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