Crimson Clicks - September 1st, 2011

News, notes, and mentions of Harvard sports in the last couple of weeks.

The New York Times features an excellent article on Ivy League football, "Year of the Quarterback in the Ivy League. " Here is an excerpt mentioning Harvard signalcaller Collier Winters:

"The Harvard senior Collier Winters beat top college quarterbacks, including Andrew Luck of Stanford and Kellen Moore of Boise State, in a passing accuracy contest in July at the Manning Passing Academy, hosted by Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning."

The article also has some quotes from Harvard head coach Tim Murphy. From the paper:

“The 2011 season has a chance to be the most competitive in a long time,” Harvard Coach Tim Murphy said in a recent conference call with reporters. “I don’t think you can look at a single team in our league that doesn’t have an all-Ivy-caliber quarterback back. That’s something I’ve never seen in my 18 years in the league.”

The Gospel Herald, a global Chinese Christian news service, has a nice write-up of former Harvard basketball star and current Golden State Warrior Jeremy Lin's trip to Taiwan.

Canada's The Sports Network writes a story on former Harvard wide receiver and kick returner Marco Iannuzzi's attempts to play football professionally in the CFL for the British Columbia Lions. B.C.'s coach, Wally Buono, had this to say in the article about Iannuzzi:

"He's worked hard in practice...We're not afraid to put him in there. I think he has certain skill sets at this point that can help us. He's done a good job on teams, he has done a good job handling part of the return game. If he gets an opportunity to be a receiver I think he will do fine."

Here are Marco's comments about his experience at Harvard:

"Once that opportunity was thrown in my direction I thought I would be a fool not to pursue it to the fullest...I knew I was so close, I couldn't live the rest of my life thinking I just about got in."

New England Hockey Journal has a post about the newest assistant coach for the Harvard men's hockey team, Jerry Forton.


Until next time, Go Crimson!

WHRB's 2011 Ivy League Football "Helmet Schedule"

To our dear readers,WHRB has created an Ivy League helmet schedule listing each week of the season and the corresponding Ivy League football matchups. Helmet images courtesy of nationalchamps.net. Enjoy!

2011 Ivy League Football Helmet Schedule Sheet1

Crimson Ranked Second in Preseason Poll

For the second time in the last six years, the Harvard Crimson were picked to finish second behind the University of Pennsylvania Quakers in the annual Ivy League preseason media poll. The Harvard Crimson received two first place votes and 118 points overall, putting the squad 11 points behind the Quakers, but well ahead of rivals Yale and Brown in the polling.

12 of the 17 first-place votes went to the Quakers, who handily defeated the Crimson 34-14 last season at Franklin Field en route to an undefeated Ivy League campaign (9-1 overall). In 2011, the Quakers will be looking for their third consecutive Ivy League crown--a feat not accomplished since the Dartmouth Big Green swept the league from 1990-1992. The remaining three first place votes went to Brown (2) and Yale (1) respectively.

2011 Ivy League Football Preseason Media Poll
1. Penn (12) 129
2. Harvard (2) 118
3. Yale (1) 95
4. Brown (2) 90
5. Dartmouth 73
6. Columbia 45
7. Cornell 31
Princeton 31

Read the full press release here

Other Harvard Football News and Notes:

Jon Poppe is the newest assistant coach on the Crimson staff. The 2007 graduate of Williams College will work primarily with the secondary. Poppe is taking over the position from Dave Borgonzi, who recently accepted a position with the Dallas Cowboys. Before joining the Crimson Poppe most recently spent a year as a coach with the Holy Cross Crusaders.

The Harvard Crimson have been ranked 24th in College Sporting News's FCS Preseason Poll. The Penn Quakers, ranked 15th, were the only other Ivy League team to make the Top 25. Another former Harvard foe, the Lehigh Mountain Hawks, also fared well (16th).

