Director of Player Personnel?

A potpourri of links and thoughts this chilly (13 below zero) morning in the Upper Valley ... Did you see that Nick Saban has a new director of player personnel? That wouldn't be newsworthy if the Nickmeister were still coaching the Miami Dolphins. But he's now the head coach at Alabama. The University of Alabama. A director of player personnel in college? I know it's just a title, but puhlease ...

Dave Coulson over at The Sports Network has a column spun out of the just-concluded NFL Combine. While the piece eventually settles into a discussion of FCS (nee I-AA) players who made an impact in Indianapolis, what I found most interesting was the top of the column about the way the NFL goes about timing players in the 40. Suffice it to say those 4.38's and 4.49's aren't quite as trustworthy as the Internet sites -- and the NFL Combine for that matter -- report. But of course we already knew that. I've had this discussion with Dartmouth track coach Barry Harwick in the past and he always shakes his head and laughs at the times being recorded for football players – not using starting blocks or track spikes or being pushed by competitors – while being clocked on FieldTurf.

Chicago Cubs second baseman Mark DeRosa underwent a procedure yesterday to successfully correct an irregular heartbeat. DeRosa, many of you remember, was a fine Penn quarterback who gave up his senior year on the gridiron after being taken in baseball's free agent draft after his junior season on the diamond.

The Brown Daily Herald has another look at Ivy admissions and athletics with more explanation of the Academic Index. Not much new here, but it's a primer for latecomers to the discussion.

Penn football can recruit piles of kids from its own backyard in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. When Dartmouth looks out its back door at Vermont, it sees ... gorgeous countryside but not much in the way of football high schools. A Rutland Herald story on the hiring of a coach to start up a program at Division III Castleton State College notes the new coach from The College of New Jersey ... "will be doing it in a state that features 34 football-playing schools, compared to 353 in New Jersey." Thirty-four! No wonder I can't remember the last Dartmouth football player from the Green Mountain State.

For all the woe-is-us sentiment out of Ithaca (not that it isn't warranted) regarding financial aid reforms, it's a winter of potentially historic proportions high above Cayuga's waters. A USA Today story picked up from the Ithaca Journal notes that the Big Red men's and women's basketball teams can both clinch Ivy League championships this weekend in games against Dartmouth and Harvard. The Cornell men are home and in total control of their race, so barring a total meltdown, it's only a matter of time until they dethrone the P's. As for the women, not so fast. They are at Dartmouth tonight and at Harvard tomorrow. If the Joanna-come-latelies are going to win the title, they are going to have to earn it against the two schools that have traditionally dominated the women's game and are right on their heels this winter.

And finally this ... we zip off to Boston today to watch that certain Hanover High sophomore compete against the best in New England in the two-mile at the Reggie Lewis Center. Her goal is a top-half finish, but those sniffles this morning aren't a good sign. Regardless of what happens, it's been a great season.

Titans Want To Keep Cramer

Restricted free agent fullback/tight end Casey Cramer '04 has been tendered a one-year contract with the Tennessee Titans. Link

Another Recruit

Add 6-4, 240 Ryan O'Neill of Orland Park, Ill., and Marist High School to Dartmouth's list of recruits according to this story. His school announcement also appears here. For a head shot of O'Neill, click here.

O'Neill is also a defenseman on his school's ice hockey team. For a story about him while he was still considering Harvard, click here.

The Harvard Crimson is the latest to post a story about Ivy League executive director Jeff Orleans, who will step down after next year. Credit Crimson football coach Tim Murphy for being candid when commenting in the story on the Ivy League's ban on postseason fooball, which he observed was not a policy developed by Orleans. From the story:

Murphy said that for Harvard, participating in playoffs might actually mitigate some of the excitement of The Game, the Crimson’s perennial season-ending match against arch-rival Yale. “I think in some respects, it might be anti-climatic,” Murphy said.

But he also said ...

“On principle, when you have one that doesn’t participate and 40 sports that do, that’s pretty hard to defend."

Do you think?

A column about the lack of an Ivy League tournament (except in hockey and baseball) in the Daily Dartmouth doesn't mention Jeff Orleans, but it makes a good point. From the column:

Though the Ivy League would like to think of itself as the last remaining bastion of athletic purity, it instead comes off as an unresponsive monolith.

Missed this the first time around but at Colgate's awards banquet earlier this month junior tailback Jordan Scott, the FCS's leading rusher, was given the Andy Kerr Trophy as the school's offensive MVP. Find a release here. There's been no news out of Hamilton, N.Y., regarding Scott's legal problems and his future with the team.

The Yale Daily News has a story about Mike Lehmann, once a potential big-time recruit whose battle with osteitis pubis cost him a shot at major college action, landed him at Yale and eventually contributed to him leaving the game entirely. I had never heard of osteitis pubis until several years ago when one of Dartmouth's best athletes was hobbled by it. I've since heard of another very talented athlete who has battled the problem. Nasty stuff.

It's crunch time for Casey Cramer with the Tennessee Titans. From the Nashville City Paper:

The Titans have seven restricted free agents they must offer tenders to by today’s deadline. Those include kicker Rob Bironas, tight ends Bo Scaife and Casey Cramer, defensive backs Vincent Fuller and Reynaldo Hill, offensive tackles David Stewart and Daniel Loper.

Of that group, Stewart and Bironas are likely to be tendered above the $927,000 minimum.

And finally, after two snow-outs (and almost a third) the Hanover High indoor track team had its awards banquet last night and a certain sophomore won the Sportsmanship Award. She's one of just four members of the team running tomorrow night in Boston in the New England High School championships, but this award is what makes me most proud. ;-)

Oh yeah, one more thing. They are calling for 2-6 inches more snow around here tomorrow. And the hits just keep on coming!

Dismissed Or Dissed?

Today's New York Times has a piece with Jeff Orleans, the executive director of the Ivy League who has announced he will be stepping down after one more year. From the story:

He dismissed talk of a conference basketball tournament and said the sacrifices required to upgrade Ivy football were simply not worth it.

I certainly hope the "dismissed talk," is simply an unfortunate choice of words by the writer. I would like to think Jeff Orleans is more sensitive to both sides of the issue than that makes him sound.

A quote from the story taken on its own and out of context, "... (T)he sacrifices required to upgrade Ivy football were simply not worth it," sounds much more inflammatory than perhaps intended. The quote was followed by this qualifier:

“What it would take to look like the Big Ten means scholarships, changes in our admissions standards and changes in scheduling,” he said. “The jump from what we do to being like the Big Ten is huge, and I don’t think we’re ever going to start down that road."

Orleans also told the Times:

"People view us as caring about national athletics and paying our dues, whether it’s designing the N.C.A.A.’s academic standards, or helping to run the baseball committee.”

It's always a dangerous proposition offering your opinion on how other people see you. Orleans is right, of course. Some people do think of the Ivy League that way. But at the same time, there are a lot of others across the country who think of the Ivy League as being so far out of step with today's college athletics – the good as well as the bad – that the league and its opinions are irrelevant.

The Brown Daily Herald also offers a look at Jeff Orleans.

The New York Daily News has a story about the men's basketball program at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The team finished 0-29 this year, the worst record by any team in NCAA Division I history. Ivy League and Patriot League followers might find the following quote from the school's athletic director Lenny Kaplan interesting in light of the school's move from Division II to Division I (italics are mine):

"Division II are mostly private liberal arts colleges, smaller and not research-based," Kaplan said. "Our goal is to be a nationally recognized research college. You've got to get your name out there, and the most cost effective way is through athletics."

I got a note about former quarterback Dan Shula the other day and went off in search of his bio as he begins his second year as a graduate assistant coach for the Miami Hurricanes. This is what I found. Apparently even the big schools don't always update their web sites as frequently as they might ;–). ... Speaking of alumni, he played baseball not football at Dartmouth, but former Big Green infielder Matt Klentak has landed a prime front-office position with the Baltimore Orioles as this Washington Post story notes.

And finally, another two-hour delay for Hanover school kids today. It's hard to tell just how much snow we got, but a couple of indications: One more snowstorm like this and I fear we are are going to have to foot the bill for a front-end loader to come in and move the mounds of snow alongside our driveway back. It's closing in on us fast and the piles are way, way too big to push back. ... And that metal roof we had installed last fall? It's dumped so much snow in front of our family room that you need to stand on a chair to see out the window. One more storm like this and the window may be blocked entirely.

