Hooray for sports!!

High five the baseball team next time you see them–they’re Ivy League Champs!  Sports fan Luca Marzorati tells the triumphant tale…

For the first time in six years, the Columbia baseball team earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament, as the Lions won back-to-back games against Dartmouth on Saturday for an 11th Ivy League Championship. After a 6-5 extra-inning victory in Game 1, Columbia’s offense came alive late in Game 2, battering the Big Green bullpen for 8 late runs to take a 12–5 win and extinguish the need for a Sunday rubber match.

The Lions have now won 24 of their last 32 games, and are a record-best 18–4 against Ivy League opponents. Though the team has certainly played its best baseball over the last month, this championship may stem from Columbia’s formative early-season struggles just as much as their recent hot streak.

Just six weeks ago, the Lions found themselves at 2–11, losers of four straight, after a furious late-inning comeback by the University of Miami, a program with four NCAA baseball championships. Columbia’s season-opening road trips may have helped the team’s frequent-flyer account, but did little in the way of wins. Lamar, Arizona, and Miami—3 of Columbia’s first 4 opponents—all are currently in the top 50 in college baseball, and won 7 of 8 games against the Light Blue.

Of course, degree of difficulty is meaningless in baseball, but starting the season with such ruthless competition surely helped the club when it came time to play easier contests in the Ivy League. It is worthy to note that Dartmouth, which finishes the season with a 32–9 record, opted for a cupcake schedule before league play began. Though the Big Green won 12 of their first 13, routs of Division II Slippery Rock or Division III Vassar seem trivial when compared to the Lions’ travails.

Damn straight

The editors always dress like this for meetings, but it's not required

So why don’t you join us? We know you’re all blowing off class/work this week because of Thanksgiving Break anyway, so spend some of your newfound spare time (specifically that between 9-10 pm) in the crypt of St. Paul’s Chapel with convivial company, delightful discussion, and the tastiest of treats. We’ll be talking new pitches for the December issue and beyond, so if you’ve any thoughts on what you’d like to read about or simply desire to contribute to the Blue & White, your presence is most welcome.

Sincerely,

The Editors

Inaccurate depiction of the crypt of St. Paul’s via Wikimedia

Bwog caught a ball.

QuickTix runs alternate Wednesdays, and spreads word of the TIC. Own your student ID.

Tickets sold for on campus events this week: 819

Campus events on sale now:

• MP3 Experiment: September 9th, 12 pm, Ancel Plaza, FREE, Tickets.
• Lyrics from Lockdown: September 24th, 7 pm, Miller Theatre, $7 w/CUID, Tickets.

Tickets sold for off campus events this week: 2122

Off campus events on sale now:

• NY Philharmonic Henry V: September 17th, 8 pm, $37.50, Tickets.
• Yankees Game: September 2oth, 7:05 pm, $48.50, Tickets.
• Rent: September 22nd, 8 pm, $50, Tickets.
• Mets Game: September 23rd, 7:10 pm, $37, Tickets.

Not exactly Airbud via Wikimedia Commons.

We continue to respect our heritage/amorous affair with our mother-magazine, The Blue & White by posting each issue of the magazine online. The latest issue, available this week around campus, is a cornucopia of delights: an interview with Dean Peter Awn; the quixotic quest for a Quidditch team; and a reflection on Columbia’s recent media malaise. In Campus Characters, the Blue & White introduces you to a handful of Columbians who are up to interesting and extraordinary things and whose stories beg to be shared. If you’d like to suggest a Campus Character, send us an email at editors@theblueandwhite.org. From the current issue, Senior Editor Carolyn Ruvkun profiles Ben Cotton, CC ’11.

Illustration by Chloe Eichler

On just another sleepless night at the Columbia Spectator office, former Editor-in-Chief Ben Cotton, CC’11, was holding a meeting in his office with his staff. He suddenly dropped to the floor and started vigorously performing push-ups. Unlike many of his notoriously caffeine addled Speccies, Cotton crusades against java, proud to rely solely on will power and bad pop music. “If I have to stay up, I’ll stay up,” Cotton insists, sometimes devoting as many as eighty hours a week to the Spectator. His suitemate since freshman year, Dhruv Vasishtha, CC’11, and former Spectator Managing Editor, Thomas Rhiel, CC’11, both credit this stance to his “boyish“ impulses. He injects an almost juvenile energy and authenticity into his two passions, Spec and baseball.

