Ryan-Balderas

Learn about the mission and story of board game cafe Hex & Co. as it moves into its new and much larger space where the historic West End Bar once stood.

It’s 6 in the morning. Columbia students are fast asleep, exhausted by their Thursday night outings in the city and midterm papers due the night before. Few would even think about getting up at such an ungodly hour, especially on the day that marks the beginning of the weekend. In fact, most of the city is still asleep. You cannot yet hear the typical hustle and bustle of Manhattan.

The nation’s oldest wrestling team spent the past decade struggling to break through to the front of the pack. The team has remained unable to clinch an Ivy League title since 1982 and has been unable to capture an Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association title in the program's 126-year history. Over the past 10 seasons, the Light Blue has only had two with a winning Ivy record.

After three straight losses, football reclaimed an offensive prowess it has lacked all season, dominating on both sides of the ball en route to a 44-6 blowout Homecoming victory over Penn on Saturday at Wien Stadium.

Winning the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association heavyweight title on March 4, 2017, thereby earning an automatic spot in the national tournament, was one of the best moments of then-junior wrestler Garrett Ryan’s career. Just days later, Ryan was back in one of the places he feels most comfortable on campus—neither the wrestling room, nor his dorm, but the pottery studio at Teachers College.

The saying goes, "close, but no cigar"—but frankly, with the kind of agony that close losses can cause a team and its fans, I'm thinking Columbia may need the cigar.

Yet another game decided in the final seconds went the way of Columbia's opponent on Saturday. However, you have to give the Lions credit—despite these heartbreaking defeats, they have come out and played every single Ivy opponent tough. They hung with defending Ivy champion Princeton and second-place Penn both times they met, looked unstoppable against Brown and for 30 minutes against Yale, and played a more competitive game at Lavietes Pavillion than any other visiting Ivy team has this year. The Light Blue is fourth in the league in scoring margin, and similarly middle-of-the-pack in most other categories. None of this would seem to describe a team with a 3-7 league record.

One of the most disturbing elements of these close losses is that Columbia has had leads for significant periods in most of them—in all four of the games against the Killer P's, and of course during most of the Yale tragedy. As much as I feel the need to praise the Lions for surpassing expectations in several of their games and for proving they can outperform any Ivy team on any given day, the inability to pull out tight games diminishes my excitement. It's clear, due to their frequency, that these losses are no fluke. Surely luck plays a part, but there are other contributing factors that the Lions can improve upon.

Handling nerves and performing under pressure could be part of it. There have been some strong clutch performances this season, such as Cisco's game-winning jumper at Dartmouth and Barbour's unsurprising clutch free throws in the waning seconds of overtime at the Palestra. Following Barbour's foul shots, though, Columbia's defensive miscue cost it the game. Against the Bulldogs, the Lions were plagued by complacency with a large lead, and an errant pass by Alex Rosenberg and two missed free throws by Blaise Staab in the final minute completed the collapse. In a league that is so close in talent, consistency is a must.

The same can be said for Ivy football last season, where the Lions were a better team than their record showed. Homecoming against Penn shows why victories were so elusive for the Light Blue last fall, and that coaching plays a large role in closing out games.

Hopefully, a new coaching staff and attitude for football and another year of experience for the returning basketball players will finally translate into inspiring victories rather than excruciating losses.

One Columbia squad is already looking to make that transition this spring: the baseball team, which will play its first game a week from today.

The Lions suffered several one-run losses last Ivy season, but none were more frustrating than the series of defeats in their first two weekends. Columbia lost its first game of the Ivy season by blowing a ninth inning lead against Dartmouth in an Ivy Championship rematch, before being swept in a gut-wrenching double-header at the hands of Brown a week later.

Having heard from several players in the past week, it's apparent that the team did not know how to react to the early-season adversity after a dominant Ivy season in 2010. High expectations mixed with demoralizing defeats caused Columbia to place more and more pressure on itself as the season progressed, snowballing into an very disappointing 9-11 Ivy record.

Even though Coach Boretti regards this as a poor excuse, there is little doubt that last year's experience will aid the team when it faces adversity this season. That, teamed with the fact that the Lions are no longer the Lou Gehrig Division favorites (defending Ivy champion Princeton has attained that honor), may allow Columbia to relax at the plate.

And when it's close, hopefully the Lions will be able to smoke the victory cigar more often than not.

