Happy Fourth!

Happy Fourth of July from Denver everyone!

We had a chance to take in the Colorado Rockies-Arizona Diamondbacks game Friday night at Coors Field. You know your seats are pretty good when you can shoot a picture like this without a zoom lens. The stadium is fabulous and the postgame fireworks were beyond unbelievable.

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Tough news out of South Carolina where the Columbia Star has this to say about junior Carter Scott:

Former Hammond standout Carter Scott, projected as the starting middle linebacker for the 2009 Dartmouth Big Green football team, has most likely suffered a career- ending hand and wrist injury.

Incoming Dartmouth receiver Brian Kosnik of Connecticut has been chosen to play in a postseason all-star game. Kosnik caught 66 passes for 1,082 yards and nine touchdowns last fall. The Stamford Advocate mentions him in a story about the Hall of Fame Classic.

UNH tight end Scott Sicko is listed as the 16th-best tight end in the nation in an NFL.com column. From the story:

Sicko is a productive athlete, with 101 catches over the past two years. In 2008, he was a first-team All-Colonial Athletic Association player and a Walter Camp Football Foundation All-American.

CentralJersey.com has a story about former Dartmouth lacrosse player Chris Bates taking over the Princeton program here.

Small World

From the small world department, Colorado style ...

We were on the 8 a.m. cog railroad car up to the top of Pike's Peak Thursday and were seated across from two women in town from Minnesota. Introductions and a little small talk led to one of the women's saying, "I know someone whose son plays football at Dartmouth." And that's how we got chatting for a bit about junior receiver/slash quarterback Timmy McManus ;-)


Speaking of Pike's Peak, here's the view from our cog railway car on the way up to the summit. The irony is that we've now ridden the cog railroad to Pike's Peak twice and still haven't ridden the only other cog railroad in the country once. You know, the one up New Hampshire's own Mount Washington!

After descending from the mountain we headed to the Air Force Academy to take a look around. We were familiar with the well-known Academy chapel from the outside but surprised at how inspiring – and beautiful – it is inside.

And finally, back to a little football. From the chapel we headed to another shrine, the Air Force football stadium. Here's a picture of a sign that greets visiting teams as they head onto the field. Ah, the power of suggestions ...

Not much else to post today because I've found the world's second slowest internet connection (trailing only ours on Moose Mountain). Of course this one is at a campground ;-)

For a story in our local paper about the first day of new Dartmouth president Jim Yong Kim, click here.

Ivy (And One Patriot) Peaks

A mountain pass outside of Pagosa Springs, Colo., offers a breathtaking view Wednesday. The night finished at a campground at 10,000-feet altitude near Cripple Creek, Colo. Next on tap: The cog railroad to the top of Pike's Peak as our vacation winds down.

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Today's Colorado/Dartmouth football trivia question. Can you name the five peaks in Colorado that have the same name as Dartmouth football opponents? Here they are:

• Columbia
• Harvard
• Princeton
• Yale
• Mount of the Holy Cross

A few quick notes. Robin Harris, the new executive director of the Ivy League, has taken office. Find a short story here and keep your fingers crossed that she recognizes the unfairness of every Ivy League sport being able to go to the postseason except for football.

New Jersey.com has a story about new Princeton men's lacrosse coach Chris Bates, a former Dartmouth player. (Former coach Bill Tierney went to Denver University and having had a chance to check out the campus at the start of our trip we can see why he and former Princeton men's basketball coach Joe Scott could be enticed out this way. It's very nice.)

A regular emailer sent a link to a story about a 13-year-old football player commiting to play at Tennessee. Oh my.

And finally this: That softball team that the certain Hanover High senior-to-be co-captained last fall has won the state sportsmanship award for the sport. Neat stuff.

More tomorrow (hopefully) as our trip winds down.

Holy Cow!

I'm a sucker for odd roadside attractions and the Hole N" The Rock cave home outside of Moab, Utah, is one of the best.

