Bwog got a chance to sit down with Mike Mazzullo, CC ’12, three-year soccer captain and star midfielder, to discuss his reaction to the news that he has been drafted to the MLS and his expectations moving forward. Mazzullo will head to Canada this weekend for preseason training with Toronto FC.

Bwog: Congrats on getting drafted to the MLS. What made you decide you wanted to continue your soccer career after college?

Mike Mazzullo: I’ve always had a passion for soccer. I figured, if I’m good enough, why not give pro soccer a shot? To play professionally is a dream, and I’d regret it if I didn’t at least give it a shot.

Bwog: What was your initial reaction to the news? How did you find out?

MM: I was kind of surprised. [Sophomore teammate] David Najem texted me—I was in class—and I immediately checked the draft ticker online. He wasn’t kidding!

Bwog: What are your expectations moving forward?

MM: I don’t really have expectations. I’m just going to put out my best effort at training camp. I anticipate the competition to be tough, and the play at a higher level than I’m used to, but I’m looking forward to the challenge.

Bwog: In preparation for preseason, I’m sure you’re training hard on and off the field. Have you given any thought to trying out a Canadian accent, eh, to help you fit in?

MM: My training regimen has not included Canadian accents. That is all.

Bwog: Good luck in Toronto! We’re all pulling for you. Just remember: it’s aboot, not about.

Image via gocolumbialions.com

Gulati, PrezBill and Landon in happier times. Photo via ohnotheydidnt

That means “a motley assortment of things.” Seatbelts, everyone!

Gulati says the U.S team was “capable of more” in the World Cup.

Columbia is a partner in a jargon-y, confusing government project called the “NYC Media Lab.”

Breaking: James Franco is self-important. He is also an artist.

Joseph Stiglitz makes $109,919 a year is the highest paid B-school professor in the country.

A look at how Columbia B School has changed (by not really changing!) post-crash.

CC alum create the Salsabol, which provides a new and revolutionary way to scoop salsa.

Procrastination o’clock? Watch this footage of Columbia going crazy in 1969 1968, even though it says 1969 for some reason.

The snowstorm blanketing much of the Mid-Atlantic kept a lot of your high school friends from flying home this weekend. (Times)

The Parks Department officially invites you to go sledding in city parks; unfortunately, they will not be officially providing post-sledding hot chocolate with marshmallows. (Gothamist)

While hosting last night’s episode SNL, James Franco french-kissed a few men during a sketch. Sadly, that’s enough for a news story. (Daily News)

In the wide world of sports, the Dallas Cowboys defeated the New Orleans Saints 24-17, ending their chances for an undefeated season, and in soccer, Fulham beat Manchester United 3-0. (Times and Guardian)

- Photo by HEH

Bwog loves soccer, so we were happy to see popular Econ professor (and president of the US Soccer Federation) Sunil Gulati announcing the United States’s bid for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups on Monday. Gulati, who was also involved in the first World Cup in the United States in 1994, will be leading the US bid against bids from Japan, Mexico, Russia, and England. FIFA will make its decision on both cups in December 2010. 

And the Columbia connections don’t stop there — if “the beautiful game” returns to this nation’s shores, Gulati (who received his graduate degrees at Columbia) may have to credit a fellow Columbia alumnus. “Given everything that, frankly, President Obama has said, everything he stands for, everything he’s talked about in terms of reaching out to the world,” he told the press “trying to bring the global game to the United States and opening our borders up for a festival of 32 countries and hundreds of thousands of people from all corners of the world would be viewed in a very positive way.” Man, that Obama guy really is everywhere…

That’s right, the oft-maligned football team won its first conference game in almost two years, 21-13 over Dartmouth. At a windy and rainy Wien Stadium, quarterbacks Shane Kelly and Millicent Olawale combined for 205 yards in the air, and the team also produced 193 rushing yards, as the Lions moved to 1-2 in the Ivy League.