Ryan Young is a Columbia College sophomore majoring in economics-statistics. He is a sports broadcaster for WKCR.
sports@columbiaspectator.com

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You may want to call the last few weeks of Pixbox—which led me to claim this semester's championship and ring in the Young Dynasty—clutch. However, I would not be here without the clutch performances of Paul Pierce and (as always) LeBron James. Indeed, it is rare (possibly even a first?) for a sophomore to claim the Pixbox throne—especially when he has to fend off a record 11 opponents, more than half of whom are seniors. It would have been too perfect for the glorious senior Zach Glubiak to win his final Pixbox, but when Penn melted down at Jadwin Gym two weeks ago, I won the tiebreaker to claim my glory. You can just ask my fellow WKCR broadcasters, Gigi, Sam, and Miles, and they will acknowledge I was exhilarated, to say the least, after that Princeton victory brought the Crimson and me our long-awaited championships. Speaking of WKCR, there is another part of this victory that we must not overlook. During both last basketball season and this one's, the sole WKCR competitor beat out all the other columnists, in what is certainly not a coincidence. Last year it was Lucas and then-WKCR sports director Tommy who pulled it out in the final week, and this year it was me and current WKCR sports director Gigi. While I would aspire to follow Lucas with another victory column filled with Spec-bashing, I realize he was a second-semester senior, and I am clearly not. But of course I must say this: It is evident that if you want the most insightful, relevant, and entertaining Columbia and Ivy League sports coverage, you should tune into 89.9 FM or wkcr.org at 9 p.m. each Wednesday night. (Of course you could and should do this in addition to reading Spec.) One of the great parts of WKCR is there are no word counts, so my rants are never cut short because they don't look pretty in a newspaper. So if you get frustrated like I am when my columns and baseball stories continue to get cut down for the rest of the semester, have no fear: Just listen to the live broadcasts on wkcr.org of all the home baseball doubleheaders. While the sports columns this semester may be brief and Lin-obsessed, I enjoy reading them each day. But for tradition's sake, this is the part where I am supposed to bash the other columnists (aka the 11 losers). Myles: As a fellow baseball beat writer, I just want to make sure you are not delusional once again this year in thinking that the Indians will compete for a playoff spot. So enjoy the playoff race that we get to cover in April, since it's the only one either of us will have this summer. Ben: Spec Dinner happened. Tom/Sam: Consider it a blessing that there are two extra columnists this semester, so as first-time columnists you guys get the break. Although I feel bad if the fast start to Pixbox gave false hope to Tom. He should learn from Sam, who was determined to consistently be at the bottom of the pack with his picks week in and week out. Jim: This may be noticeably longer than any of the other ones, but come on, you ended your fall victory column with "And now that I'm in power, it's going to take a Mubarak or Gadhafi-like revolt to get rid of me. You can pry the PixBox trophy from my cold, dead hands. Bring on the Spectator Spring." Hahahaha. Look out—now that Mubarak knows how little you thought of him, he may be after you. Actually, if you look at your record, I literally could not have done as badly as you even if I'd tried. Clearly that one week that brought you to the top last semester was just a fluke—especially since you were forced into making most of your picks and Tim was the one who clearly made most of the final decisions. But please go ahead and blast me for not doing all the headlines, while you were spending hours formulating your hopelessly awful Pixbox picks and selfishly hoarding all the Spec pizza for most of last semester. Clearly, I, as the indispensable Thursday night associate, was the one who made all the errors last year. In fact, you should also blame Tim for allowing Latin onto the front page. Maybe your worst offense was prematurely congratulating me on my Pixbox championship. Of all people, you should know the consequences of prematurely congratulating people on championships (and prematurely firing people). I was going to prematurely congratulate you on a Cowboys playoff victory ... but for some reason I never got the chance. This leads to the obvious transition to Mrinal, but I would like to point out I am well past my word count for a normal column, something I clearly took for granted from our two former sports editors and managing board. Imagine if you came this far only to find out I couldn't bash the remainder