Teevens Comes Away Impressed

HANOVER -- The noise, the warrior dance, the spirit and the execution he's been looking for all had Buddy Teevens smiling after the nightcap of Thursday's double session practice day wrapped up.

But for as pleased as he was with what happened on the field -- and pleased he was -- it was what is looming over the field that he couldn't stop raving about. To read more, click here.

Practice -- Aug. 31 a.m.

Everyone has their assignments as QB Tom Bennewitz drops back during Thursday morning's practice on Memorial Field.
The railings have been going up on the reduced east stands over the past couple of days. While it almost appears from this picture that the stands will have an overhang, a la Husky Stadium at the University of Washington, that's not the case. It would be kinda cool though.

HANOVER -- Everybody notices the tailbacks when they break a run around the end or the fullbacks when they pick up a first down on a draw play.

A lot fewer people notice why those plays work. Credit the speed of the tailbacks and the brawn of the fullback for sure.

But credit something else. The five fingers that working together make up the fist that punches the hole in the defense. To read more from Thursday's morning practice, click here.

NFL Shocker: Fiedler Released by Bucs

You don't always know what lights were on after the power goes out (as it often does up here on our dirt road). As I found out this morning, every light in the house was on (at least it seemed that way) when it went dark here a little after 10 last night. I mention that because when the power came back on at a couple minutes after 5 this morning, it looked and sounded (the TV was blaring) like Times Square. Falling back asleep didn't seem to be in the program, so I turned on the computer and got a shock. (Not literally -- thankfully.)

Popping up on the screen this morning was the news that Jay Fiedler had been cut by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His surgically repaired shoulder never allowed him to practice with the team and with rookie Bruce Gradkowski performing well as the No. 3 QB, the team decided to keep him and Tim Rattay as backups to starter Chris Simms. Luke McCown is also in the picture as he rehabs from a knee injury.

The Tampa Tribune story about Fiedler's release begins this way: "The Jay Fiedler experiment is over." ... But the kicker is the next line: "At least for now." The story goes on to note that the former Dartmouth QB knows the system, and suggests that he might be just a phone call away should he be needed. Green Alert Take: Fiedler has been like a cat with nine lives since making the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 1994. If he gets his shoulder ready to go, he'll be on someone's roster before the season is over.

While Fiedler knows his fate, former Dartmouth tight end Casey Cramer is awaiting his. He'll likely find it out shortly after the Carolina Panthers play the Pittsburgh Steelers in their preseason finale tonight according to the Charlotte Observer. The story notes, as others have, that Cramer has become a favorite of the coaches with his hard-nosed play, but that he's in a difficult numbers game in the Carolina backfield. ...

Speaking of Cramer, a subscriber sent along this note a few days back: "Someone who had a front row seat in one of the end zones for the Panthers' preseason game against Miami had a very large (probably done on a bedsheet) banner that read, 'THIS IS CRAMER COUNTRY, GO #49.' "

Among the other Ivy Leaguers on the bubble is former Columbia tight end Wade Fletcher, who is hoping to make the Giants' roster. The New York Times writes: "Fletcher’s story holds less of the what-will-become-of-him concern than of others who did not finish college or never imagined life without professional football. He is a Columbia graduate with a political science degree. He had an internship this past off-season with Smith Barney." ... That's not a bad endorsement for playing in the Ivy League.

The web site I-AA.org posted its conference picks and, like so many others, tapped Dartmouth for seventh in the Ivies, ahead of only Columbia. Harvard's Clifton Dawson was the choice as the conference's offensive player of the year and Brown's Zak DeOssie as the defensive player of the year. Here's how I-AA.org sees it:

1. Harvard
2. Brown
3. Princeton
4. Penn
5. Yale
6. Cornell
7. Dartmouth
8. Columbia

New Hampshire is the pick in the Atlantic 10 with Colgate second (behind Lafayette) and Holy Cross fourth in the Patriot League.

This morning's Boston Globe takes Dartmouth down another notch with the Big Green pegged for the basement in its Ivy League capsules. Of Dartmouth, the Globe writes: "With 400 yards total, the Big Green (as a team) wouldn't have cracked the league's top 10 (individuals) in rushing last season."

Here's how the Globe sees the racing shaking out:

1. Penn
2. Yale
3. Harvard
4. Brown
5. Cornell
6. Princeton
7. Columbia
8. Dartmouth

The Globe also has a story about Harvard quarterback Chris Pizzotti, pressed into action by the suspension of starter Liam O'Hagan for the first five games.

The Globe, to the surprise of no one, picks UNH first in the Atlantic 10 North race. Here's a laugh: The capsules for each team include Key New Englanders. Not considered one of them, apparently, is All-World wide receiver David Ball of Orange, Vt. Hmmm. For a lot of people in this part of New England that's less of a slam on Ball and more of a confirmation of something many think: Vermont (and western New Hampshire) aren't really on the Globe's radar.

A Daily Pennsylvanian writer does a good job with this story about the challenge facing the Penn football team a year after the suicide of player Kyle Ambrogi.

The Boston paper also has a profile of Holy Cross corner Casey Gough, who might just be the best in the Patriot Leage at his position.

When Holy Cross and Georgetown open against each other this weekend, it will be a reunion of sorts for the head coaches. The Georgetown Voice notes that, "The Hoyas will be protecting the ball from a team coached by Tom Gilmore, a good friend and formerly a fellow coach with (new Georgetown coach Kevin) Kelly at Dartmouth."

The Ricky Santos story has been done and done again, but it's always a compelling read. The star UNH quarterback (who wasn't even in the press guide two years ago when he burst on the national scene) is profiled here by CSTV.

Double-sessions today and there will be practice stories posted after each, so be sure to stop by Green Alert in early afternoon to see how the morning went. The second story will go up tonight, hopefully by nine.

And finally ... the Hanover High School field hockey team opened the season with a 7-2 win yesterday, making the varsity debut of a certain freshman who played a good part of the game a very happy one.

Practice --Aug. 30

HANOVER -- Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens saved the best for last Wednesday afternoon.

So did his team, which left Teevens with mixed feelings. To read more, click here.

Ivies Seek Text, Instant Message Ban in Recruiting

In today's edition of USA Today: Ivy League proposal for NCAA would ban text, instant messages in recruiting

If you want to read a sweet story about Dartmouth's Dave Gavitt, who is headed for the basketball hall of fame, click here. Among other things, it tells of his start as a dishwasher at a diner as a 5th grader and what happened to all the money he earned working there right up through high school. (Hint: He got a note each week telling him how much he earned but never saw the money.)

Cramer Hanging Tough With the Panthers

The final cut is coming for NFL teams and former Dartmouth tight end Casey Cramer is hanging in there as a backup fullback and special teams demon for the Carolina Panthers. Click here for a terrific feature about Cramer that includes this: "There's a chance ... he'll finally get to leave his car in one place after cut day, since he's developed a bit of a following among the team's coaches and front office."

Former Dartmouth assistant Kevin Kelly is set for his first game as head coach at Georgetown. As this story says, he's no stranger to helping turn a program around.

Matt Dougherty, the former Dartmouth sports information intern who is the I-AA expert for The Sports Network, looks back at the past eight months or so and ahead to the opening weekend in this column.

From a story in the Utica newspaper: "Football seems bigger at Colgate this fall. Bigger expectations after being picked to win the Patriot League. Bigger Andy Kerr Stadium with the addition of a 46-foot scoreboard."

Word is Princeton and Yale are scrimmaging tomorrow in New Jersey. Cornell has scrimmaged Ithaca. Penn and Widener. Columbia and Harvard. Dartmouth is clearly in the minority in not holding an outside scrimmage.

