By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com
April 30, 2008
HANOVER – Although Don Kephart’s field goal attempt at the start of Wednesday's football practice failed to split the uprights, the miss sure created a buzz.
Even John Spradling’s dropped passes would bring about the same reaction from a first-time visitor to spring drills.
Kephart is a 5-foot-11, 200-pound placekicker from Lafayette, Calif. Spradling is a 6-1, 185 wide receiver from Houston. Both are freshman walk-ons. Both are opening eyes.
Find the rest of the full story on Green Alert Premium.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
A Couple More
Two freelance stories filed, Little League and Dartmouth football practice to go, Kitty Carlisle. (Sorry, that's an old TV reference.)
Before I head out, a couple more links (I'll be sorry I coughed them up tomorrow when I've got nuthin' for ya ;-).
The search for the supposedly buried World War I cannon at Dartmouth's Memorial Field is on, as the Bennington Banner reports.
Also, our local daily has a rainy day story on Dartmouth's quarterback situation. Find it here.
Check Green Alert Premium tonight for coverage of today's practice.
Before I head out, a couple more links (I'll be sorry I coughed them up tomorrow when I've got nuthin' for ya ;-).
The search for the supposedly buried World War I cannon at Dartmouth's Memorial Field is on, as the Bennington Banner reports.
Also, our local daily has a rainy day story on Dartmouth's quarterback situation. Find it here.
Check Green Alert Premium tonight for coverage of today's practice.
A Quick Follow-Up
A couple of quick notes I meant to post this morning.
First, a source who would know emailed yesterday that Brown wide receiver Paul Raymond has, in fact, signed with the New York Jets. That has been rumored on several message boards.
Second, I've now seen everything. The Hammacher Schlemmer catalogue came yesterday – it's one of the few I don't recycle before leaving the post office – and on the back was something that caught my eye. It's a classic red-and-white plastic cooler, but not your ordinary red-and-white cooler.
No, you can ride this three-wheel, battery-charged model at speeds up to 14 mph. Can't fit the cooler in your SUV for the next tailgate? Have your kid ride it behind the car. I am not making this up. Find a writeup and a picture of the motorized cooler here.
First, a source who would know emailed yesterday that Brown wide receiver Paul Raymond has, in fact, signed with the New York Jets. That has been rumored on several message boards.
Second, I've now seen everything. The Hammacher Schlemmer catalogue came yesterday – it's one of the few I don't recycle before leaving the post office – and on the back was something that caught my eye. It's a classic red-and-white plastic cooler, but not your ordinary red-and-white cooler.
No, you can ride this three-wheel, battery-charged model at speeds up to 14 mph. Can't fit the cooler in your SUV for the next tailgate? Have your kid ride it behind the car. I am not making this up. Find a writeup and a picture of the motorized cooler here.
Of Golf And A Good Dog
The 2008 Dartmouth schedule card and poster are both out. The theme this year: Putting It All Together.Got an email the other day about the annual Dartmouth Football Golf Classic, set for Saturday, June 14, at Hanover Country Club. The affair will start with lunch under the Friends of Football Tent at 11:30 a.m. The golf will get going with a shotgun start at 1 p.m. After beating the little white ball around the group will reconvene at the tent for cocktails, dinner and a raffle/auction. If the past is any indication of the future, you do not want to miss the auction. Sure, there's some neat stuff to bid on, but the show is just as good as the auction as former teammates battle both with their wallets and their wits. It's usually a pretty funny deal.
As of the last email a few days ago, they were looking for a tournament sponsor, cart sponsor, awards sponsor, golf course sponsor, tent sponsor, 10 tee sponsors and 18 green sponsors. Contact Curt Oberg through the football office for more information.
***
Harvard held its spring game and this story from the Crimson is another indication that optimism is high in Cambridge. The author of the story writes:Sitting down before Harvard’s spring game on Saturday night, I tried to plan out some key position battles I would watch, figuring that the game would be a golden opportunity to gain insight into next fall.More out of Harvard as defensive lineman Carl Ehrlich offers up another edition of his well-done and entertaining blog.
But instead of a long list, I came away with the impression that Crimson fans have nothing to worry about in the 2008 season. After all, it’s a good sign when the battle for the third receiver and fourth quarterback spots are among your most interesting questions heading into the fall.
With tongue-in-cheek, the 6-3, 285 Ehrlich laments not having a nickname. He tells of a coach who wanted to call teammate John Paris "Bubba," after the former NFL star and how he convinced everyone that "Bubbles," would be a better idea because "he's his own man." Nice.OK, Mr. Ehrlich, I've got a nickname for you: Good Dog. Can't you just hear the line coach screaming after he jumps offside: "Give me 10, Good Dog Carl." Works for me.
***
A reminder: The Green-White scrimmage starts at 10:30 Saturday. Stretching and all that other stuff starts at 10.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Green-White Draft Video
It's really disappointing when I make a typo and regular readers know that happens a lot. That's why they invented editors and I don't have one.
It's really, REALLY disappointing when I mess around with video and make a typo that I haven't the time or the energy to fix. So if you click on the following little movie, know that I realize the Green-White scrimmage isn't really on May 3 20008. Apologies for the amateur quality (lack of quality?) of this project. I've got training wheels on when it comes to this sort of thing, but I thought you'd enjoy it anyway.
It's really, REALLY disappointing when I mess around with video and make a typo that I haven't the time or the energy to fix. So if you click on the following little movie, know that I realize the Green-White scrimmage isn't really on May 3 20008. Apologies for the amateur quality (lack of quality?) of this project. I've got training wheels on when it comes to this sort of thing, but I thought you'd enjoy it anyway.
Tuesday's No-Practice Report
Defensive coordinator Chris Wilkerson announces the first pick in the Green-White draft. Honorary coaches for Saturday's event are former Big Green coaches Jake Crouthamel and Joe Yukica.By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com
April 29, 2008
HANOVER – “The first pick is in. We have a selection. The Green team chooses as the first overall player taken in the 2008 Green-White draft ...”
With more heavy rain in Hanover Tuesday, coach Buddy Teevens audibled and replaced the day’s practice with a draft for Saturday’s Green-White scrimmage. The well-received affair was replete with an opening coin flip, Fox NFL music, overhead graphics, draft cards, a lot of applause, a little bit of laughter and just about everything you saw last weekend except Mel Kiper.
Click here to read the rest of the story on Green Alert Premium
New Scrimmage Time
With baseball's Ivy League Championship Series between Dartmouth and Columbia slated for neighboring Red Rolfe Field at noon Saturday, the Green-White football scrimmage has been moved up to 10:30 a.m., to avoid a time conflict. The scrimmage had originally been set for 11 a.m.
The decision to postpone Monday's practice to this afternoon was well-advised. It was completely rotten yesterday. Today should be better. It is expected to be "mostly" rotten. ... I suppose they could call practice off again today, but with spring ball slated to wrap up Saturday and three sessions to go before then, the window is closing. If they don't go today, they would have four consecutive days of practice.
A second Ivy Leaguer has agreed to a free agent contract. That would be Harvard offensive tackle Andrew Brecher joining the Cowboys. There's a story in the Harvard Crimson and another on the Harvard website. Columbia quarterback Craig Hormann had earlier agreed to a deal with the Browns.
UNH quarterback Ricky Santos will be flying out to Kansas City this weekend after reaching a deal with the Chiefs. There's a Seacoast Online story here and a Concord Monitor story here. I don't know if Santos will make it to the NFL in his first shot, but he sure looks like a good fit for the Canadian Football League. ...
Dartmouth alum and former athletic administrator Mike Slive, the commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, "will put forth for discussion a viable, detailed and intelligent plan for a seeded 'plus-one' model (essentially a four team playoff) for determining college football’s national champion." Check out the Yahoo.com story.
The Providence Journal has a nice column about Brown alum Chris – you can call him Boomer or The Swami – Berman and the infancy of ESPN. Yes, kids, ESPN wasn't always there. The column notes it was in Berman's junior year that ...
The decision to postpone Monday's practice to this afternoon was well-advised. It was completely rotten yesterday. Today should be better. It is expected to be "mostly" rotten. ... I suppose they could call practice off again today, but with spring ball slated to wrap up Saturday and three sessions to go before then, the window is closing. If they don't go today, they would have four consecutive days of practice.
A second Ivy Leaguer has agreed to a free agent contract. That would be Harvard offensive tackle Andrew Brecher joining the Cowboys. There's a story in the Harvard Crimson and another on the Harvard website. Columbia quarterback Craig Hormann had earlier agreed to a deal with the Browns.
UNH quarterback Ricky Santos will be flying out to Kansas City this weekend after reaching a deal with the Chiefs. There's a Seacoast Online story here and a Concord Monitor story here. I don't know if Santos will make it to the NFL in his first shot, but he sure looks like a good fit for the Canadian Football League. ...
Dartmouth alum and former athletic administrator Mike Slive, the commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, "will put forth for discussion a viable, detailed and intelligent plan for a seeded 'plus-one' model (essentially a four team playoff) for determining college football’s national champion." Check out the Yahoo.com story.
The Providence Journal has a nice column about Brown alum Chris – you can call him Boomer or The Swami – Berman and the infancy of ESPN. Yes, kids, ESPN wasn't always there. The column notes it was in Berman's junior year that ...
"... Brown won its first Ivy League football championship. To this day, Berman says he remembers that, and that he covered the game. To this day, he remembers those games clearer than all the Super Bowls he’s covered.And finally, that certain Hanover 8th grader is supposed to have his first baseball game today. He was in a panic trying to find his catcher's mitt as the bus was coming this morning and was less than pleased when I offhandedly said, "You aren't going to need it." ... His sister, meanwhile, finished third in the 19-and-under group at a 5-K Sunday. She hasn't been able to run as much as she'd like while playing catcher for the high school softball team, so she treated it like a training run. Must be nice ;-)
More important, by then he knew he wanted to be a sports broadcaster when he got out of Brown.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Monday's Practice
By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com
April 28, 2008
HANOVER – With no official statistician at Saturday's first scrimmage of the spring, Green Alert was the official unofficial statistician. And so, on a rainy, windy and cold Monday when practice was postponed for 24 hours, here's a play-by-play of what you missed (not everything will be 100 percent accurate but this is close and should give you a good idea of how the day went):
1st Down 10 to Go from the 35
Williams runs for 3, tackle by Abdul-Shakoor and Alebiosu
2nd Down, 7 to Go from the 38
Williams runs for 7 and a First Down, tackle by Doherty and Bay
1st Down, 10 to Go from the 45
To access the full play-by-play visit Green Alert Premium
www.biggreenalert.com
April 28, 2008
HANOVER – With no official statistician at Saturday's first scrimmage of the spring, Green Alert was the official unofficial statistician. And so, on a rainy, windy and cold Monday when practice was postponed for 24 hours, here's a play-by-play of what you missed (not everything will be 100 percent accurate but this is close and should give you a good idea of how the day went):
1st Down 10 to Go from the 35
Williams runs for 3, tackle by Abdul-Shakoor and Alebiosu
2nd Down, 7 to Go from the 38
Williams runs for 7 and a First Down, tackle by Doherty and Bay
1st Down, 10 to Go from the 45
To access the full play-by-play visit Green Alert Premium
NFL: None From (Ivy) League
As expected, the NFL draft finished without an Ivy Leaguer picked although the Patriots' fifth-round choice represented a huge what-might-have-been for Dartmouth. That pick was UCLA speedster Matt Slater, who came close enough to signing with the Big Green that the Los Angeles Times actually reported his commitment. A defensive back/special teams player, Slater set a UCLA single-season record with three touchdowns on kickoffs last year but was projected as a wide receiver at Dartmouth. I still recall then-Dartmouth coach John Lyons talking about the impact Slater would have had with speed the Ivy League had rarely if ever seen.
The only reported Ivy Leaguer to sign as a free agent so far is Columbia quarterback Craig Hormann, who agreed to a deal with the Browns.
There was a spate of spring football games around the Ivies over the weekend. The Brown game was a 7-0 yawner while the Yale game – given some extra scoring rules – was a 53-29 pinball game. Harvard went with a first offense vs. first defense, second vs. second format. The real excitement came at Cornell where a 31-28 game had its share of fireworks and not just on the scoreboard. The game was curtailed by rain and lightning in the third quarter.
Dartmouth scrimmaged over the weekend but the true Green-White is this Saturday. The contest may – that's may – move up just a little bit in the day to avoid a conflict with the Ivy League Championship Series baseball twinbill between Dartmouth and Columbia. More on a possible time change tonight on Green Alert Premium and tomorrow on the blog.
Speaking of the Dartmouth baseball team, senior Jason Blydell, who enjoyed a terrific final season as a defensive back last fall, went 2-for-4 with one RBI in yesterday's 8-4 win over Harvard that clinched home field in the ILCS. He was 1-for-2 in the nightcap before taking a seat as the Red Rolfe Division champions substituted liberally with home field decided.
