Progress At Memorial Field

Wandering by Memorial Field yesterday I was surprised by the recent changes as construction picks up on the football complex. With the annual Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl game between Vermont and New Hampshire on tap Saturday afternoon and the season rapidly approaching (45 days until the opener against Colgate) a lot has been going on:

• Work has started on installing green chairback seats atop the visiting stands.
• The walkway between Floren Varsity House and the newly added rows of bleachers atop the visiting stands is now passable.
• The stairways leading from the widened portals to the top of the visiting stands now have three aisles.
  
• The seating added at the south end of the stands appears ready for use (and I'm glad to report doesn't look "added on."
  
• The work trailer and most of the construction detritus at the north end of the field has been removed and the waist-high grasses that grew up around the trailer and its deck have been cut down.
• The wrought-iron fence running behind the scoreboard at the north end of the field has been extended to the east. It now runs perhaps halfway to the old cyclone-fence entrance gate and then makes a right-hand turn down to the north side of Floren. There is now a gate to enter Memorial Field opposite the visiting baseball dugout; that is, you will enter the east stands through a gate that faces the west stands.

Hopefully I'll have a few pictures here tomorrow to make it all clearer ;-)

On the subject of former San Francisco 49ers (and Stanford) coach Bill Walsh, who died this week, Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens told the local Valley News:

"I remember after he had back surgery that I'd sit with him for hours and talk football -- philosophies and strategies. He'd give you a very honest opinion of what he thought. He was always so helpful -- a font of wisdom and knowledge."

Added Teevens:

"He'd say, 'Call if there's anything I can do.' He was such a wonderful guy. Some people never had the opportunity to see that, with all the accomplishments he'd had."

I've been annoyed the past few days surfing Ivy League football web sites and having a commercial for tickets open Quicktime and start loading on my computer. I have a pop-up blocker on my iBook laptop, but nothing to stop the unwanted video commercial from appearing each time I opened a group of Ivy pages. I didn't know which school was the culprit because I always closed the video while it was still loading (for once an advantage to slow Internet). Well, I finally watched the commercial and Princeton is the guilty party. Just visit the Princeton football page if you want to see the video. Or, as it turns out, even if you don't.

Now, if you want to see something really, really top-notch forget Princeton's video. Instead, check out the MEAC preseason video prospectus. I'm not terribly interested in the MEAC but the start of this thing is outstanding. Between the familiar NFL music and the surprisingly John Facenda-like voice and delivery, the intro is riveting. Go ahead. Take a look. I'm serious.

The MEAC video goes on to offer tremendous detail on the prospects for each team in the league. I'm not sure what the market is for something like this -- just Internet viewers? -- but the Ivies would do well to think about something similar.

This story notes that former Dartmouth and NFL quarterback Jay Fiedler is doing a "meet and greet," and signing autographs at the East Kentucky Fair as he promotes the Continental Basketball Association team he is moving to the state.

Harvard's 132-page press guide is now online. You can download a PDF of the guide for free here or pay $15 to get it through the mail.

Speaking of Harvard, former Crimson player-turned-pro wrestler Chris Nowinski is the subject of a CNN.com piece about his commitment to spreading the word about the danger of concussions.

And finally this, back on the subject of movies. With the kids away at camp for two weeks, my wife and I have been hitting the (two) local theaters as often as possible. Suffice it to say the offerings have been pretty weak. I wouldn't even want you to know what flick we saw last night (Hairspray). Honest, I wore my wife's sunglasses and a baseball hat pulled way down just walking into the theater. If you are a football fan I'm not sure I'd recommend this particular musical. I started checking my watch before it was an hour old. ... We've also seen Ocean's 13 (best of the movies we've been to this camp session ;-). ... My regret is that neither the new Bourne movie nor Mr. Bean's Vacation will be open before the kiddoes return Saturday. ...

Tonight we're going to the Odd Couple at the New London Barn Playhouse about 30 miles south of Hanover. If you are visiting in the summer and looking for something to do, anything they produce in this charming little building in this charming little town is worth the drive down.