TE Coach Takes Maryland High School Job

Although Dartmouth football coach Buddy Teevens has kept his staff largely intact in his second go-around in Hanover the Big Green will have a new tight ends coach next year. That's because Lance Clelland has been hired as head football coach at Meade High School in Fort Meade, Maryland.

There's a detailed story about his hiring and coaching/playing background on the HometownAnnapolis.com website. Meade was just 1-9 last year but Clelland will find a nice welcome gift when he returns to his home state: A 6-4, 216-pound quarterback signed with Auburn is transferring to the school

Clelland was at Dartmouth for just one year. Find his bio here.

It's cold and breezy out this morning and there's rain in the forecast. My Little League team plays in about an hour so I've got to grab some bad-weather gear and get rolling.

Justice for Gargiulo – Not

"Better a broken bone than a broken spirit - Justice for Gargiulo!"
– Signature of Calgary Stampeders blog poster

Tough news out of Calgary where former Dartmouth great Anthony Gargiulo '06 was placed on the "retired list," although he's still hoping to return from a potentially career-ending injury according to this story carried by CBCSports.

A two-time member of the All-Ivy first team, Gargiulo terrorized quarterbacks while at Dartmouth with remarkable running ability and agility for a defensive end. He played part of one season north of the border before having his pro football dream possibly ended last Nov. 3 on a controversial play involving offensive lineman Jason Jiminez of the BC Lions. Carefully consider what CBC commentator Elliotte Friedman wrote about the play (italics are mine):

I sent a link of the clip to Chris Walby, Khari Jones, Daved Benefield, Greg Frers and A.J. Gass - the five former players who worked on our show last weekend. Walby, arguably the greatest lineman ever to play in the CFL, called it maybe the dirtiest play he’d ever seen. Jones and Benefield thought it was brutal. Frers and Gass watched it with me in my Regina hotel room, and you had to see the look on their faces. They were shocked. (And, as many readers have pointed out, if Gass is shocked, it’s pretty bad.)

Jiminez was initially suspended for one game – one game – before the suspension was overruled. Gargiulo, meanwhile, is facing the possible (perhaps likely) end of his career.

The Stampeders forum has been hopping with postings about the incident and Gargiulo himself has responded. In this following posting, Gargiulo explains the extent of his injury:

There was no damage to my achilles, which is very fortunate. Because of the nature of the break, a nearly 4 inch long (or that's how long it looks to me in the x-rays) chunk of my fibula was broken off (I believe it's known as a comminuted or 'butterfly' fracture... the shape of the piece broken off gives it that name) and there were several other fractures along that bone. This 'butterfly' fracture was itself in a few pieces so the doctors inserted a long plate to piece the whole deal back together. There was some shortening of the fibula as a result of the injury, which has hopefully been repaired by 2 screws running across the horizontal length of tibia and fibula where they intersect at the ankle. 6 smaller screws hold the plate and the bone fragments in place.

The hope is that the tibia and fibula will heal back into their natural alignment, as any sort of shortening or separation could lead to big problems down the road.

There was also quite a bit of ligament damage as the back of my heel folded up and nearly touched the back of my calf (quite a strange feeling and one that I'll never forget). For this to happen without my tibia fracturing the same way my fibula did, a lot of things had to give way in my ankle (the tibia is bigger than the fibula and much stronger... so the fibula gave out to the pressure while the tibia didn't, so soft tissue in the ankle did instead). There was also damage to a few tendons in the ankle, although I could never list all the medical names for them.

Gargiulo followed that posting up this winter with an update on his condition and a few thoughts about the player who caused it:

I had my cast off just before the holidays and was in a walking boot until the 3rd week of January. Things were going pretty well and I was finally able to walk without pain by the time the walking boot came off. Walking without the boot (as per the doctor's orders) caused 2 of the screws in my leg to break, however. Think of what happens when you bend a paperclip back and forth too many times... eventually it just snaps.

So with the screws broken the doctor bumped up the removal of said hardware (apparently it's not that big of a deal they broke, although it did make for a more difficult removal). I had those 2 screws taken out on 2/5 in NYC. The whole procedure took about an hour and involved more carpentry tools than medical tools from what I remember (hammers, drills, screwdrivers etc). Due to the fact that they had to dig into the bone to get out 2 of the broken halves, I am back on crutches now until my next doc's appointment this Thursday the 14th.

The remaining screws and the plate will stay in my leg until my career is over, whenever that may be. The doctor has yet to commit to a date when I can start running, but said it should be some time around mid-March to April if everything goes well.

The league just contacted me last week and informed me that I have to fly back up to Canada to testify in yet ANOTHER hearing for Jimenez. I'm glad the CFLPA is doing such a great job of protecting him... I just wish they'd do something for me too as I'm going on my 4th month laid up down here in constant pain and frustration. I can't believe the process is still going on with all the eye-witness evidence and the bit that was caught on the edge of the film (not to mention the previous clips of him attempting the same kind of maneuver which ARE caught fully on film). It's rather sad really that there has been no conclusion and certainly no kind of justice. I am not looking forward to traveling back up North just to sit there and hear Jimenez lie through his teeth again while I sit with my leg up on a chair to reduce swelling. It might piss some people off that I'm saying such things on here, but too bad... I don't feel I owe anyone the courtesy of censoring myself at this point after what has/hasn't been done to/for me. I'm not the type to complain, but I still can't walk and who knows if I can run again... only time will tell.

Green Alert Take: Anthony Gargiulo is one of the real good people to come through the Dartmouth program. If you knew him at all, you were rooting for him to make it in pro football. Now a lot of people who never met him are rooting hard for him and they should be. If you visit those forums you'll see an amazing outpouring of support for him.

***

The news out of Florida regarding former Cornell great Tom McHale has only gotten sadder. The onetime Tampa Bay Bucs lineman died at age 45 after apparently taking Xanax pills and using cocaine according to this story.

Longtime Dartmouth baseball coach Bob Whalen has been chosen the New England Coach of the Year by the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association. Whalen guided the Big Green to the Red Rolfe Division championship and the No. 1 ranking in the region. Find a Dartmouth release here. ... The coach's son, meanwhile, was the winning pitcher last night in relief as he helped the Little League team I'm again helping coach to an extra-inning victory over our in-town rival. Volunteering to umpire the game and doing a terrific job: a couple of Dartmouth players.

And finally, that certain Hanover High sophomore's softball season ended last night with a 19-1 loss (ouch). She scored the only run although that was little consolation. For the second year in a row, she played every inning of the season, this year as catcher. Next on tap for her: running Sunday in the tremendously popular Covered Bridges Half Marathon in Vermont. The race field of 2,300 runners was filled last winter in 82 minutes! ... That certain Hanover High 8th grader, meanwhile, continues to lash the ball for his baseball team with a line single over the pitcher's head yesterday and a walk in his two trips to the plate.

Preseason All-Americans On Schedule

A website called Consensus Draft Services has named its preseason All-America team for what it still terms Division I-AA. Dartmouth will face two first-teamers (Yale tailback Mike McLeod and Princeton punter Ryan Coyle) as well as five second-teamers (Harvard quarterback Chris Pizzotti, Holy Cross quarterback Dominic Randolph, Colgate tailback Jordan Scott, Brown corner Darrell Harrison and UNH tight end Scott Sicko). The full team:

Consensus Draft Services Preseason All-America Team
I-AA First Team Offense
QB Bobby Reid, Texas Southern, 6'3", 230
RB Corey Lewis, Northern Iowa, 6'0", 197
RB Mike McLeod, Yale, 5'11", 205
WR Ramses Barden, Cal Poly, 6'5", 225
WR Terrell Hudgins, Elon, 6'2", 225 (Jr.)
TE Marquez Branson, Central Arkansas, 6'3", 245
OT Joel Bell, Furman, 6'7", 315
OT Keith Buckman, North Dakota State, 6'5", 310 (Jr.)
OG JD Quinn, Montana, 6'4", 310
OG Matt McCracken, Richmond, 6'4", 300 (RS So.)
C Colin Dow, Montana, 6'5", 305
K Jeff Turner, Southeastern Louisiana, 5'9", 175 (Jr.)
KR JT Rogan, San Diego, 5'10", 190

I-AA - First Team Defense
DE Robert Brown, Wagner, 6'1", 240
DE Greg Peach, Eastern Washington, 6'2", 256
DT Anthony Williams, Appalachian State, 6'1", 285 (Jr.)
DT Mark Huygens, Northern Iowa, 6'6", 277
LB Bobby Daly, Montana State, 6'0", 225
LB Rechard Johnson, Alabama State, 5'11", 190 (RS So.)
LB Quintin Phillips, Western Carolina, 6'2", 240
LB Tim Turner, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 6'2", 220
CB Ladarius Webb, Nicholls State, 6'0", 185
CB David Hyland, Morehead State, 6'1", 190
FS Colt Anderson, Montana, 5'10", 190
SS Marcus Haywood, James Madison, 6'0", 190
P Ryan Coyle, Princeton, 6'3", 210
PR Jeremy Gilchrist, Hampton, 5'10", 180

Second Team Offense
QB Dominic Randolph, Holy Cross, 6'3", 215
RB Rashad Jennings, Liberty, 6'1", 235
RB Jordan Scott, Colgate, 5'11", 205
WR Jeremy Gilchrist, Hampton, 5'10", 180
WR Cameron Luke, Texas State, 6'2", 210
TE Scott Sicko, New Hampshire, 6'3", 245 (Jr.)
OT Tim Silver, Richmond, 6'6", 310
OT Raphael Nguti, Albany, 6'7", 325
OG Dennis Conley, Hampton, 6'4", 305
OG Chaz Millard, Eastern Illinois, 6'3", 305 (Jr.)
C Kheon Hendricks, Delaware, 6'1", 300
K Mark Troyan, Duquesne, 5'9", 195
KR Justin Rogers, Richmond, 5'10", 170 (RS So.)