Gaudet, Ferrell Win Opener

The Dartmouth men's lacrosse team opened the season on snow-encircled Memorial Field Saturday with a 10-6 win over the University of Hartford with 223 brave souls in the stands. Scoring a goal and winning four of six faceoffs was senior tri-captain Chad Gaudet, the former football tailback wearing the familiar No. 45. Putting two shots on the Hawks' net was sophomore Ian Ferrell, a sophomore wide receiver for the Big Green.

Check out The American magazine for yet another story on the changing landscape of college financial aid. The landscape architect, the story says, comes from Cambridge, Mass. The headline of the story: "As Goes Harvard …" The story at least partly pulls the curtain back on what's happening. It notes:

Education policy experts have been eyeing Harvard’s move cautiously, particularly since Yale and a handful of other schools have emulated it. Most agree this isn’t merely a wave of academic altruism; rather, it’s the latest development in a long-running battle between congressional watchdogs and the nonprofit sector. Harvard happens to be a tempting target for federal scrutiny since, as (Charlie Slack, an author in Connecticut who graduated from Harvard in 1983) notes, its overall endowment (nearly $35 billion) “is more than the GNP of a lot of countries.

On the subject of money, endowments and how they get where they are, I stumbled across a top-20 list of contributions to colleges and universities in 2007. Heading the list: Stanford with $832.35 million, followed by Harvard with $613.99 million and USC, $469.65 million. Ivies in the top 20: 5. Columbia, 6. Cornell, 7. Penn, 8 Yale. Find a PDF of the list as well as more background on giving trends in 2007 here.

A while back I got a phone call from an amused friend who spotted my name in a book entitled, Sports: A Generation's Common Bond: Personal Stories: How Sports Influenced the Lives of Dartmouth 64's. I finally got a chance to see the book at the Dartmouth Bookstore not long ago and enjoyed reading through it.

Sports: A Generation's Common Bond includes essays written by several members of the undefeated 1962 Dartmouth football team.

A description of the book taken from the web:

"Through personal stories the book demonstrates that sports are a common bond among the generation of the early 1960s. The stories are written by members of the Dartmouth Class of 1964 including the senior statesman of the Class, the President of the Class and 64 other classmates and describes how sports have influenced their lives. The classmate stories are complemented by special stories by the current President of Dartmouth and by the only head coach of three varsity sports at Dartmouth. The lessons, memories, friendships, and joys of sports are captured in these diverse, humbling, humorous and poignant stories."

Author Ronald Schram sent along this note for Green Alert blog readers: "All net proceeds from sale of the book support student internships at the Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth." If you buy the book from this site the commission is lower and more net proceeds go to the students.

As I finish up the blog at 8:30 a.m., the first snowflakes are falling, right on schedule. We could get upwards of a foot before the white stuff stops falling.

Questions For Q&A?

Largely as a result of the tidal wave of financial aid reform hitting the Ivy League, I will be doing a Q&A this week with Chris Lincoln, author of Playing the Game; Inside Athletic Recruiting In The Ivy League. (Like the earlier Q&A with Chris–see the link at right– this will appear on the premium Green Alert site but will be freely available to everyone, subscriber or not.)

I have a list of questions that I am posing to Chris, but if you have any you would like to add, feel free to email me or add them to the comment section of this blog. (Remember, you can do that anonymously.)

Among other questions, I will be asking Chris are: whether concerns about the divide between HYP and the rest of the Ivies are being overstated; whether the Ivies will be able to compete better with scholarship schools once these reforms kick in; whether some sports will benefit more than others, and what this will mean for the Patriot League. ...

I've got a couple of questions outside of the financial aid situation that I will include as well.

I'm not completely sure when Chris will finish typing out his responses so check back every so often in the next week or so and be sure not to miss what should be a very interesting Q&A.

Playing For Lutfisk?

Got an email the other day from someone asking if I'd read, Playing For Pizza, John Grisham's breezy novel about a down-and-out journeyman quarterback who escapes the NFL to play in Italy. I had read it, in part because it was Grisham, in part because the football piece sounded like fun, and in part because it had a little Year in Provence feel, and I very much enjoyed Peter Mayle's books. It's a fun "read." ... On the subject of football in Europe, check out this ad for a quarterback/offensive coordinator for the Carlstad Crusaders in Sweden. I've done stories with Dartmouth football players who spent a year playing in France and Sweden in the past and always thought if only I'd been able to throw a 60-yard spiral I would have jumped at the chance. Alas ...

One former quarterback who won't be going overseas is Brian Mann '02. As this link shows, he's now officially retired from the Arena Football League. Hopefully he'll still be around game. I had a chance to check out a DVD of Brian's color commentary on the ECAC Game of the Week between UNH and Rhode Island last October and though he had little time to prepare, he showed great promise. (Note to the Ivy League: If you are looking for someone in the booth next fall, you could do worse.)

The Columbia Spectator has a piece about following Lion teams to away games. As usual, the writer has some fun at Dartmouth's expense. From the story:

The best way to get a good meal at Dartmouth is to get up very early and set up camp along the western frontier of campus. Herds of caribou migrate here to feed on switch-grass and drink from the mountain streams.

How silly.

Those aren't caribou. They are moose. And it's up here on the eastern frontier that you would have the best chance at scoring one.

On the subject of bizarre stories, check out this one in The Dartmouth. Whether you are interested in collegiate squash or not, this strange story is worth a look.

Not to feed into the cliche, but this is as good a time as any to post a link to a slide show from Moose Mountain Lodge that's pretty heavy on moose pictures. Depending on the time of year you are visiting, if you want something very different than the Hanover Inn, the Marriott or home, check out the Moose Mountain Lodge. The views from the porch are nothing short of spectacular.

On a somber note, Ski Racing has a remembrance of good friend Paul Robbins, who died suddenly at age 68. The pictures of Paul with his Tam o’Shanter brought a few more tears in a year when I didn't know if I had any left. Paul sat to my immediate left in the Memorial Field press box, covering Dartmouth football for the Associated Press for many years. There's a neat anecdote about Paul and Picaboo Street in the Ski Racing story that didn't surprise me a bit.

Dartmouth also has lost former football captain Judson Hannigan at age 83. Find a story here.

And finally, that certain Hanover High sophomore wasn't particularly pleased with the way she ran in the UST&F New England championships yesterday at Harvard, but she did narrowly post a PR in the mile despite battling sniffles, so good for her. We return to Boston Friday night for the New England high school championships at the Reggie Lewis Center, where she will run the two-mile. Hopefully she'll be feeling chipper and refreshed for that race.

Oh, and one more thing. The forecast this morning is calling for 6-12 inches of snow tomorrow. Can you say enough is enough?

Brown Falls In Line

Add Brown to the growing list of schools making financial aid reforms. From the school web site:

The Corporation of Brown University has approved a new financial aid policy that eliminates loans for students whose family incomes are less than $100,000, reduces loans for all students who receive financial aid and no longer requires a parental contribution from most families with incomes of up to $60,000. The Boston Globe carries the AP report here.

I'm no genius, but I'll say this: Something's rotten in Denmark that all these schools have suddenly found the ability to make these changes. Where have they been?

You know who I feel sorry for? The poor schmuck who fits the profile and just graduated with loans they'll be paying back for 20 years.

I staffed the Dartmouth men's basketball game against Princeton last night and when the struggling Big Green built its lead to 30 points over the Tigers I was struck by how low the mighty have fallen. The orange and black is shockingly lacking in talent.

Princeton (5-19, 2-7 Ivy) has to run the table over its final five games to avoid the first 20-loss season in school history. It will be interesting and instructive as a Dartmouth football watcher to see how long it takes Princeton to pull its flagship athletic program off the mat.

That's it for today folks, for a couple of reasons. First, that certain Hanover High sophomore is running in an open mile today at Harvard.

And second, my heart isn't in the blog this morning. A very difficult 12 months became even more difficult last night with the news of the sudden death of Paul Robbins, a longtime friend and a very decent man. Paul has covered Dartmouth football for the Associated Press for many years, sitting next to me in the press box for most of those Saturday afternoons. He covered all kinds of skiing, Nordic, jumping and the rest, and was the nation's foremost media expert on biathlon, that arcane sport of skiing and shooting he so loved. He did tremendous freelance writing work for the U.S. Ski Team for years and years, traveling the world and covering every Winter Olympics near and far. I recall being in Key West during one Olympics, sitting in an outdoor restaurant with my wife watching a TV broadcast from some frozen venue, and who popped up on the screen doing color commentary? PR. I reminded him of that story every few years and he always laughed at it as though he'd never heard it before.