If you waste time at the office reading this Blog, you aren't really wasting time. ;-). If you want to do that, track the popularity of your name (or your wife or kids' names) over the years by clicking here. Hmm. Bruce was the No. 32 name for boys in the 1950's. It dropped to No. 503 in popularity in 2005.

And finally this: This morning was doubly-difficult for our 7th-grade son today. Not only was he headed off for the first day of school, but his sister doesn't have to start until Monday due to construction on Hanover High School delaying the opening there. Good sister that she is, she came down to the end of the driveway to way goodbye as he headed off to school.

Check back tonight for a full practice story.

Aug. 29 -- Double Sessions Kick off

HANOVER -- You snooze, you lose.

Buddy Teevens relayed that message to his team in no uncertain terms after a sleep-walking Dartmouth offense struggled with the basics in the front end of the first double-session of the preseason Monday on Memorial Field.

Did the message get through? Click here to find out

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.

Practice Aug. 28 -- First Hitting of the Preseason

HANOVER -- Buddy Teevens said Sunday that with the once-delayed start of full-contact hitting on Monday the depth chart would start to see some changes.

The Dartmouth coach wasn't about to say what those changes might be in the immediate aftermath of the first day of scrimmaging, but clearly there were players who helped their cause. Among them: a senior defensive end who has played a number of different positions in his career; another defensive end from the same state; a sophomore running back or two; a freshman defensive back and a converted quarterback. To read more click here.

Monday Roundup

Anyone notice the college football season has begun? It was Catawba 21, Winston-Salem State, 21-7 on Saturday.

Matt Dougherty of the Sports Network makes his Fearless 2006 Predictions here. He has the Ivy League ranked as the ninth of 12 conferences in terms of strength. (That's staggering when you think about it.) One step ahead of the Ivy is the Patriot. The only leagues below the Ivy in his rankings are the Big South (Coastal Carolina, Gardner-Webb, Liberty etc.), the MEAC (Hampton, South Carolina State, Morgan State etc.) and the SWAC (Grambling State, Southern, Mississippi Valley State).

Matt goes out on a limb ;-) and picks Penn, Harvard and Brown to battle it out in the Ivies. He writes: "Columbia suffered through a brutal 2005 campaign and doesn’t have much hope, and Dartmouth still has a lot of progress to make after limited improvement last year."

A quote from Colgate's Geoff Bean in an Express-Times preview of the Patriot League that might have ruffled a few feathers in a proud conference: "The Patriot League is considered a junior Ivy League. It's an honor to play in the Patriot League."

Colgate coach Dick Biddle is "a man of mystery" on campus. Interesting story (what I could bring up of it) in the Syracuse Post-Standard. As the story says, Biddle can be a man of few words, but I've always enjoyed talking with him. He's a straight shooter who pretty much tells it like it is.

Northwestern and Miami of Ohio play Thursday night and keeping a close eye on that game will be the coaches and players from UNH, who will have a date Northwestern in a couple of weeks. Said UNH quarterback Ricky Santos in a Union Leader story: "Hopefully we can start game-planning because we're going to need a couple of weeks to prepare for them. They're going to be the biggest opponent this university has ever seen."

Hitting starts today on Memorial Field (unless track installation forces practice to Chase Field). Check back tonight to see how a very important session ("You never get a second chance to make a first impression," went.

Practice -- Aug. 27

HANOVER -- If there a few loud roars during the showing of the movie Invincible at Hanover's Nugget Theater Sunday night, point the finger at the Dartmouth football team, which went to the flick en masse.

There were at least two reasons why the players might have raised their voices while watching the movie about Vince Papale, the South Philly teacher/bartender who made the Philadelphia Eagles after an open tryout.

First, if the fifth-year seniors on the Big Green were paying close attention they spotted Brian Mann -- a fifth-year Dartmouth quarterback when they were freshmen -- wearing No. 10 and a funky wig as an extra in the movie.

Second, there was that quirkly little thing they did at the end of Sunday's practice on Memorial Field. To read more, click here.

Saturday's Practice Pictures

Eric Paul tries to pull in a pass on the sidelines. (Not sure if he held onto it, but a good effort either way.)
Milan Williams tries to figure a way out of a jam.
Practice on the new turf field with the field house construction in the background.

Pictures posted on the blog are reduced-quality so they load more quickly. (Click them to enlarge.) Green Alert subscribers who would like the full-quality original (suitable for printing, although probably not as an 8x10) via email should send me an email.

It's pouring rain out there at noon on Sunday. Practice is slated for Memorial Field at 4. Either the new FieldTurf is going to show why it's a good idea or practice will be moved into Leverone. I don't think they'd want to rip up Chase Field if this continues.

Enough for now. We're off to see Invinceable at the Nugget Theater in Hanover. Brian Mann, we'll be looking for you up on the silver screen. ;-) Check back by 9 tonight for today's practice report.

Watch the Colgate Game on the Internet

If you've been following the Green Alert Blog, you know Dartmouth has plans to videocast all its home football games on the web. No details have been released yet, but I suppose it's about time I try to dig some out, so stay tuned (pun intended).

If you can't make the opener at Colgate, you can watch it on your computer via the New York school's video streaming program. It will cost you $9.95 ... but for that you get a whole month of Colgate athletics so you can see all the Raider volleyball and field hockey you'd like. Find the details here. Green Alert Take: My first reaction was that $9.95 is a lot to just watch a football game, but consider youself lucky. I remember former players telling me about the days when their parents would call from, say, California and their roommate would lay the telephone down next to the radio so they could hear the full game over the phone. Beyond the headache (ear ache?) involved, imagine the cost in the days before specialized phone plans. A few years later, there was a company that handled the radio-to-phone hookup and for a set price you dialed in a number and could listen to the game. (That service might still exist, actually, but it's not cheap.) Then it was listening to the games over the Internet. Now watching them. What's next? The guess here is you'll be able to watch the games on your iPod or the like while on a cruise ship in the Galapagos. Ah, but don't forget the laptop so you can keep reading Green Alert!

Jared Turcott, the tailback from Maine listed as the state's top player by Sports Illustrated is the subject of another story that mentions his interest in Dartmouth. He's a straight-A kid who should be a strong candidate for Ivy admission. Certainly he'll be able to write an interesting essay, given his part-time job. This from the story in the Lewiston Sun Journal:

"I'm going to be working at Albert and Burpee Funeral Home this year," he said. "During football season, I'm just going to be keeping up the lawns and the shrubs, but then once football season starts, I'll be in the prep room. That should be interesting."

Just stumbled across another story on the kid in Maine Today. It offers a few more details:

Turcotte, who is 6-foot-1 and 220 pounds, has drawn interest from Boston College and Connecticut.
Because he ranks in the top 10 percent of his class and carries a 93.6 grade-point average, every Ivy League school also is interested. Turcotte is looking at a number of schools but is learning toward Dartmouth, coached by Buddy Teevens, a former UMaine coach.
"I like the school and Coach Teevens a lot," said Turcotte.

Two things of note from opponent New Hampshire's Blue-White scrimmage. First, Ricky Santos completed 18-of-24 passes for 164 yards (with David Ball not catching any as they rested him). What caught my eye was where the scrimmage report said Santos, "saw limited action." Oh, to be in a position where your quarterback can put up those kinds of numbers and you can call it limited action. The other thing that caught my eye was that freshman tailback Chad Kackert ran 12 times for 87 yards. It's gonna be scary if UNH uncovers a speedy runner, and for some reason I've had an eye on Kackert as perhaps being just that. Maybe he is.

Cornell and neighboring D-III school Ithaca held their annual scrimmage. Nothing dramatic in this report about two 15-minute live sessions and an hour of situational work between the teams.

