Point-Counter Point On Dartmouth Football

No choice but to start with the big one. The local paper today had a fiery column by the sports editor in response to Interim AD Bob Ceplikas' State of Dartmouth Football letter. The column takes issue with the statement: "We are closer to success than our recent record suggests."

Don Mahler writes:

If this is closer to success, I'd hate to be any further from it. No, wait. They can't be any further from it.

In case you haven't been watching, Dartmouth currently has the second-longest losing streak in the FCS (formerly Division I-AA) – a 12-game skid, second only to Indiana State's 0-26 mark. If the Sycamores happen to beat NAIA juggernaut Quincy University – who's the coach, Jack Klugman? – in their Sept. 27 season opener, that would leave the Big Green atop the leaderboard with the nation's longest losing streak."

Ouch.

The column also includes this:

Which brings us to the one thing this letter did not address; the one question everyone is asking: Is there a number of games Teevens has to win to keep his job?

The columnist suggests that because a permanent athletic director is not in place, the question is moot and any decision on the coaching situation will be held off for at least another year when the permanent AD will decide the future of the program.

One correction: That huge Indiana State-Quincy matchup is August 27, not September 27.

Checked out a Pioneer Football League message board to see what kind of reaction the Butler-Dartmouth news was receiving. Seems folks in Indiana are excited about the game but concerned about the Butler Bowl. A few excerpts from posts:

This game will draw more than the Bowl's current listed seating capacity.

Sure, people can sit on the lawn. But wouldn't it be embarrassing to play a showcase game like this...and the only seats are in one corner of the field, from the 20 to the end zone?

I was wondering about that looking at the photos linked to on yesterday's blog. And ...

Gotta do something about seating. The Big Green are a legit Ivy team. If we--the PFL--are going to attract the Ivy to compete we have to put our best face forward. I have no doubt Butler will represent PFL well---and win---but Butler should at least rent stands on visitors side for next couple of years.

I've heard rumblings that the game might be played at another location in Indianapolis but nothing official. A couple of years ago there was talk of a game between Dartmouth and PFL member Drake being played at a neutral field in Chicago, so there's a precedent. For the talk, at least.

Thanks to the always interesting TigerBlog for doing the footwork on the accuracy (or lack thereof) of the annual football media day poll. TB writes that over the past 20 years, there have been 26 championship teams, counting ties. Of the 26 teams that earned rings:

• 5 were chosen first in the poll (Harvard's spot this year)
• 4 were chosen second (Penn this year)
• 11 were chosen third (Brown this year)
• 3 were chosen fourth (Yale this year)
• 2 were chosen fifth (Princeton this year)
• 1 was chosen sixth (Cornell, Columbia tied this year)
• 0 were chosen seventh
• 0 were chosen eighth (Dartmouth this year)

That might be decent bulletin board material at Floren if it is posted under the headline: Make History.

Oh yeah, and the only team chosen sixth to win the title? That would be Princeton in 2006.

Teevens didn't sound bothered by being picked last. In fact, he doesn't blame the scribes in the least. He told the media day teleconferencers (is that a word?):

Certainly the poll, the preseason poll, comes as no surprise. We didn’t beat anybody so they are not going to feel real strongly about us. We need to prove things. The biggest thing, I think we’ve proved in our own minds, is the ability we have to compete. The key now is to have the confidence to go out and do in a game scenario what we’ve shown in practice.

While a transcript of Teevens' full remarks are on Green Alert Premium, you can listen to an MP3 of the teleconference on the Ivy League website here. It's unfortunate that the sound wasn't broken into individual files for each coach's remarks because only a total diehard (or a blogger) would listen to the whole thing. To find Teevens' remarks go about halfway through the file.

Speaking of the teleconference, I'd hope the Ivy League would reconsider how it handles media day next year. At the very least, make it a video conference. I realize the Colonial Athletic Association is a higher profile football league than the Ivies, but check out what the CAA did with no fewer than 43 YouTube videos coming out of its media day. That may be a bit much (or a LOT much) but the video interviews are a terrific idea.