of the seniors for no particularly good reason. Alas, I am in control of this column, so here we go. Mrinal: Besides being able to count the number of times Gisele appeared on the Super Bowl telecast, I really think you should write a column breaking down the intricacies of the Giants win. Please, enlighten us with your knowledge of real football—it must be better than the basketball knowledge that turned out to be such a giant Pixbox fail this semester. Especially since you are best friends with every person (and Lion) within a 10-block radius and had the ability to consult all of them so that you could have made semi-respectable decisions. Ronnie: Yes, I understand for both Ronnie and Mrinal, taking the crutch that was soccer picks away from both of you brought you guys down. (Not like that helped last semester.) Frankly, I think Pixbox is the better sport and I can't wait for the upcoming Spectator Sportscast breaking down Pixbox. Shapiro: At least you made Thursday nights more entertaining those time you drunkenly made your way around the Spec office, in the process intimidating the other sections. Props for that, especially since it was probably the biggest contribution you have made from inside the Spec office in the last two years. Thus there is no need to apologize for this as well. Victoria: The "best part" of this semester may have been when you made history with that winless week. Really putting that Ivy sports knowledge you accumulated over the years to good use. (Maybe you were just aspiring to make the same type of history that your favorite coach almost did.) Michele: I'm sad that the Ivy basketball expert didn't have any Pixbox championships to show for it ... until now, of course. But it may be karma for the unnecessary 16-page issue that you eagerly approved on my final night as an associate—bringing the unpaid labor to quite the remarkable finish. Zach: So close, yet so far. Your fatal flaw was making the Quakers favorites in the tiebreaker. That made the Tigers, who had not lost at home since November, the easy choice for me. Clearly you and everyone else did not realize the skill it takes to make appropriate lines each week. It probably is true that penalty kicks would have been the fairer way to settle things—next time, I guess. And to the few of you that wanted to deny me a column at the start of the year, I completely understand now. You knew this would happen and you guys just wanted a shot at a Pixbox championship. Oh well. Which brings me to the scary point, that as my main competitors from this semester, Michele and Zach, graduate, there will seemingly be no way to stop the Young Dynasty and my superior picking skills for the foreseeable future. However, there is something you can all do about it: This is the third-best New York sports story of the year and basically a combination of the other two. As the lone columnist from New York, I brought home the championship to the greatest state in the world, as did the Giants. While as an Ivy Leaguer I also rose to prominence during my sophomore year, much like Ivy alumnus Jeremy Lin did in his sophomore NBA season. The only thing that is missing is my parade down Broadway or the Linsanity-levels of hysteria that I clearly deserve.?So here is what you can do to make my achievements more visible: Make Ryan Young famous. Spread the word that Ryan Young is Pixbox Champion. Share this article on Facebook, tweet it, post it on Reddit, and don't forget to write "YOUNG 2012." Take over YouTube comments, send this to all your friends. Bombard Oprah, George Clooney, and Ryan Seacrest with tweets and remember that you are making a difference. Let's dictate the news and force the national media to cover this story—let's make sure they see this column and understand why we hold such standards for Ivy League journalism. I will not be satisfied until there are memes making fun of the already proliferated "YOUNG 2012" memes. Then at sundown on April 20, everyone around the world should head out into the streets and parade around with copies of the Spectator, chanting and screaming "YOUNG 2012." If I feel this is my equivalent of the parade down the Canyon of Heroes (similar to the one I was able to experience in February) or I feel that enough Youngsanity breaks out, then I will end my oppression over my fellow columnists and make sure the Young Dynasty does not get out of hand. Otherwise, my fellow columnists are screwed for the next four semesters. It's your choice. For now, I'll have to keep bringing in championships myself, because it doesn't appear that the likes of Tim Tebow or Mike Pelfrey are going to lead my teams to anything in the near future. YOUNG 2012 will have to do. Ryan Young is a Columbia College sophomore majoring in economics-statistics. He is a sports broadcaster for WKCR.

