They say that cynicism is only the most common form of naivete.
It’s been more than three years since I first started covering Columbia sports, taking the women’s basketball, softball, and men’s soccer beats. Back then, there wasn’t much happy news to write about. Under then-rookie head coach Paul Nixon, women’s basketball struggled, winning just two Ivy games, both over equally bad Yale. Softball started strong, riding on then-senior pitcher Jackie Adelfio, but skidded to a 4-8 conference finish. And despite the excitement of a heralded new coach in Leo Chappel, men’s soccer 2006 season ended without a single league win.
But as dreary as it sometimes was to see the Lions struggle through the beats I covered, no team’s travails were more disheartening to watch than football’s. During Bob Shoop's final season, spreads against Columbia widened to more than 20 points; even so, the opponents would cover every time. Enter new head coach Norries Wilson, and a new enthusiasm was infused into the program. But while the moral victories were many, the actual victories were few. The 2006 football team would fail to win an Ivy game until pulling out two straight against Cornell and Brown at the end of the season. It was tough not to harden and be cynical.
A funny thing happened on the way to graduation, however. The Lions won games. Titles, even.
The first team to raise hopes was women’s soccer in fall of 2006. Having improved from a dreadful record in 2004 to threaten briefly in 2005, the Light Blue put together a flawless Ivy campaign to win the title, beating old favorite Dartmouth in the process.
Next came men’s tennis in the spring of 2007. A perennially competitive team, the Lions overcame a disappointing '06 campaign to go 6-1 the next year, and win the title in a playoff against Penn.
But perhaps the most satisfying title for Columbia as an athletic program would come the next spring, as baseball coach Brett Boretti took a team that went 5-15 the year before he arrived, and 6-14 his first year, to a 15-5 Ivy record and a playoff win over Dartmouth for the Ivy title. To call this a dramatic turnaround of the program would be an understatement.
These successes come despite the dramatic institutional disadvantages inherent to be a city school. While sports events may be the ultimate gathering of crowds, the infrastructure needed to support teams is a decidedly suburban and space-consuming affair, something that goes against the character of a school located within six streets and a single avenue block. Elite programs have practice fields and facilities comparable in size to the entirety of Morningside campus. Compare that to Baker Field and the cozy confines of Dodge, and it becomes clear the constraints under which Columbia athletics has to operate.
And yet programs here persevere, and some even thrive. Traditional New York sport fencing continues to be the top program in the conference, and one of the top teams in the country. Men’s tennis and women’s soccer contend year in and year out, with tennis repeating their '07 performance to win the title again this year. Both basketball teams are now competitive, and coach Nixon’s women’s basketball squad has a chance to do something special in sophomore Judie Lomax's remaining years at Columbia.
There will probably never be a day where every single team that Columbia fields will be competitive. It may even be that competitiveness will not extend to most teams. But the bright spots are there, and as a city school’s sports fans, perhaps that’s enough to make a department worthwhile.
Spectator has been an integral part of my life for the past four years, and I would like to thank the people who have made it such an enjoyable experience:
BL, JL, MC, MS, and SS the degree to which you guys stepped up this year was unbelievable, and I have utmost confidence you all will bring the section back to where it should be next semester.
AP, AS, RS, LL, BC, and YH, the sports page would never have came together without you guys, and you own it as much as we do.
JT, JA, MP, and MV, I couldn’t have asked for better people to work with during my four years here.
AK, JK, and JR, I learned everything from you guys about Spec and beyond.
To anyone I may have missed, thanks, and it’s been a great four years.