It's a BIG ONE

 

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?