Turning Attention to Princeton

For a nicely produced video look at how Dartmouth's final opponent fared last week, check out this package on Princeton's 24-17 victory over Yale.

Do read down this well-done ESPN.com story on Jordan Culbreath, the Princeton captain who last year ran for 276 yards against Dartmouth and is waging a courageous battle with aplastic anemia. From the story:

Jordan wore his No. 21 jersey for Senior Day on Saturday when Princeton played Yale, but that was it in terms of uniform. He put away his pads and helmet for good in September, when a sprained ankle helped save his life.

The Columbia Spectator writes about the Penn-Harvard showdown last week and has a brief capsule of Dartmouth-Brown at the end. The Daily Pennsylvanian weekend wrap also has a mention of Dartmouth-Brown.

And now for your weekly look at the rankings ...

Sagarin - 245 teams ranked (last week's ranking in parentheses)
97. UNH (98)
122. Penn (137)
135. Holy Cross (150)
150. Harvard (157)
158. Colgate (160)
162. Brown (161)
188. Yale (190)
189. Columbia (203)
203. Dartmouth (209)
219. Princeton (228)
220. Cornell (222)

Future Opponents
218. Butler (205)
231. Sacred Heart (230)
241. Georgetown (241)

Dunkel Index - 125 teams ranked (last week's ranking in parentheses)
10. UNH (10)
20. Penn (24)
21. Holy Cross (16)
29. Harvard (26)
40. Brown (38)
49. Colgate (50)
62. Columbia (70)
66. Yale (53)
76. Dartmouth (83)
95. Princeton (107)
101. Cornell (95)

Future Opponents
109. Sacred Heart (104)
113. Butler (105)
116. Georgetown (119)

Can't say as I've ever posted a link to a story from Scotland's Daily Record before, but the work that former Hanover High and Dartmouth soccer star Tommy Clark has been doing is worth recognizing again. The story about Clark's efforts begins this way:

WITH 30,000 chanting Africans cheering him on,Tommy Clark stepped off the bench and took to the field at the Babourfields Stadium in Buloweyo, Zimbabwe.
The young Scots-born footballer, son of legendary Aberdeen goalie Bobby, had never felt so nervous but hoped to impress as he made his first appearance for local side Highlanders FC.

But despite a a promising debut, Tommy never went on to make much of an impact at the club, although the players and fans made such an impact on him that he has gone on to spend his entire career working to save lives in their name.

A few years after he first lined up alongside them, he discovered that half of the Highlanders midfield he played in had been killed by the AIDS epidemic which burned through the first team and huge sections of the loyal fanbase.

That news inspired him to found the internationally acclaimed charity Grassroots Soccer, which uses football to educate young Africans about the dangers of HIV/AIDS.

Dr. Tommy Clark played for his father, Bobby, at Dartmouth. Bobby Clark is now the head coach at Notre Dame. Tommy's brother Jamie is the head coach of Ivy League champion Harvard.

Speaking of soccer, the Dartmouth men's soccer team is one of four Ivy League teams to earn an invitation to the NCAA Tournament. The Big Green plays at Boston College Thursday with the winner advancing to face St. Johns. Harvard, Brown and Princeton are also in the field.

Green Alert Take: Congratulations to all of those soccer teams for earning the chance to compete against the best, and heartfelt apologies to the Ivy League football champions, who will not be allowed to do the same.

And finally, three of us are yawning a bit this morning after getting up at 2 a.m. to take in the Leonid Meteor Shower. After about 40 chilly minutes and a disappointing number of sightings, we trundled back upstairs for a few more zzzzzzzz's.