The Beer is Back!

There is a God!

For a lot of Columbia fans and students over the age of 21, the big question this off season was not whether the Lions would improve in 2007 but whether they were going to bring back the free beer concession in the picnic area.

Well, I'm happy to announce that the beer is back! The link to the left is to the 2007 Baker Field guidelines and they include the same deal as last year about free beer before all the games.

Remember that they do regulate your intake, (I think you only get one and hour or half hour), and please leave your fake ID's at home. But they're giving out FREE BEER before the games, what could be better than that?



Derek Lipscomb at the Nike Combine in 2006 (CREDIT: Scout.com)

I'm finding out more about another one of the "non-recruited" frosh, Derek Lipscomb. Derek comes from a good football conference in Cincinnati and he recorded 16 sacks in his senior season. At 190 pounds, he may be a perfect fit as one of the spur linebackers in the 3-5-3, or he could simply bulk up just a bit and play a more pure linebacking role.

Lipscomb was also an award-winning wrestler, which is definitely looking like a very common thread in this freshmen class. I suspect Coach Wilson's background as a wrestler and a football player may have something to do with that. Wrestlers are famous for packing a lot of power without as much weight to go with it. That's a recipe for success in the Ivy League and especially at Columbia, where the Lions have rarely matched up well in the size and weight department.

Perhaps we can thank former Cincinnati Bengal great Anthony Munoz for helping to pinpoint Derek years ago as a talented athlete and student. Munoz's foundation honors the best offensive and defensive linemen in the Cincinnati area every year, with an eye on academics as well. Derek was a finalist for the top defensive lineman award two years ago.

It's looking like there's maybe a half dozen or more incoming freshmen who could have easily been admitted without the help of athletics. One of the best students on last year's team was Darren Schmidt, and he darn near was the team MVP in my book. All he did was lead the team in sacks and tackles for a loss.


Ben Gaston in 2006 (CREDIT: Scout.com)

I also have some more info on Ben Gaston, the incoming freshmen offensive lineman from rural Washington state. Looks like we beat Harvard to grab him, and Washington and Washington State would probably have put them on their teams too. And yep, he is a champion wrestler.

And here's a nice article about incoming freshman offensive lineman Tim Skalak. It's a little longer than the piece I linked to about him several weeks ago, so it's worth the read.


Where is Marcellus?

I checked out the Jacksonville Jaguars roster page today and Marcellus Wiley isn't there. Has he been cut, waived, or traded? If anyone knows, I'd be happy to find out.

As much as I'd like to see Marcellus get one or two more years in the NFL, I'd REALLY like to see him join the Columbia staff as an assistant coach. I used to watch him fire up his teammates on the sidelines and it was a sight to behold. I think he could really motivate some of those kids.

Gehrig Goes to the Hall

It's officially a baseball story, but everyone should remember that football brought Lou Gehrig to Columbia. "Columbia Lou" was inducted into the college baseball hall of fame Tuesday.


Speaking of Lou...


Crazy Thought of the Day: Can you walk from Baker Field to Yankee Stadium?

The Yanks are not looking too good this season, but sports is sports and it doesn't get more "big time" than Yankee Stadium. If you have an hour after the Columbia game on the 22nd, AND they push the first pitch in that game back a bit, (it does happen), from the current 1:05 start time, you could conceivably do this after the CU game against Marist on 9/22.

Of course, you could do this after any game if you just want to take pictures or something at the Stadium. Then you can get back to midtown via the subway.

Here are the walking directions: (thanks to Hopstop.com)


Start out going south on 10th Ave. (16.8 Minutes)
Turn left onto Harlem River Drive Ped Walkway (15.4 minutes)
Turn left onto Washington Bridge (5.4 minutes)
Turn right onto Ogden Ave (3.9 minutes)
Turn left onto W 170th St (2.6 minutes)
Turn right onto Shakespeare Ave (6.8 minutes)
Turn right onto Jerome Ave (3 minutes)
Turn left onto E 165th St (1.9 minutes)
Turn right onto River Ave (5.5 minutes)

Total travel: 3.06 miles/1 hour 1 minute