The Great Ivy Injury Epidemic of 2009

Forget H1N1, the raft of significant injuries hitting just about every Ivy team this year is the worst I've ever seen.

This isn't just the usual case of banged up players hitting that midseason bump, we're talking about a very high number of All Ivy and All Ivy caliber players out for the season or darn close to it.

The simple fact is every team in the Ivies, again except maybe for Harvard, is going out on the field this Saturday without more than a handful of the players they expected to be starters.

We have lost 1st Team All Ivy linebacker Alex Gross. Penn has been without its heralded top QB for most of the season. Yale has lost Larry Abare. Alex Jenny is out at Dartmouth. Princeton has lost Stephen Cody and Scott Britton, the list goes on.

I would elaborate more on this topic, but injury reports are frowned on in our league for many reasons. Most of those reasons are legitimate and you can't get into the dicey area of rumors, etc.

The funny thing is that this unexpected explosion of injuries hasn't really disrupted the balance of power in the league that I, and many others, predicted at the start of the season.

Harvard, Penn and Brown still look like the cream of the Ivies at this point. Harvard seems like it's in the driver's seat with no losses and the homefield advantage over the only other undefeated Ivy, Penn.

But before we feel too sorry for ourselves, we should remember that this all pales in comparison to the Jordan Culbreath situation and that's where we should direct our best wishes and prayers first.