Monday Morning Roundup

The Dartmouth didn't have a reporter at the Holy Cross football game but has a follow story today. Tailback Milan Williams is quoted:

"We were just making stupid mistakes. We looked like we weren’t ready to play Saturday."

The Boston Herald has a follow story on Holy Cross-Dartmouth. Actually, it's a follow on Holy Cross that happens to mention Dartmouth as the latest Crusader victim.

The D's Sports Weekly has a story about cheering at Dartmouth. Anyone who has traveled extensively with Dartmouth teams (see Penn and Yale basketball, Cornell hockey in particular) would quibble a bit with the lede:

Historically, Dartmouth College has been home to some of the loudest and most enthusiastic crowds in the Ivy League.

Heck, the story even suggests football coach Buddy Teevens sees it differently, at least in his sport. He told the reporter:

My sense is we are probably the least aggressive of the venues that I’ve been going to.

A quote from senior Josh Drake, Dartmouth's 'yell leader,' suggests loud fans aren't necessarily welcomed in Hanover:

"I’ve been approached by Hanover police twice telling me to calm down, that my intensity level was too high and that I was yelling too loud. I’ve also had Safety and Security tell me that if I didn’t sit down and essentially, ‘calm down and shut up,’ that I’d be escorted out of the arena. That was the Princeton game last year over Thanksgiving break."

One correction from the story. It says: "At the recent home contest against the University of Pennsylvania, Memorial Field saw its largest non-Homecoming crowd ever." The attendance of 5,929 is a shadow of the crowds Dartmouth drew in Hanover in the '70s and '80s.

Looking ahead to Homecoming opponent Columbia on Saturday ...

The Columbia Spectator writes that after his team walloped the Lions, 59-28, Penn coach Al Bagnoli said:

“They’re not an easy team to prepare for because they do a lot of things on defense, they’ve got people running all over the place. I thought our offensive line would have to play well and I think they did.”

Another Spectator story has Bagnoli talking about Columbia quarterback Craig Hormann, who passed for 417 yards against the Quakers:

“I think their quarterback is terrific, and I think he’s the best in this league at stepping up and buying time. As a consequence they get a lot of pretty good plays so we were trying to make sure that we collapsed that pocket.”

Speaking of Columbia, at least one Spectator column expresses optimism that the $5 million seed money Patriots owner Robert Kraft gave to the athletics campaign at his alma mater will be accompanied by some Kraft Karma:

Based on what Kraft has been able to do in the NFL, it would be a surprise if in five years, his influence at Columbia hasn’t reshaped Ivy League football in a similar fashion.

The New Haven Register has a well-done story about faith and the Yale football program, which has a strong Catholic contingent. Find the story here. ... Reading the story reminded me to take a look back at what Yale defensive end Stepen Schmalhofer had to say about his team's game against Dartmouth on his blog, For God, For Country and For Yale. Schmalhofer wrote:

Aside from a drive for a field goal in the second quarter, the Big Green offense was inept. I hate to diminish an opponent. But at times they were comical. Players ran into their teammates. Their RB took a hand off and fell backwards 5 yards. Receivers tripped in their routes.

And finally, that certain Hanover High sophomore won the 17-and-under girls division of the Foliage Five road race in Thetford, Vt., yesterday by eight minutes. She was 33rd overall of 127 finishers. Her field hockey team closed out the regular season 8-5-1 and plays on the road Tuesday in the first round of the state tournament. ... That certain 8th grader, meanwhile, hopes to return to football practice today after taking a hit on his knee in the last game.