When I was a freshman, I had a full-fledged mega-crush on IvyGateBlog.com. I thought it — and its editors — were the funniest and hottest shit ever. I’m talking banana phone levels of hilarious. I didn’t even know Chris Beam and Nick Summers (the founders), but I had these sort of creeper-esque fantasies about going to work for them, and becoming BFFs. And then, maybe one day we would all work at Slate together. In fact, the fame-whore in me would get excited whenever one of my articles made it onto Ragtime, even though it was rarely in a positive light.

After graduating 33 players in 2009, including 11 starters, the Red football team knew it had some big holes to fill. Apparently, the media is also aware — Cornell was picked to finish sixth, tied with Columbia, in the Ivy League Preseason Media Poll.

To the Editor:

Re: “Incorrect information and misleading stereotypes plague college wars,” Letters, March 12

After an extremely successful trip to the west coast, men’s tennis begins its Ivy campaign in New York City against Columbia on Saturday. The Red (9-3) is on a seven game winning streak.

In their matchup last year, the Red lost in an extremely tight match, 4-3. However, the team has many more wins this year than it did going into its Ivy season, and their success on the road in Calif. during spring break will to be a big confidence booster against the Ancient Eight.

The women’s team has had the opposite result in both their California sojourn and their preaseason. The women (4-9) are struggling. The team took two straight losses in California after defeating Azusa Pacific University. The Red will host Columbia at home at Reis Tennis center.

Yesterday, Ivy League Executive Director Jeff Orleans announced a change in the Ivy League lacrosse season that will create a four-team tournament. Set to be implemented for the first time in the spring 2010 season, that will determine the Ivy League’s automatic qualifier for the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse Championships. The winners of the Ivy League championships will continue, however, to be determined by the results of the league’s round-robin competitions.

HAVERHILL, N.H. (AP) — A county treasurer who lost her bid for a fourth term last week to a 20-year-old Dartmouth College student from Montana blames her failed candidacy on "brainwashed college kids."

Republican Carol Elliott said students just voted for the Democratic ticket, which included Dartmouth junior Vanessa Sievers. Sievers won by nearly 600 votes out of 42,000 cast after targeting voters at Dartmouth and Plymouth State University through a $42 ad on the Web site Facebook.

"It was the brainwashed college kids that made the difference," Elliott, 66, told the Valley News of Lebanon. She said she had little faith that Sievers will fulfill her duties adequately.

The whirlwind season continues as the volleyball team, fresh off a tough four-set loss to Colgate Tuesday night, hits the road to take on Ivy rivals Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend. The Red will face off against the Crimson tonight at 7 p.m. at the Malkin Athletic Center in Cambridge, Mass., before making the drive to Leede Arena in Hanover, N.H., to tangle with the Green on Dartmouth’s Homecoming weekend.

In Cornell’s (4-10, 3-1 Ivy) last game action, the team fell despite a fast start and 1-0 advantage in sets over Colgate. Ultimately, the Raiders were better able to make adjustments, said Cornell head coach Deitre Collins-Parker.

With their first Ivy League match under their belts (or rather, spandex), it’s time for the Red volleyball players to take stock of their preseason and see what can be learned from the experience, as well as what needs to be fixed as the Ivy season starts up in earnest. Saturday’s 3-0 win against Columbia was a good start for the Red (2-7, 1-0 Ivy), but their record overall leaves something to be desired. Should the team be worried, or were its preseason growing pains a part of a normal process that will ultimately strengthen Cornell this season?