8: Ivy League Football And America

The documentary film Eight: Ivy League Football and America, premiers tonight in front of a sellout audience at the Yale Club in New York City. The gala is being hosted by the Ivy Football Association. Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens will be there along with a number of former Big Green players including 2006 captain Preston Copley, who was interviewed in the movie.

Today's Daily Princetonian has a story about the movie with a fun quote from Erik Anjou, producer/director of the film and a former Middlebury College player. Of former Harvard gridder Tommy Lee Jones, who appears in the film, Anjou said:

“Tommy Lee Jones has won an Oscar, but he still hates Yale.”

The film's web site says the documentary ...

...tells the story of how the eight Ivy League colleges invented the game of football and pioneered the concept of the scholar-athlete, and how irreplaceable lessons in discipline, perseverance, and teamwork continue to be taught on the Ivy League gridirons.

I've traded innumerable emails with Erik Anjou over the past year-plus and served as a two-bit tour guide during his visits to Hanover for filming. I've come to appreciate all the hard work and dedication it takes to put together any film, and how much heart he poured into this particular project. Erik was kind enough to extend an invitation to the premier and I'm disappointed I can't make it, but I look forward to hearing from Buddy Teevens about his impressions of the film and the opening, and want to wish Erik and co-producer/writer Mark Bernstein best of luck tonight and in distribution.

Former Dartmouth quarterback Jay Fiedler seems to be enjoying his retirement from pro football. A couple of weeks ago he played in a pro volleyball tournament. Now he's taking part in the pro-am segment of an LPGA tournament according to the Palm Beach Post. Now, I don't know about Jay's entire game, but after watching him square off against a recruit a few years ago in a long-drive contest at the annual Dartmouth football golf outing, I'm here to tell you he can hit the ball a long, long way. And because his caddy that afternoon at Hanover Country Club happened to be the very thrilled son of one of my wife's co-workers, I can also tell you that he was a generous tipper after his round ;-)

Former Dartmouth standout and coach Jake Crouthamel gets a mention in this Morning Call story about former Lehigh Valley (Pennsylvania) high schoolers who were eventually drafted by the NFL. For a link to former Upper Valley high schoolers drafted to the NFL ... . No wait a minute. There haven't been any.

The Patriot League has put its spring football prospectus on line. To see what it has to say about Dartmouth opponents Holy Cross and Colgate, download this PDF file.

The quarterback for another Dartmouth opponent is having a pretty fair spring on the field. The baseball field, that is. Cornell's Nathan Ford went a blistering 12-for-17 last weekend against Columbia to raise his batting average to .432 as the Cornell Sun reports.

And finally, that certain Hanover High sophomore finally opens her softball season this afternoon down near Manchester. She's switched from center field, where she played virtually every inning of every game last year, to catcher this spring. I asked where she would be batting in the order and she didn't know. I'm guessing leadoff or No. 3. We'll see.

Her brother, that certain Hanover 8th grader, is also a catcher but won't open his season until next week. Their dad, who played a lot of baseball, tried catching just once and quickly learned it's not a real good idea to turn your head when the batter swings ;-).