Blydell, by the way, made two outfield catches in the division-clinching sweep at Harvard that still had people raving yesterday. Here's a takeout from the local paper's story about one of those grabs:
The only reported Ivy Leaguer to sign as a free agent so far is Columbia quarterback Craig Hormann, who agreed to a deal with the Browns.
There was a spate of spring football games around the Ivies over the weekend. The Brown game was a 7-0 yawner while the Yale game – given some extra scoring rules – was a 53-29 pinball game. Harvard went with a first offense vs. first defense, second vs. second format. The real excitement came at Cornell where a 31-28 game had its share of fireworks and not just on the scoreboard. The game was curtailed by rain and lightning in the third quarter.
Dartmouth scrimmaged over the weekend but the true Green-White is this Saturday. The contest may – that's may – move up just a little bit in the day to avoid a conflict with the Ivy League Championship Series baseball twinbill between Dartmouth and Columbia. More on a possible time change tonight on Green Alert Premium and tomorrow on the blog.
Speaking of the Dartmouth baseball team, senior Jason Blydell, who enjoyed a terrific final season as a defensive back last fall, went 2-for-4 with one RBI in yesterday's 8-4 win over Harvard that clinched home field in the ILCS. He was 1-for-2 in the nightcap before taking a seat as the Red Rolfe Division champions substituted liberally with home field decided.
Blydell, by the way, made two outfield catches in the division-clinching sweep at Harvard that still had people raving yesterday. Here's a takeout from the local paper's story about one of those grabs:
(T)he true web gem occurred in the bottom of the fifth. With Dartmouth up 4-0, Jason Blydell jumped into the trees behind the left-field fence to rob Dillon O'Neill of a grand slam.Blydell wasn't the only gridder enjoying a successful weekend. The Dartmouth rugby team ran roughshod over three opponents in New York City to claim its eighth Ivy League title in 11 years. Senior safety Ian Wilson (returning for a fifth season next fall), former tight end Brett Lowe, former offensive lineman Jared Dowdakin, former safety John Pircon and former fullback Ryan Mahoney all played rugby this spring for the Big Green, which pummeled Columbia (40-0), Penn (62-0) and Harvard (41-0). Add 'em up and it's 143-0. The Ivy rugby site had suggested, "In morning action, the Dartmouth v. Columbia match, at least on paper, looks to be the most competitive." Guess they didn't play on paper ;-)
“I never really think much about the fence when I'm running out there,” Blydell shrugged. “If I hit it, I hit it.”
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Diamond Dust
Right out front ... congratulations to the Dartmouth baseball team (23-13 overall, 14-4 Ivy League) for clinching the Red Rolfe Division of the Ivy League yesterday with a doubleheader sweep at Harvard while Yale was dropping two games to Brown. Dartmouth came into the afternoon with a 2.5-game lead over the Bulldogs and now sits 4.5 up with two two play.
The Big Green has a one-game lead over Lou Gehrig Division champion Columbia in the standings and if it can hold on to that today (Dartmouth has another twinbill with Harvard at Red Rolfe while the Lions have two games at Penn) the three-game Ivy League championship series will be held in Hanover next weekend.
It would be a ton of fun to wrap up the Green-White scrimmage next Saturday and then wander 50 yards over to Red Rolfe Field to watch a doubleheader between Dartmouth and Columbia. The three-game series – whether it's in New York or Hanover – will finish with a single game on Sunday if necessary.
A nod also to the Dartmouth men's lacrosse team, which knocked off No. 11 Princeton yesterday, 11-9. Former tailback Chad Gaudet won 12-of-22 faceoffs to help the Big Green set the tone.
The NFL draft wraps up today with Brown receiver Paul Raymond the Ivy League's best hope for hearing his name called. It's a slim hope but expect Raymond, along with several other players, to make it into NFL camps. (Dartmouth linebacker Justin Cottrell and offensive lineman Ben Goeke hope to be among those invited to camps.) If an Ivy Leaguer isn't chosen it will mark just the second time since 2000 the Ancient Eight has been overlooked. Here are the Ivy draft picks since 2000 with the round in which they were chosen:
A Pittsburgh Tribune-Review listing Shady Side Academy seniors headed to college includes mention of Dartmouth quarterback recruit Dan Rooney. The story notes that over the last four years, no fewer than 20-of-28 graduating seniors from the school have gone on to college football. That's a reminder about the quality of Western Pennsylvania football and testament to the Shady Side coaches, who apparently have kept the game fun for their players.
It's now official. The FCS (I-AA) playoffs are expanding from 16 to 20 teams. Now if only the Ivy League presidents would do the right thing and allow the conference's football players to enjoy the same privilege as every other athlete in the Ivy League and go on to the postseason.
The Big Green has a one-game lead over Lou Gehrig Division champion Columbia in the standings and if it can hold on to that today (Dartmouth has another twinbill with Harvard at Red Rolfe while the Lions have two games at Penn) the three-game Ivy League championship series will be held in Hanover next weekend.
It would be a ton of fun to wrap up the Green-White scrimmage next Saturday and then wander 50 yards over to Red Rolfe Field to watch a doubleheader between Dartmouth and Columbia. The three-game series – whether it's in New York or Hanover – will finish with a single game on Sunday if necessary.
A nod also to the Dartmouth men's lacrosse team, which knocked off No. 11 Princeton yesterday, 11-9. Former tailback Chad Gaudet won 12-of-22 faceoffs to help the Big Green set the tone.
The NFL draft wraps up today with Brown receiver Paul Raymond the Ivy League's best hope for hearing his name called. It's a slim hope but expect Raymond, along with several other players, to make it into NFL camps. (Dartmouth linebacker Justin Cottrell and offensive lineman Ben Goeke hope to be among those invited to camps.) If an Ivy Leaguer isn't chosen it will mark just the second time since 2000 the Ancient Eight has been overlooked. Here are the Ivy draft picks since 2000 with the round in which they were chosen:
- 2007 - LB Zak DeOssie (Brown) Giants, 4
- 2006 - OT Kevin Boothe (Cornell) Raiders, 6
- 2005 - QB Ryan Fitzpatrick (Harvard) Rams, 7
- 2004 - TE Nate Lawrie (Yale) Bucs, 6
- 2004 - TE Casey Cramer (Dartmouth) Bucs, 7
- 2003 - None
- 2002 - OT Jeff Hatch (Penn) Giants, 3
- 2001 - LG Dennis Norman (Princeton) Seahawks 7
- 2001 - S Than Merrill (Yale), Bucs 7
- 2001 - TE Eric Johnson (Yale) 49ers, 7
- 2000 -LB Isaiah Kacyvenski (Harvard) Seahawks, 4
A Pittsburgh Tribune-Review listing Shady Side Academy seniors headed to college includes mention of Dartmouth quarterback recruit Dan Rooney. The story notes that over the last four years, no fewer than 20-of-28 graduating seniors from the school have gone on to college football. That's a reminder about the quality of Western Pennsylvania football and testament to the Shady Side coaches, who apparently have kept the game fun for their players.
It's now official. The FCS (I-AA) playoffs are expanding from 16 to 20 teams. Now if only the Ivy League presidents would do the right thing and allow the conference's football players to enjoy the same privilege as every other athlete in the Ivy League and go on to the postseason.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
First Scrimmage Recap
The ball is about to be snapped during Saturday's scrimmaging on Memorial Field.By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com
April 26, 2008
HANOVER – Addressing a gathering on campus some years ago, former Dartmouth administrator and two-sport coach Whitey Burnham told the story of a confused cowboy who found himself with a lariat in his hands. Poor guy didn’t know whether he’d lost a horse or found a rope.
Any coach trying to assess an intrasquad scrimmage just moments after it finishes is staring at the same kind of dilemma. Is a strong showing by the offense a good thing for the “O” or a bad thing for the “D?”
On a breezy but blue Saturday when the first Dartmouth offense moved the ball with confidence and efficiency, Big Green coach Buddy Teevens went with the “good thing for the ‘O,’ ” point of view.
Click here for the story
Massachusetts Recruit Set For Shrine Game
The Sun Chronicle in Attleboro, Mass., has a story about local players chosen for the state's annual Shriners Football classic on June 20 and among them is Dartmouth recruit Nick Schwieger of Bishop Feehan. The story notes Schwieger "rushed for over 2,000 yards and scored 29 TD." It includes an action photo.
If you read the Green Alert Premium Friday practice report, you've got an idea how much Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens enjoyed the new Ivy League documentary, 8: Ivy League Football and America. Jake Novak over at the Columbia football blog Roar Lions Roar offered up a very nice review after taking in the world premier.
The first of Dartmouth's two spring scrimmages will be held on Memorial Field this morning. Check Green Alert Premium tonight for a recap and reaction to the action, which will be limited to about 50 plays total.
Harvard will be holding its annual spring game under the lights for the second year in a row according to this release. There's no lack of optimism this spring in Cambridge where the release notes:
If anyone with Dartmouth leanings would like to see a "fact a day," about the Big Green on the popular board, this message on the AGS site notes:
If you read the Green Alert Premium Friday practice report, you've got an idea how much Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens enjoyed the new Ivy League documentary, 8: Ivy League Football and America. Jake Novak over at the Columbia football blog Roar Lions Roar offered up a very nice review after taking in the world premier.
The first of Dartmouth's two spring scrimmages will be held on Memorial Field this morning. Check Green Alert Premium tonight for a recap and reaction to the action, which will be limited to about 50 plays total.
Harvard will be holding its annual spring game under the lights for the second year in a row according to this release. There's no lack of optimism this spring in Cambridge where the release notes:
Harvard is in an enviable position of having two All-Ivy quarterbacks returning next season along with some impressive underclassmen vying for playing time. Seniors Chris Pizzotti and Liam O'Hagan have shared time over the last three seasons with Pizzotti leading the league in passing efficiency en route to first team all-league last season.and ...
On defense, rising senior Matt Curtis is the 2008 team captain, and he provides the cornerstone of what might be the toughest defensive front in the nation.and ...
With teams looking to avoid Harvard’s fearsome front line, opposing teams have taken to the air against the Crimson in previous seasons. The results have been dreadful for them but Harvard also establishing perhaps the nation’s deepest secondary unit in recent memory.Speaking of Harvard, the last two months have belonged to Harvard on the heavily trafficked Any Given Saturday website, the home of FCS (I-AA) football talk. As a result of Harvard's sponsorship of the site, there's been a "fact a day," about the Crimson since the beginning of March.
If anyone with Dartmouth leanings would like to see a "fact a day," about the Big Green on the popular board, this message on the AGS site notes:
All it takes is a $215 donation from your group. This is the cost of running AGS each month. We don't have ads between posts or pop-ups and we rely on your donations throughout the year to keep us going.Heck, I'd even pull together the facts if you'd like ... ;-)
We currently have May through August open for sponsorship. Get together with some of the fans of your team or conference and split the $215 between you.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Friday's Practice Report
By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com
April 25, 2008
HANOVER – Without being in the middle of the field with him, it was impossible to tell if Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens had to stifle a yawn or two during practice Friday.
If he did, it’s understandable.
Teevens didn’t hit the sack until 3:30 or so Friday morning after returning from New York City and the premier of the new documentary film 8: Ivy League Football and America at the Yale Club. It made for a short night’s sleep, but he wasn’t complaining.
To read the full story, visit Green Alert Premium.
SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE
While practice is set to begin at 10, the scrimmage component is slated to start between 10:45 and 11 a.m. According to Teevens, about 25 plays will be run before special teams take the field for a stint. Following the special teams play, about 25 more plays will be run.
While there will be no scoring, officials will be on the field as the scrimmage segment is run much like a regular game.
www.biggreenalert.com
April 25, 2008
HANOVER – Without being in the middle of the field with him, it was impossible to tell if Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens had to stifle a yawn or two during practice Friday.
If he did, it’s understandable.
Teevens didn’t hit the sack until 3:30 or so Friday morning after returning from New York City and the premier of the new documentary film 8: Ivy League Football and America at the Yale Club. It made for a short night’s sleep, but he wasn’t complaining.
To read the full story, visit Green Alert Premium.
SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE
While practice is set to begin at 10, the scrimmage component is slated to start between 10:45 and 11 a.m. According to Teevens, about 25 plays will be run before special teams take the field for a stint. Following the special teams play, about 25 more plays will be run.
While there will be no scoring, officials will be on the field as the scrimmage segment is run much like a regular game.
What Might Have Been ...
Find the story I freelanced on former tailback Chad Gaudet for the Dartmouth men's lacrosse web site here. From the story:
That bit about the Dartmouth career rushing record might seem a little strong, but consider this: The Big Green record for yards in a career is just 2,252 by Al Rosier from 1989-91. Gaudet would have needed to average just 621 yards per season over his final three years to tie the mark.
