And The Most Experienced QB In The Ivies Is ...

Quick, what Ivy League team will begin the season with the most experienced starting quarterback?

Why, that would be Dartmouth, where Alex Jenny has completed 166-of-301 passes for 1,793 yards over the past couple of years. The senior started six games last fall and relieved early in another. As a sophomore he earned one start and spent the rest of the year filling in as second on the depth chart. Jenny held off a challenge for the starting job in spring camp and has further locked down the position with a terrific first week of the preseason.

Why bring that up now? While the Ivy League coaches somewhat pooh-poohed the question of whether quarterbacks might be more important in the Ancient Eight than in other conferences during their media day remarks earlier this month, Penn coach Al Bagnoli had this to say in a New York Times story about Quaker QB Keiffer Garton:

“Last year was the year of the experienced quarterback. This is the unfurling of the next wave. If you track the Ivy League champions, what is the common denominator? The ones who get really good quarterback play are inevitably fighting for a championship.”

That's not to say simply having an experienced quarterback will make you a winner, even if he can put up huge numbers. Cornell's Nathan Ford led the Ivies with 2,185 yards passing last year and the Big Red still went 2-5 in the league and 4-6 in overall. But having Jenny back and playing so well in the preseason is a definite plus for the Big Green.

While the Ivy League will feature largely unproven quarterbacks almost everywhere you look, not so for Dartmouth's non-league foes, who are absolutely loaded under center. Holy Cross will be led by two-time Patriot League offensive player of the year Dominic Randolph. New Hampshire will be guided again by RJ Toman, the Colonial Athletic Association preseason offensive player of the year and Colgate will once again feature the running and throwing of Greg Sullivan, the All-Patriot League second-team choice who set a school rushing record for quarterbacks last year while also finishing second in the conference in passing efficiency.

As for that story about Penn's quarterback situation, the Times reports, "Bagnoli has been intent on making Garton one of the rare dual-threat starting quarterbacks in a league in which pocket passers are about as standard as ivy-covered walls." And there's this quote from the Penn coach: "“He doesn’t have the most experience. But it’s already more than a lot of the other guys who will be starting this year.”

Yale's early struggles at quarterback in the team's first real scrimmaging of camp are recounted in the New Haven Register's Portal 31 blog that notes:

The quarterbacks fumbled seven times (losing two of them) and threw three interceptions. The four QBs (Brook Hart, Patrick Witt, Rich Scudellari and Bryan Farris were a combined 18 for 43 for 160 yards ...

There is no Ryan Fitzpatrick or Chris Pizzotti at Harvard this year. Fitzpatrick is the backup with the Buffalo Bills these days and Pizzotti saw action in the New York Jets last preseason game before being cut. Fitzpatrick is the subject of a Boston Herald story that notes as a former Cincinnati Bengal he's the rare QB who has looked downfield and seen both Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco.

With the Bills, the story notes, "Fitzy" has an issue with coach Dick Jauron. He told the writer:

“He’s a Yale guy, and being a Harvard guy, come late November this year there’ll be some big stakes."

Writers love coming to Casey Cramer '04 for quotes and with good reason. A reporter for the Nashville City Paper went to the former Dartmouth tight end to question him about Tennessee Titans teammate David Stewart, a man of few words. From the story:

Asked what the longest conversation he had ever had with Stewart was, fullback Casey Cramer answered, “I don’t know, but it didn’t involve any words. It was more grunts.”

If you haven't checked out the flashy new Dartmouth football media guide, find a PDF of it for downloading here. Dartmouth will be printing hard copies this year, but don't be surprised if this is the last time that is the case as the school will likely join the growing movement toward offering guides electronically only. The Indianapolis Star notes ...

The Big Ten also stopped printing its annual media guide in football and men's and women's basketball. Instead, the conference provided flash drives to members of the media that feature each of the school's guides.

From the Star:

Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said the traditional media guide is on its way out. "I think they're becoming a dinosaur," he said. "I think they'll be extinct after this year."

The Pacific-10 has proposed NCAA legislation that would ban printed media guides in all sports.

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The Children's Hospital at Dartmouth (CHaD) half marathon set a record yesterday for "Most People Dresses as a Superhero at One Time." Find a sweet photo in the Daily Dartmouth.

A regular reader (and friend ;-) stopped by practice yesterday to leave off a copy of New England Runner magazine that had a capsule preview of the state high school cross country programs in the region. Leading the way for the New Hampshire girls was reigning state and meet of champions winner Hanover. Mentioned were three runners, including a certain senior.

Point After
Never owned a Cadillac and never will. But when I was growing up you could always recognize a Cadillac when it paraded its proud self down the street. I saw an ad the other day that said for 2010 they are introducing a Cadillac Sport Wagon. Whoa. A Cadillac sport wagon? Check out this picture. Talk about losing your brand. Now, driving around in a beater with 160,000 miles on it, you might have guessed I'm not much of one for cars. But if I had a choice, I'd much rather have a Nissan Leaf than a Caddy sports wagon.

NYT Picks Penn to Push Harvard

Dartmouth players have no choice but to stay low as they go through a drill on Memorial Field Saturday afternoon.
A reward for climbing the stairs to get a bird's eye view of the first Memorial Field practice of the preseason is the row of plaques on the back wall of the grandstand celebrating Dartmouth's 17 Ivy League championship teams. This was one to remember.

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The New York Times Ivy League preview suggests that while the media poll had Harvard at the top, Penn might well spoil the Crimson picnic. The column says, "The Quakers’ trip to Cambridge, Mass., for the penultimate game of the season could go a long way to determining this year’s Ivy champion."

As for the team from Hanover, the Times wrote:

With so much uncertainty, many coaches are tempering their expectations for the season. But at Dartmouth, it will take very little to view this year as a step forward. The Big Green was 0-10 in 2008.

Dartmouth football talk on the well-moderated Any Given Saturday board is infrequent so it's of interest whenever a few opinions are shared. If you click here you'll have to scroll down 5-6 posts to get to anything of substance, though.

The Big Green dodged a bullet when Indiana State coughed up a 17-0 lead and lost to NAIA Quincy, 26-20, in overtime on Thursday night. If ISU had held on Dartmouth would have had the longest losing streak in the nation at 12 games. ISU has now lost 27 in a row. The local paper has a story about the frustration at Indiana State that includes this:

More than one person I talked to wondered why they even bothered to hope ISU’s misery was going to end. Others said they won’t attend another game until they see meaningful on-field progress.

Before heading out to practice yesterday I tuned in to a little bit of the ESPN broadcast of high school powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas (Florida) against Upper Arlington (Ohio) at the Horseshoe in Columbus. As they say, if this had been a fight, they would have stopped it. Aquinas had a 28-0 lead in the first quarter and went on to a 52-7 win. (USA Today report). Interestingly, the game was yesterday, and this morning I find that the ESPN recruiting site is reporting an Aquinas player as having interest in Dartmouth (as well as Harvard, Princeton, Yale and ... Wisconsin?). ESPN lists Reynaldo Kirton as a 6-foot-2, 175-pound safety. Aquinas, of course, was the school that sent quarterback Dan Shula to Dartmouth.

Yale's intrasquad scrimmage was covered in the New Haven Register and it sounded a little sloppy in the rain. From the story: "Four quarterbacks combined to fumble seven times, five coming on botched exchanges with the center, and threw three interceptions in a span of seven plays."

Returning starter Brook Hart was 8-for-19 for 66 yards with one interception while Nebraska Transfer Patrick Witt was 3-for-5 for 19 yards.