Vasishtha sums up Cotton in five words: “Ben loves the Red Sox.” That almost unconditional and inexplicable fervor the Newton, MA native dedicates to his home team carries over to Spec. “I have a hard time relaxing in general, I always get stressed about something and want to find a problem to attack.” Spec, he explains while gesticulating emphatically, provided a productive outlet. The paper quickly became all-consuming, as its new online presence, Spectrum, which Cotton helped create, required constant attention and almost incomprehensible sacrifice. Following the uneasy editorship of Melissa Repko, CC ‘10, Cotton emerged as a decisive director and charismatic coach. (more…)

It’s kind of hard to be thankful for Columbia at the end of November. Finals and papers loom, everyone suddenly remembers what school is like when it’s cold, and you’re just waiting for that “oh shiiiiit” moment the Monday you get back from break. We’re happy to be away this weekend, too, but we figured we’d remind you that there is plenty to be thankful for within the Gates. Meet Kevin McAllister, an electrician at Columbia nicknamed “Mr. Light” because he replaces most lightbulbs on campus. Kevin is also deeply committed to Morningside community service. Bwog is thankful for people like Mr. Light who make Morningside what it is. Sarah Camiscoli writes.

“They call me that because after all these years, I’ve come to know a lot of people. I’ve probably worked in every building off and on campus, so they kind of know me. When there’s a flood, that’s okay, but when the lights are out that’s something else. And when I come in, it feels like I just brighten up their whole day [chuckles]. I’m surprised that they still call me that.” While “Mr. Light” is a clever nickname for a man who has served as an electrician at Columbia and acted a source of vitality to his home community for over twenty years, Kevin McAllister tends to view himself less as a “light” and more as a conduit for community, kindness, and spirit. Otherwise, it would just be too easy.

After 27 years at Columbia, Kevin can say, “I’ve done a lot of things here.” And it has been more than just maintaining voltage. Kevin has served as a union representative, subcontracting and grievance committee member, chief shop steward, and even “with all the hard work and dedication,” union president of Local 241 Transit Workers Union. While his salaried and political work most definitely speak to his charged devotion, Kevin admits, “this is my job, this is where I make money, but my passion is in the work that I do in the community.” It is service that charges him.

“Specializing in saving lives,” Kevin has spent the last two decades organizing Uptown Inner City League, a not-for-profit baseball league that welcomes over 280 kids spanning the ages of twenty-four months to just under twenty years. In organizing groups of toddlers to teens, diverse in age, ethnicity, and gender into baseball teams for the summer, flag football teams for the fall, and “spring training” sessions after winter vacation, Kevin pledges, “We turn no kids away.” And this doesn’t pose too much of a problem since the league’s philosophy is that if a child can walk, he or she can join in. “You have to start that early,” explains Kevin, “Most people don’t want to deal with those kids, but from ages two to seven they can absorb so much.”

In addition to skill, much of that absorption lies within a meaningful understanding of community, one that resonates more to family than to team spirit. “Once you become a part of Uptown Inner City League, you become part of my family,” is how Team Manager McAllister puts it.  “They come over and have dinner with my family and me and my wife take them to sporting events.” With the support of his wife (and childhood sweetheart), Stephanie, and the company of his two sons, Kevin keeps himself from burning out by making his success at the family level and his success in the community one and the same. “My success is the success of a lot of people,” is how he puts it. It’s the kind of achievement that manifests itself when a retired player visits his home 15 years later and says, “Thank you for giving us the opportunity to have a place to go.” (more…)

The men’s heavyweight eight won their fifth race in a row last night, defeating 14th-ranked Yale and Penn for the Blackwell Cup at Orchard Beach Lagoon, N.Y.

The Lions won the event with a time of 5:54.0, two seconds ahead of Yale and 13 ahead of Penn. The Varsity Eight has yet to lose this spring, and will compete next week for the Doc Lusins Trophy against Boston University and Syracuse. 

