Another Honor for Recruit

Early decision recruit Martin Pomykala is one of four nominees for the New Britain (Conn.) Herald's Male Athlete of the Season. Pomykala is a 6-foot-2, 250-pound defensive tackle. In the Big Green Alert look at the early decision recruits, Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens had this to say about Pomykala:

We were looking to get some dominant defensive linemen and he was a wrecking crew in our camp. We didn't have anybody in the camp who could block him. He’s compact and explosive, a quick-twitch guy who gets out of his stance quickly. We see him as an inside guy. He’s relentless and a guy we would like to think can contribute early. He’s physically mature and powerful. He’s well weight-trained and will bring an element of toughness up front.

The Eddie Robinson Award for coach of the year in the FCS has been presented by The Sports Network to Prairie Vew coach Henry Frazier III. Former Dartmouth assistant/current Elon coach Pete Lembo finished eighth in the balloting, Penn coach Al Bagnoli was 10th and Holy Cross coach Tom Gilmore, another former Big Green assistant, was 13th.

Missed this last week but former Harvard quarterback Chris Pizzotti signed with the Green Bay Packers.

Brown receiver Buddy Farnham has won the 71st annual George Bulger Lowe Award, which a Brown release calls “New England’s Heisman Trophy.”

Holy Cross quarterback Dominic Randolph already won the Agganis Award, which a Holy Cross release said is presented annually to the most outstanding senior football player in New England.

Hmm.

Dartmouth women's basketball coach Chris Wielgus is quick on her feet and proved it when she learned at the last minute that college president Jim Yong Kim was coming by practice. On her blog Going Green the always entertaining Wilegus wrote:

I scurried to retype and actually proof my practice plan. I broke out my new Nike sneakers, the ones I had been saving for summer recruiting, grabbed a whistle without bite marks and lamented that I had not chosen a more stylish sweat suit to wear that day!

I headed down to the gym early to make sure everything was in order. After all, company was coming.

Not only was President Kim already in the gym, but I had been misinformed. He did not want to watch practice. He wanted to PRACTICE! No fancy Brooks Brothers suit with trademark green tie for the 17th president in the Wheelock succession. No … he was in his work out clothes, his sneakers were laced, a ball in his hands. He was ready to practice.

And ...

At the first break in the action, the President came over to me and asked, 'When do we scrimmage?' Quick thinker that I am, I said, 'Now.'

A USA Today travel-destinations story about second homes is all about Hanover. It is headlined:

Great culture, great outdoors intersect in Hanover, N.H.

The story includes this quote from a local real estate agent:

"There's all the culture you could want. Every night you could be going to see the ballet, theater, art films, music. You can attend lectures, audit classes, become a hockey fan.

"But we also have incredible access to the outdoors. We're surrounded by protected land; there is great trail access, snowshoeing, skiing and paddling. I see a lot of couples where one is very outdoorsy and the other is into the cultural aspects, and they can both be happy."

This is exactly the kind of thing we don't want the nation to read. Listen up. It was 3.6 degrees below zero last night and may not get out of single-digits today. Ever heard of mud season? The sky is gray all winter. You are lucky if you see the sun from November until June. That's right, spring begins in June, right about the time the snow melts. Then the black flies come out to torture you, and before you know it the first flurries are falling again.

Got the picture? You don't want to live here.

OK, I'm stretching the truth a little bit (or a lot) but puhleeze, can you just let us keep the secret pleasures of living around here a secret? We dodged the bullet when then-local Bill Bryson sung the praises of Hanover in I'm a Stranger Here Myself, but enough is enough.

And finally, the Hanover High indoor (read: winter) track team will be making its way up Moose Mountain tonight as that certain HHS senior captain hosts a team dinner before tomorrow's first meet at Leverone Field House. No doubt there will be a few kids (or parents) saying something along the lines of, "You really live way out there."

Yeah, and you can't imagine what mud season is like. And the black flies ...