Monitoring The Merrimack Job

John Perry, Dartmouth's offensive coordinator from 2000-2004, has been named head football coach at Merrimack College, near his Andover, Mass., hometown. Perry was the associate head coach at New Hampshire last year. From the press release announcing his hiring:

At Dartmouth, Perry immediately transformed the offense when he joined the team in 2000 and helped the Big Green rank eighth in passing and tenth in total offense nationally at the end of the 2002 campaign. Two Dartmouth quarterbacks under Perry’s tutelage, Brian Mann and Greg Smith, ended their careers ranked among the Big Green’s all-time passing and total offense leaders.

Perry becomes the second former Dartmouth coordinator to take a head coaching position in the Northeast 10 in as many years. Onetime defensive coordinator Rob Talley took over the Stonehill program last year and guided the team to a 5-5 record in his first season. (Thanks, JD, for alerting me to this story.)

There isn't a lot that's new in this New York Times column about Harvard's innovative financial aid changes, but I loved the headline a Vermont paper put on the piece:

Harvard: Never having to say 'Too expensive'

I suppose you have to be a certain age to appreciate that one. ...

I stumbled across this mention of a transfer quarterback being "heavily recruited" by Penn. Being a former newspaper person, I reserve the right to question the accuracy of everything I read in the newspaper, but I found this note interesting for three reasons:

• Given Penn's struggles the past several years and the Quakers' success with transfer quarterbacks in the past, I fully expected Penn would at least consider taking a transfer QB.
• If the Quakers did bring in a transfer, I thought he would come from Duke or Northwestern (both of which sent transfer QB's to Penn in the past). For some strange reason, Minnesota's Rochester Community and Technical College wasn't on my radar.
• The quarterback in question, Henry Lau, was listed at 6-5, 256 in one publication and 6-5, 238 in another. Either way, he's a big boy. (There's a head shot of him here from when he was named an NJCAA Football Player of the Week.)
  

In case you are wondering, the snow continues to fall here in Hanover. This storm is supposed to leave us with six inches and we could have another nine inches to a foot tomorrow.

With a recruiting weekend or two coming shortly, all the snow we've been getting has set me to wondering: Is having a lot of snow when recruits come to town a good thing or a bad thing?

I'm a big believer that you don't run away from what you are. Instead you celebrate it. So put me down on the side of those who think it's a good thing, get those snow shoes and sleds out, and beware a few 280-pound guys from down south barreling down at you with unbelievable smiles on their faces in one of the next few weekends. Hey, I wonder if Rochester Community and Technical College has any linemen to spare? They'd feel right at home ;-)

And finally this ... That certain Hanover High sophomore finished a strong second behind only her Stanford-bound teammate in the 1500 meters in yesterday's track meet at Leverone Field House. She was 11 seconds behind the winner, but six seconds ahead of the third-place finisher while qualifying for states in a second event. Although she posted another PR she realized she still had too much left at the finish and that's a good thing.

Names To Remember

On his blog, Jim Stefani describes himself as "THE authority in identifying future college football propects before their junior seasons." I can't vouch for that, but I can vouch for the fact that his Class of 2008 All-Name Team is pretty good. Here are just a few of the names (the site includes their hometowns and high schools) that jumped out at me:

• Yourhighness Morgan
• So-Rare Harrelson
• Unique Occena
• Stokes Volatile
• Indiana Jones
• Gator Godlove
• Orry Fruit
• Benson Hedges

There are a lot of blogs out there that touch on a lot of arcane subjects. This blog takes a long look at a Dartmouth "1970 Undefeated Ivy League Championship Trophy," that sold on eBay for $230.50 on June 28, 2006. Lots of pictures and speculation on where the trophy came from as well as how it ended up being sold in an online auction.

From another blog: text of the 2004 Dartmouth commencement address given by former Big Green gridder Jeff Immelt '78, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of General Electric Company. The entertaining and inspirational speech included this thought: "In my day I was a frequently serious student, a decent football player, and boy did I have fun."

As promised I flipped back and forth between Penn State's win over Texas A&M and the Patriots' bid for an undefeated regular season last night. Turns out, I missed the best game of them all. The Dartmouth women's basketball team was tied with Marquette in the final seconds of its holiday tournament opener only to lose the game on a 3-point shot from half court at the buzzer. (story) I'll try to catch the Big Green in the consolation game against Delaware tonight ... but first I'll be at Leverone Field House to watch that certain Hanover High sophomore (and former Dartmouth ball girl) run the 1,500.

Mean Green Machine

Dartmouth super-fan sent Josh Drake '08 sent along an email alerting me to something I had not previously heard about -- an initiative to increase student attendance at Big Green athletic contests this year. As part of the MEAN GREEN MACHINE Student Fan Club students who pay a $5 membership fee and attend a certain number of contests are eligible to win prizes. Here's an excerpt from the fan club site telling what Dartmouth students can win:

• Attend all 4 football games: Dartmouth "D" Cap & Ski Pass
• Attend a mix of 6 games: Dartmouth Winter Hat
• Attend a mix of 10 games: Dartmouth Nalgene Bottle
• Attend a mix of 16 games: Dartmouth Hoody & entered to win a FREE trip to a Red Sox game in the spring
• The Top 10 Students will be guaranteed two tickets to the Red Sox game in the spring

Um, attend all 4 football games? OK, I get it. Colgate was before classes began so it didn't count. ...

There's also a list of the top-16 students in the points race. Not surprisingly, Drake its at the top. Nice to see is that freshman defensive back Lucas Hussey is in ninth place. Wonder if he gets credit for being on the sidelines at football?

Thanks to Josh for passing along a link to the site as well as a reminder that student attendance at football games roughly doubled from last year to this. Kudos to Dartmouth for trying to drum up support for the student-athletes.

James DeAngelis, the last of college football's 60-minute ironmen at Yale has died at age 97. A New York Times story includes this ...

DeAngelis, a 165-pound center and linebacker, was one of the 11 players on an ordinary team that upset Princeton on Nov. 17, 1934, ending the Tigers’ two-year winning streak of 15 games. There were no substitutes for Yale that afternoon, the starters enduring for the full 60 minutes, a feat never matched in college football thereafter. They also became known as Yale’s Ironmen, a tag that followed each to the end of his life.

And finally, the second high school track meet of the season was scheduled for today at Leverone Field House but forecast of a morning snow/wintry mix storm led to it being moved to tomorrow. A certain Hanover High sophomore is scheduled to run the 1,500 meters along with a teammate ranked seventh in the nation in cross country (and headed for Stanford on running scholarship). The soph is a little intimidated, and it's hard to blame her. I know I would be.

And finally (part II) I'm at cross purposes tonight. I covered the Dartmouth women's holiday basketball tournament for many years and as is usually the case there's a strong field with Arkansas, Marquette and Delaware in town. I'm friends with Coach Chris Wielgus and really would like to see the games. But, Penn State is playing tonight in the Alamo Bowl. Oh, and for reasons I don't really understand (I'm kidding) there's also a buzz about the New York Giants game tonight. I think they are playing the Patriots. (I'm kidding again.)

I could solve the dilemma by going to a movie. Or by suggesting my wife take the kids to the Dartmouth women's basketball game game (that certain soph is a former longtime ballgirl for the team and wants to go) and put the Nittany Lions on the tube. If that game gets out of hand (the wrong way) I'll switch to the Pats. Or if the Giants look as if they are going to make their game interesting, maybe I'll go back and forth. Truth be told, the remote control will probably get quite a workout tonight.

A QB Still Looking At Dartmouth

If you've been following the blog, you know about early decision football players admitted to Dartmouth. A brief mention in a Ventura County Star story reveals the name of someone who applied early to Dartmouth but will have to wait until the regular admission process to find out if he gets in.

Kyle Triplett, a 5-11, 180-pound quarterback from Thousand Oaks High School in California was not admitted early decision. (There's no indication if he was considered a recruit.) The story says he has applied for regular admission to nearly a dozen schools, Dartmouth included.

Here's where it gets interesting: Triplett is a client of Student-Athlete Showcase, the service started by former Dartmouth and Arizona Cardinals linebacker Zack Walz. To get a look at Triplett's SAS scouting page, click here. There's also video of him on the Be Recruited site.

