The Agony Of Reading About It

I'm hesitant to criticize Ivy League newspapers for the same reason that I don't think it's right to point fingers at Ivy League football players who play for the love of the game. That said, an editor at the Daily Dartmouth might have suggested a different lede to today's game story than the one that appeared in the paper:

The Big Green kept its losing streak alive on Saturday against Cornell, losing 37-14 in a blowout in Ithaca, N.Y.

I'm sure it wasn't intended that way, but it almost has that, "pulled out a loss," feel to it. (I've seen that, thankfully not in The D.)

And while I think it's important for a school paper to cover the variety of sports, I must admit to surprise that when a Brown football team bidding for its first undefeated Ivy League season is upset at Yale to slip into a tie for the conference lead, the Daily Herald has stories about field hockey, men's soccer, volleyball and women's ice hockey with nary a word about football. It's probably coming tomorrow, but yikes.

A Cornell Sun story about Dartmouth-Cornell takes a look at the Big Green's decision to abandon the run and starts this way:

When (Coach Buddy) Teevens handed the reigns to freshman quarterback Conner Kempe, he was giving him more than just his first collegiate start, Teevens was giving Kempe the opportunity to be Colt Brennan for a day.

The Yale Daily News has a story abut the Bulldogs' 13-3 win over Brown. That Yale beat Dartmouth's next opponent wasn't nearly as much of a surprise as the fact that the high-flying Bear offense was grounded. From the story:

There’s no need to worry about keeping up with a high-powered offense if you boast one of the nation’s best defenses — and Yale’s crucial victory over Brown on Saturday proved yet again that defense is the name of the game on the gridiron.

The Daily Dartmouth has a story about two-sport athletes at the college. One who is mentioned and quoted is lacrosse standout Jimmy Mullen, who is playing football for the first time since high school as a Big Green senior. The paper quotes Mullen and then adds this interesting tidbit:

Mullen did not play in Saturday’s game against Cornell, because he was busy completing medical school interviews, but plans to join the team for the remainder of the season.

The new Sagarin ratings are out and they are not pretty. Here's how Dartmouth and its opponents are ranked this week:

104 New Hampshire
135 Harvard
150 Colgate
152 Holy Cross
156 Brown
162 Pennsylvania
165 Yale
181 Princeton
189 Cornell
210 Columbia
226 Dartmouth

Sagarin has Dartmouth with 29.29 rating points and Brown with 51.47. Giving Dartmouth the suggested three points, Sagarin favors the Bears by about 19 points this week. He had Cornell by 17 last week and the Big Red won by 23. Here's how Sagarin's predictions have fared this fall:

Sagarin: Cornell by 17
Result: Cornell by 23

Sagarin: Harvard by 22
Result: Harvard by 28

Sagarin: Columbia by 5
Result: Columbia by 8

Sagarin: Holy Cross by 14
Result: Holy Cross by 18

Sagarin: Yale by 11
Result: Yale by 27

Sagarin: Penn by 12
Result: Penn by 13

Sagarin: UNH by 18
Result: UNH by 36