Another From The Desert

The Dartmouth recruiting class already had one member of Arizona's 2008 Class 5A first team. Now it has two as Cole Pembroke will join Brophy Prep lineman Mike Tree in Hanover next fall. From Scout.com:

Desert Vista safety Cole Pembroke has informed Scout.com that he has ended his recruitment. He says, "I committed to Dartmouth ..."

Pembroke is a 6-foot, 190-pound safety who showed his athleticism by playing quarterback as a junior before concentrating on the other side of the ball this year. From the Arizona Republic:

The big change was the switch at quarterback, which was the idea of former quarterback Cole Pembroke.

Pembroke, a senior, told (coach Dan) Hinds after the Week 1 loss that he thought he'd best serve the team concentrating on defense with Cody Sokol inserted as the No. 1 signal caller.

"That's why I love Cole Pembroke, so unselfish," Hinds said. "He stepped in front of pass for a big interception (against Chandler). There was no conflict or controversy. Cole led us last year, and Cody has stepped in. The offensive line said he is a real commander in the huddle."

Pembroke was credited with 49 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and an interception last fall. He was the Central Region defensive player of the year.

Dartmouth punter Brian Scullin is drawing some NFL interest after a successful senior year according to the Daily Dartmouth. The honorable-mention All-American averaged a career-high 40.8 yards per punt this year with 19 of his 55 boots inside the 20 and nine going for 50-plus yards. Dartmouth led the nation in net punting this year. From The Dartmouth:

“If you look at my statistics from my freshman through junior seasons, [they] weren’t there,” said Scullin, who was recently named an honorable mention All-American by The Sports Network. “I just didn’t have the confidence and the belief that I could do it.”

Recently, however, scouts from various National Football League teams, such as the Jacksonville Jaguars, have been requesting Scullin’s tapes and statistics.
“[Scouts] have contacted the coaches, who then relay the information to me,” he said.

For an exhaustive look at new Yale head football coach Tom Williams check out a story in the Columbia Spectator.

The Daily Dartmouth has a story about the college's Mean Green program, intended to develop student support at athletic contests. From the story:

Students who have enrolled in the Mean Green program sign in when they arrive at designated Dartmouth sporting events, and can receive rewards for attending a certain number of games in a term. “Mean Greeners” get a winter hat after six games, a travel mug after ten and a hoodie after 16 games. The top 20 members — those who attend the most games — each receive two tickets to a Boston Red Sox home game.

(If the program were retroactive and open to the public, the guess here is that two certain Hanover kids would be eligible for season tickets to the Boston Red Sox, Celtics and Patriots. If there are two schoolchildren who have seen more basketball, football, baseball and hockey games at Dartmouth (and elsewhere) I'd be shocked.)

I did get a chuckle out of this nugget from the story: "Among all of the ways to earn physical education credit at Dartmouth, Mean Green was one of just a handful of programs that offered PE credit without physical activity."

While the Memorial Field home grandstand will not be rebuilt this year as previously planned, some other projects are continuing according to this story in the Daily Dartmouth.

College rankings are a little like the BCS. They give people something to argue about. Such is the case with the U.S. News popularity ranking, which is based on what percentage of admittees actually go to a particular college. From a Brown Daily Herald story:

In U.S. News' popularity ranking, Brown's 56 percent yield placed it ahead of both Dartmouth and Cornell. Harvard - which saw 79 percent of the students it admitted matriculate - topped the list. It also topped U.S. News' more prominent list in 2008.

Now, before you get in too much of a huff, the story also included this:

(Brown) Dean of Admissions James Miller '73 said he did not give too much weight to the list, characterizing it as a "silly survey" that was "not representative of much of anything."

But, he added, "Any survey where we're among the best colleges in the country - I'm delighted to be there."

Not that anyone is counting, but the US News listing based on the 2007 "yield," had Stanford fourth, Yale sixth, Princeton seventh, Penn eighth, Columbia 11th, Brown 12th, Dartmouth 18th (between Texas and Virginia) and Cornell 28th.

And finally, yesterday's email brought the following note from Roger Brown, editor/publisher of the New Hampshire Football Report. If you are local and would like to help a good cause ...

A breakfast fundraiser to benefit Milford (NH) High School football coach Keith Jones and his family will be held at the Black Recreation Center in Hanover on Feb. 8 from 8:30 to 11 a.m.

Three-year-old Harris Jones, Keith's son, was injured when he was hit by a snowmobile earlier this month and is currently being treated at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.

Donations in any amount will be accepted at the breakfast, and all proceeds will go to the family.

Hanover football coach Mike Ivanoski is asking for donations (food or money) to help pay for the breakfast. He's also hoping the New Hampshire football community will provide items that can be raffled off to raise money for the Jones family.

Anyone with donations or questions can contact Ivanoski at 298-7495 (home), 491-9777 (cell) or Coach_I@yahoo.com.

Those unable to attend the breakfast can send donations to the following address:

The Harris Jones Fund
TD Banknorth
PO Box 783
Amherst, N.H.
03031