Second Team Defense
DE Ledarius Anthony, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 6'6", 250
DE Jeremy Maddox, Alabama AM, 6'0", 245 (Jr.)
DT Dennis Marsh, Norfolk State, 6'5", 300
DT Mychel Savage, Youngstown State, 6'2", 300
LB Cyrus Mulitalo, Sacramento State, 6'1", 245
LB Ryan Phipps, Idaho State, 6'0", 230
LB DJ Smith, Appalachian State, 6'1", 215, (So.)
LB Jason Williams, Western Illinois, 6'3", 225
CB Al Donaldson, Alabama A&M, 5'10", 175
CB Darrell Harrison, Brown, 5'11", 175
FS Aaron Strader, Duquesne, 6'3", 190
SS Brandon Gathof, Eastern Kentucky, 6'2", 205
P Brandon Lane, Elon, 6'6", 240
PR Johnny Gray, Northern Iowa, 5'9", 185

Honorable Mention
QB Armanti Edwards, Appalachian State (Jr.)
QB Ryan Perrilloux, Jacksonville State (Jr.)
QB Jake Phillips, William & Mary
QB Chris Pizzotti, Harvard
QB Rob Schoenhoft, Delaware (Jr.)
QB John Skelton, Fordham (Jr.)
RB Herb Donaldson, Western Illinois
RB Jay Lucas, Southeastern Louisiana
RB David McCarty, Albany (Jr.)
RB Trevyn Smith, Weber State (Jr.)
RB Javarris Williams, Tennessee State
WR Aaron Boyce, Eastern Washington (Jr.)
WR Jamar Johnson, Norfolk State
WR John Matthews, San Diego
WR Kervin Michaud, Delaware
WR Brandon Rice, UC Davis
WR Andre Roberts, Citadel (Jr.)
TE Larry Hedden, Furman (Jr.)
TE Brian Mandeville, Northeastern
TE Jerimiah Wurzbacher, North Dakota State
OT Adrian Brown, Delaware State
OT DeMario Deese, Gardner-Webb
OT Lane Freiwald, Central Arkansas (Jr.)
OT Britt Leggett, Coastal Carolina
OT Cornelius Lewis, Tennessee State
OT Kevin Mahoney, Eastern Illinois (Jr.)
OG Jonathan Compas, UC Davis
OG Steve Kuhns, Duquesne (Jr.)
OG Eman Naghavi, McNeese State
OG Shawn Smith, Southern Illinois (Jr.)
C Nathan Soto, Morgan State
C Jonathan St. Pierre, Illinois State
K Robbie DeHaze, Northern Arizona
K Gavin Hallford, Jacksonville State
K Taylor Long, Eastern Kentucky
KR Dominic Bolden, Liberty
KR Maurice Dupree, Jacksonville State
KR Terrence Holt, Austin Peay (Jr.)
DE Jeff Bradley, Western Carolina (Jr.)
DE Mykol Gardiner, Duquesne (Jr.)
DE Eric Schroeder, South Dakota State
DE Damon Suggs, Georgia Southern
DE Ronald Tally, Delaware
DE Pierre Walters, Eastern Illinois
DT John Faletoese, UC Davis
DT Ronald Green, Mississippi Valley State
DT Brian Jackson, Lehigh
DT Aaron Jones, Eastern Kentucky
DT Eric Mikolajchak, Sam Houston State
DT Gary Tharrington, Appalachian State (Jr.)
LB Pierre Banks, Appalachian State
LB Jovan Belcher, Maine
LB Mario Brown, Gardner-Webb
LB Endor Cooper, Howard
LB Seth Goldwire, Wofford
LB Erik Johnson, Delaware
LB Tony Robertson, Appalachian State (Jr.)
LB Ryan Shotwell, Cal Poly (Jr.)
CB Jackie Bates, Hampton
CB DJ Clark, Idaho State
CB Kevin Gerard, Northern Arizona
CB Markee Hamlin, South Carolina State (Jr.)
CB Frank Moore, Alabama A&M
CB Patrick Stoudamire, Western Illinois (Jr.)
FS Chris Covington, Georgia Southern
FS Steward Franks, Arkansas-Pine Bluff
FS Terrell Whitehead, Norfolk State (Jr.)
SS David Caldwell, William & Mary (Jr.)
SS Drew Mack, Towson
SS Jeromy Miles, Massachusetts (Jr.)
P Jahmal Blanchard, Hampton (Jr.)
P Robbie DeHaze, Northern Arizona
P Doug Spada, Southeast Missouri State (Jr.)
PR Shaun Adair, Lafayette
PR Bryant Eteuati, Weber State
PR Ladarius Webb, Nicholls State

Brown has released its incoming football recruiting class here. The release includes the following comment: "This year's class is recognized as one of the best in the Ivy League ..." (Discuss among yourselves. ;-)

The Yale football page has a collection of links to stories and photos from coach Jack Siedlecki's recent trip to the Middle East here.

The Cornell page has a tribute to former Big Red and Tampa Bay Bucs player Tom McHale, who has died at age 45.

Missed this yesterday but former Dartmouth football captain Taran Lent '96 is quoted extensively in a Daily Dartmouth story about perceptions of Beta, the fraternity that will return to campus this summer.

Yesterday's Daily D also has a photo of sophomore safety Peter Pidermann performing a scene for a Theater 10 presentation of Zoot Suit. (It's one of those annoying rotating photos on the top left of the page.)

By the way, I saw heavy equipment doing some digging on Red Rolfe Field this morning as work begins on the extensive renovations of the Dartmouth baseball field.

And finally ... I had a meeting at 7 this morning at Hanover Country Club for some work I'm doing this summer for the Tommy Keane Invitational golf tournament and brought the Hanover High sophomore and her 8th grade brother along so they could play a few holes before school. Both got new golf clubs for their birthdays. For what it's worth, I got them started in the game two years ago and the hook is in d-e-e-p. The 8th-grader is going to have a tough choice come fall between playing football as an undersized freshman or joining the popular and tremendously successful Hanover High golf team. ... The sophomore will have her own decision about whether to continue in field hockey or run on the Hanover cross country team that finished fourth in the nation a year year. She's not going to play on the golf team – but the temptation is very strong and trust me, for a kid with a distance runner's frame she can hit the ball a long, long way. ...

Next in a series of Dartmouth recruiting lists: Women's ice hockey

• Erica Dobos, F, Bethel Park, Pa. (North American Hockey Academy)
• Reagan Fischer, F, Irma, Alta (Lloyminster Midget AA)
• Kelly Foley, F, Boston (Tabor Academy)
• Jenna Hobeika, F, Alpine, N.J. (Hotchkiss)
• Geneva Kliman, D, Toronto (National Women's Hockey League)
• Brittany Mills, F, Winchester, Mass. (The Rivers School)
• Moira Scanlon, D, Chicago (North American Hockey Academy)

Green Alert Take: Wonder when we're going to see a few recruits from the North American Football Academy. Nah.

News On Incoming DT

There's a story in the Tulsa World about eight members of Oklahoma's Sequoyah High School senior class earning Gates Millennium Scholarships, which are given each year to 150 American Indian students nationally. One of the recipients from Sequoyah – described in the story as "a boarding school for American Indian students" – is Cody Poe, a 6-4, 250 defensive tackle and all-league performer who is headed to Dartmouth.

From the Tulsa World story:

"...(Poe) said he plans to attend Dartmouth College in the fall. He wants to major in medicine, play football at the Ivy League school and eventually become an anesthesiologist."

For a video clip of Poe on the gridiron, click here.

Today's Daily Dartmouth features a story about Buddy Teevens and the football rebuilding process at Dartmouth. It quotes Teevens this way:

“In terms of wins and losses, I’m certainly not satisfied with where we are. But again, we knew that it was going to be a longer process. I would say that we’ve gone from a noncompetitive team to a competitive situation.”

Down at Harvard they are gearing up for the 2008 season with an audio commercial featuring quarterback Chris Pizzotti inviting fans to be part of the excitement next fall (click here to listen) and an inspiring video about training and conditioning for the coming season (click here to watch). If those links don't work, you can access the files on this page.

The Ivy League's a new associate director for communications is Scottie Rogers, who comes over from CBS College Sports Network (nee CSTV). Find a release about him here.

