FieldTurf On Tap At UNH

I finally saw a copy of Monday's Manchester Union Leader, which had a story that wasn't carried on the web about upgrades at the University of New Hampshire football field where Dartmouth will play Sept. 22. From the story: "The plan is to put the field -- similar to what the University of Massachusetts and Dartmouth College and the New England Patriots installed last year -- out to bid shortly and ideally have the work completed by the time the football returns for training camp in August."

The work is the result of a $1 million gift from Ed Fish, a former football and hockey player at the school.

Athletic Director Marty Scarano is calling this "Phase One," part of his vision of a "multi-purpose facility in Cowell Stadium at what could be a cost of more than $30 million."

Another New Hampshire paper is carrying a story today about former Dartmouth offensive coordinator John Perry returning to UNH as associate head coach. ...

One that got away: Patrick Snow, a 6-1, 285 offensive lineman from Houston and Clear Lake High -- alma mater of quarterback Mike Fritz '06 -- chose Navy over Dartmouth and Illinois State according to this story.

Former Brown wide receiver Sean Morey has left the Pittsburgh Steelers to sign with the Arizona Cardinals (story). Morey led the Steelers with 21 tackles last season. Why Arizona? From a story on the Pittsburgh Live site: "Morey will reunite with former Steelers coaches Ken Whisenhunt (head coach), Russ Grimm (assistant head coach/offensive line) and Kevin Spencer (special teams) in Arizona." Don't be surprised if Morey and former Arizona linebacker Zack Walz '98, who were a year apart in the Ivy League, touch base in Glendale.

This showed up on a football coaching site. If it's been noted elsewhere, I missed it. Bill Irwin, offensive line coach at Western New England College will be Columbia's new tight ends coach. It makes sense. Irwin was a three-year starter for Connecticut, where Columbia coach Norries Wilson was on the staff. Irwin played on the 2004 Motor City Bowl champion team and was a candidate for the Rimington Trophy as the country's top center.

Harvard's bubble was worth every cent according to the Crimson.

Princeton men's basketball coach Joe Scott is coming under heavy fire after his third season at his alma mater resulted in the Tigers finishing last in the Ivy League for the first time ever. From today's Princetonian:

"Frankly, the man's been nothing short of a disaster for Princeton basketball," WPRB basketball commentator Robert Glasgow '07 said.

Glasgow is a member of the facebook.com group "Fire Joe Scott," which boasted 87 members at the time of publishing. The group is the brainchild of Aaron Prince '07, who is also a second baseman on the baseball team. Prince declined to comment for this article due to his affiliation with the baseball team.

Wow. A varsity athlete on one team that critical of the coach of another. ...

And finally, how about this for timing? My wife has teaching a seminar at The Balsams in northern New Hampshire for three days. One of the reasons they hold this event there is because in addition to being a "grand hotel," it's a ski resort. And that helps bring in attendees for the seminar. Well, she didn't get a chance to ski Wednesday. Yesterday they had so much rain they actually shut down the mountain. Today she finishes up and heads home without ever having taken the skis off the car. And tonight? They are calling for upwards of 15 inches of snow around here.

Speaking of The Balsams, if you are coming for a visit and have an extra day or two, it's a remarkable place, a page torn from another era. If you want to be pampered, check it out. From their web site: "High in New Hampshire's White Mountains and deep in the Great North Woods, The BALSAMS Grand Resort Hotel truly is a world unto itself."