Jayvee Barn Burner

With 6:46 to play jayvee score: Harvard 27-20. Details to follow on Green Alert.

Harvard On Tap

The Harvard Crimson and Daily Dartmouth both have preview stories today, but if you want to get a few thoughts from the coaches, stick to the Crimson story. Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens told the Harvard paper:

“The whole thing comes down to execution. We expect (our younger players) to step up, whether it’s making that critical block or good throw. We’ve been close enough to make some things happen, but unfortunately allowed some plays. We need to make more plays.”

More from the story:

"While a blowout may be expected, Harvard knows that it must not overlook the Big Green."

To that end, Harvard coach Tim Murphy had this to say:

“It doesn’t feel like it’s ever come easy. They’re tough, physical kids, they’re well-coached, and they have a lot of pride."

The Daily Dartmouth preview doesn't include any quotes, but it does include this thought:

"The Big Green’s chances are diminished by the team’s inconsistent and deteriorating play this season."

Ouch.

From the Daily Pennsylvanian weekend preview:

(A)ny title hopes depend on the Crimson winning out. But luckily for them, they play the worst team in the league tomorrow.

Ouch again, and I've been saying that a lot lately.

The Ivy League's official preview is tucked away just enough that I sometimes miss it. Find a PDF about the weekend's games here.

There's a nice story in the Miami Herald about the coach and football program at Belen Jesuit. Dartmouth junior safety Peter Pidermann, freshman safety Anthony DiBlasi and freshman linebacker Diego Fernandez-Soto are all alums of the terrific Belen program. From the story:

Through the years, Belen had adopted that reputation as one of the finest academic schools in the area. They backed it up by sending a number of athletes on to Ivy League colleges, which tends to be a legitimate barometer.

This year, seven athletes are currently playing at an Ivy League program, which represents the most from any school in the state of Florida.

An AP story the other day about Colgate tailback Jordan Scott that began this way:

NFL scouts regularly stop by Andy Kerr Stadium in bucolic central New York to take a closer look at the record-setting runner. Scott talks with them, sometimes watches film of his games and answers questions about family. And before each scout leaves, he asks Scott to explain why he spent 10 days in jail this summer

The story notes that "after a weekend party carried on too long, Scott and teammate David Morgan were accused of breaking into a dorm room and rifling through a desk."

Sprechen Sie Football?

Missed this one because I don't check the New York Times each morning, so thanks for passing it along.

Former Dartmouth coach John Lyons, now the head coach of the undefeated Kimball Union Academy team in Meriden, N.H. is quoted, with a picture, in a New York Times story about football coaches looking abroad for talent. Find the story here. Find the photo of Lyons here.

The story notes that Lyons, who coached in NFL Europe after Dartmouth, has a German defensive end who has signed with Boston College for next year and a Danish linebacker who will be at New Hampshire next year on scholarship. And Lyons has apparently made good use of the imports, leading KUA to a 21-2 record the past three years, including a 15-game winning streak that will be on the line against another undefeated team this weekend.

From the Times story:

Of the 12 players in the (International Student) Program – seven from Germany, three from Denmark, and one each from Australia and Mexico – five are at Kimball Union, coached by John Lyons. He was a longtime coach at Dartmouth and spent several years in the now-defunct N.F.L. Europe. He still has close ties to the web of coaches across the Atlantic.

Lyons said a lot of college coaches are intrigued by the recruiting opportunities in other countries. But most foreign players still represent a risk, since their talent cannot be viewed within the familiar competitive spectrum of American high school football.

Lights, Camera ...

I had my old digital camera (is there such a thing?) with me yesterday and snapped a couple of shots to give you an idea of what it's like practicing at Scully-Fahey Field. Obviously, it was just starting to get dark. ... While I was on campus I noticed big doings on the baseball construction project, so I figured I'd take a couple of snaps and share those as well. As always, click on any picture to supersize it.

The turf is finally going down on baseball's Biondi Park at Red Rolfe Field. The first photo shows the brick wall behind home plate.

Vintage Dartmouth

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Looking to order a gift for that favorite Dartmouth football fan, alum or student? Asgard Press is once again offering a Vintage Dartmouth Calendar. I have one of the 2008 calendars and, honestly, each page could be framed and hung on the wall. Here's an excerpt from the back cover that tells you more:

Time rushes by like the Connecticut River charging past Dartmouth College. Take a refreshing dip each day back into Big Green history with these twelve vintage images from Dartmouth football games gone by, featuring archival-quality reproductions of actual game-day program covers, printed on 100% recycled paper with soy inks. Each page is perforated, for easy removal and display in a standard 11 x 14 inch frame, so you can enjoy your favorites long after this season becomes history. “Glory to Dartmouth!”

The calendars are $18.95. For a glimpse at each page or to find ordering information, click here.

(In the interest of full disclosure, the nice folks at Asgard will send me a few Shekels if you happen to order a calendar, but that's not my reason for posting. Believe me, the lunch I bought with the check I got last year should be proof enough. No, the reason I'm blogging this is these calendars really do make very nice gifts ;-)

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Looking Ahead To Harvard
Harvard's release on Saturday's game at Dartmouth can be found here. ... A PDF of Harvard's full game notes can be found here. ... And if you'd like to hear Harvard coach Tim Murphy's recap of last week's Princeton game and other remarks, click here.

Harvard linebacker Eric Schultz won the New England Football Writers' Gold Helmet last week after making 16 tackles and the game-clinching sack in the Crimson's 24-20 win at Princeton. Schultz was a narrow, narrow choice over Brown's Bobby Sewall, who had another monster receiving game in a big win over Cornell.

For what it's worth, I know Schultz was a "narrow, narrow choice" because I was the selector last week and as I usually do, I agonized over the pick.

Easier was the choice in Division II-III of Williams running back Brian Morrissey, who had 42 carries for 201 yards, including the winning six-yard TD run in the fourth quarter of a rain-soaked, 14-7 win over Hamilton.

(Side note: The good thing about being the selector once each year is it gives me a great deal more patience when I disagree with the picks for Ivy this or Ivy that each week. It's a harder job than you would think.) Which leads quite naturally into this ...

Harvard's Andrew Berry and Yale's Casey Gerald have been named finalists for the 2008 National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame's Draddy Trophy, sort of the Heisman for football scholar-athletes. It's disappointing that Dartmouth linebacker Andrew Dete didn't advance to be one of the 15 finalists, but I understand. While Dete was absolutely deserving of moving on, Berry and Gerald are both terrific representatives of the Ivy League and the sense is the Draddy committee might be a little leery of over-representing the Ancient Eight.

Toda's daily ouch comes from the Daily Pennsylvanian Sports Blog:

The Penn-Brown football game this Saturday will be nationally televised on Versus as the Ivy League Game of the Week. And unlike last week’s fluff game between then-winless Columbia and still-winless Dartmouth, this game will actually be important.

The Cornell Sun takes a little deeper look at Wacky Wednesday in Ithaca. (While I'm sure they'd gladly trade the tradition for a Satisfying Saturday, it sounds like fun.) From the story:

... (I)t allows for the players and coaches to smile despite a three-game skid.

“We were trying to lighten up the mood. It didn’t work, we still lost,” Knowles paused and broke into a deep laughter. “But it was fun, we lightened up the mood a little bit.”

Former Dartmouth tight end Casey Cramer is back in action as a fullback with the Miami Dolphins. There were no guarantees he'd return after missing a couple of games with injury. The Palm Beach Post writes:

After missing the past two games with an ankle injury, Casey Cramer returned to practice this morning. He was joined by Lousaka Polite, who the team signed to fill in for Cramer.

Given the new regime’s approach, it must really like Cramer for him to have weathered two weeks with an injury. Polite, who played under Bill Parcells in Dallas, has filled in admirably, picking up a first down on a three-yard run against the Bills.

And the Post also has this, with a quote from Casey:

Cramer avoids revolving door: Since he arrived early last month, fullback Casey Cramer has seen players come and go during the Dolphins' never-ending rebuilding process.

