If you’re younger than 40, you probably don’t know that
C.O.D. stands for “Cash on Delivery.” It was a payment option some businesses
used to allow on mail ordered items, usually the ones you saw on TV for $19.99.
C.O.D. was a popular way to pay for those who didn’t like to
hand over their hard earned money until they could see what they were getting.
It’s too bad we don’t have a C.O.D. options for Columbia
sports.
We’re already seeing lots of fans declaring victory before
we even play the games, something you’d think decades of losing would cure us
of… but apparently not.
Let’s start with men’s basketball, (women’s basketball is
admittedly a hopeless case this year; anything more than two Ivy wins will be a
surprise), where I’m already being told we’re a lock for at least 3rd
place in the Ivies, etc, etc.
Listen folks, it’s been 21 YEARS since Columbia even had a
winning Ivy record. Don’t you think we ought to win at least ONE Ivy game
before we coronate the coach, players, or anyone else?
By all means, go to the games. Cheer loudly. But don’t
celebrate wins until the games are won. Got it?
Tomorrow, the REAL season begins at Levien with the men
taking on a very weak Cornell team. If the Lions don’t win this game, be very,
very afraid. If they do, then it’s one down 13 to go.
C.O.D.
Now, let’s turn to the recruiting picture for Columbia
football.
There was a time when I would be amused by the inevitable, “we have an awesome class of recruits already” comments during this period when
football commitments to Columbia are coming to light.
Not anymore.
After an 0-10 season, anything short of a list filled with
5-star All-State recruits is little to get excited about.
And I have to say that while 2-3 of the recruits we know
about look promising, that’s it.
Many of these “highlight videos” are astoundingly embarrassing;
they make the players look terrible. We can only hope the true highlights were
omitted for technical reasons.
We need to bring back the JV program to help develop these
players or at least help us divide the wheat from the chaff before we throw
them on the field in varsity games.
But that won't happen.
Because that would be a good decision and Head Coach Pete Mangurian doesn't make good decisions.
The fact remains that there’s more evidence that Mangurian is trying to destroy the
football program rather than make it better. It’s always bad when a conspiracy
theory seems to have more grounding in truth than usual.
Inexperienced players are getting more playing time than
veterans. The team doesn’t even meet as a whole unit at all during the week,
only briefly on game day. Players who never started at their skill positions
even in high school are starting for the Lions and being placed above proven
veterans on the depth chart.
So even if I’m wrong and we’re assembling the best
recruiting class in decades, why exactly should we be celebrating when these
players are going to be mismanaged by the worst coaching staff anyone has ever
seen in Ivy League history?
There’s only ONE thing that should change anything about
this perception: wins.
Get some wins next fall, and then we can get excited about
this recruiting class. Until then, we heartily congratulate these players and
their families for their commitment to academics and athletics. It is a great
achievement just to be admitted.
But when it comes to cheering achievements on the field in
college, it’s C.O.D.
11 comments:
Amend Jake!
Even if you are a henchman for PM, you would have to accept that seeing it before believing it is a reasonable approach for those of us who have suffered through CU sports for years and years.
I think you're much too much Cassandra-like on men's basketball, Jake. They've played pretty darn well to date and it just seems as if you're trying to rain on this particular "parade." Can it at least wait until after tomorrow night, eh?
Also, your linkage of men's hoops was current football travails was much too much of a stretch. Even for you of late.
I must admit i'm new to following CU football(only because i now know a player). But from conversations with him(he'll be a SR. this yr)they believe in PM. You keep posting about "veterans" on the team being passed over. According to my buddy most upperclassmen from last yr and this yr have a "losing" mentality instilled from LOSING. Because of this they dont want to put in the work to get better(missing weight lifts, not working out offseason, etc.) These are the same players you want to put on the field because theyre "SENIORS", they feel entitled to play, not because they are better or worked harder. Even my buddy being a upperclassmen has distaste for his classmates that dont care about winning. So what they played alot of freshman last yr, i will imagine they play alot this yr. It will only bode well for CU in the future with PM or not. I guess you dont have a eye for talent, most of the recruits had offers from other D1 schools, not 2 or 3 either. I guess the other schools didnt watch the highlight tapes you watched. WHEN CU has a decent yr i will be back during the season to see you eat some crow :)
Jake what recruits are you excited about, which ones are you on the fence about?
