…And now for something sports-related at Columbia that’s just straight-up awesome: Josh Martin, who was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs, sits down with Kansas rep Zachary Hendrickson to talk about being a free agent, a band nerd, and successful in general.

Bwog: First of all, congratulations! What did it feel like, being signed by an NFL team?

Martin: It was pretty crazy, man. Obviously, you put a lot of work in throughout your football career. I started playing in high school, continued here at Columbia, and I’ve seen how that work has accumulated into this one – I wouldn’t say final event – but big step in my football career and toward my life as a professional athlete.

Bwog: So you’re are an undrafted free agent, correct? …What does that mean?

Martin: An undrafted free agent is pretty much what it sounds like. I wasn’t drafted. In the draft they gather the rookies for the upcoming season to compete and try to make the teams. I wasn’t selected in that process. So, basically, the leftover guys become undrafted free agents, and I was lucky enough to get signed by a team.

Bwog: What made you choose the Chiefs?

Martin: When it came down to it, the Chiefs offered the best opportunity. They have a new coaching staff, and they have really talented guys at both Outside Linebacker positions (which is what I think they’ll have me playing as). We’ll see what happens! They showed me a lot of love throughout the whole process, especially leading up to the draft. Ultimately, I just felt more comfortable with the Chiefs.

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Hey there, sports fans! Come on out to Baker Field tonight to watch SigEp the Columbia Men’s Rugby Team square-off against their rivals from the City of Scrap Metal-y Love, the Yale Bulldogs. Not only will spectators of the scrum be treated to what is sure to be an exciting match, but also the first in attendance will receive free t-shirts and a delicious barbecue.

The game is scheduled to start at 7 pm, and fan buses will leave every 20 minutes from 117th and Amsterdam beginning at 6 pm. We suppose there is at least a non-zero chance that we might also get to see CURFC’s rendition of the All Blacks’ pregame Haka. Bwog has its fingers crossed for this…

Rugby via Shutterstock

Then you should write for Bwog!  Unfortunately our dearly beloved sports editor is graduating this year and would like to chill mad hard appreciate his final semester while working with an apprentice to take over.  To that end, we are currently on the lookout for any and all sports fans (and players) to join our team and write about what’s been going on in the CU sports world.  We are very open to new ideas on how to cover athletics and encourage enthusiasm.  You don’t have to be an expert in all sports, but general familiarity and attention to relevant news–both in and out of Columbia–is required.

If this sounds like something you would be interested in, please email editors@bwog.com!

Border for the picture of your crush in your 6th grade locker via Shutterstock

Bwog: How did you get started working for Deadspin?

Jack Dickey: It was my sophomore year. I applied for an internship. It was going to be three days a week and I got that. I was doing it two mornings and a full Friday. I really like it here. I’ve been reading Deadspin since it started, which a lot of people say, but in my case it’s actually true. I’ve been reading it since I was 15, and I actually tried to apply as an intern in high school. I was in New York [where their offices are] so it was a nice fit and that was how I got started. They kept me around for the summer and paid me. Since junior year I’ve been doing about half school, half Deadspin.

Bwog: We were on break when you initially started investigating the story. How did you get involved away from school and how did that work as the story progressed?

JD: The thing is we are very wired. I probably do more talking with my coworkers over instant message, even if I’m in the office, than I do over talking. So there’s not a huge difference if you’re in another place. The guy who wrote the story with me, Tim Burke, is based in St. Petersburg, Florida. He’s full time at Deadspin but works at home from Florida and comes to New York two or three times a year. I was in Connecticut, my editors were [in New York], Burke was in Florida, and we were all doing it over instant message. But we’re used to communicating that way so it wasn’t a big problem. Once the story published, I had to come in because they wanted me on TV or whatever. It was nice to have people who wanted me on TV come drive me in from Connecticut, which I wasn’t expecting.

Catfishing in South Bend

Tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday, and you may be wondering where to watch Beyonce preform at halftime. To help you with this epic search, Bwog has put together a list of your local favorites as well as some more adventurous options, all of which are offering food and drink specials for the big day. You’ve already heard about our Super Bowl drinking game, now find out where we’ll be playing it!

