Should I Be Flattered?
Today's Columbia Spectator has a nice round up of the recruiting class so far. I say it's nice because a lot of it sounds exactly like the stuff I've written here over the last few weeks. You can check out the article here and decide for yourself:
Columbia Spectator
ON THE OTHER HAND...
I rely on the Spectator plenty for information too, and today the Spec has the scoop on the departure of offensive line coach Kris Sweet who is headed for the CFL's Calgary Stampeders. Sweet had a very tough job in his one and only season, and the OL did make some strides. But he just wasn't around long enough to know just how effective he really was.
There's not much else new for today, except there is one more committed recruit to add to our list thanks to the folks at South Florida's Sun Sentinnel Newspaper. His name is Corey Claire, and he's a quarterback from South Plantation High School.
posted by Jake @ 9:37:00 PM
22 comments
22 Comments:
Yes, you should be flattered; your reputation among the hard core is growing by leaps and bounds. whenver I read a posting by Asia Sunset on voyforums, I need to turn to your blog for reassurance. Keep it up!
Thanks so much. A lot of the posters on the VOY board are great, especially Asia Sunset. But it's one thing to love and root for your team, and another to be so blind as to not see some of the unfair advantages it has.
Who has an unfair advantage again?
Penn and Harvard mostly. But the good news is that it seems their advantages are on the wane. It's possible the other schools are copying some of their tricks or just coming up with effective countermeasures.
What is it, a recruiting advantage? A money advantage?
With Harvard, it's money and the school's name that just spreads awe across the land and probably always will.
With Penn, I'm talking about the recruiters in every sport who are much more aggressive than most other school administrators would allow. I have spoken to many parents of athletes in many sports who all say the Penn coaches never use the "soft sell" and sometimes just frighten kids into thinking its, "Penn or nothing."
Penn is absolutely the worst; NW had it right at Franklin Field when he unloaded at the Penn assistants for being bush league. But I always thought that Cornell had the biggest advantage because it puts its players in the hotel administration school. Somehow it hasn't generally translated to consistent onn the field success. but I am now beginning to believe that with the resurgence of NYC as well as our own beloved alma mater from the dark years of Sovern and Cole (yes, it has taken that long to get past those two traitors) we ar on the rise.
We're on the rise because of Norries Wilson and Lou Ferrari.
I hate to admit this ugly fact about America, but after last season I'm inclined to think that Norries would be a head coach at a much bigger program right now if he weren't a black man. The NCAA's top programs and their boosters are absolutely standing in the way of progress here and that's why even the NFL is doing much better when it comes to this. I think Columbia has lucked out big time.
Ad for Ferrari, he strikes me as someone who just likes being a teacher and mentor above all else. He was Norries Wilson's mentor at Minnesota and he worked with high school kids for years. If he wanted to be a head coach, he would be one by now. What he did with the defense last season was nothing short of remarkable.
My biggest concern about NW is frankly his health. I hope for his sake that he does something about all of that extra weight he is carrying. I would hope that somebody at P&S would step in. Yes, we lucked out in getting both NW and LF, and I agree with everything you say, but I hope for his sake as well as ours that he can do something about it. I had hesitated posting this, but your reference to his color holding hiom back probably isn't correct. ADs looking for a long term relationship take things like health into account. Why do you think a genius like Charlie Weis wasn't offered a job as a HC until he took care of his own wieght problem (which is probably a bad example because he had a botched operation and was lucky to survive; see Weis v. Mass Gen., now on trial in Boston).
I've seen Norries at some of the basketball games and I actually think he is looking better. Hey, I take being in shape very seriously myself and pray every day that people in America could see beyond the "fat jokes" and find a positive way to encourage regular exercise and better eating. But that said, we have no idea what Norries' general health situation is.
Jake, that AsiaSunset person from Penn is great at locating inofrmation on the web regarding new Ivy League football recruits. I am grateful to AsiaSunset for doing that. However, you ned to ignore his intemperate remarks regarding Columbia and the other Ivy League schools. There is no benefit to Columbia Football Fans to debate someone like Asia Sunset. He blindly accepts anything Penn as gospel. What is important is publicizing the many unique benefits of Columbia Football through your fabulous website and other media channels. With greater publicity, will come better players, higher attendance, even more fun and excitement and eventually an Ivy League Championship.
I'm not much into debating, so your comments are welcome. I do like accentuating the positive as much as possible and letting the chips fall where they may.
Columbia may not be the best place for everybody, but the upside for the career-minded and outgoing athlete is infinite. NYC is the media capital of the world, and you can bet a successful Columbia football squad would get a lot of attention here.
Asia Sunset actually isn't as bad as some of the other Penn bloggers. He is merely an unquestioning flack for Penn, but he does performa vital public service in ferreting out information. As for NW, I wish him only the best. He has done wonders in the brief time he has been with us. Same for LF, who is a defensive wizard. Now we need a new OL coach.
Can't find anything about Corey Clare.
Corey ClAIre with an "I" in the last name. All I could find was his name listed in that South Florida paper.
Shane Kelly seems like a welcome addition to the Columbia football team. His presence gives the Lions a tremendous one-two-three punch at quarterback with Craig Horrman and M.A. Olawale. The Lions will have all kinds of options with Kelly that they did not have before. Transferring from Temple to Columbia seems like a very smart move by Kelly as he will have the chance to make a major impact on Columbia Football whereas he saw very little playing time during his two seasons at Temple.
Is Shane Kelly a freshamn or a sophomore? do we have him for 2 or 3 years?
Have we been "unhooked" by Brown on one of our recruits?
I have not heard anything about it... it's possible the VOY moderator simply made a mistake.
If it were Penn I would have no doubt about what happened.
PS, as for rantings about Penn being such a great place, the admissions office has statistics which show that in cases on joint admits to both columbia and Penn and overwhelming percentage choose Columbia. Penn seems to do well with women from Long Island, however.
Shane Kelly will come in as a sophomore. This could mean M.A. will be switched to another position, but it's really too soon to tell.
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