From a wire service story on the annual NCAA study of academic performance by college athletes:
UNH quarterback Ricky Santos probably won't be selected this weekend. From a story in the Portsmouth Herald:
The Dartmouth baseball season has reached critical mass with a couple of doubleheaders against Harvard this weekend. The Big Green has a 2.5-game lead over Yale in the Red Rolfe Division with four games to play. The Bulldogs have to win at least two games more than the Big Green this weekend to have a chance to force a tie by finishing up an earlier game against Penn. There's nothing in The D, but there's a story in the Harvard Crimson and another in the Yale Daily.
And finally, that certain Hanover High sophomore's softball team opened the season with a 12-0 loss yesterday. She batted leadoff and was credited with two hits in the morning paper although she protests she got only one. ;-)
With 389 yards in just over four games in his freshman campaign, Gaudet came into his sophomore fall looking like a lock to one day erase Dartmouth’s career rushing record. But against Colgate in the 2005 opener, Gaudet – a bull at 6-foot, 218 pounds that fall – took a helmet to the left knee on his first carry of the season. He hobbled off the field hoping a little ice would get him back in the action.It didn't. The hit caused a tibial plateau fracture that essentially ended his football career. But he's fought back to be able to play lacrosse and today is one of the top faceoff men in the country.
That bit about the Dartmouth career rushing record might seem a little strong, but consider this: The Big Green record for yards in a career is just 2,252 by Al Rosier from 1989-91. Gaudet would have needed to average just 621 yards per season over his final three years to tie the mark.
From a wire service story on the annual NCAA study of academic performance by college athletes:
The Ivy League accounted for more than one-fifth of all the teams honored, with 150 men's and women's teams recognized on the list. The Patriot League was second with 89 and the Big East third at 47.There's a Dartmouth release on the study. Also a Dartmouth PDF that includes the following:
Again, it was the usually strong Ivy League that dominated the results.
Yale produced the most impressive classroom performance for the second straight year. Of the 29 men's and women's sports offered by the school and measured by the NCAA, the Bulldogs made the list in 28 sports. Dartmouth was honored 24 times, followed by Brown (21), the University of Pennsylvania (20), Princeton (19) and Harvard (18).
NATIONAL STANDINGSpeedy Brown wide receiver Paul Raymond might be the Ivy League's top draft hopeful this weekend. The Brown Daily Herald writes about his career and his chances.
Dartmouth stands second nationally in number of teams honored by the NCAA for the second year in a row. Ivy schools swept the top six spots and eight of the Top 20.
1. Yale 28
2. Dartmouth 24
3. Brown 21
4. Penn 20
5. Princeton 19
6. Harvard 18
7. Bucknell 17
T8. Lehigh 15
T8. Holy Cross 15
10. Colgate 13
Other Ivy schools: Cornell - 11 teams (T-16th),
Columbia - 9 teams (20th)
UNH quarterback Ricky Santos probably won't be selected this weekend. From a story in the Portsmouth Herald:
Best case? He gets chosen before the seven rounds are up and reports to his first NFL camp in May.In talking to coaches, Dartmouth players and agents over the years I've heard over and over again that choosing where to go as a free agent is almost universally preferable to being picked in the last or next-to-last round. Sure, it's great to be able to say you've been drafted, but a good, hard look at rosters can point a player toward a team that might actually need a quarterback for the regular season, not just practice fodder for the preseason.
Another scenario is him getting bypassed in the draft, but signing afterward with a team as a free agent. In the right situation, that could even be preferred.
The Dartmouth baseball season has reached critical mass with a couple of doubleheaders against Harvard this weekend. The Big Green has a 2.5-game lead over Yale in the Red Rolfe Division with four games to play. The Bulldogs have to win at least two games more than the Big Green this weekend to have a chance to force a tie by finishing up an earlier game against Penn. There's nothing in The D, but there's a story in the Harvard Crimson and another in the Yale Daily.
And finally, that certain Hanover High sophomore's softball team opened the season with a 12-0 loss yesterday. She batted leadoff and was credited with two hits in the morning paper although she protests she got only one. ;-)
Thursday, April 24, 2008
8: Ivy League Football And America
The documentary film Eight: Ivy League Football and America, premiers tonight in front of a sellout audience at the Yale Club in New York City. The gala is being hosted by the Ivy Football Association. Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens will be there along with a number of former Big Green players including 2006 captain Preston Copley, who was interviewed in the movie.
Today's Daily Princetonian has a story about the movie with a fun quote from Erik Anjou, producer/director of the film and a former Middlebury College player. Of former Harvard gridder Tommy Lee Jones, who appears in the film, Anjou said:
“Tommy Lee Jones has won an Oscar, but he still hates Yale.”The film's web site says the documentary ...
...tells the story of how the eight Ivy League colleges invented the game of football and pioneered the concept of the scholar-athlete, and how irreplaceable lessons in discipline, perseverance, and teamwork continue to be taught on the Ivy League gridirons.I've traded innumerable emails with Erik Anjou over the past year-plus and served as a two-bit tour guide during his visits to Hanover for filming. I've come to appreciate all the hard work and dedication it takes to put together any film, and how much heart he poured into this particular project. Erik was kind enough to extend an invitation to the premier and I'm disappointed I can't make it, but I look forward to hearing from Buddy Teevens about his impressions of the film and the opening, and want to wish Erik and co-producer/writer Mark Bernstein best of luck tonight and in distribution.
Former Dartmouth quarterback Jay Fiedler seems to be enjoying his retirement from pro football. A couple of weeks ago he played in a pro volleyball tournament. Now he's taking part in the pro-am segment of an LPGA tournament according to the Palm Beach Post. Now, I don't know about Jay's entire game, but after watching him square off against a recruit a few years ago in a long-drive contest at the annual Dartmouth football golf outing, I'm here to tell you he can hit the ball a long, long way. And because his caddy that afternoon at Hanover Country Club happened to be the very thrilled son of one of my wife's co-workers, I can also tell you that he was a generous tipper after his round ;-)
Former Dartmouth standout and coach Jake Crouthamel gets a mention in this Morning Call story about former Lehigh Valley (Pennsylvania) high schoolers who were eventually drafted by the NFL. For a link to former Upper Valley high schoolers drafted to the NFL ... . No wait a minute. There haven't been any.
The Patriot League has put its spring football prospectus on line. To see what it has to say about Dartmouth opponents Holy Cross and Colgate, download this PDF file.
The quarterback for another Dartmouth opponent is having a pretty fair spring on the field. The baseball field, that is. Cornell's Nathan Ford went a blistering 12-for-17 last weekend against Columbia to raise his batting average to .432 as the Cornell Sun reports.
And finally, that certain Hanover High sophomore finally opens her softball season this afternoon down near Manchester. She's switched from center field, where she played virtually every inning of every game last year, to catcher this spring. I asked where she would be batting in the order and she didn't know. I'm guessing leadoff or No. 3. We'll see.
Her brother, that certain Hanover 8th grader, is also a catcher but won't open his season until next week. Their dad, who played a lot of baseball, tried catching just once and quickly learned it's not a real good idea to turn your head when the batter swings ;-).
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Wednesday's Practice Report
By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com
April 23, 2008
HANOVER – With spring practice hitting the halfway point on Wednesday, it was a good time to ask coach Buddy Teevens how players making position switches during these 12 sessions are faring, which players have stepped up the most, and what area of the field has been the best surprise.
Visit Green Alert Premium for the story
www.biggreenalert.com
April 23, 2008
HANOVER – With spring practice hitting the halfway point on Wednesday, it was a good time to ask coach Buddy Teevens how players making position switches during these 12 sessions are faring, which players have stepped up the most, and what area of the field has been the best surprise.
Visit Green Alert Premium for the story
The Halfway Point Of Spring
Hard as it is to believe, Dartmouth spring football hits the halfway point with today's practice on Memorial Field. The temperature could hit 80 degrees (which is even harder to believe) with a chance for a thunder shower. Check Green Alert Premium tonight for a wrap on the day's session.
No question, injuries and other problems have depleted the Dartmouth offensive line this spring and have Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens thinking creatively about the format to use in the limited scrimmage this Saturday as well as the Green-White game on May 3. But things could be worse. At Nicholls State down in Louisiana, the last practice and spring game were canceled because of injuries. Find a brief story here.
I interviewed former Dartmouth running back-turned-lacrosse captain Chad Gaudet yesterday for a freelance story that I will (hopefully) finish later today. It will appear on the Dartmouth men's lacrosse web site and after it does I'll post a link. Chad spoke openly about the injury that cost him his once-promising football career and about the satisfaction he gets these days on the lacrosse field, where he has developed into one of the best faceoff men in the country.
Not much to link to out there today. For a nicely done, short video presentation about Princeton's spring game, click here.
The Columbia Spectator touches on an age-old debate: Do you give extra help to programs that are winning because there's the very real chance that the help will be rewarded, or do you give extra help to programs that are struggling because they need it more? It's not an easy question and it's one that I've heard coaches and administrators debate at Dartmouth many times over the years. The columnist for the Spectator offers this opinion:
No question, injuries and other problems have depleted the Dartmouth offensive line this spring and have Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens thinking creatively about the format to use in the limited scrimmage this Saturday as well as the Green-White game on May 3. But things could be worse. At Nicholls State down in Louisiana, the last practice and spring game were canceled because of injuries. Find a brief story here.
I interviewed former Dartmouth running back-turned-lacrosse captain Chad Gaudet yesterday for a freelance story that I will (hopefully) finish later today. It will appear on the Dartmouth men's lacrosse web site and after it does I'll post a link. Chad spoke openly about the injury that cost him his once-promising football career and about the satisfaction he gets these days on the lacrosse field, where he has developed into one of the best faceoff men in the country.
Not much to link to out there today. For a nicely done, short video presentation about Princeton's spring game, click here.
The Columbia Spectator touches on an age-old debate: Do you give extra help to programs that are winning because there's the very real chance that the help will be rewarded, or do you give extra help to programs that are struggling because they need it more? It's not an easy question and it's one that I've heard coaches and administrators debate at Dartmouth many times over the years. The columnist for the Spectator offers this opinion:
While still placing the majority of the cash flow towards the revenue-driven men’s basketball and football programs, it would do the department well to move more of its capital toward promoting teams like baseball—and perhaps even the powerful heavyweight rowing program or our nationally ranked fencing program.A columnist for the Daily Texan used an inventive way to take a look at the history of the University of Texas football program. He climbed into a time machine and interviewed the first Texas coach back in 1894. Not surprisingly given the times, the Ivy League got a mention. Here's part of the fictional interview between the writer (DT) and Coach Wentworth:
DT: So Mr. Wentworth, how did your first season behind the reins of one of the most successful college football programs in America go?It's not sports, but it is the Ivy League and it's a good "read." Check out this Harvard Crimson piece about a high school dropout turned award-winning psychology professor at Harvard who specializes in happiness research. From the story:
R.D. Wentworth: This is only the second year of the team's existence and last year there wasn't even a coach, so I don't know what you mean by "program." All in all, I'd consider this season a success. We won six and dropped one, and were fortunate that nobody died during any of our games. Luckily, we didn't play Yale or Harvard, or else those numbers may have changed a lot.
DT: Oh, the Ivy League used to be good at something besides being pretentious?
RDW: Used to? I don't see how we'd ever beat them.
“I think it’s the only class you’ll see where people clap for literally five minutes at the end of each class,” Beatrice H. N. El-Hage ’11 says. “They wait to walk out. At the end of every class I hear people talking about how good the lecture was.”And finally, with yet another day of sun and unseasonably warm temperatures on tap, there's a good chance the last snow in the shaded sections of our yard here on the shoulder of Moose Mountain will melt away. I'll let you know ;-)
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Time For The Ivies To Act
It appears a window of opportunity is opening for the Ivy League if it is ever going to join the FCS/IAA football playoffs. In an Asbury Park Press blog posting about Monmouth University football and the playoffs, the writer quotes Northeast Conference commissioner Brenda Weare on a proposed expansion of the tournament:"Basically the proposal is that in 2010 we would expand the FCS bracket from 16 teams to 20 teams which would allow for additional automatic bids. It has the support of football coaches, athletic directors, and (league) commissioners."The story goes on to say the expansion would allow for two more automatic bids and two more at-large bids.
Green Alert Take: I've been told in the past by people in the know that the NCAA would love to have the Ivy League – with its national reputation and large, historic facilities like Franklin Field, the Yale Bowl and Harvard Stadium – in the playoffs. Clearly, if the Ivy ban is ever lifted, the Ancient Eight wouldn't want to be at the mercy of the selectors hoping for an at-large bid. Given that the timeline for further expansion beyond 20 teams is uncertain, the time to act to reserve one of those two prized automatic bids is ... now.
Not surprisingly, given its difficulties against the run last fall, Columbia is looking at an alternative to the 3-3-5 defense according to the Columbia Spectator. The story says coach Norries Wilson employed a lot of 4-3 in the Lions' Blue-White game.
