Take Me Out To The Ballgame

The first pitch ever thrown in a regular season game at Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park is a strike from Dartmouth's Colin Britton to Siena's Anthony Giansanti. Dartmouth (6-9) scored five runs on one hit in the bottom of the eighth to come from behind and post an 8-6 win, its fifth in a row. The Big Green will be back at the new yard this weekend for Ivy League doubleheaders against Princeton Saturday, and Cornell Sunday.

Among those in the stands: Dartmouth President Jim Wright, a big baseball fan, pictured on the right below with former history professor Ken Shewmaker.
The Daily Dartmouth has a story about the new baseball facility with the answer to a question I was asked yesterday that stumped me. The distance to the wall in left is 325 feet. It's now 402 feet to straightaway center and 340 down the line in right. Baseball traditionalist that I am, I hope they paint the distances on the fences at some point.

Congratulations go out to incoming quarterback Sam Clancy of Cascia Hall in Tulsa. The 6-foot-4 (or 6-5 depending on the source) forward had 11 points and seven rebounds to help Cascia Hall complete an Oklahoma state championship sweep in football and basketball. It's just the 15th time that has happened in state history. For his efforts, Clancy was named to the All-Tournament first team. Find a story here (with Clancy pictured on the right wearing No. 10). The Class 3A title game was played before a crowd of 6,000.

As a quarterback, Clancy has led the Commandos to a 27-0 record and consecutive state championships in football. He's been a starter on the hardwood for three years. For notes and links about Clancy and Dartmouth-bound Cascia Hall teammate Danny Husband, click here.

Speaking of basketball, there was a really terrific column in the Philadelphia Daily News about Villanova coach Jay Wright. Writer Dick Jerardi included a couple of tidbits all coaches would do well to remember. The first:

I will never forget Rick Pitino saying at the 1997 Final Four: "If it's not broken, break it," not the old cliché "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

This line came from a man who had won the 1996 title and would lose the 1997 title game in overtime. Stand still, he was saying, and you will get passed.

And this one:

I will never forget an old Temple assistant football coach telling me one time that it never matters what he knows, it only matters what the players know.

Oh, and there's actually one more:

Coaches with good ideas and good players can win games. Risk-takers win championships.

And finally, the snow is beating a hasty retreat in our yard up here on the mountain and today should help. While it was just 34 degrees when the kids headed out to school, they were wearing shorts (at least one of them was) because it is supposed to be 65 and sunny this afternoon!