And finally ... It was 81 degrees here yesterday afternoon when I went to watch that certain eighth-grader's baseball game. It was 41 when I hit the sack and it dropped into the mid-30's overnight. I was more than a little afraid when I got up this morning that I would find my painstakingly planted vegetable garden would have succumbed to frost. So far it looks like it survived. Ah, life in the North Country ;-)

Another Look At Recruiting Class

Today's Daily Dartmouth has an overview of the incoming football recruiting class. There's not much new in the story, but it does have an honest quote from offensive coordinator Mike Hodgson that should be taken to heart by every newspaper writer, blogger, message board writer and fan. Hodgson says:

“You never know until they get here how good they’re going to be. You get some surprises.”

Left unsaid: Those surprises cut both ways.

Today's Daily D also has a look back at the undefeated 1996 football team that won Dartmouth's most recent Ivy League title.

If you watched the NCAA men's Division I lacrosse championship game between Syracuse and Johns Hopkins, you kept hearing a familiar name. One of Hopkins' stars was Paul Rabil, brother of former Dartmouth football co-captain Mike Rabil '06. At one point, one of the ESPN announcers actually called the Hopkins All-American, "The great Paul Rabil." ... Rabil scored six goals, one short of the NCAA championship record, in a John Hopkins' loss. Find his bio and a head shot here.

The Shreveport Times has a quick Q&A with SEC commissioner Mike Slive, Dartmouth class of '62. ... The SEC has apparently been good for Slive because if you read the story you'll learn he's a good 10 years younger than he should be ;-)

Sad news out of Florida where former Cornell and Tampa Bay Bucs lineman Tom McHale was found dead at age 45. The St. Petersburg Times has a story.

Fresh from a tour of the Middle East with several high-profile coaches, Yale coach Jack Siedlecki and the others met with President Bush. Find a photo here.

There's more talk about abandoning redshirts and giving college football players five years of eligibility as this ESPN.com story writes. From the story:

NCAA statistics indicate that Division I-A college football players take an average of 4.7 years to graduate ...

And:

Several coaches said the five-year eligibility plan would do away with "redshirt blues" that often affect young players who redshirt early in their careers but don't have a chance to compete in games.

Note to Ivy Leaguers: Go ahead and read the story but don't get your hopes up. It will never happen in the Ancient Eight. Never.

Next in a series of recruiting lists: Dartmouth women's basketball.

• Sasha Dosenko, 6-3 forward, Kyiv, Ukraine (Kent School)
• Lalea Moses, 6-1 forward, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Frederick Douglas Academy)
• Bethany Morrison, 5-8 guard, Little Rock, Ark. (Pulaski Academy)

Reggie Williams Video

Find a CST video interview with former Dartmouth and Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Reggie Williams from his College Hall of Fame induction here.

It's football, but of the futbol variety ;-). Next in an ongoing list of recruits: Dartmouth men's soccer ...

• Michael Donlan, B, Phillips Andover (Andover, Mass.)
• Arthur Harris, B/M, Noble & Greenough (Framingham, Mass.)
• Luckymore Mkosano, F, Kimball Union (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe)
• Nick Pappas, B, Phoenix Country Day (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
• Adam Rice, M, Manalapan (Manalapan, N.J.)
• Maarten Van Ess, F, Marlborough (Marlborough, Mass.)

On tap: Men's track followed by women's recruits.

***

Hope you are enjoying a nice three-day weekend. The weather's been great in these parts and while there's a chance of showers late in the afternoon, I hope to get our vegetable garden planted before then. I'm sure it sounds late to a lot of you from around the country but trust me, after you plant one year on June 1, lose everything to frost and then have to plant again, you get a little cautious. ;-).

Not much else to report, except that we spotted a black bear yesterday. That's always fun – except when it's in your garage, which was the case several years ago. (Our opener was kaput and a rather large fellow made several garbage-can runs until we wised up and manually closed the door.)

Groundhog Day Scheduling

It appears my old editor at the local paper noticed the Green Alert blog post a couple of weeks back about the static nature of the future Dartmouth football schedules. Don Mahler had a column in Saturday's paper that blasts the scheduling.

Find that column here. ... Some of what he has to say about the Big Green being contractually obligated to continue playing Colgate, New Hampshire and Holy Cross:

Four more years! It's like Groundhog Day for gridiron sadomasochists. When is this exercise in futility going to end? When is this slight to local college football fans going to stop? When is this joke of a schedule going to change?

Not until 2012, I'm sorry to say.

That means fans of Dartmouth and Ivy League football must put up with four more years of the same old, same old. Or, in Big Green football terms: Colgate, UNH and Holy Cross -- better known as the non-league opposition on the schedule.

I really like this line:

The trio must feel like parts of the family now, having been on Dartmouth's schedule since 2000. And they will remain there, like an annoying relative who just doesn't know when to leave, until after the 2011 season. That’s a 12-year run.

Former Dartmouth defensive lineman Derham Cato '05 shows up in a YouTube video posted to help him land a football home after he spent part of last year with the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL and saw the AAFL postpone its inaugural season for a year. Find the video here. It is accompanied by the following information:

Derham Cato(DT/DE) #92/#94
Height: 6-4
Weight: 295 lbs
Speed: 4.68/4.71 x 40(track)

Toronto Argonauts(CFL)-2007
Nashville Kats(AFL)-2006
Frankfurt Galaxy(NFLE)-2006
4.72/4.75/4.78 x 40(grass)
20: 2.71/2.74/2.76
10: 1.58/1.61/1.65

Here's a bio page his agency has put together on him.
Bench: 27 x 225
Vertical: 29
Short Shuttle: 4.34/4.37/4.41
3 Cone: 7.40
BroadJump: 8'10"

Saturday Ramblings

Driving home yesterday evening after a certain softball game the golden light and dark skies over the green in our village of Etna made such a beautiful scene that I stopped to take a picture. That's a rec ballfield in front of the village church.

---

A little digging uncovered more information on 6-1, 240 New Orleans lineman Bruno Vetter, a late addition to the recruiting class. Stick with me now ...

Turns out Vetter's head coach at Newman School in New Orleans is a former Tulane offensive guard named Nelson Stewart (Tulane bio). One of Stewart's teammates at Tulane was an offensive tackle by the name of Cyril Brockmeier, who of course is the offensive line coach at Dartmouth. And just for good measure, the head coach of Stewart and Brockmeier at Tulane and soon Vetter at Dartmouth: Buddy Teevens. ...

Nelson Stewart was a high school teammate of Peyton Manning at Newman and he's quoted in this New York Times story about Peyton's days at Newman. ... Eli Manning also played at Newman. ...

Vetter helped Newman to the Louisiana quarterfinals this fall and to a No. 5 ranking in the state power ratings. Along the way he forced a fumble and returned it 75 yards for a TD, a notable accomplishment for anyone, but in particular for a 240-pound lineman. The play was the Times Picayune Play of the Week. ... Vetter was chosen All-New Orleans first team.

***

Yale coach Jack Siedlecki gets mentioned only in the last paragraph of a first-person piece by Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis in the South Bend Tribune about four football coaches visiting the troops in the Middle East, but it's worth reading to get a sense about the trip.

Former Harvard wide receiver takes a look at - and a few pictures of - cheerleaders in the latest installment of his ESPN The Magazine series, An American Footballer in Parma.

Former UNH quarterback Hank Hendricks will stand trial with others in the beating death of a professional surfer in the San Diego area. Fosters Daily Democrat has a story. More in the Union-Tribune.

And finally, that certain Hanover High sophomore softball player had a terrific final home game of the season with a triple, a line single, a ground single, a hit-by-pitch and three runs scored in a 5-4 loss yesterday. She also had a very good game behind the plate for Hanover, which had the tying runner on third when the game ended. A disappointing loss, but when you've dropped nine lopsided games in a row and take a 14-4 team to the final out, that's something.

The eighth-grader, meanwhile, came home grumpy after a rare hitless afternoon in his baseball team's win. When I asked how he did, he told me he hit the ball hard, but right at people. I tried to explain that there's nothing wrong with hitting the ball hard - and in some ways you should feel better if you are making solid contact than if you are dribbling balls in the hole - but that's not the kind of thing you want to hear when you are 14. Not from your dad, at least ;-)

Enjoy the long weekend and be safe...

This Just In ... On Recruit Front

Stop the presses. Hold the phones. There's been a late addition to the Dartmouth freshman class next fall.

The news comes to you thanks to an Alert reader (pun intended) who saw a note in the Times Picayune. The late addition to the class is Bruno Vetter, a 6-1, 240 lineman from Isidore Newman school in coach Buddy Teevens' old stomping ground of New Orleans. I couldn't dig up a Times Picayune link but did find this mention of Vetter's Dartmouth intentions.

Vetter is reported as having accumulated 53 stops, 23 assisted tackles (eight for loss), four sacks and three fumble recoveries this season for a strong Newman team.

