Abdul-Shakoor Hits Stride

Junior corner Muhammed Abdul-Shakoor flashed his speed with a couple of first-place finishes on the track Saturday at the annual Dartmouth Indoor Classic.

Abdul-Shakoor won the 60 meters in a personal best of 6.95.

The school record is 6.90 is shared by former Dartmouth gridder Ikechi Ogbonna '06 and nationally ranked decathlete Mustafa Abdur-Rahim '04. Interestingly, the five fasted Dartmouth times in the event are listed in the media guide and four were run by football players: Ogbonna, Brian Evans '08 (6.91 and 6.92) Richard Efem '03 (6.92).

Abdul-Shakoor also won the 200 in 22.75. The school record is 21.40 with Tyler Haney '03, who briefly played football, not far off the pace at 21.47.

Sophomore placekicker Don Kephart placed third among collegians and first for Dartmouth in the shot put, throwing 46-2 1/2. I may be wrong but I just can't believe there are many other placekicker/shotput crossovers in Division I football.

With signing day 2 days, 22 hours, 7 minutes and 53 seconds way as I write this (courtesy of Atlanta Journal Constitution countdown clicker) the morning also brings the name of another potential recruit. The Star-Bulletin out in Hawaii says Elliott Kastner, a 6-2, 252 lineman could end up at Dartmouth, Brown or Amherst or could walk on at Duke.

In case you missed it, the Dartmouth men's basketball team ended a 23-game winless streak against Penn last night at Leede Arena with a 63-60 victory. With two games a year against conference foes, you can do the math or I can tell you: That's 12 years. Senior Alex Barnett, who had 30 points in the win at Harvard, dropped in 24 last night. The 6-6 Barnett leads Dartmouth in scoring (19.2 ppg), rebounding (5.6 rpg), field goals made, three-pointers made, free throws made, assists, blocks and steals.

At halftime of the hoop game, a couple of senior football players took part in promotions. Safety/linebacker Casey Frost had a chance to win books for a term if he hit one of two shots from half court. Um, maybe next time. And senior linebacker Johari Wiggins was blindfolded and took part in the "cash crawl" promotion at midcourt.

Former quarterback Josh Cohen's name was called but didn't get picked for one of the shooting promotions he'd hoped to take part in. Speaking of the senior, his brother Jake, a 6-foot-10 high school senior headed to Davidson next year, is the subject of a good story in the Philadelphia Daily News. From the story:

Conestoga's 6-10, Davidson-bound senior center is quite possibly the best post player in the area. He's certainly the most versatile. Cohen is averaging 18 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks, leading the Pioneers to an 18-0 start (12-0 Central League) and putting them in position to win their second straight league title.

Cohen learned the game tagging along with his father, David, and older brother, Josh, every Sunday morning to play pickup games with men who were former Division III players and who still had a zeal for the game.

OK, here's a fun one. Or two.

Are you frustrated by the overtime rules in the NFL? Wondering how it will go across if today's Super Bowl goes to OT and only one team gets to touch the ball in the extra session? A column in Slate.com offers up a couple of overtime alternatives that are flat-out intriguing.

• Alternative One: "...(A)uction off possession of the ball in the natural currency of the game: field position. The team that was willing to begin closest to its own goal line would receive the privilege of possession."

• Alternative Two: "The coin-toss loser would decide how far forward the offense would start—say, the 30-yard line. The coin-toss winner would then decide whether to take possession or let the coin-toss loser have the ball at the 30." (As the column reminds us, that's similar to the deal where there's enough cake left for two slices and you let one kid do the cutting and the other the picking.)

Green Alert Take: Both alternatives are very interesting and would be perfect fodder for radio talk shows and columnists. Which, of course, is one reason why coaches would never go for it. Sure would be fun, though.

And finally, enjoy the game today and keep your eyes out for Dartmouth freshman quarterback Dan Rooney, who has something of a rooting interest in the game!