I don't know how old Paul was -- somewhere in his 60's -- but in Robbins years he was still a little boy. No one, and I mean no one, forwarded more "humor" via email. He was shocked, but none of us on the receiving end could have been surprised, that he was wrongly accused by his ISP of being a spammer a couple of years ago. It didn't deter him. He just changed his email address and kept firing the stuff out. It was a little much (make that a lot much) but you never told him so because he clearly enjoyed those sophomoric stories and occasionally racy pictures so much.

His goal every fall, which he achieved no matter the temperature, was to wear shorts to Dartmouth football games until November. Perhaps you saw him rushing to the press box shortly before kickoff carrying his laptop computer. Believe me, if you saw him, you'd remember him. Several years ago he even showed up in the press box wearing a colorful beanie, propeller and all.

For the final football game of the year he'd usually bake some kind of treat to share with the rest of us in the press box. A couple of years ago he left out some key ingredient and apologized for it as he put the treats out. Those cookies were awful, but he brought them because that's what he always did. And we ate them because that's what we did. Paul, I'll miss those cookies next fall.

Get With The Program

I laugh when I see 5-year-old Dartmouth football press guides and the like for sale at eBay. I'm not sure I'd ever buy a souvenir from an online auction, but I have to admit this one from 1944 is pretty cool. It's also pretty expensive. With two days to go, the bidding is up to $120.50.

I wonder if the bidder is from the Notre Dame or the Dartmouth side of the aisle. My guess is the Dartmouth side because this isn't a terribly special program for Notre Dame. ... In case you are wondering, the Irish won the game, 64-0, over a Dartmouth team that would finish 2-5-1. ...

Stumbled across a recent story from the Canadian Football League. A note about the BC Lions player who was suspended for an illegal hit on Anthony Gargiulo adds a little more detail to the devastating injury suffered by the former Dartmouth defensive end. The story says, "Gargiulo suffered a broken leg plus torn ligaments and tendons and required surgery to put a plate in his leg." Now, of course, the offending player is fighting the suspension.

There will be action on Memorial Field today as the Dartmouth men's lacrosse team opens the "spring" season against the University of Hartford. The Big Green has been forced to play on the football field because the 10 or so feet of snow we have received this winter has prevented workers from finishing installation of FieldTurf on Scully-Fahey Field. Crews – including the occasional athletic department staffer with shirt and tie and shovel in hand – have done yeoman-like work moving plowed mounds of snow off the sidelines and chipping away ice to make Memorial Field playable for lacrosse.

Cornell Paper Wraps Up Look At Ivy Aid

There's an interesting assortment of links this morning but the place to start is with the final piece of the Cornell Sun's fine series on financial aid reforms and the dangers to Ivy League athletics. As usual, Penn athletic director Steve Bilsky doesn't hold back his opinion. From the story:

Although unsure of Cornell’s recruiting problems, Bilsky is certain of the risk posed by Harvard, Princeton and Yale.

“If this would have been any other league, it would have caused an unraveling of the members,” said Bilsky. “(It’s) the biggest rift that has ever existed in this league."

The writer of the Sun pieces has a column explaining how he came to look into the issue. It includes this:

...(A)t one point in the story, a coach implies that other Ivies are trying to catch up to HYP’s packages, ignoring the “need based” system and brazenly bidding for athletes. Although The Sun could not confirm it, I believe it could be

The Sun wraps up the series with an editorial that concludes this way:

The Ancient Eight has long been held together by the ties of tradition, but those ties are growing weaker by the day. As the eight programs of the Ivy League drift apart, it is the responsibility of the League as an institution to preserve the foundation on which that League was built. If the members of the Ivy League cannot work together to maintain competitive balance on the field of play, it may be time for the powers that be to reconsider what brought them together in the first place.

Former Dartmouth tight end Casey Cramer is heading back to school to take part once again in the NFL's Business Management and Entrepreneurial Program according to this report.

Click here for a terrific story about Russell Wilson, a quarterback/second baseman at N.C. State and son of former Dartmouth wide receiver Harrison Wilson '77. The younger Wilson is a tireless worker who is going through spring practice with the Wolfpack football team, making as many baseball practices as possible and sneaking in sleep where he can. His dad caught 65 passes for 860 yards at Dartmouth and as a senior won my favorite football honor, the Manners Makyth Man award.

Speaking of neat stories, stopping by the Roar Lions Roar blog I found a link to this Los Angeles Daily News story about a housekeeper who is sending twins to Princeton and Columbia, the latter a standout tight end. The woman whose house the mother of the boys cleans, told the paper:

"She's an incredible woman. I mean, her sons are going to Princeton and Columbia. It was all I could do to get my kid to CSUN."

And finally, from two inspiring stories to the bizarre. From an AP story:

Two weeks after he announced his decision to play football at Alabama on national television, star wide receiver Julio Jones found himself in a new position -- that of a key prosecution witness in a capital murder trial.

Wearing a gray hoodie emblazoned with an Oklahoma Sooners' logo, Jones testified Tuesday that he witnessed the gunshot murder of a longtime acquaintance who was identified as a drug dealer.

Not to make light of a terrible situation, but don't you think they grimaced at the way he was dressed when they read this in Norman and breathed a sigh of relief in Tuscaloosa?

---

Enough for now. I've got a deadline for a freeelance story and need to jump on it. Tonight I'll be staffing the Penn-Dartmouth men's basketball game for the Philadelphia Inquirer and the AP, so it's a busy day.

Stanford Joins The Fray

From today's Mercury News:

Tapping into its burgeoning endowment to make college more affordable, Stanford announced Wednesday that beginning next year it will offer free tuition - worth $36,000 a year - to middle-class students whose parents make less than $100,000 a year.

Joining a trend started by other elite universities such Harvard, Princeton and Yale, Stanford is also eliminating student loans.

Dollars And Sense

The Cornell Sun has part two of its three-part look at what financial aid reform could mean to Ivy League athletics: Financial Aid Threatens Ivy Competition. There are all kinds of excerpts that could be posted. Here's one:

... (N)ot only are the “Big Three” now able to attract athletes from other Ivies, they may be able to attract top scholarship athletes from schools like Stanford and Duke.

“What Harvard is doing now, in many cases, they’re in fact giving a full athletic scholarship. (They’re offering this) to every student, but including student-athletes,” (Penn athletic director Steve) Bilsky said. “Harvard’s package, and Yale and Princeton’s packages are now getting so advanced that the schools are not going to be able to tell coaches in advance ‘we’ll match any package that anybody gives in the league.’”

Bilsky makes a point that several of us have been talking about in recent weeks. Just because the awards aren't labeled "athletic scholarships," and just because they are offered to all qualifying students, doesn't mean that they are any different from athletic scholarships to the recipients. In fact, they are better because if you are unhappy you can quit the team and not lose your aid.

Another excerpt from the story had me snickering. It says:

By providing its own broader and more generous standard of “financial need,” Cornell coaches, (athletic director Andy ) Noel and Bilsky agree the “Big Three” are establishing an athletic superiority in violation the Ivy Statement of Principles that mandate competitive balance.

Principle No. 4 states that each school “ought not merely to tolerate, but to value a balance of competitive success within the Group.”

In general, the Ivy League does value competitive balance. In practice? Yeah, sure. I can hear Tim Murphy down at Harvard: "I think we've won too many championships football championships lately. Let's let Columbia win one."

Riddle me this: How come the Ivy League hasn't done anything (add a tournament or switch up travel partners) to add a little more competitive balance in men's basketball, where Princeton and Penn have gone to the NCAA Tournament for the past 20 years and have made 43 of the last 47 trips to the big dance? Sure, Cornell is probably going to go on this year, but if anyone thinks Penn and Princeton aren't going to rise back to the top in the next couple of years I've got a bridge over the Connecticut I'd like to sell them.

The Columbia Spectator recaps published information about 15 football recruits headed to New York City next fall.

Harvard has two unusual basketball transfers this year. The Crimson writes about a woman basketball player who began her career at Princeton. The Daily Pennsylvanian, meanwhile, writes about the 6-11 German-born Turkish national who was recruited to Indiana, had little success there, returned home and declared for the NBA draft before ending up at Marshalltown Community College in Iowa. That, eventually, brought him to Harvard.

