Friday, November 17, 2017

A Date with History

Brown Bears (2-7) at Columbia Lions (7-2)

November 18, 2017

Kickoff Time: 1:00pm

Robert K. Kraft Field at Wien Stadium, Baker Athletics Complex

Game time weather forecast: 49 degrees and cloudy, with rising chances of showers beginning at 2pm

The Line: Columbia is favored by 17 points

TV/Radio: The game will broadcast live on SNY with Eamon McAnaney and Sal Licata getting the call. If you don't have SNY, you can follow the game for free on Columbia's audio feed with Jay Alter, Shawn Fitzgerald '80, and Ted Gregory calling the game.


Leading Storylines:

1) For the first time in 46 years, and only the third time in Ivy history, the Lions come into the season finale with a shot to win a share of the league championship. A win over Brown and a Harvard win at Yale would seal Columbia's first Ivy title since 1961. The words "once in a lifetime" have merit here.

2) Barring the title implications, Columbia comes into the game with a shot to go 8-2 overall and 5-2 in the Ivies, the best the Lions have done in both columns since 1996 when they finished 8-2 and 5-2. In what's already been a remarkably positive season, a win over a weak Brown team feels essential to finish the year off right. 

Individually, sophomore WR Josh Wainwright has a good chance to break the 1,000 yard receiving mark for the season. That would be an all-time Columbia record. Senior QB Anders Hill just needs to maintain his 62% completion rate to clinch the all-time single season Columbia record in that category.

3) Brown is trying to avoid an embarrassing 0-7 Ivy record and hoping to find some shred to build on for 2018. Head Coach Phil Estes, long someone I've seen as a miracle worker at a program that got perhaps the weakest support in the league, may be coaching his final game for the Bears if they lose convincingly.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I am excited and nervous about tomorrow.
see you all at Baker ...

alawicius said...

As "Unknown" says, there is reason to be nervous about the last game. I was in the stands when, some years ago, we were leading Brown 27-6 in the third quarter and ended up losing 59-27, and that's not a typo. So let's not count our chickens and let's say our prayers. Go Lions!

Chen1982 said...

prayers answered!