Tom Columns

Today is the first day of the rest of the Harvard football team's life. The new lease on life is provided each year at this time in the form of the opening of the Ivy League season against Columbia. A dismal loss to B.U. last Saturday notwithstanding, the Crimson warriors today open up their defense of the Ivy crown at Soldiers Field.

The truth of the matter, of course, is that football games against Columbia prove little more than how merciful Joe Restic is feeling on any given day. The last time the Lions from New York City walked on the Harvard Stadium turf--two years ago--they spent 60 minutes of pure misery en route to their 57-0 humiliation. Joe had probably fallen out of bed that day.

Last year, though, there was kindness in his heart as the high-powered Crimson offense let the Lions off easy, 34-6. That's a 91-6 margin in two games, not exactly something Columbia students write home about.

In the context of Harvard's football history, however, the Lions are not the biggest bunch of patsies the Crimson ever ran into. Around the turn of the century the Crimson used to line up some real laughers, like 158-0 (Exeter, 1886) and 110-0 (Wesleyan, 1887). An 11-game season in 1887 saw Harvard outscore its opponents 660 to 23. So everything is relative, which is something that Columbia head-coach Bill Campbell must be telling himself.

The rest of the Ivy schedule today involves two important games and one critical matchup, Yale vs. Brown at Providence. Princeton meets Cornell in Ithaca, and the Big Green of Dartmouth travel to Philadelphia to take on the Penn Quakers in a battle of relatively unknown quantities.

Dartmouth may be a group to watch this year, since their first game blues were replaced by second game thunder against Holy Cross last week. Penn, meanwhile, struggled valiantly against Bob Bateman and his boys last Saturday before giving in, 17-8. The game is a big one, more so for Dartmouth than for the struggling Red and Blue.

And things will be similar in Ithaca, where the upstart Princeton Tigers face Cornell in another tough matchup. The Tigers have a lot going for them, including a solid defense (probably the best in the Ivies, including Brown) and last, week's Ivy Player of the Week, quarterback Ron Beible hit 14 of 25 pass attempts for 183 yards against Columbia, and the Lion defense really isn't that bad this year.

Cornell once again has ex-superman Don Fanelli in the backfield, ex-simply because he is not as great as he was before smashing his knee in the Harvard game last year. Fanelli is now just a very good halfback.

The Big Red are extremely high on a fellow named Neal Hall, a sophomore who gained 152 years on 29 carries in his first game as a varsity player. He was injured last week, but is back and healthy for today's battle, so Cornell will put up an excellent fight.

Finally, there's that showdown at Brown between two undefeateds. The Bruins are a one-point favorite, which is a correct assessment of the talent of the two teams. Yale has a history of winning, and if the Eli don't beat Brown today, it is possible that nobody will. The game in Providence will be for blood.

So, on a day where everybody in Cambridge will be glued to a TV set keeping their Sox on, the Ivy League, replete with question marks, will be offering at least three, and maybe four, good football games. Six teams have legitimate chances to win the title, and that's not just public relations writing. Things will be interesting.

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A minor upset marred last Saturday's schedule, but the mystic from Albany, New York foresees no such disturbances this week:

PRINCETON-CORNELL--On a difficulty scale of one to ten, this ranks as about an eight. Princeton is tough, and so is Cornell's defense, however, sways the pick to the Tigers. Princeton 23, Cornell 21.

DARTMOUTH-PENN--This rates as about a seven, owing to my belief that Dartmouth is good this year. Penn has Jack Wixted, so the game honestly could go either way. A very shaky ballot for the Big Green. Dartmouth 16, Penn 14.

YALE-BROWN--This rates as an 11, and there may be some readings on the Richter scale before it's over. It won't surprise me if either team wins, which is why it doesn't surprise me that I can't pick this one. Because it's in Providence, I'll give the edge, grudgingly, to the Bruins. Brown 27, Yale 25.

COLUMBIA-HARVARD--This rates as a two, and that's only because Columbia coach Bill Campbell is a nice, sincere guy. Harvard will win, but the amazing thing is that I don't think the margin will be that great. Harvard 22, Columbia 7.

CRIMSON-SPECTATOR--There is no rating for this one. The Crimson is on a 666-game winning streak, and leads the league in lying about the scores of its games. Crimson 23, Spectator 2.