This And That

Freshman Foley Schmidt kicks out of junior Alex Jenny's hold during Tuesday's practice.

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If you think Dartmouth took a hit in the Roar Lions Roar blog yesterday, Jake Novak doesn't hold out much hope for Cornell either. He wrote:

I thought Cornell would come in last place in 2008, and after that nice (3-0) start they played like a last place team and just barely avoided the cellar. Now the team that looked like the weakest in the league in '08 seems a whole lot weaker coming in to 2009.

Two more Dartmouth opponents are joining the bone marrow testing effort. Yale will lead the way one week from tomorrow and Holy Cross will help out the next day.

Speaking of Holy Cross, the school will once again have longtime voice of Crusaders' football Bob Fouracre doing an internet broadcast of the spring football game Saturday, with interviews and highlights to follow. Nice touch.

A Facebook site started by a North Carolina State freshman to encourage the top-ranked basketball player in the country to play for the Wolfpack has come under scrutiny. From a story on the ecampus news:

...(T)he NCAA says such sites, and dozens more like them wooing Wall and other top recruits, violate its rules. More than just cheerleading boards, the NCAA says the sites are an attempt to influence the college choice of a recruit.

The story says the owner of the Facebook page, "got a cease-and-desist letter from N.C. State's compliance director, Michelle Lee, warning of 'further action' if he failed to comply."

Taking the other side, also from the story ...

Adam Kissel, director of the Individual Rights Defense Program at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, said the NCAA can impose rules on its member colleges. But universities--especially public ones--can't enforce them if it means punishing students in any way for expressing an opinion.

"A student doesn't lose First Amendment rights because of a contract the university signs with (the NCAA)," he said.

That, my friends, is a slippery slope.

Now for some fun. If you don't know who Penn's "Coach Lake," is you will soon. First, read this Penn sports information release on Dan “Lake” Staffieri being "honored at the USMC Scholarship Foundation Philadelphia Ball on Friday night with the Sportsman’s Award." Then treat yourself by reading a 34th Street Magazine story about Coach Lake that will make you smile.

From the story:

He wears a bright red sports coat, red plaid pants, a matching hat, blue bowtie, heavy-set glasses, two hearing aids and 11 championship rings on his fingers. On his forehead he has stuck a piece of athletic tape with "wack" written across.

When you get to the part about Lake assisting the Penn freshman team headed up by "Coach Lines," substitute Lyons for Lines because they are talking about former Dartmouth head coach John Lyons.

More from the story:

In 2002, when he had a heart attack around midnight in his Blue Bell home, the cardiology department at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital picked him up in an emergency helicopter and flew him down to University City. As Stafierri regained consciousness and a bit of energy, the helicopter passed over Franklin Field. Before the doctors knew what was going on, he was sitting up and yelling down to the field, "Get it up down there!"

And finally, this is kind of offbeat but worth noting. William Dartmouth, the 10th Earl of Dartmouth is in town to give a speech and visit with college president Jim Wright. Find a story in the Daily Dartmouth.