Because it’s homecoming! Bwog commentary and photos to follow later on in the day.
By
Bwog Staff on
Oct 13, 2007 
39 Comments
Because it’s homecoming! Bwog commentary and photos to follow later on in the day.
Loading …
Copyright 2023 Bwog Limited. All Rights Reserved.
39 Comments
@crew team? the only way that gpa is that high is bc the team relies so much on walkons who got in based on their academic merits, our coach sent us an email w/ everyones ss number gpa and sat scores…. the recruited kids can get by with sats like 300 points below cc avg (around 1100) and gpas below the avg too (but hs gpa seems to be more based on what school you go to), athletes get free tutoring too and the team is pretty much a built in network for sharing notes/tests/papers etc tto make your life easier
@justathought Now that the University has committed to raising 100mil for athletics – it looks like the hipsters have one choice… deal with it, or transfer.
@it seems that college sports are a good way of attracting college donations… maybe, but probably only from the same cookie-cutter bro-scholar-athletes that were interested in columbia sports in the first place.
The real money to be gotten is going to come from the likes of future John Kluges, who you will recall, got his free ride into Columbia based purely on academics. For every not-entirely-retarded meathead we let in, we risk rejecting a John Kluge in order to gain more matthew foxes.
@wait How can athletes be “meatheads” AND be successful enough to donate money to the school?
Does donated money increase in value because the donor was an athlete vs an econ major?
Maybe Matthew Fox will donate a large sum of money before he dies, but since he is significantly younger than John Kluge, it might be a while.
@the problem with our football players is that football players are supposed to be large, fearsome, angry, I’m-going-to-fucking-break-your-face types, whereas OUR football players are more like giant teddy bears
@quit hating on athletes. i’ll just say that most columbia students are pretty ambivalent about athletics but this one bitter jock-hater is in no way representative of the student body
@Consider Basketball. Interest is up. It’s got a big advantage on football in terms of convenience, and they’re actually reasonably good. Imagine if we actually get good enough to win league titles and go to the NCAA tournament? Can you imagine the exposure for the school during one of the highest profile national sporting events in the country?
@On a lighter note, college sports are fun to watch. Although it’s hard to comment on why alumni go to events / give money / do Columbia related things, having the football team present a good show would be another reason to visit campus, get involved, and cut a check. Columbia’s endowment needs all the school spirit that it can get.
@Probably true To continue what you just said, if at some point in the future, suppose winning the Brown game resulted in winning the conference outright, I have a feeling that the place would sell out before the day of the game with alumni that haven’t been involved with the school for perhaps even decades coming out to support the team along with virtually every student being involved. I really do think that a winning product would produce great results for the school, but I’m also willing to bet that the football program, at this level and in our conference, operates right now on a loss.
@... i meant:
i, for one, will now bow in the direction of my non-athletic columbia college overlords.
@... if you’re going to from athletes to barnard and gs, i suppose this thread has come full circle.
i, for one, will not bow in the direction of my non-athletic columbia college overlords.
@when it comes down to it, athletes are just one more sub-group of Columbia students that it’s easy to shit on. Are you old enough to remember Avi Zenilman’s shoddy attempt to piss on athletes in a spec op-ed?
As if the hostility isn’t enough, Columbia athletes have some of the worst facilities in the Ivy League- I’m not talking about stadiums, but training, practice, offices, etc. We’re heavily handicapped and the lack of support from your classmates probably doesn’t help. Maybe I’m overblowing the number of people on campus represented by the assholes who post on bwog (the greater internet fuckwad theory tends to explain this).
Finally, Columbia needs your money. Seriously. Did you come to Columbia under the impression that your school is in the same league as Harvard Princeton or Yale? Almost but not quite. Not only does Columbia’s total endowment pale in comparison to the ‘big three’, but more importantly, Columbia’s endowment per student is roughly on par with UVA and Washington and Lee College.