Speaking of Harvard, Jamie Clark is the Crimson's new soccer coach. If the name is familiar, he is the son of former Dartmouth soccer coach Bobby Clark. Jamie grew up in Hanover and eventually played for his father at Stanford. Bobby Clark, by the way, is now the head coach at Notre Dame. I'm biased, because he's a friend, but there are few people who know Bobby Clark who would debate that he was one of the best coaches, if not the best, Dartmouth has had in the last 25 years or more and I'd readily agree with them. Bobby Clark has remained a close friend of the Dartmouth soccer program and coach Jeff Cook, one of his proteges. I'm sure Bobby is going to be conflicted when Dartmouth and Harvard play.

Super 26

A Boston Herald announcement of the Super 26 dinner for the best football players in Massachusetts reminds us that not one, but two Dartmouth recruits are on the list. Super 26 players heading to Hanover late next summer are Mark Dwyer, a 6-4, 250 early decision tight end from Woburn, and Nick Schwieger, a 5-11, 195 tailback from Bishop Feehan in Attleboro. Schwieger made the team as a defensive back. Sophomore Alex Jenny, who will come into the Dartmouth spring camp as the No. 1 quarterback, is a former Super 26 member from Wayland. (Find the Boston Globe's earlier Super 26 announcement here.)

When men's and women's basketball are at the top of the Ivy League heap it's a pretty good year for athletics at Cornell no matter what football and hockey are doing. Although there's concern about whether the Big Red can continue to compete in the face of the changing financial aid picture, things are pretty rosy right now. Stack Media, which calls itself, "the nation’s leading producer and distributor of sports performance, training and lifestyle content for high school athletes and high school sports community," has Cornell No. 39 in its top 50 best schools for "academically minded athletes." From the Stack web site:

After months of crunching numbers (wins, losses, championship titles, school rankings and academic progress), we offer you a groundbreaking compilation of information that you will need to choose a school that provides the right balance of academics and athletics.

Of Cornell, Stack writes:

The lone Ivy League rep, Cornell made it by dominating wrestling (3), lacrosse (3), hockey (5) and a little thing called the U.S. News rankings (12).

Stack's co-founder and co-CEO, by the way, is former Harvard tailback Nick Palazzo '03.

A lot of people who know me think I'm a bit of a prude and I don't deny it. (You can stop laughing now.) Anyway, I applaud the folks at Penn for discouraging the, "Hey, you suck," chant at the Palestra. The Daily Pennsylvanian has a story.

Two useless pieces of trivia I did not know before. The "source," is Wikipedia, so your mileage may vary:

1. There are only five players drafted ahead of Brad Ausmus '91 (48th round) still in the big leagues. They are: Ken Griffey, Jr., Mike Timlin, Reggie Sanders, Mike Mussina and Jeff Cirillo.

2. Etna, N.H., the rural Hanover village that is world headquarters of Big Green Alert, has a population of 814, including author Jodi Picoult and a certain family of four (not counting Cooper the Golden Retriever) on the shoulder of Moose Mountain.

Change At The Top In Store For Ivies

Jeff Orleans, executive director of the Ivy Group (read: commissioner of the Ivy League) will step down on June 30, 2009 according to the Ivy web site.

A couple of thoughts: I've known Jeff since he started at the Ivy League (I was working at Dartmouth at the time) and he's handled a difficult job with uncommon grace. When I moved back to the newspaper side and on rare occasion had to ask Jeff hard questions, he never dodged them. He was always accessible, always helpful and always a gentleman. The only tough question I can recall asking him for which he didn't provide a satisfying answer was the one without an answer: Why can't Ivy League football teams go to the playoffs?

A second thought: Dartmouth President Jim Wright will help oversee the committee that will begin looking for a replacement for Jeff Orleans in September. Now, I'm not an alum so I can't foist off an "alumni play," on President Wright, but I do have a candidate to recommend. It wouldn't be right to post his name here, but suffice it to say the Ivy League would be very, very lucky to have him. I've talked with him in the past about the possibility of one day making this move and I hope, for the Ivy League's sake, he'll consider it.

The Cornell Sun begins a three-part series exploring, "Cornell’s difficulties in athletic recruiting because of non-competitive financial aid packages." A taste of what the series includes:

"In all, 12 of the 31 Cornell head coaches were interviewed, and all but three said they are experiencing a problem recruiting athletes competitively against the other Ivies, especially Harvard, Yale and Princeton, because of differences in financial aid packaging."

and ...

In one recent example, a “top-priority football recruit” was estimated as having no need at Cornell, but roughly $25 thousand of need, per year, at an Ivy League competitor. The recruit eventually decided not to apply to Cornell.

For another spin on what's happening in the Ivies and where it could take us, check out the posting, "The Ivy 'Arms Race' And What It Could Mean," over at Chuck Burton's fine blog, Lehigh Football Nation.

Getting Noticed On Line

Recruiting has changed dramatically in this age of personal computers and the internet and online questionnaires are another example. That certain Hanover High sophomore distance runner slash field hockey slash softball player and I have been scoping those things out recently and that sent me scurrying back to the Dartmouth football page. To get a look at the online questionnaire Dartmouth football uses, click here. Among the interesting questions it asks: "Who will you look to for advice when choosing a college?"

Th news out of the Dartmouth football scheduling front is the same as always. There is none. At New Hampshire it's different. Allen Lessels of the Manchester Union Leader reports the Wildcats, who knocked off Rutgers, Northwestern and Marshall in the Ricky Santos era, have scheduled games at Pittsburgh in 2010 and at Boston College in 2014. The Pitt game, by the way, has a $300,000 paycheck. UNH plays at Army next fall.

From today's Daily Dartmouth:

Dartmouth’s Board of Trustees has indefinitely postponed its decision to add eight new charter members, according to a Feb. 14 court document. The addition of these trustees, who would not be elected by alumni, has been at the center of the ongoing Association of Alumni suit against the College.

It is indeed a Through The Looking-Glass year when Princeton men's ice hockey is the Ivy League champion and the Princeton men's basketball team is trying to stay out of the conference basement. ... Speaking of Ivy basketball, has anyone noticed the Harvard, which won national headlines for upsetting Michigan this year, has exactly as many wins in the Ivies as it has over the Wolverines this year? That's right, Tommy Amaker's Crimson is 1-7 in the Ivy and 6-18 overall. Harvard is 2-14 since stunning Michigan.

A Nice Gesture

We're headed up to Barre, Vt., today to see the Vermont Frost Heaves of the ABA play the Halifax Rainmen. Because we are going to see several old friends prior to the game and I slept until 7:15 (sue me ;-), we are leaving in about 20 minutes, so there isn't much time for the ol' blog this morning.

One thing. ...

I staffed last night's game between the Dartmouth men's basketball team and Cornell for the Associated Press. During a timeout in the game I went over to the New York Times writer who was traveling with the Big Red and keeping a journal of the team's Harvard-Dartmouth trip to share something with him that really impressed me.

Many of you know that when Dartmouth sports information director Kathy Slattery Phillips died in November I started a web page where people could share their memories of Kathy. One of the people to post a few thoughts was Cornell basketball coach Steve Donahue. With Times writer Pete Thamel trying to paint a behind-the-scenes picture of the Ivy League-leading team and its coach, I thought he should know what Donahue did and how much it was appreciated, so I spent a minute or two talking with him.

Thamel asked that I email him a link. I was pleased that he, like those of us around here, thought enough of Donahue's gesture to write about it. I have to admit, however, I was a bit surprised to see myself mentioned in his posting (that surely wasn't the intent) and definitely weirded out to be referred to as a "gentleman."

In case you are interested, by the way, you can find the full Times blog here. Scroll down to read the various updates from Thamel's weekend on the bus, in the hotels and in the gyms with the team.

I'm considering asking Buddy Teevens if I can do the same thing with the Dartmouth football team for one game this fall. Thoughts?

Looking for a gift for that Dartmouth football fan? How about a Dartmouth football T-shirt from the Co-op? Find one here. (In the newspaper business, an item like the preceding one is "filler." Can you tell I'm in a hurry to get out of here?)

Senior Year

If you haven't read Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy's book Senior Year pick it up, particularly if you have son or daughter whose high school days are winding down. It's a quick and easy read, but well worth it.

A little back story: Shaughnessy's son, Sam, a baseball standout at his Massachusetts high school, is being recruited by Notre Dame and Boston College. Although Sam is a solid student and a pretty good kid, he faces his share of athletic and personal challenges, some of which catch the father by surprise. Senior Year is a month-by-month account of Sam's final year of high school filtered through the father's memories of his own high school days in rural Massachusetts.

