columbia’s surprising football team now finds itself on a losing streak, sadly familiar terrain. the ivy title that had been within their grasp just two weeks ago still beckons, but can be captured only with complex, multilateral assistance. first, someone must deal yale its second loss. princeton, licking its wounds from a close fought loss to pennsylvania, awaits with its potent offense and is capable of dropping the elis. harvard then visits the yale bowl for “the game” and will not yield easily. so the bulldogs’ path to an outright championship is challenging. a single loss in those remaining games gives the lions hope for a shared title, assuming a road victory over cornell, still smarting from a 10 – 0 road loss to dartmouth. the lions finish at wien stadium on the 18th against a hapless brown squad. win two while yale loses one and the lions tie for the title with the bulldogs. win two while yale loses two and the lions own the league – if harvard and dartmouth also lose at least one game. some sort of messy shared title seems the lions best hope right now, but only if they can rediscover the offensive efficiency that marked their first six games. this past saturday, the light blue intercepted three passes in the first half, and four overall, against harvard but only managed a measly seven points off these turnovers. that generosity left the door open enough for the cantabs, despite being outpossessed for a full thirteen minutes, to push it wide for a 21 -13 win. cornell, offensively challenged but defensively stout, will test the lions’ resiliency and the coaching staff’s capacity to rebuild quickly the confidence of a previously high flying crew that has now lost two straight. we trust the boys will fight off the centrifugal force of their tailspin and remain relevant another week.
as the gridders wind down their unexpected campaign, our attention shifts to the very young lion men’s basketball team that tips off their campaign friday evening against the powerful, sixth ranked, villanova wildcats. five years ago, a lion crew led by maodo lo, grant mullins and alex rosenberg dropped nova on its home court by almost twenty points. that surprising outcome might be cited as the launching point for the excitement that surrounded kyle smith’s squad for the next several seasons. we will be flabbergasted if coach engles’s team can keep the game close tomorrow. the cats have won four straight big east titles and are favorites for a fifth. they are led by nba ready junior jalen brunson who averaged 15 ppg last year and should top that this season. brunson is aided and abetted in the back court by mikal bridges, phil booth and donte devincenzo, a billy cunningham look alike whose smooth game also evokes reminiscences of that all time baller from queens. backing up these very capable upper classmen will be true freshman collin gillespie, last year’s philadelphia high school player of the year. that sparkling rotation of guards will be balanced by redshirt freshman omari spellman working down low. the 6′ 9″ spellman, who has dropped 55 lbs in the last year getting ready for battle might prove the best big man on the main line since howard porter, almost 50 years ago. the wildcats have grown accustomed to success, winning virtually nine of every ten games they have played over the last four seasons, going a heady 129 -17. we pray it won’t get ugly in philly tonight.
whereas villanova’s dapper skipper jay wright will trot out an experienced crew, columbia’s coach jim engles will be guiding a very young team. the lions will be led by sophomore mike smith who emerged as the light blue’s leader during his successful debut season. the diminutive chicagoan averaged 14 ppg so the lions need him to score, but all those nova guards will force him to work like heckfire on defense. smith’s two primary assistants will be the senior duet of kyle castlin and nate hickman. the uber athletic hickman was hottest early last season and coach engles could really use a similar start from nate. messr castlin demonstrated some first rate offensive skill during his frosh season, but was less efficient as a sophomore perhaps because of the foot problems that would cost him his entire junior campaign. rehabbed and eager, we hope kc will pressure nova off the dribble and from outside. this trio will be complemented by junior power forward lukas meisner and second year patrick tape up front. we hope that 6’11” junior shane eberle will finally be healthy enough (after two years on the sideline) to bring some of his bulk to bear in the paint. all these vets will be joined by seven freshman. first among these youngsters (at least in terms of allgame’s eager anticipation of his debut) is four star recruit jaron faulds. the 6′ 10″ power forward from holt, michigan is the most highly regarded player to choose columbia in recent years. the wolverine averaged 17 ppg while grabbing 12 boards and blocking four shots nightly. the wildcats will put young faulds to the test early at both ends of the court. we will also be looking for faulds’s classmates – 6’6″ myles hanson from bucolic chaska, minnesota. hanson averaged 24 ppg while grabbing 10 boards and dishing 3.5 assist nightly as a high school senior. randy brumant arrives in manhattan from texas via the kent school where he garnered all new england 1a accolades. allgame also looks forward to the early work of tai bibbs, another chicagoan, who averaged 26 points last year. he looks explosive on his recruiting tape as do his classmates who must now succeed at the next level.
so the football team faces a must win game and the hoopsters step up to a daunting challenge as autumn turns chilly. gird them loins lion fans!
peace out and d up,
paulie b