Columbia vs. Penn at the Polo Grounds, 1920
There's no denying everything has lined up to make this Saturday's Homecoming vs. Dartmouth the biggest Columbia game, home or away, in many years. I'll release my Ivy Power Rankings later in the week as always, but SPOILER ALERT, these two teams will come in at #1 and #2.
It's too early to start talking about where the 2024 Lions rank among our all-time teams. You have to see a full season first to do that. But I will make four comparisons that I think are important to note even at this early stage:
1) The three other Columbia teams from the Ivy League era (1956-present) that were in this similar position were the 1961, 1996 and 2017 Lions. The '61 Lions shared the title with Harvard and the '96 and '17 teams both finished 8-2 for the season and second in the Ivies.
The '61 team lost its second Ivy contest of that year in a heartbreaker vs. Princeton at Homecoming. The Lions would play two huge games back-to-back on the road after that and they netted wins over Yale and co-champion Harvard in those matchups. I guess you could say the biggest game of that season was the win over Harvard, but that was only known in hindsight.
2) The 1996 team had a huge game against Dartmouth in Hanover all lined up, and then lost the game the week before at home vs. Princeton. The game vs. the Big Green was still basically for the Ivy title, but the loss to the Tigers took the air out of it a little. Oh... and then Dartmouth proceeded to thrash the Lions 40-0.
3) The 2017 Homecoming game against Penn, which resulted in the most thrilling win of the century so far for the Lions, was indeed a big deal. But Penn was not the top team in the Ivies at the time like Dartmouth is now. It was not the #1 vs. #2 matchup between the only two teams still undefeated in the conference like this one will be.
4) The 1996 and 2017 teams won a lot of games by the skins of their teeth. The '96 wins over Harvard and Penn were miraculous and Homecoming that year was in a monsoon vs. a non-league opponent! The 2017 team pulled out very narrow and somewhat lucky wins over Princeton, Penn, and Dartmouth that season as well. This 2024 team has been the better team on the field every week. None of the wins have been lucky, and the one loss was quite unlucky and also was played without CU's stellar new starting QB. Meanwhile, this Dartmouth team is a better opponent than the teams Columbia beat in 2017, including the Big Green team that year too.
So this is the BIG ONE. If you haven't come to a Columbia game in a long time, this is a chance that doesn't come along too often. I know there's going to be a concerted effort to pack the place with the 2017 hashtag #cramKraft making a comeback on social media. I wholeheartedly support these efforts.
WARNING: The rest of this post may not be suitable for many readers. I don't recommend it to everyone:
I'm not doing partisan politics on this blog, (there's plenty of that from me on my many other platforms as a lot of you know), so the following is just an appeal against insanity at CU and an appeal for what is good about our community: As much as what's happening on the Columbia campus has broken my heart, the conduct of the STUDENT ATHLETES has been stellar. Don't just compare their decent behavior, but also their ability to showcase their maturity and articulation. Take any football player interview this season and compare it to the incoherent nonsense coming from student protesters and some faculty. I'm happy to stand with these players who represent the best Columbia still has to offer.
I know many of you feel the same ambivalent way about Columbia as I do, and I encourage you to make a big showing of what you DO support at Homecoming. Otherwise, the frauds masquerading as academics at CU will destroy this university and many others along the way. I have cut off my giving to the university accordingly, and while I realize money is fungible and my ticket money is indirectly supporting this nonsense I'd say it's VERY indirectly.
But I have been wearing my Sid Luckman jersey to every game this year with my Israel t-shirt underneath. It's a pride thing, especially at home games played at a stadium named after a distant relative of mine, and on a field named for Bob Kraft. IYKYK.
Of course EVERY Ivy school has discredited itself morally and intellectually since October 7, 2023, so there's no point in thinking anyone is innocent at the top. But the student athletes league-wide are not the problem in any way.
Oh, and by the way: Why not "suddenly schedule" more football practices right on campus to discourage the illegal, urban terrorist encampments that so denigrate our Alma Mater? Just for show every other day or so?
75 comments:
Thanks Jake. I trust the staff keeps the guys in the moment, literally 1 play at a time. And, until Saturday, 1 rep at a time. What color should we all wear to the game?
Well said Jake, well said. I hope Pilling will have ample security at the game in case these dirtbags try to disrupt the occasion.
