Another Name To Watch

A little more detail on a football commit reported elsewhere on the web. JB Andreassi is a 5-foot-11, 185 defensive back at powerhouse St. Anthony's High School in South Huntington, N.Y., in Long Island. Through five games this year, Andreassi had 42 tackles and a 70-yard interception return. He was averaging 34. yards on three kickoff returns and also was running back punts. St. Anthony's was recognized as the top high school athletic program in the state of New York in 2005. The Friars had a 64-game league winning streak snapped earlier this year. They are six-time CHSFL AAA champions.

As the blog noted a couple of weeks back, upwards of 15 high school seniors had commited to go the early decision route at that point.

Homecoming opponent Columbia is giving up a whopping 259.6 yards per game on the ground this year, 114th of 116 teams ranked nationally. Defensive coordinator Lou Ferrari tells the Columbia Spectator:

“There is no way to make them pass. You have to be able to stop the run. We are giving up a lot more yards in the rushing game and opponents are taking advantage while they can.”

The Spec has another story about this week's foe under the headline: "Despite Lack of Balanced Attack, Offense Makes Modest Gains"

The latest Gridiron Power Index numbers are out. Here's where Dartmouth and its opponents rank:
11-Yale
14-New Hampshire
25-Holy Cross
30-Harvard
54-Cornell
64-Colgate
72-Brown
76-Penn
T79-Dartmouth
T82-Princeton
109-Columbia

In light of the success being enjoyed by the Cleveland Indians (and the Washington Redskins) the Black Athlete Sports Network is re-running a column regarding team nicknames. The same error that was in the orginal column has carried over. From the column:

Let's backtrack to the very beginning of this on going debate. The battle began at Dartmouth College, now Dartmouth University.

Doesn't that make you grate your teeth?

Colgate tailback Jordan Scott has been added to the list of candidates for the Payton Award as the top offensive player in the FCS. Yale tailback Mike McLeod and UNH quarterback Ricky Santos are already on the list.

Scott is a junior, not a senior as the story says, which means Dartmouth will have to face him again next year. And it will have to face McLeod again next year. Santos will be gone, but it appears the next all-purpose UNH quarterback is in place in RJ Toman. And of course Dominic Randolph will be back at Holy Cross. Doesn't look as if that early season schedule is going to get easier for another year, does it?

This is a fun one. A reserve defensive back from Cornell who appeared in seven games last year as a sophomore has dropped down to the Sprint (nee Lightweight) football team and is having a blast. Check out the Cornell Sun story.

Columbia announced a $100 million athletic campaign last week. Penn State is in the midst of a $100 million campaign. Today's Yale Daily reminds us of another $100 million push in New Haven. That $100 million number is getting popular. (Editor's note: As a reader commented in a reply to an earlier post, Dartmouth never made a formal announcement about an athletics campaign, but if you add up the numbers, the college doesn't have to take a back seat to any of the aforementioned initiatives when it comes to dollars spent in recent years on athletic facilities.)

Back to the Yale story. It says, "Most recently, Yale committed $100 million for renovation of the gym and its athletic facilities, resulting in the creation of the Lanman Center, as well as the Israel Fitness Center and Brady Squash Center."

The Yale Daily story goes on to offer a little background on the school's Payne Whitney Gymnasium, which has 14 levels and more than 12 acres of indoor space. For anyone who has ever been in through the doors of the cathedral-like edifice (and I've been lost inside it more than once), the following anecdote should bring a chuckle:

Many are familiar with the story of Helen Hay Whitney, whose family donated $6 million to the construction of the gym. Legend has it that the elderly benefactor pulled up to Tower Parkway to admire her family’s donation, but never stepped foot inside to discover that the memorial she thought was a cathedral dedicated to her son was actually a gymnasium with ornate Gothic architecture. This urban legend floats around the gym between administrators and athletes alike ...

Columbia is adding men's and women's varsity squash to its offerings according to the school's web site. Now if they'd just add men's lacrosse. ...

Spied on the sidelines at Holy Cross last week was Charlie Pack, the Honolulu-based photographer who has made a career of shooting pictures of athletes and producing poster-sized prints with the school name printed on them. I always admired how Charlie could go to a game and get pictures of every last player on the field, including some who didn't play. The guy is flat-out good. Anyway, seeing him sent me scurrying to his web site. Great news for those of you who lost your poster or rue the day the kids used Magic Markers to add horns to your helmet. CW Pack can reprint copies from its archives. Just visit Charlie's site and work your way to the proper year. ... In case you are interested, last year's proofs are viewable here.

And finally, that certain Hanover High School sophomore's field hockey season came to a close yesterday with a 1-0 loss in a first-round playoff game. She once again played every minute in the midfield and, although she's usually quite critical of her performances, she grudgingly said she played "pretty well." No rest for the weary. She plans to begin training for the indoor track season with a long run this afternoon. (She's been invited to train with the cross country team that is ranked No. 1 in the Northeast.)

That certain 8th-grader has a football game tonight under the lights at the new Hanover High field. He practiced yesterday for the first time since hurting his leg and was somewhere south of grumpy this morning in part, his mom thinks, because he's sure the missed practice time will mean even less playing time. I'm going to take in his game after the Dartmouth practice so tonight's Green Alert report will be delayed.