There's a Newsday story about the future of the football program at Stony Brook on Long Island and how it has awarded the equivalent of 27 scholarships to 38 players this year (with the goal of reaching the I-AA limit of 63 in the future). The story is notable for several reasons. First, Dartmouth and Stony Brook have played in several sports in recent years and as the Big Green starts to think about restructuring its schedule, SBU is another possible opponent within reasonable travel distance. (It doesn't hurt that the school has a gorgeous new stadium.) It's notable because this will be SBU's first year under head coach Chuck Priore (a winner of his last 30 consecutive games at D-III Trinity of Connecticut) and a name frequently mentioned when Ivy League openings cropped up the past few years. (Including at Dartmouth.) It will be interesting to see how Priore, the offensive line coach and offensive coordinator at Penn from 1992-99, makes the transition back to I-AA football. Finally, it's been interesting and will continue to be interesting to watch the growth of the athletic program at Stony Brook where former Dartmouth Assistant AD Jim Fiore is the athletic director. Jim, by the way, just hired former Dartmouth lacrosse coach Rick Sowell away from St. John's.

What would you think about Canadian schools joining the NCAA? I'm not sure what it would mean football-wise (although maybe Clifton Dawson would be at McGill, whose slogan is Real Athletes. Real Students.) but given Dartmouth's location, it might make for some more scheduling options in other sports. Both basketball and ice hockey often scrimmage or play exhibitions about teams from the Great White North. Here's a story that talks about the possible expansion of the NCAA northward.

And finally ... I got home from practice last night to a very happy Hanover High School freshman-to-be. Not only did her field hockey team win a 16-school (?) jamboree down in Keene, but she learned on the bus ride back that she'd earned a spot on the varsity, a rarity for Hanover freshman. The last time it happened was four years ago.

Practice -- August 26

HANOVER -- Steve Jensen made the All-Ivy League second team last year and Mike Ribero was honorable mention. That's the good news.

Both corners graduated and that's the bad news.

The good news this year is that there are some talented players looking to replace them.

The bad news is that the talented players hoping to get on the field are either very young, very inexperienced or both. Click here to read more on the Green Alert premium site.

Tailback Honored by SI Leaning Toward Dartmouth

As they like to say in this part of the world, it's "way wicked" early in the process, but Dartmouth's getting some recruiting love from a high-profile high school prospect. Jared Turcotte is a 6-1, 220 tailback who has been called the best player in his state by Sports Illustrated. Of course, the state happens to be Maine -- not Texas or Florida -- hardly a football factory. Still, Turcotte is an intriguing prospect who rushed for 1,900 yards and 21 touchdowns in just eight games last year despite battling injuries.

The Lewiston, Maine, paper says Turcotte, "has a rare combination of speed, quickness and power." The paper also said: "Though he is still undecided, he said he is leaning toward Dartmouth because he was impressed with head coach Buddy Teevens and the small-town atmosphere in Hanover, N.H. reminded him of home." Find that story here. ... Said Turcotte's high school football coach in Maine Today: ""Statistically, Jared looks great on paper. He's got an A-average, he's looking at Ivy League schools and it rounds into a nice package for a football player."

To see who SI picked as the best teams and players in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, click here and run your mouse over the U.S. map.

Jim Fennell of the Manchester Union Leader knows why a player like Turcotte might be won over by Buddy Teevens and it's simple: Because it's hard not to be. Here's what Jim wrote about Teevens after Dartmouth's media day:

Sit in a room with the man for 20 minutes and you’ll come out singing the Dartmouth fight song, wearing a green sweater with a big letter “D” stitched in front and begging to join the football team. He is, if nothing else, infectious.

Few who have listened to Buddy paint his picture of Dartmouth's football future would disagree. For the full Union Leader story, click here.

Now for today's public service announcement: Visit the full Green Alert site tonight for a full report on this afternoon's practice.

... That's it for this morning. I'm headed out shortly to take my son to 7th-8th grade football practice. He's a tough little fullback and corner. ... The only down side to Green Alert is that I don't often get a chance to see my own kids play. So I don't want to miss this morning's practice. ... My daughter, a gifted runner, is playing field hockey at Hanover High this fall and has been one of just two freshmen splitting time between the varsity and the junior varsity. She's at a jamboree today in Keene, about 60 miles south of Hanover. ... Hopefully I'll get a chance to see each kid play at least once this year. It may mean a practice report or two is filed a little later than normal, but I'll let you know in advance not to keep hitting that "refresh" button.

Scenes from the First Practice on the New Turf

Dartmouth President James Wright addresses the team.

A different look at the visiting stands. Up close and personal it appears they will work afterall.

Speedster Brian Evans cuts on the turf.

A Day of Firsts

Hanover -- There will be a lot of firsts in the Dartmouth football program over the next year and several of them took place Friday.

The first practice was held on the new FieldTurf surface at Memorial Field.
The first practice TD on the surface was thrown and caught.
The first defensive score on the surface was recorded.
The first big hit on the surface happened.
And the first speech was given on the surface to the team by the, well, you could call him the first person of the college. To read more visit the Green Alert premium site.

Closing in on Memorial Field

The new Memorial Field goalposts are finally in place. All systems are go. ...

Coach Buddy Teevens said at practice yesterday that there's an outside chance the team will be on the new Memorial Field surface for today's session. It would be a surprise, but don't rule it out.

For a couple of pictures of the FieldTurf installation at Harvard Stadium, click here. (Caution: these pictures take a l-o-n-g time to load.) There's no getting around it; the crimson lettering is set off very nicely against the green turf. I'd hoped Dartmouth would use a darker turf color in the Memorial Field end zone to help set off the lettering there (and it was in the original plans) but that isn't the case.

Harvard and Columbia are scrimmaging against each other. Interesting. And it will be closed to the public, unlike Dartmouth's scrimmages against Brown and Columbia in years past.

Sounds as if Jay Fiedler won't be ready for the opener in Tampa Bay. Coach Jon Gruden told the Bradenton paper: "The No. 1 thing is to make sure we have rehabbed him properly. We don't want him to have a setback in fairness to Jay and his career. He is making progress. We'll have to make some kind of decision here soon."

A subscriber (and former Dartmouth football manager) who helped out in the Tampa Bay Bucs one summer sent along this link to a hilarious and entertaining story about the demise of the team's peculiar old training facility, One Buc Place. There's some incredible stuff in there including a few anecdotes from John Idzik '82, a former Dartmouth player who used to be in the Bucs' front office and is now senior director of football operations for the Arizona Cardinals. Idzik is one of at least three Dartmouth alums who worked (or still work) for Tampa Bay, which got me to thinking I ought to link to what they are doing now.

To learn more about Idzik, click here. In the first year of his second stint at Tampa Bay is Kevin Demoff. He is a senior assistant who works in contract negotiations, salary cap management, scouting, strategic planning and salary cap forecasting. Former Dartmouth safety Lloyd Lee used to scout for the Bucs but now is a defensive assistant for the Chicago Bears.

At practice I met subscriber-parents from Austin, Texas, and told them about former linebacker Gordy Quist, who has become popular on the local music scene in that musically interested city. Here's a link to Gordy's home page. ... If you'd rather just skip ahead and hear a little of his music, here's a sampler from The Ballad of Gordy Quist. Don't worry, it plays quickly on your computer. I'm no expert, but the guy is g-o-o-d. (I did a story on Gordy and his former band several years ago for the newspaper.)

Gordy Quist publicity photo

Practice -- Aug. 24

Hanover -- Buddy Teevens' first comment after Thursday's practice: "How about 1 and 35?"
He might just as well have said, "How about 9 and 81?" Or a host of other numbers that were bringing a smile to his face with the way they were zip, zip, zipping around Chase Field.
"I'll tell you, you can't beat speed," Teevens said, "and it's nice to see some guys out there who can really run."
But for as upbeat as he was about the demonstration of improved speed on this year's team, Teevens did toss up a caution flag. To read more, visit Green Alert.