Heading back to Vlad, the old (Mitsubishi) Expo yesterday after practice, I wandered through a reception for retired Dartmouth weights coach Carl Wallin, who has stepped down after 40 years at the college. Among those who traveled some distance to honor Carl were former defensive lineman (and Olympic shot put silver medalist) Adam Nelson '97, decathlete Andrew Hall '05 of "The Catch" fame and All-America thrower and three-year football lineman Ken Jansson '79.

And One More Thing (which will be retitled Extra Point from here on out because that's what it should have been called in the first place ;-) ... Staples used to run a back-to-school commercial accompanied by the tune, "It's the most wonderful time, of the year." (YouTube video) The contrast between the joy of the dad and the sadness of the kids was kind of funny, but really, is there an adult alive who can't remember how it felt to have the freedom of summer come to a screeching halt with the return to the classroom? What brings that to mind is that Hanover kids started school Wednesday and two of them are loaded down with homework this weekend. Somehow it just seems wrong for school to start before Labor Day.

Power Down

Heavy winds on the mountain have knocked down lots of branches that have taken some power lines with them. No knowing when the juice will be back up, so if there's nothing on the main site tonight or here Sunday morning you'll know what the deal is. I've been known to drive down to the library and park on the road to use their wi-fi at night and will do that if possible.

A Familiar Name

As part of "media day," at Dartmouth yesterday, positional meetings were open to, well, the media. At the top, Chris Wilkerson makes a point during a meeting on special teams in the Floren Varsity House "smart classroom." The next photo shows first-year offensive line coach Keith Clark making a point while going over things with the offensive line. (Click photos to enlarge)

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Craig Morton. If you are an NFL fan of a certain age, the name probably brings to mind an NFL quarterback who played for the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants and Denver Broncos before retiring in the early 1980s.

If you are a Dartmouth football fan, you think of arguably the most exciting receiver in school history, a 6-foot, 170-pound whippet who averaged 24.2 yards per catch while grabbing 44 catches as a sophomore in 1986.

Although he was just a three-year varsity player (freshmen were not eligible for the varsity in 1986) and struggled much of his final two seasons with strapped shoulder, Morton '89 stands first in career receiving yardage at Dartmouth (2,605), third in career receptions (138) and first in average yards per catch for anyone with more than 50 catches at 18.9.

Two quick stories.

I was working in the sports information office at the college when Morton was a freshman. I remember being in the office when the stats from his first game against Princeton came in over the FAX machine (long time ago, huh?) and then SID Kathy Slattery (Phillips) and I were laughing about some intern thoroughly bollixing them up. No way this Morton kid could ever have done what was being reported. But after checking, it was correct. Every bit of it. I don't have the exact numbers handy but I do have the score: 21-17, with Morton scoring all three touchdowns on long – I mean long – receptions.

Before the season was over he would catch 21 passes for 718 yards and nine touchdowns in six games. Do the math and you'll see he averaged a mind-boggling 34.2 yards per catch!

One year later Morton was a sophomore on the Dartmouth varsity. I remember like yesterday head coach Joe Yukica telling me before the game against powerhouse Holy Cross that he was going to streak Morton down the field in the first series. I seem to recall JY chuckling and saying something along the lines of, "They think they know how fast he is. They are going to find out he's faster." Sure enough, second play of the game, Morton takes off, David Gabianelli launches and 64-yards later Dartmouth has its only points of the afternoon. To this day I think JY knew that game was going to be tough and he wanted to make sure to have a little bit of fun.

Morton also caught a 98-yard touchdown pass that fall against Columbia.

In his senior winter Morton went to the NFL Combine and worked out for scouts in Hanover, but eventually informed teams he did not intend to play professional football because he would be getting married. He changed his mind about the football piece a couple of years later and had some success in the World League of American Football before going to work in computer services at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and starting to raise a family.

Why bring Morton up today? I heard that the local paper was working on a story about his son, a budding standout at Lebanon High School. (His daughter was a track star at the nearby school.) But the real reason for recalling Morton's career – beyond the fact that it is fun – is a reader sent a link to where he is and what he is doing today.

Morton, who was active in Campus Crusade for Christ at Dartmouth and used to drag his battered body out of bed on Sunday mornings following road games to host a religious radio program, is now a pastor at the Wellspring Worship Center in Lebanon along with his wife, Karen. Find a bio and picture of Craig here. You can listen to part or all of one of Pastor Craig's sermons here.

Wonder what's up at season-opening opponent Colgate? The always well-done Lehigh Football Nation site takes a look at the Raiders in its "Offseason" series. LFN links to a Utica Observer-Dispatch story confirming that, "Cornerback Wayne Moten, the team’s defensive MVP last year, chose not to play this year."

The news out of UNH following the Wildcats' Blue-White scrimmage, according to the Laconia Citizen, is that quarterback RJ Toman was, "on the field for four series and engineered touchdown drives in all four as the offense as a whole produced seven touchdowns and 54 points."

As always, scrimmage results can be parsed in many different ways. In this case, is it that the offense is really good or the defense is really bad? Might be the former because there's a lot of hype in Durham this year that, finally, the UNH defense is going to be strong. A large number of returning starters suggests that, and so does coach Sean McDonnell, who tolds the Citizen, "I did like that drive at the end of the half by the offense. That was good to see because our No. 1 defense has been pretty stout for most of fall camp." (Italics are mine.)

The Root has a story featuring a photo of new Yale football coach Tom Williams. The headline is, "Black and Coaching in the Ivy League; Tom Williams will soon begin his first season as head football coach at Yale. What the NCAA can learn from the Ivys about diversity."

The story includes this:

There are only four black coaches at the 119 schools that comprise Division 1A, the highest level of competition in the NCAA. The Ivy League is in Division 1-AA, where Williams joins Columbia University’s Norries Wilson, the first black coach in the Ivy League.

(An aside: The NCAA might as well give up on the FBS/FCS nomenclature. It seems I-A and I-AA will never go away.)

The story also says:

The Ivy League has succeeded in diversity in ways that other conferences should envy. In addition to their high marks in football, half of the conference’s basketball coaches are African-American, which compares favorably to the 30 percent average in the NCAA.

I have to admit to mixed feelings about the recent schedule announcement that Dartmouth will be playing a home-and-home with Butler. I'd hoped, and maybe it will happen, the Big Green would try to schedule Northern Colorado. It would be a great trip, Colorado is prime recruiting ground and it sounds like a bigger-time game than some others.

Northern Colorado, after all, played Hawaii two years ago, Purdue last year and will face Kansas this year. And here's the best part. It's not like the Bears are a powerhouse, although if you don't tell anyone they've gone 3-31 over their past 34 games I won't. Find a Denver Post story about Northern Colorado's move from Division II national champions in 1996 and '97 to struggling I-AA (oops, FCS) program.

And finally, the lede of an ESPN.com story:

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Division II school in Virginia has canceled its 2009 season opener because it doesn't have helmets or football pads ...

And One More Thing
This used to be the time of year back when I was a kid that I'd get all excited about a few new TV shows starting up. The networks would have been showing teasers starting in mid-summer and it was exciting to finally get to see the programs. Times have changed. These days programs are introduced seemingly all around the calendar. But who is watching? No one in this house. Honestly, I don't think any of us have watched a single show on ABC, NBC, CBS (or FOX for that matter) other than news, a news magazine or sports in at least five years and probably more. Not one.

The President Has Game

During his talk with the Dartmouth football team Thursday, college President Jim Yong Kim shared memories of his careers as a high school quarterback in Iowa, talked about some of the all-time greats who have played for the Big Green and stressed the value of sports, football and yes, winning. (Click photos to supersize)Kim spent a few minutes tossing passes to Dartmouth's quarterbacks.

Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens liked the president's "night tight spiral," and "tight release."