The Local Favorites:

Mel’s Burger Bar (111th & Broadway)

Super Bowl Special: Unlimited beer and anything off the menu for $60, but only $40 if you’re part of Brew Crew. Oh, and it’s only $25 for ages 14 and under, if you can swing that

Pro: Everything you already know: great selection of beers, tasty food, plenty of TVs

Con: Everything you already know: drunk frat boys, awkward communal bathroom encounters, contentious line/table interactions

 

Havana Central (113th and Broadway)

Super Bowl Special: All you can drink & eat “Cuban Feast” for $35.95 per person (plus tax and tip). The deal includes wings, sliders, peel & eat shrimp, empanadas, and as many Presidente Lite drafts as you can handle

Pro: Delicious Cuban food, and it may bring back lost memories from Senior Night

Con: Not the best TV situation in the neighborhood

 

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Bwog isn’t really clear on exactly what Basketball Mania is, but we hear there will be free things in a heated building so we’re interested. Head to Dodge tonight to pick up a free long sleeve T-shirt, see performances by groups like the hip hop dance crew, Raw Elementz, and most likely partake in some basketball-related activities. The event starts at 9 pm in Levien Gymnasium, but doors open at 8 pm. To get you in the spirit, the CU Marching Band put together this inspiring video. Warning: the footage may actually want to make you attend a Columba athletic event.

If Basketball Mania leaves you itching for some more school spirit activities, check out the Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams on Saturday (also at Levien) as they take on Cornell in their first home Ivy League games of the season. The Women’s game starts at 4:30 pm, followed by the Men’s game at 7 pm.

What are you doing for winter break? How about an 8-day trip to Miami Beach; staying at a 4-star hotel? Bwog received a picture earlier tonight from an anonymous tipster, who found a hotel invoice lying on a desk nearby Uris Pool. The invoice seems legit, but Bwog is reaching out to Athletics just to make sure, and we’ll update this post if they get back to us.

It’s worth noting that you’re not paying for this training, at least not directly. While a third of our student life fees go to Athletics, Deans Shollenberger and Martinez have assured us that this only includes athletics events open to everyone (like intramurals and Dodge Gym). The funding for the swim team’s trip must comes from other means—such as [Update: $600 each (in addition to teaching swim lessons) from] members themselves.

The alleged invoice:

Now that it is really our official “fall break,” Bwog is taking a much needed respite to repair the Shore/campaign/hike/study for pushed-back midterms catch up on Hulu.  We’ll stop in every so often to make sure you’re doing alright, but otherwise we will be making good use of our time off, and you should too. 

Power has been restored to Lower Manhattan, but recovery is still a long process.  Good thing we have telethons and resilience. (Reuters, NBCNews, BuzzFeed)

In a shocking turn of events, the Knicks won a game.  In a less shocking turn of events, the New York City Marathon was canceled. (Hangtime, Chicago Tribune)

This Tuesday is Election Day!  Romney is making one final campaign push while mathematics argues it might be too late. (Fox, The Atlantic)

Animals are taking over! (HuffPost, Wall Street Journal)

Our heart via Shutterstock

Update, 3:15 pm: Columbia just beat Marist 10-9. Roar, lion, roar.

Your CU Lions have their opening game today against Marist at 12:30 PM!  Make the trek out to Baker Field (map) with free shuttles from 116th and Broadway starting at 11 am.  Once you get there, enjoy free t-shirts for the first 500 students, free beverages in the pre-game picnic area, and free admissions to the game itself with your CUID.  So come out, support your team, make some noise, and keep laundry at bay for one day more.  Here’s to hoping the team beats last year’s record!

 

Real sports fans via Wikimedia Commons

As you may have heard, the Columbia fencing team is pretty freaking baller.  This summer, four of our own fencers will be going to London to compete in the 2012 Olympics. James Williams, CC ’07, was an alternate in Beijing in 2008, where he was called in to help the US win silver.  He is part of the US team this year. Jeff Spear, CC ’10, will be an alternate. Bwog giddily talked to these two sabre fencers about their journey, America, and James Bond.

Bwog: How long have you been fencing? When did the dream of going to the Olympics start to become a realistic possibility?
James: 17 years!  My junior year (2005) at Columbia, I made it onto the U.S. National team and realized that if I could do that again in 3 years time, I could go to the Olympics.
Jeff: I have been fencing for 11 years.  The best answer to when the dream became a realistic possibility is probably when I decided to ‘go for it’ in 2008.  At the time the goal was still unreachable—I had recently dropped off the national senior rankings—but it really was a conscious decision to try to go that made all the difference in the world.

B: James, how does it feel to be the “first Ivy League male to win an Olympics fencing medal in 60 years and the first to finish as high as second since 1904″?
JW: It feels fine. If you use that many qualifiers, you can be first or second in almost anything!

B: Has being involved in the Olympics made you more patriotic?
JW: Yes! Wow. It made me really proud to be an American.
JS: Yes and no. I am very proud to represent my country, but I think an even more important lesson I have learned is how similar people are all across the world. Every tournament there are 200 of us from 30 countries united by a common dream. I spend weeks at training camps with people from different teams, and we tell stories, share experiences, and talk about life.  The Olympics unites countries but I think, even more importantly, it unites the world.

