The Optimist And The Pessimist between Cornell And Harvard
BGA (Nov. 19) – The Optimist and The Pessimist, as they have done for 19 years, are meeting for the final time this fall, not in their usual location, but rather in the top row of the home football stands, where the Big Green will close out its season Saturday against Brown.
The Optimist: Memorial Field on the final week of the season always leaves me feeling wistful.
The Pessimist: More so this year, when it’s Buddy Teevens Stadium at Memorial Field.
The Optimist: Well said, my friend.
The Pessimist: Thank you.
The Optimist: Now for the business at hand. It’s disappointing that we need some help on Saturday.
The Pessimist: I’m glad you see it my way. I’ll admit Brown’s not all that good, but a little help against the Bears won't hurt.
The Optimist: Very funny. You know I mean we need help from Yale winning at Harvard. But you are right, Brown’s not very good.
The Pessimist: Of course, neither was Cornell, and we all saw what happened out there.
The Optimist: Ouch. Ten weeks in, and you are still taking cheap shots. After 19 years of this, I’d expect nothing less. OK, if you want to play that way, we’ll start with Cornell, then talk Brown and finally, Harvard-Yale.
The Pessimist: Bring it on.
The Optimist: Say what you will about last week’s game out in Ithaca, I’m telling you the Cornell quarterback should be in the conversation for the All-Ivy League first team, and their wide receiver absolutely will be first-team. And their little running back was surprisingly good. As for their defense, after giving up all those points to Penn the week before, they weren’t going to lay down against us. You match up a potent offense with a defense playing for pride, and that’s what you get. Losing that game was disappointing, but it may say more about them than it does about us.
The Pessimist: I warned you last week they weren’t going to be a walkover. Trust me, Brown won’t be either.
The Optimist: You do realize that the Bears are 2-4 in the Ivy League and 3-6 overall, right?
The Pessimist: And you do realize they are the only team that has beaten Harvard, right?
The Optimist: The Crimson lost that one on a fluke play. And don’t forget, that game was played under the lights in front of a rowdy home crowd in Providence. This will be our crowd. We're playing them here, not down in Rhode Island.
The Pessimist: True, but I rather doubt you are going to have the kind of rowdy home crowd Brown had for that game. In fact, I’m not sure the word crowd would even apply, particularly if the forecast is accurate.
The Optimist: The forecast seems to be improving, but that’s neither here nor there. Brown has lost three straight and six of its last seven games. After starting the Ivy League season with that win over Harvard, they’ve gone in the tank.
The Pessimist: Did you happen to notice who their last win was against? I'll help you. It was over Cornell, the team that just beat you.
The Optimist: The Brown coach was a great quarterback for the Bears, and was supposed to be some kind of QB whisperer who was going to turn them into a scoring machine. Hardly. Against Columbia last week, their only touchdown came with 1:37 left in the game. And that was against Columbia.
The Pessimist: Don’t go knocking the Lions now. They’ve given up the fewest points in the Ivy League this year. Your defense has given up 62 more points in Ivy games than Columbia’s, so getting shut down by the Lions is no disgrace.
The Optimist: Bully for Columbia. As for the fifth-year Brown QB who a lot of people thought would be a Bushnell candidate this fall, he has more interceptions than touchdown passes this year. He’s been picked off 12 times to just 11 TD. His efficiency rating, a number that I have to admit means nothing to me, is lower than any starter in the league other than the new kid at Princeton and the Penn QB who has been replaced, and that’s not good.
The Pessimist: Here’s what I know. The Brown quarterback may not be having the year everyone expected, but he can get hot. He was 21-for-37 for 288 yards and three touchdowns in the win over Harvard, and that tells me he can do it against the best. I've got to warn you, he’s not a bad runner, either. He had 57 yards on the ground against Harvard, 55 against Princeton, and 47 last week against Columbia. You’ve had trouble with quarterbacks who can pass and run like Wang last week, the kid at Yale, and the Harvard duo.
The Optimist: Speaking of Harvard,I’m pretty sure they are going to have their hands full Saturday.
The Pessimist: Of course you are.
The Optimist: Yale’s offense has caught fire. The Bulldogs have rung up 98 points over the past two weeks.
The Pessimist: That was against Brown and Princeton, not exactly paragons of defensive excellence in the Ivy League. Let me remind you, when their Ivy League championship hopes were on life support in Week Seven, the Elis managed to score all of 10 points. And that was against Columbia, mind you.
The Optimist: Didn’t you say, “Don’t go knocking the Lions,” to me a couple of minutes ago?
The Pessimist: My bad.
The Optimist: Your bad? Are you from the ‘70s or what? Listen, Harvard is living life on the edge. They were lucky to get past Penn on a field goal at the end. Sure, they are 8-1, but you’ll be interested to know four of their wins have been by a total of 13 points.
The Pessimist: Given that five of your seven wins have been by that exact total of 13 points, I’d think you would be in the “Good teams win the close ones” camp.
The Optimist: I’m not saying Harvard isn’t a good team. I just think Yale will be better on Saturday, like they were a year ago when they did exactly what they will do this weekend. Deny Harvard the outright championship.
The Pessimist: Yes, Yale did force Harvard to share the title last year. But the situation is different this time around.
The Optimist: Go on.
The Pessimist: Last year, Yale had a dog in the fight. A Bulldog, if you will. They needed to beat Harvard to grab away a share of the title for themselves. You were a beneficiary of their largesse. This year, they are out of it.
The Optimist: True, but in my opinion, that may make Yale all the more ornery. Their focus will be entirely on beating Harvard. There’s no subplot. Nothing else on their minds but defeating their arch-rival. The only thing that can make their season is a win over the Crimson. While I'm at it, please note that Yale has won the last two meetings between the teams and five of the last seven. I’d say the Bulldogs have Harvard’s number.
The Pessimist: The only number that matters to the Crimson is zero. That’s the number of teams with which it intends to share the title. With two talented quarterbacks, their star running back returning last week, and a defense that is second in the league for fewest points allowed, Harvard isn't going to let Yale spoil the party again.
The Optimist: I guess all we can do is let this thing sort itself out on the field, huh?
The Pessimist: It always does.
The Optimist: I think we're done today, and for the season. I'd like to say it's been fun.
The Pessimist: Except when it hasn't. Ciao my friend.
