Zack Marcil
NEW YORK, NEW YORK—
In the midst of a gruelling training camp, the Columbia University Lions found themselves in the middle of a heated debate: who is New York City’s College Team? Folks familiar with the situation are likely to tell you that the answer is either the New York University Violets Men’s Hockey team, or the Columbia University Lions Men’s Hockey team.
The controversy began after members of the CU team were notified by sources that NYU was claiming to be New York City’s College Team in their Instagram bio, therefore sparking the rivalry between the two cross-town programs.
The Lions were not going to stand down and let many years worth of work put forward to reinvigorating this program go unnoticed. NYU is nothing to scoff at, but do not underestimate the ability of some of the most elite student athletes in the world to rally the troops and concoct a strong campaign of their own. You could almost hear the chants reverberating throughout the Morningside Heights campus, as students marched with signs, draped in Columbia blue, hollering: “Don’t tread on me”, and, “Revive the Roar”. The students want this. On the way to class, on the way to the Starbucks on 114 and Broadway, on the way to changing the world, the students at Columbia and their beloved players were not going to be disrespected by their neighbours at NYU.
Can there be more than one college team representing NYC? Maybe. As Jr. Reporter Mark Rassell so eloquently wrote, “What if New York only had one subway line? Or one Broadway show? Would it be the city it is today?” Maybe it can have more than one college team, but the Lions and their fellow students aren’t willing to play it to chance.
In a campaign unofficially released by F Kyle Lopes, the Lions claim their reign as New York City’s College Team, since 1896, a whopping 123 years ago.
An anonymous NYU graduate student had this to say about the whirlwind of controversy regarding the two programs, “Location is big for me in determining which is really New York’s school.” NYU is located in Greenwich Village, a neighbourhood south of CU campus in Lower Manhattan.
Does the greatest city in the world deserve to be represented by the best? Of course. Which is why Columbia University is making their claim to being NYC’s college team.
New York City is home to some of the greatest rivalries in the world. From Yankees/Red Sox, Giants/Jets, to CU super-fan Jeremy Coste’s Bank of America Tower vs. some of the shortest buildings in Midtown, you can most definitely add NYU hockey/Columbia hockey to that list.
The Lions and NYU do not have a game scheduled against each other this season.
Zack Marcil is the Senior Reporter for the Columbia University Men’s Hockey Team, and Senior Insider covering Ivy League Athletics. He does not own anything of the colour Violet. You can find him on Twitter at @longshadowjr
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