Newman, incidentally, is nicknamed the Greenies, which would probably make Vetter feel right at home even if his new coach hadn't spent part of his career as head man at Tulane and living in New Orleans ;-)

Valedictorian Slash Wide Receiver

Oklahoma's Shawnee Sun has a story about Garrett Babb, a wide receiver and High School Heisman nominee from Shawnee, Okla., who is expected to play football at Dartmouth. The story says of the incoming freshman:

Valedictorian Garrett Babb, son of Stephen and Robin Babb, has a GPA of 4.21. Among Babb's numerous accomplishments, he was the student council president, a member of the National Honor Society, lettered in football, basketball, baseball and academics. He is a 2008 Oklahoma Academic Scholar.

Also ...

Babb received $222,536 in scholarships from various universities, including $45,864 from Dartmouth College, which he will attend in the fall, majoring in pre-medicine and biomedical engineering. Babbs plans to pursue a career in anesthesiology.

To see a video clip of Babb in action on the football field, click here.

The Daily Dartmouth has a year-end interview with Athletic Director Josie Harper after a year in which the Big Green could claim just one shared Ivy League title. The lede of the story:

Athletic director Josie Harper said this week that Dartmouth’s athletic teams are well positioned to have some of their most successful seasons ever in the 2008-2009 academic year.

The Daily Dartmouth follows up on former cross country runner Jarrod Shoemaker not only making the U.S. Olympic team in the triathlon, but also finding himself on a Wheaties box. Shoemaker tells the school newspaper:

“It’s still really funny. Honestly, when I got the first phone call about it, I thought it was going to be a joke. It’s something that you never think is actually going to happen. Until I saw it done and finished, and even then, I still couldn’t believe it. It’s very cool and very weird to see yourself on the Wheaties box.”

Shoemaker, by the way, comes from Sudbury, Mass., hometown of the mother of those two Hanover student-athletes ;-)

Next in a series:
A list of Dartmouth men's LACROSSE RECRUITS showing how the game is spreading across the country:

• Fergus Campbell, G, New Canaan (New Canaan, Conn.)
• John DeChiaro, A/M, Comsewogue (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.)
• Colin Delaney, M, Darien (Darien, Conn.)
• Alex Del Balso, M, Cold Spring Harbor (Huntington, N.Y.)
• Kip Dooley, A, Blake School (Minneapolis)
• Michael Gordon, D, Regis Jesuit (Denver)
• Thomas Mattimore, M, St. Ignatius Prep (Tiburon, Calif.)
• Timothy Root, A, St. John's School (Houston)
• Ben Rossman, MF, Haverford School (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.)

GE, The Rolling Stones and Dartmouth?

The first of two Dartmouth Months continues on the well-moderated Any Given Saturday forum about FCS (Division I-AA) football. Here's a post from one reader with information that may surprise you:

An interesting tidbit on why Dartmouth is called a college: Booz Allen, in the linked report ... on the World's Ten Most Enduring Institutions, includes Dartmouth among Oxford, GE, The Rolling Stones, ITT, The Salvation Army, et al because, in part, of its Supreme Court battle in the case of Dartmouth College v. Woodward, where Daniel Webster ( Dartmouth alum, Sec. of State, et all) successfully argued for Dartmouth's right to call itself a college nothwithstanding what the State of New Hampshire was demanding. This decision served to strengthen the Contract Clause of the Constitution. A significant reason some choose Dartmouth over other schools is its reputation in having an undergraduate (college) focus (not graduate school/university centric). As the report mentions, this point is brought home to every entering class.

The Pearland Journal, part of the Houston Community Newspapers site, has a story about the Pearland H.S., Oilers spring football drills. From the story:

The Pearland head coach said that all of the Big 12 schools sent coaches to watch Oiler practices along with coaches from LSU, Boise State, UNLV and Dartmouth among other colleges.

With so many teams in the Ivy League (and elsewhere) running the spread offense, a reader sent along a fine tutorial on what the offense entails and how to defend it. While this lengthy discussion might be elementary if you are a college coach, I found it very interesting. Find the discussion on defending the spread offense here.

And finally, since some of you have asked, mixed results on the diamond yesterday. The Hanover eighth-grader's team mercy-ruled the Hanover seventh-grade team, that certain Hanover sophomore catcher's softball team got mercy-ruled by neighboring Lebanon and that certain Blogger's incredibly young Little League team dropped a 7-6 decision to neighboring Norwich.

Sweet Music

Junior wide receiver Eric Paul has released a CD of his music in a self-titled album. Click on Eric's website and the song As I Recall will begin to play. Other songs are available by clicking the arrow on the player.

On the site, Eric describes his music as "a blend of piano and hope. Simply striving to encourage people, to have them hear a song and smile, or at least tap their toes. The songs are meant to be upbeat and uplifting."

The CD is available here.

Ironically, Eric Paul comes from Houston suburb of The Woodlands, about eight miles from Spring, Texas, where former Dartmouth linebacker-turned-musician Gordy Quist played his high school ball. Quist '02 released a new album this week with his highly regarded Austin-based group, The Band of Heathens. Check out the Heathens' website, and Gordy's website. For Gordy's MySpace page, click here.

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The Daily Dartmouth has a story about two new hires in the athletic department. One is the associate athletics director for operations and facilities while the other is the director of varsity athletics communications – AKA the new sports information director.

Next in the series of Dartmouth recruiting lists: Men's Basketball

• Kirk Crecco, 6-3 guard, Gilford, N.H. (Gilford HS)
• Herve Kouna Metsam, 6-8 forward, Cameroon (Canterbury School)
• Josh Riddle, 6-8 forward, Aurora, Colo. (Northfield Mount Hermon)
• David Rufful, 6-4 swing, West Warwick, R.I. (Northfield Mount Hermon)
• Jabari Trotter, 6-1 guard, Northride, Calif. (Phillips Exeter)

And finally, that certain Hanover High sophomore has to give a speech for one of her classes today. Dedicated baseball fan that she is, she has memorized Lou Gehrig's farewell speech. ...

Her softball team, by the way, is just 2-11 after its top pitcher decided not to play this spring and the only other dedicated pitcher came down with a sore arm after six games. The soph, moved from center field to catcher this year, has batted leadoff all season and has struck out just twice while playing every inning of the 13 games so far. Hanover will play archrival Lebanon today on the Dartmouth softball field, a treat for the kids. ...

That certain Hanover eighth grader finished his draining "I-Search" school research paper on golf greenskeepers last night/this morning (see a sports theme here?) and has his own baseball game today on a field almost adjacent to where his sister is playing. He's had a terrific year with the bat while rotating between catcher, second base and the outfield.

Me? I'll try to catch a little bit of each game before zipping across the river to Norwich, Vt., where my Little League team, The Green Machine, will be in action. After winning the title two years ago and challenging last year, we are a little – make that a lot – young this year and are taking our lumps. But the kids are learning and improving. Watch out next year and the year after!

Speaking of Titles ...

I'd been holding this for a day when I had nothing else, but with a discussion about Ivy League titles appearing elsewhere, it's time to post ;-)

2007-08 Ivy League championships:

• Baseball Columbia
• Men’s Basketball Cornell
• Women’s Basketball Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard
• Men’s Cross Country Princeton
• Women’s Cross Country Princeton
• Men’s Fencing Columbia
• Women’s Fencing Columbia
• Field Hockey Princeton
• Football Harvard
• Men’s Golf Columbia
• Women’s Golf Harvard
• Men’s Ice Hockey Princeton
• Women’s Ice Hockey Harvard
• Men’s Lacrosse Brown, Cornell
• Women’s Lacrosse Penn
• Men’s Heavyweight Rowing Brown
• Men’s Lightweight Rowing Cornell
• Women’s Rowing Brown
• Men’s Soccer Brown
• Women’s Soccer Penn
• Softball Princeton
• Men’s Squash Princeton
• Women’s Squash Penn
• Men’s Swimming Harvard
• Women’s Swimming Princeton
• Men’s Tennis Harvard
• Women’s Tennis Yale
• Men’s Indoor Track Cornell
• Women’s Indoor Track Princeton
• Men’s Outdoor Track Cornell
• Women’s Outdoor Track Cornell
• Women’s Volleyball Princeton
• Wrestling Cornell

Dete Claims Class of 1948 Award

Dartmouth linebacker and tri-captain Andrew Dete has been awarded the Class of 1948 Scholar-Athlete Award, presented annually "to one male and one female of the junior class, who have combined outstanding performance in athletics and significant achievement in academics."

Dete has a 3.78 grade point average in economics and posted 34 tackles last fall. Find a link to the Dartmouth release here.

The Blog has tossed up links to a play centered on the play Good Boys and True in the past. The play features a fictional Dartmouth football recruit and "a sex tape circulating among the jocks at an elite boys’ school near Washington," back in 1988. The New York Times gives it a less-than-glowing review.

The Austin American-Statesman has a piece about Bucky Godbolt, a former graduate assistant coach at Dartmouth (1980 season) who went on to coach at Boston College, Illinois and Texas, and is now a radio personality in Texas. Find his website here. Godbolt, the story says, recruited Ricky Williams to Texas.

The Daily Gazette in Schenectady, N.Y., writes about Yale coach Jack Siedlecki's upcoming trip to the Middle East.