Agree with you fully, Jake. At this point in time, I take no pride at all at being an alumnus .of both Columbia College and Columbia Law School. In fact, I am ashamed of being a graduate of both schools. However, I am indeed very proud to say that I am a former Columbia athlete.
As a fellow CC and CLS alum I think it will be easier to turn around the law school than the college.
Yes, it should be easier to turn around Columbia Law School because of its smaller enrollment, but how can you change anything given the notoriety of the left-leaning Clooneys?
Jake, let me also commend you for the excellent post, including part one and part two. See you at the festivities and at the game. I can’t wait to see your power ratings. I’m not sure if you will surprise us by putting the Lions as number one. But my guess is number two given that we did lose one. But Dartmouth did escape with a couple.
And you all did see that Chase Goodwin was named the Ivy League offensive player of the week, with Bryson Canty, Anthony Roussos and Hugo Merry all receiving honorable mention.
You have too much faith in CU Law. That place is a cesspool.
Shoutout to the 1st place Columbia Women's Soccer Team. 4-0-1 in Ivy play.
Navy blue
Hugo Merry did better than honorable mention. He was named Special Teams Player of the Week, meaning that Columbia was awarded two out of the four Ivy Player-of-the-Week awards—Goodwin and Merry.
Fire the following 4 professors and we will be on the path to sanity: Katherine Franke, Joseph Massad, Rashida Khalidi, Joseph Howley. Let the sue, a lot of CLS alums would defend the case pro bono.
Dumb error on my part. Thanks for catching that and congratulations to Hugo who has been so reliable this season and integral to our success. See you on Saturday!
Classy post, asshat.
I should have trademarked “asshat!”
Glad to see the shoutout to our women's soccer team. I have been following Columbia Women's Soccer Program for the last several years and have been very impressed by the team's development into one of the top teams in the nation. Columbia has a terrific coaching staff led by Head Coach Tracey Bartholomew. Very smart and a terrific recruiter. Coach Bartholomew is very similar to our women's Basketball Coach Meagan Griffith. Bright future for both of the aforementioned.
I’ve gotten to know Megan since she returned to Columbia. She 100% the real deal + the full package. We’re lucky to have her and it’s terrific to have an alum coaching our women’s bball team.
Kamala Harris has made it clear that she does NOT support women college athletes. If she is elected, the federal government will force women college teams to recruit "men." That will quickly cause an upheaval in women college sports and the eventual end of women college sports.
Can you provide a link to this claim. I am also horrified by the inclusion of "Trans" people in girls sports but I did not know Harris had this position.
I distinguish between the College, which I will not support until changes at the top and admisssions are made, and athletics, which I will continue to support. As Groucho once said, let’s have a college which the football team can be proud of. (I think that was in Horsefeathers, where Groucho played a college president).
Sooooooo can we now talk about tailgating?
Excellent point. While President Biden has clearly supported the extensive revisions of Title IX to compel colleges to include "men" in women sports, regardless of their birth gender, that doesn't necessarily mean that Vice President Harris agrees with him. In fact, my understanding is that she and her running mate, Tim Walz, both support having tampons placed in men's bathrooms which suggests that they see in the future a similar corollary opportunity for "women." participating in men's sports. However, I do agree with the notion that a Harris Administration will not be as supportive of Men and Women College Athletics as a Trump Administration.
Jake's impressive blog has been ..just an astounding gift to all of us...thanks Jake ...as to Columbia ..I am with Bob Kraft and Jake ..I am not giving a penny to Columbia till I see ..some changes ...letting a liberation sukkah be set up is insane...The School has acknowledged they failed Jewish students ..and the Congress has begun a great review ..Claudine Gay is gone ..and so is Minoche...Armstrong has an impressive resume ..but she and the Board need to step up ..asap..like now...anyone celebrating Oct 7 needs to be gone ..
Our Columbia football program is a gem...the coaching staff has been impressive ..a team of great coaches for sure.
The athletes have been great too ..I went to my first game in 1964 ..a while ago...salute to the coaches and players.. I was on the Board of Visitors of the College ...and have been a committed active alum ...hoping the Board can step up ...and of course...we have some faculty who have to go ..I don't care if they are tenured...someone needs to retire many ..our student athletes are surely talented ..and women's basketball ...I am hoping will have another great year...what a coach we have...!!!!!!!!!!!! Lions beat Dartmouth ..then again I have always thought Columbia would win ..so my record of predicting results has been imperfect...for those who are going ..enjoy the game!'
