Camp Continues

2009 will be a 100% Field Turf season


Day 2 of real practice on the field is a little more humid of a day here in New York City. It is expected to cool off soon, but rain is also on the way. With the amount of rain Columbia has seen in its regular season games over the last couple of years, more practice in wet conditions is probably a good thing.

A couple of tidbits I just figured out about the upcoming season:

1) The first day of classes this fall is Sept. 8th and the first game of the season is on Sept. 19th. That's a very short 11 days between the start of the semester and the start of the season. Usually, it's almost a three week gap. I wonder if that will help jack up student interest in the team as they won't be too far under the burden of new readings and fear of midterms before the season begins.


2) This will be the first season that the Lions will play all 10 of their games on artificial turf, Fieldturf to be exact. The two teams in the Ivies with natural grass, Yale and Brown, both come to Wien Stadium this season.


DAY 25: Brian Lysiak '02

Brian Lysiak was another one of the Lion defenders who made the most of a position change midway through his career at Columbia.

He came to Columbia from Canisius High School in 1998 where he starred in football and lacrosse. He had a quiet first couple of years with the Lions.

Then, early in his junior year he made the move from linebacker to defensive end and he had an immediate impact, recording 21 tackles, including a sack.

Lysiak's improvement during the 2000 season and the following spring was impressive enough that his teammates elected him co-captain for the following season along with the great Johnathan Reese and Sloan Joseph, (older brother of current Lion co-captain Taylor Joseph).

The 2001 season was an emotional one for the Lions, interrupted at the start by the 9/11 attacks, made challenging all season by Reese's nagging injuries, and thrown for a loop by the Matt Stary eligibility controversy.

But the season did have its high points and Lysiak was a part of many of them, especially the 28-14 win over Yale where he recorded two sacks and helped hold the Elis to less than three yards per carry.

The week before at Dartmouth, Lysiak led the line in holding the Big Green to just 251 yards of total offense in the 27-20 Lion win.

He finished the season with 43 tackles, six tackles for a loss and two and a half sacks. He was named to the 2002 Honorable Mention All Ivy team.

Brian currently works for Barclay's in the Bay Area as a trader in the fixed income department.