A couple of former Harvard players are in the news as the NFL regular season winds down and teams consider emptying their benches. The Sun-Sentinel has a piece about Cincinnati Bengal QB Ryan Fitzpatrick perhaps getting a few snaps in the finale against the Miami Dolphins.

Expected to see significant action for the Indianapolis Colts is tailback Clifton Dawson. As a regular reader pointed out yesterday, Dawson scored his first NFL touchdown last week. There's a note about that here.

One More Year?

First a caveat regarding possible fifth-year seniors next fall: The Ivy League, Dartmouth College, the student-athletes and their families all have decisions to make before anything is official.

Keeping that in mind, when asked which of this year's seniors might -- that's might -- have the possibility of returning for a fifth year, coach Buddy Teevens said the concept has at least come up with linebacker Joe Battaglia, corner Jason Blydell, tight end Brett Lowe, fullback Ryan Mahoney and safety Ian Wilson.

Green Alert Skinny: There are some very good football players on that list. If any of them return it would be a real bonus for the Big Green.

When the New York Giants try to derail the New England Patriots' run at history Saturday night, former Brown player Zak DeOssie will be playing against the team for which he served as a ballboy while in high school. Read the story here.

It's Christmas: The Sequel as the Massachusetts side of the family has descended on Moose Mountain. Suffice it to say it's crowded and loud.

One From The Past, Four More In The Future

Former Dartmouth assistant coach Brud Bicknell had a big year at the high school level in Virginia this fall, helping his team go 13-1. Brud was an assistant under coach Buddy Teevens both at Dartmouth and at Tulane, as well as at Maine. Find a Daily Progress story here. ...

Eight of Dartmouth's 12 early decision recruits have been identified and linked to on the Green Alert blog in the past several days. Here are the final four:

Conner Kempe, 6-4, 225, quarterback, The Benjamin School, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. (home page)
Connor Phillips, 6-4, 235, defensive end, Winston Churchill, Potomac, Md.
JB Andreassi, 5-11, 185, defensive back, St. Anthony’s, Melville, N.Y.
Foley Schmidt, 5-8, 180, placekicker, St. Thomas Academy, Mendota Heights, Minn.

Coach Buddy Teevens on the early decision class as a whole: "We had 12 guys. My thought was 12 to 14. The operating number is 30, and we could go a little higher or lower. We are looking at 18 or so more spots( in the spring). It helps define more accurately what our needs are."

And ... "Nine out of 12 kids were recruited at a high level, so we feel like we've recruited up in that regard."

For a story about Yale's record setting tailback recruit, click here.

On One Finishing Up And Four Just Starting

The daily paper out in Bozeman, Mont., has a very nice story about John Manning's football career at Dartmouth. ...

Sunday's blog had links to stories about offensive linemen in the early decision class. Today links (of some sort) to the tight ends and wide receivers. (Note: As is often the case, some of these recruits are projected at multiple positions. To simplify, they are listed at just one position here -- and that may not even be the position the coaches expect them to play.)

Tight End
Mark Dwyer, 6-4, 250, Woburn, Woburn, Mass.
Alex Shulman, 6-2, 205 Thayer Academy, Braintree, Mass.
Wide Receiver
Mike Reilly, 6-3, 195, Kent Denver, Englewood, Colo.
Brad Dornak (video), 6-0, 195 Westlake, Austin, Texas

Elsewhere, the University of New Hampshire is hoping the graduation of Ricky Santos (and David Ball a year earlier) hasn't closed the window on the chance to build a new stadium as the Manchester Union Leader notes. Among those recruited to aid the cause, according to this story, is former New England Patriot Garin Veris, the school's co-Director of Athletic Fund Raising.

And now ... off to a secret shopping locale well north of Hanover for a little last-minute sweep. I'd tell you where it is but then I'd have to ... go somewhere else because the crowds would follow. Best wishes to all.

A Few Recruit Links

Links on Dartmouth's early decision offensive linemen (in alphabetical order)...

Austen Fletcher, 6-2, 285 St. Anthony's HS, Melville, N.Y.
Pat Leahy, 6-3, 285 Brooks School, North Andover, Mass.
Grant Palmer, 6-4, 255 St. Charles Prep, Columbus, Ohio.
Zach Wodka, 6-3, 265 Buffalo Grove HS, Buffalo Grove, Ill.

If you are a regular reader of this blog you know Dartmouth and Drake talked last year about scheduling a game in Chicago. With a new coach in place, Drake is looking at upgrading its schedule and perhaps scheduling an Ivy League (or Patriot or NEC) team according to this story in the Des Moines Register.

Two players Dartmouth faced this fall are on the College Sporting News Fabulous 50 team, although neither is an Ivy Leaguer. The CSN describes the Fabulous 50 team this way:

"Unlike other All-American teams, the CSN honor’s squad is designed to be like a real team, capable of taking the field and competing in a game. It includes everything from quarterbacks, who can run or pass and often-overlooked fullbacks, to long snappers and other special teams performers."

The Dartmouth opponents named: UNH quarterback Ricky Santos and Colgate linebacker Mike Gallihugh. Find the full team here.

The Green Alert blog has several times posted stories about former Dartmouth and Arizona Cardinals linebacker Zack Walz starting a company in Phoenix that helps match up student-athletes and colleges. As it turns out, he's not the only former Ivy League and NFL player who has a company that does that kind of thing. Princeton alum and former Washington Redskin Ross Tucker runs Go Big Recruiting.

And finally ... that certain Hanover High sophomore won the 3,000 meters yesterday at Leverone Field House over a field of more than 25 schools from as far away as Nashua, N.H., and Fair Haven, Vt., (on the New York border). She roared from behind on the first turn of the final lap and won by six seconds. The time qualified her for the state championships by more than 30 seconds.

I Beat You And You Beat Them And ...

A reader sent along the following chain of results that proves without doubt why Dartmouth would beat Ohio State this year:

Dartmouth beat Cornell, Nov. 3
Cornell beat Bucknell, Sept. 15
Bucknell beat Fordham, Nov. 17
Fordham beat URI, Sept. 1
Rhode Island beat UMass, Nov. 3
UMass beat Hofstra, Nov. 17
Hofstra beat Furman, Sept. 8
Furman beat Georgia Southern, Nov. 10
Georgia Southern beat Appalachian State, Oct. 20
Appalachian State beat Michigan, Sept. 1
Michigan beat Illinois, Oct. 20
Illinois beat Ohio State, Nov. 10

(Editing note: Being a Michigan State person, he didn't capitalize the M in michigan. Funny.)

Anyway, when I complimented him on the chain, I asked, somewaht hesitantly, if he'd worked it up by hand. (I suspected he had, and turns out I was right.)

I probably shouldn't have, but I then sent him this link to a program that does the same thing automatically. His humorous response: "There's an ONLINE PROGRAM? Arrgh. There's 20 minutes of my life I won't get back."

The incoming early decision recruit class is now up on the regular site. I've got links to more background on each of the players that I will post in another day or two, but right now I've got to hurry into West Lebanon to beat the holiday traffic. No, I'm not shopping. I've got to get to the town dump, which requires passing through that entire strip on the Saturday before Christmas, and folks, that's nothing less than a nightmare. If you don't think there's heavy traffic in our little corner of the world, try going to Best Buy in West Leb today. It could take you an hour to go one mile.

And finally, today's the first indoor track meet of the season for a certain Hanover High sophomore. She's running the 3,000. Should be fun to watch ... unless I get caught up in traffic heading back from the dump so ... I'm outta here.

Early Decision

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com

Dec. 21, 2007

HANOVER -- Dartmouth’s 12-person early decision recruiting class features four offensive linemen, two wide receivers, two tight end/defensive end candidates, one defensive end, one defensive back, one kicker and one quarterback.

“We like the class,” said Big Green coach Buddy Teevens. “Nine of the 12 kids were recruited at a high level, so we feel like we’ve recruited up in that regard.”

To read the full story, visit Green Alert Premium.

Coming Tonight ...

Just back from taking the kids to their favorite Christmas shopping store. I'll be sitting down to write about the early decision class shortly. Hope to have that up by 10:30 eastern. Stay tuned. ...