Pix From First Day of Practice

The first day of preseason was held under clear blue skies and with the temperature hovering at 72 degrees. A true Chamber of Commerce day! Here's a little of what it looked like.

Top to bottom: Coach Buddy Teevens addresses the team at the conclusion of practice. Joe Battaglia leads a line of teammates in a drill. Mike Fritz hands off to Dan Siegfried. Tom Bennewitz readies to throw downfield. (Click on photos to supersize them)

Dartmouth to Face Nation's Top I-AA Players

No fewer than five players Dartmouth will have to contend with this year are on the first "Payton Watch," and "Buchanan Watch," for the best I-AA offensive and best defensive players in the nation. On the 16-player Payton list are Harvard tailback Clifton Dawson, the UNH duo of quarterback Ricky Santos and wide receiver David Ball, and Colgate tailback Jordan Scott. On the defensive side, Brown linebacker Zak DeOssie is one of 16 players mentioned. The full list can be found here. The Ivy League's take on having its players listed can be found here.

As Dartmouth thinks about changing its schedule, would a game against a I-A school make any sense? Brown had a great experience in a game at Penn State in 1983 (the Bears lost, 38-21); Princeton a somewhat less satisfying experience hosting Northwestern in 1986 (a 37-0 loss). I staffed Dartmouth games at Army (a heartbreaking 13-12 loss in 1983) and Navy (a 45-0 loss in 1986) and despite the lopsided score at Annapolis, the experience was terrific both times.

What got me thinking about I-A vs. I-AA games was a story in the New York Times headlined In College Football, Big Paydays for Humiliation. I kind of like the idea of playing one of those games every four years so each member of the team can get a taste of what it's like in the big time. The $750,000 payday wouldn't hurt, either. It would be interesting to hear what the current players think; maybe I'll survey them and get some thoughts.

Of course, it will never happen. A recent story about Boston College explained why Ivy schools aren't going to show up on any I-A schedules in the future: Wins over New Hampshire and Maine "count" toward making a I-A school bowl eligible because of the number of scholarships those schools offer. A win over Dartmouth or Harvard would not.

Casey Cramer is on the bubble against with the Carolina Panthers according to this story. The piece ends with this commentary: "The coaching staff is high on Cramer, but it's tough to justify keeping three fullbacks."

Harvard sports information posted this story about the start of practice. An update on the installation of FieldTurf and lights at Harvard Stadium is included in the notes at the bottom. Apparently the FieldTurf is at about the same stage as Dartmouth's; the lights will be installed in October.

Check in tonight on Green Alert for a story out of the second day or practice.

Practice -- Aug. 23

There are days when the noise on the Dartmouth practice field is almost deafening. Wednesday wasn't one of them, and not just because the horn that usually signals the end of each practice period was having a bad air day. Visit the Green Alert premium site to read more about the first day of Dartmouth football practice.

Welcome to the World of the Class of 2010

With the first college practice for the Class of 2010 on tap this afternoon, it's the perfect time to get a sense of the world they've grown up in. Click here to learn 75 things the Beloit College Mindset List says are "cultural touchstones that have shaped the lives of today’s first-year students." This will have you shaking your head. Promise.

When the Sports Bug Bites ...

Former WDCR-WFRD broadcaster Rob Simmelkjaer '93 graduated from Dartmouth and Harvard Law, but the sports broadcasting bug that bit him apparently never let go. A USA Today column mentions his unique background and reports that the former ESPN Inc., executive -- who has stepped out of the corporate world to return to broadcasting -- will spend Saturday as "a sideline reporter on ESPN's coverage of high school football as Glades Central (Fla.) squares off vs. Byrnes (S.C.)." To be honest, WDCR-WFRD sports programming is, to put it kindly, uneven from year to year. It's only as good as the students who run the show and get behind the mic. Simmelkjaer was one of the best. To learn a little more about his unique background, click on this (somewhat dated) bio.

Wonder what football coaches do during their time off? Coach Buddy Teevens reported the following on the Dartmouth football parents blog ...

Defensive Coordinator Chris Wilkerson took in the Brickyard 400 NASCAR race in Indianapolis while back home in the midwest.

Offensive Coordinator Mike Hodgson vacationed in Castine, Maine with his family and followed daughter Cassie's summer softball team while volunteer assistant Curt Oberg '78 was with his family in Boston and on the Little League baseball circuit around Massachusetts and New York.

Offensive line coach Cyril Brockmeier spent time in Tampa while defensive backs coach Sammy McCorkle and defensive line coach Cedric Calhoun waited in lines at Disney World in Orlando.

Running backs coach Adam Hollis honed his golf game at Myrtle Beach and bided his time until the Yankees could storm past the Red Sox.

Special teams coordinator and director of football operations Matthew Smiley made it to the Bahamas.

Outside linebackers coach Kenyada Davis got some family time back in Oklahoma where new wide receivers coach Jarrail Jackson was working -- as a player for the Oklahoma City Yard Dogz of arenafootball2.

Buddy Teevens spent time in Crescent Beach, Fla., and working at a certain football camp in Louisiana. (Be sure to scan down the bios on that site ;-)

Check the Green Alert main site tonight for a full report on today's first practice session. A story should be posted by 9 p.m.

Holy Cross Preview Posted

The value all-purpose back Steve Silva had for Holy Cross last year can't be overstated. He will be sorely missed. But good defense and a solid kicking game should keep the Crusaders in a lot of games. If the offense can avoid going three-and-out enough to keep the defense relatively fresh, Holy Cross could pull off a few surprises again this fall. Visit the Green Alert subscription site to read previews of all of Dartmouth opponents as well as full practice reports that start with the beginning of practice tomorrow. There's a practice preview on the Dartmouth football site here.

BMann Back on the Silver Screen

The FieldTurf installation at Memorial Field is just about finished. These photos were shot Aug. 21. (click on pictures to enlarge)

Opening Friday at a theater new you ... Invincible, the true story of how Vince Papale, as Yahoo Movies explains, a "30 year-old, substitute teacher and part-time bartender who never even played college football," won a spot on the Philadelphia Eagles' roster during an open tryout. And the reason it's mentioned on the Green Alert Blog?

Former Dartmouth quarterback Brian Mann '02, who was Adam Sandler's stunt double in The Longest Yard, has a bit role in the movie Invincible, filmed largely at Penn's Franklin Field. An Arena League veteran who started several games last year for the LA Avengers, Mann plays former Eagles quarterback Mike Boryla in the new movie. "If you see a goofy-looking guy wearing No. 10 with an afro, that's me," Mann said in a story earlier this year.

Mann said in an email earlier this week that he is spending the fall coaching quarterbacks in his old high school (Xaverian Brothers) in Westwood, Mass., and preparing for filming to begin again on The Game Plan, yet another football movie with wrestler-turned-actor The Rock. That movie was put on hold when The Rock injured his Achilles tendon. According to Brian, filming will begin in mid- to late-September.

A member of the Screen Actors Guild, Mann also worked in a Nike commercial featuring Detroit Lions receiver Roy Williams.

Joe Winters, who graduated from Columbia last spring, has been named starting quarterback at Division II University of Missouri-Rolla. Winters is using his final year of eligibility up as a graduate student enrolled in UMR’s new MBA program. NCAA rules allow it, but it still seems strange. ...

Defending Ivy League champion Brown is about to open camp. ... Cornell has been practicing for a few days and in this story coach Jim Knowles talks about his freshman class.

