Average Home Football Attendance In 2024
Harvard 11,079
Penn 6,009
Brown 5,972
Cornell 5,918
Columbia 5,626
Princeton 5,364
Yale 5,310
Dartmouth 4,274
Average Away Football Attendance In 2024
Yale 13,229
Harvard 9,098
Dartmouth 8,054*
Princeton 7,662
Penn 6,809
Cornell 4,681
Brown 3,918
Columbia 3,791
* Dartmouth away attendance is distorted by the announced 15,211 at Merrimack. The school website describes the stadium as having a "capacity of over 3,500." Having been there and studied the crowd, I'd suggest a reasonable assessment might be that ± 4,000 actually attended the game, with the rest either remaining in the tailgating areas or not attending. Using the more realistic 4,000 figure, Dartmouth's road attendance would be 5,812.
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When we lived in the Etna, a rural part of Hanover, we rarely missed a Dartmouth home basketball game, men's or women's.
Since moving a good half hour north, we don't go to games as often, but I have followed the teams on the web. I've found that I am doing much less of that since the sports information office went away from writing actual game stories in favor of the "How it Happened" format.
Here's an example of that type of capsule from the Big Green men's game at Illinois-Chicago yesterday, in the exact format in which it is presented on the Dartmouth website (LINK):
Big Green Drop Nail Biter in Overtime to UIC, 69-68
CHICAGO, Ill. – The Dartmouth men's basketball team dropped a nail biter in overtime, 69-68, to UIC on Sunday afternoon from Credit Union 1 Arena.
A second chance three-pointer from Ryan Cornish with 2.6 seconds left tied the game 66-66 and sent it to overtime but the Flames prevailed. Cornish finished the game with a team leading 15 points.
The Big Green's record falls to 4-4 (0-0 Ivy League) and UIC's improves to 5-4 (0-1 MVC).
Score: UIC 69, Dartmouth 68
Records: Dartmouth (4-4, 0-0 Ivy League), UIC (5-4, 0-1 MVC)
Location: Chicago, Ill. (Credit Union 1 Arena)
Date: Sunday, December 8, 2024
UP NEXT:
The Big Green continue the road trip when they travel to play Notre Dame on Wednesday, Dec. 11 with a 7 p.m. tip.
FIRST HALF:
• The game began with dunks on back-to-back possessions from Jayden Williams and Romeo Myrthil but five three pointers for the Flames in the next five minutes gave them a 19-10 lead with 15:54 left in the half.
• An 11-2 Big Green run midway through the first half tied the game at 25-25. Four points by Haskins on a successful and one from beyond the arc tied the game with under 10 minutes remaining.
• UIC regained a five-point lead but a scoring drought for UIC of 5:20 and 11 unanswered points for Dartmouth put them on top, 36-30. Nine of those points were scored on two consecutive three-pointers from Brandon Mitchell-Day and one from Cornish.
• UIC ended the half scoring six to Dartmouth's three, but the Big Green held the lead, 39-36, into halftime.
SECOND HALF:
• Seven minutes into the half, Williams had a massive dunk to put the Big Green up by six, 48-42.
• A 10-2 run by the Flames allowed them to take back a 54-52 lead with 8:28 remaining but a dunk from Mitchell-Day and a three pointer from Cameron McNamee put the Big Green back up, 59-54.
• With just over five minutes left, UIC scored seven quick points to jump ahead 61-59.
• In the final three minutes, Dartmouth scored four and held UIC to two, making the game a one possession differential, 66-63.
• Cornish drained a three from the corner with 2.6 seconds left to tie the game 66-66 off an amazing effort assist from Mitchell-Day.
OVERTIME:
• Just over halfway through the overtime period, UIC held a 69-68 lead with neither team scoring in over three minutes.
• That scored stayed and UIC came away with the win, 69-68.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
• During the second scoring drought of the first half for UIC, the Big Green held them from a field goal for 5:45
• The game was back and forth, seeing 11 lead changes and four ties.
• The overtime period only saw five total points, all coming in the first two minutes.
Green Alert Take: I find that when a game story is presented in that format I usually read the introductory paragraphs only. My eyes just glaze over the rest.
Compare the above "How it happened" format with what ChatGPT generated when I entered the complete capsule above, and asked it to write a real game story:
CHICAGO, Ill. – Dartmouth men’s basketball came up just short in a thrilling overtime contest on Sunday afternoon, falling 69-68 to UIC at Credit Union 1 Arena. A clutch three-pointer by Ryan Cornish with just 2.6 seconds left in regulation sent the game to overtime, but the Flames managed to hold on for the win. Cornish led the Big Green with 15 points, continuing his strong season.
The Big Green (4-4) started the game trading explosive plays, including dunks from Jayden Williams and Romeo Myrthil. However, UIC quickly caught fire from beyond the arc, hitting five three-pointers in the opening five minutes to jump out to a 19-10 lead. Dartmouth responded with an 11-2 run midway through the half, capped by a four-point surge from Jaren Haskins that tied the game at 25-25.
Dartmouth took control late in the half, holding UIC scoreless for over five minutes while scoring 11 straight points, highlighted by two triples from Brandon Mitchell-Day and another from Cornish. The Big Green entered halftime with a narrow 39-36 advantage.
The second half saw the Big Green maintain a slim lead early, with a dunk from Williams putting them ahead 48-42. UIC countered with a 10-2 run to reclaim the lead, but Dartmouth showed resilience, as a Mitchell-Day dunk and a three-pointer from Cameron McNamee restored a 59-54 advantage. UIC surged back, taking a 61-59 lead before the final minutes of regulation turned into a defensive battle.
With just seconds remaining in regulation and Dartmouth trailing 66-63, Cornish delivered a dramatic corner three off a critical assist from Mitchell-Day, forcing overtime. In the extra period, scoring was scarce. Both teams combined for only five points, all in the first two minutes. Despite Dartmouth’s defensive efforts and multiple opportunities, UIC clung to a one-point lead, securing the 69-68 victory.
Dartmouth’s defense shined at times, holding UIC scoreless for stretches of over five minutes twice during the game. The contest featured 11 lead changes and four ties, underscoring how evenly matched the two teams were.
Next up, the Big Green continue their road trip with a visit to Notre Dame on Wednesday, December 11, for a 7 p.m. tip-off. While the result in Chicago wasn’t in their favor, Dartmouth showed its ability to compete in tight games, a trait that will serve them well as the season progresses.
Green Alert Take: That's not going to make anyone forget Jim Murray or Frank Deford (and to be honest I didn't fact check to make sure ChatGPT didn't invent anything) but I'd be a lot more likely to read that than to scan over the How it Happened version. As I said before, when I stumble across one of those things my first instinct is to go to the other school's website and see if they have a real story.
Green Alert Take II: Sorry for the rant, but it drives me nuts that the journalist in me actually prefers something created by a computer over something written by a human being. Having worked in one back in the dark ages, I know that college sports information offices are perennially short-staffed and overworked, but those bulleted capsules still strike me as being lazy efforts at a time when we've been told the emphasis should be on telling stories.
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EXTRA POINT
Another fine December morning, another sunrise picture taken by That Certain Nittany Lion '16, who watched the B1G championship game here and spent the weekend with us before heading home this morning. The icicles are hanging from the porch roof. And yes, that's what the view over New Hampshire's White Mountains looked like this morning.