And do speak up ...no anti semitism on the Columbia campus..
And the campus should not be closed ..open up the campus now...and have good security ...and cancelling commencement last year was a disgrace...
Go Lions...!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree, this is an unmatched football blog in the Ivy League (maybe Bruce from Dartmouth's BGA - "Big Green Alert" is close). However, you should all be aware that this site is now censored. If you have an opposing point of view, your post will be deleted. I read something earlier today that was presenting an interesting (and different) point of view on the topic of the campus and the administration and it was miraculously deleted. I'm sure that this comment will be deleted as well. Since this site will be filtered with a very thin narrative, I will be signing off the Blog after twenty-five years of supporting the program and Jake. I wish you all well and Go Lions!
Wow! Horrified?! How big an issue is this? There must be hundreds of trans women participating in ncaa women’s sports. Good thing Jake reintroduced politics to this forum at that the right time.
Jake you wouldnt be a supporter of limiting free speech would you? Please dont rope my son and his teammates into your very one-sided POV. One can be against all anti-semitism and also be against indiscriminate harm to civilians
Two more terrific players committed to the Lions yesterday one from upstate New York and the other from Oklahoma. They both are going to make an impact at Columbia.
Details?
Our sophomore quarterback, Chase Goodwin, is very impressive--talented all around player.
Given our ability to move the ball well on the ground and thru the air, defending Columbia is no easy task.
How about at least 3 FY players getting playing time on a defense loaded with juniors and seniors?
Love that onsides kick call against Penn. Didn't work this time, but will the next time.
If test for Oline. Dart front seven, per usual, are very good
Big test
It's not "...indiscriminate harm to humans" for Israel to defend itself against Hamas. Six members of my family served voluntarily in the United States Army and Navy in World War II. They all volunteered for service after Pearl Harbor. Many young Americans died in combat in World War II. Every country including, of course, Israel, has a right to defend itself when attacked.
it is a BLUE out game, Columbia Blue
For those who’ve watched Dartmouth, what would you say is our best plan of attack on offense? I’m guessing Penn prepped heavily for our ground game, only for Goodwin to come out firing, which took them a bit by surprise. Do you go back to trying to establish the run early? Continue to mix it up? I like adding play action on occasion.
If your son is on the Columbia Football Team, I would remind him that during World War Ii, many Columbia athletes volunteered for combat after Pearl Harbor.
Major League Baseball athletes by the dozen volunteered for service in World War II after Japan's "indiscriminate" sneak attack on the United States at Pearl Harbor.
I wouldn’t mind adding some QB draws to the gameplan. But maybe with Freeman so that Goodwin doesn’t get hurt?
Regretfully, I would be paraphrasing the piece and I would do it an injustice. The piece was in opposition to Jake's political point of view and he deleted it.
Well said!
Nothing new about the "indiscriminate harm to civilians" accusations. Words like that have been used by aggressors for centuries. After World War II, the Nazis even accused the United States of indiscriminately bombing churches.
"I went to my first game in 1964.....". Get the hell out of here you old coot.
What about bringing back the wishbone?
What about the option?
what is happening on this post thread? Taking all the fun out of football adding politics to the blog. Let's look forward to making Dartmouth LITTLE green Sat.
Idiot!! hope ur kid isn't as dumb as u
Jake posted “ WARNING: The rest of this post may not be suitable for many readers. I don't recommend it to everyone: ” and HE changed the dynamic of this thread/site. He opened Pandora’s box. So if you disagree with his politics, he delete you. That’s not unbiased journalism, that’s partisan censorship.
This blog is not a government entity and thus is not subject to any free speech principles. Jake can moderate it any way he wants, it’s a private channel of communications. He can bar you or me or both from his blog. The allegation that the Israelis are committing “indiscriminate harm” has been repeatedly discredited by non biased observers. It is an anti-Semitic blood libel whether you understand that or not. People who fight in civilian areas, among civilians, in, under and around civilian structures are responsible for civilian deaths so long as there is proportionality. If you want to find indiscriminate harm, then look up the firebombings of Dresden, Tokyo and numerous other Japanese cities even before we dropped the first and second bomb on Japan.
