Monday, April 17, 2006

Football at Long Last!

Dartmouth spring football kicks off this afternoon. Be sure to check back this evening for a report on what I saw, heard and thought at the first of 12 practice sessions. (Tonight's practice report will be posted here on the blog. After tonight they will be posted on the regular Green Alert page.) ...

Princeton (which has announced its 2006 captains) wrapped up spring practice on its new FieldTurf, which was installed since the end of last season. (The start of installation of Dartmouth's FieldTurf was delayed until May 15 both because of weather issues and the fact that Memorial Field is also used by the college track programs.) According to a story in the Princetonian, the FieldTurf offered some advantage to Princeton already:
(Coach Roger) Hughes ... noted the importance of the new FieldTurf for the spring, both in the fewer injuries that occured this spring and for the continuity in practicing in the same facility each time. Unlike the older practice fields located next to Princeton Stadium, the FieldTurf is lined, which also allows the team to better work on its spacing in game situations.

I-AA.org is taking nominations for its national games of the week. It's a little early in Buddy Teevens' second tenure at Dartmouth to nominate any Big Green games, but there are Ivy contests that deserve a nod so head on over and nominate a game or two.

I got an email this morning from a subscriber who sent along this link from an SI.com story about college football scheduling. He asked about Dartmouth's inability to rework a schedule that has the Big Green continuing to play Colgate, UNH and Holy Cross for the foreseeable future. From what I've been told, Dartmouth will (at least temporarily) drop one of those opponents when the Big Green and the unnamed opponent both find appropriate opponents with openings on their schedule. (Of course, I've heard that for several years, so I don't know if I'm buying it.)

No comments: