/28/14
Great job by the hoop team! How have they done with getting a BIG MAN? The archbishop Malloy guard is supposed to be good! but do that have any transfers?
Chick, we are getting at least two outstanding prospects, Kyle Castlin and C.J. Davis, both all-staters, and Noah Daoust (spelling?) from Canada is another good one at 6'8". The talented younger brother of CO may also be on the way, and others have been mentioned. At this point it's not hard to predict that in 1-2 years we can be gunning for the title.
Kudos to BB re Yale. And I agree that we have legit title hopes next year. Fingers crossed.
Not to keep beating the same sad drum, but isn't it sad that after 46 years we finally have BB title hopes again? This is the Columbia problem; we settle for less than mediocrity because that is what we have become accustomed to.
Because it isn't just football that is our problem, it's athletics in general. Why aren't we a contender every year, or every other year. Why is it half a century for BB, and forever for football?
There's a systemic, institutional problem here that cries out for a solution.
Amen, Big Dawg. It'll be great to win titles in fb and bb, and we will, and we'll enjoy them. The danger is that the
institutional reaction will be, OK, now we can go back to asleep for another 50, 60 years.
And great schools shouldn't have step-children, either.
The so-called minor sports aren't inferior, and have great athletes. We're doing well in some--baseball, swimming, tennis, fencing, track/cross country for example--but all should contend, like women's bb, softball, m ans w soccer, lacrosse, etc.
Don't forget squash. Both men's and women's teams are hovering around the top 10.
Actually, while as result of football, it is "de riguer" to put down Dianne, we have quite a few teams that are doing very well, and sometimes we flood the news with wins across the board. Let's be fair and objective, gents.
alawicius, I believe I have seen more than one list in which CU ranks dead last in overall Ivy W/L%, championships, etc... I believe we come in last nearly every year..
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