An Educated Consumer...

Almost time to move in!


Tomorrow is move-in day for the vast majority of incoming freshmen and first years at Columbia and Barnard. Monday, the full orientation schedule begins.

The start of orientation usually means the frosh on the football squad start missing a practice or two as they have to attend some mandatory events. But to me, orientation is always a new chance to get students interested in Columbia football and athletics in general.

I don't know how many new students or their families read this blog. But if any of them are even casual football or sports fans already, I would hope it serves as a great advertisement for the Lions.

One of the mistakes I think I, and many others have been making lately is trying to sell the football program to the too casual fan. In other words, maybe the best plan is to let the kids who know about football learn about what's great about the actual team on the field before we hype the fun of going to a game with their classmates and tradition and all that.

Here are my bullet points for marketing this team to freshmen who are already real football fans:

-Columbia has the best overall QB in the Ivy League. Sean Brackett is a fast runner with a powerful arm and he plays with no fear out on the field. He's just a sophomore too, so you might have a class or two with him real soon.

-Did you see The Blind Side? Well, then you know that left tackle is a crucial position in football. Columbia has the best left tackle in the Ivies too. Junior Jeff Adams was voted 1st Team All Ivy at that position, (that's like All Pro in the NFL), when he was just a sophomore last year.

-Columbia's defense is stacked with stars. Junior Owen Fraser is a big and powerful defensive tackle and unusually fast for his size. He missed almost all of last season to injury after posting an All Ivy freshmen campaign... so you know he's itching to come back with a vengeance this year.

-Senior linebacker Alex Gross was the Ivy Rookie of the Year in 2007 and 1st Team All Ivy in 2008 before also falling to injury most of last year. He's back too and ready to disrupt opposing offenses all season.

-The Ivies' leading pickoff artist in 2009, senior safety Adam Mehrer is also a Columbia Lion. He was one half of what may be the most incredible play in Columbia football history. It happened in the season finale against Brown when the Lions upset the heavily-favored Bears right here at Wien Stadium. You can see the play here, just click on the box that says "Mehrer videos."

Enjoy moving in guys, and we'll see you in the stands starting in three weeks!