In other sports results, the lightweight eight finished second place in the Geiger Cup (losing to Cornell, but defeating MIT), Gabrielle Geronimos scored with less than 40 seconds to go for the women’s lacrosse team first Ivy win of the season (11-10 over Harvard), and both baseball and softball split their first doubleheaders with Cornell (photo by Columbia University Athletics).

- JCD

Baseball: For the second weekend in a row, the baseball team split its weekend Ivy league double-headers. After 13-9 and 8-6 wins over Yale, the team dropped two close games, 9-7 and 12-11, to Brown. A midweek 9-1 thumping of Rutgers, though, put the team back on track heading into four games this weekend against Princeton. 

Softball: The softball team fell to 2-6 in the Ivy League, dropping 2 games to Yale and splitting a doubleheader with Brown. This weekend, they have two doubleheaders against Princeton (although the first one has been delayed due to rain).

Men’s Rowing: The men’s heavyweight rowing team, defeating MIT and Holy Cross in 3:38.96, while the lightweight team finished third behind Harvard and Georgetown in the Murtagh Cup. This weekend, the heavyweight team faces Penn and Princeton, while the ligthweight team races Penn and Yale. (more…)

The Columbia baseball team began its Ivy League title defense successfully, with two wins over Harvard. In the first game, the Lions won 8-3 thanks to a complete game from pitcher Joe Scarlata (5 strikeouts). Third baseman Mike Roberts and left fielder Anthony Potter hit back-to-back homers for the Lions in the second inning, and second baseman Jon Eisen drove in three runs. 

In the second game, the Lions eked out an 8-6 win. Tied 3-3 going into the bottom of the eighth, catcher Dean Forthun doubled down the line to score centerfielder Nick Cox, and Columbia went on to score four more runs, and hold off a Crimson rally in the top of the ninth. Starter Dan Bracey went 8 innings, with six strikeouts. (Image by Columbia University Athletics)

- JCD

In honor of the Yankee Stadium’s final season, this year’s MLB all-star game will take place in the Bronx on Tuesday. To remember some of baseball’s most interesting historical moments, Bwog Film Rental Analyst Brandon Hammer suggests you check out one (or two or three) of the following movies. 

The Pride of the Yankees (1942):  

Those who yearn for the glory days of the Bronx Bombers will find comfort in this 1942 film. Starring Gary Cooper in the lead role, The Pride of the Yankees is a beautiful biopic about Columbia’s own Lou Gehrig, whose endurance to last 2,130 consecutive games (the equivalent of more than 13 baseball seasons) brought him the nickname the “Iron Horse.” Cooper’s performance is powerful; he captures the essence of a man who was known for his kindness and humility, a man who, though his life and career were cut short by a terrible disease, considered himself “the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” The film also features and intriguing performance by Babe Ruth as himself, as well as a reenactment of Gehrig’s famous speech of July 4, 1939. 

(more…)

Today is final opening day at Yankee Stadium, as the team will be moving to a new stadium across the street in 2009. The Yankees will be playing against the Toronto Blue Jays starting at 1:05 PM. Reggie Jackson will be throwing the first pitch, and there will be all kinds of opening/closing ceremonies. 

If you want to play hooky (and you don’t mind the rain), you still have a few hours to get to what will probably be a very crowded game. Bring a raincoat and a tolerance of false nostalgia.

Bwog salutes Israelites and Yankees today as opening days for tribe and team alike kick off.  For the Jews, it’s the first night of Passover, the celebration of the Israelites’ escape from Pharaonic tyranny.  For the Yankees and their fans, it was opening day, with a 9-5 victory over Tampa Bay; a good first step on the Yankees’ road to redemption after years of high hopes and higher salaries have yielded nothing but towering pyramids of championship disappointment.

Bernie Williams, sadly, has looked upon the promised land but cannot enter; he rejected a non-roster invitation back to the Yankees when his contract expired last year.  But batting mainstays Jorge Posada and Jason Giambi each contributed with the first home run of the season and three runs batted in respectively, while shlimazel-of-late Alex Rodriguez – recently in the media for his alleged tsuris with Derek Jeter – managed a home run as well.  With the Devil Rays ahead by two runs in the sixth, Jeter hit a bases-loaded single to tie the game; Bobby Abreu weighed in with an RBI single in the eighth, and Rodriguez’s long-awaited homer brought in two more runs to put the Yankees well in the lead.

(more…)