B: Do people make a lot of obnoxious pirate jokes re: swords? Is that annoying?
JW:  Much more so before I made it to the Beijing Games. I mostly hear fencing related puns now. The humor has been exhausted, but I admit that were it someone else, I would be making the jokes, so I take it in stride.
JS: Mostly people make comments about my name, which I guess is tangentially related to fencing.

Emotional Olympics commercials, I Love You Man, and LitHum analyses after the jump

The 2012 spring season is coming to a close as most teams enter the final countdown to the conclusion of competition. Though course grades won’t be out for a few more weeks, we can take a look at how the Lions have stacked up this spring. The Men’s Tennis team finished up at 2nd place in the Ivy League behind Harvard and ranked #45 nationally, while the Women’s squad had their best season in program history, finishing 3rd in the League. Baseball closed out the season with three out of four wins in their final series against Penn, including an emphatic 11-1 final victory. Meanwhile, the Track & Field team continued to break records, this time taking down a 20-year old Ivy League record in the Men’s 4x800m run. After two round of golf, the Columbia Men’s team sits in second with four players in the top 11 and the Women improved to fourth place. Not too shabby, Lions. 

Read on for more Columbia Athletics news and scores as the Lions wrap up the spring season and 2011-2012 academic year.

Columbia Lions weekly round-up:

Men’s Tennis (18-3, 5-2 Ivy League):

Results:

The #45 Lions finished their regular season last weekend, but had to await the Harvard vs. Dartmouth match to see whether they would claim the Ivy League title. The best case scenario was a three-way tie to for the title if the Big Green beat the Crimson, in which case the Lions would earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after having beaten both teams head-to-head. However, Harvard edged out Dartmouth, 4-3, to clinch the Ivy League title and earn an automatic bid. Columbia finished in 2nd place with a 5-2 record and will learn this week whether they make the tournament.

Women’s Tennis (13-6, 4-3 Ivy League):

Results:

Women’s Tennis finished in a tie for third with Harvard, behind Princeton and Yale. The Bulldogs captured their second straight Ivy League title with an undefeated conference record. The Lions had their best season in program history, setting the record for wins in a season, Ivy League wins, and tallied the first ever Ivy League winning season. The squad ended the season 4-3 in the Ivy League and 13-6 overall.

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The Men’s and Women’s Tennis teams, which have both enjoyed outstanding seasons, finished their final Ivy League matches with a bang today. The squads pulverized Penn, with the Women winning 6-1 and the Men a resounding 7-0. With two wins this weekend, the Men’s Tennis team remains in the hunt for the Ivy League title with league-leading Harvard. Princeton also took beating from the Lions this weekend as Baseball came out of a four game series with three wins and Softball rallied from a 2-0 loss to take the nightcap 8-2 over the Tigers yesterday. Though Lacrosse and Tennis concluded their regular season competition today, there’s plenty more sports to be played this spring season.

Read on to get caught up with your Columbia Lions as we head into the final weeks of the school year.

Columbia Lions weekly round-up:

Men’s Tennis (18-3, 5-2 Ivy League):

Results:

Princeton 6-1 (W)
Penn 7-0 (W)

Highlights: The Lions, now ranked #45 nationally, beat up the Princeton Tigers on Friday, dropping only one singles match on the day and winning the rest in straight sets. In the doubles, Columbia and Princeton both picked up quick wins, as senior Haig Schneiderman and freshman Winston Lin took the No. 2 spot and the Tigers won minutes later in the No. 3 spot. Tied at 5-5 with #65 nationally ranked Tigers duo Matt Siow and Matt Spindler, freshman Max Schnur and Ashok Narayana battled to take the last three games and hand the Lions the doubles point. The Lions didn’t slow down in the singles, taking the first three matches in the No. 4, 5 and 6 spots to clinch the win, starting with a quick 6-0, 6-1 victory by Narayana. The Tigers picked up their only point of the day in the No. 1 singles, before Lin and junior Nathaniel Gery took the final two matches to bring the final score to 6-1.

Today, the Lions smoked Penn, 7-0, in the final match of regular season play. With the win, the Lions advance to 5-2 in the Ivy League and 18-3 overall. Last week, the Lions stood alone in second place in the Ivy League and remain in the title hunt with league-leading Harvard, who plays their final match next weekend. Congratulations to seniors Haig Schneiderman and Rajeev Deb-Sen for their tennis careers as Columbia Lions.