Click the video to see President Kim in action and hear Teevens' comments:

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Dartmouth can relax. The NAIA Quincy College football team rallied from a 17-0 deficit last night to post a 26-20 upset victory over Indiana State to run the Sycamores' losing streak to 27 games. If Indiana State had won the game, the longest losing streak in the nation would have belonged to the Big Green, which has dropped its last 12 games. Find a brief story about the game here.

The Championship Subdivision News offers up 27 Fearless Predictions for the 2009 Season including this one: 1. The three teams that were winless in 2008 will not go winless in 2009. It includes this:

... Buddy Teevens’ rebuilding tenure at Dartmouth was not as expected with an 0-10 finish, but they have enough returning to pull off an upset at home with wideout Tim McManus. They’ll knock off Cornell at home - and maybe beat Princeton at home, too - to show some improvement over 2008.

The CSN folks also have this prediction: 22. The Ivy League champion will have at least two losses.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal in Tennessee is reporting that 6-foot-3, 225-pound defensive end Steve Stafford of Evangelical Christian School has committed to Dartmouth. Stafford was a D-II, West AA Coach's All-Regiona Team honorable mention pick last year.

A possible recruiting target is 6-2, 250 Brandon Bunting of Mt. Pleasant High School in football-rich Western Pennsylvania. From a Pittsburgh Live story: "Brandon Bunting was born to be a football player. Specifically, Bunting was born to be a lineman." It goes on to say,

"Bunting has the potential to be a Division I player and has attracted some interest from several Ivy League and Patriot League schools. Lehigh University and Dartmouth have shown particular interest."

Tyler Haney '03, a product of the same Gulf Breeze (Fla.) High School that sent current Dartmouth tight end Carroll Papajohn to Dartmouth, has a lengthy post on a blog site called The Guy’s Guide to Feminism that mentions in a couple of places how his football career in Hanover didn't work out the way he hoped. He left the team after two years.

Former Harvard and Minnesota Vikings all-pro Matt Birk is the subject of a story in the Baltimore Sun now that he's a member of the Ravens. The top of the story includes this:

Harvard, Harvard, Harvard. It's a steady drumbeat that has followed the 6-foot-4, 310-pound St. Paul, Minn., native everywhere since he was a sixth-round draft pick in 1998.

So with his Ravens career about to begin, it seemed appropriate to ask him: Does it ever get old listening to people gush over the fact that he is the only NFL starter with a Harvard degree? Does he ever get tired of talking about it?

Hank Paulson and Jeff Immelt are former Dartmouth football players who went on to have enormous power in the business world, and in Paulson's case, the government. Their counterpart from the powerhouse Big Green women's basketball program would be Gail Koziara Boudreaux '82, who has been named 54th on the Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women in the World list. Find a story here.

And finally, that certain Hanover High senior runner/softball player has looked at colleges in New England and down through Pennsylvania. Last night she took a call from the head coach of a track program at a terrific out-of-region school. Sounds as if there could be a road trip for the senior and Mrs. BGA this fall.

And One More Thing
I know this is going to sound generational, but Bill Gates will have nothing on the person who comes up with a painless and effective way to remove tattoos. Talk about a gold mine.

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Dartmouth players enjoy a special moment between President Kim and his son, who were presented with an official Dartmouth football and Big Green helmet. (Click to supersize)

Heating Up

Helmets but no pads when Dartmouth kicked off practice Wednesday afternoon. That will come soon, but probably not soon enough for the Big Green as it begins preparation for the opener Sept. 19 against Colgate.

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The Sports Network, which follows FCS football about as closely as anyone, has its Ivy League preview and preseason ranking posted. No real surprise that Dartmouth was picked eighth, but tapping Columbia for fourth – ahead of defending co-champion Brown in fifth – was a shocker. Here's how the TSN sees things:

1. Penn
2. Harvard
3. Princeton
4. Columbia
5. Brown
6. Yale
7. Cornell
8. Dartmouth

TSN writer Dave Coulson states the obvious: "There is only one direction to go for coach Buddy Teevens and the Big Green after losing 12 consecutive games...up."

The Sports Network also released its first poll yesterday with No. 8 New Hampshire the highest-ranked Dartmouth opponent and No. 23 Harvard the highest-ranked Ivy.

Opponents that show up in the poll:

8. UNH 8
23. Harvard 23
25. Holy Cross
28. Colgate
42. Penn
51. Brown
69. Yale

The powerhouse Colonial Athletic Association, which counts UNH as a member, has four teams in the Top-10 and seven of its 12 schools in the top 25. Oh, and in case you are wondering when you see a team ranked 69th, there were 123 FCS programs last year.

Of all those 123 teams and the other 120 in the FBS, none has lost as many games in a row as Indiana State. When they play host to NAIA member Quincy College tonight, the Sycamores will be trying to break a 26-game losing streak, the longest in the country in Division I. Should they win, Dartmouth's 12-game skid will be the longest in the FCS and tied with Washington for longest in Division I.

The Tribune-Star website writes:

Quincy College is being paid $30,000 to visit Memorial Stadium for Indiana State’s season opener tonight. But as everyone knows, the losing the Indiana State football program has endured over the last five seasons is light years’ removed from normal.

So even though many Sycamore fans are expecting the nation’s longest losing streak — now at 26 losses — to die tonight when Division I ISU takes on NAIA Quincy, nothing in ISU’s recent history suggests that anything should be taken for granted.

For the record, Indiana State is 1-50 since a loss on Oct. 9, 2004. The lone win in the interim was a 28-22 decision over Missouri State on Oct. 21, 2006.

By most accounts, Dartmouth was very close last spring to landing a promising Texas running back named Bo Snelson. His father/coach said, “It really came down to the Naval Academy and Dartmouth. Both the recruiting director and the head coach at Dartmouth made a very big impression on him. They’re quality people. But the Naval Academy speaks for itself." It sounds as if Dartmouth was on the right track as a story out of Annapolis (with photo) reports, "Freshman Bo Snelson, a standout prep player in Texas, could play a leading role at slot back for Navy."

The Harvard website has a piece on the death of senator Edward M. Kennedy, who played football for the Crimson. From the story:

Kennedy was listed at 6 foot 2 and 200 pounds as a senior wide receiver while playing football. He caught Harvard's only touchdown to cap a 92-yard drive in a steady snow during a 21-7 loss against Yale in "The Game" in 1955 in front of 56,000 fans at the Yale Bowl. He also caught a TD pass against Columbia in a 21-7 win that season. For the season, he caught six passes for 80 yards (13.3 yards per catch), ranking second on the team in receptions.

And One More Thing
That certain Hanover High senior student-athlete got a mailing from one of the nation's top schools the other day. It was wrapped in clear plastic, but on the top sheet of paper under the plastic it had this message: "The packaging for this mailing is biodegradable in aerobic and anaerobic conditions without resulting in toxic residue." All I can say is I'm not making this stuff up.

Lodge-ing

This is too good to sit on (not the furniture, the pictures). The Lodge, where many Dartmouth football players spend the preseason, wasn't always college housing. Here are some pictures of it when it was a real live Motor Lodge. Thanks to a regular reader/longtime emailer for the idea of digging up these pix.

Are You Ready For Some Football?

It's been a long time coming, but the Dartmouth football team will be on the field this afternoon, starting with a walk-through at 3:45. No pads yet by NCAA rules. Full coverage tonight on BGA premium.