It is the most-played rivalry in college football and one of the most hotly contested. Harvard-Yale? Hotly contested, yes. Most-played? No. That would be Lehigh-Lafayette as the Lehigh Brown and White reports. It's on my list of games to see some day along with The Game, Amherst-Williams and Army-Navy.
It won't be done in time for parents of juniors and seniors at Dartmouth, but a 72-room "upscale boutique hotel" with restaurant, conference room and underground parking is being proposed for Hanover. The Daily Dartmouth reports a story that first appeared in the local paper. The location would be pretty much opposite Hanover Hardware, one block south of the Hopkins Center. It would take an estimated 18 months to construct.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Monday's Practice Report
By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com
April 21, 2008
HANOVER – Leave it to eternal optimist Buddy Teevens to spin a positive spin on the dearth of offensive linemen available to the Dartmouth football team this spring.
Click here for the story on Green Alert Premium.
www.biggreenalert.com
April 21, 2008
HANOVER – Leave it to eternal optimist Buddy Teevens to spin a positive spin on the dearth of offensive linemen available to the Dartmouth football team this spring.
Click here for the story on Green Alert Premium.
Wilson, Ruggers Fall To BYU
Should have mentioned this earlier. Ian Wilson and the football seniors on the rugby team put up a good fight before falling to BYU at nationals, 48-22. There's a story on the Dartmouth rugby page and a quick piece from the BYU angle in the Deseret News which wrote: BYU survived a deadlocked first half against Dartmouth to get a 48-22 win.
Another Name To Watch
There's no mention of him intending to play football at Dartmouth, but the captain of New York's Spackenkill High School team and a three-sport athlete at the Poughkeepsie-area high school is apparently headed to Hanover according to this story. Patrick Martin is a 6-2, 185 receiver/linebacker whose list of honors includes being named the New York State Class B scholar-athlete of the year by the New York State High School Football Coaches Association. One thing is certain: If he is interested in walking on, Coach Buddy Teevens will welcome him. The Big Green roster is dotted with walk-ons including wide receivers Kyle Battle and Tanner Scott, who have opened eyes.
The Dartmouth Green-White game will be one week from Saturday May 3, and a lack of healthy offensive linemen this spring means it will probably take a little different form than last year's game. With seniors not participating and incoming freshmen not on campus, that's not unusual. Columbia's Blue-White game saw some defensive linemen have to play on both teams according to the Spectator. (Heck, even Penn State had linemen strapping on vests to switch teams on Saturday.) For the second year in a row, Columbia's likely starting quarterback did not play in the game because of injury.
Columbia's school paper also has a story about Roar-ee, the school's mascot. While Dartmouth can't pull the trigger – or refuses to pull the trigger – on a mascot to help drum up spirit on campus, in town and the Upper Valley, Columbia did so several years ago and the results have been encouraging. Find the story here.
The Harvard Crimson has a story about its former players now suiting up for the Parma Panthers in Italy.
If you want to see how a big-time football school promotes spring football to the tune of 73,000 fans turning out, watch this video link from Penn State.
And I can't help but include this: That certain 8th grader as part of his woodworking class decided to make a "Cornhole" game as one of this year's projects. The intent was to bring the bag-tossing game out to Penn State, where on Saturday afternoon it seemed the sound of bean bags (or corn-filled bags) echoed all around us. Researching the specifics of the "Cornhole" game for him, I stumbled across the following. Go ahead, click on it and have some fun when the boss isn't around:
Dartmouth's spring practice resumes today and I'll have a few thoughts from Coach Buddy Teevens and a look at this afternoon's session on the Green Alert Premium site by 10 tonight. (If you are wondering, that is a little later than reports are filed during camp and in the fall, but that's because practice is running later ;-)
And finally, congratulations to the Dartmouth baseball team, which split a doubleheader with Yale over the weekend to maintain its 2.5-game lead in the Red Rolfe Division with only next week's home-and-home doubleheaders against the Crimson left on the Ivy League slate.
The Dartmouth Green-White game will be one week from Saturday May 3, and a lack of healthy offensive linemen this spring means it will probably take a little different form than last year's game. With seniors not participating and incoming freshmen not on campus, that's not unusual. Columbia's Blue-White game saw some defensive linemen have to play on both teams according to the Spectator. (Heck, even Penn State had linemen strapping on vests to switch teams on Saturday.) For the second year in a row, Columbia's likely starting quarterback did not play in the game because of injury.
Columbia's school paper also has a story about Roar-ee, the school's mascot. While Dartmouth can't pull the trigger – or refuses to pull the trigger – on a mascot to help drum up spirit on campus, in town and the Upper Valley, Columbia did so several years ago and the results have been encouraging. Find the story here.
The Harvard Crimson has a story about its former players now suiting up for the Parma Panthers in Italy.
If you want to see how a big-time football school promotes spring football to the tune of 73,000 fans turning out, watch this video link from Penn State.
And I can't help but include this: That certain 8th grader as part of his woodworking class decided to make a "Cornhole" game as one of this year's projects. The intent was to bring the bag-tossing game out to Penn State, where on Saturday afternoon it seemed the sound of bean bags (or corn-filled bags) echoed all around us. Researching the specifics of the "Cornhole" game for him, I stumbled across the following. Go ahead, click on it and have some fun when the boss isn't around:
CornHoleDartmouth's spring practice resumes today and I'll have a few thoughts from Coach Buddy Teevens and a look at this afternoon's session on the Green Alert Premium site by 10 tonight. (If you are wondering, that is a little later than reports are filed during camp and in the fall, but that's because practice is running later ;-)
And finally, congratulations to the Dartmouth baseball team, which split a doubleheader with Yale over the weekend to maintain its 2.5-game lead in the Red Rolfe Division with only next week's home-and-home doubleheaders against the Crimson left on the Ivy League slate.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
A Familiar Name
All I will say is when you hear his name you'll recognize it.That was in a blog posting in late winter as I waited for the name of one particular recruit to hit the newspaper. Here's a note from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that spells it out:
Shady Side Academy quarterback Dan Rooney will play next season at Dartmouth in the Ivy League. Rooney is the son of Steelers president Art Rooney II.For a detailed story on Dan Rooney, check out this PDF of a Post-Gazette story. The 6-3, 195 quarterback helped his team to a 9-1 record before Shady Side ran into a QB you may have heard of in the WPIAL AA quarterfinals. Fellow by the name of Terrelle Pryor.
The New York Times has a story about Ivy prospects and the NFL. From the story:
(Brown wide receiver Paul) Raymond is the only Ivy League player with a decent chance of being drafted this year. He is projected to go in the final rounds Sunday, if at all. But if he makes a team in the fall — he will almost certainly be invited to a training camp as a free agent if he is not drafted — he will join a tiny, but slowly growing football fraternity: Ivy League education, N.F.L. job.The nine-hour drive home from Penn State is behind us. Thankfully. We were in the crowd of 73,000 to watch the opening salvo for the Nittany Lion quarterback job next fall at the annual Blue-White game on another picture-perfect day. Keep an eye out next season for Stefon Green, a sophomore tailback who lived up to the hype of big-time speed by breaking off a 57-yard run on the first carry of the game.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
First Day Of Hitting
A chilly night in Central PA after temperatures hit 82 yesterday. We're off to Penn State in a few minutes for the Blue-White spring game. There were 71,000 people at the game last year. It's a stretch to expect that again this year but 50,000 or more could show up. We'll be setting up our tailgate and then be wandering into town for the requisite sticky buns at Ye Olde College Diner, or whatever they call it. Postgame will include ice cream at the Creamery. If you are ever at Penn State it's a civil offense to leave campus without at least one trip to the Creamery. Remember, this is where Ben & Jerry learned their craft – even if it was a correspondence course.
We watched the Penn State baseball team defeat Indiana last night at Lubrano Park, home of the State College Spikes of the New York/Penn League. They put on quite a show that would have you believe you are watching a minor league game instead of college baseball if you didn't know better.
As for Dartmouth's first scrimmaging yesterday, a much-appreciated pair of eyes sent along a quick report. It starts this way:
The highlight offensively was the play of the wide receivers with Andrew von Kuh, Phil Galligan, Eric Paul and tight end Carroll Papajohn showing the Big Green will have a deep crew of pass catchers in the fall. Niles Murphy showed his explosiveness with several catches.
Without a true fullback, the running backs were used in tandem with Milan Williams and Nate Servis in one pairing and Rob Mitchelson and Hudson Smythe in the other. My observer suggested Mitchelson might have opened the most eyes.
Against a pretty basic defensive front without complex blitzes, the young and untested offensive line performed better than some might have expected.
Not surprisingly given how early we are in the spring, the defense appeared ahead of the offense. That said, kudos the to offensive line. Pat Scorah was noticeable in the secondary. Casey Frost looked sharp at safety while Andrew Dete and Joe Battaglia looked the part of returning starters at linebacker. And no surprise, Charles Bay was a force.
Thanks again to The Eye for sharing his perceptions of the first day of hitting.
Now I've gotta run.
We watched the Penn State baseball team defeat Indiana last night at Lubrano Park, home of the State College Spikes of the New York/Penn League. They put on quite a show that would have you believe you are watching a minor league game instead of college baseball if you didn't know better.
As for Dartmouth's first scrimmaging yesterday, a much-appreciated pair of eyes sent along a quick report. It starts this way:
They played 11 on 11 but it seemed to be something short of full contact, but more than just thud. The whistles were very quick but you could tell the boys were happy to take the gloves off a little after 3 days of no pads.Word is that Alex Jenny looked solid under center and had a good run or two. Tim McManus got some snaps and showed both his athleticism and inexperience after playing wideout much of the fall. Max Heiges and Will Deevy both looked more comfortable than a year ago.
The highlight offensively was the play of the wide receivers with Andrew von Kuh, Phil Galligan, Eric Paul and tight end Carroll Papajohn showing the Big Green will have a deep crew of pass catchers in the fall. Niles Murphy showed his explosiveness with several catches.
Without a true fullback, the running backs were used in tandem with Milan Williams and Nate Servis in one pairing and Rob Mitchelson and Hudson Smythe in the other. My observer suggested Mitchelson might have opened the most eyes.
Against a pretty basic defensive front without complex blitzes, the young and untested offensive line performed better than some might have expected.
Not surprisingly given how early we are in the spring, the defense appeared ahead of the offense. That said, kudos the to offensive line. Pat Scorah was noticeable in the secondary. Casey Frost looked sharp at safety while Andrew Dete and Joe Battaglia looked the part of returning starters at linebacker. And no surprise, Charles Bay was a force.
Thanks again to The Eye for sharing his perceptions of the first day of hitting.
Now I've gotta run.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Who'd Have Thunk It?
Not much to report from the State College area except this: We were not far from Penn State yesterday when we passed by a lunchtime softball game being played by young Amish schoolchildren in straw hats. We cruised by the school today to catch another look at the children were in class. We discovered something amazing though. While you'd expect the Amish to perhaps make their own wooden bats, they actually use aluminum! That's right. They'd left a selection of them next to their homemade batting cage near the road and we got a good look. Who'd have thunk it?
We're all sunburned from walking around campus and beautiful downtown State College on a glorious day that feels more like mid-summer than April. The kids bought posters and had them autographed by former PSU quarterback Michael Robinson, now of the 49ers. They were pretty psyched.
Tonight we're off to a Penn State-Indiana baseball game.
Tomorrow I hope to have a little input on the first day of Dartmouth hitting if any of my spies were there.
We're all sunburned from walking around campus and beautiful downtown State College on a glorious day that feels more like mid-summer than April. The kids bought posters and had them autographed by former PSU quarterback Michael Robinson, now of the 49ers. They were pretty psyched.
Tonight we're off to a Penn State-Indiana baseball game.
Tomorrow I hope to have a little input on the first day of Dartmouth hitting if any of my spies were there.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Yalie's Answer back
Greetings from Penn State, where it is an absolutely gorgeous day.
A couple of rightfully irate Yale football players offer a response to yesterday's column in the Yale Daily. By all means do check out this well thought out and well-reasoned column. An excerpt:
A couple of rightfully irate Yale football players offer a response to yesterday's column in the Yale Daily. By all means do check out this well thought out and well-reasoned column. An excerpt:
In order to improve the state of Yale’s athletics and its perception by non-athletes, Yale should approve post-season play for ALL sports, including football, and a conference tournament for basketball; second, it should eliminate the eight-semester rule that forces injured athletes to withdraw from the Yale community to retain their rightful eligibility; thirdly, someone needs to invite Ned Fulmer to a Yale Varsity Parents’ Tailgate, a Student-Athlete Community Outreach Event or an Alumni-Athlete Career Night so he can appreciate the diverse backgrounds of Yale athletes, who hail from every corner of the globe, inhabit every tax bracket, embrace every major and go on to achieve greatness in the name of Yale.Now back to my regularly scheduled vacation ;-)
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Speaking Of Quarterbacks
From left to right, freshman quarterback Will Deevy, freshman QB Tim McManus and sophomore signalcaller Alex Jenny get instruction from coach Buddy Teevens as the first week of Dartmouth spring football begins. Sophomore quarterback/punter Max Heiges was off taking long snaps.Speaking of quarterbacks, one of the stars of Princeton's spring game last weekend was a two-year defensive back switched to quarterback. Find the story in the Daily Princetonian.