Shaughnessy writes:

"For 18 years I'm screaming about wet towels on the bathroom floor. All of a sudden, there are no wet towels and you want wet towels on the floor."

To read an excerpt from Senior Year, click here. (Click on the white triangle on the right side of the "online reader" to advance pages.

For a comprehensive review of Senior Year, click here.

***

More from the Daily Pennsylvanian on the "great divide," that financial aid policies could be creating in the Ivy League.

An article in the College Sporting News explains how the "dead" season between the bowl games and spring football has come alive as a result of all the attention that is now given to recruiting.

For a little more about the potential changes to college football rules next fall, check out a story in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Signs Of The Times

Updated with mention of Bobby Knight and Dartmouth plus link to a brief mention of recruit Foley Schmidt.

Nick Schwieger, a 5-11, 195 tailback from Bishop Feehan High School in Attleboro, Mass., "signs" with Dartmouth. (Bishop Feehan photo used with permission)

---

Connor Phillips, a 6-4, 235, defensive end from Winston Churchill H.S., in Potomac, Md., gets a brief "signing day" mention in a hometown newspaper story.

From the Pioneer Press in Minnesota:

Record-setting St. Thomas Academy kicker Foley Schmidt has committed to Dartmouth, where he'll team with former Cadets quarterback Tim McManus. Schmidt, who converted 116 of 121 extra-point kicks and scored a 31 on his ACT exam, was recruited as a walk-on by the Gophers.

A PDF of the Buddy Teevens Football Camp flyer is available on the Dartmouth football web site here. The camp is set for June 22-25 in Hanover, with the full Big Green staff being helped out by "head and assistant coaches from the NESCAC and other Division III programs."

Thanks to Jake Novak over at Roar Lions Roar for steering us to video reports on Columbia quarterback Craig Hormann's preparations for upcoming NFL tryouts. This link features his trainer talking about Hormann's work, and this one includes some of Hormann's thoughts.

The Associated Press reports college football rules changes are being discussed that include elimination of the 5-yard incidental face-mask penalty, starting the game clock on a signal from the referee instead of the snap after a ballcarrier goes out of bounds, and outlawing horse-collar tackles.

The football facility "arms race" is in full swing. Dartmouth and Lafayette put up new varsity houses and now it's fellow FCS member William & Mary to finish up its stunning Jimmye Laycock Center. The impressive building at the corner of the football stadium features meeting rooms, coaches offices, locker rooms, training room, equipment area and museum. Check out these photos.

This could be fun: The New York Times is riding along with the league-leading Cornell men's basketball team on this weekend's games at Harvard tonight and at Dartmouth tomorrow. Find regular blogged reports on the trip here. One of my few regrets on leaving the local daily newspaper was never following through on the idea I had of hopping on the Dartmouth bus for the Princeton-Penn weekend and writing a diary-type story. Truth be told, if the NYT wanted to do a truly grueling trip, it would have followed some other team, perhaps Harvard or Dartmouth, on the Columbia-Cornell weekend. Ask any Ivy coach and they will tell you that the New York swing is by far the toughest of the weekend trips because of the distance between the travel partners. Having energy on the court Saturday night after playing Friday night and then being crammed on a bus into the wee hours of Saturday morning is not easy, particularly if you are 6-5, 6-8 or 7-foot tall.

Speaking of basketball, did you see Dan Patrick's column in this week's Sports Illustrated? Patrick writes about Bobby Knight's potential return at some point to coaching: "I think he'd have to be at a school where RPI doesn't matter but GPA does. Can't you imaging him prowling the sideline at a place like, say, Dartmouth? Or maybe Cornell-so he could keep all his red sweaters."

No Dan, I couldn't imagine that.

And finally, back to football and an opinion piece submitted to the Columbia Spectator by a former oarsman in the Columbia class of 1963. A lot of Dartmouth football fans/alumni will shudder with its use of a certain "anti" word. (Long story for those of you who are new to the program. Ask me about it sometime.) Anyway, a few excerpts cherry-picked from this piece:

... (W)e need to acknowledge that high-impact contact sports are antithetical to virtually everything that we are learning about muscular-skeletal, neurological, and cognitive issues associated with aging.

Few Columbians are aware that when Columbia won the Rose Bowl in 1934 and snapped Army’s 33-game winning streak in the late ’40s, the college had 700 students. Lou Little’s teams were augmented if not primarily composed of undergraduates from Teachers College. There is absolutely no good reason not to adjust our schedules to play smaller schools with similar academic standards.

Resistance to change is undoubtedly rooted in football. Football epitomizes just how wrong-headed our policies are. It is strategic folly to believe that after several decades of dedicated effort that undergraduate population doesn’t have a lot to do with our lack of success in football. Moreover, the intrinsic nature of football is such that beyond a certain tipping point the game is no longer safe to play. At times it has been painfully obvious that Columbia teams have been undersized, lacked depth, and not only lost games, but were physically beaten up, abused over an entire season, and suffered injuries with lifetime consequences. It is well past time that we recognize that we have a football team for guilty pleasures and wrong reasons.

Discuss among yourselves ;-)

Story On O-Line Recruit

Grant Palmer, a 6-foot-5, 250 offensive line recruit from St. Charles Prep in Columbus, Ohio, is the subject of this story in his local paper. From the story:

Despite having drawn interest from other Division I and I-AA programs, including Northwestern, Duke, Harvard, Brown and Princeton, he signed a national letter of intent with the Big Green on Feb. 6.

Athletic Scholarships?

Like football going to the playoffs, basketball holding a postseason tournament and Dartmouth actually settling on a mascot/nickname, the concept of athletic scholarships is an idea that comes up in these precincts on a regular basis. In light of recent changes to financial aid policies at several Ivy League schools (including Dartmouth), it's not a bad time to revisit the idea of athletic grants in aid, which is exactly what the Daily Pennsylvanian does today. From this DP story on the "financial arms race:"

The richest Ivy League schools are offering more and more money to students and are gaining an insurmountable advantage in recruiting, Penn Athletic Director Steve Bilsky said.

Bilsky, who thinks grants in aid are worth considering, says:

"What's inevitably going to happen is that there's going to be a divide in the league. Not based on philosophy, but on resources."

In a story noting some of the advantages of grants in aid, Bilsky says:

"Qualified students right now might choose a Stanford or a Vanderbilt or a Duke for financial reasons, but would really love to go to the Ivy League. So now you'd be able to compete scholastically for those kind of students."

And Bilsky adds ...

"The fear that people sometimes have when you talk about athletic scholarships is that they think it means that the academic pool would get lower. The truth of the matter is that the opposite would happen. It would get stronger, because the number of candidates would increase."

The Columbia Spectator also chimes in on the subject. The Spec talked with several coaches, including Paul Nixon of the Columbia women's basketball team. From the story:

Nixon believes Harvard and Yale have all the advantages they need. His first reaction to hearing about the aid policy changes: “the rich get richer.”

Thoughts? Feel free to add a "comment," below and don't worry. Anonymous means anonymous, even to me ;-)

Former Dartmouth tight end Casey Cramer was one of the Tennessee Titans who turned out for a benefit to help tornado victims according to this story.

If you've been forming opinions on the Dartmouth recruiting class for football, you aren't alone. It's what all of us who follow this stuff do. Even, it turns out, a columnist who proceeded to offer opinions on a number of FCS classes after writing on The Sports Network site:

No matter how much you attempt to dissect a school's recruiting success ... the fact remains that it is all speculative, and no one really knows how good a player will be until he steps foot on campus and begins to practice.

For the record, the columnist had nice things to say about the New Hampshire recruiting class (uh oh) and also the one brought in by Georgetown and onetime Dartmouth assistant Kevin Kelly.

Former Dartmouth wide receiver Brian Evans had his best showing of the indoor track season at the 2,500-athlete Valentine Invitational at Boston University last weekend. He ran 6.58 in the 55 meters and 22.20 in the 200. From a story in the Daily Dartmouth:

“(He) looked very good in [the 200 meter], it was his fastest time of the season,” men’s head coach Barry Harwick ‘77 said.

“(Evans is) a young man who gets ready for the big meets,” women’s head coach Sandra Ford-Centonze said. Ford Centonze also coaches the men’s sprinters.

