Well, so maybe soccer is our sport
I come to you today, Columbia, with the cold pragmatism born of an 0-8 start to the football season. I’ve waited four years for the Lions to be good—I never asked for an Ivy Championship, just for a team that could compete. I even spent a month as Roar-ee the lion hoping it might bring the team luck.* But today, sadly, it’s time that I admit the truth: We stink.
And I don’t just mean this year. We stink historically. We still hold the FCS record for most consecutive losses, and the last Ivy League Championship we won was 1961. The Organization as a whole peaked with a Rose Bowl win in 1934—that was 77 years ago, which, incidentally, is a very long time ago.
I don’t mean to get down on football. I do hold out hope that the right coach could turn the program around. But our historical troubles have got me wondering: What if we’re focusing on the wrong sport?
Much as we might hate to admit it, Columbia’s roots are English. Our earliest incarnation was as King’s College, and our Lion mascot is probably a remnant of that royal heritage. What if, then, our real sport is soccer? After all, the English invented the game (or they codified the rules, anyway—apparently China was way ahead of the times on soccer, too).
As it turns out, our history on the soccer pitch is not too shabby. Columbia played in the final for the 1983 National Championships, and has won 9 Ivy League Championships.
This year, we have a chance to win a 10th. If Columbia beats Cornell on Saturday and if Dartmouth and Brown tie, then the title is ours.
My suitemate hates the idea that a sport could actually require one to root for a tie. I understand his frustration, but as Stephen Stills once said, if you can’t be with the one you love, honey, love the one you’re with. **
This year, football’s given us no choice. Maybe it’s time we show soccer some love. Here’s to Brown 1, Dartmouth 1. Go Lions.
*This is a lie.
**As far as I can tell this is the first sentence in history to reference both Stephen Stills and soccer. You’re welcome, Internet.
Neil FitzPatrick shares a birthday with Ben Savage, is trying not to look too much into that.
Prairie View A&M –
The team lost 80 consecutive games in 1989-98, almost doubling Columbia University’s 44 straight losses between 1983-1988
I agree. Soccer is a global sport and is integral for any global university. Harhar
Volleyball is in the same position as men’s soccer–win out and get help and the Ivy title is theirs–yet Spec is jumping only on the men’s soccer bandwagon. Why? Either way, we’re stuck rooting for other teams (as evidenced by “Here’s to Brown 1, Dartmouth 1″ coming before “Go Lions” in this post) and either way, an Ivy title could come to Morningside.
Men’s soccer and volleyball are not in the same position at all. Men’s soccer needs a tie between Brown and Dartmouth – a result that is well within the realms of reason. Volleyball needs Yale, a team that has won 11 out of 12 Ivy matches, to lose both its last two games – a result that is really really incredibly unlikely.
“Columbia played in the final for the 1983 National Championships….”
There’s a lot more to the story. Columbia entered that game 18-0-0, having allowed only six goals all season. We were actually favored to win the tile game, even though the opponent — Indiana — had a big-time scholarship program. And though we lost, the score was 1-0 in double overtime. The game was shown nationally on ESPN, albeit not live.
The women’s teams are doing great!
Thank god for someone seeing sense and thinking about the right football.
To Ithaca we go!!!!!
Actually this is returning to the roots of football.
The rules of the first football game between Rutgers and Princeton were somewhere between today’s versions of soccer and football.
So, there is no sense of betrayal.
Agree! End the frustration; cut the expense; eliminate the embarrassment to the school. Drop football, then let’s add Men’s Lacrosse. We’re the only Ivy school NOT playing it. Fastest growing sport in America. Outstanding spectator sport. Great facility at Kraft Field. CU’s located in a recruiting hotbed with great HS players all around us. Key is hiring a HIGH PROFILE coach (like Denver did in luring Bill Tierney from Princeton).