"That revolving door got me in this place," said Cramer, who replaced Boomer Grigsby after Week 1. "I understand how things work."

A Notre Dame football blog called Rakes of Mallow (I had to Google that to understand why - guess I'm not that wordly) shares a little about Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt's days in Miami in anticipation of the Fighting Irish-Pittsburgh game. Of the quarterback situation Wannstedt faced with the Phins, the blogger writes:

In 2002, the Dolphins were led by Real American Hero Jay Fiedler most of the season, but a thumb injury following a very exciting Sunday night win in Denver started the Ray Lucas Era, a slide that will not soon be forgotten by Miami fans.

I've heard of Dartmouth grad Fiedler being called a lot of things, but Real American Hero is a first for me.

Ouch ... Again

The folks out in Washington can't get enough of Dartmouth, apparently. Or maybe they can. Following up on yesterday's note in the Seattle Times (Monday's blog), there's this in today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

Fact: Versus showed the whole nation Dartmouth vs. Columbia last weekend. Live! Hasn't our nation suffered enough?

OK, given that the game pitted two winless teams against each other it's not a bad line. But that doesn't make it nice.

A year ago Harvard's veteran secondary picked off four Dartmouth passes. With graduation claiming the two players who made those interceptions the secondary was a question area for the Crimson coming into the season. Six games in, the question has been largely answered. Harvard is third in the league with nine interceptions, with a freshman corner named Matt Hanson making three of them. Hanson is the subject of this Harvard Crimson story that quotes coach Tim Murphy saying of the freshman:

"The kids love him, he’s one of the top five most sincerely humble guys on the team. Schultzy, correct me if I’m wrong, but every time you see him you just want to hug him.”

Hanson's response:

“I don’t even know what to say to that, I guess I’m just cuddly.”

I can only imagine what the Duke basketball fans would do with quotes like that if Hanson were a hoopster visiting Cameron Indoor Stadium. ;-)

Dartmouth's game notes for Harvard have been posted here, and the official college release on the Harvard game have been posted here. The release includes this thought:

One encouraging item for Dartmouth is the fact that last year’s game in Cambridge, Mass., was decided by just seven points in a 28-21 loss to the Crimson. Harvard won the Ivy title last year with a perfect 7-0 record, and no other conference team played a closer game.

Remember that blog note last week about Bryant University in Rhode Island moving from Division II to FCS (I-AA football)? Anyone looking to break up a rugged early season schedule might want to give the Bulldogs' scheduling office a call – if they can get through. From a Masslive.com story about a 42-7 UMass win that wasn't remotely that close:

Quarterback Liam Coen tied his career-high in touchdowns with five in just a little over two quarters of playing time and UMass played 67 players in routing the Bulldogs 42-7 Saturday before 12,521 at McGuirk Alumni Stadium.

Coen led UMass (5-3) to a record-setting passing performance. The senior quarterback needed just 11 completions in 18 attempts for 389 yards and the five scores. Three others quarterbacks saw playing time as well and set the school's single-game passing record with 448 yards.

In case you were skimming, let me repeat: The UMass starter had 11 completions for 389 yards and five touchdowns in just over a half. That either tells me I don't want to play UMass or I want to find out when Bryant has an opening so I can schedule my Homecoming. Or both.

Roger A. Antaya Sr. '44, a three-year letterwinner at Dartmouth who later coached at Georgetown and Army, has died at age 87 in Maryland. Find a story here.

The text of Dartmouth President Jim Wright's final State of the College address and a podcast of his speech can be found here. From a Dartmouth release:

"Let us understand up front that the state of the College is good and strong," said President Wright during his final State of the College address to faculty on October 27. In this podcast, he touches on the highlights of his remarks and reminisces about his 40 years at Dartmouth.

And away from football, there's a move afoot at Brown to stop celebrating Columbus Day. From the Brown Daily Herald:

Observing Columbus Day, (Reiko Koyama '11) said in her presentation, is "in effect condoning the atrocities that (Columbus) was responsible for" and "at odds with Brown's reputation."

The students also proposed that the University designate a week in October as "Indigenous Week" for discussions, events and lectures about Native American history.

Discuss among yourselves.

Weather Woes

If you check out that weather thingie off to the left, you'll see the forecast for the Upper Valley this afternoon is thoroughly miserable. Think Columbia game with less wind but a good deal colder. It's coming down pretty heavy right now.

But it could be worse. Over in the Adirondacks they could be getting up to a foot or so of snow in places. There may be snow showers down in Hanover later today, with a little accumulation up here on the mountain, but nothing like our neighbors to the west.

Ivy League FB Documentary To Debut

Here's the press release:

NESN TO PREMIERE DOCUMENTARY ON IVY LEAGUE FOOTBALL
Eight: Ivy League Football and America is Scheduled for Saturday, November 1st at 4:00 PM


BOSTON – NESN, New England’s most watched sports network, will air the television premiere of Eight: Ivy League Football and America on Saturday, November 1, 2008 at 4:00 PM, immediately following the network’s live coverage of the Harvard at Dartmouth football game, which begins at 12:30 PM. The 90-minute documentary explores the unique role that Ivy League schools played in developing American football and looks at the many ways that football’s development in the Ivy League mirrored American culture.

“We are happy that we can expand our coverage of New England college football to include this impressive documentary about Ivy League Football on NESN,” said Joel Feld, NESN’s executive vice president of programming and executive producer. “The Ivy League has so much history both in this region and on NESN and we believe our fans will enjoy hearing this story.”

Eight is narrated by two-time Tony Award winning actor Brian Dennehy (Columbia ’60) and features interviews with Academy Award-winning actor Tommy Lee Jones (Harvard ’69), Penn State Coach Joe Paterno (Brown ’50), ESPN anchor Chris Berman (Brown ’77), General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt (Dartmouth ’78), former Secretary of State George Shultz (Princeton ’42), College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Chuck Bednarik (Penn ‘49), four-time Pro Bowl running back Calvin Hill (Yale ’69), Chicago Bears standout lineman Dan Jiggetts (Harvard ’76), Heisman Trophy winner Dick Kazmaier (Princeton ’52), actor and Heisman Trophy runner-up Ed Marinaro (Cornell ’72), Intuit Chairman Bill Campbell (Columbia ‘62), and many others.

The film is directed by Erik Greenberg Anjou (A Cantor’s Tale: Ergo Media and the cool surface: Columbia TriStar) and produced by Mr. Anjou and Mark F. Bernstein (author of Football: The Ivy League Origins of an American Obsession: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001). It was edited by Karlyn Michelson (Anti-Semitism in the 21st Century: The Resurgence and A Cantor’s Tale) and features an original score by Grammy-nominated guitarist Gary Lucas (Gods and Monsters).

About NESN
NESN is owned by the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins and delivered to over 4 million homes throughout the six-state New England region and nationally via DirecTV and Dish Network. The definitive source for New England sports programming, NESN is the top rated regional sports network in the country delivering award winning Red Sox and Bruins coverage, a popular sports news and highlights program NESN SportsDesk and a unique sports debate and discussion show The Globe 10.0. NESN is also the first regional sports network in the country to originate every game and studio show in high definition.

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A few more links on the Dartmouth-Columbia game ...

The Columbia Spectator rightfully credits the Lion defense for a strong showing. ... Jake Novak at Roar Lions Roar brings up the quarterback question at Columbia after the strong play of M.A. Olawale off the bench against the Big Green. He also shines a light on some of the team's unsung heroes in the game. ... In its Ivy roundup, the Daily Pennsylvanian mentions something many of us hustling to get to the postgame press conference missed: a Gatorade bath for Columbia coach Norries Wilson after the win. ...

Olawale, by the way, was named the Ivy League offensive player of the week for his running and passing in Columbia's first win. (link) ... With Olawale being honored, Dartmouth is now the only school in the Ivy League not to have a player honored yet this year as Ivy League offensive, defensive or special teams player of the week. ... Freshman placekicker Foley Schmidt did win the Rookie of the Week honor after the opener at Colgate. ...