And finally, the snow/rain/ice pellets stopped last night and then the deep freeze came. After all those annoying visits by our plow when we had 4 inches of powder in the driveway, the truck didn't show this time. Now we have 6-inch ruts frozen in place. Ah, life in paradise ;-)

A Familiar Name

Stopping by the sports information office the other day I picked up a 2008 men's lacrosse media guide -- in hopes of stirring up a few freelance writing assignments covering visiting teams for their local papers -- and found something that brought a smile to my face. The guide revealed that senior midfielder Chad Gaudet '08 is one of the Big Green's lax captains this spring.

Gaudet, many of you remember, was a tailback who exploded on the football scene midway through his freshman year. After seeing no action in the first four games, he made the most of it when he finally got his shot, running for 102 yards against Harvard, 137 against Brown and 95 against Princeton. Talking with one of his former teammates a while back, I found out I wasn't the only one expecting him to challenge the college's admittedly modest career rushing mark with a combination of power, good speed and terrific running instincts. Unfortunately, he suffered a terrible injury when he took a helmet to the knee on the first carry of his sophomore season against Colgate that ended his career.

Although walking without a limp or pain is a victory for many who suffer the type of injury Gaudet incurred, he's battled back enough not only to play lacrosse, but to appear in 14 of 15 games with seven starts last spring, and to be chosen a captain as a senior.

If you flip through the lacrosse media guide you'll also find sophomore wide receiver Ian Ferrell, a high school All-American who is out for the first time and playing in the midfield, as well as former longsnapper Ryan Danehy '06, who returned to Hanover this year as an assistant coach.

Dartmouth is slated to open the season Feb. 23 against Hartford on the new FieldTurf at Scully-Fahey Field. Because of the continuing snow this winter, installation of the FieldTurf has been delayed and there's a chance the opener may be moved to Memorial Field where Gaudet, Ferrell and Danehy would be right at home.

An "Alert" reader has passed along a recruiting update. Switch 6-2, 275 Andy Altman of La Jolla, Calif., from offensive line to defensive tackle. With that there are six offensive line recruits and two interior defensive line recruits identified at this point.

Today's Yale Daily News has a revealing story about Yale and Ivy League recruits who decide to stop playing sports. Some -- as Chris Lincoln wrote in his book on Ivy recruiting, Playing The Game (Q&A with Lincoln) -- use sports simply as a help getting into school. Others find playing time in short supply while still others lament having a "normal" college experience. Ironically, on the same day that the Yale piece ran, the Daily Dartmouth had a more informal column on two Dartmouth women who are no longer playing their sports.

Dartmouth’s new vice president for communications comes from Martha Stewart Media Living Omnimedia where she was senior vice president for corporate communications and media relations. The Dartmouth has the story. The college's release is here.

And finally, it's a-n-o-t-h-e-r snow day for school kids in Hanover and the Upper Valley. Even walking down the driveway to get the paper this morning it was hard to tell how much snow we got because of the howling wind and drifting. While it appears we didn't get as much of the white stuff as predicted, with an icy mix expected as the day goes on this snow day was probably a good idea.

Lone Star State Sending A D-Lineman This Way

Add still another Texan to the list of players heading to Dartmouth next fall. Thanks to an Alert reader for steering us to defensive lineman Royce Egelou of Stevens High School in San Antonio. He's listed as Dartmouth-bound on this NBC site. Depending on which roster you look at Egelou is either 5-8 or 5-9 and 235 pounds. He's on the 2007 Super List of Defensive Linemen according to 5A Texas Football.Com and was chosen to the 2007 All-District 28-5A second team.

So far, there have been names of 27 recruits reported here. Using the sizes, weights and positions reported in the media, along with input from readers who have a little insight, here's a possible breakdown of positions recruited so far. (Again, this is speculation because the coaches can't discuss the regular admits until spring.):

Offensive line - 7
Defensive back - 5
Tight end - 3
Linebacker - 3
Defensive end - 2
Running back - 2
Wide receiver - 2
Defensive line - 1
Kicker - 1
Quarterback - 1

A couple more thoughts: It sounds as if there's another linebacker out there but so far it's been impossible to find confirmation on the web. From what's been reported, Dartmouth has been talking to a few quarterbacks, so don't be surprised if another one is added to the list. I'd expect that if another running back were available he'd be welcomed also.

From yesterday's email: Dartmouth's 11th Annual Friends of Football Golf Classic is slated for June 14 at Hanover Country Club. Save the date.

Apparently freshman tailback TJ Cameron, who missed last season with a serious ankle injury, is feeling better. An Alert reader found this in a Winter Carnival story in Monday's Daily Dartmouth:

Amateurs as well as experts turned out on Friday to take advantage of discounted lift tickets at the Skiway. TJ Cameron ‘11, who went snowboarding for the first time, said his experience was both injurious and enjoyable.

“I fell a lot, but didn’t get too badly hurt. I still want to do it again, though, because it was a lot of fun,” he said.

This is too rich. Kevin Hart, the Nevada schoolboy who fabricated his recruitment by Cal, is on the Portland State radar. Looking into recruiting the offensive lineman is none other than Portland State coach Jerry Glanville, he of the leaving-tickets-for-Elvis fame while an NFL head coach. A sportswriter for the East Valley Tribune blogs about the possibility.

Check out this Chicago Tribune story about Notre Dame coach Charlie Weiss and some of the issues that sabotaged the Irish last year. Weiss sounds as if he's reading from the Tom Coughlin playbook regarding some of the changes he plans for next year.

The New York Times writes about whether there should be a Rooney Rule requiring the interviewing of minority coaches when openings arise in "I-A" college football.

And finally, we could be in store for a foot of snow tonight into tomorrow. I just learned that one local high school will be holding classes on two Saturdays because they've used up all their allotted snow days. I can promise you that a certain Hanover High soph and her 8th grade brother would be seriously conflicted if that were in the cards here.

Another Texan Heading This Way

UPDATED TO Add OL recruit Kyle Cook (thanks to a reader for pointing out the oversight)

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Thanks to a heads-up from an alert reader, add Aaron Limonthas of Lamar HS in Houston to the recruit list. A linebacker listed at 5-11 (or 6-foot) and 205 pounds, Limonthas is reported in a Houston Chronical blog as having made a commitment to Dartmouth.

Check out Limonthas' highlight video. A tour of websites tells us Limonthas is his senior class president, the student council president and winner of a $5,000 scholarship from the Rotary Club of Houston. Scroll down this page to see a photo of him on a Rotary page. His My Space page is viewable here and it includes this impressive sentiment:

I want to change the world. I do not know how this will come about. Only God knows, yet I believe my purpose on earth is to "in some way" uplift others and be their crutch when life breaks them down.

An updated list of Dartmouth recruits as of Feb. 11 (keeping in mind, once again, that this is unofficial and subject to change, and that positions and height/weight for some are questionable):

Reported In the Media Or By Reputable Internet Sources
Shawn Abuhoff, 5-10, 166, DB/WR, Dade Christian, Miami, Fla.
Andy Altman, 6-2, 275, OL, La Jolla Country Day, La Jolla, Calif.
Joey Casey, 5-11, 171, DB, Noblesville, Ind.
Kyle Cook, 6-5, 260, OL, Mater Dei HS, Santa Ana, Calif.

Anthony DiBlasi, 6-1, 175, DB, Belen Jesuit, Miami, Fla.
Diego Fernandez-Soto, 5-11, 190, TE/LB, Belen Jesuit, Miami, Fla.
John Gallagher, 6-3, 230, TE, West Salem H.S., Salem, Ore.
Chris Hardy, 6-3, 215, RB, Oakwood HS/Dayton, Ohio
Aaron Limonthas, 6-0, 205, LB, Lamar HS/Houston
Tyler Melancon, 5-11, 200, LB, Plano East HS/Plano, Texas
Brock Middleton, 6-5, 260, OL, Brophy Prep, Phoenix, Ariz.
Brendan Murray, 6-0, 180, DB, Notre Dame, Niles, Ill.
Nick Schwieger, 5-11, 195, TB, Bishop Feehan, Attleboro, Mass.
Eddie Smith, 6-4, 265, OL/DE, Christian Academy, Louisville

Confirmed Early Decision
JB Andreassi, 5-11, 185, DB, St. Anthony’s, Melville, N.Y.