JoePa Talks Ivy Football

Erik Greenberg Anjou and Mark Bernstein are still hard at work on For Love and Honor, their documentary film about Ivy League football based on Bernstein's book, Football: The Ivy League Origins of an American Obsession. This week the pair wrapped up interviews by traveling to central Pennsylvania to chat with a former standout quarterback and defensive back at Brown University by the name of Joe Paterno. In an email, Erik notes: "We 'began' the film by interviewing George Shultz, and wrapped principal photography by interviewing Joe Paterno. I couldn't imagine a better set of bookends." That's Mark to the left of JoePa and Erik on the other side.

To go directly to a trailer for the film, click here. To read the Hollywood Lot interview with Erik discussing the project, click here. According to Erik, the film will surely be out by the 2008 season and the goal is to have it finished well before then.

Thanks to a subscriber with a long memory for sending along a link to a note about Fred Chatham, an outside linebackers coach under Buddy Teevens in his first incarnation at Dartmouth. Turns out, Chatham has been working for Teevens' old boss, Steve Spurrier, at South Carolina. Unfortunately, the story notes that Spurrier let him go but called Duke coach David Cutliffe to recommend him. Strange business.

Good news out of Austin, Texas, where incoming wide receiver recruit Brad Dornak was just named to the Academic All-Stat team. Brad will join brother Matt on the Dartmouth roster in the fall.

Word has reached the blog about the passing early this month of Edgar Stowell at age 81. In addition to serving as an associate coach of the Harvard track team, he was an ECAC football official for 23 years. After retiring from his on-field duties, he spent many a Saturday afternoon as the ECAC clock operator at Dartmouth football games.

Stay Tuned

Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens was nice enough to give me a full hour of his time Thursday and I'll have a story out of our conversation on the premium Green Alert site Friday.

We talked about the ups and downs of the 2007 season as well as prospects for 2008. He shared the names of seniors interested in returning for a medical redshirt season and painted a picture of what sounds like a very promising early decision recruiting class.

That early decision class features a number of players recruited by FBS schools (with some choosing Dartmouth over FBS scholarship offers) and others offered scholarships by FCS schools. Accepted were 12 high school seniors: four offensive linemen, two wide receivers, two tight end/defensive end possibles, a true defensive end, a defensive back, a quarterback and a placekicker.

Notes For A Thursday

Oh, the things you find out about too late as a writer. The Salem News has a story about Gary Dancewicz, whose son Matt was a safety at Dartmouth and had more than 50 tackles as a junior in '95 and again as a senior in '96. Turns out the dad is a big-time college football official. The story tells about him flying from his Massachusetts home to Palo Alto, Calif., to officiate at Notre Dame-Stanford this fall, and about him being chosen to do his third Rose Bowl next month. Looking back at an old Dartmouth press guide, it did mention that the dad played for Boston College and the grandad at Notre Dame, but nothing about officiating. A good story missed.

Talk about good stories. There's a neat one down at Westlake High in Texas, the school that sent defensive back Matt Dornak to Dartmouth and will be sending younger brother Brad (a future Big Green wide receiver) this way as well. Brad's teammate Cameron Nichols might have a hard time considering himself lucky, but in a way he is. The Westlake co-captain suffered a concussion on the football field this fall, and that led to the discovery of a brain tumor. He was operated on back on Nov. 27 and returned to school a week ago. From a story in the Statesman: "The doctors tell him they think they got it all, and now all Nichols waits for is a batch of letters from the colleges he's applied to: Dartmouth, Texas Tech and the Colorado School of Mines."

I have no if Californian Hank Nelson is a track recruit (he runs the 800 in high school) but he's another example of the interesting kind of kid who ends up at Dartmouth. Check out his Hank's History Hour web site here.

More snow this morning in the Upper Valley. We now have 20 inches at the snow stick up here on Moose Mountain. I think it's safe to say we're going to have a white Christmas this year.

And finally, barring a surprise, I'm scheduled to talk with Coach Buddy Teevens this morning at his new office in Floren Varsity House. I hope to have a story up on the regular Green Alert site either tonight or more likely tomorrow.

Another Gift Idea

The folks from Asgard Press who put out this calendar sent along an email yesterday with an OK to reproduce these pictures. I've had a chance to see one of these calendars first-hand and when they say the prints are suitable for framing, it's true. If it's a little late to track one down, you could always print out a picture and wrap it nicely with a note that it's on the way ;-). Check the calendars out here. (You are supposed to get a 10 percent discount by accessing the calendar page with this link.)

And if you happen to have someone who bleeds something other than green, they also have calendars from Cornell and Yale in the Ivies as well as Penn State, Notre Dame and Tennessee to name a few that Green Alert readers have particular interest in. I know of a couple of Green Alert readers who have gotten this calendar already and have good things to say about it...

As expected, Rhode Island chose URI alum and Rutgers assistant Darren Rizzi over former Dartmouth assistant Rob Talley as its new football coach. There's a story in the Providence Journal. ...

A quarterback from Roswell, Ga., named Dustin Taliaferro is on Dartmouth's radar according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. He completed 59-percent of his passes (115 of 194) for 1,941 yards and 19 touchdowns with five interceptions this year and seemed to be headed to Southern Mississippi until a coaching change. Penn, Columbia and William & Mary are among others courting him.

With the playoffs over, the final Sports Network poll is out and it looks like this (Dartmouth opponents in boldface):

1. Appalachian State Mountaineers (119) 13-2
2. Delaware Blue Hens 11-4
3. Southern Illinois Salukis 12-2
4. Northern Iowa Panthers 12-1
5. Richmond Spiders 11-3
6. Wofford Terriers 9-4
7. Massachusetts Minutemen 10-3
8. Eastern Washington Eagles 9-4
9. North Dakota State Bison 10-1
10. Montana Grizzlies 11-1
11. McNeese State Cowboys 11-1
12. James Madison Dukes 8-4
13. Eastern Kentucky Colonels 9-3
14. New Hampshire Wildcats 7-5
15. Delaware State Hornets 10-2
16. Youngstown State Penguins 7-4
17. Georgia Southern Eagles 7-4
18. Eastern Illinois Panthers 8-4
19. South Dakota State Jackrabbits 7-4
20. Fordham Rams 8-4
21. Harvard Crimson 8-2
22. Yale Bulldogs 9-1
23. Elon Phoenix 7-4
24. Cal Poly Mustangs 7-4
25. Grambling State Tigers 8-4
Others receiving votes (in order): Villanova, The Citadel, Hofstra, Dayton, Norfolk State, Jackson State, Western Illinois, Liberty, Southern, Furman, San Diego, Hampton, Alabama A&M, South Carolina State, Colgate, Prairie View, Sam Houston State, Nicholls State, Jacksonville State, Northern Arizona, Central Arkansas, Holy Cross.

Talley One Of Two At URI

Former Dartmouth assistant Rob Talley is one of two candidates left standing for the Rhode Island head coaching job. From all appearances, though, it looks as if he's going to be left at the altar. From today's Providence Journal:

(Darren) Rizzi, 37, would appear to have the edge because he is an alum, has head-coaching experience and was part of the Rutgers turnaround. Talley, an all-conference linebacker at Boston University and opponent of Rizzi’s on the field, guided Stonehill to a 5-5 record in his first head-coaching job. He was a longtime assistant at Dartmouth and spent three years with the San Francisco 49ers.

Talley declined comment yesterday, and Rizzi could not be reached.

After a year of study the Patriot League will be making changes regarding the conference's Academic Index. (Press release) There's not much in the way of details available yet.

Several things to keep in mind:

• From what I heard, Patriot football coaches were pretty optimistic during the season that when changes were made, they would be for the good. (One said privately he expected some movement on the scholarship issue.)
  
• Given the challenges that the ongoing restructuring of Ivy League financial aid packages is sure to bring about, don't for a second think the Patriot League is going to do anything to further compromise its competitive posture.
• And finally, the rise of schools like Albany and Central Connecticut in football and the addition of scholarships in the Northeast Conference means that the Patriot is being squeezed on one side by the Ivies and on the other side by another subset of schools. That being the case, the Patriot League probably does need to make changes of some sort to remain competitive.
  

