The master at work
As spring practice continues, the biggest sports story on
campus continues to be the impressive play of the baseball team which continues
to hold 1st place in the Gehrig Division and the overall lead in the
Ivy League.
The final weekend of regular season play is just ahead of us
and Columbia will play a four game series vs. Penn with two games at home and
two in Philadelphia. If the Lions can hold their divisional and league leads,
they will host the Ivy League Championship series at home the following
weekend.
I’ve written about Head Coach Brett Boretti many times before. It’s clear he’s the best coach in the Columbia
sports program , but now I think it’s become clear he’s the best coach of any
sport Columbia has seen in decades.
Make no mistake, in Boretti we are dealing with a Jack
Rohan-level genius. And he has the potential to be a Lou Little-like figure if
he sticks around.
Almost everything the other major sports teams at Columbia
have not been able to do since the 1950’s, Boretti and the baseball team have
done over the last eight years. Baseball is a consistent contender, doesn’t
collapse when top players graduate, and sticks to the fundamentals to win.
One can only hope that Boretti is being given the
opportunity to pass on his knowledge to the other coaches in the Columbia
program.
Spring Endings
We’re 11 days away from the final spring practice session on
May 4th. Clearly, there will be no “spring game” this year, but I still hope
the final session will be open to the fans and we’ll get to see some
situational scrimmages. We may get an update on that later today.
It will be hard for non-coaches to really learn much from
whatever we get to see that day, but I will be looking out for who is obviously
injured and hoping I don’t see any.
And it also will be a good idea to check out the stands as
some of the incoming freshmen and even transfer QB Brett Nottingham may be among the spectators.
The added bonus is that May 4th date could also
be the day that Columbia hosts games 1 and 2 of the Ivy League Baseball Championship
if the Lions hold their division and league leads.
That would make May 4th a very special day
indeed.
Stay tuned.
Why "clearly no spring game this year"? What have I missed? we are coming out to watch "the game", I thought.
ReplyDeleteNo Tuesday Update?
ReplyDeleteThe baseball team is great, but it is not the "biggest sports story on campus." The women's tennis team just won the Ivy title (at least guaranteed a tie) and they should be recognized as well for their incredible achievement
ReplyDeleteLets not argue about wins, they are all huge and we don't have enough of them around here. Until we achieve a collective mentality, this " department" will never climb out of this rut. The story is the players, not the coaches. Success is contagious, we need as many winners as we can get walking around this campus. In the real world, everyone doesn't get a trophy. This isn't a REC league. It's all about winning. Women's tennis, GREAT JOB", baseball, finish it.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that we think winning a title is "incredible" tells the whole story.
ReplyDeleteTuesday update was totally uninformative. Zilch on spring practice.
ReplyDeleteAnd furthermore, the first title in any sport in over two years. Hope the tide is turning.
ReplyDeleteCoach M's most recent tweet:
ReplyDeleteStart time for Sat. the 4th will depend on Baseball schedule. We will go at 6:00 pm or 7:00 pm. 62 to 98 plays, open to all. More to come.
So here is a question about the tyranny of sports: how can our excellent baseball team, which is rolling through the league, drop both ends of a doubleheader to an awful Fordham team?
ReplyDeleteThe pitching is deep enough for two weekend doubleheaders, but not for that and a midweek doubleheader. Boretti keeps his "weekend pitchers" out of midweek games, and the hitting is not strong enough to overcome a poor pitching performance. So weekday games can be hit or miss.
ReplyDeleteDartmouth lost to Slippery Rock. Teams have bad days.
ReplyDeletePenn games Fri on SideLion.
ReplyDeleteLeague digital network starts in August.
ReplyDeleteJake, your man Falcone just hit a walk off HR to give us game 1. We were down 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh and got a man on base before Falcone hit it over the center field fence.
ReplyDeletejosh martin signed by the Kansas City chiefs ..how about that.
ReplyDelete