Columbia vs Lafyette

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Basketball Game 12/8/07

Apparently, sport is big over here. Unfortunately, sport isn't very big at Columbia... last I checked we held some kind of Ivy League record for a loosing streak in football. So, when a friend of mine from one of my classes suggested an outing to watch some basketball, I jumped at the chance. I thought it might also be a good opportunity to test my skills as a sports photographer (I need to expand my skillset past landscapes, human rights activism and pornography apparently). At this particular game, we played a team called Lafyette.

The Ivy League - Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Pennsylvania, and Yale. Selectivity, wealth, academic excellence *cough* and social elitism.

We have a very modest basketball venue, certainly when compared to some of the bigger sporting universities in the US. Still, the facilities are very nice.

Just before the game began, there was a team huddle... "what's the plan coach?", "I think we should try to put the ball into the basket", "ok coach, which one?", "nevermind, just tuck your shirt in, will ya?"

Here is the ball in question...

Number 14 casually chucks the ball into the basket from the 3-point line while the Columbia defence looks on helplessly.

The marching band intermittently rose to give us renditions of various well-loved tunes (including the Eurythmic's "Sweet dreams are made of these"... what the?). These guys would later make appearences in front of the library during finals and in the Barnard quad, aslo during finals... to try to distract those who would have the audacity to try and study for finals.

Time-outs are a common occurrence in the game, and to keep the audience interested, cheerleaders perform strange rituals (dressed in... not much) in the centre of the court.

C'mon defence, get your act together!

In addition to the "official" cheerleading, there was also a dance troupe on hand to distract the spectators from the abysmal scoreline.

They at least succeeded in keeping me in my seat during the duration of the half-time break.

It must be quite a responsibility to wear the number 23.

...and 42 as well, the meaning of life, the universe and everything.

Judging from the intense looks on their faces, you could be fooled into thinking that the game was very closely-fought. You would be mistaken. The scoreline ballooned to 20 points at one stage and the result was never seriously in doubt, in short - we got owned.

We did have a pretty cool mascot though, the advantage of being founded as "The King's College" means that there are lions everywhere at Columbia. Makes me wonder what the Oregon track and field team do... they're called the "Ducks"

Five Columbia players stand within the 3-point line... but who has the ball?

The cheerleaders, once again, give us something to cheer about... this time, some tricky gymnastics.

And to finish up, the obligatory random epileptic fit with pom poms.

 

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