@well If you’re really interested in Ivy League athletics recruiting: http://www.amazon.com/Playing-Game-Inside-Athletic-Recruiting/dp/0972202668/ref=sr_1_3/105-3760135-2455648?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192323456&sr=1-3
If you want to know what sports can do for a school, watch college football on TV. For whatever reason, those people in stands care more about their school than 90% of the disaffected hipsters who make Columbia a terrible place to be an athlete (where you’re likely to be stereotyped and boxed away without so much as a second thought) ever will.
Those athletes are as much your classmates as your smoking buddy and writing partner. But I doubt you feel that way when you’re busy being condescending a prick to most of the people around you. But I guess you have a superiority complex that needs stroking by routinely wondering out loud why athletes “took” the spots or more “qualified” candidates. Based on what? Numbers?
Why don’t you carry that reasoning to it’s logical conclusion and denounce Affirmative Action in all it’s forms while you’re at it. Or defend and it be the hypocrite you really are.
@oh also pretentious condescending assholes of the hipster and other variety (really anyone who gets off on feeling better than their peers, be they athletes, or even Barnard and GS students), you make Columbia miserable for everyone, not just athletes.
Of course, if everyone is a condescending prick, is anyone left to feel miserable as a result?
@... yeah, well, one reason they exist (and probably one of the better reasons) is as an excuse to bring together alumni. almost always at any columbia athletics event, you’re going to see more alumni and parents of the athletes than you will students. if it keeps alumni together and “connected” to the school, i’m sure they’re more likely to feel part of the school long after graduation. hence, they’re going to look forward to a number of these dates and they’re probably going to give money back to the school, be it through purchasing a season ticket (and giving away the physical tickets or simply not attending most games) or contributing to the capital campaign. i don’t think most people ever go to a columbia athletics event expecting something amazingly great to happen for the home team. that’s really how it’s worked at this school for decades and i doubt any little change in marketing or personnel will change that. those that are trying to do incredible things with the athletics program are simply wasting their time.
that being said, there’s nothing wrong with those that contribute just to keep the program going. and while it varies by sport, for the most part, in the “lesser jock” sports, i’ve found the students to be fairly bright. it’s no secret that they do cut breaks during the admissions process, but i’m sure they’d do the same for some ridiculous musician or artist or other student they think could do good for the school even if it doesn’t come from the classroom.
and to the point that cu athletes don’t receive scholarsihps, it’s pretty known that in football and basketball that they go for next to nothing on financial aid. especially those heavily recruited that would have otherwise gone to another 1-aa school.
can someone in the know explain why we were supposed to get so excited about the 1971 team? that ceremony seemed laughable — barely with an overall winning record and even announced as finished second to co-champions. i mean, if that doesn’t sum up a day of comedy, i don’t know what would.
oh, right. instructing fans each time penn scored (and first at the half as fans began to flee for the exits) that the buses back to campus wouldn’t leave until the conclusion of the game.
@... one of the worst showings i’ve seen (at least the first half) since the harvard game on ’05. we have no defensive line. hormann calmed down considerably in the second half, but he was overthrowing everyone except that one 90 yard gem to knowlin. in fact, hormann had 417 yards on the day, but the team rushed for a combined ::wait for it:: *8* yards. eight. you’re not winning when you rush for 8 yards.
remember when davis rushed for some insane number of yards a few weeks ago? what happened since then?
@Riven columbia athletics might be giving some athletes a greater chance to be at this college, but the majority of athletes here is not stupid. If you look at the crew team, which has a ~3,3 – 3,4 GPA avg you cannot say somethign like ‘stupif jocks’. And i totally agree that not spending like 30 hours a week on a sport does improve your grades by a lot. there is more to life than grades, you will notice this when you start working and nobody will ever ask you again how you did in your Chem class
@random go go econ/poli sci/history majors with 3.3/3.4 gpa’s. Like if your GPA reflects how “smart” you are…
@Proving a point “the majority of athletes is not stupid” – An athlete
Athletes are fine. Give them a break. They work harder than 75% of CC students who just complain about working hard. Take a damn science class then come back and complain. Want to actually work? Be a premed athlete – or worse- an engineer.
