Gridders, Tigers Aim to Air it Out

Who says the Ivy League isn't fun?

A run for the title--any title--is exciting if six participants are after it, clawing, scratching and beating up on each other along the way.

Witness the national wheelbarrel races last year. What, you didn't see them?

Or observe this year's Ivy League title fight. This week finds Brown, Cornell, Harvard, Penn, Princeton and Yale each with only one league loss and a lot of football left to play.

A run for the title--any title--is exciting if any given team can win in any given way.

Take two weeks ago, for instance. Harvard had Cornell down, 17-10, with four minutes left in the fourth quarter. And the Crimson had the ball.

It's over, ain't it?

Wrong. Ah, Yogi.

The Crimson took a safety. Two minutes later, a Cornell wide receiver juggled a Hail Mary pass into the endzone. The circus had come to Ithaca.

Afterward, ringmaster and Big Red Coach Max'e Baughan paid tribute to the entire univeristy and all its inhabitants, then expressed regret that the visiting Crimson didn't have fun.

But the Max Factor wasn't enough the next weekend. Cornell did everything it needed to do against Brown in Providence. Everything, that is, except win. Brown fell short in every important statistical category, but came out on top, 23-15, thanks to a blocked punt and a 66-yard quarterback sneak.

Then there's the Ivy League sideshow--the "Starved Lion in a Cage." Ancient Eight basement dweller Columbia hasn't come up for a breath of victorious air in three years. Yes, the streak now stands at 36 games. Or is it 366? Who's counting?

I propose the Lions go double or nothing against Bucknell this weekend.

Tell you what, Bucknell. If you win, you get the lifetime supply of Haines underwear and the vacation to the Bahamas. If Columbia wins, its 3666-game losing streak goes up in smoke. Forgotten.

If Columbia wins, Northwestern--the previous losingest team in college history--gets its futile record back. Folks up North and West want it back, anyway.

Dartmouth, the Big Green with a dying dream, is challenging Columbia for Ancient Eight futility. Dartmouth bumbled and stumbled against the Crimson last weekend, falling, 42-3.

Dartmouth is 0-2 in the league. Columbia is 0-4. Tickets go on sale soon for their November 7 showdown in New York.

See you there.