The REAL Awards

Austin Knowlin's teammates looked past the bare stats


The football team held the actual, official awards dinner last night and the honorees were:

2008 Columbia Lions Varsity Football Awards

Phil Fusco Award: Gary Mesko (Sr., WR)

Maniatty-Remmer Unsung Hero Award: Chad Musgrove (Sr., Student Assistant)

John J. Cirigliano Ironman Award: Corey Cameron (Sr., LB)

Lou Little Coaches Most Improved Award: Corey Cameron (Sr., LB)

Ken Germann Freshman Award: Owen Fraser (Fr., DL)

Special Forces Award: Jon Rocholl (Sr., P/K)

Most Valuable Offense: M.A. Olawale (Jr., QB)

Most Valuable Defense: Alex Gross (So., LB)

Sid Luckman Most Valuable Player Award: Austin Knowlin (JR., WR) and Alex Gross (So., LB)

Campbell-Murff Captains Award: Mike Brune (Sr., OL), Drew Quinn (Sr., LB), Jordan Davis (Sr., RB)

Jack Armstrong Outstanding Offensive Lineman: Mike Brune (Sr.)


I was happy and interested to see Alex Gross singled out so many times, as well as Austin Knowlin. It appears Knowlin's teammates realized his diminished receiving stats were not his fault and he still impacted the team in a significant way game after game.

I was also happy to see three players being named official captains for 2008. I wonder if the same three guys named at the end of the season would have been named by the players after the spring game. Probably the answer is "yes," but I can't be sure.

I guess my biggest surprise was not seeing Lou Miller's name after any of the major awards. But he has been honored a lot by the Ivy League in recent weeks, so I can't think he feels slighted in any way.


Yale News?

We're right in the thick of the key recruiting season as a number of prospects get set to make their college decisions.

And that's why I expect to hear the news that Yale has chosen and hired a new head football coach well before the end of the year.

And yet, I still haven't heard any reports of plausible names or negotiations out of New Haven so far.

I do think it might be good for the league if Yale gets some kind of big name. Any added media attention would help right now, and since big names don't necessarily creat success on their own, there's no reason to believe Columbia would suffer on the field against the Elis because of it, (in fact there's just as much likelihood that going up against a big-named coach could make things easier for a time for Yale's opponents!).

Here's a question: When was the last time an Ivy team with a winning record had to look for a new coach for the following season?

The answer is kind of mixed. The last time an Ivy team with an overall winning record and a winning record in the Ivies had to switch coaches was 1997 when both Brown and Cornell, (Brown was 7-3 and 4-3 Ivy under Mark Whipple and Cornell was 6-4 and 4-3 Ivy under Jim Hofher), had to find new coaches. Things worked out really well for Brown under new coach Phil Estes in 1998, as the Bears went 7-3 and 5-2 for a second place Ivy finish. Cornell took a big step back in the first-year coach Pete Mangurian, who went 4-6 and just 1-6 in the Ivies.

Looking at Ivy records only, Cornell's Mangurian guided the Big Red to a 5-2 Ivy record in 2000, (5-5 overall), and left at the end of the season.

The point is, Yale is coming off a 6-4 overall/4-3 Ivy season and winning Ivy teams rarely have to replace their coaches. Just looking at record alone, you'd expect a lot of coaches to be knocking down the door to get a shot to lead the Elis. But a close look shows that Yale is dealing with the reality of serious graduation attrition for the coming year. Mike McLeod, Bobby Abare, and so many other big name stars on this team are donning caps and gowns in five months time. It would appear that 2009 will be a rebuilding year at Yale no matter what. Of course with those kinds of expectations, maybe that's the kind of atmosphere a new coach craves.

Here's another good trivia question: Columbia won its last two home games of 2008. When was the last time the Lions won three or more in a row at home?

The answer is 1996-97, when Columbia won its last two home games of 1996, (Cornell and Brown), and then won the '97 home opener against Towson. The only other time Columbia won three in a row at Wien Stadium was in 1994 when the Lions beat Lafayette, Princeton and Cornell.

Of course, these are just Wien Stadium records. The Lions had many long winning streaks at the old Baker Field stadium before getting their new digs in 1984.