Dressed for Success

Austin Knowlin's kicks don't come cheap (Credit: Gene Boyers/Columbia Athletics)

I received an absolutely brilliant mailing from the Columbia Athletics Department yesterday. It was a letter co-signed by a number of Lion scholar-athletes, including Austin Knowlin. There were also pictures of those players in their various uniforms and the cost of every piece of their equipment pointed out with arrows. The above picture of Knowlin is the one they used. The mailing simultaneously put a human face on athletics fundraising and a dollars and cents realism to the costs surrounding the program.

Keep an eye out for the mailing, but in case you don't get it here are the costs of items they pointed out from Austin Knowlin's uniform.

Shoulder pads: $300

Helmet: $150

Game shoes: $80

Knee braces: $75

Pants: $50

Thigh pad: $10

Mouthpiece: $3


Obviously, there are some pieces of equipment they left out, but you get the picture.

So, multiply that by the 100 or so players we expect to have on the squad this season, and we're talking about $70k just to dress the team!

Please be generous and give whenever and whatever you can.