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Stop the presses. Someone finally picked Dartmouth to finish other than eighth in the Ivy League race. That honor (?) goes to Cornell. In the very thorough FCS Yearbook, available for download here, writer Chuck Burton projects the Ivy League to finish this way:

1. Harvard
2. Penn
3. Brown
4. Princeton
5. Yale
6. Columbia
7. Dartmouth
8. Cornell

Chuck includes Dartmouth in just one of his Ivy League games of the year, the Oct. 24 meeting with Columbia at Memorial Field. Chuck writes:

Both teams have to be circling this game on the calendar as a “must-win” in this 80th meeting. Dartmouth holds an amazing 61-17-1 lead in the series, but Columbia has won six of the last 11 games, including a 21-13 triumph last year.

Speaking of Oct. 24, Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens will be the featured guest in the Saturday Morning Playbook series at Alumni Hall (Hopkins Center) from 9-10 a.m. that day. It would appear that this series, featuring acting AD Bob Ceplikas before the football opener against Colgate on Sept. 19, will replace the Hanover Huddle that used to have Teevens each week.

Back to the polls, Cornell's Daily Sun has a story about the official Ivy League media poll that predicted a sixth-place finish for the Big Red.

Cornell, by the way, has launched a YouTube channel. There's a story about the channel here or you can sidestep the story and just access the channel here.

Green Alert Take: All the "in house" video services provided by the various colleges is nice, but if you want to get word out to the bigger world, tapping the YouTube audience seems to make a lot of sense. Kudos to Cornell for taking the leap.

Which brings us the long way around to a video of a tennis exhibition being held on the real grass of the Yale Bowl. There's a brief report about it on the Portal 31 blog and you can find the video here. It's a well-done piece that shows off The Bowl and coach Tom Williams doing a nice acting job complaining about a tennis court replacing his field. Again, toss that one up on YouTube and more people will see it.

Billy VandeMerkt, a quarterback at Riverside-Brookfield High in California, "is considering Dartmouth, Cornell, Army and a couple of Division II schools ..." according to this story. Last year VandeMerkt ran the bizarre A-11 offense. For a little info on that innovative offense, check out this link to last year's Green Alert blog.

Popular former Dartmouth assistant Matthew Smiley is now special teams coordinator at Eastern Illinois and there's a story here. Anyone who remembers Smiley, who came to Dartmouth when Buddy Teevens returned four years ago, will smile at this lede:

At Eastern football practice it is not uncommon to hear coaches yell. But one particular voice can be heard booming over all the others this season.

"Field goal one! Field goal one! Kick return two!" Or names such as "Weatherford! Austin! Cook!" These are just a few of the things that can be heard booming on the sidelines of O'Brien Field on a daily basis.

The voice belonged of course to Smiley, who told the writer:

"Dartmouth was my first opportunity to coordinate the special teams and it gave me a great chance to learn," Smiley said. "In an Ivy League institution the recruiting is different, there are some class concerns and stipulations to get in school are different because it's obviously very highly academic. That was something that really helped me to reinforce that it is a 'student-athlete.'"

Find Matthew Smiley's Eastern Illinois bio here.

Dartmouth has scheduled a game with Butler of the Pioneer Football League and has spoken with PFL member Drake about a game. On the off chance that the Patriot League goes scholarship in the near future, there could be more Ivy-Pioneer League contests. The Missoulian writes about the Pioneer Football League:

"There is an investment in travel," league commissioner Patty Viverito said, "but I think you'll find that in every other aspect of the program, it's far less expensive than any other model."

The PowerLine blog has a few thoughts and links to other opinions on the appointment of the acting dean at Dartmouth. This blog has never been much for the politics of the college and doesn't intend to be, but I thought to pass along at least one non-institutional viewpoint.

And finally, today is the first day of school in Hanover and this morning we shot the annual "waiting for the bus," and "get on the bus" photos at the end of the driveway. Hard to believe that it will be the last one with the two kids, but time marches on. That certain Hanover junior senior got another invitation for an "official visit" by a college yesterday and seemed pleased with the school. She's training away with the powerhouse Hanover cross country team these days. That certain freshman sophomore is playing each afternoon with the HHS golf team in his first fall sports season without football since fourth grade. Although it was a hard decision to make the switch, he seems happy and is not looking back.

And finally II: In the car yesterday a few thoughts were rattling around inside my brain (like a beebee in a box car to steal a line from a bad joke) and that got me thinking that I ought to write them down somewhere. Sorry, but I decided this is where I'm going to do it.

So today I'll kick off what will be a daily feature of the Green Alert Blog. I'm going to call it ...

And One More Thing
An announcer on the radio yesterday referred to next year as "Twenty-ten" and I wanted to stop the car and applaud. I could be wrong, but I blame the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey for the silliness of calling years like this one, "two thousand nine." I mean, did anyone ever refer to 1997 as "nineteen hundred and ninety-seven?" OK, maybe some people did, but not often. But it was 1997 and next year will be "2010."

Of Big Guys And Tweeting With Teevens

Two notes out of last night's freshman family get-together at a local restaurant:

1) The freshmen are as big as advertised. Hanover might want to consider a big-and-tall shop.

2) Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens is now on Twitter. You can find him at BTeevens.

This is the research you never want to have to do, but just two teams have ever gone from zero wins in the Ivy League one year to a winning Ivy League record the next:

Zero wins one year, four wins the next:
1959-1960 1958-59 Yale
2003-2004 Cornell

Zero wins one year, three wins the next:
1973-1974 Princeton, 1992-1993 Brown, 2002-2003 Columbia

Zero wins one year, two wins the next:
1962-1963 Brown, 1964-1965 Penn, 1967-1968 Columbia, 1975-1976 Cornell, 1987-1988 Columbia, 1988-1989 Brown, 2005-2006 Columbia, 2007-2008 Columbia

Zero wins one year, one win the next:
1966-1967 Brown, 1968-1969 Brown, 1971-1972 Brown, 1979-1980 Penn, 1980-1981 Columbia

Zero one year and zero wins the next:
1961-1962 Brown, 1984-1985 Columbia, 1985-1986 Columbia, 1986-1987 Columbia

Mike Brown '57, the former Dartmouth quarterback who owns and runs the Cincinnati Bengals is in the crosshairs of this story from ESPN about the travails of the long-suffering NFL team. Daughter Katie Blackburn is the team's executive vide president. For an interesting, if dated, story on Blackburn, who played hockey at Dartmouth, click here.

A regular reader has sent along a reminder that there are three Ivy products in the United Football League. Harvard's Liam O'Hagan and Brown's Kai Brown are members of the California Redwoods. Brown's Chad Gessner is a member of the Florida Tuskers. Um, Tuskers? It's a wild bore. Oops, make that a wild boar. (link)

Yale Bowl as a tennis venue? Check out this photo. (They have pretty good grass at The Bowl, but Wimbledon it's not.) Find a brief explanation of what it was all about on the Portal 31 blog.

Practice Begins This Week

Dartmouth's freshman players are in town. Whatever upperclassmen haven't arrived yet are wandering in and will finish checking in tomorrow. The first practice of the preseason is slated for Wednesday.