Former Brown tailback Nick Hartigan gave money to his thesis advisor's campaign last year only to have it returned when news of the gift became public. After graduation, he gave the money again, and that has raised a few questions.

Check the Green Alert subscription site later today for a look at the 2006 Holy Cross team, the last of a series of opponent previews.

UNH Preview Posted

The UNH Wildcats have been picked first or second in the nation in just about every Division I-AA poll for the same three reasons: Quarterback Ricky Santos, wide receiver David Ball and their high-flying offense. But whether Dartmouth's intrastate rival finishes at or near the top of the national rankings has less to do with what happens when UNH has the ball and more to do with what happens when the other guy has it. To read more, visit the Green Alert subscription site.

Tomorrow: the final opponent preview will take a look at Holy Cross.

It All Starts This Week

Here we go. Dorm check-in starts for Dartmouth players tomorrow morning at 8. There will be all kinds of informational meetings during the day, capped by a team meeting at 8:30 p.m.. Condititioning testing (I can almost see former players grimacing) starts at 6:30 Wednesday morning. Temperatures aren't supposed to hit 80 all week so it should be comfortable. (Or as comfortable as the first days of camp can be.)

Curious about the running part of the conditioning test? Players will make 16 runs of 110 yard by group. The required times:

• Offensive and defensive linemen: 19 seconds
• Linebackers, fullbacks, tight ends, kickers and punters: 17 seconds
• Quarterbacks, wide receivers, running backs and defensive backs: 15 seconds

The testing includes a 45 second recovery time between each repetition

Preseason Practice Schedule
Wed., Aug. 23, 4-6:15 p.m.
Thu., Aug. 24, 4-6:15 p.m.
Fri., Aug. 25, 4-6:15 p.m.
Sat., Aug. 26, 4-6:15 p.m.
Sun., Aug. 27, 3:30-5:45 p.m.
Mon., Aug. 28, 4-6:15 p.m.
Tue., Aug. 29, 8:30-10:25 a.m.; 4-6:15 p.m.
Wed., Aug. 30, 4-6:15 p.m.
Thu., Aug. 31, 8:30-10:25 a.m.; 4-6:15 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 1, 4-6:15 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 2, 9-10:25 a.m.; 4-6:15 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 3, no practice
Mon., Sept. 4, 8:30-10:25 a.m.; 4-6:15 p.m.
Tue., Sept. 5, 4-6:15 p.m.
Wed., Sept. 6, 8:30-10:25 a.m.; 4-6:15 p.m.
Thu., Sept. 7, 4-6:15 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 8, 9:15-10:25 a.m.; 4-6:15 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 9, 10 a.m., mock game with officials
Sun., Sept. 10, no practice
Mon., Sept. 11, 4 p.m.; Colgate practice begins
Sat., Sept. 16, at Colgate

Following up on last week's link to the new Columbia uniforms, click here to see the Lions' new helmets along with the rest of the Ivy helmets. Scan down that page and there are nine iterations of the Columbia helmet. I'll take the one on the top right with the Lion silhouette. A little farther down the page are some Dartmouth helmets. Click on the left side of that page to check out what other schools have done with their helmet designs over the years. WARNING: This is a serious time-waster.

The Boston Globe has a nice piece about Harvard's new offensive coordinator Joel Lamb and defensive coordinator Kevin Doherty. Turns out, Lamb's father is head coach at Natick High in Massachusetts and Doherty's brother is head coach at Framingham. Natick and Framingham have a storied rivalry on Thanksgiving Day. Think there might be a little gentleman's bet on that game in the Harvard football office this year?

If you aren't all Harvarded out, here's a story on defensive tackle Mike Berg.

This columnist thinks San Francisco 49ers QB of the future Alex Smith is a bust. One reason offered: He was recruited by precious few schools, including a "handful of Ivy League schools."

Later this morning: A look at New Hampshire, the ninth in a series of Dartmouth opponent previews on Green Alert.

Of Ivy Football Coaches and NFL General Managers

Former Dartmouth offensive coordinator Roger Hughes is interviewed in a video on the Ivy League site. Find the clip here. Roger makes the interesting observation that being an Ivy League football coach is akin in some ways to being an NFL general manager. There's no salary cap, obviously, but the limited recruiting pool and the Academic Index/banding system challenge coaches the same way the cap challenges GMs.

Reggie Williams, the all-time Dartmouth great who went on to be a Cincinnati Bengals stalwart, is paying the price for his years in football. He's had four surgeries on his right knee in less than a year (two in five weeks) and 10 knee surgeries all totaled. And there may be more. "You're writing a check that your body will cash one day," he says in this Orlando Sentinel story.

It's becoming clearer and clearer that Jay Fiedler's injury last fall was more severe than anyone knew. He still hasn't practiced with Tampa Bay, although he might be getting close according to this story.

Opponent previews will wrap up early this week on the premium Green Alert site. New Hampshire will be featured Monday and Holy Cross will be on tap Tuesday. Dartmouth preseason practice begins Wednesday and once again there will be a full Green Alert report on the subscription site after every practice session. (There will be two stories on the double-session days of Aug. 29 and 31, Sept. 2, 4 and 6.)

Thanks again to those of you who have taken out subscriptions on the premium Green Alert site. If you like what you see and know someone who might be interested, please share this link.

10 Questions With JJ Jackson

JJ Jackson, 28, caught a career-high 54 passes for 659 yards and seven touchdowns as an Oklahoma senior, setting school records in each category and making the All-Big 12 third team. He currently plays for the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz of Arena Football2 and led the team this past season in touchdowns, receptions and all-purpose yards. He's spending the fall working with the Dartmouth wide receivers, which begs the question: Is he a player who coaches or a coach who plays? For that answer and more, visit the premium Green Alert site.

Post to Post Photos; USN&WR Has Dartmouth 9th

Taken on August 18, these pictures show the goal posts almost finished and the rubber "infill" pellets being spread on the FieldTurf. (Click on photos to enlarge)

It's every bit as controversial as the BCS (and perhaps no more accurate) but the annual U.S. News & World Report college rankings are out and Dartmouth is tied for No. 9 in the nation. The Bloomberg report (which unlike the first Associated Press report did not refer to Dartmouth as Dartmouth University) started its story this way: "Princeton University, the fourth-oldest U.S. university, broke a three-year tie with Harvard to become the top college for undergraduates in the nation, according to a U.S. News & World Report survey released today."

The U.S. News & World Report List:
1. Princeton University
2. Harvard University
3. Yale University
4. California Institute of Technology
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
4. Stanford University
7. University of Pennsylvania
8. Duke University
9. Columbia University
9. Dartmouth College
9. University of Chicago

All Ivy League schools were in the top-15.

Speaking of college rankings, if you didn't see the Aug. 21 issue of Time Magazine, take a look. The cover story is, "Who Needs Harvard?" Subtitle: Forget the Ivy League -- The New rules of the game say the best fit is what matters. ... The artwork on the cover shows an Ivy wall with a big hole in it. For a synopsis of the story, click here. The CNN piece ends this way: "While you may not be able to get into Harvard, it also may not matter anymore. Just ask the kids who have chosen to follow a different road."

How about a little football? For a look at Columbia's new uniforms, click here. Those of you who have followed the blog for the past year will have to excuse me if I'm repeating myself, but you can keep those new uniforms. (And I'm not real crazy about the Denver Broncos, Miami Hurricans and I'll have to admit it, Dartmouth's unis either.) Maybe it's the Penn Stater in me, but I'll take traditional any day. My favorite uniforms in the Ivies belong to Cornell and Yale.