The Yale Daily has a nice story about a couple of standout juniors in New Haven with one on the gridiron and one on the diamond. Most of us know about tailback Mike McLeod, but the background on NCAA batting champion Ryan Lavarnway – who has a whopping 13 home runs this year – is timely with the Elis coming to Hanover for a critical pair of doubleheaders this weekend.
Also out of the Yale Daily is a column headlined Either go big, Bulldogs, or just go home that will get you thinking. If you are an Ivy League football fan (or Ivy sports fan) it will likely anger you, although you might agree with the conclusion. A few excerpts:
Any Eli, especially he who ventures to Commons after 7 p.m. or to Toad’s on a Wednesday night, can see there is a real cultural rift between our mediocre varsity athletes and non-athletes at Yale.
... (O)ne cannot forget that we also admit recruited athletes who are, for the most part, of a substandard academic caliber and more likely to be apathetic toward collegiate academia.
We watch admissions videos of smiling students intelligently questioning professors, but in reality, we witness the disruption of large lectures by disrespectful athletes who are barely surviving gut classes.
If that guy in section who didn’t do his reading because he was doing wind sprints must stay, he might as well be running a 4.3 40 and taking us to a national championship! If that means setting up special tutoring programs to help athletes who are struggling academically, so be it. The financial benefits will vastly outweigh the costs. Furthermore, we have a tangible model to emulate: If the Harvard of the West can do it, why not us? Look out, Stanford — what kind of mascot is a tree, anyway? Final Four, here we come!The gist of the column, if I read it right, is that if you are going to make allowances for athletes you should at least enjoy some real success and the accompanying benefits.
This story says former Dartmouth All-American and current Tennessee Titan Casey Cramer was scheduled to be signing autographs for game four of the Western Conference Quarterfinals between the Nashville Predators and the Detroit Red Wings. It doesn't surprise me at all. Casey's a hockey fan and it means a free ticket, right Case? ;-)
Dartmouth football is off today and will be back on Memorial Field Thursday and Friday. Me? I'll be in State College, Pa., for my annual trip to Penn State for the Blue & White game with that certain Hanover High sophomore and her 8th grade brother.Working every last Saturday in the fall since long before the kids were born, I almost never have a chance to watch a game with the kids, who are rabid sports fans, big football fans and (surprise ;-) pretty devoted Penn State fans. Our trip is a chance for the three of us to spend some quality time together and for my ever-patient wife to have a break from her, ahem, three children.
We'll be staying at a campground in Bellefonte, Pa., about 10 minutes away from Beaver Stadium, which last year drew 71,000 for the spring game. There's a midway Friday night that I'll bring the kids to, and we'll take in a PSU baseball game at the Penn State/New York-Penn League stadium right next door to the football stadium. We'll visit the College Diner for sticky buns, shoot a few pictures at the Lion Shrine and get a Peachy Paterno at the Creamery. Last year we hiked Mt. Nittany but I've got something else in store this year.
We're heading out at about 4 a.m. tomorrow (at the request of the kids) to maximize our time in what the kids remind me is "My Pennsylvania." We will roll back into the Upper Valley around dinner on Sunday. The temperature in Happy Valley is supposed to be around 70 degrees in the afternoons and the low 40's at night, which is just fine with me, since we'll be in a tent.
If the wi-fi is working at the campground, I'll keep the blog going with posts from our tent while the kids are sleeping in, or while they are fishing in the campground pond. Last year I had another set or two of eyes on Memorial Field letting me know who stepped up at Dartmouth practice while I was away. If I get an email or two of that sort this year, I'll share those opinions.
Either way, I'll catch you up on those practices in Monday's Green Alert Premium report and be with you through the rest of spring ball and for every last practice and game from late August through the end of the season.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Tuesday's Practice Post
By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com
April 15, 2008
HANOVER – If your internet connection is fast enough, go back and take another look at the 2007 Dartmouth highlight film and when you do, keep your eye peeled for Big Green No. 26.
Not that you could miss him. He played in only three games, but his impact was enormous.
In Dartmouth’s overtime loss to Colgate in the season opener, Ian Wilson made 13 tackles, intercepted two passes, forced one fumble and contributed to another. In a big win over Penn two weeks later, the hard-hitting safety racked up another 13 tackles, broke up two passes, was in on a couple of tackles for loss before knocking the Quakers’ star running back out of the game with a pile-driver of a tackle.
Unfortunately for Wilson – and Dartmouth – that tackle not only knocked him out of the game but ended up sidelining him for the rest of the season with a neck injury.
Fortunately for Wilson – and Dartmouth – if he had to be hurt, it was the right year for it to happen.
Visit Green Alert Premium for the full story
www.biggreenalert.com
April 15, 2008
HANOVER – If your internet connection is fast enough, go back and take another look at the 2007 Dartmouth highlight film and when you do, keep your eye peeled for Big Green No. 26.
Not that you could miss him. He played in only three games, but his impact was enormous.
In Dartmouth’s overtime loss to Colgate in the season opener, Ian Wilson made 13 tackles, intercepted two passes, forced one fumble and contributed to another. In a big win over Penn two weeks later, the hard-hitting safety racked up another 13 tackles, broke up two passes, was in on a couple of tackles for loss before knocking the Quakers’ star running back out of the game with a pile-driver of a tackle.
Unfortunately for Wilson – and Dartmouth – that tackle not only knocked him out of the game but ended up sidelining him for the rest of the season with a neck injury.
Fortunately for Wilson – and Dartmouth – if he had to be hurt, it was the right year for it to happen.
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A Few Reflections
A few reflections on the start of spring practice yesterday. ... The weather was fine as the session started, even a little warm in the sun. But as the clouds moved in, the sun lowered and the wind picked up it first got chilly and then got cold. ... A census of visitors to the practice included a grandmother of a player (who will be on the sunny side of the stadium today, you can be sure), a semiretired alum who played for Bob Blackman, a couple of other Blackman vets cutting out at the end of his workday, a mentor of coach Buddy Teevens and a certain blogger/web type. By the end of practice only the last was still there, grateful that he'd packed an extra coat in the car and brought it to the field despite thinking it probably wouldn't be necessary. Turns out it was.
... Correction on the attendance: a father, mother and presumptive recruit showed up near the end of the practice and landed a tour of Floren Varsity House.
The video interview with Coach Teevens was conducted in front of the timeline in the Blackman Lounge. Apologies for the buzzing sound in the video but the man can get a lot of names into a minute and a half, can't he? Hopefully there will be a few more such reports periodically, sans the buzz.
Teevens was right about the enthusiasm during practice. It would be relatively quiet for spurts and then the noise would explode, usually on a big pass play or a defensive stop. ... Practice seemed to run smoothly, a result in part of no turnover in the coaching staff since last fall. ... There were no new coaches but there were new faces in uniform, however, as the football program continues to attract walk-ons, including a former baseball player and a former basketball recruit. ... The dearth of offensive linemen and tight ends was readily apparent when the team broke into positional drills. ...
Practice ended with the players broken into three groups – big guys, not-so-big guys and fast guys – to run sideline repetitions against a required standard. It's always interesting to see who runs the hardest and who dogs it. Don't think for a second the coaches don't notice.
The field looked a lot neater than just a week ago with the cyclone fencing and lacrosse goals gone, replaced by more familiar sleds and practice equipment. ... The equipment included what I call "the trampoline." I'm not sure what it's actually called, but it looks like a good-sized, rectangular trampoline that defensive backs practice their drops under as a way to get remind themselves to stay low. ...
There were still a lot of lacrosse lines on the field. It will be interesting to see how long they last. ... Oh, and there were no cannons anywhere to be seen.
Another practice session is slated for 4:45 today and a report will be posted on Green Alert tonight. ... I'll try to get a roster with current numbers so as to be more comfortable sharing notes on just who it was who made that catch, that interception or that knockdown. A few number changes and a few duplicates made that a dangerous proposition yesterday.
Not much to report elsewhere today. The Columbia Spectator offers up a story about the Lions' defensive problems last year and what needs to improve on that side of the ball in 2008.
The Sports Network has a column about the top 25 FCS (I-AA) prospects in the upcoming NFL draft. No Ivy Leaguers are listed in the chosen 25 or the "best of the rest." The only Dartmouth opponent listed is UNH quarterback Ricky Santos, who is in the latter category and projected as a free agent signing. ...
Away from the Ivies ... for a detailed story about Penn State coach Joe Paterno and the age issue, check out Ivan Maisel's story on espn.com. Remember the tirade Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy went on last year after he was unhappy about what a reporter wrote about his quarterback? That QB, who wasn't at all happy about Gundy's rant, is using his last year of eligibility at the FCS level. Check out this espn.com story.
Away from the sports world, the New York Times has a fun piece under the headline When Strings Are Attached, Quirky Gifts Can Limit Universities, about gifts to colleges and how they can change over time. The second "take" on this story talks about Dartmouth's tradition of 10 cent tea at Sanborn and about firewood for the Dartmouth president's home.
... Correction on the attendance: a father, mother and presumptive recruit showed up near the end of the practice and landed a tour of Floren Varsity House.
The video interview with Coach Teevens was conducted in front of the timeline in the Blackman Lounge. Apologies for the buzzing sound in the video but the man can get a lot of names into a minute and a half, can't he? Hopefully there will be a few more such reports periodically, sans the buzz.
Teevens was right about the enthusiasm during practice. It would be relatively quiet for spurts and then the noise would explode, usually on a big pass play or a defensive stop. ... Practice seemed to run smoothly, a result in part of no turnover in the coaching staff since last fall. ... There were no new coaches but there were new faces in uniform, however, as the football program continues to attract walk-ons, including a former baseball player and a former basketball recruit. ... The dearth of offensive linemen and tight ends was readily apparent when the team broke into positional drills. ...
Practice ended with the players broken into three groups – big guys, not-so-big guys and fast guys – to run sideline repetitions against a required standard. It's always interesting to see who runs the hardest and who dogs it. Don't think for a second the coaches don't notice.
The field looked a lot neater than just a week ago with the cyclone fencing and lacrosse goals gone, replaced by more familiar sleds and practice equipment. ... The equipment included what I call "the trampoline." I'm not sure what it's actually called, but it looks like a good-sized, rectangular trampoline that defensive backs practice their drops under as a way to get remind themselves to stay low. ...
There were still a lot of lacrosse lines on the field. It will be interesting to see how long they last. ... Oh, and there were no cannons anywhere to be seen.
Another practice session is slated for 4:45 today and a report will be posted on Green Alert tonight. ... I'll try to get a roster with current numbers so as to be more comfortable sharing notes on just who it was who made that catch, that interception or that knockdown. A few number changes and a few duplicates made that a dangerous proposition yesterday.
Not much to report elsewhere today. The Columbia Spectator offers up a story about the Lions' defensive problems last year and what needs to improve on that side of the ball in 2008.
The Sports Network has a column about the top 25 FCS (I-AA) prospects in the upcoming NFL draft. No Ivy Leaguers are listed in the chosen 25 or the "best of the rest." The only Dartmouth opponent listed is UNH quarterback Ricky Santos, who is in the latter category and projected as a free agent signing. ...
Away from the Ivies ... for a detailed story about Penn State coach Joe Paterno and the age issue, check out Ivan Maisel's story on espn.com. Remember the tirade Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy went on last year after he was unhappy about what a reporter wrote about his quarterback? That QB, who wasn't at all happy about Gundy's rant, is using his last year of eligibility at the FCS level. Check out this espn.com story.
Away from the sports world, the New York Times has a fun piece under the headline When Strings Are Attached, Quirky Gifts Can Limit Universities, about gifts to colleges and how they can change over time. The second "take" on this story talks about Dartmouth's tradition of 10 cent tea at Sanborn and about firewood for the Dartmouth president's home.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Buddy Teevens On Start Of Spring Ball
Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens was kind enough to share a few thoughts after the first day of practice as a video experiment. The original audio and video quality was much better, but I'm still figuring this stuff out. Obviously, the better the sound and picture, the longer for you to load and for me to upload so I'll have to think about the tradeoffs if/when I throw another video up here.
For today's complete practice story, visit Big Green Alert.
For today's complete practice story, visit Big Green Alert.
Hang in There
The opening day of spring practice report will be coming, but it will be delayed a bit. I've got a surprise in store, but it could take a while. Later.
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Time To Hit The Field
Here we go. Spring practice kicks off today at 4:45 p.m.
Two pieces of good news:
The local daily has a story about the start of spring ball.