Here's the practice schedule:
Weds., Aug. 26
3:45 p.m.-6:15 p.m. Practice No. 1

Thu., Aug. 27
3:45 p.m.-6:15 p.m. Practice No. 2

Fri., Aug. 28
3:45 p.m. -6:15 p.m. Practice No. 3

Sat., Aug. 29
3:45 p.m.-6:15 p.m. Practice No. 4

Sun., Aug. 30
3:15 p.m.-6:15 p.m. Practice No. 5

Mon., Aug. 31
3:45 p.m.-6:15 p.m. Practice No. 6

Tue., Sept. 1
8:15 a.m.-10:25 a.m. Practice No. 7
3:45 p.m. -6:15 p.m. Practice No. 8

Weds., Sept. 2
3:45 p.m.-6:15 p.m. Practice No. 9

Thu., Sept. 3
8:15 a.m.-10:25 a.m. Practice No. 10
3:45 p.m.-6:15 p.m. Practice No. 11

Fri., Sept. 4
3:45 p.m. -6:15 p.m. Practice No. 12

Sat., Sept. 5
8:15 a.m.-10:25 a.m. Practice No. 13
3:45 p.m.-6:15 p.m. Practice No. 14 (Officiated scrimmage)

Sun., Sept. 6
No practice

Mon., Sept. 7
8:15 a.m.-10:25 a.m. Practice No. 15
3:45 p.m.-6:15 p.m. Practice No. 16

Tue., Sept. 8
3:45 p.m.-6:15 p.m. Practice No. 17

Weds., Sept. 9
8:45 a.m. -10:25 a.m. Practice No. 18
3:45 p.m.-6:15 p.m. Practice No. 19

Thu., Sept. 10
3:45 p.m.-6:15 p.m. Practice No. 20

Fri., Sept. 11
1:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Harvard Scrimmage (Memorial Field)

Sat., Sept. 12
Colgate week begins

Remember: There will be Green Alert Premium stories posted after every practice (except the Saturday a.m. pre-scrimmage walk-thru Sept. 6) with the morning practice story posted prior to the start of the afternoon session.

A regular reader shared a link about California quarterback Brody Rohach receiving an "offer" from Dartmouth. There's a full story on Yahoo sports. Find his profile here and another mention of the offer here. To learn a little more about the high school senior who is a twin, read this story from last fall.

It's no secret that it can be hard to win with an unproven offensive line. Princeton showed it can happen when there's tremendous talent behind the line (quarterback Jeff Terrell) and New Hampshire showed it a few years ago when quarterback Ricky Santos and receiver David Ball helped UNH win on the road at a Big Ten school. That accomplishment is highlighted in a seacoastonline story about another rebuilding project up front for the UNH Wildcats this fall. Under the headline, "Offensive line is biggest question mark for UNH; Only two starters returning," the story starts this way:

Dan Larkin knows it can be done because he was there when it was done before.

Maybe no part of the University of New Hampshire football team has been under more scrutiny this month than the offensive line, which returned only two starters from a year ago and will be charged with keeping quarterback R.J. Toman upright.

Larkin is a 6-foot-4, 300-pound senior who will line up at right guard. But three years ago he was a redshirt freshman on a plane to Chicago with a bunch of other nervous linemen, wondering how a unit with three new starters would fare — against a Big 10 opponent, no less.

UNH 34, Northwestern 17. Any other questions?

The story also includes this:

One thing that may make it easier to extend the competition is UNH's early schedule.

The opening month of the season features two games the Wildcats will be expected to win handily (St. Francis and Dartmouth), one few will expect them to win (at Division I FBS Ball State) and a bye week.

FCS Kickoff This Week

The college football season kicks off this week and the first FCS (the former Division IAA) game will be one Dartmouth fans should be watching closely. The game will pit Indiana State against NAIA school Quincy University of Illinois. Indiana State has the longest FCS losing streak in the nation at 26 games.

Should ISU happen to beat the Hawks, the dubious distinction of having the longest streak will fall to Dartmouth, which has dropped its last 12. The good news, though, is that if Indiana State wins, Dartmouth should only be alone atop the list for a short time with an assist from its in-state neighbor. St. Francis (Pa.) – which is one game behind the Big Green with 11 consecutive losses – will need to pull a mighty upset to avoid No. 12 when it opens up at New Hampshire on Sept. 5.

Should UNH prevail as expected, St. Francis will have a chance to leapfrog Dartmouth when it plays Morehead State on Sept. 12, one week before the Big Green tries to get off the schneid in its opener against Colgate.

The fourth-longest losing streak in the country, by the way, belong to Chattanooga, which has dropped its last 10 games. The Mocs open Sept. 3 against Division II Glenville State of West Virginia. Chattanooga then plays Furman on Sept. 12.

While Dartmouth doesn't open practice until Wednesday, Yale is already going and the New Haven Register has a practice story and a blog post about practice.

The New York Times has a lengthy story about the peripatetic quarterback Andrew Hatch, the once and future Harvard QB who last played for LSU. The Times puts on the record a badly kept secret, that Hatch will be eligible for the Crimson in 2010.

Harvard, of course, announced last winter that it was not currently accepting transfers, so how did Hatch end up returning? The Times put it this way while also explaining his eligibility issue:

He transferred back in January, though to Harvard he was technically only on a leave of absence, and struggled through his rehabilitation until last March. And because Harvard did not count any of his L.S.U. credits, it made him a sophomore.

For four months, he lobbied the N.C.A.A. to let him play this season. Normally, a player who transfers from a Football Bowl Subdivision school to a Football Championship Subdivision school automatically becomes eligible. But the N.C.A.A. deemed that the second transfer negated that.

From a story in the Charlotte Observer:

An Ivy League mentor helped hone the judgment that made N.C. State's Russell Wilson the first-team, All-ACC quarterback as a redshirt freshman.

And just who was the Ivy League mentor who helped shape Wilson? That would be his father Harry, who happened to letter on the gridiron for Dartmouth in 1974-75-76, making the All-Ivy first team as a senior.

Russell Wilson, incidentally, has a characteristic that would make him a Buddy Teevens favorite as a quarterback. He makes very good decisions. He threw just one interception in 275 passes last year, including a season-ending 249 straight (a school record and the longest active streak in the country). All that while tossing 17 touchdown passes. He's also an infielder on the NC State baseball team.

Be sure to visit Green Alert Premium tonight for a look at the 2009 Big Green from an outsider's perspective.

Catching Up On A Saturday Mornin'

Should have mentioned this the other day but the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges 2010 ranks Dartmouth No. 1 nationally for Undergraduate Teaching at National Universities.

The Top 10 (plus ties):
1. Dartmouth
2. Princeton
3. Yale
T-4. Stanford
T-4. Maryland-Baltimore County
T-6. Brown
T-6. William and Mary
T-8. Duke
T-8. Miami U (Ohio)
T-8. Notre Dame

Green Alert Take: Do you think UMBC is going to get some mileage out of that?

The Eagle Tribune in Massachusetts has a blurb about, "former Methuen High and Dartmouth quarterback Sean Furey," currently standing in 11th place (he needs to be top 12 to make the finals) in the javelin at the World Championships in Berlin. Furey '04 was a jayvee signalcaller for the Big Green before, obviously, making the right choice and concentrating on track. There's a photo here. (Former Dartmouth defensive lineman and Olympic silver medalist Adam Nelson '97 was fifth in the shot last week. Link)

The College Sporting News has named its 2009 preseason All-Americans. No fewer than 166 players were mentioned. Here's a list of those players on the list Dartmouth will face this fall:

FIRST TEAM
TE - Scott Sicko, New Hampshire
K - Andrew Samson, Penn

SECOND TEAM
Returns - Austin Knowlin, Columbia

THIRD TEAM
OT - James Williams, Harvard
DB - Chris Wynn, Penn
DB - Ryan Hinds, New Hampshire

HONORABLE MENTION
QB - Dominic Randolph, Holy Cross
RB - Jordan Culbreath, Princeton
AP - Buddy Farnham, Brown
WR - Matt Luft
C - Alex Spisak, Harvard
OG - Matt Schaefer, Penn
OT - Aaron Jones, Holy Cross
OT - Paul Jasinowski, Brown
DE - James Develin, Brown
DT - Brenton Bryant, Harvard
DT - David Howard, Brown
DT - Joe Goniprow, Penn
DB - Dino Vasso, New Hampshire

And don't ask me what AP is, although I think it might be Athletic Player? Editor's Note: A regular reader obviously much smarter than I am solved the mystery: All Purpose.

