Record $160.3 Million in Charitable Gifts

From a Dartmouth news release:

Dartmouth College celebrated its most successful fund-raising year ever with $160.3 million in charitable gifts in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2006. The result was 51 percent greater than in 2005 and more than one-third higher than the previous record of $118 million, set in 2004. Significant growth in participation from College and graduate school alumni and friends and strong support for the goals of the Campaign for the Dartmouth Experience accounted for the totals.

The whispers out of the Finger Lakes were that Cornell's performance in its intracity scrimmage against Ithaca was something less an overpowering. The Cornell Sun didn't dispute that notion, writing, "instead of gaining bragging rights over its cross-town rival, the Red’s play on the field was more or less average."

The terrific Post Standard story about Colgate coach Dick Biddle that had a broken link yesterday has been fixed. You can read it here and it's well worth reading. The story describes the Colgate coach this way: "At his core, Biddle is one tough bird, a hard-nosed throwback to a different era. His formula for success is as straightforward as his demeanor: Hire good coaches and let them coach, attract good players and let them play and make sure they are tougher physically and mentally than their opponents." From knowing him a little bit and talking with people about him, that's spot on. If you are wondering what Dartmouth will face in its opener, this description of Colgate's (read: Biddle's) approach is exactly what I've heard from the Dartmouth side each year they play: "Their goals every year are simple: Establish the run on offense, stop the run on defense and everything else will fall into place. In order to accomplish those goals, they have to be the toughest team on the field physically and mentally." And I love this line about the Colgate players: "They buy into it because Biddle is brutally honest but never brutal."

For what it's worth, the down side of opening with Colgate every year is the Raiders are always good, sometimes very good and occasionally very, very good. The up side is you always know what you are going to get. There isn't going to be a groundbreaking offensive philosophy or a bizarre defensive scheme. There's something to be said for playing a team like that in your opener.

Sportsnet New York has posted relatively comprehensive previews of Princeton and Columbia.

Today is the first day of double sessions, BUT I won't be posting after the first session as I'd hoped. I've got a previous commitment with my kids and so you should look for a single Green Alert wrapup of the day again by 9 p.m.. I WILL be posting two stories on each of the rest of the double-session days.