Ever wondered why coaches are always holding up giant cards with emojis on them?

Amidst the beautiful chaos of the Columbia Women’s Basketball team’s home opener against Richmond last Saturday, complete with two key three-pointers and a career high 14 points from Mia Broom (CC ‘28), and three more double-double figures from Junior Riley Weiss (CC ‘27) and senior co-captains Susie Rafiu (CC ‘26) and Perri Page (CC ‘26), we couldn’t help but notice the giant cards featuring iconic memes and classic emojis being held up by the bench players and coaches throughout the game. 

After some careful consideration, we concluded that those cards were the Lions’ creative play cards, and from that moment on, we were obsessed. We spent the remainder of what was ultimately a Lions’ loss trying to predict what on-the-court action would result from each of the cards, usually being wrong, but having a blast nonetheless. After a while, we started to compare each card to our favorite artists, songs, and albums. With that, we bring you this article to share with you, our dear readers, the insanity that our brains conjured up during this game. 

Gold Bricks – ‘Money is Everything,’ Addison Rae

Say it baby don’t lie, money’s everything! This song perfectly encapsulates the gold bricks thrown up by passionate players signaling to their teammates what their next play should be. With friends like these, they are the richest girls in the world. 

Turkey – ‘Strangers,’ Ethel Cain

Besides Thanksgiving, what else serves farm-grown and slaughtered, tough meat, and small town vibes? The entirety of Ethel Cain’s discography, but specifically the song ‘Strangers’ which details Ethel’s demise at the hands of her boyfriend Isaiah.

Shark from Finding Nemo – ‘Gnarly,’ KATSEYE

Something about this image being held up on the court felt… gnarly. Iconic. Aggressive. We know Richmond was confused when they saw Head Coach Megan Griffith holding up this fierce depiction of the Lions closing in on their second quarter lead. Gnarly.  

2 Faces – ‘Defying Gravity,’ Cynthia Erick and Ariana Grande

We went back and forth on this one for a while, but ultimately concluded that this emoji had to be equated with two of the most iconic faces and the most iconic duo: Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. In the same way that Elphaba defied gravity when she flew away on her broom, every basket shot by the Lions flew through the air with poise and the magic of Oz. 

“Neon” sign – BRAT, Charli XCX

There was really no other choice when we saw this one. Reminiscent of a 2016 tumblr light up dorm sign and complete with neon green lettering, this play card simply SCREAMED brat. 

Angel Reese’s iconic ‘you can’t see me’ – ‘Actually Romantic,’ Taylor Swift

Would it be a college basketball game without a nod to one of the most controversial (and iconic) moments from the 2024 NCAA Tournament?? While this one took some thinking, we landed on one of our favorite diss tracks of the year, ‘Actually Romantic’ by Taylor Swift. 

Fire emoji – ‘Burn,’ The Hamilton Cast

The emotional turmoil this song makes us feel is similar to that of Richmond when Weiss scored a crucial basket and earned herself a free throw attempt with just under a minute left in the game. Just when they thought they had sealed the win and defeated the Lions’ chances of coming back, Weiss came through for some last minute momentum, leaving Richmond feeling betrayed, distraught, and demolished. The Spiders watched the court…burn. 

The Lions will face off against Binghamton on Monday, November 24 in Levien Stadium at 7pm. And we don’t know about you, but we can’t wait to see which play cards will be displayed during this game. 

Image via Bwog Staff