I'm not going to single out any players for scorn or praise right now.
And it's not being a Cassandra to simply say we don't celebrate wins until they happen.
Just wanted to know what recruits you were excited about, no scorn or praise involved.
I like the Surge kid from Illinois. LB needs quality depth with the graduation of Brian East and Zach Ollinger. He seems to have the right mentality from what I have read. I am curious to see how he does. It's a reach for any freshman to get PT but who knows. It won't be easy to break the lineup with Mark Cieslak, Vinny Pugliese and a few other upperclassmen looking for PT.
I hope Barker speaks the truth, we all do.
So, men's BB first.
I saw the Cornell game tonite. We looked good, except we almost gave it away in the last 5 minutes blowing a 17 point lead down to 7, before coming back to win by 10. Hopefully a scare the team remembers.
But the big difference here with BB is that the team is well coached; the players know their roles and their basics, and they execute. Unlike FB. More on this later, but this is NOT a dis on the FB kids.
Here is the sad, the painful part of this description of a promising BB team. It is more of an indictment of how low we have sunk as a university in terms of athletics and in terms of expectations. Because notwithstanding the terrific effort evinced so far by BB, do you all realize we are getting stoked by the POSSIBILITY of a 3rd place league finish! This is how little we expect. That to finish 3rd is a triumph!
When CU alums and students and players get back to the point where winning records and top 3 finishes are an indication of competence and not miracles, then maybe we can start planning on some championships as well.
So briefly, third place in BB this year is laudable and I root for us to accomplish it. But it isn't a goal, just a step on the way. The best we can say is that in BB, we see that step moving in the right direction.
Now FB.
PM is not going anywhere this year. For a number of reasons already fully discussed here, he will get a 3rd year. The question is, what will determine "success", or will earn him a 4th year? Is it 3-7? 4-6? Honestly, 5-5 seems miraculous, so I wouldn't hold out for that. But we need to establish certain benchmarks so that if they are not achieved, the entire world will know that the program is a failed one. And if they are achieved, well, that's football.
The main thrust here is to demand, consistently, evidence of improvement year over year. Evidence of basic coaching skill in every game (which has not been seen), evidence of basics being executed flawlessly by the team, which is completely up to the demands and standards of the staff (again, lacking). And these are things the staff needs to teach the players.
When the FB team starts doing on the field the same basic execution as the BB team does on the court, then maybe we'll start to have some hope of competence. Maybe that will start next year. I hope so, but they have a lot farther to go than their BB counterparts.
Right on both counts, Big Dawg. But first, congrats to both men's and women's bb for sweeping their home doubleheader vs Cornell yesterday. That's a joy despite the over-all context of CU sports which gets such a bad rep from football.
It's part of our losing culture that we set such low expectations. We'll take a 3rd in bb this year and move on, but we need a title soon. Smith has raised the bar but he must finish the process. I was shocked to see a few comments in ESPN Conversation attached to the game report yesterday. Usually, it's just blank. The only memorable comment was an almost obscene one about our habit of losing or almost losing late leads.
This is a coaching issue re double teams and full- court pressure which can be repaired, especially now when we have several good ball handlers.
Re women's bb, new Coach Glance is highly experienced but inherited a woeful program. She has some good new talent that needs more upgrades quickly and like men's bb and football needs to create
an upward arc toward championships, not drudgery.
Football has been talked to death, appropriately, because it is moribund. Mangurian needs to deliver something concrete THIS year or be tarred and feathered and ridden out of town on a rail...FIGURATIVELY, progressive loonies, figuratively not literally, so don't have a stroke.
And no more letters from Lee and Dianne hyperventilating over our squash and archery triumphs. Those teams and their Lion student-athletes are fine, but they don't make up for misery in marquee sports no matter what our brilliant leaders try to peddle.
Post a Comment