Sunday Doings On - And Off - The Field

Dartmouth opponent New Hampshire melts down in the second half, Colgate pushes No. 2 UMass before fading and still it's impossible not to start today's blog with a non-sports issue.

The "lede" of an Associated Press story as reported in the Boston Globe:

Board of trustees vote to change how Dartmouth College is run
HOLDERNESS, N.H. --Dartmouth College's board of trustees voted Saturday to change the way the Ivy League school is run by diluting the direct influence of trustees elected via competition.

The trustees voted to double the number of board-appointed members, but keeping the number of those elected by alumni the same. The decision ends a tradition that lasted for more than a century in which half of the revolving members were slotted for alumni selection.

That comes on the heels of this story in the Saturday New York Times.

I'm not an alum but even I feel embarrassed at how this unseemly Dartmouth family dispute is being played out on a national stage.

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There's a common thread in the losses Saturday by Colgate and UNH: mistakes hurt.

In Colgate's 35-17 loss to UMass, one report says, "The Raiders lost two fumbles (one inside the UMass one-yard line), had an interception, and allowed a punt return for a touchdown." Find the AP recap here and a longer Colgate sports information recap here. A couple of things to note: Colgate's offense got untracked a bit with 23 first downs and tailback Jordan Scott reminded everyone he's the real thing with 103 yards rushing.

In UNH's 41-24 loss to No. 7 James Madison, UNH quarterback Ricky Santos said, "We made too many mistakes. For most of the game, we did what we wanted to do on offense. We had three plays, the two interceptions and a clipping penalty. Without those three plays, we're right there." The AP capsule is here and a longer story from The Sports Network is here. Santos was 36-of-47 passing for 353 yards and two touchdowns along with the two interceptions. The UNH ground game ground to a halt with just 79 rushing yards and the top running back gaining 33 yards.

Borrowed from a Harvard Sports Information story about Ivy League players in the NFL, here's the list of Ivy players in the NFL as the 2007 season opens:

ACTIVE
Brown
Zak DeOssie — New York Giants
Chad Gessner — Tampa Bay
Sean Morey — Arizona
Cornell
Kevin Boothe — New York Giants
Dartmouth
Casey Cramer — Tennessee
Harvard
Matt Birk — Minnesota
Clifton Dawson, — Cincinnati
Ryan Fitzpatrick — Cincinnati
Princeton
Dennis Norman — Jacksonville
Yale
Eric Johnson — New Orleans
Nate Lawrie — Cincinnati

INJURED RESERVE
Penn
Jim Finn — New York Giants
Princeton
Ross Tucker — Washington

PRACTICE SQUAD
Columbia
Steve Cargile — Denver
Penn
Ben Noll — Detroit
Princeton
Johnathan Dekker — Pittsburgh
Zak Keasey — San Francisco

Later today on Green Alert Premium: An interview with new Dartmouth tight ends coach Lance Clelland.