After the two teams traded long drives for touchdowns, the Lions ended the first half with a 19 yard touchdown pass from Kelly to junior Austin Knowlin. Dartmouth kicked two field goals in the third quarter, but another long touchdown drive at the start of the fourth put Columbia ahead 21-13, and safety Andy Shalbrack’s interception with a minute to go preserved the victory. Next week, the Lions travel to New Haven to take on Yale at 12:30. The game will be televised on the YES network.

In other sports news, the women’s soccer team beat Dartmouth 3-1 on Friday night to stay in the hunt for the Ivy League championship. Junior Sophie Reiser continued her starring role by scoring all three goals.

Procrastinate close to home.

Monday

Jeffrey Sachs, George Soros, Nouriel Roubini: About saving the world economy.  Moderated by John Roberts of CNN, formerly of CBS.  We’ll LectureHop if you can’t make it.  3:30 PM @ Miller Theater.

Tuesday

Men’s Soccer vs. Lafayette: As Bwog noted on Friday, they’ve had a mixed season.  But the uncertainty makes for a more exciting game, right?  7:00 PM @ waytoofaruptown.

Wednesday

Divided We Fall: A film about the change in American mindset towards Sikhs and Muslims in the post-9/11 world.  7:00 PM @ Lerner Cinema.

Thursday

World Leaders – Global Sustainability: Various people discussing environmental stewardship and the role of New York City residents.  Hosted by PrezBo, moderated by Steven Cohen, Chief Operating Officer of The Earth Institute.  7:00 PM @ Miller Theater.

The Columbia football team’s season got off to an unfortunate start this afternoon, as the team fell at home to Fordham 29-22. The Lions exploded for 22 points in the second quarter, including a 56-yard touchdown pass from Shane Kelly (10-20, for 170 yards and 2 touchdowns) to Austin Knowlin, and an interception return for a touchdown by linebacker Drew Quinn (who also had 16 9.5 tackles).

But Fordham was able to hold the Columbia offense for the rest of the game, and Rams running back Xavier Martin (155 yards, 4 touchdowns) scored twice in the fourth quarter to gain the victory. The Lions play next week at Towson University in Maryland.

On to happier news: the field hockey team continued its undefeated start by winning its first Ivy League game, 1-0 over Brown in Providence. Junior Catherine Campbell scored the only goal of the game, and senior goalkeeper Gena Miller (first team All-Ivy in 2007) posted her second shutout of the season.

Finally, the women’s soccer team ran over American University on Friday night, 5-0. Freshman forward Ashlin Yahr scored twice, and Sophie Reiser, Nora Dooley, and Keri Nobil also tallied.

You read the title correctly – sports coverage on Bwog. Stop pointing at the pigs above us. We know they’re there.

With the start of a new school year, we felt it was time to turn over a new leaf in the Bwog-sports relationship. In the past, we’ve generally only reported on sports either as champions or, more often, as a punchline. There are hundreds of our classmates practicing day after day, though, and there’s a lot of great stuff to cover in their efforts. We’ll be doing our best to give them some coverage, and we ask that you do your best to help us in our occasional ignorance at the intricacies of some of the less well-known sports. On to the what’s up this week in the land of sport.

Football: The Lions open their season tomorrow at home against Fordham. The teams have split the last two games, with coach Norries Wilson winning his debut 37-7 in 2006, but then losing in 2007 27-10. To win, the Lions will have to do better on the ground, both on offense with the running back duo of senior Jordan Davis and junior Ray Rangel, and from the whole defense, which gave up 353 yards last year against Fordham.

Unfortunately, the team may be without junior wide reciever Austin Knowlin (led the team with 988 yards and 11 TDs in 2007) and junior linebacker Drew Quinn (second in tackles in 2007) – both have been left off of the starting lineup in the media guide. For a more in-depth preview of the team and the rest of the Ivy League, the Spec has a football supplement.

Read more…

Bwog’s a little late with this item, but we didn’t want any more time to go by without congratulating the Columbia men’s soccer team on their 3-1 victory yesterday over UC Santa Barbara, who were ranked 6th in the country (and who won the national title two seasons ago).