Brad Dornak, 6-0, 195, WR, Westlake, Austin, Texas
Mark Dwyer, 6-4, 250, TE, Woburn, Woburn, Mass.
Austen Fletcher, 6-2, 285, OL, St. Anthony’s, Melville, N.Y.
Conner Kempe, 6-4, 225, QB, The Benjamin School, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Pat Lahey, 6-3, 285, OL, Brooks School, North Andover, Mass.
Grant Palmer, 6-5, 250, OL, St. Charles Prep, Columbus, Ohio
Connor Phillips, 6-4, 235, DE, Winston Churchill, Potomac, Md.
Mike Reilly, 6-3, 195, WR, Kent Denver, Englewood, Colo.
Foley Schmidt, 5-8, 180, K, St. Thomas Academy, Mendota Heights, Minn.
Alex Shulman, 6-2, 205, TE, Thayer Academy, Braintree, Mass.
Zach Wodka, 6-3, 265, OL, Buffalo Grove, Buffalo Grove, Ill.

***

And finally this ... I often laugh at comments I read on the Internet from Dartmouth students, former Dartmouth students and students at other colleges regarding what it's like to live in Hanover and the Upper Valley. There's a lot of talk about how cold it is, how remote it is and how "hick" it is. While I laugh about those comments I also applaud them because the last thing many of us who live around here want is to be overrun by ex-pats from the city.

I was proud - but also distressed - several years ago when author Bill Bryson, then a Hanover resident, sung the praises of our town in one of his books. Ditto last year when Hanover was listed as one of the best small towns in America in which to live.

Now (thanks to an alert reader) there's this in the New York Times. Some of the story is laughable to those of us who live here. But a lot of it is spot on and probably appealing enough to attract a few more metropolitan area escapees.

Um, before you start checking the house listings, can I tell you it was 2-below zero on our thermometer last night? And it's supposed to be colder tonight. Oh, and we could get another six inches of snow tomorrow night. You don't really want to deal with all that, do you? Then there's mud season, black flies, dialup internet if you live outside of town and having to drive 60 miles to the nearest mall if that's the kind of place where you like to do your holiday shopping. I ask you again. You don't really wanna live here, do you? I didn't think so.

Another Big Guy Headed To Hanover*

* but there's a catch ...

The Boston Globe has a wonderful sports section (even it it loses any semblance of objectivity when it comes to the Sox and the Pats) but it didn't help me this time. Today's Globe included this note:

St. John's Prep will send three players off to play at the next level. When they get there, they will already have a network of Eagle alums to help them along. Quarterback Scott Darby is headed to Georgetown, where the Hoyas already have a couple of Prep products in linebackers John Cassidy and Travis Zorilla. Lineman Danny Vacy will head to Williams, where he will have three former Eagles to welcome him to the squad. Lineman Nate Brickley and safety John Whitney are off to Dartmouth and Hamilton, respectively. "They're going to four good schools," said head coach and athletic director Jim O'Leary. "They should do well."

So off I go looking for info on Nate Brickley. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. A Brickley wall, if you will.

I go back to the Globe and wonder about the note saying "three players" and then count. One, two, three, four. Hmmm. That sends me off to MaxPreps and in search of a team site, if there is one. No help there. And St. John's team web site doesn't list a Nate Brickley. Back to the original Globe note. Quarterback named Darby in the note matches up with quarterback named Darby on the roster so I'm on the right page but no Brickley. As soon as I close up the site something occurs to me and I open it up again. Let's see. Aha. There's a Nate Brakeley. Could it be? Of course.

Now I go back and do my search on Nate Brakeley and lo and behold, he's on all the pages I checked before as a 6-4/6-5-ish, 225 lineman. Success, but with an asterisk. He might not be headed to Dartmouth to play football afterall. Turns out he's a top rugby player at a high school where the sport is big.

Excerpts from an earlier story in the Salem News:

Nate Brakeley is facing a big decision next year when he must choose between football and rugby. Brakeley has applied to Dartmouth early decision and hopes to follow both his parents to Hanover, N.H.

and ...

"I'll find out on the 15th of this month," said Brakeley. "I'm not going to decide on football or rugby until I get there, but I have already talked to the rugby coach. Playing sports keeps me busy and is something I enjoy doing."

For a head and shoulders picture, click here. Another story tells us he was, "Named Catholic Conference Lineman of the Year after a stellar senior season on both sides of the ball."

From an earlier Boston Globe that got his name right when he was named all-scholastic:

The 6-foot-5-inch, 225-pound force was the Catholic Conference Lineman of the Year while holding down a 4.6 grade-point average. Prep finished second in the conference this fall. Brakeley is a member of the ski team and captain of the rugby team.

There was a neat story about his love of rugby in the local Daily News last spring:

Nate Brakeley, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound junior from Marblehead, has already been playing rugby for three years and will make it four straight seasons next spring. That's a common occurrence at St. John's Prep, where rugby is a wildly popular sport.

A Final Thought: Given that one of the stories says he "has applied to Dartmouth early decision," and wasn't listed among the early decision admits, it sounds like he's a big rugby player ... but one worth keeping an eye on. Stay tuned.

***

Gotta run, but before I do, Colgate's assistant head coach is leaving for Rutgers.

More On DB From Illinois

Notre Dame H.S., of Niles, Ill., has a news release about Brendan Murray, the 6-foot, 180-pound defensive back headed to Dartmouth. In the story, Notre Dame AD and coach Mike Hennessey says of Murray:

"He is proof that hard work does pay off. As a football player, Brendan is a throwback to the old times. He plays agressively, hits hard and defensively covers the field from sideline to sideline."

There are also photos of Murray on the Notre Dame site here.

The Jupiter Courier in Florida has a story headlined "Signing day not just for football anymore," that has comments from and about Conner Kempe, the 6-4 quarterback headed to Dartmouth. From the story:

"I was always interested in stronger academics and the Ivy League had what I was looking for," said Kempe, who was ranked in the top 50 high school quarterbacks by one national recruiting service.

Bill Polin, an assistant coach at Dartmouth from 2001-03 and most recently on former Dartmouth assistant Rob Talley's staff at Stonehill, is moving on to Richmond, where he will coach the offensive line according to a note on Football Scoop.

How crazy is college recruiting getting? Plenty crazy. Check out a short story in the Columbus Dispatch about a defensive line recruit who got letters purported to be from Ohio State coach Jim Tressell, on Ohio State letterhead, informing him that his scholarship offer had been pulled. Fortunately, the letters were so poorly done that the recruit wasn't fooled.

And finally, for a look at the Dartmouth Green from Baker Tower, click here. Unfortunately, you can't make out the snow sculpture.

Add A Texan To The List

Add outside linebacker Tyler Melancon of Plano, Texas to Dartmouth's recruit list according to this story in the Plano Courier Star. From the story:

Melancon said he will play outside linebacker for the Big Green, and though he is focused on his academic pursuits and life outside of football, the Panther still has a dream of playing at the next level.

“I’m going to work hard at both and get the NFL scouts looking at me,” Melancon said. “But I will really rely on the academic side to make sure I am well-rounded.”

The Melancon had 131 tackles and four interceptions for Plano East this year. For his season stats, click here. For a Q&A profile of Melancon, click here.

Melancon is another of those players whose size jumps all over the page depending on where you look. The Dallas News has him at 5-11, 205. His Plano East profile has him at 5-9, 165.

From the Plano Panther web site:

The following Panthers are moving to the college ranks. Tyler Melancon - Dartmouth, Austin Conyers - Mid America Nazarene, Rikko Smalls - Virginia, Kevin Smith - Wake Forest, Travis Malone - Preferred Walk on Arizona or Texas Tech, Chad Powell - Preferred Walk on Iowa State, Zack Patteson - Undecided.

The site lists him as first team All District 9-5A and first team Academic All-State.

Line Recruit Had Ivy Eyes

Dartmouth-bound Pat Lahey is the subject of a nice story (with photo) in the The Eagle-Tribune of Lawrence, Mass. Lahey, a 6-foot-3, 285-pound lineman, first started thinking Ivy as a high school freshman and has worked hard to make the dream happen according to Alex Konovalchik, his Brooks School advisor and a former player at Harvard.

Allen Lessels of the Manchester Union Leader has the lowdown on the UNH recruiting class in case you are wondering who Dartmouth will have to contend with for the next four or five years barring a schedule change.

The Daily Herald writes about Brown players gathering Sunday to cheer for former teammate Zak DeOssie in the Super Bowl.

With Signing Day behind us, most -- but not all -- recruits have been identified. This list is NOT complete, but it's what we know until more news breaks or the official announcement comes out in the spring. Sizes/positions for early decision recruits are per the college. Sizes/positions for the others are from published reports.