The weekly polls are out and they suggest Dartmouth will be playing its second-toughest opponent of the season this week. We all know better than to put too much credence in these things, but for what they are worth, here are Big Green opponents in the polls:

The Sports Network Poll
9. UNH
23. Harvard
35. Colgate
39. Penn
44. Holy Cross

The FCS Coaches Poll
8. UNH
T-24. Harvard
33.Colgate
38. Brown
40. Holy Cross

(I've been told by several coaches in the Ivies and out of the conference that Ivy teams often don't get a fair shake in the polls because it's considered "wasting" a vote to cast it for a team that won't be going to the playoffs.)

Talk about cheap shots. When Washington and Ty Willingham agreed he won't be returning next year, a Seattle Times columnist wrote this:

Willingham wasn't working at Washington. His 11-32 record wouldn't be acceptable at Dartmouth, let alone Washington.

Ouch.

And finally, that certain Hanover High School freshman fullback's team has its final regular season game this weekend and it's a head-to-head showdown for the state's final playoff berth. Barring a blowout one way or the other, he won't get on the field without a water bottle in his hand, but there should be plenty of excitement. His sister, meanwhile, will be running with her team in the New Hampshire Meet of Champions, pitting the top six teams from last Saturday's cross country state championships in one meet. Although Hanover won last week's state championship in the middle division, it will be bidding for a fifth consecutive overall championship. You may find this funny: One parent rewarded the team members with small bottles of bubbly after winning the state championship Saturday. Bubbly hand sanitizer, that is, to prevent any spread of germs, because barring sickness or injury the team will be a heavy favorite to win this weekend and go on to New Englands.

Columbia Recap

Given the often critical nature of the press in Philadelphia, I think it was former Philadelphia Phillies great Mike Schmidt who once talked about, "the thrill of victory and the agony of reading about it."

I don't think that's much of a problem in Philly right now.

Unfortunately, all I can offer you on an otherwise glorious Monday morning in the Upper Valley is the agony of reading about Saturday's loss to Columbia.

With last year's beat writer in New York this term, the Daily Dartmouth was actually on site for a road game, and filed this story about Saturday's rain-soaked disappointment.

The Columbia Spectator provides the view in blue.

For the official stories out of the college athletic departments, find the Columbia story here and the Dartmouth story here.

The only real analysis you'll find is at Jake Novak's Roar Lions Roar blog. Don't kill the messenger, but here's what he wrote:

The Big Green's weak offensive and defensive lines just couldn't get the job done.

The latest Sagarin Ratings – which become more accurate, and reflect the standings more as the season goes on – are now out. Here's how they rank Dartmouth and its opponents this fall:

99 New Hampshire
133 Harvard
149 Brown
155 Penn
157 Holy Cross
161 Colgate
175 Yale
183 Cornell
190 Princeton
213 Columbia
224 Dartmouth

Again, don't kill the messenger but Sagarin would have Harvard as a 22-point favorite this week at Dartmouth. Fortunately, Sagarin doesn't take into account the rivalry-border war element that will come into play this week.

Outside of the realm of sport, my old editor at the local paper has written a compelling three-day series about the deadliest plane crash in New Hampshire history. I mention it only because the plane, bound for the Lebanon airport, hit the cloud-covered peak of Moose Mountain, which rises above the trees behind our house. Thirty-two people died in the crash, with 10 surviving. Find the first of the stories about the crash here.

Opponent Roundup

Ivy League/opponent roundup ...

Brown 27, Cornell 7
Brown has begun an Ivy League season 3-0 for the first time in school history with Bobby Sewall catching 11 passes for 181 yards and two touchdowns.

Harvard 24, Princeton 20
Harvard gets a short TD run with 3:34 to play to pull out the win.

Penn 9, Yale 7
Quakers hold Yale to six first downs, 15 rushing yards and 92 total yards.

New Hampshire 42, Towson 14
UNH goes up 35-0 at the half and cruises.

Holy Cross 35, Lehigh 21
Three more TD passes and 330 yards for Dominic Randolph.

Colgate 52, Bucknell 28
Freshman linebacker-turned-tailback Nate Eachus rushes for 214 yards and three touchdowns and Raiders pile up 421 yards rushing.

And finally, that certain Hanover High School junior finished 17th of 145 runners as her team won the New Hampshire Class I state cross country championship going away. With the boys also winning the title, the team bus had a police escort from the town line to the high school. Next on tap: The New Hampshire Meet of Champions, featuring the best teams from each division in the state next Saturday. Hanover will be favored again.

Dartmouth VERSUS Columbia

It's gameday for Dartmouth, which will face off against Columbia at the northern tip of Manhattan at 4 p.m. Catch all the action live on the VERSUS TV network. In addition to cable, VERSUS can be found on DirecTV channel 603 (604 HDTV) and Dish Network channel 151 (9468 HDTV). If you've got Dish – which we now do – hopefully it's part of your package. (It's not on ours.)

In case you are wondering, and I'm sure you were, VERSUS is the former OLN, which in another life was the Outdoor Life Network. To see if VERSUS is on your local cable network, visit the ridiculously busy VERSUS website and fill in the box on the upper left side of the page – if you can even find it amid the craziness on the page.

Jake Novak over at Roar Lions Roar offers his four keys to the game from the Columbia perspective. He goes into detail on each but they are:

• Score Some Points (Columbia's offense has been quiet the past two week)
• Own The Middle (On offense and defense, a good idea at all times)
• Be Ready for Anything and Bounce Back from Setbacks (Specifically trick plays that can take the air out of a team)
• Get Over the Mental Hump (Columbia has been in position to win but hasn't yet learned how)

I'll offer one overriding key for Dartmouth: Eliminate mistakes.

The forecast calls for rain and possible thunderstorms with the temperature around 60.

A couple of links this morning ... For Dartmouth sports historian Jack DeGange's program story on the 1948 Big Green team, click here. ... To read Jack's story on the 1958 team, click here.

I'll be jumping in the '93 Mitsubishi Expo and zipping (um, it doesn't really zip anymore and sounds a little like a sewing machine, actually) down to NYC in a bit. I'll have a full game story with reactions on Green Alert Premium tonight. Given the hour of the game (it's the first late-afternoon game I've staffed) I'm not entirely sure I'll have that second story for you tonight. If not, I'll toss it up on the site tomorrow.)

And finally, that certain Hanover High junior is running in the New Hampshire state cross country championships today down in Manchester. She earned three varsity letters as a freshman and three more as a sophomore but has never been close to a state championship until switching to cross country this fall. As the top-ranked team in the state for all divisions, Hanover is a prohibitive favorite to win against its smaller division, but things happen so keep your fingers crossed.

After she runs this morning, that certain Hanover High freshman will be with the varsity football team for a game also in southern New Hampshire. Hanover is good but not great this year, but the team they are playing is very weak so there's a chance the undersized fullback may actually get a few snaps at the end if the score mounts. That certain blogger's wife will be doing double-duty today, not only cheering for both of us at cross country, but then hopping in her car and cruising over to the football game.

Rodney Dangerfield Has Nothing On Dartmouth

If Dartmouth beats Columbia Saturday it will earn more than its first win. The Big Green will also earn a little respect, something that is in precious little supply for the program these days. Even the school newspaper is jumping on the bandwagon. From today's Daily Dartmouth:

Although it may not have won many games, the 2007 Big Green was at least a threat, a competitive team that had a realistic chance of beating a team like Harvard, who finished second in the league last season.

So far this season, with the possible exception of the Penn game, Dartmouth football has not even realistically threatened any opponent.

Anyone who was at Colgate would dispute that notion (to borrow Barack Obama's favorite word).

The Harvard Crimson, which intends to take shots in its weekly overview of Ivy games, lands one this way:

If I may quote something I wrote in this space two weeks ago, and I may, “If you’re putting money down on a Columbia win…save it. But if you really must, Week 6 against Dartmouth looks promising.”

I stand by that statement wholeheartedly.

Ouch.

The Daily Pennsylvanian, in a story headlined Ivy Weekend Preview | National TV has worst of Ivies, writes:

(W)hat better way to show off the conference than with a showdown between a pair of 0-5 teams when Dartmouth travels to Columbia ...