Harvard defensive tackle Josue Ortiz has been named by College Sporting News as preseason third-team All America. The returning senior led the Ivy League during the 2010 campaign in both sacks (7.5) and tackles for a loss (13.5). Ortiz had already been named preseason All-America by College Football Preview, and is one of eight Crimson players to be named preseason All-Ivy League.

Basketball Schedule Released!

The 2011-2012 Harvard men's basketball schedule has been released after much speculation.


11/11 vs. MIT, LAVIETES PAVILION
Harvard opens with rematch with the Engineers of Division III. The Crimson won last years matchup 84-58.

11/15 @ Holy Cross, Worcester, MA.
The Crimson stay in-state for their first road game.

11/19 @ Loyola Marymount, Los Angeles, CA.
Traveling West will bring Harvard into fertile recruiting grounds and will be a return to the Golden state for senior Oliver McNally (San Francisco) and sophomore Jamie Moore (Rocklin, CA.)

11/24 TBA, Battle 4 Atlantis, Bahamas.
The field will include Florida State, Connecticut, Central Florida, Utah, College of Charleston, UMass, and UNC-Asheville. Harvard will be guaranteed 3 games in the Bahamas.


11/25 TBA, Battle 4 Atlantis, Bahamas.

11/26 TBA, Battle 4 Atlantis, Bahamas.


12/1 @ Vermont, Burlington, VT
The Catamounts were a 20+ game winner last year, losing in the semifinals of the American East championship and earning an NIT bid.

12/4 vs. Seattle, LAVIETES PAVILION
The Redhawks travel cross-country for this early December matchup.

12/7 @ Connecticut, Storrs, CT.
This will be the third year in a row that the Crimson travel to UConn, with the Huskies winning the last two meetings. Connecticut is the defending national champion. This could be the second matchup between the two teams in the season (providing they also meet in the Bahamas.)

12/10 @ Boston University, Boston, MA.
Harvard won last year's matchup with BU convincingly.

12/22 vs. Florida Atlantic, LAVIETES PAVILION
No, not the team Isaiah Thomas coaches (Florida International).

12/29 @ Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA.
Harvard will be looking for its 4th straight victory in Chestnut Hill over the Eagles of the ACC. BC lost star guard Reggie Jackson to the NBA Draft. Kudos to Boston College for keeping Harvard on the Schedule.

12/31 vs. St. Joseph's, LAVIETES PAVILION
The days of Jameer Nelson may be gone in Philadelphia, but coach Phil Martelli still has the Hawks competing in the A-10. 

Continue on for the 2012 portion.

Crimson Clicks, August 2nd

News, notes, and mentions of Harvard sports in the past week

The strengths and weaknesses of former Harvard quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick are discussed in USA Today's review of the NFL's Buffalo Bills, the team for which Fitzpatrick starts. From the paper:

"Head coach Chan Gailey sees upside to the former Harvard passer but can only view him as a long-term answer if he significantly reduces his mistakes and begins to show he possesses a winning touch. Buffalo gave the six-year veteran a vote of confidence by not investing its top draft choice (No. 3 overall) in a young arm. Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, did everything possible to assert his leadership during the lockout, including hosting teammates at his Arizona home to facilitate April workouts."

Incoming Harvard basketball recruit Corbin Miller has great things to say about the Crimson in his hometown Salt Lake Tribune:

“I feel Harvard is the best fit for me,” said Miller, who led Class 5A last season in 3-pointers per game. “I felt very comfortable there and my style of play fits with what they do.”...While basketball is the catalyst for Miller attending America’s oldest university, it is the school’s academic profile that really sealed his decision.
“I’ve always known that basketball would be a means to an end, and it’s just a tremendous opportunity and blessing to be able to get one of the best educational opportunities in the world,” said Miller. “It’s been very humbling.”

Football has hired Scott Lukas as Football Operations Coordinator, according to GoCrimson.com. Lukas comes to Cambridge from Bryant University, where he was Director of Athletic Operations.

Until next time, Go Crimson!