Dartmouth-Brown: A Few Different Perspectives

The Dartmouth sports information preview for the Brown game is available here. ... There's optimism at the Daily Dartmouth which declares:

In the race for third place, Dartmouth football is unquestionably the hottest team and the favorite to win out.

For Brown's game notes, click here. (And remember, the game can be watched over the Internet for $6 by visiting Browns video service.)

While the Daily Dartmouth is convinced Dartmouth is the favorite to win out, the Harvard Crimson is less sure. The Crimson prediction is Brown, 28, Dartmouth 20. The writer is clearly unimpressed by the Big Green:

Third-place Dartmouth (has a funny ring to it, huh?) has three wins, all against mediocre Ivy teams at home.

The full Green Alert side featured a story out of yesterday's practice about Dartmouth still looking for its first victory on the road. Kudos to the Crimson for digging up the fact that the home team has won 20 of 25 Ivy-Ivy games this fall, with three of the five losses being registered by Columbia and another going to overtime.

The Daily Pennylvanian seems to think a 28-20 score might be about right. Or maybe 48-40, although the DP doesn't offer a winner. From the weekend preview:

Expect a wild one, as neither defense is anything to write home about.

Brown linebacker Jonathan May is the subject of a story in the Daily Herald. The Providence Journal writes about Brown offensive lineman Jimmy Tull, who has played all three interior line slots.

This Des Moines Register story about the disappearance of non-scholarship FCS/I-AA leagues has me a bit confused. The story includes this:

With the Northeast Conference going to partial scholarship football in 2006 and several Metro Atlantic Athletic Football Conference teams disbanding, the PFL appeared to be the sole fully functional non-scholarship league.

Maybe I didn't read the piece carefully enough, but it seems the writer overlooked the Ivy League. Either that or he subscribes to the theory of many across the country that the Ivy League's generous financial aid packages and (no-loan policy at some schools) amount to de facto football scholarships.

Missed this the first time around but SportsIllustrated.com has a lengthy story about players on NFL practice teams, centering on the Detroit Lions. I couldn't help but think about Casey Cramer (who spent his share of time on practice teams before earning his roster spot with the Tennessee Titans) and Lloyd Lee, who was up and down with the San Diego Chargers in 1998-99. Penn product Ben Noll is prominently mentioned in this sotry. Regarding Noll, the story says:

He is the rare NFL player who studies for forensic anthropology exams in the locker room. Noll is taking Internet courses toward his bachelor's degree from Penn. Last week he had a midterm. Next week he'll begin writing an essay on the fall of the Romanov dynasty during the Russian revolution.

The story says he "left early" for the NFL. Not sure exactly what that means.

Thanks to a reader for another link to a CBSsportsline.com story about Oregon offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. From the story:

On his native Manchester, N.H. where he played for the Wildcats: "It's a little slice of heaven. It's now turned into, obviously, the spread capital of the world. What is it they call Miami of Ohio, the Cradle of Coaches? Now it's Manchester, N.H. -- the Center of the Spread. I like that."

Obviously, UNH isn't in Manchester. It's an hour or so away, but you get the point. ...

For what it's worth, the delay with the blog this morning was exacerbated by the wireless provider I was using for some reason apparently blocking Blogger. At least I think that's what it was. Either way, you've got it now. It's been a rough 15 hours or so with problems getting the regular story posted last night and the blog this morning.