Looking For That One-Of-A-Kind Gift?

Getting a little nervous about a gift for that longtime Dartmouth football fan? Through the wonders of the online auction world, there are a lot of possibilities out there. Here are two:

The first is a 1906 Dartmouth-Harvard football program (above). It can be yours for $224 on eBay through this auction.

The second (right) is a 1982 Dartmouth football media guide, which is a much more reasonable $14.99. I always liked the '82 design because the right corners on a number of them were trimmed to match the shape of the Dartmouth "D." This one, unfortunately, was not. You can pick the '82 guide up at this auction. There are a bunch of other years available also.

Not much in the way of news today, but the Dartmouth Trustees scuffle is back in the headlines. While the Daily Dartmouth is on hiatus until next month, there's a web update about the latest developments in the ongoing saga.

Lowe, Dete Honored

If the weather in Foxboro this afternoon is anything like it is here in Hanover right now, you won't want to miss the New England Patriots-New York Jets game today. The way the wind is blowing, there would be punts going backward and passes hovering in place shortly after leaving the quarterback's hand. The snow here hasn't really piled up -- yet -- except where the wind has created an amazing seascape of drifts...

This morning's headlines include Dartmouth senior tight end Brett Lowe and junior linebacker Andrew Dete being among 51 players nationally (and four Ivy Leaguers) named to the Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Directors Association Academic All-Star Team. They are jointed by the Columbia duo of Craig Hormann and JoJo Smith.

The full team:
Jefferson Adcock Samford University Quarterback Senior, 3.44
Kevin Adleman, Wofford College Linebacker Junior, 3.66
Nick Altomare Hofstra University Safety Junior 3.62
Pierre Banks Appalachian State University Linebacker Junior 3.24
Elliot Barnhart Montana State University Offensive Lineman Senior 3.71
Joshua Brite Delaware State University Punter Senior 4.00
Mike Byrne University of Delaware Offensive Lineman Senior 3.55
Adam Casper Southeast Missouri State University Linebacker Senior 3.44
Travis Cherry Western Illinois University Linebacker Senior 3.53
Brandon Cramer University of Dayton Safety Senior 4.00
Justin Curry Eastern Kentucky University Linebacker Senior 3.25
Andrew Dete Dartmouth College Linebacker Junior 3.75
Marcus Dixon Hampton University Defensive Lineman Senior 3.22
Parker Douglass South Dakota State University Placekicker Senior 3.78
Wes Doyle University of San Diego Wide Receiver Senior 3.56
Nick Ellis Charleston Southern University Placekicker/Punter Senior 3.75
Matt Engle University of California Davis Quarterback Senior 3.42
Jerome Felton Furman University Fullback Senior 3.28
Patrick FitzGerald Davidson College Defensive Back Senior 3.42
Ray Fiumefreddo Marist College Fullback Junior 3.84
Johnny Flowers Southeastern Louisiana University Offensive Lineman Senior 3.56
Bryan Giannecchini University of Rhode Island Placekicker/Punter Senior 3.69
Kole Heckendorf North Dakota State University Wide Receiver Junior 3.82
Craig Hormann Columbia University Quarterback Senior 3.33
Daniel Jordan Georgia Southern University Punter Senior 3.76
Brian Kelly University of Dayton Linebacker Senior 3.59
Cory Koenig South Dakota State University Running Back Senior 3.77
David Kovalcik Duquesne University Punter Senior 3.88
Cory Long Stephen F. Austin State University Placekicker Junior 3.87
Brett Lowe Dartmouth College Tight End Senior 3.65
Tom McAndrews Eastern Washington University Tight End Senior 4.00
Wes McDermott Morehead State University Linebacker Sophomore 3.61
Nick Mozal Bucknell University Offensive Lineman Senior 3.77
Anthony Orio Northeastern University Quarterback Junior 3.84
Bob Perez Youngstown State University Safety Senior 3.84
Myles Potter Davidson College Wide Receiver Junior 3.58
Nicholas Richmond Delaware State University Offensive Lineman Sophomore 3.62
Jacob Rochester Virginia Military Institute Linebacker Junior 4.00
Tyler Roehl North Dakota State University Running Back Junior 3.23
Jordan Senn Portland State University Linebacker Senior 3.86
Matt Sherry Villanova University Wide Receiver Senior 3.84
Justin Smith Columbia University Defensive Back Senior 3.55
Chris Smith College of the Holy Cross Offensive Lineman Junior 3.53
Matt Stansfield Duquesne University Offensive Lineman Senior 3.46
Torrey Thomas University of Montana Free Safety Senior 3.72
Bradley Thompson Tennessee Tech University Defensive Lineman Sophomore 4.00
Rob Valletti Iona College Offensive Lineman Senior 3.78
Jim Verlanic Murray State University Offensive Lineman Junior 3.71
Kevin Walsh Monmouth College Defensive Lineman Junior 3.34
John Webb Towson University Linebacker Senior 3.31
Tom Zetts Youngstown State University Quarterback Senior 3.68

A 5-11, 205 New Hampshire running back who piled up 2,001 yards and 21 touchdowns this fall while maintaining a 4.019 grade point average is on Dartmouth's radar. Or perhaps Dartmouth is on his radar. Either way, Alex Theodhosi of Londonderry, N.H., "headlines the 24-player New Hampshire Union Leader All-State Football Team as Player of the Year."

Dartmouth-bound Alex Schulman of Thayer Academy gets a mention in this Boston Globe story. He's one of at least six seniors from the Massachusetts prep school who will be on the college gridiron next fall.

And finally, I caught some of the Division II national championship game yesterday and later a half of Wisconsin Whitewater's victory over Mount Union in the Division III game. (That certain Hanover 8th grader suggested Wisconsin Whitewater might want to change its nickname to the Rapids and I think he's got something there.)

Watching the Division II and III games, two thoughts came to mind. Too bad the BCS schools can't get past the bowl-game hurdle and work out a playoff structure of some kind.

And it's really too bad the Ivy League continues to be holier than thou and not allow its football players to join in the fun. It still boggles the mind (and the sense of fair play) that every Ivy League sport can go on to the postseason except football. It's not right. Period.

Shovel At The Ready

It's the calm before the storm here in Hanover. Calm as in astonishingly blue skies without even a hint of wind. Storm as in a Nor'easter headed this way. We've got about 10 inches of standing snow here on the mountain and could get another foot or more tomorrow. To quote the song, it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. If you are curious, it was one degree out when I headed down the driveway at 8 a.m., to get the morning paper.

That paper, by the way, had no mention I could find of the FCS national championship game played last night in Chattanooga between Appalachian State and Delaware. For App State the season had fabulous symmetry. It ended the way it began, with a win over a team with the funny helmet design that was was developed at Princeton and popularized in Ann Arbor. Final score: Appalachian State 49, Delaware 21. In case your morning paper ignored the game, find a story here.

A Chicago Sun Times story headlined Unlucky, ignored, they get no offers, tells of Chicago-area football players who were overlooked in the first wave of recruiting. One of those players is a defensive back from Notre Dame high school who has heard from Dartmouth, among others.

Not sure if Dartmouth was seriously involved, but a 6-4 quarterback from California who decided on Tulane apparently had the Big Green on his list along with the Green Wave according to this story.

And finally. ... A certain Hanover High sophomore who had been excited to start her winter track season along with 24 other schools at Leverone Field House tomorrow was disappointed to learn that the meet had been cancelled before the first snowflake flew. (Given the difficulty of scheduling Leverone, the meet cannot be rescheduled.)

A Familiar Name

Former Dartmouth assistant coach Pete Lembo finished sixth in the voting for the Eddie Robinson Award as the top coach in the FCS in balloting coordinated by The Sports Network. Lembo helped Elon go 7-4 in his second year heading up the Phoenix program. He won the Eddie Robinson while at Lehigh. ... Find the full balloting for this year's Robinson Award here. ... Yale's Jack Siedlecki finished 17th, three spots ahead of Harvard's Tim Murphy. New Hampshire's Sean McDonnell was 24th.