Even the Versus TV network, which will televise the game, takes a shot. From its game preview:

Neither team has tasted victory this season, but Columbia has certainly put up a battle.

And Dartmouth? There's a little information followed by a little editorializing ...

The Big Green has posted only 13 points in a pair of league losses and, overall, is producing less than 290 yard per game. That’s not going to cut it against a Lion defense that limited Penn to 204 yards at Franklin Field in ideal weather conditions.

For a quick Manchester Union Leader capsule of the game, click here.

Columbia's game notes may be accessed here. And if you'd like to do your own scouting, Columbia has video highlights from its narrow loss to Penn posted here.

The Columbia Spectator has a story headlined, Dartmouth’s Jenny Looks to Build on Last Season’s Successes. The Spec also has a preview with comments from Columbia coach Norries Wilson about Dartmouth. Among other things he says:
(D)efensively, we’re going to have to stop the myriad of formations that they run,” Wilson said.

“They run a little read zone, they throw the ball halfway decent. Number three (Milan Williams), the running back, is a good player. They’ve got some young kids playing offensive line, or at least played this week, that did a good job.”

Friends of Dartmouth football – official and unofficial friends – are invited to join parents of Dartmouth players for a tailgate in Lot C near the stadium beginning at 12:47 p.m. sharp. (I don't make this stuff up ;-). Tailgaters will have to park elsewhere and then walk to the tailgate, which will be marked by, what else, green balloons.

In other business (as I used to write in the journalism world when I had to cover meetings with multiple items on the agenda) the Bryant University field hockey and women's soccer teams have traveled up from Rhode Island to play in Hanover in the past couple of weeks as the school makes the transition to Division I sports. With Dartmouth at least in the first phase of investigating a new football schedule, I thought to visit the Bryant website (and Wikipedia - guilty as charged) to see what's happening with the school's football program and learn a little more about the school.

Here's some of what I learned:

• Bryant's football team is indeed transitioning from Division II to Division I - FCS variety.
• The Bulldogs are currently 4-3.
• They drew 5,630 for last week's 20-7 win over Robert Morris.
• They are going to get crushed by UMass this weekend. (To be fair, the website said they are playing UMass. I made up the rest.)
• The Bryant Stadium looks like this.
• Bryant will be eligible for the Northeast Conference championship in 2012.
• Bryant College, with a student body of 4,983, became Bryant University in 2004.
• The school is in Smithfield, R.I., about 20 miles northwest of Providence.
• Bryant moved to Smithfield from Providence after being given 420 acres of land by alumnus Earl Silas Tupper, he of the eponymous containers.
• The Providence Journal wrote about Bryant's transition here.
• The phone line to the Bryant football schedule is the busiest number on campus. (OK, I made that up.)

And finally, football coaches do all kinds of stuff to break up the monotony of practices and built rapport with and among their players. Cornell's Jim Knowles is certainly no exception as this "lede" and explanation in the Cornell Sun tell us:

It was hard to take football head coach Jim Knowles ’87 seriously as he casually discussed the intricacies of Brown’s passing attack. He had a unibrow thickly drawn in and a dark mustache painted on his upper lip — not to mention a towel stuffed in the back of his shirt to give a hunchback look....

... The Red was having its weekly “Wacky Wednesday” practice and on this particular Wednesday, the coaches came dressed as each other.

Roar Lions Blog On Dartmouth

Jake Novak over at Roar Lions Roar offers his view of the Big Green. He makes some very valid points about how some of Dartmouth's seasons statistics can be more than a little deceiving. ... He also suggests the weather forecast in New York is worsening by the minute.

Columbia Video Highlights

If you guessed today's Blog was delayed because the Internet was down again on Moose Mountain, ding-ding-ding, you are a winner. ... I'm sitting on campus in the '84 VW camper, strategically placed so that the sun warms my fingers on a 25-degree morning, using Dartmouth's wireless Internet and trying to get today's posting pulled together quickly so I can make a freelance deadline. So off we go ...

If you'd like to get a sneak peek at Columbia and quarterback Shane Kelly, check out the video recap of Penn-Columbia on the Daily Pennsylvanian blog. ...

An all-purpose high school player from Cheshire, Conn., has been "offered" by Army and Temple but has his eyes on Dartmouth and Penn according to the Hartford Courant. Bill Ragone is a 6-2, 195 quarterback/free safety/kicker. He's completed 54 percent of his passes for 1,069 yards and nine TDs, run for 643 yards and 11 TDs, has 10 PATs, one field goal, a two-point conversion and three interceptions. And he plays tuba in the band at halftime. (I made that last part up.) Cheshire, by the way, sent a pretty good athlete to Dartmouth a while back. Fella by the nae of Brad Ausmus, who ended up signing with the Yankees instead of playing for the Green, and going on to a long major league baseball career.

Mike Kielt, the Holy Cross tailback, has been rewarded for his four-touchdown performance against Dartmouth by being named the ECAC Offensive Player of the Week.

Missed this a few days back, but those who followed the Dartmouth name change from Indians might be interested to read the latest developments out in North Dakota, where the Fighting Sioux continue to battle for their name. ESPN.com writes:

North Dakota's Board of Higher Education has approved a schedule for discarding the University of North Dakota's Fighting Sioux nickname and Indian head logo if two prominent Sioux tribes hold firm in their desire to dump them.

The timeline directs William Goetz, the chancellor of the university system, to form a committee within the next two months to discuss the issue with leaders of the Standing Rock and Spirit Lake Sioux tribes.

The panel should meet at least twice with Sioux leaders during 2009, the timeline says. If there is no agreement to allow continued use of the name and logo, it says, UND should begin planning in January 2010 to retire them.

Today's Daily Dartmouth has a story spun out of the opening of a film about brothers Fred and Milton Ochieng, former Dartmouth soccer players. The D story begins this way:

Milton Ochieng ‘04 handed over his ticket, paid for with money from the sale of chickens and cattle, and boarded the plane to America in September 2000. Although he received a scholarship to study at Dartmouth, Milton couldn’t afford the airfare, so his Kenyan village sold livestock to pay for him, asking only that he did not forget them once he got to the Ivy League.

Milton and his younger brother, Fred Ochieng ‘05, who followed Milton to Dartmouth a year later, made sure to honor this request.

The Ochieng's story is compelling. For an older AP story that tells a little more, click here.

Now back to that freelance story, which happens to be on Dartmouth tri-captain Alex Rapp. Look for it in the next Dartmouth football program.

And finally, if your nightly fix on Green Alert Premium is delayed a tad tonight, you'll know why. It will mean our Internet is still down and I probably had to turn around and drive back into town to toss it up on the web. Ah, life in paradise <(;>)

Columbia Previews Start

Dartmouth's official game preview for Columbia is available here. From those notes, a reminder:

The game will be televised nationally by the VERSUS network with Rich Ackerman providing the play-by-play and former Dallas Cowboy Dale Hellestrae giving analysis.

Find a PDF of the Big Green's full game notes here. ... The Ivy League's preview of the week's action can be found here.

Arguably Columbia's best player a year ago was wide receiver Austin Knowlin. The Columbia Spectator writes about the 5-10, 190 junior who had 74 catches for 988 yards and 10 TDs last year but has just 16 catches for 205 yards and two scores at the midway point of this season.

There will be a Toys for Tots collection at Columbia Saturday There's a note here.

It's pretty much unanimous at this point. Those who do the rankings of FCS teams now have Columbia seventh in the Ivy League and Dartmouth eighth. Given relative scores that's understandable. Here's the current GPI (the Gridiron Power Index is a synthesization of the various polls and rankings):

20 (t) Harvard
51 Brown
55 Penn
58 Yale
62 (t) Cornell
79 Princeton
98 Columbia
103 Dartmouth

Dartmouth defensive lineman Max Copello offers a recap of the season (up to the loss to Yale) in his Dartmouth Review column.