Today's Daily Dartmouth has a story about the 15th seeded Dartmouth rugby team playing second-seed Brigham Young University this Friday in the first round of the National College Club Division I playoffs in Albuquerque. What makes this story interesting for Dartmouth football followers is that the team features four former football players and one current Big Green player.
Senior safety Ian Wilson (returning next fall as a fifth-year senior) is joined on the team by tight end Bret Lowe, offensive lineman Jared Dowdakin, free safety John Pircon and fullback Ryan Mahoney.
Lowe told the Daily Dartmouth how he and his former football teammates got involved:
For a story I wrote about Turner's rugby career, click here. That story, by the way, also talks about Turner's music/composing career. Check out the story and if you are curious, when you bring up his MySpace page, you will hear his composition, Antithetical.
The Red Rolfe Division-leading Dartmouth baseball team improved to 10-2 in Ivy League player (and 17-10) overall with a sweep at Brown yesterday and another former football player had a key role. Senior outfielder Jason Blydell, a defensive back last fall, was 4-for-5 with three runs batted in and three RBI's in the nightcap. He was 5-for-8 on the day and is now batting .329 with 15 runs batted in for the Big Green.
Blydell was Dartmouth's third-leading tackler last fall with 54 stops and four pass breakups. It's neat to see a kid who battled injuries for much of his two-sport career in Hanover finishing on a high note.
Two pieces of good news:
- The forecast is for 48 degrees and mostly cloudy this afternoon and 55 and sunny tomorrow. Pretty good football weather.
- And the much-delayed FieldTurf installation at lacrosse's Scully-Fahey Field has finally been completed. Both lax teams had been practicing and playing on Memorial Field and it was starting to look as if there would require quite a confusing matrix to get football and two lacrosse teams (plus men's and women's track) all scheduled in the stadium.
The local daily has a story about the start of spring ball.
Today's Daily Dartmouth has a story about the 15th seeded Dartmouth rugby team playing second-seed Brigham Young University this Friday in the first round of the National College Club Division I playoffs in Albuquerque. What makes this story interesting for Dartmouth football followers is that the team features four former football players and one current Big Green player.
Senior safety Ian Wilson (returning next fall as a fifth-year senior) is joined on the team by tight end Bret Lowe, offensive lineman Jared Dowdakin, free safety John Pircon and fullback Ryan Mahoney.
Lowe told the Daily Dartmouth how he and his former football teammates got involved:
“I’ve been competitive all my life, and I think that’s the case with most of the football players,” Lowe said. “We’ve been playing (football) since third grade through college. Ian Wilson had kind of talked it up to us, and it sounded like a fun thing to do. Really, I just like competing. And I wanted a chance to not only play a new sport, but meet a whole bunch of new people.”It's not unusual for former football players to wrap up their careers playing rugby. Anthony Gargiulo '06 played rugby as a senior before returning to football last year in the Canadian Football League. Offensive lineman John Turner '04, also played in nationals with the Big Green rugby team.
For a story I wrote about Turner's rugby career, click here. That story, by the way, also talks about Turner's music/composing career. Check out the story and if you are curious, when you bring up his MySpace page, you will hear his composition, Antithetical.
The Red Rolfe Division-leading Dartmouth baseball team improved to 10-2 in Ivy League player (and 17-10) overall with a sweep at Brown yesterday and another former football player had a key role. Senior outfielder Jason Blydell, a defensive back last fall, was 4-for-5 with three runs batted in and three RBI's in the nightcap. He was 5-for-8 on the day and is now batting .329 with 15 runs batted in for the Big Green.
Blydell was Dartmouth's third-leading tackler last fall with 54 stops and four pass breakups. It's neat to see a kid who battled injuries for much of his two-sport career in Hanover finishing on a high note.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Non-Conference Nods
I have a widget on my Mac that has counted down the days until spring practice. It's at one ;-), so I reset it for Sept. 20, the date of the opener at Colgate. In case you are wondering, it's at 160.
Speaking of Colgate, a quick trip to the Raiders' website shows that announcement of recruits headed to Hamilton includes video clips. Like most of you (probably), I immediately checked out the running backs. I shuddered just a bit when I watched a tailback named Jordan McCord. He looked pretty good but beyond that, he scares me a little because his name sounds like a hybrid of Colgate's Jordan Scott and Yale's Mike McLeod, two runners who have caused Dartmouth some headaches the past several years and will be on the other side of the field again this fall.
Still on the subject of non-conference football foes, Holy Cross Magazine is featuring a round-table discussion on The Place for Athletics at Holy Cross. A few excerpts you may find interesting ...
Holy Cross admissions director:
And finally this: Before heading to Massachusetts last Saturday for a family gathering, we spent some time in our basement making sure everything was up off the floor in the event that, as happens every 3-4 years, we got water in our basement when the end-of-winter thaw came. We returned home last Sunday to find everything dry. This morning ... not so much. Thank goodness we have stuff up off the floor because there's a lot of snow melt this year.
Speaking of Colgate, a quick trip to the Raiders' website shows that announcement of recruits headed to Hamilton includes video clips. Like most of you (probably), I immediately checked out the running backs. I shuddered just a bit when I watched a tailback named Jordan McCord. He looked pretty good but beyond that, he scares me a little because his name sounds like a hybrid of Colgate's Jordan Scott and Yale's Mike McLeod, two runners who have caused Dartmouth some headaches the past several years and will be on the other side of the field again this fall.
Still on the subject of non-conference football foes, Holy Cross Magazine is featuring a round-table discussion on The Place for Athletics at Holy Cross. A few excerpts you may find interesting ...
Holy Cross admissions director:
When it comes to athletics, what I hear from alumni—especially when you get farther away from Massachusetts—is a kind of frustration. They see other schools that made different decisions along the way getting a lot of national recognition. The games are reported and televised. But when it comes to alma mater, they don’t see the games, they can’t read the scores. We’re marginalized or ignored. I don’t think the majority of alums are necessarily unhappy about the route we’ve taken. But when it comes to the athletic arena, they feel that their pride in the College isn’t able to be expressed as fully as they might like.Holy Cross president:
Right now the Patriot League allows scholarships in every sport but football. And there are several schools that would like to institute scholarships in football.Holy Cross director of athletics:
I’d love to have football scholarships, but I don’t think it’s practical or realistic right now. We estimate it would cost us a million-two to a million-five a year. Because if you add football scholarships, you would, of course, have to balance that with an equal number of women’s athletics scholarships. That’s a lot of money given all the other pressures we have right now. For that reason, I can live with the status quo as long as our peers do.Discuss among yourselves ;-)
And finally this: Before heading to Massachusetts last Saturday for a family gathering, we spent some time in our basement making sure everything was up off the floor in the event that, as happens every 3-4 years, we got water in our basement when the end-of-winter thaw came. We returned home last Sunday to find everything dry. This morning ... not so much. Thank goodness we have stuff up off the floor because there's a lot of snow melt this year.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
More Fiedler
In a Q&A with the Sun-Sentinel, Jay Fiedler spoke about his decision to retire from the NFL. Fiedler told Ethan J. Skolnick:
For the Sun-Sentinel's Jay Fiedler photo album, click here.
A Sports Network column about possibly expanding the FCS (I-AA) playoffs includes these thoughts:
I'm also not sold on the idea that changes in Ivy League presidents will lead to the end of the ban. Dartmouth President Jim Wright is one of those presidents who will be leaving and while I'm a little cloudy on his personal opinion about football and the postseason, except for one highly charged incident, he's been a very football friendly president.
I'll repeat what I've said before. Some combination of the following three things would go a long way toward ending the ban:
But the threats of legal action and a boycott could be valuable pieces in a PR campaign aimed at forcing the Ivy League presidents to publicly defend for the first time what seems to a lot of people to be an indefensible position. If they can successfully defend their position, fine. But if they can't – and obviously you can count me among those who don't believe they can – they will have little choice but to make a change that would allow football to do what every other Ivy League sport can do.
End rant.
"It was pretty simple. I had a banged-up shoulder that needed two surgeries from the injury that I had in 2005 with the New York Jets. I tried rehabbing, I tried coming back for a year and a half to two years. It got to the point where I could get my shoulder back to 80 percent, but never beyond that. So my shoulder told me to retire."Fielder has always been a lightning rod for Miami Dolphin fans. Along with the Q&A the Sun-Sentinel has a poll question: How do you look back at Jay Fiedler's time as the Dolphins quarterback? As of this morning, 83.6 percent of the responses are somewhat positive. That's not the case on the reader comment section at the end of the story where Jay is largely taking a beating.
For the Sun-Sentinel's Jay Fiedler photo album, click here.
A Sports Network column about possibly expanding the FCS (I-AA) playoffs includes these thoughts:
It has always seemed somewhat hypocritical to this writer and many FCS fans that the presidents of the Ivy League allow postseason competition for its athletes in every sport but football.and ...
There is reason to believe that the Ivy League's postseason football ban will become as much a part of history as those hallowed ivy-covered buildings when several influential presidents finally retire in the next few years.I've got a couple of my own thoughts on those thoughts. First, it's more than "somewhat" hypocritical that every other Ivy League sport can go on to the postseason. It is the very definition of hypocritical.
I'm also not sold on the idea that changes in Ivy League presidents will lead to the end of the ban. Dartmouth President Jim Wright is one of those presidents who will be leaving and while I'm a little cloudy on his personal opinion about football and the postseason, except for one highly charged incident, he's been a very football friendly president.
I'll repeat what I've said before. Some combination of the following three things would go a long way toward ending the ban:
- Legal action, or simply the threat of legal action by some of the many former Ivy League players who have gone on to successful law careers.
- A relentless PR campaign that would effectively and completely convey the particulars of the ban to the mainstream media and thereby the general public. Remember the PR splash when the endangered Dartmouth swim program was put up for sale on eBay?
- Athletes in other Ivy League sports falling on their swords and saying if their classmates – their fellow student-athletes who happen to play football – are treated differently than they are and are not allowed to go on to the postseason, they won't represent the league either.
But the threats of legal action and a boycott could be valuable pieces in a PR campaign aimed at forcing the Ivy League presidents to publicly defend for the first time what seems to a lot of people to be an indefensible position. If they can successfully defend their position, fine. But if they can't – and obviously you can count me among those who don't believe they can – they will have little choice but to make a change that would allow football to do what every other Ivy League sport can do.
End rant.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Just Call Him Spike Fiedler (Or Feeley)
Everywhere you turn this morning there are stories about Jay Fiedler playing in a qualifier for the pro beach volleyball tour down in Miami. Excerpts from a few of the stories include this from the Miami Herald:
Dartmouth football wrapped up conditioning drills Wednesday at 5:45 in Leverone Field House by surprising his team with an offbeat competition that included team relay races and team obstacle course challenges. The eight teams were named after presidents of the college and distinguished alumni. Spring practice begins Monday.
The much-anticipated (by some of you, at least ;-) Q&A with coach Buddy Teevens is finally done and will be posted by lunch time on the regular Green Alert site. You will not need to be a subscriber to read Teevens' thoughts on why some recruits pick Dartmouth and others do not, how Dartmouth fares recruiting against different Ivy schools, about progress (or lack thereof) in changing the non-league schedule, about the new varsity house, financial aid changes, the status of players lost to injury last year and more.
"I was a little nervous that I would come out here and embarrass myself," Fiedler said. "But I think I made a good showing."This from CBS4:
"I don't need eyes in the back of my head for this one. Everything that's hitting you is coming right in your face. That ball can come pretty hard when these guys spike it", Fiedler said.A quote in the Sun-Sentinel from his playing partner:
"These were the No. 1 seeds in the qualifier, and to get blocks like that is amazing. You can tell he is definitely a fighter. He was out there battling every second of the game even though we didn't really have a chance. He definitely had that toughness from being a quarterback."A telling Fiedler quote from the Miami Herald:
"Unfortunately, I had two surgeries on my throwing shoulder, so I don't have as much power in my spike as I probably would have a couple of years ago."Now do me a favor. Check out the video report from the CBS4 page (not the one that opens automatically, but the next one to the right) and tell me if the announcer doesn't call him Jay Feeley. I think he does.
***
If you go to the University of Florida and can run fast – really fast – this story says you've got a shot at a scholarship. In a PR stunt tied to spring football, the school is offering a scholarship to anyone who beats the two fastest members of the football team in a 40-yard dash. They've already had qualifying races and it doesn't seem likely that the school is going to have to pay up. Further juicing up (bad choice of words, probably) Florida's spring ball:Florida also plans to hold a raffle that will allow one fan a chance to catch a pass from (Tim) Tebow. Other winners will get to try to catch a punt, attempt a field goal and return a kickoff.Chuck Burton over at Lehigh Football Nation does an around-the-horn look at spring practice in the Patriot League. He's good a few thoughts about Dartmouth opponents Holy Cross and Colgate.