The Payton voting for the outstanding FCS offensive player in the nation can be found here. UNH's Ricky Santos was fifth, Yale's Mike McLeod was ninth and Colgate's Jordan Scott was 14th. ... In the balloting for the Buchanan Award for the top defensive player (here), Colgate's Mike Gallighugh was 11th and Harvard's Steve Williams was 18th as a write-in candidate.

It might be a little early to start handicapping next year's Ivy League race, but that didn't stop a Providence Journal columnist from mentioning Brown as a favorite in a story about Bobby Sewall, the all-purpose player who torched Dartmouth last month. The story notes that Sewall is "part of the nucleus of a team expected to contend for the 2008 Ivy League championship... ."

More news is coming out about Colgate tailback Jordan Scott's arrest. From a Syracuse.com story:

According to village Police Chief James Tilbe, Scott said he and wide receiver David Morgan tried opening the doors of several rooms in the Russell House before finding one that was open. Scott said he and Morgan then entered that room with the intention of swiping cash before two female occupants woke up and scared them off.

The Hartford Courant has a nice piece about how three quarters of the Yale football team has joined in a gift-giving initiative for underprivileged children in New Haven. From the story:

David Silberstein never carried a ball, caught a pass or made a tackle as a varsity player in his four years at Yale. But he won't graduate without making an impact.

Silberstein is chairman of the student athlete Community Outreach Committee and its gift-giving initiative, which will provide a substantial number of underprivileged New Haven children with a special holiday.

Something called the Small Town Papers News Service picked up a column in The Cabinet, of Milford, N.H., about Dartmouth-Harvard football in 1907. Find the story here.

And finally, I pulled together a packet of your remembrances of former Sports Information Director Kathy Slattery Phillips, who died Thanksgiving week. You can download a PDF file of those very special remembrances here.

Checking In With Team Wodka

Early decision acceptances have gone out and names of incoming recruits will be showing up in coming days. One of the first to go public is 6-foot-3, 265-pound offensive lineman Zach Wokda, brother of Alex Wodka, a 6-3, 275 freshman at Dartmouth this year. The brothers hail from Buffalo Grove, Ill. There's a story about Team Wodka in the Daily Herald. From the story:

The Wodkas figure to have a chance to work together on the field with four senior offensive line starters graduating from a 3-7 team. Dartmouth also has a $20 million athletic facility that just opened.

For last month's Green Alert posting about Zach Wodka choosing Dartmouth, click here.

Casey Cramer '04 was one of the more quotable players at Dartmouth in recent years and the beat writers covering the Tennessee Titans have discovered the fullback/tight end isn't afraid to talk. He's quoted in a Tennessean story headlined: Players sacrifice health for game; Titans say benefits now outweigh later problems. Casey told the paper:

"Is playing an extra couple years really worth walking with a limp or not being able to play catch with your kids? I'd have to think about that," he said.

"There are all of those rumors going around that the average lifespan of an NFL player is 57 years. That's not true. That's just kind of a little legend they pass around to scare you."

And, he said:

"Surgeries, medicines, and all of those things have improved over the years. I've said jokingly that I'm banking on science to fix my body afterwards, (but) I feel like 20 or 30 years from now, science will be a lot better."

Dartmouth football coach Buddy Teevens will be in the inaugural class of the new Silver Lake Regional High School hall of fame according to this brief in the Boston Globe.

The Nov. 25, 2007 Seattle Post-Intelligencer featured a Norman Chad column about NFL officials. Included in the column was this:

Don't all the great lawyers and judges come from Harvard and Yale? Yet not a single Harvard or Yale grad is an NFL official; rather, just one side judge from Princeton and one back judge from Dartmouth. Heck, Dartmouth's no more than DeVry with pine trees. It's time for the league to recruit officials from upper echelon Ivy League institutions.

That's the kind of quote that's hard to forget. I thought it was pretty funny the first time I saw it -- a year ago. Here's a Nov. 27, 2006 Green Alert blog note regarding the same quote. It would appear the P-I either re-ran the column or sat on it for a full year before using it. Strange.

The New York Times had a Sunday story about kids playing squash and how that might help open the doors to elite colleges. The setup for the story:

In an era of increasingly competitive college admissions — when Princeton, for example, turns down four of five valedictorians who apply — anxious parents are looking for some edge, any edge, to help their child gain entry through the back door of the nation’s most selective universities.

From the story:

Q: When are parents not thrilled to discuss their children’s athletic endeavors? A: When they think it might reveal the trump card that could get their kid into Dartmouth.

I'll bet they are loving that in the squash offices. But according to someone who should know, if your little linebacker is going to remain a little linebacker, you actually might want to hand him a squash racket along with that SAT prep book:

“I’ve had lots of kids who pick up squash in ninth grade and become nationally ranked by the time they apply,” said Michele Hernandez, founder of Hernandez College Consulting in Weybridge, Vt. “I can’t think of another sport where they can start so late.”

Hernandez, by the way, is a former Dartmouth student and assistant director of admissions at Dartmouth. If you are trying to get every edge you can to squeeze your child into an Ivy League or elite school, she's someone you want to check out. Find her bio here.

Trouble At Colgate

Colgate star running back Jordan Scott and teammate David Morgan were arrested Monday night on suspicion of burglary on the college campus and released on $10,000 bail. There's not much information out yet but there -- yet -- but there are brief stories here and here. ...

The Daily Princetonian has a story about the school's lack of a true rival across the spectrum of sports. It touches on an interesting philosophical point that was debated at Dartmouth in years past: Is the most important goal of an Ivy League team the Ivy League championship, or how is it performs on the national stage? The answer, it seems to me, depends on the sport. Anyway, the Princetonian story included this:

"Winning the Ivy League is awesome, but performing on the national level is much more valuable," (men's cross country runner Bud) Grote said.

His team has eschewed the idea that Ivy competition is the ultimate goal, preferring to focus on qualifying for Nationals. As a result, the team focuses its preparation on the regional championship, the qualifying meeting for the NCAA Championships, where Princeton's main rivals are Villanova and Georgetown.

Given that mentality, the team has decided to sit out certain competitions. This year, for example, the Harvard-Yale-Princeton tri-meet was held at Princeton, but only Harvard and Yale competed. Grote explained that the meet "doesn't make sense for our season and our training."

That's right. Harvard and Yale competed at Princeton while the Tigers sat out a meet they hosted.

The Grand Forks Herald puts Harvard's new financial aid policy in context for someone who might be choosing between the University of North Dakota and Harvard:

Thanks to Harvard's new sliding scale, a family making $175,000 a year will pay $17,500 toward their son or daughter's year at Harvard. A family making $95,000 a year will pay $7,600. A family making $75,000 will pay $3,750.

And families making less than $60,000 won't pay anything.

The median household income in North Dakota in 2006 was $42,311. If we're reading the above figures right, then for a student from an average family in North Dakota, a year at Harvard will cost dramatically less than a year at UND.

A Yale Daily columnist takes the school to task for perhaps reacting to Harvard's move but not being in the lead of that kind of financial policy reform.

Can you imagine having three children playing sports at Harvard at one time? Check out this story in the Crimson.

More on Harvard Financial Aid

Check out The Boston Globe for another look at Harvard's new financial aid policy. ... The New York Times also has a take on the story.

Harvard Recruiters Getting Help

I'm no coach and I don't know all the ins and outs of this stuff, but I think recruiting against Harvard -- already difficult -- just got harder. News out of Cambridge is that Harvard's financial aid package will be significantly improved for middle income families. From an Associated Press story:

Families earning well into six figures will see the cost of a Harvard education reduced by thousands of dollars per year under a major financial aid initiative announced Monday that is bound to draw attention far beyond the school's ivy-covered walls.

Harvard — whose $34.9-billion endowment is the largest of any university — already offered one of the most generous aid programs for low-income students of any private college, asking nothing from parents earning under $60,000.

And this ...

Under the new plan, parents earning between $60,000 and $120,000 will pay a percentage of their income, rising to 10 percent. Families with incomes between $120,000 and $180,000 will have to pay 10 percent of their incomes, but no more.

