Set Your Watches

After no night games in 2006, Columbia will go under the lights twice in '07


The few remaining Columbia games that were "TBA" as far as kickoff times go are no longer TBA, see below:

Sat, Sep 15 Fordham at Bronx, N.Y. 6 p.m.

Sat, Sep 22 MARIST Lawrence A. Wien Stadium 12:30 p.m.

Sat, Sep 29 Princeton * at Princeton, N.J. 4 p.m.

Sat, Oct 06 Lafayette at Easton, Pa. 6 p.m.

Sat, Oct 13 PENN (Homecoming) * Lawrence A. Wien Stadium 1:30 p.m.

Sat, Oct 20 Dartmouth * at Hanover, N.H. 12:30 p.m.

Sat, Oct 27 YALE * Lawrence A. Wien Stadium 12:30 p.m.

Sat, Nov 03 HARVARD * Lawrence A. Wien Stadium 12:30 p.m.

Sat, Nov 10 Cornell * at Ithaca, N.Y. 1 p.m.

Sat, Nov 17 BROWN * Lawrence A. Wien Stadium 12:30 p.m.

It's interesting that after no night games last season, Columbia will play two games under the lights at Fordham and at Lafayette. They'll also probably have to fire up the lights at Princeton for the second half with that 4pm start.

The opener at Fordham will be interesting, as we'll probably have to wait longer than every other team in the league to get the 2007 season started. I say "probably" because just about every other Ivy team still hasn't listed the official start times for many of their games. Dartmouth is the only other school that seems to take their fans' time seriously!

Hopefully, the weather in NYC that night will be nice, and there will be no need to delay the kickoff any further because of lightning, which was the case in 2005.

There are some advantages to playing the game at night at Rose Hill. When the weather's nice, getting to Fordham on a Saturday can be pretty difficult as people flood into the local parks and the Bronx Zoo. In 2003, I left plenty of time to get to the game, but missed most of the first quarter as Pelham Parkway was crammed with cars filled with people who seemed more interested in chatting up the folks hanging out in the grassy median than driving. Some people have recurring nightmares about being late to final exams. I have a recurring dream that I'm stuck on Pelham Parkway and missing an entire game!

I will dedicate a special post in the future to avoiding the treacherous and confusing directions you get from the Fordham website and mapquest for Jack Coffey Stadium. The whole problem is remembering to bear right AFTER the Bronx River Parkway underpass. Doing it too early dooms you for a while.

But by the evening hours, the local streets clear out. Of course, getting to Fordham under any circumstances is difficult and it makes the trek to Baker Field look like child's play. And street parking is easier to find at night in the area, but if you have out-of-state plates I suggest you use the regular Fordham lot or one of the parking garages.

The payoff is that Fordham's campus is really nice, and the stadium doesn't have a bad seat, (good views I mean... the aluminum bleachers do take a big toll on your butt after a while).

All in all, be thankful the game at Fordham is a night game as the benefits outweigh the inconveniences.

I like the later kickoff at Princeton as well. It's a nice change after the 2005 game that was blisteringly hot and became very difficult to sit through as the Tigers routed us badly.

In week 4, Columbia travels back to Lafayette for another 6pm game at the beautifully rennovated Fisher Stadium. Part of me really wishes I could enjoy seeimg more of this new facility in the daytime, but I suppose I can get there early. It might be nicer for the players that this game is at night, so the 90 minute trip from the city doesn't have to begin so early in the morning.

The rest of the start times are pretty straightforward, with the only other slight quirk being the usual one-hour home game delay for Homecoming. A lot of work goes into putting up those tents and getting that carnival set up for the kids, so it's nice to be able to enjoy them without rushing into the game.

Looking at the league in general, Harvard is doing something really different for its home opener in week 2 against Brown. That game is being played on Friday night, October 21st at Harvard Stadium, in what I assume is a way to show off the stadium's new lighting system. Princeton is also playing a Friday night game, (they played their first at home last season against Brown), against Cornell on October 26th.