Confirmed Early Decision

• JB Andreassi, 5-11, 185, DB, St. Anthony’s, Melville, N.Y.
• Brad Dornak, 6-0, 195, WR, Westlake, Austin, Texas
• Mark Dwyer, 6-4, 250, TE, Woburn, Woburn, Mass.
• Austen Fletcher, 6-2, 285, OL, St. Anthony’s, Melville, N.Y.
• Conner Kempe, 6-4, 225, QB, The Benjamin School, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
• Pat Lahey, 6-3, 285, OL, Brooks School, North Andover, Mass.
• Grant Palmer, 6-5, 250, OL, St. Charles Prep, Columbus, Ohio
• Connor Phillips, 6-4, 235, DE, Winston Churchill, Potomac, Md.
• Mike Reilly, 6-3, 195, WR, Kent Denver, Englewood, Colo.
• Foley Schmidt, 5-8, 180, K, St. Thomas Academy, Mendota Heights, Minn.
• Alex Shulman, 6-2, 205, TE, Thayer Academy, Braintree, Mass.
• Zach Wodka, 6-3, 265, OL, Buffalo Grove, Buffalo Grove, Ill.

Reported In the Media

• Shawn Abuhoff, 5-10, 166, DB/WR, Dade Christian, Miami, Fla.
• Andy Altman, 6-2, 275, OL, La Jolla Country Day, La Jolla, Calif.
• Joey Casey, 5-11, 171, DB, Noblesville, Ind.
• Anthony DiBlasi, 6-1, 175, DB, Belen Jesuit, Miami, Fla.
• Diego Fernandez-Soto, 5-11, 190, TE/LB, Belen Jesuit, Miami, Fla.
• John Gallagher, 6-3, 230, TE, West Salem H.S., Salem, Ore.
• Chris Hardy, 6-3, 215, RB, Oakwood HS, Dayton, Ohio
• Tyler Melancon, 5-11, 205, OLB, Plano East, Plano, Texas
  
• Brock Middleton, 6-5, 260, OL, Brophy Prep, Phoenix, Ariz.
• Brendan Murray, 6-0, 180, DB, Notre Dame, Niles, Ill.
• Nick Schwieger, 5-11, 195, TB, Bishop Feehan, Attleboro, Mass.
• Eddie Smith, 6-4, 265, OL/DE, Christian Academy, Louisville

Conner Kempe Signing Day Video

Follow this link to watch a WPTV video report out of Florida on Conner Kempe, the highly regarded quarterback who is headed to Dartmouth next fall. (If it doesn't come right up, go to the video search box, type in "signing," and then click on "remarkable comeback." After the commercial you'll see the video.)

Another RB Commits

An exhaustive morning search brought lots of brief mentions of "Signing Day" recruits that have already been reported here, but only one new name (and one possible) so far.

The new name would be Chris Hardy, a 6-3, 215 running back from Oakwood High School in Dayton, Ohio. Hardy, who will graduate with 12 varsity letters, is the lede of this story in the Dayton Daily News. ... For a picture of Hardy on the basketball court, click here. Brief mentions on various web pages make it clear he's also a talented baseball player. ... Season stats from the Dayton Daily News: 94 rushes for 651 with six touchdowns; three catches for 84 yards and two touchdows; six kickoff returns for 231 yards with a long of 90 and two touchdowns, 16 tackles and two sacks. Game stats from the Springfield News-Sun.

Four Boston-area players are mentioned in this story in the Boston Herald as headed to Dartmouth although only three may play football. The story says:

Dartmouth hit the local scene hard, as well. Running back Nick Schweiger of Bishop Feehan, tight end/linebacker Alex Shulman of Thayer and linemen Nate Blakeley and Pat Lahey of Brooks all will head to the Big Green, though Blakeley may opt for rugby.

Belen Jesuit had a "Signing Day" celebration for Dartmouth-bound Anthony Diblasi and Diego Fernandez-Soto (along with a teammate headed to RPI) complete with banners and cakes. Check this link. There's even video here.

Defensive Eddie Smith gets a mention in the Louisville Courier-Journal.

The bad news is that Dartmouth didn't get Keynan Parker, a Canadian running back who was fifth in the 100 meters at the under-17 world championships. The good news is Harvard didn't either, and that might have happened if mom got her way, according to this story. Instead he's headed to Oregon. From the story:

At first, most of the calls came from seven Ivy League schools. Harvard and Dartmouth were the most persistent. They appealed to his mom, Lisa Sanghera. Parker considered it. With a Harvard education he would be set for life.

Someone who is headed to Harvard is the son of an AP correspondent in Birmingham. Read his accout of the recruiting process here. From the story:

I've lived in Alabama most of my life, and my two sons learned to say "Roll Tide" soon after they mastered "Mama." ... So why in the name of Bear Bryant is one of my boys planning to play football at Harvard ...

Remember Rick Stafford '83, the strong-armed quarterback? His quarterback son, Tucker, is headed to Georgetown according to this story in the Greenwich Time.

There's a relatively comprehensive list of FCS signings (except at non-scholarship schools) available from the College Sporting News if you want to check how other schools fared yesterday.

The mystery of the Nevada lineman who was recruited/not recruited by Cal has been solved. This story reports that the kid made it up.

Cornell has answered the bell regarding changes in financial aid. Find the story here.

And finally ... another snow day for the kids. I'm happy for them, of course, but with a teeny window for our summer vacation given other commitments, we may have to audible now.

One more thing ... I'm headed into Hanover to conduct an interview and won't be at the keyboard for a bit. But keep the "Signing Day" links and tips coming and I'll get to them when I make it back up the mountain ;-)

Defensive End Signs

Eddie Smith and parents Lawrence and Garnetta are all smiles on "Signing Day." (Courtesy photo)

Here's the Christian Academy Louisville press release on the event:

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Edward “Eddie” Smith, a 6-4, 265 lineman, has signed to continue his education and play football at Dartmouth College. Smith, who was selected by the coaching staff as Christian Academy of Louisville’s “2007 Lineman of the Year,” signed an Ivy League Letter of Commitment during a ceremony at the school on Wednesday, the first day that high school seniors could sign national letters of intent for football.

“It is the Ivy League,” said Smith. “To have the opportunity to play at that level and to have that kind of education is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It’s very exciting.”

Smith was a two-way player who anchored an offense that ranked #10 in Kentucky’s Class 2A this past season and a defense that ranked #6. The Centurions finished the season with an 8-4 record, advancing to the second round of the Class 2A playoffs. Smith was recruited by Dartmouth as a defensive end.

“It’s an awesome opportunity to have one of our scholar-athletes sign with a school like Dartmouth,” said head football coach Dan English. “Eddie’s a tremendous young man – a hard worker on and off the field. He’s going to a tremendous ambassador for this school.”

Smith has a 3.5 GPA in Christian Academy’s college prep honors program, and scored 28 on his ACT and 1250 on his SAT. Eddie also serves as Senior Class Treasurer and sports editor of the yearbook.

Smith is the first Christian Academy Student to attend an Ivy League School. Dartmouth, rated one of the nation’s top universities by US News and World Report, is located in Hanover, NH.

“The people really sold me on Dartmouth,” said Smith. “I connected with them really well. If you have a nice campus and nice facilities, but you don’t have good people – then you don’t have a good college. The people really appealed to me.”

More on Recruits

When Brad Dornak was looking for a sweatshirt to wear to this Signing Day gig, he didn't have to look far. He could have just rifled through defensive back brother Matt's '10 closet ;-).

Brad is a 6-0, 195 wide receiver from Austin, Texas and Westlake H.S.

This has been around for a few days, but I discovered it only today. To learn a little more about -- and get a good look at -- 6-4, 265 defensive end Eddie Smith of Christian Academy in Louisville, click here. He's a big guy, for sure.

For a good "read," check out this New York Times story written when a top running back recruit allowed the paper to sit in on his decision-making process and phone calls to coaches. Interestingly, in the listing of positives and negatives for each school, academics and majors weren't mentioned.

Tourin' Floren

(Crouthamel Lounge photo courtesy of Dartmouth; click to enlarge)

I was all set to do my own photo tour of Floren Varsity House and those sneaks in the athletic department beat me to it ;-).

Go to this page, click on the link near the top of the page and tour away. Impressive stuff, although photos really can't capture what it's like to be in the Crouthamel Lounge looking down over the Memorial Field.