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.