Sitting Pretty (Comfortably)

Memorial Field's new seating is taking shape as shown in these photos shot Aug. 1.Two rows of chairback seats span three sections atop the east (sunny side) stands. (Click photos to enlarge)
A look at the nearly completed east stands with chairback seats at the top.
The new iron fence now continues behind the north end zone toward Red Rolfe Field.
The fence turns and runs to the Floren Varsity House. A new gate is just beyond the orange-and-white barrel.
The field, the stands, the track and the new varsity house make a pretty picture. Click to enlarge and if you look closely you can see the summer sophomores (and a few assorted teammates in the area this summer) going through their regular afternoon workouts.

The Penn media guide is available for download here as a PDF file (or files). It's 160 pages.

Want to name the new Princeton Tiger mascot? If your suggestion is chosen you win "two season tickets, scoreboard and website recognition, and the opportunity to walk the Tiger on to the field at halftime of the home opening football game on September 15." Enter the contest here. How about Pumpkin?

The Patriot League preseason poll is out and Dartmouth's two opponents from the conference are predicted to finish third and fourth:

Patriot League Preseason Poll Results
1. Lafayette (6 first-place votes) 63
2. Lehigh (5) 62
3. Colgate (1) 52
4. Holy Cross (2) 50
5. Bucknell 31
6. Fordham 21
7. Georgetown 15

Patriot League Preseason Award Winners
Offensive Player of the Year: Sedale Threatt, QB, Lehigh (Sr., 6'2, 218, Mattapan, Mass.)
Defensive Player of the Year: Mike Gallihugh, LB, Colgate (Sr., 6'0, 197, Midlothian, Va.)

Patriot League coaches, by the way, are pushing again for scholarships. One reason, as reported in the Morning Call:

In 2006, Patriot teams were 13-23 against outside foes and 4-14 against the Ivy League. Lafayette and Lehigh, the league's co-champs, were 2-9 in non-league games, including the Leopards' playoff loss, and a combined 0-7 vs. the Ivies.

Kevin Kelly, the former Dartmouth assistant and now head coach at Georgetown, told the paper:

All of those things are a concern to the coaches because the Patriot League hasn't been doing very well (against outside competition) and losing our automatic playoff berth is a concern down the road.

Kelly also said:

"We want to be competitive with everyone and we want to keep that automatic playoff bid, which the Ivy League doesn't have.''

It almost sounds as if he's suggesting the Ivy League doesn't have the automatic bid because it wouldn't be competitive. That's silly, of course. The only reason the Ivy League doesn't have the automatic bid is because it wouldn't use it. Everyone I've talked to who ought to know, and I mean everyone, has said FCS (nee I-AA) would give the Ivies the bid in a heartbeat.