In case you are wondering, expect recruiting against Yale to get tougher as well. In its story, the Harvard Crimson notes:

In response to questions about Harvard’s new initiative, Yale’s president, Richard C. Levin, told the Yale Daily News yesterday that the university would make a major announcement regarding financial aid in January.

Of course, if Harvard is doing it and Yale is planning on doing it, rest assured Princeton will do the same thing -- or top it.

Speaking of Harvard, today's Crimson has a story headlined: "HOMELESS TO HARVARD: A Ticket Out of Poverty; Sophomore, single mom, overcame addiction on long path to Harvard." It's an interesting read.

Former Dartmouth defensive coordinator Rob Talley is interviewing for the head coaching position at the University of Rhode Island according to the Providence Journal. Rob just concluded his first season as a head coach at Stonehill, helping the team go 5-5.

The Detroit News writes that Brown is in the running for a 6-3 wide receiver whose 200 career receptions place him second on the all-time list for Michigan high schoolers, but that's not why I note this. Once again, a newspaper that should know better says he's in line for a "scholarship" to Brown. The story also says, "Brown is one of three major universities located in Providence. The others are Providence College and the other the University of Rhode Island." Rhode Island School of Design yes. But as Rob Talley could tell you, URI is 30 miles south of Providence.

A Look Ahead At Dartmouth 2008

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com

Dec. 10, 2007

HANOVER -- The Optimist and The Pessimist have returned for their final engagement of the 2007 season.

The Optimist thinks Buddy Teevens’ third year at the helm was a qualified success. Not as many wins as anyone wanted, but that 3-8 record would have been 5-5 if the two overtimes had gone the other way.
The Pessimist agrees the record could have been 5-5 but he thinks it could just as easily have been another 2-8 if Penn receivers hadn’t dropped passes galore with the game on the line. And while he's at it, he thinks that Columbia win was a little too close as well. Ultimately, The Pessimist believes you are what you are -- if the record says 3-8, you are a 3-8 team.

The Optimist notes last year’s 3-4 in the Ivy League would have instead been a winning record if the Princeton overtime had gone the other way.
The Pessimist says: See above.

Realizing this is going to go in circles, The Realist pulls the plug on the other two before they start talking about next fall.

Click here for the details

All-America

Yale tailback Mike McLeod and Harvard defensive back Steven Williams have been named to the American Football Coaches Association Football Championship Subdivision All-America Team. For the Ivy League release, click here. ...

That got me thinking about Dartmouth players being named All-America since Reggie Williams was the last Big Green player in so-called "major college" football to earn the honor in 1975. The list of Dartmouth players on the I-AA/FCS All-America team since then (Italics indicate first team picks):

1988 - Craig Morton, wide receiver, AP second team
1990 - Denis Durkin, kicking specialist, AP third team
1991 - Al Rosier, tailback, AP first team
1992 - Dennis Durkin, kicking specialist, AP first team
1992 - Jay Fiedler, quarterback, AP third team
1996 - Lloyd Lee, defensive back, AP second team
1996 - Brian Larson, offensive tackle, AP third team
1997 - Dominic Lanza, center, AP third team
1997 - Zack Walz, linebacker, AP third team
2000 - Caleb Moore, offensive guard, AP third team
2002 - Casey Cramer, tight end, AFCA first team, Sporting News first team, Walter Camp first team, AP second team

This year's full AP All-America team:
OFFENSE
WR—Ryan Maher (Holy Cross), Ramses Barden (Cal Poly)
OL—Jesse Padilla (Lafayette), David Hale (Weber State), Chad Rinehart (Northern Iowa), Mitch Erickson (South Dakota State), Kerry Brown (Appalachian State)
QB—Ricky Santos (New Hampshire)
RB—Chad Simpson (Morgan State), Omar Cuff (Delaware), Mike McLeod (Yale)

DEFENSE
DL—Bryan Smith (McNeese State), Kroy Biermann (Montana), Brian Johnston (Gardner-Webb), Kendall Langford (Hampton)
LB—Jason Williams (Western Illinois), Brian Bradford (Towson), Zach East (Prairie View A&M)
DB—Tony LeZotte (James Madison), Steven Williams (Harvard), Derrick Huff (Eastern Kentucky), Al Donaldson (Alabama A&M)

SPECIALISTS
P—Chris MacDonald (Texas State)
PK—Piotr Czech (Wagner)
AP—Jayson Foster (Georgia Southern)

Thanks to former Dartmouth Sports Information Director Jack DeGange and his extensive personal archives for this nugget: Poker legend Chip Reese was listed as 5-11, 215 defensive tackle on 1969 Dartmouth freshman team that was 7-0. He did not appear on the varsity roster the next fall.

This one floored me. The lead from a Tulsa World story:

Not many players can claim they played college football for six seasons. Fewer still can say they've played in the Ivy League, Big 12 and Big Ten.

No, they can't. As it turns out, Dan Dixon went to Cornell to play football but returned to his Tulsa hometown for surgery after being injured early in his freshman season. He then transferred to Oklahoma, made the All-Big 12 academic team and won an award as the Sooners' most inspirational walk-on. He graduated and then thought he had used a final year of eligibility as a special teams player as a graduate student at Northwestern, only to be awarded a medical hardship year because of his injury at Cornell. He ended up playing 11 games for the Wildcats last fall.

And finally, we had a wonderful trip to Foxboro yesterday to watch the New England Patriots topple the Pittsburgh Steelers. We discovered all the stories about difficulties getting out of the stadium parking lot and access roads are true, and that freezing rain doesn't help matters. Fortunately, the farther north we got, the better the weather became. White knuckles and lack of sleep aside, it was a fabulous experience.

Jay Fiedler And The CBA

Just a couple of quick notes this morning before we head out the door. ...

First, a little more background on what Jay Fiedler is up to these days. His Trinity Sports & Entertainment Group's Eastern Kentucky basketball team in the CBA is up and running. A story in the Herald Leader tells a little more about the financial commitment to get the team on the court:

Ford, a businessman, and Fiedler wouldn't say how much money goes into starting a professional basketball team. With advertising, finding a mascot and putting together a dance team, Fiedler said, it's "a lot."

Fiedler said the annual budget is about $750,000. About $120,000 of that is used to pay the players, who play about three games a week and make $350 to $1,000 a week, Keathley said.

For more about Fiedler's Trinity Sports and Entertainment Group, click here.

The stories keep coming in about Dartmouth grad and poker legend Chip Reese, who died last week. Reese was a high school center and football was an important part of his family. From a story in the Dayton Daily News tells about his grandfather's, uncle's, and father's roles in the game:

A former player for the Dayton Triangles, a charter member of the organization that became the National Football League, Reese became the first commissioner of the Mid-American Conference. It was from Dr. Reese, friends say, that Chip gained the card genes.

... (Reese's uncle), Dave Maurer, coached the Wittenberg University football team from 1969-83 and, with a 129-23-3 record and two NCAA Division III national championships, was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Reese's father played football and basketball at Oakwood High School.

New Hampshire didn't make it to the FCS championship game, but conference-mate Delaware -- a team the Wildcats defeated this fall -- did. The Blue Hens beat Southern Illinois, 20-17, to earn the possibly dubious distinction of playing Appalachian State Friday in the championship game in Chatanooga. Find a story here.

And finally, we are headed off to see the New England Patriots play the Pittsburgh Steelers today. It's a wonderful treat for the kids, and my wife after they put up with me missing dinners, barking at the kids to keep quiet while I write at night, and working all weekend every weekend from mid-August until Thanksgiving.

Danehy Returns To Hanover

Former Big Green player Ryan Danehy '06 is returning to Dartmouth as a coach -- a lacrosse coach. Danehy, a longsnapper on the football team, was a standout attackman for the Big Green, recording 73 goals and 11 assists as a four-year letterwinner. He has played professionally with the Chicago Machine and the Boston Cannons. Click here for the official Dartmouth release on his hiring. Find Danehy's Boston Cannons' bio here.

Justin Cottrell, Ian Wilson, Marlon Alebiosu and Josh Cohen. What do these four have in common besides Dartmouth football experience?