There are former Dartmouth assistants all over the place and with Maryland's 26-0 win over Wake Forest I stumbled across another. Kevin Lempa, who was in Hanover from 1991-96 before moving on to the San Diego Chargers, Hawaii and Boston College, now coaches for the Terps. Find his bio here. ...

Speaking of former coaches, John Lyons is having another successful season at nearby Kimball Union Academy. After leading the Wildcats to an undefeated record and the NEPSAC Austin Bowl championship a year ago, the former Dartmouth head man has KUA at 5-0 this fall. The Wildcats now have won 14 consecutive games and are 20-2 over the past three years. To see a video of some of Lyons' international players – he's clearly used his experience in NFL Europe to his advantage – talking about their experience at KUA, click here.

Profiles of players from other Ivy schools show up in school newspapers and other outlets all the time. Some are worth spending a little time with, others ... not so much. The Yale Daily News has a good story about the Abare brothers, Bobby and Larry, who have been wreaking havoc on opposing offenses ever since arriving in New Haven. Linebacker Bobby Abare, you'll remember, stuffed Dartmouth's momentum a couple of weeks ago by making an interception in the end zone to stop the Big Green's opening drive. Last week he scored his second touchdown of the year on an 86-yard fumble return. Yale coach Jack Siedlecki:

“We had high expectations when we recruited them. Their high school (Acton-Boxboro High) team won 50 games in a row, won four Massachusetts Super Bowls, and they both started every game since their freshman year (in high school).”

I don't know about you, but I miss Rick Reilly in the back of Sports Illustrated. He's now writing every other week for ESPN and his columns can be found on espn.com. When I saw he'd written about the DII football player who had his pinkie amputated so he could continue to play, I almost didn't read the story. Gotta admit, I'm about pinkied-out on that one. But it was Reilly and so I read it. Not surprisingly, he tossed out something I hadn't heard before. From the column:

"What's off-the-charts unbelievable is Trevor's head coach, Joe Ramunno, did the same thing. He slashed his left pinkie in a high-school shop class 29 years ago and insisted they cut if off rather than miss his senior season. "It didn't occur to me until afterward," Trevor says. "My coach and I had the same thing happen!"

And finally, we've been having some wet snow up on the mountain this morning. The kids were psyched. Fortunately, the weather is supposed to be better this weekend when that certain Hanover High junior will be bidding for her first-ever state championship as a member of New Hampshire's top-ranked cross country team. Unfortunately, dear old dad will be on the way to Columbia when the four-time defending state champions try to add to that legacy. ...

That certain Hanover freshman, by the way, had one carry from the 4-yard line in the junior varsity's eight-point loss Monday afternoon. He got to the 2 before he was crushed and still had a headache that night. (He was fine the next morning.) It's not easy being a "just-under" 5-foot, 115-pound fullback when the other jayvee team has a 300-pounder in the middle of the line. Yikes!

Time For Some Trickeration?

Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens' history against Columbia has Jake Novak, the color commentator for the Lions' radio broadcasts, a little nervous. Under the headline "What Will Buddy Do?" on his Roar Lions Roar blog, Jake writes :

Buddy T. has never lost to Columbia in any of the eight times he's faced the Lions in his two tenures as head coach in Hanover. That alone would be disturbing enough, but the fact is that by my count, most of those wins were the direct result of Teevens excellent gameday coaching featuring some tricky strategy.

Message boards, shmessage boards, but someone over at Any Given Saturday is saying what a lot of people are probably thinking regarding the Dartmouth-Columbia battle of winless teams that will be carried on Versus television starting at 4 p.m:

"And this game is on national television?!?!?"

The weekly Sagarin Ratings for all of Division I football are in and they look like this:

• 100. New Hampshire
• 129. Harvard
• 159. Holy Cross
• 161. Brown
• 162. Colgate
• 169. Penn
• 175. Cornell
• 191. Princeton
• 217. Columbia
• 222. Dartmouth

Sagarin has Columbia a 5-point favorite Saturday.

The venerable Dunkel Index of FCS teams is out and Dartmouth and its opponents stand like this:

• 16. UNH
• 24. Harvard
• 32. Holy Cross
• 35. Yale
• 38. Colgate
• 39. Brown
• 51. Penn
• 77. Cornell
• 80. Princeton
• 84. Columbia
• 93. Dartmouth

Dartmouth and overall Ivy League statistics can be found all over the web. Statistics for the Ivy teams in league games only are a little harder to come by. Find them here.

Opponents on this week's Sports Network poll:

• 10. UNH
• 25. Harvard
• 33. Cogate
• 48 (t) Holy Cross
• 48 (t) Penn

Opponents on this week's Coaches poll:

• 10. UNH
• 29. Harvard
• 40. Colgate
• 43. Brown

And finally, if you missed the story I wrote on senior tailback Milan Williams for the Dartmouth football program against Yale, find it here.

Four Dartmouth Players On Ivy Honor Roll

Named to the weekly Ivy League honor roll Monday were ...

• Freshman receiver/quarterback Tim McManus – 8 catches for 110 yards, 2 TDs, 12 rushing yards
• Freshman kicker Foley Schmidt – 2 FGs, 2 PATs
• Senior punter Brian Scullin – 42.2 yd average
• Senior safety Ian Wilson – 2 interceptions, 6 tackles (2 solo)

Wrapping Up Holy Cross

The Daily Dartmouth game story for Holy Cross tells it like it was:

In what has become a tragic motif for the team this season, the game was highlighted by strong individual performances, flashes of talent and a crippling lack of consistency.

The D interviewed alumni from different decades to get their opinions about the current state of Dartmouth football. The consensus seems to be – give it time. Find that story here.

What used to be referred to exclusively as Dartmouth Night is now more popularly referred to as Homecoming. (The old rationale was that alumni are always welcomed home at Dartmouth.) Either way, there are always excesses and the Daily Dartmouth covers them under the headline: Homecoming Brings Arrests, Severe Burns.

For a look at the Big Green's next opponent – 0-5 Columbia – you can check out the Daily Pennsylvanian game story on Penn's 15-10 victory over the Quakers. Said Penn coach Al Bagnoli:

"I thought (Columbia) played very hard today, and they did, schematically, all the right things. They just got a little bit snakebitten."

The DP also has a story about the evolution of Columbia coach Norries Wilson.

Jake Novak over at the Roar Lions Roar blog, analyzes why Columbia lost and Penn won.

The Columbia Spectator game story concluded with this thought that will be repeated during Dartmouth meetings and practices this week:

As Wilson said after the game, the defense is and has been playing great football, especially in the last two weeks. Its lone fault has been its recent inability to create turnovers, which, if it can be rectified, could lead to better results in the coming weeks.

Very few local papers are as good about updates on local players as the Atlantic City Press. Dartmouth linebacker Tony Bates leads the Press report this week after topping the Big Green in tackles against the Crusaders.

Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton and Penn have been recruiting a 5-10, 200-pound fullback at The Maret School in Washington, D.C. The Washington Post has a mention.

Interesting Saturday In Ivies

Brown and Penn remain the Ivy League's only two unbeatens, although it wasn't easy for the Quakers, who struggled with a winless Columbia team that will play host to Dartmouth Saturday at 4 p.m. The Lions have now lost their five games by 3, 5, 7, 7 and 10 points.

Penn 15, Columbia 10
Lions hold Penn to 10 first downs, keep ball for 12 minutes longer than Quakers and have 258-204 advantage in yards ... and lose. Five turnovers and a safety didn't help Columbia's cause.

Brown 31, Princeton 10
After clinging to a 14-10 halftime lead, Bears maintain clean Ivy record clean with help from a 17-0 third period.

Colgate 38, Cornell 22
Something to consider. How does a Cornell team that shut down Yale's Mike McLeod give up 241 rushing yards to a Colgate tailback not named Jordan Scott. Either Cornell has melted down or Colgate has the next great thing. Freshman Nate Eachus started the game on defense with a sack and several tackles before Scott was hurt and then moved into the backfield. You can almost hear Dartmouth fans thinking, "Just when we thought it was safe to go back in the water. "

Fordham 12, Yale 10
While McLeod's uneven season continues (21 carries for 65 yards) Yale's other superstar does it again. Linebacker Bobby Abare returned a fumble 86 yards for Yale's only TD.

