Photo courtesy of New York Daily News
Texas A&M has the 12th Man. Columbia University football has Jake Novak, arguably its number one fan. For more than two decades, Jake has been blogging about CU football at Roar Lions 2024. In equal parts, he has played the role of cheerleader, promoter and critic. This year, Jake was cheering a lot. For the first time since 1961, Columbia won the Ivy League title, sharing it with Harvard and Dartmouth. Jake took a few minutes to discuss this historic season, as well as some other issues.
STADIUM JOURNEY:
So, how does it feel to finally be at the top of the Ivy league? Does the air feel different? Is it as glorious as you imagined? You've been in the desert for so, so long.
JAKE NOVAK:
It definitely feels great, though not exactly like the promised land because it was a shared championship with two teams, which we lost to during the season. I've been reliably told we don’t have to refer to this as a "co-championship," but that's going to take a little getting used to. What makes up for the 3-way tie is how good this team was overall and what it overcame both before and during the season.
STADIUM JOURNEY:
You do a lot of predictions on the blog. Did you see this coming this season? Did anyone see this coming?
JAKE NOVAK: No one seriously saw this coming. I felt like last year's 3-7 team should have gone 5-5 or so, but not much better than that. We had issues at the QB position all year, and you can't expect to have a winning season without good overall QB play. So we entered this season knowing we had to start a totally new starter and how much can you expect from a season like that? I did think new Head Coach Jon Poppe was a winner though, and considering all the returning talent at the other positions I thought we could eke out a 6-4 season this year, going either 3-4 in the Ivy League or at best 4-2. It turned out we found a generational talent in sophomore starting QB Chase Goodwin, and his two backups performed well enough after he went down with a non-career threatening injury at midseason. That made a huge difference. Columbia ended up 7-3 and 5-2 in the Ivies, and that's actually a major step from 6-4 and 3-4 in the league. If you know, you know.
STADIUM JOURNEY:
How did you become such a diehard Columbia football fan? How on earth does this happen? Describe the evolution.
JAKE NOVAK:
When I began as a freshman at Columbia in 1988, the Lions were in the middle of the longest losing streak in college football history. You couldn't help but root for those guys. Columbia lost the first three games of the season and then stunned Princeton at Homecoming to end the 44-game streak. The campus went wild and the administration even served free pizza and beer to everyone. No one was even carded! And I was hooked. I was just amazed that kids going to my college actually played football at all. It still kind of amazes me. The money-centric aspect of pro sports gets me down sometimes, so the purity of Ivy ball resonates. I'm much more of a fan of CU football than any other sports team I follow.
STADIUM JOURNEY:
How long have you been blogging about CU football? What drives you to keep humming along?
JAKE NOVAK:
I started the blog in 2005 and used to update it just about every day. Life has made that harder to do in recent years, but I try to keep it going as often as I can.
STADIUM JOURNEY:
There have been some low points over the past few decades. What was the lowest?
JAKE NOVAK:
The absolute low point was the hiring of Pete Mangurian as the Head Coach of the program after the 2011 season. I tried to be a good soldier about it for a while, but this was a guy with a documented history of altercations with players, including the very beloved Jumbo Elliot from the New York Giants. There was no real search process before he was hired, and we were in big trouble in the beginning. The players felt abandoned and abused and going into Mangurian's final season, I decided to go into full revolt mode against the CU Athletic Department. I got a lot of support from many fans and alumni and parents. but some people abandoned and shunned me. It was ultimately worth it, but Mangurian left the program in a shambles and riding a 21-game losing streak at the end of the 2014 season.
STADIUM JOURNEY:
You're an indie operation, not affiliated with CU. Are you still getting some cold shoulders from the Columbia administration? Or have things mellowed?
JAKE NOVAK: Yes and no. One key staffer in the Athletic Department definitely still hates me. But he's enough of a sports fan to know that the things I pushed for were way overdue and the program is the better for it, not because of me, but because I gave a platform to so many people who otherwise would have been silenced.
STADIUM JOURNEY:
Last year, the blog went on hiatus, at least it sure seemed that way. It was amid the campus protests. Was this a coincidence? Were you considering stepping away from CU football and perhaps Columbia in general?
JAKE NOVAK:
That's exactly right. I am deeply saddened by not only the radical antisemitism Columbia keeps allowing on campus, but by the terrible advertisement for the school these protesters truly are. Whenever they speak publicly, they can barely put together a coherent sentence. Even if I did agree with their political points, I'd be embarrassed to be associated with them. The school is doing very serious damage to itself and I am ashamed of the institution. I considered not supporting the teams for some time, but the varsity athletes are clearly not the people protesting on campus and spreading hate. They've been going through much worse than I am during this ordeal, and I decided to support them. But I refrained from wearing my Columbia gear at the games and held back on donations. I wore my Sid Luckman Chicago Bears jersey to every game and that was that.
STADIUM JOURNEY:
Wien Stadium is a special venue. What's it like to attend a game there? What's special about it?
JAKE NOVAK:
It's a very beautiful spot in the Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan. The Inwood Hill Park adjacent to the stadium is the last large chunk of Manhattan that still looks the same as it was when the Dutch first landed here in the 16th century. The stadium itself offers some great views of the Hudson River and the rock formations. In the stands, you are very close to the field and there are no bad seats. Parking is a challenge, but not impossible.
STADIUM JOURNEY:
So let's say someone's planning on attending a game at Wien. What are some ideal spots to hit before and after the game? What other insider tips do you have for fans who plan on visiting Wien?
JAKE NOVAK:
Well, definitely stroll through Inwood Hill Park if you can and see the amazing views. About 20 blocks from the stadium is The Cloisters, a mock up of a massive medieval castle and grounds that the Metropolitan Museum has used for decades to house its Medieval art, armor collection. It's a great place to visit. Inwood itself used to be a restaurant and bar desert, but that's not true anymore. One place that never would have existed in old Inwood is Inwood Farm Cafe, which is just diagonally across from the stadium on 218th street. It was a blast going there after Columbia beat Cornell to watch Harvard lose to Yale and thus clinch the co-championship for Columbia on the TV over the bar. Food is good there too.
STADIUM JOURNEY:
Have you considered stopping the blog, or are you in this for the long haul?
JAKE NOVAK:
I'll always update the blog as long as I'm physically able. It may become a monthly periodical one day or something like that if push comes to shove.
Jon Hart is @manversusball
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