Quarterbacks are in the news today, although not of the Dartmouth variety. Rather, a couple who may one day play against the Big Green. And another who did.
Now that the spring sports season has finished, the
Daily Pennsylvanian turns its attention to football with a story about a subtle change in recruiting strategy in West Philly. Although coach Al Bagnoli has had success with the classic 6-foot-4 pro style quarterback in the past, he wanted another quality in the quarterbacks he recruited this year: mobility. To that end, he recruited 6-1, 190-pound Billy Ragone of Cheshire, Conn. (which years ago sent a pretty fair athlete named Brad Ausmus to Dartmouth), and 6-2, 200-pound Ohioan Andrew Holland. From the DP:
"We went into (recruitment) kind of changing the philosophical approach of recruiting quarterbacks," Bagnoli said. "We made running … being elusive (and) being active in the pocket a little bit more of a priority than it has been in the past."
"I think (athleticism is) going to have to be part of what we look for," the coach added, explaining that the offense is much more effective when the defense has to respect the quarterback "as a potential ball carrier."
Interestingly, the story made no mention of Kieffer Garton, the Penn quarterback who took advantage of an opportunity presented by injury to move into the lineup late last fall and showed how dangerous he can be on the ground by running for 174 yards against Harvard. Garton finished the season as Penn's second-leading rusher despite carrying more than once in just three games.
The quarterback in the news who played against Dartmouth is Colgate grad Ryan Vena, a pretty fair runner himself. A story in the
Manchester Union Leader notes that Vena tossed four touchdown passes and ran for another last night in leading the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers to a 63-34 win over the Manchester Wolves in arenafootball2 play.
Each time I see Vena's name I laugh about a headline I wrote for the newspaper after a loss to Colgate and the response it brought. The headline: Vena, Vidi, Vici. The response: A letter from a woman instructing me that the headline should have been Veni, Vidi, Vici. I ever-so-politely let the woman know the headline was a play on the star quarterback's name.
The baseball draft has concluded and for the second year in a row Dartmouth has had an incoming recruit selected. One year ago it was pitcher Kyle Hendricks, who was drafted in the 39th round by the Los Angeles Angels. This year it was catcher Chris O'Dowd of Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora, Colo., who was taken in the 40th round by the Oakland Athletics. O'Dowd, whose father Dan is the general manager of the Colorado Rockies, batted .516 with four homers this year while helping the Raiders out to a 17-4 start. Find a story about O'Dowd's selection
here, and his stats
here.
Hendricks, by the way, was one of 20 starting pitchers named a Freshman All-American. He went 6-3 this spring, won the rubber game of the Ivy Championship Series and was named to the All-Ivy second team.
And finally, the new Sports Illustrated that came yesterday. As has happened too much lately, the magazine stunk. Not the writing. That was good.
It was a couple of the ads that stunk.
Note to SI: I doubt I'm the only reader who rips out those perfumed pages as soon as I get the mag, but I do. Obnoxious doesn't quite describe them. Noxious might be a better description.
Standing on an overlook at Utah's magnificent (and peaceful) Canyonlands National Park Monday, we spotted a shadow that looked remarkably like a mountain lion head. Can you see the eye, ear and gaping mouth? The day began with a rafting trip down the Colorado. Just one exciting rapid, but a neat trip nonetheless. I've decided that in my next life I'm going to spend my summers as a river raft tour guide. Tomorrow we had back to Durango, Colo.
