Ball Bounced The Right Way

Memorial Field is ready for the 2006 home opener today against UNH. (click on photos to enlarge)


Today's Boston Globe takes a lengthy look at New Hampshire receiver David Ball, who will be at Memorial Field today at noon. The story quotes Jerry Rice as saying he'll be the first to call Ball after the All-American breaks his career receiving touchdowns record. (Ball needs three to tie Rice; four to surpass him.) It's been written many times before, but Ball wasn't exactly a high-profile recruit. The Globe writes:

Ball is the ultimate walk-on at a school that relishes them. Linebacker Dave Rozumek and offensive lineman Ken Kaplan both walked all the way to the NFL from Durham. Over the last decade, half a dozen walk-ons (including Ball) ended up captains.

Over the years I've talked with a great many Dartmouth football players about the UNH game and while they usually say the right thing about the in-state rivalry it usually sounded just a little bit hollow and with good cause. Seldom does Dartmouth have more than a single player on the roster from New Hampshire. (Walk-on safety Nick Danford is the only one this fall.)

While this is often just another game on the Dartmouth side, it's big doings at UNH. And just in case it's not, coach Sean McDonnell goes to great lengths to make sure it is. Take it from quarterback Ricky Santos, who told the Manchester Union Leader a little something about the Granite Bowl trophy, which usually sits in the football office:

“It’s in our locker room right now on display. Coach is very big on that and he wants it back in our locker room. . . . It all stems from the top. When it means a lot to him, it means a lot to us.”

Today's Boston Globe tells of a Harvard football team Skit Night performance that led to wide receiver Keegan Toci being booted off the team. To say things are uncomfortable in the Harvard football program right now is to be guilty of understatement. Coach Tim Murphy, quoted about Toci's situation in the Globe:

He was dismissed because of a mean-spirited attack on the training staff, coaching staff, players, strength coaches and Harvard University in general.

The Globe story also includes this:

After Murphy announced Toci's dismissal, he asked the 110-member team whether it supported his position. An uneasy silence ensued, then one player after another rose from his seat until about 20 stood in protest, with others apparently poised to follow, before Murphy abruptly ended the meeting and left the room, according to one witness.