Next in a series of lists of incoming Dartmouth recruits for sports other than football: Men's ice hockey.

• Jimmy Gaudet, D, Etna, N.H.
• Connor Goggin, F, Glen Ellyn, Ill.
• Doug Jones, F, Marietta, Ga.
• Paul Lee, F, Garden City, N.Y.
• Troy Mattila, F, Rockford, Ill.
• James Mello, G, Rehobeth, Mass.
• Jody O'Neill, G, Nepean, Ont.
• Nik Walsh, D, Shannonville, Ont.

More Internet Woes

Internet issues again this morning after our provider spent the past few days on the peak behind us to work on the transmitter sending the signal to those of us here in the hinterlands. Turns out the "upgrade" won't work, so he's back up there trying to get the old system back on line. To get you this much I'm on dial-up ... and I can't stay on it long.

I'll be heading into Hanover in a few minutes to do some research for another project and once I'm in town I'll hook up to the wireless at the library to get you a proper blog (if there is such a thing ;-).

Incoming Freshman Bios Available

Capsule bios on Dartmouth's incoming freshman football players have now been posted on the Big Green football website. Find the capsules here.

For a WBZ radio interview with incoming Dartmouth tailback Nick Schwieger of Bishop Feehan HS in Massachusetts, click here. (Once on that page, click on the appropriate icon in the right column to hear the full report.)

Columbia has released its recruiting class here. Coach Norries Wilson took a slightly different approach to recruiting than Dartmouth with just four of the 32 incoming freshmen accepted early decision. By way of contrast, Big Green coach Buddy Teevens took 12 players in its early decision class this year and 16 a year ago.

Overcoming The Odds

There's an inspiring story out of the Pioneer Press in the Twin Cities this morning about incoming Dartmouth kicker Foley Schmidt. A couple of excerpts from the story:

The former Cadets quarterback and all-state kicker has a severe form of Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes that requires 24-hour monitoring of his blood sugar, which Foley does with a grab bag of syringes, meters and juice boxes.

and ...

Sleep time is a completely different realm, however. Foley, whose body excessively burns calories, must be awakened every hour to ensure his glucose does not drop enough for him to slip into a diabetic coma.

Schmidt, a talented ice hockey player and nationally regarded club soccer player when he was younger, will be one of four kickers bidding for the wide-open Dartmouth job next fall according to coach Buddy Teevens, who told the paper:

"Foley's been very forthcoming, and I have a lot more respect for him for the sacrifices he's made to compete at this level. It tells me this is someone who can be successful in any part of his life because that internal drive and discipline."

Today's Daily Dartmouth has a story Dartmouth grads who will or might be headed to Beijing this summer for the Olympics. One grad who has clinched his berth is former cross country runner-turned-triathlete Jarrod Shoemaker. As the Ivy League website notes, Shoemaker is being featured on a Wheaties box cover.

Shoemaker's brother, Jake, is among Dartmouth's cross country recruits for next fall. Continuing a series of postings on incoming recruits, here are those coming for cross country:

Men

• Brad Kenimer, Alexandria, Va.
• Matt Miner, Ashland, Ore.
• Gabe Pacione, Hamilton-Wenham, Mass.
• Ethan Shaw, Falmouth, Maine
• Jake Shoemaker, Sudbury, Mass.
• Dylan Summers, Kingswood, N.H.

Women

• Marissa Greco, Hopewell Valley, N.J.
• Laura Hempel, Rickards, Fla.
• Amy Schuman, Phillips Exeter, N.H.
• Elizabeth Short, No. Reading, Mass.
• Christina Supino, Bishop Guertin, N.H.

Terrific Adam Nelson Profile

Time is short this morning because it's Confirmation Sunday for that certain Hanover eighth grader and there's much to do, so just one quick link today ...

The VirginiaN Pilot has one of the best stories I've read on former Dartmouth football player-turned-Olympic shot putter Adam Nelson, who is working on his MBA at Virginia. Nelson began his Dartmouth football career as a linebacker and finished it as a defensive tackle, making 18 stops as a senior on the undefeated 1996 Ivy League championship team.

From the story:

Nelson is arguably the most successful track and field athlete in the world over the past decade. Since 2000, he never has finished lower than second at any major championship – including the Olympics and the world championships.

Nelson is just 6 feet tall, almost tiny by elite shot putter standards. In explaining what it feels like when he generates the force necessary to win two Olympic silver medals and be among the favorites to take the gold in eight weeks, he used an analogy to his first Dartmouth sport:

“As a former football player, it’s similar to delivering that perfect hit, where you just line it up perfectly. It’s almost like that person wasn’t even there. You just blast right through him. When you’re really on throwing the shot put, that’s what it feels like. It’s just effortless.”

I still remember thinking Nelson might be a secret weapon in the offensive backfield. Apparently that thought has crossed his mind as well. From the story:

At 6 feet tall and 265 pounds, he was an odd size for professional football: too small to be a lineman, too slow to play linebacker. He thinks his best NFL shot might have been as a battering-ram fullback.

Diamond Dust

A regular reader emailed and asked if recruits for several teams other than football might be posted on Green Alert blog, as was the case last year. Ask and ye shall receive. Today: baseball players headed to Dartmouth, winner of this year's Red Rolfe Division title.

• Jake Carlson, 6-0, 185, outfielder from The Woodlands, The Woodlands, Texas
• Kyle Hendricks, 6-2, 175, right-handed pitcher, Capistrano Valley, Mission Viejo, Calif.
• Max Langford, 6-1, 180, right-handed pitcher, Chantilly, Fairfax, Va.
• Marco Mariscal, 6-0, 165, left-handed pitcher, El Capitan, El Cajon, Calif.
• Joe Sclafani, 5-11, 180, shortstop, Jensen Beach, Palm City, Fla.
• Cole Sulser, 6-0, 165, right-handed pitcher, Ramona, Santa Ysabel, Calif.
• David Turnbull, 5-11, 150, outfiedler from Wentzville Holt, Lake St. Louis, Mo.

Former Dartmouth tight end Casey Cramer continues to make the most of the NFL Business Management and Entrepreneurial Program. Cramer, who has already done work through the program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business, has added the Kellog School of Management at Northwestern University to his resume this offseason according to this story.

Ted Leland, whose first position as an athletic director was at Dartmouth and later served as AD at Stanford, is this year's winner of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA)/NIT Athletics Directors Award. From the NCAA website: "Created in 1981-82, the NACDA/NIT Award is presented annually to an individual who contributed to the sport of basketball and the National Invitation Tournament."

Leland is currently vice president for university advancement at the University of the Pacific.

Leland and former Dartmouth running back/football coach Jake Crouthamel have been chosen for the NACDA Hall of Fame according to this release. Crouthamel, of course, was the longtime director of athletics at Syracuse. Also among the eight to be inducted into the hall this year is Frank Broyles of Arkansas.

Sticking With It

This morning's local daily offered an overview of Dartmouth recruiting classes for football, men's soccer, baseball, men's basketball, lacrosse and hockey, and men's and women's track. The piece was built around the idea that at non-scholarship Ivy League schools, attrition is a way of life. It made the point that football has done better on that score than a number of other Dartmouth sports. From the story:

"Football is notorious for thinning the herd, but the Big Green has had relative success in retention. Of the 36 freshmen in the first recruiting class of Buddy Teevens' return as head coach, 23 are still on the active roster."

Best name of an incoming recruit: Soccer's Luckymore Mkosana, a Kimball Union Academy product from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

With the school year winding down it won't be long before football all-star games begin between graduated high school seniors. One of the oldest is the Vermont-New Hampshire Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl played annually at Dartmouth's Memorial Field.

While Dartmouth doesn't have any players in that game, several Big Green recruits have been chosen for postseason competition in their local regions. Playing in those games can pose a risk, of course. Dartmouth freshman defensive lineman Lane Shipley lost his first year of college football to an injury suffered last summer in the waning minutes of a Colorado all-star game.

Big Green coach Buddy Teevens leaves the decision whether to accept an offer to play in an all-star game to the individual. He told Green Alert: "My attitude is they've earned the right. If they want to, they can. If they prefer not to they can use Dartmouth as an excuse."

Still More Cannon Fodder

This is the actual cannon whose "limber" was located under the home grandstand at Dartmouth's Memorial Field.

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WMUR TV in Manchester has a video report that gets to the bottom of what was originally thought to be a Campus Cannon Caper. To read a quick blurb about the cannon and find a link to the video report, click here. ... For a longer piece about the cannon, check out Vermont's Times Argus newspaper story.

So ... there's nothing buried under the Dartmouth football field. Not a cannon, at least. Is there anything buried under baseball's Red Rolfe Field? If there is, it might turn up in coming months as the old yard is completely renovated.

The Daily Dartmouth has a story about the project, which will see the grass replaced by state-of-the-art FieldTurf (including dirt-colored infield), two sunken dugouts, a brick wall curving from dugout to dugout, a new press box, seating behind the plate and a new configuration for the outfield. There will even be a baseball scoreboard replacing the converted football scoreboard that is down the right field line. Most of that I'd heard before, but the story did include something I did not know: Dartmouth has been the only Division I team in the country without a warning track in left field.