Harvard 27, Lehigh 24
Crimson linebacker who had a TD return recovers a fumble deep to stave off Lehigh's potential winning score at the end.

New Hampshire 33, Northeastern 21
Wildcats rebound from 21-6 halftime deficit on the road.

Here's the Worcester Telegram's Holy Cross-centric story from yesterday's game at Dartmouth freelanced by that certain blogger.

Tonight on Green Alert Premium: A follow on the Holy Cross game.

And finally, thanks to the innocent passers-by who got shanghaied (probably an un-PC term these days) into buying baked goods or raffle tickets at the Hanover High School parking lot opposite Memorial Field yesterday. That certain Hanover softball captain (and her dad) thank you for helping with the fundraising for a spring training trip to Cape Cod.

Big Green Bundle

– Click flyer to enlarge –

The Dartmouth football program is once again offering its Big Green Bundle, a series of high-quality DVDs bringing every minute of the season, along with the annual highlight production and coverage of the breakup banquet to a TV set near you! Each game will be on two DVDs (first half/second half) accompanied by the radio play-by-play. The DVDs will be shipped in the week following the season's last game against Princeton on Nov. 22. For pricing and information and how to order via email, click the flyer at the top of this page.

---

I will be stringing the Dartmouth-Holy Cross game for the Worcester Telegram again this year. (Oops, better make that the Holy Cross-Dartmouth game when I'm talking about the freelance assignment ;-) ... I don't expect that to delay the usual Green Alert premium coverage, but in case it's a l-i-t-t-l-e delayed, you'll know why.

The morning has dawned crisp and bright up here on the mountain. The temperature when Cooper the golden retriever and I walked out to the road to get the morning paper was a brisk 29 degrees. It's going to be a picture-perfect day for football. Talk to you later!

Another Must Read

Tons to do today but an eagle-eyed reader has shared a link to a story in the New York Times that has to be read to be believed. From the story about a quickly spreading high school offense that began with coaches thinking about how to play with two quarterbacks on the field ...

By placing one of the quarterbacks at least seven yards behind the line of scrimmage, and no one under center to receive the snap, the A-11 qualifies as a scrimmage kick formation — the alignments used for punts and extra points. Thus interior linemen are granted an exception from having to wear jersey numbers 50 through 79. (The exception was intended to allow a team’s deep snapper not to have to switch to a lineman’s jersey if he was a back or an end.) Any player wearing jersey numbers 1 through 49 and 80 through 99 is potentially eligible to receive a pass.

More from the story:

According to Scientific American magazine, a standard football formation permits 36 possible scenarios for taking the snap and advancing the ball; with the A-11, the possibilities multiply to 16,632, providing a controlled randomness to the offense and potentially devastating chaos to the defense. Even the center becomes eligible to catch a pass if he is at the end of the line of scrimmage.

One more thing shared by the same reader ...

The Daily Dartmouth story Big Green Football: A hard-hitting tradition linked to earlier this morning said of the postgame fracas between Dartmouth and Holy Cross two years ago, "Hanover Police and team staff were finally able to separate the combatants after 15 minutes of fighting." To be accurate there really should be a decimal point between the 1 and the 5. That's right. The actual pushing and shoving probably went on for 90 seconds. Two minutes at most.

Homecoming

Lots of stories in the Homecoming Edition of The Dartmouth but unless I missed it, there's no nuts-and-bolts football preview. The closest I could find is a story headlined, Big Green Football: A Hard Hitting Tradition, that concludes with this quote from head coach Buddy Teevens:

“The guys, they’re working so hard to develop a good program. Though there may be a little more pressure because there are more people (attending for Homecoming), the guys try hard and work hard, so now is the time to play smart and play with a great deal of pride.”

There's a story about rushing the field, which is referred to as a "tradition," although I steadfastly refuse to accept anything that started after I began covering Dartmouth football to be a tradition. ;-) ... There's also a piece about the mysterious disappearance of Keggy the Keg.

Getting back to football, the Worcester Telegram has a story about Holy Cross quarterback Dominic Randolph that touches on his pro potential. From the story:

Georgetown coach Kevin Kelly, a former Marshall assistant, compared Randolph to Chad Pennington. Gilmore, who spent eight seasons on the staff at Dartmouth, said Randolph reminds him a lot of former Big Green QB Jay Fiedler, who played 10 seasons in the NFL, most notably with the Dolphins (2000-04).

The Harvard Crimson and Daily Pennsylvanian remain the only school papers that do an Ivy League preview each week. The Crimson usually has a bit of a poison pen and that's the case again this week while predicting a 28-10 Holy Cross win. From the column:

Somebody needs to remind Dartmouth that there is no draft in college football and tanking every game will not result in a No. 1 pick stud prospect that will ride into Hanover on a white horse and save a pitiful program. The Big Green has lost each of its four games by at least 13 points and, even if there were such a thing, a 34-7 loss last week to Yale would not count as a moral victory. At least Columbia looks like it’s trying.

The Daily Pennsylvanian writes:

It's Dartmouth's homecoming weekend, but other than that, not much looks good for the Ivy League's smallest school.

Two dramatic stories are well worth taking time out of your day to read. First, the Los Angeles Daily News has a lengthy piece about former Harvard wide receiver Corey Mazza – who wrote those entertaining stories last summer about playing pro football in Italy – joining the Marines. It begins this way:

Corey Mazza wants you to understand something, and he wants to make it clear and he wants to leave no doubt:

He is nothing special.

If he could tell it to each of you, break down his decision to forgo a professional football career, forget a burgeoning modeling and acting career, ignore a budding financial career after a Harvard education, he would.

He would love to pull you aside and explain why his decision to abandon the dozens of opportunities at his fingertips to enlist in the U.S. Marines is nothing extraordinary.

And Sports Illustrated has a story about the Division II football player who had the last two joints of his pinky amputated so he could finish out his senior season. After reading a blurb about what 280-pound guard Trevor Wikre had done and catching part of a brief TV report about it I shuddered at what he did. Agree or disagree with his choice, the SI story will at least help you understand why he made the choice that he did.

From the story:

Dismiss football as "just sports" if you like, but try asking former college athletes -- any level, not just Division I -- about their playing days and see if they don't admit to treasuring the memories more each year, carefully lifting them from some internal drawer to be revisited as waistlines expand, knees stiffen and life presses on. It is a rare thing for a 21-year-old to understand, in the surge of the moment, how indelible the games of his youth will eventually be.

Bonfire Slideshow

Do check out this very nice slideshow w/music presentation showing a little of the long history of the annual Dartmouth bonfire. Good stuff.

Gearing Up For Holy Cross

The Dartmouth sports information release on Saturday's game against Holy Cross is available here. It includes this telling quote from coach Buddy Teevens:

“Right now we have a high number of young players that have been forced into action a bit ahead of their timetable. While they are making great progress, mistakes come with the growing pains on the field. We need to protect the passer better and give him time to operate. The team’s attitude is good, working hard to correct their mistakes and make better decisions. Nobody is walking out on that field with their head down.”

Dartmouth's game notes are available here.

A PDF of the Ivy League weekend preview can be found here. It doesn't feature much new but does include this factoid:

Holy Cross has posted victories in each of the last four years, but prior to that Dartmouth had won two straight and six out of eight games in the series.

Holy Cross quarterback Dominic Randolph won the Boston Globe Gold Helmet Award as the Division I New England Player of the Week. He was earlier named the National Offensive Player of the Week by The Sports Network, The ECAC Offensive Player of the Week and the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in last Saturday's win over Brown.

Randolph now has won the Gold Helmet four times in his career. I honestly can't remember the last time a Dartmouth player won the award.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal mentions that Dartmouth – along with Stanford, Duke, Harvard and Princeton – has been in contact with Sierra Visa running back Akil Sharp. The 5-9, 200-pound Sharp has run for 827 yards and five touchdowns through seven games. Here's what his coach told the newspaper:

"In the Ivy League, he'd be a good, solid running back. Other schools that stopped by in the spring were interested in him playing defensive back. He's got the speed for both."