Also on the First Team: Jared Turcotte, the Maine fullback who originally hoped to go to Dartmouth.

Yale coach Tom Williams is the first Ivy League football coach I've heard is on Twitter. Find his musings here. Not sure about others but I know Cornell basketball coach Steve Donahue is on Twitter and there's a Twitter account out of the Penn men's basketball coaching office as well. There's also a Twitter account for Dartmouth athletics.

Former Harvard quarterback Chris Pizzotti has been resigned by the New York Jets, who cut him last week. Former Brown receiver Paul Raymond, cut at the same time by the Jets, has been claimed off waivers by the Cleveland Browns.

And finally, Dartmouth has its first preseason session in four days.

Penn State? Today is the Nittany Lions' final day of preseason camp according to a Jay Paterno Tweet. Speaking of PSU, Paterno also offered congratulations to the Nittany Lions' 1-0 season-opening win in women's soccer over Virginia. Two things of note:

1) Holy cow, the fall college sports season has begun, and ...
2) the head coaches of both teams used to be head coaches at Dartmouth. Erica Walsh is the PSU coach while Steve Swanson is the UVa coach.

Media Guide Online

The Dartmouth media guide has now been posted online here. It can be downloaded by section or in its entirety (you know who to blame for going on about that). The guide has been undergone the largest redesign since it went to the 8x11 format before the 1987 season. Enjoy.

The Dartmouth football media guide could be – that's could be – posted online as early as today. If not today, then shortly.

The Daily Dartmouth has a column spun out of media day when Dartmouth was picked last in the preseason voting. Regarding the poll, coach Buddy Teevens trotted out the line coaches use all the time: "The one (poll) I’m most concerned about is the one at the end of the season."

For the record, here's how Dartmouth has been picked since 1996, when the Big Green won its last Ivy League championship:

1996–Picked first, finished first, 7-0 Ivy, 10-0 overall
1997–Picked third, finished second, 6-1, 8-2
1998–Picked sixth, finished tied for seventh, 1-6, 2-8
1999–Picked eighth, finished sixth, 2-5, 2-8
2000–Picked seventh, tied for sixth, 1-6, 2-8
2001–Picked seventh, finished tied for seventh, 1-6, 1-8
2002–Picked fifth, tied for sixth, 2-5, 3-7
2003–Picked fourth, tied for second, 4-3, 5-5
2004–Picked fifth, tied for seventh, 1-6, 1-9
2005–Picked seventh, finished seventh, 1-6, 2-8
2006–Picked seventh, finished tied for sixth, 2-5, 2-8
2007–Picked eighth, tied for fourth, 3-4, 3-7
2008–Picked seventh, finished eighth, 0-7, 0-10
2009–Picked eighth, finished?

OK, as long as we are on the subject of polls/rankings, etc., here's what Jeff Sagarin sees based on, well, good question. The Sagarin Ratings seem to become more accurate as the season goes, on, so caveat emptor:

1–USC
2–Florida
3–Oklahoma
4–Texas
5–Ohio State

...

90–New Hampshire
121–Harvard
137–Yale
153–Holy Cross
154–Penn
156–Colgate
161–Brown
173–Princeton
188–Cornell
209–Dartmouth
211–Columbia

The New Haven Register has five questions heading into Yale's first practice today. The first one is about replacing coach Jack Siedlecki with Tom Williams after last season. The paper asks: "A change for the better?"

A follow on yesterday's note that Dartmouth will not have one televised game this fall. I'd forgotten, but the Big Green had SIX games on TV last year via time Warner Sports, WMUR TV and Versus.

The Sentinel in New Jersey has a story about 6-foot-2, 190-pound East Brunswick linebacker/tight end Tim O'Sullivan, who his coach says is, "about as intense and reckless a player as you can imagine, especially on kickoffs." The story talks how he could get college credit for his AP classes, and says ...

"That is, if he doesn't decide to matriculate at Princeton, Columbia or Dartmouth, Ivy League schools that do not accept AP credit — which is a distinct possibility, O'Sullivan said.

"The Ivies don't offer athletic scholarships but can put together financial aid packages based on need (O'Sullivan has two other brothers currently in college)," he said. "If I have a choice, I would definitely like to go that route."

Green Alert Take: Can't have enough hard-nosed players from New Jersey and Pennsylvania on the roster.

Remember Nyk McKissic, the Rivals three-star Texas high school quarterback who announced in January for Dartmouth but did not end up on the final list of recruits? He's at Jackson State where you can find his bio here.

The Daily Dartmouth has a couple of follow stories on the imminent departure of Dean of the College Tom Crady and the appointment of Sylvia Spears, "who previously served as director of the Office of Pluralism and Leadership and acting senior associate dean," as the acting dean for two years. The latter story says:

The College will not begin the search to find a permanent replacement for Crady before spring or summer of 2010, Provost Barry Scherr told The Dartmouth on Tuesday.

Green Alert Take: First, I'm no administrator and I don't know the nuts and bolts of doing something like this, but yikes that seems like a long time before they even start a search. And second, I never met Tom Crady, but I've been told by several people who should know that he was a friend of athletics who will be missed.

Green Terps

A Baltimore Sun story about boosters raising money to help the Maryland football team fly (instead of bus) to games at Wake Forest and NC State this year includes a quote from Terps assistant Kevin Lempa, a member of the Dartmouth staff from 1991-96. Lempa recalled:

"When I was at Dartmouth, we would take a video bus. You can stretch out and watch a movie," he said.

But Lempa said coaches typically must be in their offices early Sunday morning grading players on game film from the day before.

A night game in North Carolina followed by a lengthy bus ride would get the coaches home hours past midnight. "That would not be good," Lempa said.

Find Lempa's Maryland bio here.

As a defensive assistant at Maryland, Lempa has a new coordinator to work under and he, too, is a former Dartmouth assistant. In his first year with the Terps is Don Brown, who coached under Joe Yukica in Hanover for the 1982 season as a graduate assistant, and again from 1984-86. Find Brown's Maryland bio here. Don Brown went to Maryland after a flirtation with Yale last winter. He had been the successful head coach at Massachusetts and Northeastern.

(One of the games the Terrapins will now fly to is Wake Forest, where head coach Jim Grobe has shown that not all successful coaches jump ship whenever they can. The ACC Insider has a story under the headline, "Old-fashioned values keep Wake winning … and Grobe at Wake.")

Three Ivy League games have been confirmed for the Versus TV Network this fall (link), none including Dartmouth. Slated for broadcast are Cornell at Yale on Sept. 26, Princeton at Brown on Oct. 17, and Harvard at Yale on Nov. 21. With a boost from the YES Network, Yale will have no fewer than eight of its 10 games broadcast this fall (link) with only the Georgetown and Dartmouth games not being available.

Four New Hampshire games will be carried on Comcast SportsNet New England, but again, not including Dartmouth. The Dartmouth-UNH game has been a regular feature on WMUR TV (the New Hampshire ABC affiliate) but neither Dartmouth nor UNH shows the game as being broadcast on the schedule.

Speaking of UNH, The Sports Network taps the Wildcats as the favorite to win the CAA North Division. Dave Coulson starts his prediction off this way:

One of the constants in FCS is that coach Sean McDonnell will have the Wildcats firing on offense. With quarterback R.J. Toman, the CAA preseason offensive player of the year, leading the high-octane attack, UNH will score points at a high rate.

The Colgate digital media guide has future schedules in it up through 2012. The schedule shows Dartmouth playing over in Hamilton in 2010 and back in Hanover in 2011 before the Big Green disappears from the schedule the following fall. Showing up on the 2012 Colgate schedule? A game at Yale.

