Big Things to Watch

Princeton Head Coach Roger Hughes


The first big thing is really BIG. Princeton's list of 31 incoming freshman football players is out today and it includes a 6-7, 325-pound offensive lineman named Charlie Langerhans from Moorestown, New Jersey. That's about as big a freshman recruit I've ever heard of in the Ivies.

Langerhans joins a Princeton squad with the most experienced offensive line in the league, so he may not see any action for a couple of years. But we'll be watching.

Another eye-catching aspect of Princeton's list is the fact that they have one incoming freshman listed solely as a long snapper, Jason Tiemeier from Dublin, Ohio.

This leaves Harvard as the only Ivy that hasn't released its list of incoming freshmen.

But there is news out Cambridge, and it's not of the good variety. Crimson running backs coach Joe Villapiano has been arrested on charges he tried to run down his pregnant ex-girlfriend in his car.

We'll see how this story pans out, but I will be keeping a close eye on the tone of the media coverage as well. I think all of us in the Ivies should hold ourselves to a higher standard, but when others arbitrarily hold us to a higher standard, I get worried.

The bottom line is that no one, not even a linebackers coach at Alabama, should be running over someone with their car. It's not any more or less shocking or unacceptable because it allegedly happened at Harvard. I don't mind the coverage of the story or the outrage connected to it, I just object to the possible excusing or playing down of similar behavior at big-time BCS programs.