Go figure, but they are the Dartmouth names that show up on Frank Cooney's NFL Draft Scout pages on the web. ... Cottrell and Wilson also show up on something called Consensus Draft Services. Here are the Ivy Leaguer players that Consensus calls possible pro prospects:

• Brad Bagdis, DE, Harvard
• Desmond Bryant, DE, Harvard
• Brendan Circle, WR, Princeton
• Justin Cottrell, LB, Dartmouth
• Brandt Hollander, DT, Yale
• Jeff Monaco, OG, Yale
• Steve Morgan, K, Brown
• Liam O'Hagan, QB, Harvard
• Paul Raymond, WR, Brown
• Steven Williams, CB, Harvard
• Ian Wilson, S, Dartmouth

If you've been around the Ivy League a bit it's pretty easy to poke holes at some of these projections, but with the last games almost a month behind us and spring practice four or so months away, it's fun to have something to talk about.

The Powerline blog guys -- Dartmouth-educated attorneys -- have a piece up on poker legend Chip Reese, the Dartmouth grad who died this week. The post includes a bit about Reese betting on, and encouraging others to bet on, Ohio State against Michigan back when Reese was a student in Hanover.

More On Chip Reese

The New York Times has an entertaining story about Chip Reese, the Dartmouth product who became what some people claim is the best poker player of all time. From the Times about Reese, who died this week: "He so dominated poker play at his Dartmouth fraternity that it named the card room after him."

For you sports history buffs ... I was poking around and discovered that the paper has put PDF files of old stories up on the web where they can be accessed free of charge. Here are a couple of stories I stumbled across that are kind of fun:

GLAZE TO PLAY BASEBALL.; Dartmouth's Football Star Signs to Pitch for Boston Americans.
BOSTON, Nov. 26. -- Ralph Glaze, Dartmouth's football hero, crack pitcher, and all-around athlete, has signed a contract to play with the American Leaguer baseball team of this city. Manager Collins has been after Glaze for two years, but the Western boy refused to leave the college ranks. He will go South with the team next Spring.

That one is dated Nov. 27, 1905. To view a PDF of that story, click here. ... Another story: Robertson May Play. Dated Nov. 9, 1920, the story about quarterback James Robertson's availability prior to that years' Penn game can be viewed here. (Dartmouth would go on to win it, 44-7 ;-)

Dartmouth tight end Brett Lowe gets a mention in his hometown paper in San Luis Obispo here.

The new fitness center on the top floor of Alumni Gym and the facilities in Floren Varsity House help build strong bodies, but they can also help build stronger minds. From a New York Times story this summer:

(A)n expanding body of research shows that exercise can improve the performance of the brain by boosting memory and cognitive processing speed. Exercise can, in fact, create a stronger, faster brain.

Exam Time

Former defensive back Joe Scola '07, who helped out as a student-assistant coach this fall, has passed his NCAA recruiting certification exam with flying colors. Curious about the test Scola and other coaches have to pass? Take a practice exam yourself here.

The Columbia Spectator has another look back at the Lions' season. While Dartmouth's overtime losses to Colgate and Princeton could have gone the Big Green's way, the Spec reminds us that the win over Columbia was hardly a sure thing. From the story:

Dartmouth showed itself to be the closest match to Columbia when the teams faced off in Hanover. The Lions and the Big Green traded touchdowns four times in a row to set up a 28-28 tie in the fourth quarter. Tight end Jamal Russell fumbled a pass, and Dartmouth recovered to score a touchdown. The Lions took the ball with a seven-point deficit and 1:24 to play, and a botched shotgun snap resulted in a Dartmouth safety and a 37-28 score.

Another story about the College Football Hall of Fame, this time from the Cincinnati Bengals' perspective, has largely the same Reggie Williams '76 quotes.

The University of North Carolina has announced a $291,000 raise and a one-year contract extension to football coach Butch Davis. As this story notes, the move has raised some eyebrows. From the story:

One writer asked rhetorically, WWYD -- What would Yale do? He suggested that one would never find Harvard or Yale or Princeton offering millions to a football coach.

Regarding that thought, the writer offers this opinion:

To compare athletics funding at an Ivy League school to that at any major NCAA member is like comparing the amount StarKist Tuna budgets for bicycles to that spent by Lance Armstrong.

It will be interesting to see how the Nebraska football fortunes go in the next few years. A story in the Journal Star about an unheralded recruit offered a scholarship by interim coach Tom Osborne highlights the differences between the approach taken by former coach Bill Callahan and Osborne. The story is centered around a 6-4, 215 tight end that it describes this way:

A great student. A good football player, though perhaps the kind whose name doesn’t show up on those big recruiting sites that rate football talent in the form of stars.

A few Ivy League schools wanted him, and Iowa State and Kansas were giving him looks, too. The 2007 Husker coaching staff had not paid him much attention.

And finally ... I'm hoping to wrap up an assignment today and to get to that season-ending Optimist-Pessimist tomorrow. I'll let you know.

Teevens Checks In On QB Recruit

Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens paid a recent visit to quarterback recruit Conner Kempe in Florida according to the Jupiter Courier. Notable from the story:

• Kempe missed most of his senior season with a shoulder injury.
• ... Teevens thinks this is "the best class he's ever had.
• Kempe's father Joseph: "(Teevens) did say that Conner is his No. 1 target for the 2012 class."

For more about the quarterback headed to Hanover, check out connerkempe.com. One recruiting profile can be found here. For a story about Kempe's final high school game, click here.

The morning email brought a couple of releases from the National Football Foundation in the aftermath of the College Football Hall of Fame inductions. Former Dartmouth standout Reggie Williams '76 was quoted:

"I am just leaving corporate America to try and see if I can get some old football injuries recuperated. ... There may be more titanium (in artificial limbs) at this table than any place locally besides the surgical hospitals, but that's okay. Football matures you and makes you seek bigger goals."

Also:

"You play a game you love so much. Many people have asked me if it is worth it after 13 surgeries? I answer with a resounding yes, and football has been an avenue of so many dreams. I grew up in Michigan and was told by head coach Bo Schembechler that I wasn't good enough to play at Michigan. I was able to convert a great education at an Ivy League school into another opportunity that was converted into success in sports and life. You could not ask for anything more."

Williams wasn't the only former Dartmouth student-turned-Hall of Famer in the news. Sadly, David "Chip" Reese has died at age 56. Haven't heard of him? From an espn.com story:

He made his first trip to Las Vegas in 1973. Once there, his play proved so successful that he opted to drop out of Dartmouth College to play poker professionally.

Reese was the youngest player ever to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. I've heard Reese may have played freshman football and that's being checked out. One thing is certain: He hung out with the football guys, who kept up with him after graduation. Check out this link that will have links. For another story, click here.

The Yale student body may be expanding, but that won't necessarily mean more admissions slots for athletes. That percentage is tied to the number of teams, not to the size of the freshman class. Yale President Richard Levin, quoted in the Yale Daily News:

“We have an awful lot of (applicants) who come with no special constituency — not legacies, not athletes — and that’s the pool we’re hoping to expand most when we get larger.”

That doesn't sit well with all coaches. More from the Yale Daily:

One varsity coach who asked to remain anonymous said the limited number of recruiting spots means there is little leeway for recruiting mistakes. Coaches cannot afford for a recruit to underperform athletically, he said.

“The numbers are nowhere near what we want,” he said. “We’re at a disadvantage because our numbers are low compared to other (schools) in the (Ivy) League.”

---

If you haven't read the many tributes (right column) to Kathy Slattery Phillips, the longtime Dartmouth sports information director who passed away late last month, do so. They tell the story of a life well-lived. I will be collecting the tributes in PDF format after this week and will make them available for downloading by Kathy's many friends, some of whom have expressed a desire to have them in printed form. If you'd like your remembrance to be included, be sure to click on the link and add your thoughts this week. Thank you.

A Big Visitor

Thanks to a reader for this tip: Brock Middleton, an offensive lineman from Phoenix powerhouse Brophy Prep, is headed to Dartmouth for an official visit. The East Valley Tribune says he'll be in Hanover on the weekend of Jan. 11. ... This site says the 6-5, 260-pound Middleton has heard from Cornell, Penn and Dartmouth and confirms an official visit to Hanover. ... I had to laugh at the description of him on this site: "A little light in the pants but has a big frame." ...

