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 <(;>)