Switching to baseball, a regular reader sent a link to the Indian Prospect Insider that has a nice piece on former Dartmouth southpaw Russell Young under the headline, Young Goes From Suspect To Prospect. The headline might be a bit of a stretch (the suspect part), but the story, which calls Young, "one of the biggest prospect surprises of the year," says:

In 13 starts since June 1st, Young is 5-2 with a 1.98 ERA. His strong play of late has vaulted him into the Carolina League’s top ten in a few categories, namely 6th in ERA (3.40) and 2nd in WHIP (1.18).

Young's page on the Kinston Indians roster can be found here. For a dated Dartmouth bio, click here.

Tired of all those college ranking websites and books? With that certain Hanover High athlete heading into her senior year, I can relate. For whatever reason, though, the one that seems to generate the most attention is usually the one produced by U.S. News & World Report. The latest rankings are out and Dartmouth has held steady at No. 11. (link) The Daily Dartmouth has a story. The Top 20:

1-T. Harvard, Princeton
3. Yale
4-T. Penn, Caltech, MIT, Stanford
8. Columbia, Chicago
10. Duke
11. Dartmouth
12-T. Northwestern, Washington U (St. Louis)
14. Johns Hopkins
15. Cornell
16. Brown
17-T. Emory, Rice, Vanderbilt
20. Notre Dame

... and 47. Penn State

The story in The Dartmouth notes that:

... (Dartmouth) tops a new category prioritizing a commitment to undergraduate education among national universities.

The top national liberal arts rankings can be found here. That certain Hanover High senior-to-be has visited six of the top 10, and will probably take a look at a seventh. Stay tuned.

Change 'Up Street'

The Dartmouth campus and alumni community are abuzz with the surprising news that Dean of the College Tom Crady is resigning after just 20 months on the job. The Daily Dartmouth has a story about Crady's abrupt resignation and another story explaining that Sylvia Spears, director of the Office of Pluralism and Leadership and acting senior associate Dean of the College will, "oversee the Dean of the College's Office for the next two years while its structure is reevaluated and a permanent dean is chosen ..."

Green Alert Take: It will be interesting to learn what the change "up street" means for athletics and the search for a new athletic director. When the last search was conducted, Dean of the College Jim Larimore was front and center throughout.

The Tennesseean had an interesting concept for a story out of Titans camp. While the frontline players should be set for life, it's certainly not so for those who have to scrap each year just to make the roster. How are they preparing for their post-football days? Not surprisingly, one of the players the story focuses on is tight end/fullback/special teamer Casey Cramer '04, who has had five years in the league but hasn't yet made mega-contract money. The story says: "Cramer is one of the rare types that might make more outside of football than while he's playing." But Cramer made it clear that's not what drives him. He told the writer:

"I've been blessed with an ability to impact kids' lives and I know I'm going to use this platform after football for that. I've enjoyed teaching boys what it really means to be young men because so many times, society and our culture — through media, music and movies — teaches them that the way to be a man is by athletic ability, sexual conquest and money.

"Really it's not about that. It's about relationships, how you are as a brother, how you will be as a father, how you will be as a husband. That's something I'm extremely passionate about.''

The Charleston Daily Mail in West Virginia has a story about a 6-foot-4, 178-pound receiver/safety/returner who could play two sports at a lower level or perhaps football at some level of Division I. From the story:

Ivy League schools Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton and Yale also are after Rollo, who has a 3.5 grade point average in honors classes and scored a 22 the first time he took the ACT.

Yale kicks off practice Friday. Find a brief story here. The story notes that practices will be in the afternoon through the end of the month and then from 7:30-9:15 a.m., from Sept. 1 through the end of the season.

Green Alert Take: Yikes. When Yale coach Tom Williams first talked about morning practices a lot of people who have been around Ivy League football expected him to back off and go with afternoon sessions after weighing the pros and cons. Guess not. As someone who goes to practice every day, I'd love morning sessions from a purely selfish perspective. No more missed dinners with the family and I could make it to all of my kids' athletic events. But for the players' sake, I'm sure glad Dartmouth won't be going a.m. practice. Unless, of course, the players wanted it.

Columbia football players recently did a shoot for GQ Magazine with ESPN's Erin Andrews. Find a story on the Columbia website and more (with pictures) at the Roar Lions Roar blog. Green Alert Take: The line between journalist and personality blurs even more.

The Daily D has another story about The Young Cons, the two Dartmouth basketball teammates (Josh Riddle '12 and David Rufful '12) whose rap video seeks to, "spread the love and logic surrounding true conservatism ..." Find their channel here.

And finally, back to football. If things don't work out at Cornell, coach Jim Knowles may have a future as a host with HGTV. Just kidding. But Knowles does a pretty good job in an 8-minute, 43-second video tour of the Cornell football facilities. It's a terrific recruiting piece for the Big Red and a reminder that each school has facilities that they can rightly take pride in.

Dean Of College Resigning After Just 20 Months

Daily Dartmouth update.

Tom Crady, dean of the college since January, 2008, is resigning. (link)

Sylvia Spears will serve as Acting Dean for two years.

Hall Eludes JJ

Dartmouth receivers coach Jarrail "JJ" Jackson narrowly missed being chosen for the inaugural arenafootball2 Hall of Fame. The former Oklahoma Sooner standout was one of six players among the 15 finalists for the honor. For a story about the four players who made it, click here.

Jackson was an All-Big 12 honoree as a wide receiver and punt return specialist for Oklahoma from 1996-99 and graduated as the holder of eight school records. He went to camp with the Buffalo Bills and then played six years in the af2. Jackson has been at Dartmouth since 2006, mentoring receivers and giving the Big Green an effective recruiting presence in Oklahoma, among other states.

Hard as it is to believe, Cornell players reported for preseason camp yesterday and will be on the field for their first official practice today at 3:30. (link) Dartmouth reports one week from today and opens practice a week from tomorrow. While it may seem strange that schools in the same league start at different times, the end result is the same: all Ivy League schools will have the same number of practices before the first game. Dartmouth's late start date is simply a result of the late start of classes and the freedom to schedule practices differently than most of the other Ivies.

The digital media guide revolution has picked up speed with Harvard and Colgate putting their guides on the web. Find Harvard's here and Colgate's here. In addition to conference guides from the Ivy League and Patriot League, Brown, Cornell, Harvard, Penn, Holy Cross and UNH have all put their guides on the web to date. A Colgate sports information story notes that like Dartmouth, it will print only football, men's and women's basketball, and men's and women's ice hockey this year. Athletic Director David Roach said:

“Having both printed and digital guides this season will make the transition to completely digital in 2010 a lot smoother. The elimination of all printed media guides will take place effectively in 2010."

What's wrong with this statement from Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez?

“If there was one rule to change in Division I college football, they would allow you to have a exhibition or preseason game against somebody else. There doesn’t have to be any crowd or fans there, just so you have an idea of what it’s like to go against somebody else so you can judge yourself a little better. ...

“We’re the only level (without,)” he said. “The NFL has four preseason games, and they’re pros, even on smaller college, when I was in Division II, you could have a scrimmage game. In high school, obviously you have them. In Division I, you can’t have them and it’s kind of silly."

Can't find the error (apart from a few grammatical problems)?

The Ivy League is Division I. And it does allow preseason games against outside competition. (Dartmouth plays Harvard on Sept. 11.)

Rodriguez, like so many others, makes a distinction between the former Division IA and IAA schools that doesn't exist. True, one is the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and one is the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) but both are Division I. (Um, you think the nomenclature isn't working, don't you?)