Middleton's former Brophy teammate Shane Peterlin is a promising freshman offensive lineman at Dartmouth. ... Brophy is coming off a win over Chandler Hamilton H.S. -- the No. 9 team in the nation in Sports Illustrated's rankings -- and will play Saturday for the state 5-A-1 championship at the University of Phoenix Cardinal Stadium. ...

There aren't any Dartmouth recruits (that we know of, at least) on the National Football Foundation's "Golden Eleven" team honoring the best student-athletes in New York's Nassau County. What makes the team special: the highest honor given to a member of the team is the Jay Fiedler Top Scholar-Athlete Award. How cool is that?

In his farewell column the sports editor of the Daily Dartmouth writes, "There is little doubt that our athletes deserve a great deal more support than they currently receive from Dartmouth’s student body." I particularly like this thought:

Perhaps a nostalgic forgetfulness will come upon us when we visit our College decades from now, and we will hoot and holler at the Homecoming football game “just like old times.” But why not enjoy it more in the here and now?

A good point.

Cottrell Chosen All-New England

Senior linebacker Justin Cottrell has been selected to the FCS All-New England football team. Cottrell led the Ivy League in tackles this year with 108 and at 10.8 tackles per game finished 10th nationally. He closed out his career with 243 tackles, 13th on the all-time Dartmouth list. Click here for more details.

Snow Day

Memories of Kathy Slattery Phillips continue to filter in. Among the Remembrances recently posted are the remarks offered by Corey Phillips and Chuck Young '88 at Friday's memorial in Rollins Chapel.

---

It's a Snow Day for the kids as the predicted storm has dumped six inches or so of the white stuff on us so far. A weekend's worth of hustling to get the garage cleared out for the cars, the last of the outdoor furniture, etc., put away and the '84 VW camper put up was well worth it. If the snow had come a week earlier it would have been big trouble. ...

Interested in the Reggie Williams '76 induction into the College Football Hall of Fame? The National Football Foundation dinner ceremonies will be carried on CSTV Tuesday from 7:30 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. Check out the CSTV release on the broadcast. You might also check out the National Football Foundation release. The NFF release says the Tuesday morning press conference will also be carried Tuesday on CSTV from 9:30 a.m. until 11 a.m. Being inducted this year are:

Coaches
Joe Paterno (Penn State)
Herb Deromedi (Central Michigan)

Players
Tom Brahaney (Oklahoma)
Dave Brown * (Michigan)
Jeff Davis (Clemson)
Doug Flutie (Boston College)
Johnnie Johnson (Texas)
Rex Kern (Ohio State)
Ahmad Rashad (Oregon)
Anthony Thompson (Indiana)
Wilson Whitley* (Houston)
Reggie Williams (Dartmouth)
Richard Wood (Southern California)
Chris Zorich (Notre Dame)

The publication Columbia College Today has an important story about former Columbia quarterback Archie Roberts '65, and the work he's doing screening retired football players for heart disease. From the story:

When Roberts was playing football, there were only a handful of 300-pounders in the NFL. By 1987, the number was up to 27 players who weighed 300 pounds or more. But as football has followed the trend to bigger, stronger athletes, that figure swelled to 240 by 1997; today the number is more than 350. “What doctors are learning is that size is a risk factor for heart disease, just like hypertension, diabetes or high cholesterol are risk factors,” Roberts explains.

A Harvard Crimson columnist puts Harvard men's basketball's shocking win over Michigan into perspective. The story includes this:

Through chants to Michigan fans of “We got Tommy!”, showing their support for the new coach, or of “Appalachian State!”, taunting the Wolverines for their then-fifth-ranked football team’s loss to a I-AA squad earlier in the year, the Crimson Crazies lived up to their name, pushing the decibel level in Lavietes higher than it has maybe ever been.

From the Daily Dartmouth: "Controversy over Trustee Todd Zywicki ‘88’s public October criticisms of the College administration has taken a new turn, as the Alumni Council voted to condemn Zywicki’s statements in a resolution passed this weekend at the council’s 195th meeting."

One Set, One Deciding

The New York Daily News All-City team has one Dartmouth-bound player on it and a teammate who is said to be on the fence between coach Buddy Teevens' new school and his old school -- and we're not talking Tulane here.

The story confirms an earlier Green Alert posting that defensive back J.B. Andreassi of powerhouse St. Anthony's on Long Island is "Dartmouth-bound." According to the Daily News, Austen Fletcher, a 6-1, 280 offensive lineman, "is currently deciding between Dartmouth and Stanford." Fletcher, whose brother was at Stanford with Teevens, had earlier been reported to be headed to Dartmouth. ...

By now you probably know No. 1 and No. 2 in the BCS rankings lost yesterday. Wondering how things are going in the former I-AA playoffs? No. 1 lost there also, as Delaware sprung the upset at Northern Iowa. For a roundup, click here.

Northeastern University is taking a hard look at its sports program and there's concern that football could be on the way out. The Boston Herald has a story. For the record: the athletic director at Northeastern who is heading up the study is Peter Roby '79, former Dartmouth basketball captain and good friend of Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens.

Roby, by the way, is a former basketball coach at Harvard. The Crimson yesterday pulled off a stunner, defeating Michigan in Cambridge, 62-51. Can you say Appalachian State? In a delicious irony, the game had new Harvard coach Tommy Amaker shocking the school that fired him last spring. Check out the Boston Herald story. ... There's another in the Detroit Free Press.

And finally, winter has arrived in the Upper Valley. The temperature dipped to 3 degrees up here on the mountain last night and, though the sky is blue this morning, we could be in line for as much as a foot of snow in the next 36 hours. After going seven days a week since early August and then chipping in on campus for the past couple of weeks, I had my first chance big window of opportunity yesterday to attack the chores that need to be finished before snow hits. Lots more to do today -- including getting the 1984 VW camper up for the winter -- or there could be stuff buried under snow until April.

One more thing: The Hanover High School girls' cross country team finished fourth in the nation yesterday at the Nike team nationals in Oregon. Among those watching at the high school: a certain Hanover sophomore who started for the second year in a row on the varsity field hockey team but is being courted by members of the cross country team to join their ranks next fall.

On Reggie Williams

Should have posted this earlier but I heard it through channels and wasn't sure the news was public. As it turns out ... it was. Reggie Williams '76, who went from being an All-America linebacker at Dartmouth in 1975 to NFL Man of the Year with the Cincinnati Bengals, retired from his position as Disney's vice president for sports attractions on Nov. 21 for health reasons. Williams, who will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame on Tuesday, left Disney after serving as chief executive of Disney's Wide World of Sports complex. In an Orlando Sentinel story he talks of problems recovering from knee replacements on both legs and the need to take care of his body. If you saw him at Dartmouth this fall when he was honored for his election to the college hall, it was painful to watch him hobble onto the field.

Dartmouth (as well as Brown and Georgetown) are mentioned in this story about a southern California quarterback preparing for last night's San Diego Section Division I semifinals.

Although standout tailback Mike McLeod will be back for another year, Yale has apparently added another weapon to its arsenal with news that the nation's leading rusher -- according to MaxPreps -- is headed to New Haven. Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year Alex Thomas has set the Connecticut state records for career yards rushing (8,030), season yards rushing (3,347), career touchdowns and season (111 and 44) and points in a career (729). From the Waterbury Republican American: "On the eve of the biggest game of his storybook high school football career, Ansonia High senior Alex Thomas received the greatest news of all for his future when he obtained a 'likely acceptance letter' from Yale University on Friday. ...

Here's what the opposing coach in the state championship game said about the small schools standout in the New London Day: “He's got everything a great back has. He can run with speed. He can run with power. He reads his blocks well. He's got tremendous balance. You put all those together and it makes for an unbelievable running back.”

The 5-9, 180 Thomas has averaged 11.7 yards per carry and 278.2 yards per game this fall. A scout.com profile can be found here. For a 2006 highlight video of him, click here. The video is "unregistered," leaving a yellow reminder of that fact across the middle of the screen, and there's a soundtrack that forced me to hit the "mute" buttom pretty quickly, but it does give you a sense that Yale may have gotten itself another good one.