Harvard has put out a release about five football players who spent nine weeks of their summer vacation teaching "low-income children the fundamentals of literacy and learning through the Phillips Brooks House Association." Reading the release had me thinking three things 1) All credit to the players for helping out in the community; 2) It's quite a contrast with the other five players from Harvard who have been in trouble since last year; and 3) It was no accident that the story was written and put on the web site. Harvard football has an enormous black eye right now and a story like that that was, I'm sure, more than welcomed in the Crimson football offices.

Princeton grad Ross Tucker, obtained from the Patriots, is starting at center for the Cleveland Browns for now, at least. The Beacon Journal story is here.

Colgate Preview Posted

Colgate was picked to win the Patriot League again and that's no surprise. The Raiders are loaded on offense and that's what people notice. Nor does it hurt that there's star power on the other side of the ball where the league's preseason defensive player of the year resides. Ah, but there are reasons for caution nonetheless. To read more, visit the premium Green Alert site.

Sagarin Ratings Have Dartmouth 7th in Ivies

The race against time is coming down to the wire as installation started yesterday on the goal posts. Notice the temporary wooden railings around the portals on the East stands. (Click photo to supersize)

The Sagarin Ratings have been published in USA Today and whether you love 'em or hate 'em, they make for a good argument. (Although I went to college as a math major, I'm not smart enough to understand the formula used to rate the teams so I'll leave it up to you to decide if Sagarin has it figured right.) The ratings mix the I-A and I-AA teams together. Here's how the Ivies stack up nationally:

106. Harvard
129. Penn
146. Brown
159. Princeton
168. Yale
174. Cornell
184. Dartmouth
206 Columbia

At 106 nationally, Harvard is ranked 14th among I-AA schools. Non-Ivy Dartmouth opponents: UNH (93 overall, third in I-AA); Colgate (144) and Holy Cross (187). USC is Sagarin's No. 1 team overall.

Ever wonder what happens to players who are recruited by the Ivies but choose to walk on at I-A schools instead? The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has a story about several walk-ons at Georgia Tech, including one who was recruited by Dartmouth, Cornell and Penn. He's working out as the Ramblin' Wreck's backup center. Read the story here. The kid's bio, such as it is, can be found here.

Sure, Casey Cramer lost a fumble after grabbing a pass for the Carolina Panthers, but Dan Henning, the team's offensive coordinator, liked what he saw. Henning didn't say much, but what he did say had to be encouraging for the Dartmouth grad, bidding to return to the Panthers for a third season: "I think Casey Cramer had a very good game the other night."

Be sure to check the Green Alert premium site later this morning for the Colgate season preview.

Something Different

Dartmouth's release on Josh Dooley being named an ECAC Robbins-Scholar Athlete has been posted on the Dartmouth web site. I blogged about the richly-deserved award yesterday (below). ...

My wife's job at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center involves a lot of teaching and giving a lot of talks. (Mandatory football content: She had linebacker Joe Battaglia shadow her last week for a class.) Seems as if she's always working on a PowerPoint presentation. (Being a diehard Mac person, I prefer Keynote, but I digress ...)

Anyway, my wife always slips a slide or two from our vacations into the presentations to break up the monotony. Now, I'm not about to say there's monotony here on the Green Alert blog, but I kind of like the idea of tossing something in from time to time to see if you are paying attention.

So ... here's a picture from our 7,500-mile trip this summer. This was taken at White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. It wasn't on our original itinerary but we called an audible and were glad we did. It's an amazing place. This shot shows my son with the saucer we rented at park headquarters so the kids could sled down the sand dunes. Unfortunately, the picture flattens the hill were were standing on. It took quite a climb to get up it. The surprising thing was that while the temperature was challenging 100 degrees, the "sand" wasn't at all hot. By the way, that's our trust VW camper in the background. You'll see it at practices this fall when it becomes my mobile press headquarters ;-)


Tomorrow on the Green Alert premium site: the Colgate season preview. On tap for Saturday: a surprise!

Yale Preview Posted

The north end zone at Memorial Field no longer says D T T. It's DARTMOUTH. Note the progress on the varsity house as the steel continues to rise. (Click on photo to make it fill your screen)

Asked who was undervalued in the Ivy League preseason media poll, several coaches mentioned the team chosen fifth: Yale. The Bulldogs have a big offensive line that returns intact and features both a preseason All-American and another All-Ivy pick. They have a couple of All-Ivy caliber returnees at wide receiver and another at tailback. They have both fullbacks returning and a transfer tight end from Iowa State. In fact, they really have just one question on that side of the ball. But it's a big one: What's going to happen at quarterback? To read more, check out the premium Green Alert side.

Practice Begins Next Week

A quick look at the Dartmouth preseason schedule:
Aug. 21 - Players from more than 500 miles away report
Aug. 22. - Official return date for everyone else
1:30 p.m. - testing
4 p.m. - team meeting
Aug. 23 - 6:30 a.m. - Conditioning test, strength testing. Practice
Aug. 24 - Additional strength testing. Practice
Aug. 25-Sept. 2 - Practice
Sept. 3 - Day off
Sept. 4-9 - Practice
Sept. 10 - Off until evening meetings
Sept. 11-15 - Game week
Sept. 16 - Opener at Colgate

I don't yet have a full copy of the official practice schedule and times but I'll post information from it when I do. As was the case last year, I'll be posting full practice reports on the premium Green Alert site after each sesson.

Cornell has already begun practice. (The Big Red isn't getting in extra practices -- but instead is spreading them out more than other Ivy League schools that report later.)

An earlier posting mentioned that Dartmouth would be webcasting home football games this year. A couple more details:

• The filming will be done by Daniel Crowe, a professional videographer from White River Junction, Vt., who has been filming Dartmouth football and other sports for a number of years.
• The video will be joined with the sounds of Dartmouth radio broadcasters Bob Lipman and Wayne Young calling the action once again for WDCR.

Still no word on what the charges will be and what you'll need on your computer (apart from a super fast connection) to watch the action.

Speaking of color commentator Wayne Young, the co-captain of the 1971 Dartmouth squad and fellow All-Ivy selection Tom Csatari are teammates again. Young has joined the Lebanon, N.H. law firm of Daschbach, Cooper, Hotchkiss & Csatari.

Back on the topic of Internet webcasting, Dartmouth is apparently catching a wave as this Associated Press story suggests. The story begins this way:

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — When Yale football coach Jack Siedlecki goes on a national recruiting trip, he hears the same questions over and over from parents.
"They always want to know, ’Are you on TV? Can I get the games?"’ Siedlecki said.

With the exception of the game against rival Harvard, the answer is usually, "No."

The big TV networks simply aren’t interested in the little Ivy League.

But the Ivy League and other small conferences may have found a way around that — the Internet.

Later this morning on the premium Green Alert site: the Yale season preview.

Dooley Wins ECAC Award

I haven't seen this anywhere other than here yet and I thought about sitting on it for tomorrow's blog, but it's too good not to mention this afternoon. Dartmouth linebacker/2005 captain/MVP Josh Dooley '06 has been named an 2005-06 ECAC Robbins Scholar-Athlete Award winner. From a release: The award honors, "the outstanding academic and athletics achievements of student-athletes representing ECAC schools in Divisions I, II and III. One male and one female athlete from each division have been selected and will be honored during the ECAC Convention at the Honors Dinner presented by Jostens on Sunday, October 1. Votes are based on extraordinary achievements in academics, athletics and community service."

I've met a lot of great athletes and great people in the years I've covered Dartmouth sports and Josh doesn't have to take a back seat to any of them. To read a story I wrote about him last year, click here.

Josh Dooley photo courtesy of Dartmouth

Princeton Preview Posted

The good news for former Dartmouth assistant Roger Hughes is that he is the rare Ivy League coach who can claim a veteran quarterback this fall in a league where that really does matter. The bad news for Hughes is that he can't claim a veteran offensive lineman. Not one, and that's never good. To read more, visit the premium Green Alert site.