Dartmouth Names SID

Dartmouth has named Rick Bender, formerly of Davidson College, as its new sports information director. Find the announcement here.

Press releases, by definition, are a little sterile. For a more "up-close and personal" look at the Big Green's new SID, read a tribute from someone who met and got to know him as a Davidson student.

Rick Bender replaces Kathy Slattery Phillips who died last November after 30 years in the Dartmouth sports information office and almost 25 as director of sports information.

Schedule Musings

In talking with coach Buddy Teevens a few weeks ago, I asked about the possibility of changing the difficult and monotonous non-league schedule. It was clear after talking with Teevens that the battle to rework the schedule before the current contracts run out is one he's been unable to win and has grown tired of fighting.

That's not to say he's giving up, but it seems pretty certain now that Colgate, New Hampshire and Holy Cross will make up the non-league schedule for a few years to come. In fact, a look at the Future Football Schedules page on the Dartmouth website shows Dartmouth playing the same three schools through the 2011 season. That means the schedule will carry right through the careers of the incoming freshmen, making 12 consecutive years with the same three non-league opponents. There can't be many Division I programs that (dubious?) distinction.

By the way, if you want to make your reservations for the Harvard game sometime in the future, the schedules are posted up until 2012 – with TBA listed as the non-league opponents starting in 2011.

The Palm Beach Post gets a few thoughts from Jay Fiedler about the New England Patriots' Spygate scandal. The Post calls Fiedler, "a Dartmouth grad known as a cerebral quarterback." ... There's a little more on the Post blog site.

Harvard football coach Tim Murphy received an honor from his local chapter of the National Football Foundation. Whether or not you read the story, do check out the photograph here. Amazingly, Murphy seems to be unfazed by what's happening to him in the picture.

What was it former major league slugger Dick Allen said about AstroTurf? "If a horse won't eat it, I don't want to play on it." He'd have a different point of view if field hockey were his game of choice.

The Daily Dartmouth reports on the college getting the OK to install an AstroTurf field hockey field in time for the season next fall. That artificial turf will join the already installed FieldTurf on Memorial Field and lacrosse's Scully-Fahey Field while baseball's Red Rolfe Field will have FieldTurf installed this summer. Correct me if I'm wrong (and you did down in the comments section ;-), but by next year the only Dartmouth varsity sports playing on the real thing will be soccer and softball.

In late April The Dartmouth Review ran a lengthy interview with Priya Venkatesan '90, the former Dartmouth writing professor threatening to sue the college. Start reading the verbatim interview and it's almost impossible to stop.

Firing Blanks: Cannon Story Falls Apart

The great cannon-under-the-football-stadium mystery continues to get, as they say, curiouser and curiouser.

Not long after the story first broke about a cannon under the stadium that supposedly once belonged to a veterans home in southern Vermont, a story began circulating that the college had once owned a similar cannon, given to the school by France. Now the Daily Dartmouth is reporting that the artillery carriage found under the home stands at Memorial Field is part of the second cannon and that the barrel has been located in the back yard of a professor's son.

From the story:

It was not stolen from the veteran’s home as part of a prank, but was owned by the College and had been given to Dartmouth by France after World War I.

and ...

The connection to the veteran’s home, which had been the primary theory behind the cannon’s existence, seems to be an urban legend, (earth sciences professor Leslie) Sondor said, and nobody knows where the veteran’s home cannon might be.

Left unsaid is the answer to the question: How did a dying alum know there was part of a cannon under the stadium and why would he say he'd stolen it from the veterans home? (Find the original story and video report about the cannon here.)

I gave a talk last fall about blogging and the Internet and shared a couple of secrets about how and where I find stuff. (Not that it's all that hard – it's just time-consuming.) Anyway, now that the recruiting class has been announced, here's one of the recruiting pages I kept tabs on. This one wasn't available to the public if you didn't know a certain code to use. If you take a look, you'll see some familiar names, but also some names that probably didn't belong on the list.

Speaking of recruits, one of the players on that list, corner back Shawn Abuhoff, has been honored by the South Florida Touchdown Club as the 3A-1A Defensive Player of the Year according to the Miami Herald.

Sticking with South Florida, former Dartmouth quarterback Jay Fiedler is quoted in this Hartford Courant story on the Spygate scandal.

Another Dartmouth alum who went on to a long and successful professional career is Houston Astros catcher Brad Ausmus. Yesterday, the 1991 graduate who signed a contract before ever wearing the Dartmouth green became the eighth catcher in major league history to record 1,500 hits and 100 stolen bases. Find a note about that here.

Interestingly, the brother of a Harvard basketball player is following Ausmus' career path to an extent, signing a contract while attending Stanford. Ausmus gets a mention in this San Francisco Chronicle story.

The Daily Dartmouth has the numbers and analysis of the incoming freshman class. From the story:

Following the most competitive admissions year in the College’s history, 1,120 students plan to matriculate in the Class of 2012, according to Maria Laskaris, dean of admissions and financial aid.

The matriculating group — 560 men and 560 women — represents a 51 percent yield from the 2,190 admitted students, (Maria Laskaris, dean of admissions and financial aid) said, compared to the 53 percent matriculation rate of those admitted to the Class of 2011.

Reggie Williams In The Times

The New York Times has a frightening story about the toll football took on the health of former Dartmouth and Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Reggie Williams. Of his trip from Florida to New York for the latest round of surgery on a problematic replacement knee, the College Football Hall of Famer said:

“I was preparing myself for losing my leg. I drove up here to quickly be able to retrofit my car, in case.”

The Daily Dartmouth reprises the naming of 2008 football captains Andrew Dete, Alex Rapp and Milan Williams. Each captain is quoted in the story.

The D also has a story about the impending return of Beta, AKA Beta Theta Pi fraternity. The story widely quotes Scott Sipple '84, co-chair of the Beta Board of Trustees and a former Big Green quarterback who conducted an informational meeting on campus about the fraternities return. Quoted late in the story is freshman defensive back Steve Morris, a prospective Beta member.

Story On Recruit Ryan Lee

It's Dartmouth month on Any Given Saturday.

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The State in South Carolina features a story about 6-6, 245 Dartmouth-bound lineman Ryan Lee (video clip) and a high school classmate who is headed to Tufts, where he will play lacrosse. Find the story and a picture here.

Senior safety Ian Wilson, who will return for a medical redshirt season next fall after being limited to three games in 2007, has been named a rugby All-American after leading Dartmouth to the national round of 16 and a walk-over for the Ivy League championship. Find the full All-America team here.

Ever wonder what happened to Mark Johnson, the Dartmouth quarterback-turned-major league first baseman with the Pirates and Mets? The Worcester Academy grad returned to his old stomping ground to accept the school's Varsity Club Award and is featured in a lengthy story in the Worcester Telegram.

Johnson's story is an interesting one. A lanky pitcher/first baseman, he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 20th round after his junior season. But he'd been elected captain of the Dartmouth football team and at least in part because the Ivies didn't – and don't – allow athletes to go pro in one sport and compete collegiately in another, he turned down a contract offer returned to Hanover for his senior year. An offseason wrist injury hampered him badly in the spring and his numbers fell, putting his baseball prospects in jeopardy. Fortunately, the Pirates drafted him again, this time in the 30th round.

The 6-4, 235-pound Johnson ended up playing parts of seven seasons in the majors between 1995 and 2002. He hit .313 as a pinch hitter and .232 overall with 38 homers.

Today, Johnson is vice president and senior institutional sale trader at Sanford Bernstein & Co. in New York.

Johnson graduated from Dartmouth in 1990 as the school's all-time leading passer with 4,413 yards and 25 touchdowns. He's still fourth on the career list for yardage. His 196 completions in a season are second in school history.

Final Recruit Videos Posted

In December videos of the Dartmouth early decision recruiting class were posted on the Dartmouth football website. Now clips of the full incoming class are available. Find them here – and feel free to let me know what you think. My Internet connection is a l-i-t-t-l-e slow to watch 'em from home.

Thanks to the generosity of folks who answered the call, Dartmouth football is now prominently featured on the Any Given Saturday board, the home of FCS (I-AA) discussion. Fans from around the country will be reminded of Dartmouth and it's proud football history every time they visit the well-run site and check out the fact-a-day about Dartmouth football that will be posted each morning.

Dartmouth football lost one of its legends Wednesday with the passing of Donald Hagerman at age 95. The 1935 graduate of the college and class president was honored along with future president Gerald Ford and Don Hutson and others in a Dec. 21, 1959 Sports Illustrated article headlined: Here Are The Men Who Made It.

The subhead of the article: These are the men the judges chose: 25 football players of 25 years ago who have made much of their lives and today serve their fellow citizens in law, medicine, the military, politics, advertising, banking, movie making, and in many other ways.

Thanks to Sports Illustrated opening its vault, you can access the article and it's writeup about Mr. Hagerman here.

Also a varsity track athlete, Mr. Hagerman went on to a long and distinguished career in education. The Holderness School has a remembrance here.