Wait a minute. I almost missed something.

Does this mean the Ivy League actually allows something in football that others don't? Stop the presses.

Rooting For Casey

Although a shoulder injury that has sidelined Casey Cramer '04 for more than a week isn't helping his chances of winning back a spot on the Tennessee Titans' roster, you can bet there are a lot of kids in the Nashville area who are rooting hard for the fifth-year NFL special teamer. Earlier this year he conducted a three-day camp for kids at The Refuge Center in Franklin, Tenn. A Titans Online story quotes Cramer:

"The Refuge at Cool Springs does exactly what I wish I had when I was a little kid. It pours into lives and souls at a young age and gives them the tools and the armor that we need to have to survive this world. Kids get exposed to so many things that are not good for them and for us to be able to pour into them and teach them ways to avoid those pitfalls that we've had is amazing."

The story says:

Cramer, along with several of his current and former Titans teammates spoke about character and faith, created skits that focused on bullying, making the right choices, taking care of your body and having good study habits.

Cramer, by the way, was honored by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Middle Tennessee with the Sydney F. Keeble, Jr. Distinguished Service Award. (link)

And as long as we're on the Casey Cramer beat this morning, Titansonline also has a Q&A with him talking personal finance. (link) The guess here, and it's just a guess, is that Casey finally replaced his 1999 Toyota Corolla with more than 100,000 miles. The fact that he didn't get a "Q" on it makes me suspicious because writes loved to ask him about it and teammates with luxury "rides" loved to tease him about it.

Put this name in the back of your head and remember it when Dartmouth plays at UNH: Sean Jellison. The Nashua Telegraph has a story about how this is the "year to shine," for the 5-foot-10, 210-pound holder of the state high school records for rushing yards in a career (5,890), career touchdowns (103) and TDs in a season (41). Find his UNH bio here. Jellison had 64 yards on eight carries against Dartmouth last year.

Jellison's younger brother Steven, listed at 6-3, 230, has been said in media reports to be a potential Dartmouth recruiting target.

I got a couple of emails about Lake Champlain after yesterday's blog went up. In case you are wondering, the lake stretches 108 miles from top to bottom (although it gets pretty skinny in places), it is 12 miles wide at its widest, and hits 300 feet at its deepest. There are folks who claim there is a monster named Champ in the lake. (Others think it's just a big eel.) If you want to look for Champ or just enjoy a couple of hours on the lake, the Champlain ferries site is here. It's an easy and very beautiful 90-minute drive from Hanover to Burlington.

And finally, high school practices begin today for those two certain Hanover High kids. As of this writing, the soph is at golf practice at Hanover Country Club. The senior? She's still away at camp as a counselor, running on her own. She'll join the team one week into practice when camp finishes. I don't know if the site will be updated this year, but there's a nice site for the powerhouse Hanover XC program. That certain senior is fourth from the right in the top row (with the medal around her neck).

Globe Story On Yale Twins

Nice story in the Boston Globe about the Abare twins, who played football together from third game right through Yale ... until this fall. Bobby has graduated and is now the linebackers coach at Wagner. Larry is back at Yale for a fifth year after losing most of the 2007 season to a knee injury. From the story:

The Abares experienced just one defeat at Acton-Boxborough Regional High - the first game of their freshman season - and never lost again, leading the Colonials to four Super Bowl titles.

Tough Day For NFL Hopefuls

A trip to Burlington, Vt., yesterday brought that certain Hanover High athlete a look at one of the "Public Ivies." The day included a morning tour of the school, lunch and a stroll on Burlington's fabulous Church Street, and a one-hour ferry ride across Lake Champlain to take advantage of the cool lake breezes (and gorgeous views) on a hot and humid day. Capping the day off was a New York-Penn League baseball game at UVM's Centennial Field that saw the home team rally for a win in the bottom of the ninth and the chance to bring home a souvenir!

Here's the return ferry with New York's Adirondack Mountains in the background. (Click photos to supersize.)
The Burlington waterfront with the UVM campus on the hill above (at the water tower). Is there anything more fun than coming away with a ball at a baseball game?

---

A Harvard quarterback trying to make an NFL team in New York City can be an almost irresistible story for a sportswriter so it's no surprise someone from Gannett wrote about Chris Pizzotti's chances with the New York Jets. Nice story but the timing might have been better.

Pizzotti was one of two Ivy Leaguers cut yesterday by the J-E-T-S Jets. Also let go was wide receiver Paul Raymond, a Brown graduate who the story had a "botched punt return," according to the story. From Jets Confidential about Pizzotti:

"I’m disappointed (that) I couldn’t get Harvard (Chris Pizzotti) in, but I’d rather win instead," (coach) Rex Ryan said after the St. Louis preseason game. "That’s the way it is."

Dartmouth grad Casey Cramer was an injury "scratch" for the Tennessee Titans preseason against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the team that originally drafted him. Missing time can't help the five-year NFL veteran's chances of sticking with the team.

If you are absolutely starving for Dartmouth football, there's a four-minute YouTube video of last year's game at Princeton shot into the sun with a shaky camera. Remember, I said you are absolutely starving for Dartmouth football ;-)

Senioritis

A nod to Jake Novak over at Roar Lions Roar Columbia football blog for digging up the number of seniors on each Ivy League football team heading into preseason:

T-1. Columbia 26
T-1. Princeton 26
3. Harvard 25
4. Brown 22
5. Yale 21
6. Penn 20
7. Cornell 19
8. Dartmouth 17

While coaches talk frequently about the importance of senior leadership and experience (and members of the media regurgitate those sentiments) there have been very good teams with fewer seniors on them and very bad teams with more seniors on them. Dartmouth fans will have to be rooting for the former this season.

Ivy League schools are finding new and inventive ways to try to drum up attendance and Harvard is no different. It is offering youth football teams the opportunity to sell tickets and receive half of the ticket sales back to support their program. From a Harvard flyer:

"For instance, your team sells 50 football tickets ($15/each) to your fans, family and friends, you will receive half the ticket sales back in cash. That's a total of $375 for your team!

"Teams that sell 50 tickets will be recognized on the Harvard Stadium videoboard. Teams that sell 100 tickets will be escorted to watch team warm ups on the field prior to kickoff."

Seems like a good deal for the teams and the school. Oh yeah, and all kids 12 and under get in free to any home game. It will be interesting to see how Harvard attendance fares this fall.

I'd scanned this Associated Press story but didn't really read it down until someone sent along a link with this addendum: "This is supposed to be a DI program!" Here's how the story starts:

In a twist on Little League moms lining up after-game treats, New Mexico State's budget-conscious football staff distributed an e-mail this week asking fans to donate after-practice or late-night snacks for hungry players.

Repeat after me: NFL preseason games are actually exhibitions. Of course, the NFL doesn't want you to think that way because you won't be buying tickets and the TV ratings will go down if you do. The NFL refers to these are preseason games, but when starting quarterbacks play one or two series, they are exhibitions, plain and simple. Now even the media are playing along with the league. The AP story on last night's New York Jets exhibition game against the St. Louis Rams said rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez completed a 48-yard touchdown pass, "on his first NFL play Friday night." First NFL play? I could be wrong but I don't think that pass is going to count when Sanchez' numbers are tallied up at the end of his career.

This is just so bizarre. A few colleges are now putting helmet cams on their quarterbacks. I'm not making this up. Find a USA Today story here. Here's the thinking:

"We're just trying to see through the eyes of the quarterback and help them make decisions faster," new offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich says. "You can get a good idea of where their eyes are at any time. It's a first-person account of exactly what they're doing. It's a way to reinforce what they are doing or what we'd like them to do."