Many of its students will join the one percent. Its football team annihilated its rivals in front of over 55,000 in enemy territory. Its basketball team forced Florida State and Central Florida to blush shades of crimson in the process of taking over Atlantis. It has long been associated with academic prestige, but never major athletic triumph. It is Harvard, and the Crimson are rewriting the history books up in Cambridge, Mass.

As sickening as it might be for many to come to terms with around here, while we focus on finding a new football coach after a 1-9 season, Harvard is basking in the glow of an incredible undefeated Ivy record and a 9-1 overall season, while its coach can celebrate setting the mark for most victories at Harvard. As we contemplate the number of wins we can expect from a men's basketball team without its best player, the Crimson may wonder if they should even expect a loss this season.

Granted, Harvard is not a powerhouse in every sport—far from it: I can recall its baseball team being a pushover last season—but, as I've detailed in an earlier column, it is succeeding in the two sports that truly matter for an athletic program. Thus, I would say that Columbia would be wise in replicating what it can from the Crimson's model, but that may be too much to ask of any Ivy League school when one considers Harvard's supremacy this year.

Penn may have had an 18-game Ivy League winning streak, but Harvard football's sheer dominance this season is probably more impressive when you consider the relatively even playing field that exists in the Ancient Eight. After losing its first game of the year, the Crimson seemed to go almost unchallenged for the remainder of 2011, winning each of their seven Ivy games by double-digits and finishing three games ahead of any other Ivy team. And while the craziest game of the year may have been played at Baker on the season's final Saturday, the Crimson was busy making an enormous statement to the rival Yale Bulldogs in a 45-7 blowout in "The Game."

In watching Harvard play the Lions this year, its depth and balance stood out. Quarterback Collier Winters took control of the game, running back Trevor Scales appeared ready to burst for an enormous run at any moment, and a myriad of different Crimson receivers and defenders contributed in a complete team effort. Indeed, Harvard's depth this year is evidenced by Winters' backup Chapple Colton leading the league in pass efficiency, as Colton was beyond a suitable replacement when Winters missed a few games due to injury. Running back Zach Boden created a great tandem with Scales, and it truly was a team effort for the receiving corps.

Unlike former Crimson quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick's run with the Bills this year, the statistics show just how consistently commanding Harvard was. The team scored the most points and allowed the fewest, with an average margin of victory of over 20 points. The defense had the league's most interceptions and sacks. Since week three, the Crimson scored over thirty points in every game—such a run might not be seen for years to come in the Ivy League.

Meanwhile, league play in the men's basketball season will not get underway for over six weeks, but I am already incredibly enamored with Harvard's 2012 squad. The Crimson may have been the league's best team last year, but Princeton battled for a share of the title. Heading into last year's playoff to determine the Ivy League's postseason representative, I thought Harvard would come away with its first tournament appearance since 1946. Of course, instead it lost by a point on Doug Davis's buzzer-beater in the league's trademark game of the year.

A year later there is little doubt the Crimson are the best team this conference has to offer, and they are looking to make a statement to those who did not offer them what would have been a well-deserving at-large bid to the tournament last year.

The Crimson may have once again been snubbed this week, as they fell just 14 votes and two spots short of landing the team a spot in the AP top 25 after a strong 6-0 start. (This would be a rare and glorious feat for an Ivy team, even though Cornell achieved it two years ago—let the comparisons between these two teams begin.)

After three wins to open the campaign, including an impressive victory at Loyola-Marymount—a team that already beat UCLA by ten points—Harvard finally started to garner attention with its success at the Inaugural Battle for Atlantis in the Bahamas over the holiday weekend. In the tournament, the Crimson dismantled Utah, a legitimate Pac-12 opponent, controlled the second-half to knock off 22nd-ranked Florida State, and then calmly wiped out the University of Central Florida—who had beaten 4th ranked University of Connecticut (UConn) the day before—to easily win the championship. Florida State would take UConn to overtime in the third-place game, and as disappointing as it may have been that Harvard played too well to match up with the defending national champions, the two teams will face off in what should be a must-watch game a week from tonight. Nevertheless, the championship run can be considered one of the greatest series of wins in the program's history.

Even though senior Keith Wright is a force to be reckoned with when he gets near the basket, it was once again a true team effort by Harvard. Casey, Wright, Curry, McNally, Webster, and Rivard all made their own essential contributions. Remember these names, as you will hear them again come March. Each pass seemed to have meaning, and several clutch shots, including many three-pointers, were drained at important moments. The Crimson have never been afraid to use all of the shot clock and they are usually in control of the rebounding battle—factors which almost guarantee they will hold on to their lead.

Granted, it may not always look pretty—the 28 combined first half points in the upset over FSU matched the lowest scoring half in a Division I game in the last quarter-century. Yet Amaker's calm and collected attitude clearly shines through in Harvard's poise setting up and making shots down the stretch. Meanwhile, the defense has never wavered—holding each opponent below 50 points in the tournament—and will become a scary force during the more defensive-minded Ivy League play.

And while it is mostly upperclassmen leading the team now, most believe Harvard's recruiting has recently rivaled many schools throughout the nation—not just the Ivy League. Thus, while the Crimson may be a force for years to come and while they may be Columbia's enemy, they represent the conference well with their superior play and lack of the arrogance that most college teams display.

The Ivy League is stronger than usual this year, so it will be interesting to see the number of wins that Harvard collects and if it can follow in the Big Red's footsteps with a tournament run. With more continued success, you may even be able to say the Crimson are becoming "the Harvard of college football and basketball."

Ryan Young is a Columbia College sophomore. He is a sports broadcaster for WKCR.

Check any late-April or early-May Spectator sports column from the last several decades, and you will see a familiar refrain: Columbia Athletics has had its share of struggles over the last four years, but there are reasons for optimism.