Posts Tagged ‘football’
Coming soon to your living, errrrr, dorm room
In a recent press release, the Ivy League announced that it was renewing its national television rights agreement with the NBC Sports Network, previously known as Versus.
Those with an unfortunate addiction to Ivy League sports (we totally exist, all 30 of us) will have more opportunities to get their fix from the comfort of their own room.
The deal says that the NBC Sports Network will televise a minimum of six but no more than 10 games for both basketball and football, and up to four men’s lacrosse games. While Columbia won’t have any cracks at screen time for lacrosse since it doesn’t have a varsity team, it certainly could end up with airtime for football or basketball—especially when you consider who’s returning for Light Blue basketball.
The release also guarantees that the network will air “The Game”—the annual football game between Harvard and Yale—in 2012 and 2013. Check out the full press release after the jump. More »
Off to Dallas Jeff Adams maybe goes
Although senior offensive tackle Jeff Adams didn’t get drafted this weekend, he was apparently signed by the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday night.
Based on the strength of his past workouts, which included one for the Jets at their private facility, it was thought possible that Adams could have been a late-round pick.
If Adams had been drafted, he would have been the first to do so in the NFL since Marcellus Wiley, who was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the second round in 1997. Still, getting signed by the Cowboys, even if it wasn’t during the draft?
Not a bad graduation present.
Lions football shows it knows the value of social media
I think it’s pretty safe to say that if you’re reading this, you’re at the very least somewhat familiar with various social media websites—Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and the like.
When it comes to sports, Twitter has probably done more than any of the other popular social media sites to revolutionize the way fans interact with their favorite teams. And fortunately, we’re right in the thick of the whole revolution here at Columbia.
In what I believe is part of a campaign to help rebrand the program, the football team has dramatically upped their social media presence in the last few months with the arrival of head coach Pete Mangurian. More »
Senior offensive lineman Jeff Adams works out for the New York Jets
Big news for those of you who are both Jets and Lions fans: This past Monday senior offensive tackle Jeff Adams had a private workout at the New York Jets’ facility.
Over the past few months, Adams has been working hard to convince NFL scouts he is worth drafting. On March 8, he participated in Northwestern’s pro day. He later tried to improve his scores at the Baker Athletics Complex in front of scouts from the Jets.
According to NFL.com, based on the strength of these workouts, Adams may have become a sixth- or seventh-round draft pick—not bad for an Ivy League o-linean.
And hey, if he does get picked by the Jets, not only would you be able to go check him out at MetLife Stadium (albiet for a pretty penny), but Adams might also get his TV debut on Hard Knocks. Plus, who wouldn’t want to play on a team with Jesus on your side? (Thank you Tim Tebow!)
NFL Draft will be held on April 26-28 at Radio City Music Hall. If you so choose to watch the draft on ESPN or the NFL Network, look for Adams’ name to be called on Sunday, April 28, somewhere between 4 and 7 p.m.
‘Bountygate’ suspensions show that in the NFL, safety is paramount
Ever had one of those times where you’re planning on writing one thing, and then BAM, something else happens, and you have scrap the whole thing?
Well I had one of those “command+a+delete” moments when I heard about the suspensions of New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton, general manager Micky Loomis, and former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams earlier today.
This, to me, is a story that transcends sports because it deals with an individual’s sense of humanity. It deals with what is and what is not acceptable for one human being to do to another.
And when it comes down to it, the NFL made the right call in handing down these punishments. More »
Norries Wilson lands a job with the Scarlett Knights
Former Lions head coach Norries Wilson has picked up a new job this week. Multiple reports out of New Jersey say that Wilson will be the new running backs coach for the Rutgers Scarlett Knights.
The Rutgers coaching staff has been the subject of a lot of turnover this offseason, with coaches flocking to the NFL like it’s going out of style. Greg Schiano is probably the most high-profile defector, as he went from being head coach of the Scarlett Knights to head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (a hiring which I still don’t fully understand…)
Wilson, who complied a 17-43 record during his tenure as Lions head coach, will be in effect replacing two men. More »
Let’s all take the day off tomorrow
Analysts expect over 117 million Americans to watch the Super Bowl tonight. My question is: What the hell is the other 61.9% of the population doing? Unless your answer is: tending a loved one’s death bed, robbing a pizza store because criminals latched a timed explosive around your chest, fighting off packs of wolves after your plane crashed in Alaska, or some combination of the three, then you should be parked in front of a TV from 6:30–10:00 tonight. (Juliette Binoche, Jesse Eisenberg, and Liam Neeson, you can get back to your other matters.)
But when we all have to wake up at 8 a.m. the next day, Columbia (and the rest of American schools and employers) make it difficult to fully enjoy the biggest day of our country’s national pastime. This is why CU should make the Monday after the Super Bowl a school holiday. More »
‘What is it with introducing football coaches at basketball games, anyway?’ A second opinion
Feast your eyes, ladies and gentlemen—this here sports column has moved over from the right to the left side of the Spectator homepage for your reading pleasure. It’s number one of many for this first semester, so let’s get to it with A Second Opinion.
At the men’s basketball game on Saturday night, I was surprised by something that probably shouldn’t have caught me off guard as a Spec Sports writer. It wasn’t Mark Cisco’s 20 rebounds, it wasn’t the blisteringly loud PA system music. In fact, it really didn’t have to do with the basketball game at all.
Midway through the second quarter, it was announced that the Lions’ new head football coach, Pete Mangurian, would speak at halftime.
Yale’s got a new football coach
The news out of New Haven is Yale has found its newest head coach for their football program. Tony Reno has been hired as Yale’s 34th head coach, after serving as Harvard’s special teams coordinator and secondary coach for the past three seasons. Before that, Reno spent six years at Yale as a wide receivers coach in 2003, and then secondary coach from 2004-2008—so it’s technically not Yale going completely against the ideals of the Harvard-Yale rivalry. (I mean, c’mon, would the Yankees ever hire a coach who just worked for the Red Sox? I doubt it.)
Reno replaces the recently resigned Tom Williams, who left Yale after it came out in November that Williams lied about being a candidate for a Rhodes Scholarship. Williams’ claim of also playing on the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers practice squad in 1993 proved to be false as well. It probably was a really stupid idea to lie about things like that, but regardless Williams left Yale with a record of 16-14 in three seasons, including 5-5 in 2011.
Mangurian selects coordinators and staff
According to a press release, Columbia’s new head football coach Pete Mangurian has selected the rest of his staff.
Mangurian now has seven coaches on staff, including Ben McDaniels as the offensive coordinator and Kevin Lempa as the defensive coordinator.
Both coordinators bring NFL experience to the table. McDaniels was the former Denver Broncos quarterbacks coach and Lempa served as the defensive line coach while with the San Diego Chargers between 1997 and 1999. Lempa also has experience in the Ancient Eight as he was the defensive coordinator and cornerback coach at Dartmouth between 1991 and 1996.
Here’s a look at the rest of the staff:
- Ed Argast, offensive line coach. He has been the offensive line coach at Columbia since 2009 and will stay on staff.
- Aaron Smith, wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator. Smith has been the wide receivers coach at Columbia since 2007 and will remain on staff, adding the position of recruiting coordinator to his role.
- Alvin Smith, defensive line coach.
- Chad Nice, running backs coach.
- Gordie Sammis, tight ends coach and assistant offensive lines coach.
Mangurian still has two coaching positions to fill at this time.
See the full press release after the jump. More »