Women’s tennis and more after the jump

Bacchanal weekend got off to a bad start for many Lions teams. Yale snapped the Men’s Tennis team’s 12 game winning streak and handed the squad their first Ivy League loss. The Bulldogs similarly got the better of the Women’s Tennis team, while Cornell swept Baseball and Softball in Saturday’s doubleheader. The Lions, however, bounced back to tally some big (gigantic) wins later in the weekend, including two victories over Dartmouth from the tennis teams, a win against Big Red Softball, and a second place finish in the 6th Annual Roar-EE Women’s Golf Invitational.

Read on for more Columbia Athletics scores and news, and see the Lions’ lows and highs while you were high on Low.

Men’s Tennis (17-3, 4-1 Ivy League):

Results:

Yale 3-4 (L)
Dartmouth 5-2 (W)

Highlights: The Lions entered Saturday’s match against Yale on a 12 game winning streak and undefeated in the Ivy League. Columbia opened play with a strong performance in the doubles, as freshman Max Schnur and Ashok Narayana took down their nationally ranked opponents in the No.1 spot, 8-2. The Bulldogs struck back with a win in No. 3 doubles, but senior Haig Schneiderman and freshman Winston Lin salvaged the doubles point for the Lions after taking the No. 2 doubles in a tiebreaker. In the singles, Yale quickly drew the score even with a win in the No. 4 spot. Though Lin followed with a two-set victory in the No. 2 singles, the Bulldogs went on to take the No. 1 and No. 5 matches to pull ahead of the Lions. Columbia, however, would not go down without a fight, as sophomore Tizian Bucher battled back from a set down to win the No. singles, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. The match came down the the No. 3 singles where the Lions lost a heartbreaking three-setter to snap their win streak and hand them their first Ivy League loss.

The Lions rallied today, taking down the Big Green, 5-2.

Up Next: The Lions return home next weekend to take on Princeton on Friday at 2 pm at Dick Savitt Tennis Center, before heading to Penn on Sunday for their final Ivy League match of the season.

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The Athletic Department announced today that the Football team and band are expected to switch places next season as a last resort. The announcement came after…Okay, we’re allowed one April Fools joke about the CU Football team, but let’s get on to the real sports action this week. Men’s Tennis, Women’s Tennis, Softball, and Baseball all opened Ivy League play this weekend, and all teams did so with victories. Both Tennis teams took down Cornell, while Baseball and Softball notched wins against Yale. The Heavyweight Rowers also had a great weekend, capturing the Alumni Cup by a (figurative) mile.

Read on for the rest of the Lions weekly round-up, a March Madness update, and a special report on some CU swimmers at the Canadian Olympic trials.

Columbia Lions Weekly Round-up:

Men’s Tennis (14-2, 1-0 Ivy League):

Results:

Cornell 4-3 (W)

Highlights: The #52 nationally-ranked Lions opened the Ivy League season on Saturday on the road against defending Ivy League champs Cornell in a thrilling come from behind victory. From the onset of the doubles matches, it was clear the match was going to be close. After the Big Red shut out the Lions in the No. 2 spot, 8-0, the remaining two matches were forced into tiebreakers to decide the doubles point. Juniors Nathaniel Gery and John Yetimoglu won their tiebreaker, 9-8(5), followed by freshman Ashok Narayana and Max Schnur, who took the No. 1 doubles match, 9-8(4), to win the double point for the Lions and put them in the lead heading into singles. Narayana quickly added to Columbia’s lead in the No. 4 spot, but Cornell rallied with wins in the No. 3 an 6 spots to tie the match at 2. The Big Red gained their first lead of the day after taking the No. 5 singles, but the Lions rallied to take the No. 1 and 2 singles, both in three sets. The win marks the tenth straight victory for the Lions and an undefeated start to Ivy League play.

Up Next: The Lions return home next weekend for two Ivy League matches at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center. On Saturday, the Men’s team will take on Dartmouth at 2 p.m. followed by Harvard at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

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Bwog Sports coverage returns after Spring Break with a lot of Columbia Athletics action to report. While most sports fans were perfecting their March Madness brackets, the Lions were scattered across the country for various training trips and competitions. The Baseball team headed out to California for 10 games, while the Softball ladies spent some time in the Sunshine State for 10 games of their own. Men’s and Women’s Tennis continued to dominate, with neither team dropping a single match over the break. To boot, all three rowing programs found success at the Collins Cup Regatta in Florida. The most impressive performance, however, was by the Fencing team at the NCAA National Championships. On day two, lady Lions Lydia Kopecky and Sammy Roberts earned second team and third team All-America honors, respectively. And after four days of competition, three Lions on the Men’s side earned All-America honors and Alen Hadzic took runner-up in the Men’s Epee, making him the #2 ranked epee fencer in the nation.

Read on for all the results from the Lions, plus a March Madness update for all you bracketologists and alliteration fiends.  

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