Dartmouth football wrapped up conditioning drills Wednesday at 5:45 in Leverone Field House by surprising his team with an offbeat competition that included team relay races and team obstacle course challenges. The eight teams were named after presidents of the college and distinguished alumni. Spring practice begins Monday.
The much-anticipated (by some of you, at least ;-) Q&A with coach Buddy Teevens is finally done and will be posted by lunch time on the regular Green Alert site. You will not need to be a subscriber to read Teevens' thoughts on why some recruits pick Dartmouth and others do not, how Dartmouth fares recruiting against different Ivy schools, about progress (or lack thereof) in changing the non-league schedule, about the new varsity house, financial aid changes, the status of players lost to injury last year and more.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
The Caisson Story Goes Rolling Along
10:50 UPDATE
The Boston Globe has a cannon story today. It includes these bits:"
Elsewhere around the Ivy League, Columbia quarterback Craig Hormann continues to try to raise his stock in the eyes of NFL scouts. Among those who have stopped by to check him out, according to a story in the Columbia Spectator, are the Houston Texans, Arizona Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts and the Green Bay Packers.
This next story in Lacrosse Magazine deserves national attention but I must admit I'm not quite sure what to make of it. A 1961 Princeton lacrosse goalie is angling for, and apparently will get a tryout with the New Jersey Major League Lacrosse team. The prominent gentleman in question is quoted this way:
Would students miss out on "the college experience?" Absolutely. But I'm also thinking a "four-year immersion" in that kind of environment would provide a remarkable education.
The Boston Globe has a cannon story today. It includes these bits:"
(S)ome on campus have speculated the carriage may not be from Vermont, but could belong to a field gun France gave to Dartmouth in 1920, which also disappeared.and while no criminal investigation/charges are in the offing ...
"If this occurred today, and the person was identified and tried to argue it was a prank, they would be charged with theft," (Hanover chief of police Nick Giaccone) said.
The cannon mystery continues to have legs (wheels?) as WCAX TV up in Burlington had something last night and our local paper ran something this morning. Nothing really new in either report. Several Green Alert blog readers have shared "comments" on the matter. In case you missed them ... one wrote one with tongue firmly in cheek:
Hmm... Another entrant in the never-ending Dartmouth nickname contest: The Cannoneers? Nah, not p.c. enough for the Ivies, let alone Hanover :-)Another writer, Dartmouth's very own superfan Joshua Drake, wrote:
I agree this could have some impact on the mascot issue -- not the nickname.I suspect that's pretty much the kind of scenario that years ago led to some college nicknames/mascots.
I hope they find the cannon, and take the time to restore it. However, rather than return the relic to its possible old home, the College should reimburse the Veterans home for the item.
With the renovation of Memorial stands next year, the cannon (of WWI origin they've said) would be a perfect addition. Pres. Wright can highlight his work with veterans, draw attention to the only remaining WWI vet alive for the US, and bring about an iconic piece for the football team.
It doesn't need to fire, just have Susan Wright or some matriarch name the cannon the Big Green, and you'd got a ready made image--with a great back story, that has secretly haunted Memorial throughout the glory years of Dartmouth Ivy football.
Elsewhere around the Ivy League, Columbia quarterback Craig Hormann continues to try to raise his stock in the eyes of NFL scouts. Among those who have stopped by to check him out, according to a story in the Columbia Spectator, are the Houston Texans, Arizona Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts and the Green Bay Packers.
This next story in Lacrosse Magazine deserves national attention but I must admit I'm not quite sure what to make of it. A 1961 Princeton lacrosse goalie is angling for, and apparently will get a tryout with the New Jersey Major League Lacrosse team. The prominent gentleman in question is quoted this way:
"I got my first stick more than 60 years ago. I have been thrilled to see lacrosse grow, I would like to see the MLL prosper, and I would like to be a part of it. Naturally there has been a nagging question for me: could I still play at that level?"Dartmouth isn't mentioned in this New York Times story about how improved food has become another weapon colleges uses in the arms race for students, but it could have been. From the story:
As recently as 10 years ago, a typical campus dining experience was a cafeteria offering overcooked meat, canned vegetables and instant mashed potatoes.I'm going to sound a little Andy Rooney here, but I sometimes wonder if it would be possible to go the other way. Completely. By that I mean, hire a small group of truly top professors, bivouac them in an old office building in some big city somewhere and start a college without athletics, dining halls, fitness centers, grassy lawns, lecture halls, theaters and the like, and simply concentrate on providing a truly world-class liberal arts education. In New York, Chicago or any metropolitan area the students could use the city library, make their own living arrangements and avail themselves of all the cultural offerings of a big city. All the college would provide would be the professors and rooms for them to meet with their classes.
But as palates grow more sophisticated and admissions become more competitive, many top colleges are paying attention to dining rooms as well as classrooms.
Would students miss out on "the college experience?" Absolutely. But I'm also thinking a "four-year immersion" in that kind of environment would provide a remarkable education.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Lowe, Layman, Wheeler Honored
Three former Dartmouth players are members of the 2008 National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society. Honored for academic performance over the course of their career are former offensive linemen Taylor Layman and Tim Wheeler along with tight end Brett Lowe.
More On The Mystery
There's more today on the mystery of the cannon carriage found in the bowels of Memorial Field. There's a story in the Bennington Banner which reports:
If anyone out there has more information on the cannon or recalls hearing about it, feel free to drop me an email.
It's an intriguing story, but time will tell how it pans out. When I first heard about it, I imagined a revolutionary war cannon being hidden from a possible appearance of the British on the piece of ground that would one day become Memorial Field. The story as it stands now is interesting but not that dramatic and not as dramatic as some of the reports are making it out to be. The carriage wasn't really buried and certainly was not buried below the football field. It was hidden under the stands – and not that well. Maybe the story will take a more dramatic turn if/when the barrel of the cannon is found.
Not much else to report today so I'll offer you up an early look at the spring football roster. Weights have not been adjusted. Some positions have.
2008 Dartmouth Spring Football Roster
Muhammed Abdul-Shakoor* CB Jr 5-10 175 Clarkston/Stone Mountain, Ga.
Dustin Adkins C Sr 6-6 302 Hawthorne/Hawthorne, Fla.
John Albert RB So 5-10 181 Charlestown/Roxbury, Mass.
Marlon Alebiosu* DE Jr 6-1 210 King & LHTS/Stamford, Conn.
Taylor Babcock* DE Sr 6-2 230 Weston/Weston, Conn.
Tony Bates* LB Sr 6-1 215 Hammonton/Hammonton, N.J.
Joe Battaglia* LB Sr 6-1 230 CBA/Manlius, N.Y.
Kyle Battle WR So 6-3 185 Sycamore/Cincinnati, Ohio
Charles Bay* DE So 6-3 235 Wheeler/Marietta, Ga.
Buddy Benaderet DE So 6-3 230 Palo Alto/Palo Alto, Calif.
Ben Boachie WR So 6-3 214 Springbrook/Silver Spring, Md.
Kyle Brong* DT Jr 6-3 280 Lehighton/Lehighton, Pa.
Chris Burns* CB Jr 5-9 175 The Woodlands/The Woodlands, Texas
TJ Cameron RB So 5-11 197 Greenwich/Greenwich, Conn.
Kyle Cavanaugh* FS Sr 6-2 186 Wayne Hills/Wayne, N.J.
Maxwell Copello* DT Sr 6-1 295 St. Mary’s/Stockton, Calif.
Michael Cummings TE So 6-5 240 Deerfield Academy/McLean, Va.
Richard Cummings* DT Sr 6-3 260 CBA/N, Syracuse, N.Y.
Josh Curcio DT Sr 6-4 285 Plantation/Plantation, Fla.
Nicholas Danford SS Sr 5-11 185 St. Thos Aquinas/Rollinsford, N.H.
Michael Dearwester LB Jr 6-1 205 Rye Neck/Mamaroneck, N.Y.
Will Deevy QB So 6-5 210 Kent Denver/Englewood, Colo.
Kevin de Regt CB So 5-9 170 King&LHTS/Stamford, Conn.
Andrew Dete* LB Sr 6-1 220 Marist School/Marietta, Ga.
Elliott Dial * OG Sr 6-1 293 Sumter/Sumter, S.C.
Josh Doherty* DT Jr 6-3 250 Silver Lake/Halifax, Mass.
Matthew Dornak* CB Jr 5-11 195 Westlake/Austin, Texas
Benjamin Duke OT Sr 6-5 302 Satsuma/Satsuma, Ala.
Erik Estabrook* WR Sr 6-4 205 CBA/Syracuse, N.Y.
Kevin Estrada FB So 5-11 210 Riordan/San Francisco, Calif.
Ian Ferrell WR Jr 6-5 215 Kent Denver School/Denver, Colo.
Malcolm Freberg* DE Sr 6-2 215 Walton/Marietta, Ga.
Casey Frost* SS Sr 6-3 215 Loyola/Lawndale, Calif.
Kevin Gallagher TE So 6-3 235 Hun School/Princeton, N.J.
Philip Galligan* WR Sr 5-11 175 Campolindo/Moraga, Calif.
Zechariah Glaize* LB Jr 6-2 205 Landmark Christian/Fairburn, Ga.
Charles Grant FB So 6-0 210 Governor Dummer Academy/Byfield, Mass.
Tyler Green DT So 6-4 255 Middlesex School/Concord, Mass.
Max Heiges QB Jr 6-3 212 Novato/Tiburon, Calif.
Spencer Hood LB So 6-2 210 Carlsbad/Carlsbad, Calif.
AJ Houston CB So 5-10 188 Taft School/Bronx, N.Y.
Lucas Hussey FS So 6-0 176 Lakeside School/Seattle, Wash.
Alex Jenny* QB Jr 5-11 180 Wayland/Wayland, Mass.
Chase Jensen TE So 6-3 235 The Bishop School/LaJolla, Calif.
Alex Johns DE So 6-4 233 Gonzaga College HS/Washington, D.C.
David Johnson CB So 5-9 178 Horace Mann/Bronx, N.Y.
Matthew Kelly KSp So 6-3 185 Tampa Catholic/Tampa, Fla.
Donald Kephart* KSP So 5-11 200 Acalanes/Lafayette, Calif.
Robert Krattiger* CB So 5-11 183 Norman North/Norman, Okla.
Philip McKeating* LB Jr 6-2 225 Pine-Richland/Gibsonia, Pa.
Tim McManus* QB So 6-0 183 St. Thos Academy/St. Paul, Minn.
Robert Mitchelson* RB Jr 5-10 190 Heritage Hall/Oklahoma City, Okla.
William Montgomery OT So 6-5 265 The Woodlands CCP/The Woodlands, Texas
Steven Morris CB So 6-0 183 Hinsdale Central/Hinsdale, Ill.
Niles Murphy* WR Jr 6-0 175 Hilton Head Prep/Bluffton, S.C.
Rehan Muttalib* DT Sr 6-1 255 P Verdes/R. Palos Verdes, Calif.
James O’Brien* CB Jr 5-11 185 Cherry Creek/Englewood, Colo.
Matthew Oh* LB So 6-2 215 Greenhill/Addison, Texas
John O’Sullivan OT So 6-5 270 Calhoun/Merrick, N.Y.
Carroll Papajohn* TE Jr 6-5 235 Gulf Breeze/Gulf Breeze, Fla.
Tony Pastoors* FS Jr 6-2 190 Totino-Grace/Andover, Minn.
Eric Paul* WR Sr 6-4 185 The Woodlands/The Woodlands, Texas
Shane Peterlin C So 6-4 281 Brophy Prep School/Phoenix, Ariz.
Peter Pidermann* FS Jr 6-0 190 Belen Jesuit Prep/Hialeah, Fla.
Alex Rapp* OT Sr 6-5 265 St. Louis Country Day/St. Louis, Mo.
Patrick Scorah* SS So 5-8 205 St. John’s College HS/Washington, D.C.
Carter Scott LB So 6-0 215 Hammond School/Columbia, S.C.
Brian Scullin* P Sr 6-5 215 St. Stephen’s&St. Agnes/Alexandria,Va.
Nathaniel Servis* RB Sr 5-10 200 U. School of Milwaukee/Milwaukee, Wis.
Lane Shipley DT So 6-2 245 Steamboat Spr/Steamboat Spr, Colo.
Jeffrey Smith DT Jr 6-3 240 Jville Episcopal/Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Hudson Smythe* RB Sr 6-3 215 Sacred Heart Prep/Menlo Park, Calif.
Joshua Speicher* DE Sr 6-0 225 Boston Latin School/Boston, Mass.
John Spradling WR So 6-1 185 Kinkaid/Houston, Texas
Alex Stonehouse OG Jr 6-2 305 Central/West Allis, Wis.
Jonathan Summers* OG Jr 6-5 300 Loyola/Santa Monica, Calif.
Edward Tabasky* C Sr 6-3 290 Mainland/Ormond Beach, Fla.
Alexander Toth* OT Jr 6-5 285 Bronxville/Bronxville, N.Y.
