We're just 5 days away from the annual summer Ivy Football Media Day. Usually, the teleconference is held mid-morning and the tape of the event is up on the Ivy League Sports website by the early afternoon.
I haven't been invited to participate in the call since 2010, because Columbia or some other school has to put me on the list of media people who are allowed to call in. And I understand why I'm not invited, and it's really okay.
But I do hope SOMEONE will ask Head Coach Pete Mangurian the questions he's really never been asked publicly, or at least answered.
I suspect he will skate again thanks to the combination of the ignorance of the general beat reporters assigned to the conference call, the lack of interest in Columbia in general, and the fear some of the student journalists understandably feel when interviewing an adult coach they hope to deal with for the rest of the season.
But none of the burning questions we need answered need to be asked in anger or in a disrespectful tone.
None of the questioners usually gets much time, so I would simply ask everyone on the call to consider the following three questions:
1) How can Columbia improve in any way without a much-improved offensive line? And why specifically should we think the O-line will be better this year?
2) Why are you still the only Ivy program without a JV squad? Your team looked so unprepared on the field last year, especially the younger players. Surely by the later part of the season, some more seasoning would have benefited the program, no?
3) If Columbia goes 1-9 or 0-10, do you think you'll still have your job in November?
Will anyone ask anything resembling the above questions? I have no way of knowing, but it would be great to at least have them addressed once and for all.
And I realize getting verbal answers to the questions, no matter how substantive, won't solve or prove anything.
But as some of the readers have said to me both publicly and privately, Mangurian could create a lot of needed goodwill by acknowledging the failures he's overseen and specifically telling us how he plans to fix them and with which players in which positions.
Right now, we know a whole lotta nuthin' about who are starters are, what the offense and defense will look like and what there is to be excited about for this season.
Neither Mangurian nor his few supporters out there have given us anything other than a few "rah rah" lines. That's beyond disturbing.
If we STILL don't have something real to hang our hats on after media day this coming Tuesday, then it's just another opportunity lost.
11 comments:
I'll be a broken record on this.
1. It is obvious to everyone the OL needs to be fixed. He's not ducking. Pete has said as much. How that gets done is a matter for their staff to figure out, regardless if they use upperclassmen or frosh, there is no escaping the bare reality. They will do nothing without this being resolved and getting Nottingham injured again.
2. They can't afford to have a JV. They need all hands on deck to find some playmakers. JV is for programs that have too many guys for the depth charts to handle. What is the value other than get some guys playing time they wouldn't ordinarily get.
3. They can read the writing on the wall as much as we can. Even if they keep their jobs, it has to suck being the anchor that is sinking the ship. The real question is WILL YOU RESIGN and take your feeble staff with you if the team goes winless.
1.) Like it has been said before, our O-Line is so bad that they may name a spinal cord injury after them. Poor, poor Nottingham. Maybe a Kevlar vest will help?
2.) All of the other Ivies have a JV team. Hmmm, I wonder why? Oh, that's right, they win! They must all be wrong when they use it as a development tool. And Pete's record is what again?
3.) Pete and the Staff should get their resumes updated immediately. When they go, will you go away as well Al?
I'll do my part to answer that first question about the O-line. Did you guys know that two of the starters from last year, Boniades and Ramljak, played only two games each due to injury and were replaced by Markham and Pace, neither one of whom had seen any action previously? Both of those guys are back, Boniades around 295 and Ramljak at 270 plus. Add returning starters Thomas and Lawrence, plus Pace and Markham and a host of quality 290-plus freshmen to choose from to fill the one remaining starter role and the backups, and it's not too hard to forsee improvement. We should be encouraging and optimistic and stop wagging our tongues like a bunch of harpies!
Wingman, I wrote this before when you rapped the JV and nobody contradicted me so I assume I was correct. Before the JV was killed, "all hands WERE on deck." The games, about 5 or 6, were played midweek and members who might be used were suited up and with the team on Saturday. I don't see anything wrong with a JV.....giving some action to those who mostly don't get in on Saturday, identifying some who could help, and keeping ready those who might be needed, like backup QBs, reserve kickers and whomever.
I didn't realize they could play both varsity and jr. It doesn't hurt to have the team but it's not worth bashing Pete over. Is the salient point that freshmen and some sophs need to develop and playing JV will make them better contributors? It's not like there they lost a farm system It hasn't made much difference when they had JV. The problems seem much bigger than that.
Alawicious' comment, if it's true, contains more info about our offensive line than we have been told for more than 2 years in total.
Therein lies yet another problem. I don't expect to be told everything or even 50%. But nothing was ever said about Ramljak being hurt. And Bonadies was a freshman last year, and I'm not buying that he would have made a huge difference anyway.
Wingman, I have to agree that it didn't make a whole lot of difference. Didn't hurt and was a useful tool, but in the final analysis you need the raw talent.
When you're the WORST team in the league and there's something everyone is doing BUT you... you at least have to justify your decision to buck the trend.
Well said Jake! But is LAZINESS a justification?
Yea, Pete needed to make the twitter conversations a regular thing. At least bi-monthly. It was a good first pass. I thought it was insightful. I hate twitter as product and as a company with a venomous, bitter passion. I wish them nothing but catastrophe and users of the system to fall into a giant sinkhole. So for me to say I liked a twitter conversation is borderline absurd.
With the exception of the less than 100 members of the CU football club, there is minimal communication provided to the general population or interested fans. How does this make sense?
A standard practice in sports is to engage as many potential supporters/fans as possible, before during and after the season, so that a sense of participation and ownership can be generated. How does one do this by "preaching to the choir", or only including the football club in one's info stream? BTW, this isn't a knock on the club, which contains solid, positive supporters.
I can't comprehend that the presence of Jake's blog might have any effect on this lack of openness. Doesn't make sense. One would think that factual info such as the relative weight change in the O-line, or info on who is competing for what jobs, or just the typical inane info that most fans enjoy hearing about would be easy and harmless enough to provide. It would certainly enhance the image of the staff, encourage attendance and support, and create interest in the upcoming season.
I maintain my hopes for a turn around. But rightly or wrongly, it seems as if we're seeing a siege mentality pervade, and this works against general engagement and inclusivity.
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