First Ivy Team Hits the Practice Field

Here we go. Cornell has hit the field and started practice. (It always amazes me that Ivy schools can start on different dates. They must have the same number of practices, but they can spread them out differently.) Here's a story from the Ithaca Journal about the Big Red getting going along with a couple of quotes. Tailback Luke Siwula: “Our expectations are to win (all) 10 games, and nothing less than that.” Head coach Jim Knowles (reiterating what he said at media day): “Every champion since 1999 has scored 32 points (per game). We didn't quite get to 27 last year. How do you get to 32? Certainly not by running the ball up the middle. We have to throw it around a little more.”

Brown's Nick Hartigan was cut before ever appearing in a game with the New York Jets. ... Some Ivy League types are annoyed when writer after writer talks about how smart Ivy grads in the NFL are. That being the case, they won't like this story about some of the lesser-known players who could have an impact this year in the AFC. Princeton's Dennis Norman (Jaguars) and Cornell's Kevin Boothe (Raiders) are both described as being smart. The story suggests, by the way, Boothe might be making a run at a starting job. That's probably a little over the top, but it sounds good.

Princeton grad and Virginia wide receivers coach John Garrett is the subject of a story that includes this: "From being able to say he played and coached in the NFL to laying claim to having suited up for two, yes two, different Ivy League schools in college, Garrett has seen it all."

Former Cornell quarterback Bill Lazor is the quarterbacks coach for the Washington Redskins. At 34, he's two years younger than Mark Brunell, the QB he's coaching. Nice story in the Washington Post.

Admit it. You were wondering how the Chariot Races and Fieldstock were received by the Dartmouth student body over the weekend. Find out here.

Check the premium Green Alert site by midmorning for the Princeton season preview, part of a series of looks at Dartmouth's 2006 opponents.

Teevens Video Posted

The Ivy League web site has posted a video of Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens that was filmed at media day last Tuesday in New Haven. The sound quality is bad (that's not really a snake you hear nor is Buddy sizzling on a hot seat) and it kept stalling on one of my two browsers, but it's worth a look if you have a fast enough connection and Quicktime on your computer. If you don't, here are some of the highlights:

• Teevens talks about coaching true student athletes.
• He says of the media projection that has Dartmouth finishing seventh, "The nice thing about polls is the only one that really counts is the one at the end of the year."
• Asked the most interesting person on the team, he is at first stumped. He finally offers up junior wide receiver Brian Evans, who was married last summer, runs track and is in the pre-med program.
• Teevens speaks about the facilities improvements including the FieldTurf installation and the new Varsity House.
• Asked about his defensive leader, he cites the senior leadership of inside linebacker Joe Gibalski and down linemen Mike Rabil and Brian Osimiri.
• Prompted for who his breakout offensive player might be, he suggests sophomore tailback Milan Williams as an individual and the offensive line as a group.

Penn Preview Posted

With a 3-4 record, the proud Quakers lost more Ivy League games last year than they had in the previous five years combined, but don't be fooled. This is not a program in decline. Read the complete Penn preview and previews of Dartmouth's other opponents on the premium Green Alert site.

Three Dartmouth Games to be Televised

The composite Ivy League TV schedule has been released. Dartmouth's first two games against Colgate and New Hampshire and its last one against Princeton will be televised. The full Ivy TV schedule:

Sept. 16
Dartmouth at Colgate, 1 pm (Time Warner - Upstate New York)

Sept. 23
New Hampshire at Dartmouth, 12:30 pm (WMUR - Manchester, NH)
Lafayette at Princeton, 6 pm (Patriot 8)
Villanova at Penn, 7 pm (CN8)

Sept. 30
Yale at Lafayette, 1 pm (CSTV)

Oct. 7
Princeton at Colgate, 1 pm (Time Warner)

Oct. 13 (Friday)
Brown at Princeton, 7 pm (ESPNU)

Oct. 14
Lehigh at Yale, 12:30 pm (WFMZ)

Oct. 21
Harvard at Princeton, Noon (YES)
Penn at Yale, 12:30 pm (CN8)

Oct. 28
Columbia at Yale, Noon (YES)
Brown at Penn, Noon (CSTV)

Nov. 4
Yale at Brown, Noon (YES)
Penn at Princeton, 1 pm (CN8)

Nov. 11
Harvard at Penn, 1 pm (CN8)

Nov. 18
Yale at Harvard, Noon (WLVI/WGN)
Dartmouth at Princeton, 1 pm (Patriot 8 West-Central New Jersey)

I shot a few pictures of the stadium project Monday, Aug. 14. The field is taking shape in a hurry. I admit to being a little amused when I was in the football offices (taking these pictures) and an alum who was visiting asked coach Buddy Teevens what the D T T in the end zone (in the next-to-last photo below) stood for. Teevens never batted an eyelash when he explained the letters would eventually spell DARTMOUTH. According to Teevens, the "infill" rubber pellets that give the field it's life-like feel haven't yet been spread on the field. (Click on photos to "supersize" them.)





Check the regular Green Alert site today for the fifth in a series of opponent previews, this one of Penn.

Harvard Preview Posted

Harvard probably has more talent than any team in the league. Correction: Harvard has more talent than any team in the league. Correction: Harvard had more talented than any team in the league. It also has more issues. Find the rest of the Harvard preview now on the premium Green Alert site.

Hitting the Right Note

Do you know Dartmouth's fight songs? Want to share them with a friend? You can access fast-loading Quicktime files of each Ivy fight song here. If you'd rather just go to your favorite, here are the links to Dartmouth songs:

Glory to Dartmouth (sung)
Dartmouth's In Town Again
As the Backs Go Tearing By
Dartmouth Touchdown Song
Dartmouth Fight Song

Every year when I walk into Memorial Field and my ears are assaulted by the music coming over the tinny loudspeakers I make the same suggestion: Why don't they play a CD of fight songs? Not just Dartmouth songs. Not just Ivy League songs like Ten Thousand Men of Harvard. All kinds of fight songs. Is there anyone who follows football whose blood doesn't get pumping upon hearing Michigan's The Victors or Notre Dame Victory March? Or the Florida State War Chant? Or USC's Fight On?

The incoming Dartmouth freshmen, by the way, either know the Alma Mater or will know it pretty soon. Singing it at the end of some practices and at other times is part of coach Buddy Teevens' program. In case anyone doesn't know the words, here goes:

Dear old Dartmouth, give a rouse
For the College on the hill,
For the Lone Pine above her,
And the loyal ones who love her.
Give a rouse, give a rouse, with a will!
For the sons of old Dartmouth,
For the daughters of Dartmouth.
Though 'round the girdled Earth they roam,
Her spell on them remains.
They have the still North in their hearts,
The hill winds in their veins,
And the granite of New Hampshire
In their muscles and their brains.
And the granite of New Hampshire
In their muscles and their brains.

Dear old Dartmouth, set a watch,
Lest the old traditions fail.
Stand as sister stands by brother.
Dare a deed for the old mother.
Greet the world from the hills with a hail!
For the sons of old Dartmouth,
For the daughters of Dartmouth.
Around the world they keep for her
Their old undying faith.
They have the still North in their soul,
The hill winds in their breath,
And the granite of New Hampshire
Is made part of them 'til death.
And the granite of New Hampshire
Is made part of them 'til death.

Check the premium Green Alert web site later today for the Harvard season preview.