Tim Vanderet WR So 6-5 205 Homestead/Cupertino, Calif.
Andrew von Kuhn* WR Sr 6-3 210 Mountain Brook/Birmingham, Ala.
Johari Wiggins* LB Sr 6-1 210 Charles E. Jordan/Durham, N.C.
Milan Williams* RB Sr 5-9 175 UMS-Wright Prep/Mobile, Ala.
Ian Wilson* SS Sr 6-0 205 Loyola/Burbank, Calif.
Alex Wodka OG So 6-3 275 Buffalo Grove/Buffalo Grove, Ill.
Michael Wu DT Jr 6-0 265 Aragon/San Mateo, Calif.
Joseph Zimring RB So 6-0 205 Mary Institute CDS/St. Louis, Mo.
Chuck Zodda KSp Sr 5-7 165 St. Mark’s School/Framingham, Mass.
*Returning Letterwinner in 2008
Note: Chris Burns, Richard Cummings, Erik Estabrook, Philip McKeating, Niles Murphy, Tony Pastoors, and
Edward Tabasky lettered in 2006 but not in 2007.
A geophysics class will scan the area later this spring where the cannon is believed to be buried with a magnetometer to try and locate it, according to Haas. She said she could not comment on whether the school would agree to have the area dug up. "It's so premature right now. We don't even know if there is a cannon there right now," (Genevieve Haas, public affairs officer for Dartmouth College) said.There's a story in the Daily Dartmouth and another in the Rutland Herald.
If anyone out there has more information on the cannon or recalls hearing about it, feel free to drop me an email.
It's an intriguing story, but time will tell how it pans out. When I first heard about it, I imagined a revolutionary war cannon being hidden from a possible appearance of the British on the piece of ground that would one day become Memorial Field. The story as it stands now is interesting but not that dramatic and not as dramatic as some of the reports are making it out to be. The carriage wasn't really buried and certainly was not buried below the football field. It was hidden under the stands – and not that well. Maybe the story will take a more dramatic turn if/when the barrel of the cannon is found.
Not much else to report today so I'll offer you up an early look at the spring football roster. Weights have not been adjusted. Some positions have.
2008 Dartmouth Spring Football Roster
Muhammed Abdul-Shakoor* CB Jr 5-10 175 Clarkston/Stone Mountain, Ga.
Dustin Adkins C Sr 6-6 302 Hawthorne/Hawthorne, Fla.
John Albert RB So 5-10 181 Charlestown/Roxbury, Mass.
Marlon Alebiosu* DE Jr 6-1 210 King & LHTS/Stamford, Conn.
Taylor Babcock* DE Sr 6-2 230 Weston/Weston, Conn.
Tony Bates* LB Sr 6-1 215 Hammonton/Hammonton, N.J.
Joe Battaglia* LB Sr 6-1 230 CBA/Manlius, N.Y.
Kyle Battle WR So 6-3 185 Sycamore/Cincinnati, Ohio
Charles Bay* DE So 6-3 235 Wheeler/Marietta, Ga.
Buddy Benaderet DE So 6-3 230 Palo Alto/Palo Alto, Calif.
Ben Boachie WR So 6-3 214 Springbrook/Silver Spring, Md.
Kyle Brong* DT Jr 6-3 280 Lehighton/Lehighton, Pa.
Chris Burns* CB Jr 5-9 175 The Woodlands/The Woodlands, Texas
TJ Cameron RB So 5-11 197 Greenwich/Greenwich, Conn.
Kyle Cavanaugh* FS Sr 6-2 186 Wayne Hills/Wayne, N.J.
Maxwell Copello* DT Sr 6-1 295 St. Mary’s/Stockton, Calif.
Michael Cummings TE So 6-5 240 Deerfield Academy/McLean, Va.
Richard Cummings* DT Sr 6-3 260 CBA/N, Syracuse, N.Y.
Josh Curcio DT Sr 6-4 285 Plantation/Plantation, Fla.
Nicholas Danford SS Sr 5-11 185 St. Thos Aquinas/Rollinsford, N.H.
Michael Dearwester LB Jr 6-1 205 Rye Neck/Mamaroneck, N.Y.
Will Deevy QB So 6-5 210 Kent Denver/Englewood, Colo.
Kevin de Regt CB So 5-9 170 King&LHTS/Stamford, Conn.
Andrew Dete* LB Sr 6-1 220 Marist School/Marietta, Ga.
Elliott Dial * OG Sr 6-1 293 Sumter/Sumter, S.C.
Josh Doherty* DT Jr 6-3 250 Silver Lake/Halifax, Mass.
Matthew Dornak* CB Jr 5-11 195 Westlake/Austin, Texas
Benjamin Duke OT Sr 6-5 302 Satsuma/Satsuma, Ala.
Erik Estabrook* WR Sr 6-4 205 CBA/Syracuse, N.Y.
Kevin Estrada FB So 5-11 210 Riordan/San Francisco, Calif.
Ian Ferrell WR Jr 6-5 215 Kent Denver School/Denver, Colo.
Malcolm Freberg* DE Sr 6-2 215 Walton/Marietta, Ga.
Casey Frost* SS Sr 6-3 215 Loyola/Lawndale, Calif.
Kevin Gallagher TE So 6-3 235 Hun School/Princeton, N.J.
Philip Galligan* WR Sr 5-11 175 Campolindo/Moraga, Calif.
Zechariah Glaize* LB Jr 6-2 205 Landmark Christian/Fairburn, Ga.
Charles Grant FB So 6-0 210 Governor Dummer Academy/Byfield, Mass.
Tyler Green DT So 6-4 255 Middlesex School/Concord, Mass.
Max Heiges QB Jr 6-3 212 Novato/Tiburon, Calif.
Spencer Hood LB So 6-2 210 Carlsbad/Carlsbad, Calif.
AJ Houston CB So 5-10 188 Taft School/Bronx, N.Y.
Lucas Hussey FS So 6-0 176 Lakeside School/Seattle, Wash.
Alex Jenny* QB Jr 5-11 180 Wayland/Wayland, Mass.
Chase Jensen TE So 6-3 235 The Bishop School/LaJolla, Calif.
Alex Johns DE So 6-4 233 Gonzaga College HS/Washington, D.C.
David Johnson CB So 5-9 178 Horace Mann/Bronx, N.Y.
Matthew Kelly KSp So 6-3 185 Tampa Catholic/Tampa, Fla.
Donald Kephart* KSP So 5-11 200 Acalanes/Lafayette, Calif.
Robert Krattiger* CB So 5-11 183 Norman North/Norman, Okla.
Philip McKeating* LB Jr 6-2 225 Pine-Richland/Gibsonia, Pa.
Tim McManus* QB So 6-0 183 St. Thos Academy/St. Paul, Minn.
Robert Mitchelson* RB Jr 5-10 190 Heritage Hall/Oklahoma City, Okla.
William Montgomery OT So 6-5 265 The Woodlands CCP/The Woodlands, Texas
Steven Morris CB So 6-0 183 Hinsdale Central/Hinsdale, Ill.
Niles Murphy* WR Jr 6-0 175 Hilton Head Prep/Bluffton, S.C.
Rehan Muttalib* DT Sr 6-1 255 P Verdes/R. Palos Verdes, Calif.
James O’Brien* CB Jr 5-11 185 Cherry Creek/Englewood, Colo.
Matthew Oh* LB So 6-2 215 Greenhill/Addison, Texas
John O’Sullivan OT So 6-5 270 Calhoun/Merrick, N.Y.
Carroll Papajohn* TE Jr 6-5 235 Gulf Breeze/Gulf Breeze, Fla.
Tony Pastoors* FS Jr 6-2 190 Totino-Grace/Andover, Minn.
Eric Paul* WR Sr 6-4 185 The Woodlands/The Woodlands, Texas
Shane Peterlin C So 6-4 281 Brophy Prep School/Phoenix, Ariz.
Peter Pidermann* FS Jr 6-0 190 Belen Jesuit Prep/Hialeah, Fla.
Alex Rapp* OT Sr 6-5 265 St. Louis Country Day/St. Louis, Mo.
Patrick Scorah* SS So 5-8 205 St. John’s College HS/Washington, D.C.
Carter Scott LB So 6-0 215 Hammond School/Columbia, S.C.
Brian Scullin* P Sr 6-5 215 St. Stephen’s&St. Agnes/Alexandria,Va.
Nathaniel Servis* RB Sr 5-10 200 U. School of Milwaukee/Milwaukee, Wis.
Lane Shipley DT So 6-2 245 Steamboat Spr/Steamboat Spr, Colo.
Jeffrey Smith DT Jr 6-3 240 Jville Episcopal/Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Hudson Smythe* RB Sr 6-3 215 Sacred Heart Prep/Menlo Park, Calif.
Joshua Speicher* DE Sr 6-0 225 Boston Latin School/Boston, Mass.
John Spradling WR So 6-1 185 Kinkaid/Houston, Texas
Alex Stonehouse OG Jr 6-2 305 Central/West Allis, Wis.
Jonathan Summers* OG Jr 6-5 300 Loyola/Santa Monica, Calif.
Edward Tabasky* C Sr 6-3 290 Mainland/Ormond Beach, Fla.
Alexander Toth* OT Jr 6-5 285 Bronxville/Bronxville, N.Y.
Tim Vanderet WR So 6-5 205 Homestead/Cupertino, Calif.
Andrew von Kuhn* WR Sr 6-3 210 Mountain Brook/Birmingham, Ala.
Johari Wiggins* LB Sr 6-1 210 Charles E. Jordan/Durham, N.C.
Milan Williams* RB Sr 5-9 175 UMS-Wright Prep/Mobile, Ala.
Ian Wilson* SS Sr 6-0 205 Loyola/Burbank, Calif.
Alex Wodka OG So 6-3 275 Buffalo Grove/Buffalo Grove, Ill.
Michael Wu DT Jr 6-0 265 Aragon/San Mateo, Calif.
Joseph Zimring RB So 6-0 205 Mary Institute CDS/St. Louis, Mo.
Chuck Zodda KSp Sr 5-7 165 St. Mark’s School/Framingham, Mass.
*Returning Letterwinner in 2008
Note: Chris Burns, Richard Cummings, Erik Estabrook, Philip McKeating, Niles Murphy, Tony Pastoors, and
Edward Tabasky lettered in 2006 but not in 2007.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Cannon Fodder
I shot this picture yesterday afternoon between games of the Dartmouth baseball doubleheader. Can you figure out what it is? Apparently no one else could for a long time.Sitting out of sight, tucked deep under the home grandstand at Memorial Field and hidden behind a wall of vertical planking, it was long thought to be an old wagon or piece of abandoned groundskeeping equipment. Turns out it is the remains of a World War I ammunition carriage, apparently taken from southern Vermont as a prank some 40-odd years ago and surreptitiously deposited in the bowels of the stadium. The barrel of the cannon is thought to be buried nearby. According to WPTZ, a TV station out of Burlington, Vt./Plattsburgh, N.Y., one of the people responsible for the prank came clean shortly before he died, sharing the story with someone who then passed the information off a Hanover policeman.
Find the WPTZ story on the station web page here. (You can find a link to a video of the news report on the same page.)
Not all the pitching and catching yesterday was taking place on Red Rolfe Field ...
Sophomore QB Alex Jenny, who completed 32-of-62 passes for 484 yards and five touchdowns last fall, was among the Dartmouth players who took part in informal throwing drills (sans coaches) on Memorial Field yesterday. Official spring practice beings Monday.In case you are wondering, the temporary fence is in place because lacrosse practices and games have been held on Memorial Field this spring while FieldTurf is being installed at lacrosse's Scully-Fahey Field.
It's Year One A.R. (After Ricky) across the state in Durham. The Manchester Union Leader writes about the start of UNH spring football and the search to replace starting quarterback Ricky Santos, the most decorated player in school history.
The other morning one of the kids came rushing in and told me to look at the daily calendar they have that lists birthdays of prominent national sports figures. Lo and behold, the list for Saturday, April 5 read:
- Doggie Julian b. 1901
- Doug Favell b. 1945
- Rennie Stennett b. 1951
- Brad Van Pelt b. 1951
- Ike Hilliard b. 1976
I bring this up after reading about Brown men's basketball coach Craig Robinson bolting for Oregon State after just two years in Providence. Now, it's hard to knock Barack's brother-in-law for heading west. He's getting a reported $750,000 for taking over the Beavers and is said to have an agreement worth more than $5 million over six years. I don't think he was making quite that kind of coin at Brown.
The Providence Journal's Bill Reynolds wrote a column when it became clear that Robinson was being courted by OSU. Reynolds opined: "Robinson is a star on the rise, and he’s simply too good and Brown basketball is too small to keep him at Brown very long. That’s just the way it is."
In the old days, a famed coach like Doggie Julian might come to the Ivies from the NBA (although admittedly the "association" wasn't yet what it would become). These days? It's two years and see ya if they are any good.
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