Despite being outshot 22-7, the Lions held on to bounce back from their Friday night loss to SUNY Stony Brook. Sophomore Bayo Adafin (pictured at right in a photo by Columbia University Athletics) scored all three goals, and has recieved several national and regional awards, including being named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week.

The team’s next game is at LaSalle on Wednesday, and their next home game is on the 26th against Quinnipiac. Also, we recommend Adafin get in touch with some European clubs – some of them could use forwards for the Champions League this week. 

A sharp-eyed tipster noticed that the rouguishly grizzled visage of erstwhile Artist-in- Residence Vaclav Havel has a near double: that of billionaire financier Kirk Kerkorian, a revolutionary in his own right.

Meanwhile, our man Sunil appears to have put his foot in his mouth regarding footballer David Beckham’s move to the Los Angeles Galaxy. Bwog still loves you, professor.

Plus! The long anticipated second oeuvre of Robyn Schneider, BC ’08, is now available for $15.99, and the Mao-suited GS student Michael W. has published a book on something that we probably couldn’t understand. Anyone read them? Reviews welcome.

As if trying to singlehandedly bring prosperity to Africa, or at least co-ordinate his wardrobe of fuschia, canary yellow, and shiny neon green blazers wasn’t enough, Bwog has learned that Columbia’s own (and only) Catalan economist, Xavier Sala-i-Martin, has been serving as president of FC Barcelona, which won the 2006 UEFA Champions League cup back in May (and if the preceding sentence made no sense to you, it’s time to hit Wikipedia). We may have noticed sooner if we’d paid a more recent visit to his popular and entertaining webpage, which shows him hoisting the UEFA trophy aloft like a newborn, er, metallic child (newcomers to the world of Xavier are encouraged to click through to see what the Spaniard’s site has up its sleeve for theorists, Marxists, Australians, and anyone who “bothers the flies”).

This brings to at least two the number of Columbia econ professors associated with professional soccer (Sunil Gulati is president of the US Soccer Federation). If current trends continue, Bwog believes, everyone in the econ department will either hold a Nobel Prize or preside over the hopes and dreams of a wild, scarf-clad hooligan mob.

-CJS

Forty-seven years ago today, in Allahabad, India, Bwog’s favorite international soccer tycoon was born. And it took him this long to get his own Wikipedia entry. Cheers, professor!

Bwog fan Joyce Hau checks in from Berlin, where she jostled with nearly a million football fiends on the Fan Mile for the final match of the world cup between Italy and France.

More from Joyce, including literal translations of German player’s last names and an allusion to the Nazis in a German World Cup-pop song, after the jump.

Read more…

Bwog would not want to be Landon Donovan–or anyone associated with the US Soccer Team–after our boys’ 2-1 loss to Ghana yesterday. Sunil was not happy.

“This is where the entire world is watching,” said the United States Soccer Federation president, with the kind of icy disapproval reserved for those who confuse Lorentz curves with Edgeworth boxes. “This is where you measure yourself. That didn’t come out well.”

Read the full New York Times article here .

Bwog correspondant Lucie Kroening describes football festivities in Sudetenland in the first of a summer series of dispatches from around the world.

Overheard on the loudspeaker at the World of Football complex in front of the Reichstag (also live on the radio):
German commentator (in English, with slight accent): Today the USA is playing against the Czech Republic…(mockingly) Where in the world is that? (followed by prolonged snickering)

USA vs. Czech, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Final score 0:3 (duh.)

A wonderful Freudian slip (this is translated):
The Army, I mean, Americans aren’t playing so badly! Sorry, that was a textbook Freudian slip.

How do you spot an American in Germany?
Try the kid in the Virginia Tech hat sitting on the steps of the Reichstag, eating JIF peanut butter out of the can with a spoon.

If you find yourself bored in a noteworthy location with internet access this summer, send your dispatch to bwgossip@columbia.edu. Include pictures.