The latest entry from former Harvard wide receiver Corey Mazza's blog, An American Footballer In Parma, is fresh up. This time Mazza focuses on his teammates, including one of whom he writes:

The guy is 44 years old, has played for 25 years and doesn't speak a lick of English. I'm not sure he even has a position. When he goes in on defense, Coach Papoccia doesn't mind if he misses his assignment because Robbie's such an animal on the field. Even better, outside of football he is a quiet, successful accountant with a wife and 2 kids. The people he works with probably have no idea what a badass he really is.

Meanwhile, Back In Italy

Keeping up on former Harvard wide receiver Corey Mazza's highly entertaining blog about his season playing pro football in Italy has been a little tricky, so here's an index for you. The entries are short and fun. Enjoy:

0-1 With Playing for Pizza author John "Big Grish" Grisham looking on and then joining in the postgame celebration at a local restaurant, Mazza's real-life team drops its first game.

1-1 After the first win Mazza writes: "The newly activated American was none other than head coach Andrew Papoccia, who hadn't put on shoulder pads since last June, and had never played quarterback in his life. But he was better than the alternative: Me."

1-2 While the Panthers lose another game, Mazza continues adjusting to life in a foreign land. He writes: "In other news, we recently found out we have been doing our laundry not with soap, but with fabric softener for the past month and a half, and I nearly suffered a season-ending injury due to a freak cheese-grating accident. ... Just when we thought we had Italy down …"

1-2 (Bye week) Mazza and some buds visited Greece and continued to adjust to life in Italy. He writes: "In other news, we welcomed a new roomie (Big Bear's brother) and found out the hard way that garlic has to be refrigerated."

2-2 A win in Spain sets up the next game against the Milan Rhinos and former Holy Cross great Steve Silva, who gave Dartmouth headaches a few years ago. The trip to Spain wasn't just about football. Mazza writes: "Instead of taking the ferry back that night with the team, the Americans decided to give Barcelona a go. But since we couldn't find a hotel room, the plan was to experience Barcelona's nightlife until the sun came up then check into our hostel the next day. We almost made it, but we found a friend who let us crash on her floor for a couple hours. We spent the next day at the beach, and later ended up taking a double-decker bus tour through the city and stopping by the famed Sagrada Family Church."

Former Dartmouth quarterback Jon Aljancic played a season in the south of France and a few other Big Green grads played in northern Europe but I wouldn't be a bit surprised, with Grisham's book and Mazza's columns, if more players don't head overseas. I know I wouldn't mind if they needed a blogger. How about the Parma Alert? Nah, Mazza's too good by himself.

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Yale has released its recruiting class. Find it here. And while Dartmouth doesn't play Georgetown, the schools recruit from a lot of the same places, so here's at look at the Hoyas' class and where it comes from. Georgetown is coached by former Dartmouth assistant Kevin Kelly.

Technology rolls on. During a dead period when head coaches can't head out, Alabama's Lou Nick Saban is video conferencing with potential recruits as this USA Today story tells us.

I can't figure out which is right. You either have to be trying awfully hard, not be trying at all to rack up 668 NCAA violations in four sports. Such is the case at Alabama State, which plays FCS (I-AA) football. The Montgomery Advertiser has the story.

News And Notes

For a look at Yale's recruiting class, check out this New Haven Register story. The Register also has an updated story about Yale coach Jack Siedlecki's upcoming trip to the Middle East.

Former Columbia quarterback Craig Hormann was let go by the Cleveland Browns after attending the team's recent minicamp.

The 2008 Holy Cross roster includes mini-bios of next year's freshmen.

Baseball Comes Up Short

It was a tough end to the season for the Dartmouth baseball team as Columbia won the deciding game in the Ivy League Championship Series Wednesday before an SRO crowd at Red Rolfe Field, 7-5. All credit to the Lions, who made plays in the field when they had to – including a game-ending double play – and hit with surprising power. Dartmouth coach Bob Whalen said it best afterward when he told the Daily Dartmouth:

"We played well all year long, really consistently, and played well in big games. I thought we played well today, they just played a little bit better.”

Spotted in the crowd were former Columbia football coach Ray Tellier and current coach Norries Wilson. ... Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens was at the doubleheader Tuesday but out of town Wednesday.

The Dartmouth football website has a short release on the naming of Andrew Dete, Alex Rapp and Milan Williams as 2008 captains.

The NCAA's Academic Progress Rate scores been released. Check out the full release here and how check out how Dartmouth and other schools fared here. ... For a Washington Post analysis of the APR concept and how it is working (published on the eve of the APR release), click here.

Just saw the rankings for the Directors Cup, an award honoring schools for achieving success in broad-based athletic programs, both men's and women's. Here's how the Ivy League schools stood through the end of the winter sports season:

• 49. Harvard
• 54. Princeton
• 66. Cornell
• 78. Penn
• 98. Dartmouth
• 118. Yale
• 119. Columbia
• 128. Brown

Regular Decision Recruit Bios

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com

May 7, 2008

HANOVER – The final pieces of the recruiting puzzle have come together for the Dartmouth football team as coach Buddy Teevens and his staff have added 18 regular-decision recruits to the dozen high school seniors accepted early decision.

The regular-decision class features five linebackers, four offensive linemen, four defensive backs, two running backs, two defensive linemen, one quarterback and one tight end. The newest recruits hail from 12 states with Texas and Florida each contributing three and Massachusetts and Illinois each sending a pair to Hanover.

Seven of the recruits are listed at at least 6-foot-4 with six weighing at least 250 pounds and three come from high schools with players already on the Dartmouth roster.

“It’s a very, very solid group,” said coach Buddy Teevens. “This is the most complete class since we've been here. We hit some high-need areas like the offensive line. Potentially eight or nine guys could line up there. The biggest thing is to continually add guys who can compete for playing time, and we felt like we've done that.”

To read the bios, visit Green Alert Premium.

Dartmouth Lists Recruiting Class

Dartmouth has announced its Class of 2012 football recruits. The list below includes both early decision and regular decision commitments, as well as several players who will be walking on.

I had a lengthy interview with Coach Buddy Teevens regarding the recruiting class and will have a story up on Green Alert by early afternoon today. Included will be his thoughts on each of the recruits and the class in general. The class:

• Shawn Abuhoff, CB, 5-11 185, Dade Christian/Hialeah, Fla.
• Joseph Andreassi, CB, 5-10 175, St. Anthony's/Water Mill, N.Y.
• Garrett Babb, WR, 5-9 175, Bethel/Shawnee, Okla.
• Joseph Casey, CB, 5-10 175, Noblesville/Noblesville, Ind.
• Kyle Cook, OL, 6-5 260, Mater Dei/Anaheim, Calif.
• Anthony Diblasi, SS, 6-1 175, Belen Jesuit Prep/Miami, Fla.
• Brad Dornak, WR, 6-0 180, Westlake/Austin, Texas
• Mark Dwyer, DT, 6-4 240, Woburn/Woburn, Mass.
• Royce Egeolu, LB, 5-10 240, John Paul Stevens/San Antonio, Texas
• Diego Fernandez-Soto, LB, 6-0 185, Belen Jesuit Prep/Miami, Fla.
• Austen Fletcher, OL, 6-1275, St. Anthony's/Old Brookville, N.Y.
• John Gallagher, TE, 6-2 225, West Salem/Salem, Ore.
• Chris Hardy, RB, 6-2 210, Oakwood/Dayton, Ohio
• Charles Hollis, CB, 5-10 170, Phillips Academy/Longwood, Fla.
• Conner Kempe, QB, 6-4 200, The Benjamin School/Tequesta, Fla.
• Patrick Lahey, OL, 6-3 282, Brooks School/North Andover, Mass.
• Ryan Lee, OL, 6-6 240, Heathwood Hail Episcopal/Columbia, S.C.
• Aaron Limonthas, LB, 6-0 210, Lamar/Houston, Texas
• Benjamin Magnus, LB, 6-3 190, Albuquerque Academy/Corrales, N.M.
• Sir Norman Melancon, LB, 5-10 180, Plano East Sr./Allen, Texas
• Brock Middleton, OL, 6-5 250, Brophy Prep/Phoenix, Ariz.
• Brendan Murray, LB, 6-0 185, Notre Dame HS/Chicago, Ill.
• Ryan O'Neill, OL, 6-4 240, Marist/Orland Park, Ill.
• Grant Palmer, OL, 6-4 245, St. Charles/Bexley, Ohio
• Connor Phillips, DE, 6-3 225, Winston Churchill/Potomac, Md.
• Cody Poe, DT, 6-4 250, Sequoyah/Tahlequah, Okla.
• Michael Reilly, WR, 6-1 190, Kent Denver/Denver, Colo.
• Dan Rooney, QB, 6-3 200, Shady Side Academy/Pittsburgh, Pa.
• Foley Schmidt, K/P, 5-9 175, St. Thomas Academy/Inver Grove Hgts., Minn.
• Nick Schwieger, RB, 5-10 190, Bishop Feehan/Norton, Mass.
• Alex Shulman, TE, 6-2 205, Thayer Academy/Hingham, Mass.
• Eddie Smith, DT, 6-3 265, Christian Academy/Louisville, Ky.
• Zach Wodka, OL 6-3,265, Buffalo Grove/Arlington Hgts., Ill.

