Time for Our Close-Up
The Versus Network, (the people who grabbed the NHL Stanley Cup Finals broadcasts a few years back), will be airing five Ivy football games this fall including the Harvard-Yale game.
It's hard to get solid bit of information on the other four games that will be televised. We won't know for sure until the official league schedule is released, but keep an eye open for more on this and the possible changes the Versus deal could make to kickoff times.
Jake's Take: Versus may be a bit obscure to the non-hockey fans among us, but this deal gives the Ivy more national coverage. Last season, we were down to just three games on YES and Columbia was not a part of those games. Of course, I'd still love YES to cover some games as well. The more the merrier.
Selective Memory
Former Columbia head basketball coach Armond Hill is one of the assistant coaches under Doc Rivers with the world champion Boston Celtics. Hill was a star player for the Princeton Tigers in the early 80's and after his short NBA career, he came back to assist the legendary Pete Carril in Princeton.
But his Columbia years were completely expunged from this press release from the folks at Princeton late last week.
No respect.
Game of the Day (day 89)
Today's game is the 1950 upset win over Cornell at Baker Field. The heavily favored Big Red took a 19-13 lead on a touchdown with 12:31 left in the 4th quarter, but the Lions blocked the extra point and then grabbed a Cornell fumble four minutes later at the opponents' 36-yard line. Seven plays later, Howard Hansen ran it in the end zone and Al Ward's extra point was good.
Cornell did drive it all the way down to the Lions 24 after the kickoff, but two straight sacks by Bill Malone, (the same guy who blocked the extra point earlier), ended the threat and the game.
The pundits of the day blamed the upset, (Cornell had been a 14-point favorite), on the heavy rain. But the 20,000 fans in the stands who were thoroughly soaked by the final gun didn't care. Among those fans were 27 members of Columbia's 1934 Rose Bowl championship team who were honored at halftime.
posted by Jake @ 9:33:00 PM
12 comments
12 Comments:
Howie Hansen is a great guy. He was going to go to West Point but was in the stands when we upset Army in 1947 and was so turned on that he chose Columbia.
That's great news for Ivy football. Hopefully they get enough ratings out of them to get a repeat every season. There was a post on the Ivy forum site and the poster listed all five games with dates. Says the CU-Dartmouth game is a go for Oct. 25. Hope that's true.
I was told by a Columbia administrator that the Columbia - Dartmouth game on Versus is a go!!! October 25th @ 4 pm. National coverage.....excellent start.
I don't know what this game is a "great start" for, but I do know that a small network like Versus has zilch ratings. And the most enthusiastic on this website, who'd probably watch the game (if they get Versus, that is) will all BE at the game anyway.
I'm also not terribly pleased that even the Ivy League will cave in to broadcasters and set a new kickoff time. (As if this game is going to compete with those who'd otherwise watch, say, Florida-Auburn.) And I'm not convinced that alumni from either Columbia or Dartmouth in other parts of the country will actually tune in. The reality of Ivy football these days seems to be quite otherwise.
According to a poster on another site.
The complete Versus Ivy League Football schedule for 2008:
10/11 Cornell vs. Harvard
10/25 Dartmouth vs. Columbia
11/1 Brown vs. Penn
11/15 Princeton vs. Yale
11/22 Yale vs. Harvard
Cathar:
I see where you're coming from, but I think any publicity and coverage of this kind is good.
I have to admit that I got hooked on Ivy football when I saw a game on TV. It was a PBS broadcast of a Columbia game and I remember thinking to myself: "Hey, the school my friends and I are breaking our necks to get into also has a football team with a cool-looking stadium!"
For potential recruits, the exposure, (even if you think it's not the best), can be crucial.
As far as changing times... nothing is official yet, and I think variety can be fun.
Believe me, this is good news in that Versus is available in more homes and the network is covering more games.
Sometimes more is... more.
Cathar, is it that you will be attending the game and the change of start time is what has you in a Lion uproar? Yes, Versus is not ESPN but it does have a nationwide grip. Ask the players and coaches and I think they are glad to have the opportunity. Don't think recruits will not be told of the game and asked to tune in, great for the coaches.
And sometimes, jake, "more" is a very obvious "less."
My old hometown is East Rutherford, NJ. Remember the year when we played "home games" at Giants Stadium? Every household in ER and next-door Carlstadt had a free pair of tickets for one game mailed to it as a promo by the NJ Sports & Exposition Authority. And in just one afternoon at a local candy store, I was offered something like 42 tickets by well-meaning friends and neighbors. I really think Ivy fans in general have all just slunk (slunked? slinked?) away the last few decades.
Anyway, Versus is not even PBS with its choice market demographics, now is it? And the 4PM start time (if true) is just caving in. But to what?
We still don't know America Channel's schedule of FB games. It launches in August, is supposed to have an agreement with the league to televise several sports.
http://www.americachannel.us/overview.php
Versus helps those of us who are to far away to get YES. Here it is on our local cable and direct TV. They are mostly known for hockey. It will be great to watch our team and other Ivy's from home. It is especially great for my parents who, for health reasons, are unable to come to the games.
An important thing to remember is the fact that VERSUS has rights to a few games from the PAC 10, Big 12, and Mountain West. This means that they will have a schedule of 23 games this fall.In addition the 4pm start time allows for a possible doubleheader with a Big 12 game at 12:30pm( that was the usual start time for Big 12 games on VERSUS last season).
Just a quick update... The Oct. 25th game will be part of a doubleheader with the Big 12. This will be a great lead-in for the Dartmouth-Columbia games, and could attract more attention to the game
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