Training Camp for Fans
Buy Your Tickets Now!
This is your mission, should you choose to accept it:
The Columbia football Lions are just about a month away from reporting to training camp, and it seems like all of them have been busy working out as much as possible since the end of spring practice back in late April.
Now it's time to do your part. Season tickets for all five Columbia home games have been available online for about two weeks now. You can buy them online here, or you can just call 1-888-LIONS-11 and talk to a live person, (they are very helpful).
Fordham has a nice campus
But there's MORE you can do. Remember, the season opener is on the "road," at Fordham on September 15th. Fordham is a little tough to get to I admit, but just give yourself some extra time and you'll be fine. You can order tickets for the Fordham game online right now or you can call (718) 817-4300. Jack Coffey Field is actually pretty nice, but the stands are only on one side of the field, and that bothers some folks. You might also want to bring along a seat cushion as the aluminum bleachers can be a little hard on the tuchus.
(That aside, the Rose Hill campus is just beautiful and a true diamond in the rough for The Bronx. I don't know is this is allowed, but it might be nice to come really early and have a picnic on the campus sometime before the game).
The point is, most Columbia fans and alums should have no trouble getting to the Fordham game, and it would be great to show some support for the team right out of the gate. Remember, the games against Fordham are for the Liberty Cup and that makes these games more meaningful.
Princeton Stadium... all that's missing here is YOU
The next road game is at Princeton, another easy jaunt for most Lion supporters. Princeton Stadium is a true palace and you don't have to be a Tiger fan to enjoy it. Columbia plays the Tigers on September 29th, but it does not look like you can buy tickets for any Princeton games yet. You can find out about ticket prices and some other details here. And keep that 9/29 date saved on your calendars. Please note that the start of that game is the unusual time of 3:30pm.
Lafayette's new showplace
After that, Columbia travels to Lafayette on 10/6. Getting to Lafayette is a shorter trip than I thought from New York City. Lafayette has just finished a series of fantastic rennovations to its Fisher Stadium home and the school has also now built a fantastic new field house and sports museum as well. Fisher Field has chairback seats too, (although I'm not sure they are available on the visitors' side), but tickets to the game with Columbia are on sale online now.
The remaining two road games are challenging trips. Getting to Dartmouth and Cornell from the New York City area is a haul. But both Hanover, NH and Ithaca, NY are beautiful spots and worth visiting, especially if you are going to support the Lions. Neither of those schools have football tickets available for sale yet, but I will alert everyone when they are.
Buying tickets isn't all you need to do. Now is the time to start planning your Columbia football trips. Find out about hotels, restaurants, other attractions, (and tell us what you learn in the comments section). Travelling to the Ivy League schools and their surrounding areas in the fall is really a nice experience and relatively cheap as travel goes if you happen to be living on the East Coast. I will try to offer some tips and other little tidbits on the away venues as the season draws closer.
Oh, and this is also a good time to let Uncle Joe and Aunt Frieda know that you're booked up on Saturdays from mid-September to mid-November and they should plan those annoying family events for another time. Better yet, invite them to come along with you!
posted by Jake @ 9:07:00 PM
10 comments
10 Comments:
Jake, has there been any movement on the timing of the Marist game? I would love to see it moved to after sundown or better yet to sunday. It would be a classy ecumenical move for Marist to consent.
This is not Marist's fault. Columbia has abandoned the night game idea for now for a variety of reasons. Hopefully, these kinds of issues will not be present in the future. I still think we can get a great crowd on the 22nd if we try hard enough.
Jake, even for those further away from the coast, economical travel can be found with good planning. Check on all the airline sites for sales. Most airlines will post them on Wednesdays. Two months ago I stumbled across $58.00 round trip air from Columbus Oh to Philadelphia on Sat mornings and a $23.00 rental car from Enterprise. So I booked four weekends immediately and two days later the fare was gone. So come on fans! Figure out the best way to get to NY and support our Lions!!
4th N Ten
4th and 10:
Excellent point. There are deals to be found and this is time to start trolling for them online and elsewhere. Like I said, this is training camp for fans!
Also, 4th and 10, please email me offline if you can, I'd like to do an interview if I could with you. I'm at novak.jake@gmail.com
In my humble opinion, a Columbia season football ticket is a very good deal, especially for large young families who live in New York City or nearby and cannot afford to pay for Giants or Jets tickets, or do not want to fight the Meadowlands traffic. Also, along with Fordham we're the only game in town. I know advertising is expensive in New York City, but it's hard to believe we can't get a few thousand locals to come regularly to Baker Field. Why not at least distribute flyers in Manhattan?
It is a good deal. And the family-friendly thing is a big key for a lot of people. By "family friendly" I mean not only the decorum of the crowd and general safety, but also the freedom and space to move around if you have antsy toddlers or babies with a lot of diaper gear.
As far as advertising goes... CU has tried in the past and some of the campaigns have been pretty good. But I've found that in New York City, the best and most effective advertising is the kind you get for free. More coverage of the team, (stemming from victories), in the papers and on the TV stations will produce a lot of interest.
I saw today on the go lions page that they are now offering a season ticket to football, mens and womens b-ball for 265 bucks. How could you not do that if your a lion fan in the city?
That's right. The $265 plan is a great deal and roughly equals the cost of one Knicks game, minus transportation.
I try not to bow before anyone else in my support for Columbia athletics(at least one football game a year every year since graduation in 67 save for one 19-month interruption while I was in Nam in the Army, 5-6 football games every year for the last 12 or so and more basketball games than that, even a few crew races!) but aren't you being just a tad over-enthusiastic in suggesting that Lions fans get their tickets "now" for some away games? I simply cannot imagine walking up at either Lafayette or Dartmouth or even Princeton and not finding seats available, after all.
Other than that, keep up the good work. This is the first time I came across your blog and I can only wish you many, many years of success.
Regards,
Richard Szathmary
Richard:
First of all, thanks for your long-time support of CU athletics and more importantly, thanks for your service to our country.
This is a very good question you raise about why I'm urging people to book now. There are two reasons:
1) If they book the trips early, and really book them with deposits or full payments, the chances they will go and not wimp out at the last minute rise exponentially.
2) While the players are busting their butts getting ready for training, the least we can do is show our early support with some ticket orders. Every little bit helps.
Thanks for writing and please visit often!
Post a Comment
<< Home