Thank those Navy guys for me and the millions who benefitted from the defeat of the Nazis and Japanese warlords. Israel is fighting modern day Nazis even as we post.
My point here is that any American so labeling as wrong Israel’s acts of self-defense against barbarians using civilians as shields who doesn’t publicly condemn the WW2 bombings to defeat those enemies is … invondistent
Total nonsense. This is a private blog. He can run it anyway he wants. He can delete me, you, anyone. And he certainly doesn’t need to platform antisemitic blood libels.
Since when is killing people who want to kill you controversial. It's like football but for real.
Re: free speech - sorry if my reference to the great Elon eluded you
You refer to MAGats no doubt
Time for me to go. Enjoyed Columbia football Did not enjoy hearing from jagoff commenters here.
And there it is... if you show ANY empathy toward the the civilians of Gaza you are deemed an anti-semite. Am I reading that incorrectly? I have no doubt this will be deleted as well.
First of all, Jake touts himself as a "journalist", and by all indications from his CV he is. Now you want to selectively hide behind the curtain of a "private blog". You can't have it both ways. Again, selective censorship.
Yes you are obviously reading it incorrectly. Empathy is totally appropriate. It’s not antisemitic to express sympathy for Gaza’s civilians. It is antisemitism to accuse Israel of indiscriminately responding to the barbarism perpetrated against it. It is demonstrably false, and such people Shoukd stop being Hamas’ useful idiots.
And there it is, your distortion of what I wrote. It is not antisemitic to express sympathy, empathy for Gazan civilians. Hamas launched barbarism against Israel having built tunnels as large as the NYC subway system and not one shelter for civilians and then waged war from civilian areas so that their useful idiots can claim Israel is being indiscriminate when it defends itself. It is a tragedy for all its victims where ever they are. is antisemitic to accuse Israel of indiscriminately harming civilians. It is a falsehood.
And I’ll chime in here. I prefer exchanges about Ivy football. Perhaps we should revisit the power rankings, and we could even discuss the attendance at both the league and the non-league games this past weekend. 2970 at Franklin Field, 2573 at Dartmouth, 4173 at Princeton and you can check the rest. Gorgeous fall weekend and people have many other choices, interests, priorities. It’s got to be somewhat disappointing to play before small crowds in several of the cavernous stadiums in the Ivy League. Much more invigorating at Wien Stadium, even with 3500 to 5000. Nonetheless, I think we will top 10,000 for homecoming and I plan to encourage some classmates to come out for the festivities. Expect the Dartmouth side to be filled mostly. Dartmouth and Cornell over the years have often had very large crowds.
To the poster referencing Jake the “journalist:” it doesn’t matter what Jake calls himself, this is his blog. It’s not me having it both ways, it’s you trying to do so. If you believe in free expression, you have to let persons have the freedom to communicate the way they wish to subject to certain universally applicable limits set by govt like banning child pornography. Other than that, telling Jake what he can and cannot allow on his blog denies him his freedom. You don’t like how he is managing his blog, you can set up your own. You have no legal right to be heard on his blog and that is not censorship. Stop throwing around terms you don’t understand,
I used to enjoy this site for info and updates on Columbia football. Columbia fans, alums, parents have few places for useful commentary and this isn't it anymore. Glad I'm not a HS football player or parent looking for a cool Columbia football blog because this forum sucks ass. Bunch of shitheads.
You are projecting.
Nice article on Joey Giorgi in Columbia Spectator
Great article. Great story of perseverance. Thanks for sharing.
Anyone have info on the new recruits from Okla..,and N.Y.?
Freeman doesn't necessarily run the ball well. Hard, yes.
If you could get banned for stupidity, you would be banned.
link next time, please.
They are both outstanding athletes with blazing speed (4.4/40). The player from Suffield Academy is a running back with breakaway ability. He reminds me of Columbia rb great Dante Miller. The player from Oklahoma is a very athletic wide receiver. Both or these young men should thrive in Coach Smith's wide open offense.
Or you could just go to the Columbia Spectator website and do a search, which might cost you all of 45 seconds.
Names of new recruits so we can learn as much as you?
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