No Scrimmage; JV Schedule Released

As was the case last year, Dartmouth will not be holding an outside scrimmage before the start of the 2006 season. Under coach John Lyons, Dartmouth scrimmaged Columbia at prep schools in Connecticut for a handful of years and later worked out against Brown at Exeter, N.H.. There was even a home scrimmage against Plymouth State one year. When Buddy Teevens took over as coach last year, he called off a previously scheduled scrimmage against Brown, explaining that he preferred not to show his hand to a future opponent. That feeling apparently hasn't changed. Green Alert Take: It was always kind of fun to go to the scrimmage and see the young kids play, but the lack of an outside scrimmage last year apparently didn't hurt preparation for the opener. Dartmouth ended up beating Colgate anyway.

The 2006 Dartmouth junior varsity schedule has been released. (I'll be at all the games as the unofficial official statistician again this fall and will be posting stats and capsule stories on the games the same evening on the regular web site.)

The 2006 Dartmouth JV schedule:
(All games are in Hanover)
9/17 Middlebury 1 p.m.
10/8 Milford Academy 2 p.m.
10/27 Harvard 2 p.m.
11/12 Bridgton Noon

The Carolina Panthers' first preseason game was a good news/bad news scenario for former Dartmouth tight end Casey Cramer in his bid to return to the NFL team for a third season. The converted fullback caught two passes for 28 yards. That was the good news. The bad news: He was ruled to have fumbled away one of the receptions after an official review.

Allen Lessels of the Manchester Union Leader has a nice story about Ricky Santos and David Ball, the dynamic UNH duo. Allen calls it, "The Legend of Ricky-David," a takeoff on the name (and theme) of the popular movie. The story begins this way:

Well, this is the story -- no, The Legend -- of Ricky-David. The tall tale of a couple of small-town football players who come out of nowhere and get their chance and, seemingly overnight, turn their team into the most prodigiously productive, and one of the highest-ranked, in all the land.
Ricky Santos and David Ball. David Ball and Ricky Santos.

The Sports Network handicaps the A-10 race and also throws a little love UNH's way. Matt Dougherty makes the valid point that the Wildcats got lucky with Santos and Ball, hardly top recruits. It reminds me of Casey Cramer, who was almost an afterthought in his recruiting class at Dartmouth. Whatever happened to him?

In a column on CBS SportsLine.com Dennis Dodd writes that the change from I-A and I-AA football to Football Bowl Division and Football Championship Division came about because, "Sniveling I-AA officials thought their division had become stigmatized." He's right, but he's also wrong. There was indeed a stigma attached to the I-AA label, but not with regard to football. Schools with I-AA football but that played Division I basketball were being portrayed as I-AA schools. In fact, while the football programs were I-AA, their basketball programs were Division I, period.

Gonna change sports here for a second. You may have heard (or will hear, I'd venture to say) about the Vermont-New Hampshire Little League baseball championship game Friday. Vermont was winning the contest in the final inning but neglected to play one player as required by Little League rules. When they realized their mistake in the last half inning, the Vermont coaches instructed their pitcher to throw intentional balls and their fielders to make mistakes so that the Green Mountain team could tie the score and force extra innings, thereby giving the player who hadn't yet appeared in the game a chance to get on the field. The New Hampshire coach, once he figured out what was happening, instructed his team to swing and miss on purpose to end the game.

My first reaction was that it was pretty dumb that the Vermont coaches hadn't been paying more attention to their substitution pattern, and to hold them to blame both for that mistake and for the instructions to their players upon realizing their mistake. But this column opened my eyes to the idea that maybe the New Hampshire coach was even more at fault. What do you think?

And finally this: Tubestock, Chicago style. The outlawed Connecticut River party, replaced this year by Fieldstock, has a successor on Lake Michigan.

Saturday's Ramblings

The Dartmouth football schedule is flawed, with all five road games in New England in odd-numbered years and all five road games out of New England in even-numbered years. (I've said it before and I'll say it again; someone was asleep at the switch when that schedule -- and the longterm contracts with non-league opponents -- got slapped on the Big Green.) It doesn't help, either, that there are four road Ivy games to three at home in years when the travel schedule is at its much exhausting.

While it can be argued this year's schedule is anything but friendly, there are a couple of road trips I always look forward to in even-numbered years: Cornell and Colgate. Others may be bothered by the blue highways necessary to get to the Upstate New York schools, but I love them. I've often commented to friends after returning from Colgate in Hamilton, N.Y., that it's like Back to the Future or taking a trip back to the '50s. The last couple of hours of that drive send you past "motor courts," and sleepy downtowns with wonderful old movie theaters. Past auto dealers who have new cars behind massive picture windows in the middle of the village instead of on some "strip," and more. (If you have a little extra time, Cooperstown is only a little out of the way and that's really special.)

What brought this all to mind is a story in the New York Times about Route 20, which I drive from Albany out to Colgate. The story includes this:

When the New York State Thruway was built in the 1950’s, to the north of the old highway and roughly parallel, progress along Route 20 skidded to a halt. To historians, the road is like a highway set in aspic, with vignettes of architecture, some of which may not be around next year.

Speaking of Colgate, the fine 13 Yard Line blog has a detailed look at the Raiders up on the site.

The Daily Dartmouth ran a story out of the media day poll on the Big Green's outlook this year. The story mentions that tailback Chad Gaudet is back but that's not the case. He'll continue rehabbing the knee he hurt on his first carry last fall and will not be playing this year.

The New York Post has a story about Columbia coach Norries Wilson and the challenge facing him as he tries to turn the Lions around. It mentions that Columbia has had just five winning seasons in the past half century. Wow.

The Ithaca Journal has a story about a former Cornell football player who earned a mechanical engineering degree and now is a crew chief in NASCAR's Busch Series. Offered Chad Walker: "I was probably the only guy who had a (Dale) Earnhardt poster at college.”

The Journal News writes about Nick Hartigan's bid to make the New York Jets. It notes he's been accepted at Harvard Law. Former Harvard QB Ryan Fitzpatrick is battling ex-Louisville star Dave Ragone for the No. 3 slot with the St. Louis Rams and didn't hurt his chances with a good first exhibition game.

The web site Deadspin has Four Tiny Tidbits On: The Ivy League. I was a little nervous clicking through to that one, but you needn't be. ;-). Among other things, Deadspin provides a link where you can watch Thomas Edison's film from the 1903 Princeton-Yale football game in New Haven. From the Library of Congress description of the film, which runs 3 minutes, 47 seconds and is well worth watching:

The camera was moved to many positions throughout the stadium, which contained an estimated 50,000 spectators. The opening scene was a complete pan around the locale, showing the crowd assembled to watch the game. The remaining scenes were photographed from various positions throughout the football field, showing the game in progress. There is line play shown as well as broken-field running.

The Boston College athletic director said he'd like the Eagles to play a New England I-AA opponent each year. They may do that, but it won't be nearby Harvard, it won't be longtime rival Holy Cross and it certainly won't be Dartmouth. The AD told the Boston Globe: "The problem is, the 1-AA teams you play have to offer at least 60 scholarships in order for it to count towards your win total. That's why we can't do anything with Holy Cross or Harvard right now, because they only do need-based scholarships."

The Boston Globe has a very nice story about former Williams College football coach Dick Farley who is "poised for induction" into the College Football Hall of Fame. (Do read the story; you'll enjoy it.) ... I used to wonder if Farley would some day take the bait and move to the Ivy League, but in hindsight it doesn't surprise me that he stayed where he did. I clearly remember a high-profile, former Dartmouth coach (not football) telling me that he also had a chance to coach at Williams. He agonized over the decision because while he wanted to coach in Division I, he felt he'd have been set for life if he'd gone to Williamstown, Mass.. A number of other Ivy League coaches (at Dartmouth and elsewhere) have told me that NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference) coaching jobs are as good as gold.

Previews of Dartmouth's opponents will continue on the premium Green Alert site Monday with a look at Harvard.