In the modern era of sports, being a college coach carries with it the burden of constant media attention. Facing ...

The Crimson (0-3) traveled to Binghamton, N.Y. yesterday for the Journeyman Sprawl & Brawl, a dual tournament featuring some of the country’s top teams.

But for all the hard hits and the scary moments on the field, the fans can learn something very important from the players at Harvard-Yale: in the end, it’s just a game.

As the Harvard punt unit headed to the field for its first attempt against Columbia, the Lions’ radio broadcaster stared in disbelief.

Harvard football was dominated by Penn, 34-14, in the de facto Ivy title game in Philadelphia on Saturday.

With two big weeks looming ahead of it, Harvard had every reason to look past Columbia last Saturday on the gridiron. But the Crimson showed up to play at Harvard Stadium, handing the Lions a 23-7 loss and frustrating Columbia coach Norries Wilson. Particularly irritating to the Lions’ head coach was the number of miscues in what could have otherwise been a close game. Wilson vents some of his disappointment in this week’s edition of Sound Off.

Early in the season, Crimson coach Tim Murphy characterized his defense as a “bend-but-don’t-break” unit. Harvard has made a living of backpedaling as its opponent picks up yardage, only to stop the other team cold when it counts, and Saturday’s matchup with Columbia was no exception.

Realistically, then, it’s a four-team race to the top, and as far as Harvard is concerned, the crown is still very much within reach.

The Crimson field hockey team has made a habit of sticking with good teams lately, but on Saturday, it simply ran into a juggernaut.