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The Daily Dartmouth has a story about the change at the top of the athletic administration with the retirement of Josie Harper as athletic director and Bob Ceplikas taking over as interim AD. The story in the D has this to say about how Dean of the College Tom Crady envisions the search going:

Crady said that the search will be a “fairly transparent process,” one in which potential candidates would have the opportunity to give presentations on campus and speak to the public about their plans for Dartmouth athletics.

Green Alert Take: Having covered quite a few Dartmouth searches (including one for for athletic director) that would represent a radical but welcome departure.

The story also has this to say:

Crady neither confirmed nor denied whether Ceplikas or head football coach Buddy Teevens ’79 are prospects, adding that “it would be inappropriate to speculate about who the candidates may be” and that any qualified applicants would be considered for the position.

Discuss among yourselves.

The D also has an interview with Jim Yong Kim, who begins his tenure as president on Wednesday. From that story:

Kim said he is eager to learn more about athletics at Dartmouth and added that he has already purchased a Dartmouth football tie, as well as a Dartmouth football jersey emblazoned with his high school number.

Kim himself has an extensive background in athletics, he said, including participation in football, basketball, soccer, golf and club volleyball at Brown.

Worth Watching

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.

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Nothing sportswise for you today, but a really neat 17-minute film about Dartmouth life during World War II. Sitting here in a campground with the juice running out of my laptop battery, I can't watch the whole thing, but I've already seen a clip of a couple of horseback riders passing in front of Memorial Field and another clip of football from the era. Here's the description of the video from YouTube:

Student-produced film of life at Dartmouth College during World War Two, including footage of the Navy V-12 Program, President Hopkins and President Dickey, the Dartmouth Outing Club, Dartmouth football and post-war construction of Sachem Village and Wigwam Circle.

For anyone who would like a look at Dartmouth of the '40s, click here.

Red Rock Hello

Greetings this time from Moab, Utah, where we spent Sunday afternoon and early Sunday evening exploring Arches National Park. Even a hack photographer can have a field day among the red rocks. Today we'll take a raft trip on the Colorado River and then head over to Canyonlands NP.

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Did you know that legendary Dartmouth coach Bob Blackman was thought to be in line for the Stanford job at one point? You may have, but I didn't. Find a mention here.

Forget Alabama. The third Saturday in October was once reserved for Tennessee's game against a certain Ivy League team it has never beaten. Read about it here.

Want to take a tour of the weight room in Dartmouth's Floren Varsity House? Click here.

More From The Road (Or Tracks)

The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge steam train chugs along during our ride Saturday afternoon. (Click to supersize)

Today we are off to Utah to spend a little time exploring Arches and Canyonlands National Parks for a few days. Internet access may be spotty over there but I'll give it a shot.

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Tough call this morning before we load our camping gear back up in the rental car. Do I start with a quick Dartmouth note that isn't about football, or a football note that isn't about Dartmouth? Can I see a show of hands?

Good. Here's the Dartmouth note.

Dustin Walsh, an incoming forward from Ontario, was taken by the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL Draft Saturday. Find some background on Dustin here and his Dartmouth bio here. Thanks to an emailer for reminding me that Dartmouth will have three NHL picks on this year's team (Walsh, fellow incoming freshman forward Mark Goggin, a Boston Bruins pick, and junior defenseman Joe Stejskal, a Montreal Canadiens' selection).

In non-Dartmouth Ivy League football news, the Daily Pennsylvanian continues its look at the Quakers with a piece about the team's depth at linebacker. Find it here. And for a video look at Penn's incoming recruits, click here.

Something called FCS Now has released its Top-25. Two Dartmouth opponents make the cut with three more in the always popular "Others receiving votes" category.

New Hampshire comes in at No. 6 with Holy Cross at No. 22. Yale is No. 30, Colgate is 31 and Harvard is No. 35. Find the FCS Now ranking here.

Green Alert Take: Um, Yale ahead of Harvard?