@Averages It averages that way only because of the backbenching smart athletes who are recruited to solely maintain decent GPA averages while the dummies do the heavy lifting. Besides, how hard is it to get a B+ at Columbia?
@Alum Whad evidence do you have that Columbia actually recruits that way?
@well actually the average gpa for CU is around a 3.4, but I guess that makes you special then
@random sports is a good way to bring the community together, however since our football team is worthless columbia has to look other means to bring the community together. The carnival for one…oh wait…
@hmm can someone explain what the value of monetarily investing in varsity sports is?
@'71 Calvin Sun could play better football than that
@idiots i think its unfair to say that all football players/athletes are dumb jocks, i assume those of you hatin never leave your rooms, yeah they might not be as smart and get money but theres more to life than studying your ass off. there is plenty of value in competing in sports, just because you’re an unathletic fool doesn’t mean you should judge. anyway, how about you try keeping your grades as high as they are now after a semester of practicing all the time, etc.
@btw cornell’s tennis team sucks
@Mathlete The Ivy League should be turned into an academic league. We should compete in political debates, math competitions, etc rather than in football, women’s soccer, or all that . I’m tired of dumb jocks. It seems like you just can’t get rid of these people, from K to college.
@whocares they dont get scholarships, but a lot of them magically recieve heavy grants that should go to people with more than shit for brains. i have multiple friends who are athletes and they admit to getting financial incentives to come here. don’t even try to cover for them. 90% of our athletes are too stupid to go to community college and yet they’re getting free rides at a school that many people would kill to be at.
@hmm I think that’s unfair to say, though. Maybe the football kids, or the women’s soccer kids, get more than their fair share of “financial assistance,” but many of the other sports teams at Columbia and Barnard are notorious for NOT giving much incentive to go, at least financially. If we think we have it bad, just imagine how much worse it is for Stanford students, or even Penn or Cornell students – both of those schools are notorious for somehow giving athletes full rides, let alone actual acceptance, with absolutely no reason other than that their tennis team could be short a superstar.
@Alum The only “magic” in the football players’ aid packages is the magic of need-blind admissions and full-need financial aid, which all College and SEAS undergrads get.
The athletes receive need-based financial aid just like non-athletes. Those who decide to stop playing don’t lose any of their aid, and students who start playing after receiving their initial aid package don’t get any more aid as a result. And even the best athletes don’t get a penny if they and their families have enough money to pay the bills.
@opinion while i certainly don’t think athletes are getting a shitload of perks or are brain dead like some people are claiming, they do get some benefits.
they get to register before others in their class, which i think is pretty reasonable considering their athletic schedules can be demanding and while not entirely fair its tolerable.
w.r.t. financial aid, the finaid office will work with you to try and fit your package to your needs in most cases and the amount of aid you get has some discretion on their part in addition to just a formula that bases what you get on what you have. athletes get a bit more leeway in the discretionary portion (i.e. if a coach really wants a player, and the difference in what the office is giving and what the player needs is reasonably small, the office will take that into consideration)
generally speaking, athletes span the same spectrum other students do as far as their intelligence. ive met some kids here who were valedictorians and all who seem like they belong at community college and athletes who are the smartest students in their classes consistently. again, the standards are a little looser for athletes but i doubt the school admits students who are entirely unqualified. i know of high school athletes who were scouted by coaches at duke, standford, harvard who couldn’t play there because they couldnt get their grades high enough.
so basically, take it all in stride, while they get some benefits, its not like they can get away with murder and graduate without attending a single class (no more than any other student anyway). the minor perks they get stem from the fact that we as an institution (and a society) value having athletics as a component of our organization
@whocares these jocks are useless. all money time and effort we put into these stupid games and giving their unworthy asses full rides could be much better spent, oh i dunno…maybe fixing roofs so they don’t cave in from rain.
@asdf cu athletes do not receive scholarships.
@yea what’s the crowd look like
@Randomette does anyone care about homecoming?
@um bwog where are your primo reporting skills. there are large tents on South Lawn and loud jazz music playing. what the hell is going on??
@random by how much are we going to lose this time?
@well it’s 45-7 at the half. ouch.