It's interesting how often coaches who may never have seen an Ivy League game make those kind of judgments. Perhaps his coach has seen Ivy games and has a good handle on the level of play. But I can't tell you the number of times since the Internet started carrying recruiting stories I've read about a kid who "isn't quite big enough or fast enough to play Division I," but will be a "star" in the Ivy League, only to end up being a role player at best.

Again, that's not meant to disparage this young man or his coach. Sharp sounds as if he'd be a very good Ivy League running back, but really, who knows?

The Review-Journal page on Sharp lists him as running a 4.3 in the 40. Caution: your mileage may vary.

And finally, from yesterday's Big Green Alert premium ...

About That Non-Conference Schedule
Letter To The Editor Puts The Subject On The Table Again

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com

Oct. 15, 2008

HANOVER – The elephant in the room reared its head when a letter to the editor headlined Dartmouth Football Mismatch was printed in the morning paper. Written in response to another in an ongoing series of lopsided New Hampshire victories over the Big Green, the letterwriter said that when he watches the annual game he prays, “that no Dartmouth player is lost to injury for the season or for his football career.”

The letter ended this way:

“To continue with this mismatch would be irresponsible and would border on negligence.”

In light of the letter and Saturday’s final non-conference game against yet another strong Holy Cross team, Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens was asked for the umpteenth time after Wednesday’s practice about the scheduling.

Visit Green Alert premium to read what he had to say.

UNH - Guest Opinion

GUEST OPINION
I have long despised the UNH, Colgate and Holy Cross series ...and as I believe Buddy does or any reasonable coach would.

UNH is particularly galling because it is, and stands to be for the foreseeable future, a complete mismatch: they're committed to being a scholarship program with all that means, which places them pretty much 180 degrees opposite us. We may as well play Boston College every year; at least then we'd get a nice check. We have a fighting chance with the Colgate and Holy Cross games, as those institutions are closer to us in spirit and letter, but all three series are beyond played out.

Worrying about sending a message to the players that "we won't play the best" is misguided. All of these players presumably came to Dartmouth for the education, with an understanding that football would necessarily be a secondary pursuit. They chose voluntarily to play at a school that plays in a league which (stubbornly, wrong-headedly) continues to play only 10 games and forbids participation in the NCAA playoffs; they chose to be as close to "student-athletes" as you'll find anywhere. That choice has consequences, one of which is being on a team that is inevitably less physically talented than the teams at almost all scholarship-granting institutions.

Our players are competitive -- but they're also smart, and part of being smart is knowing how to put yourself in a situation where success is likely. That's where the DCAD let them down.

All of that being said, if in fact there's only two years left on each of these deals, then I agree, we suck it up and finish them. I can imagine with little effort why Dartmouth might hesitate to break any of its athletics-related contracts. At more than two years to go, we should renegotiate -- kick the remaining years way out so we can fill in with teams that are more closely aligned with our institutional priorities, which should include academics, competitive stature, and diverse locations logistically consistent with previously established Ivy League schedules. If our contracting partners are unreasonably insistent on strict adherence to terms, then we must honor the obligation -- and file away the memory for future dealings with them in all sports, or in any other matters.

What we need to see from (Athletic Director Jose Harper) to calm the waters on this issue is (a) some acknowledgment that we made bad deals and have learned a lesson, and (b) some movement toward a brighter future. News of signing or even pursuing contracts with interesting teams outside the Terrible Troika would be welcome. And while the travel cost outside New England is a legitimate issue, you have to think of it more broadly as an investment in promoting our overall athletic program and the College as a whole. In those terms, the return on investment should be more encouraging.

Woody Allen famously said 80 percent of life is showing up, and while I agree I would add this corollary: most of the remaining 20 percent is knowing when to leave.

Chuck Young '88

UNH Letter Reaction

It seems the letter writer in this morning's paper has hit a nerve. Check out the comments at the bottom of the earlier post (below) as well as this one that hit my in box this morning from an "anonymous" contributor:

I love the UNH series, and if we are going just based on the
aggregate scores of recent games, there are plenty of other teams,
including Ivy teams, we'd have to take off of our schedule.

Letter Writer Unhappy With UNH Series

There is an interesting letter to the editor in our local paper this morning. A few excerpts:

I have been a Dartmouth football fan for the pat nine years. During this time, I have witnessed one of the most lopsided series I have seen as a player, as a coach and as a fan.

He's talking, of course, about the annual game against New Hampshire. More from the letter:

I have attended many of these games and have left the field in dismay that the athletic administration has allowed this to continue.

And this:

When I watch a UNH-Dartmouth game, I pray that no Dartmouth player is lost to injury for the season or for his football career. I realize Dartmouth has a contract with UNH to play in future years, but it is time to break that agreement. Athletic contracts are changed on a regular basis.

And finally:

It is the responsibility of the Dartmouth athletic director not only to oversee contracts but also to protect our players and put them in the best position to have a fair chance to win. To continue with this mismatch would be irresponsible and would border on negligence.

Thoughts anyone?

The official Dartmouth release on the upcoming Holy Cross game is available here. It includes this from coach Buddy Teevens:

“Right now we have a high number of young players that have been forced into action a bit ahead of their timetable. While they are making great progress, mistakes come with the growing pains on the field. ... The team’s attitude is good, working hard to correct their mistakes and make better decisions. Nobody is walking out on that field with their head down.”

A sentence in a Columbia Spectator story caught me off guard:

Dartmouth now resides alone in the Ivy League cellar with a 0-2 league record (both Columbia and Dartmouth are 0-4 overall, but the Lions only have one Ivy loss to date).

My first reaction was, no, that can't be. But it's right, of course. It's just jarring to see it in writing.

Speaking of Holy Cross, Mike McCabe, the lineman accused of stabbing teammate/roommate Luke Chmielinski has been placed on "interim suspension" from the school. An excerpt from a Worcester Telegram story with some very interesting comments from the "victim's" father:

“He (Luke) does not believe for a second that Mr. McCabe, his best friend, did this to him,” Christopher Chmielinski said today. “The bottom line is Luke is looking forward to a speedy recovery so he can return to the football field. Luke is extremely hopeful Michael will soon join him on the field.”

Mr. Chmielinski does not know what caused the puncture and cut, his father said. Bruises on his son were caused by the hard-hitting football game, the elder Chmielinski added.

“He is absolutely convinced he was not stabbed,” Christopher Chmielinski said. “He thinks his injury was a result of the scuffle.”

The Associated Press has a shorter version of the story here.

For those pushing for the Dartmouth football team to pick up a game in California or somewhere outside of the northeast, the numbers in this Richmond Times Dispatch story about possible changes in the Colonial Athletic Association (UNH) being brought about by travel expenses are sobering. From the lede:

Eight equipment trunks. About 80 people (players, coaches, support staff). Roughly 19,200 pounds of humans and football gear.

That's what the University of Richmond will put on a plane for this weekend's Colonial Athletic Association game at Massachusetts. Total trip cost: $65,600, counting the $48,000 charter flight, $6,000 for a night's lodging, $4,600 for buses and $7,000 for food, according to David Walsh, UR's deputy athletic director.

Travel expenses are nearly three times what a comparable UR football trip to New England cost a decade ago.

Scary. I don't know about the $48,000 charter flight – I traveled with Dartmouth for a game at Navy once and we flew commercial – but still, those numbers are scary.

And finally, while the letter writer above is unhappy with lopsided scores, at least it wasn't 91-0 . A regular reader of the blog has sent along a story about a game that finished with that score, despite the winning team trying hard to keep the total down. The losing coach has absolutely no problem with the winning coach ... but others apparently do.

Wilson, Egeolu Honored

Dartmouth strong safety Ian Wilson and freshman defensive lineman Royce Egeolu have been named to the Ivy League honor roll for their play in Saturday's loss to Yale.