Cornell has released its list of football recruits here with information on each.

Next fall's Princeton-Penn football game has been shifted to Friday night, Nov. 7, for broadcast on ESPNU.

The Daily Dartmouth got it right with regard to yesterday's doubleheader between Dartmouth and Columbia in the Ivy League Championship Series:

Seven hours and 49 runs after the first pitch in game one of the best-of-three Ivy League baseball championship series, Dartmouth and Columbia ended in the same place they were in at the end of the regular season.

Tied.

Dartmouth senior ace Russell Young took one for the team in the opener, staying on the mound on an afternoon when he didn't have it, thereby helping save the bullpen. He gave up a whopping 20 hits in an 11-7 loss. The Big Green built a 14-3 lead in the nightcap and then had to score the winning run in the top of the ninth to take a dramatic 16-15 victory. (Columbia was considered the home team in the middle game of what is now a three-game series.) The teams will play for the Ivy League championship today at 1 p.m. on Red Rolfe Field.

Defensive back/outfielder Jason Blydell was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored in the nightcap. He had one hit in the opener.

The Spectator take on the games is here.

Recognize Anyone?

Find two of the coaches from Saturday's Green-White scrimmage over the cover of this old Dartmouth media guide for sale on eBay. One is then-coach Joe Yukica, honorary coach of the White team. The other? He's the quarterback wearing No. 5.

Instead of lifting weights for one week in February, the Brown football team lifted some other things. Like, hammers. Or maybe saws and shingles as the Bears joined in the effort to build a home for a Rhode Island family as part of the ABC television show, Extreme Makeover – Home Edition. The Brown website has a story.

The good news for the Dartmouth football team: There won't be a Ricky Santos or a David Ball on the other side of the field when UNH comes to town for the home opener on Sept. 27. The bad news: No fewer than eight starters return from an offense that racked up 35.8 points per game last fall. The Cats have seven starters back on defense. Find a story here.

Off the subject of sports, the Harvard Crimson has a nice overview of the bizarre case of the former Dartmouth professor threatening to sue her students and write a book about her experiences teaching in Hanover. There's a temptation to jump into this one with two feet, but I'll let you read the stories and come to your own conclusions. There's an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal and a story in the New York Daily News. ... Dartmouth students, by the way, have the option of receiving credit without a grade in the course, according to the Daily Dartmouth.

At noon today the Dartmouth baseball team picks up the quest for its first Ivy League title since future major leaguers Mike Remlinger '88 and Mark Johnson '90 (also the Dartmouth quarterback) helped the Big Green with the EIBL championship (Ivy League plus Army and Navy) in 1987. This year's best-of-three Ivy League championship series was postponed from the weekend because of inclement weather and so Red Rolfe Division champion Dartmouth plays host to Lou Gehrig Division winner Columbia in a pair of 9-inning games today. If the teams split, they will play the decisive game tomorrow. The games will be streamed for free here. Veteran sportscaster Bob Lipman, the voice of the minor league New Hampshire Fisher Cats, will call the action with Wayne Young doing color.

And finally, it was a good day for both that certain Hanover High sophomore and her 8th grade brother. In four trips to the plate the softball player had an RBI double over the center fielder's head, a single, two walks and three runs scored as she helped Hanover improve to 2-3. As a catcher, she also had a handful of snap pickoff throws at the corners and might well have gotten a runner off first but the call wasn't favorable ;-). The 8th-grader, a catcher like his sister – but playing this day at second base – had a pair of Texas League singles and made several strong plays in the field for his team, which dropped a close game.

More On The Green-White

The Green-White scrimmage gets a writeup in today's Daily Dartmouth. Newly elected tri-captain Andrew Dete tells the school paper:

“Spring practice has been overwhelmingly positive. The team has really responded well to losing a bunch of great seniors and has worked extremely hard. I feel as optimistic about the program as I have since being here. A strong spring has set us up well for the fall.”

The local daily has coverage of the spring game here.

One more note out of the spring game. In Saturday night's Green Alert report, I left out one of the spring award winners. Tim Vanderet, a 6-5 freshman making the transition from high school tight end to wide receiver, should have been listed as the wide receiver showing the greatest development during the spring. The full list of players honored for their hard work and improvement at halftime of the scrimmage were:

Kicking Specialist: Brian Scullin
Quarterback: Will Deevy
Running Back: Joseph Zimring
Tight End: Carroll Papajohn
Wide Receiver: Tim Vanderet
Offensive Line: John O'Sullivan
Defensive Line: Jeff Smith
Defensive End: Charles Bay
Linebacker: Michael Dearwester
Safety: Casey Frost
Corner: Robbie Krattiger
Weight Room: Rehan Muttalib, Alexander Toth, Jeff Smith, Matt Oh, Kevin Gallagher

STUBBIE PEARSON AWARD
(New this year, an award honoring Charles "Stubbie" Pearson '42 that recognizes an underclassman for character, leadership on campus, high academic standing and performance): Andrew Dete

The Daily Dartmouth has a lengthy story about incoming quarterback Conner Kempe, who battled back from a horrifying kiteboarding accident to resume his career at The Benjamin School in Florida.

While football went on Saturday, the best-of-three Ivy League Championship Series baseball games between Dartmouth and Columbia did not. A doubleheader will be played Tuesday with the rubber game Wednesday if needed. There's a brief story in the Columbia Spectator and another in The D.

Gargiulo Pledges A Pro Return

According to a Calgary Herald story Anthony Gargiulo '06 is determined to return to pro football after suffering a devastating broken leg while with the CFL's Stampeders last season. The player who broke his leg was initially suspended for an illegal block, but reinstated after a hearing last month that Gargiulo attended. From the story:

Anthony Gargiulo says some day he may forgive -- he hasn't yet -- but he'll never forget the play, or the player, that could have ended his football career.

The story says Gargiulo, "had a second round of surgery two months ago to remove two screws, and faces more down the road to deal with six remaining screws in his leg."

When the next Ivy Football Association Dinner is held on January 22, 2009 at The Waldorf-Astoria in New York City, the Dartmouth honoree will be Jake Crouthamel '60, the former star running back, Big Green head coach and Syracuse athletic director. Crouthamel, of course, was in Hanover yesterday as honorary coach of the Green team in the Green-White scrimmage. Other nominees at the dinner will be:

• Brown: Steve Jordan '82 (Senior Project Manager Ryan Companies Inc. and former Pro-Bowl tight end for the Minnesota Vikings)
• Columbia: Robert Kraft '63 (Founder, Chairman, CEO, The Kraft Group and owner, New England Patriots)
• Cornell: Ed Marinaro '72 (Actor and former Minnesota Viking, New York Jet and Seattle Seahawk)
• Harvard: John Culver '54 (Former U.S. Congressman and U.S. Senator from Iowa)
• Penn Robert Fox '52 (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer R.A.F. Industries Inc.)
• Princeton: Donald Rumsfeld '54 (Former United States Secretary of Defense)
• Yale: Stone Phillips '77 (Television Journalist)

Former Princeton quarterback Jeff Terrell got a minicamp invitation from the Dallas Cowboys (a Princeton and hometown connection didn't hurt) while Harvard's Andrew Brecher failed his physical with the team and was not signed according to this note.

Perhaps seeking to avoid any hint of a quarterback controversy come preseason camp, UNH has named RJ Toman as its starting quarterback next fall. Toman was very impressive in relief of Ricky Santos in last September's game against Dartmouth. Fosters Daily Democrat has a story.

Saw a note about this elsewhere and couldn't help but toss in a thought. The Collegiate Licensing Company announced its top-selling institutions for the second quarter of the 2007-2008 fiscal year. Texas was No. 1 while Penn State was No. 7. My thought: Look for PSU to climb that list after our recent trip to State College. By my estimation it could be early August before that certain Hanover High soph and her 8th grade brother wear anything that doesn't have a Penn State logo on it. Some kids spend their money on iTunes or video games. Mine? They left theirs in T-shirt shops from one end of College Avenue to the other.

And finally, it appears the right decision was made to delay the Ivy League baseball championship series to Tuesday. It's rotten out there again this morning. As it turned out, they might have squeezed a game in yesterday afternoon, but they could also have been holed up until Tuesday or Wednesday trying to finish the series. ...

It was fun visiting with a lot of you the past few days and after the Green-White scrimmage yesterday. I'd hoped to meet more of the incoming families, but between chasing down interviews, having to hurry one kid off to practice and finding the other – who was being dropped off for the baseball games that didn't take place – it got pretty hectic. Their mom usually does the heavy lifting on days like this, but she's "out-of-service" for a few weeks. The end of the Lonestar song, Mr. Mom, says it all:

Football, soccer and ballet
Squeeze in Scouts and PTA
And there's that shopping list she left
That's seven pages long
How much smoke can one stove make
The kids won't eat my charcoal cake
It's more than any man can take
Being Mr. Mom