Get Better Craig... Fast!

(Credit: Columbia Spectator)

Okay, it looks like the story of Columbia QB Craig Hormann's ACL tear is all true and he is now recuperating from surgery on campus. I was trying to keep the element of doubt in the unconfirmed story partly to be responsible and partly because I was hoping it wasn't true.

Nothing changes from yesterday's post about Columbia's other options, although I did fail to mention some of the other QB's on CU's roster, like Jason Pyles, David Brekke, and incoming frosh Paul Havas.

Most doctors say the recovery time from an ACL tear is six months, and six months from now, it will still be two weeks before the Lions season opener at Fordham. The added challenge for Hormann is whether he'll be ready about 3 weeks ahead of that 6 month period so he can participate in summer training camp. If he can't, Columbia's coaches may want to consider buying him some extra practice time by starting another QB for the first two non-Ivy games of the season.

Any way you slice it, (and that wasn't a surgery pun), Craig Hormann is young man with a lot of weight on his shoulders right now. As he recovers from major surgery, he's also facing midterms and whatever responsibilities he'll be asked to fulfill for spring practice next month.


(Credit: Columbia University Athletics)

I've been mostly a big supporter of Craig's for a long time. I was very happy when former Head Coach Bob Shoop named him a starter as a soph in 2005, and who wasn't impressed with his super performances in the last three games of last season? I did call for him to be benched in the middle of the season when the offense was sputtering, but I'm glad no one listened to me.



(Credit: Columbia Spectator)

Run, Run, Run!

But regardless of who is playing QB for Columbia and how healthy he might be, this injury should be yet another strong bit of motivation for the Lions to improve the running game. The Columbia running attack over the last two seasons has been nothing short of an embarrassment. Again, there was some noticeable improvement in the last two games and that was a big reason why the Lions won both of those contests.

Columbia went 5-5 last season with a running game that averaged less than 70-yards a game. Imagine what a 90, or 100 yards+ average could produce!



Don't Judge a Book by its Cover... Example #243

I don't want today's post to be all about the sad injury news. So here's another lesson in humility, and reality, for a lot of Columbia students and kids at the other Ivy schools.

The cheerleader at the top of that pyramid in the picture above is a woman named Christine Herron. The picture doesn't do her justice as she is/was even prettier than that. (No, I never dated her, and we didn't actually know each other at Columbia... but it turns out we had 2-3 good friends in common).

But I knew Christine's name and face quite well during my years on campus, and I hope I'm not giving myself a free pass by saying that I don't ever remember making any snide "dumb blonde cheerleader" jokes at her expense or anyone else's. However, a lot of the people I know did... A LOT!



Well, fast forward to today and Ms. Herron is one of the leading VC tech geniuses in Sillicon Valley. Listen, I mean she really is a genius. I've been to her website a few times, and I am too much of a moron to understand more than about 40% of it. This woman is living at a level way above my pay grade. I imagine that for Ms. Herron, the "hey, look at this successful and smart blonde woman!" stories about her are just boring and basically insulting by now. But I keep hearing this kind of ignorance coming out of the mouths of current CU students... and I'm hoping some of them will see this and think again.

Obviously, there are a million stories out there like this. There are people we all thought were dumb jocks, ditsy cheerleaders, etc. based just on their LOOKS or how they were labeled publicly.


Believe me, this hits close to home for me. My best friend in high school, and still a dear friend today, was someone who everyone, including our clueless teachers, wrote off as a bit of a dummy. He is now a managing partner of a huge hedge fund and sitting on a personal fortune that's probably more than $100 million.


The CU football team is full of a lot of guys who have gone on to career and intellectual greatness that many of us could only dream of. Current Columbia Board of Trustees Chair Bill Campbell comes to mind, but there are many others.

Hey, I wasn't a college athlete or a cheerleader, and I don't idolize them either. I just appreciate them for what they do and give them the same benefit of the doubt I give everyone else when it comes to sizing up their other abilities.

So, if there are any doubting Columbia students reading this blog who still like to write off athletes, cheerleaders, or anyone else you think is beneath you... cut it out. Not only are you wrong, but you might end up blowing your chance to get a really good job working for one of those people one day!