Wilson, a fifth-year senior, had 13 tackles against the Bulldogs, including seven solos. He had one stop for a loss. Egeolu, a freshman, had four solos among his seven tackles, including two for a loss.

The Yale Daily News now has its game story up from Saturday. The story says Yale ...

" ...dominated Dartmouth (0-4, 0-2) in every facet of the game to win their first league game of the season and to put a damper on the Big Green’s homecoming weekend, 34-7."

For what it's worth, Homecoming will be this weekend when Holy Cross comes to town.

Speaking of which, the Holy Cross notes are now up. Find a PDF here. ... Holy Cross quarterback Dominic Randolph has been selected the national offensive player of the week by The Sports Network. ... Randolph, by the way, is a candidate for the Payton Award, emblematic of the top offensive player in the FCS. Find the Holy Cross fact sheet on the quarterback here.

Holy Cross is in the headlines for a troubling incident that happened Saturday night. From the Worcester Telegram:

A College of the Holy Cross football player is accused of attacking his teammate yesterday morning inside a City View Street three-decker where members of the team were celebrating their Saturday win over Brown University. But the Holy Cross football coach said yesterday the charge is not true. Michael McCabe, a 6-foot-5, 300-pound offensive lineman from Watertown, Conn., allegedly attacked teammate Luke Chmielinski leaving the wide receiver bleeding from the back and chest sometime before 2 a.m. yesterday, police said.

More from the story:

Coach (Tom) Gilmore said he has spoken to both players, whom he described as best friends and roommates. Both players are listed as sophomores on the team roster.

Chmielinski is second on the Holy Cross team in receiving yards per game (41.2) and third in catches (19). He grabbed six passes and had one run in Saturday's game against Brown.

The latest Gridiron Power Index is out and Dartmouth has slipped below Columbia in the ranking, which combines polls and computer ratings to arrive at one master ranking of schools. The GPI looks like this:

22. Harvard (23.38)
3t-32. Yale (30.63)
38. Cornell (34.63)
58. Penn (45.38)
t-60. Brown (47.13)
t-69 Princeton (52.50)
100. Columbia (72.13)
101. Dartmouth (72.75)

The latest poll from The Sports Network lists five Ivies as receiving votes. Here's how that poll shapes up:

11. UNH
27. Harvard
42. Colgate
43. Princeton
47. Cornell
50. Yale
55. Penn

The Daily Dartmouth has a story about the rebirth of Beta. From The D:

"Beta president Andrew von Kuhn ‘09 said his goal is to create an organization for members from all different organizations, clubs and activities."

Von Kuhn is a former wide receiver for Dartmouth who is serving as a manager/student-coach this fall after his career was cut short by injury. Quoted in the story are junior safety Tony Pastoors and sophomore linebacker Matt Oh.

Missed this yesterday but one of the, ahem, several lawyers who visits this electronic precinct sent along a note about a story in The Daily Dartmouth about former Big Green player Greg Garre '87 being sworn in as the U.S. Solicitor General. From The D:

While at Dartmouth, Garre was a government major and secretary of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. After playing football for Dartmouth during his first two years, he quit the team to “focus on other things.”

Look Back At Yale

Not much new in the Daily Dartmouth report about the Yale game. Find it here. Senior offensive lineman Alex Rapp, who did not play because of injury, summed the game up for The D:

“To be victorious, it’s crucial that you consistently execute your assignments. We didn’t do that yesterday, and in turn, we shot ourselves in the foot too many times by turning over the ball or receiving penalties.”

Find the Yale sports information take on the game here. The Dartmouth sports information take on the game is here.

The Yale game is barely in the books and the anonymous/semi-anonymous prognosticators are already looking ahead to this week's contests. A thread on the Any Given Saturday forum about this week in the Ivy League includes this slam:

DUD OF THE WEEK: Holy Cross at Dartmouth. I know the Big Green have been hit hard with injuries, but even if they were healthy, they'd still be 0-5. The Crusaders shouldn't have to worry about sweating this one out in the fourth quarter.

The good news looking ahead to this weekend's game is that Brown quarterback Michael Dougherty threw for 526 yards against the Crusaders.

The bad news: It wasn't enough as they lost, 41-34.

Here's how that game looked from the Brown perspective, and the Holy Cross perspective.

The weekly Sagarin ratings are out and they have Dartmouth and its opponents ranked this way:

118. New Hampshire
128. Harvard
140. Yale
149. Holy Cross
153. Cornell
168. Penn
171. Colgate
172. Brown
183. Princeton
217. Dartmouth
220. Columbia

Sagarin has Holy Cross a two-touchdown favorite heading into Memorial Field.

Away from the gridiron, the new Dartmouth baseball field is taking shape behind Floren Varsity House. From a story in the Daily Dartmouth:

The crew will begin installing the artificial turf Thursday, Oct. 20, with the bleachers and backstop soon to follow.

And finally, kudos to the ever-so-patient wife of that certain blogger for completing her first 5-mile race yesterday!

Saturday Roundup

The New Haven Register game story on Dartmouth's 34-7 loss to Yale Saturday says the game was played "before a sparse 7,411 at Memorial Field." If you come from New Haven, clearly, 7,411 is sparse. If you come from Hanover, it's actually a pretty good crowd for a non-Homecoming game.

The Register has a sidebar about Yale quarterback Ryan Fodor being knocked out of the game in the early going an returning presently to enjoy a solid afternoon.

The Hartford Courant didn't travel but has a "staff reports" story.

Elsewhere among Dartmouth opponents it was ...

Harvard 38, Cornell 17
Cornell had 28 first downs and a 7-minute advantage in time of possession ... and lost.

Holy Cross 41, Brown 34
Get ready for the Crusader air attack next week. Dominic Randolph completed 41-of-54 passes for 430 yards.

Lafayette 13, Columbia 3
Lions manage just 201 yards but play yet another close game against a 4-1 team.

Colgate 27, Princeton 24
Field goal with two seconds left helps Colgate avert overtime.

Penn 27, Georgetown 7
Penn tailback Michael DiMaggio was hurt and carried just four times.

William &, Mary 38, New Hampshire 34
A touchdown pass with 22 seconds left sends Wildcats to their first loss.

Tonight on Green Alert Premium: Dartmouth-Yale follow.

And finally, that certain blogger's wife will run the Foliage Five (five-mile race) today in Thetford, Vt. ... Their Hanover High junior daughter ran yesterday at Manhattan as her team finished 10th in a 21-team field of top teams from the Northeast and beyond.

Chance To Earn Respect

Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens says it frequently. Respect is earned.

The Big Green will have a chance to earn some today when it plays host to 2-1 Yale on Memorial Field in a game being televised live on NESN (New England Sports Network). While more restrained than the opinions expressed in some of the student media yesterday, the sentiments shared in a couple of blogs this morning are a reminder that the Dartmouth program will have to win games to win critics over.

Writing about Bulldog tailback Mike McLeod New Haven Register's Portal 31 Yale football blog says:

"McLeod was held out of practice on Wednesday but practiced without restriction on Thursday. McLeod's 3.3 yard per carry average could get healthy against a Dartmouth defense which is allowing 6 yards per carry in the first three games of the season."

In his weekly predictions, Jake Novak of The Roar Lions Roar Columbia blog writes:

The Big Green proved it could overcome its murderous early season schedule last year, but it seems that Dartmouth is succumbing again to gravity. Yale will face a better Dartmouth offense than they've seen in recent years, but it won't be enough because good running backs seem to feast on the Big Green "D". Yale has a good running back named McLeod or something.

Hanover, the Upper Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire, and all of Northern New England is ablaze right now in red, gold and green as the foliage season hits peak. Cameras in hand, Leaf Peepers abound and with good reason. A "regular reader," sends along a link from a ForbesTraveler.com piece about America's prettiest towns. One of them: Hanover. Here's what the site had to say:

"Hanover, in the Connecticut River valley, is home to Dartmouth College, founded in 1769, and Melville describes it as "the quintessential New England college town , complete with whitewashed colonial-style buildings shaded by sugar maples that turn blazing red in the fall."

Yup.