Athletes and Admissions

The headline for the in-depth Associated Press story doesn't offer much of a surprise. It reads, Admissions Exemptions Aide Athletes.

The surprises come in the body of the story where some of the numbers are staggering.

From the story:

At California, one of the country's most selective public universities, Golden Bear football players were 43 times more likely to gain special admissions than non-athletes from 2002-04.

And this ...

The review identified at least 27 schools where athletes were at least 10 times more likely to benefit from special admission programs than students in the general population.

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According to the Star Bulletin, a defensive back from Hawaii named Chaz Bajet is "exploring Brown, Dartmouth and San Diego as destinations."

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Ever since he took a football "internship," at the University of Nebraska eight months ago, former chief executive of TD Ameritrade Joe Moglia has been the subject of periodic stories about his Quixotic quest to become a Division I head football coach at age 60. Now it's Forbes.com's turn to write about Moglia, whose last position in football was as Dartmouth defensive coordinator in the early 1980s.

Not surprisingly, Forbes does a terrific job with the story. Moglia told Forbes:

"A head coach is the CEO of his program. You have to have a vision and strategy, and be a great evaluator of talent, and be able to mold a staff and players, and be a great ambassador and handle yourself under pressure. I can do all those things in my sleep. And I've coached before! I know football!"

From the story:

Terry Holland, the athletic director at East Carolina U., calls Moglia "an impressive leader" who has all the skills needed to be a head coach but who lacks recent experience on the field and in recruiting. "I couldn't hire him," Holland says. "I wish I could think of some way for Joe to get enough experience in a short period of time."

More from the story:

A lower-tier Division I conference team, perhaps something like his former home in the Ivy League, is a plausible employer. (Nebraska icon Tom) Osborne has already begun making calls on his behalf. "I realize it's going to require someone to take a leap of faith," Moglia says.

The Sports Network site keeps track of Division I coaching openings. This listing shows just seven schools looking for coaches (although it hasn't been updated to include Cornell). Would either Cornell or Bucknell, which is also looking, benefit from taking a chance on Moglia?

Tom Olivadotti, the former defensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants and someone who tried to hire Moglia in the 1980s, seems to think they might. He told Forbes:

"You could not ask for a better head coach. But it's going to take courage for someone to hire him."

Green Alert Take: It will be interesting to see if either school gives Moglia an interview. You simply never know what will come of it when you give someone a chance. ... I was working at Dartmouth when Moglia was on the staff and right about that time I was on an interview committee for a head coaching position. After we had finished the interviews, we were asked to convene one additional day to meet informally with someone who had never coached in college before. He wasn't thought to be a serious candidate and the interview was a favor of sorts. After 45 minutes or so we walked out of that interview unanimous in the opinion that we had just discovered the new coach. Turns out we had, and if you ask just about anyone who has been around Hanover since then they'll tell you this fellow might well be the best coach they ever met.

Happy New Year!

Bash and Bush

The things you don't find out until it's too late ...

From the favorite local sports memories of a San Diego-area blogger (link):

In football, Helix outscoring Ramona in a playoff game with future Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush and Dartmouth's Jason Bash trading long touchdown runs.

With the record he has compiled over the past decade or so Colgate coach Dick Biddle's name has surfaced periodically with regard to other jobs. Recognizing a good thing when it has one, Colgate has signed its coach to a three-year extension. From the Observer-Dispatch:

Biddle, 62, is a four-time Patriot League Coach of the Year and was the Division I-AA National Coach of the Year in 2003, when the Raiders went 15-1 and reached the NCAA Division I-AA final. The Raiders have won six league titles and played in six NCAA playoffs during his tenure, and the last 10 years they are 67-18 against Patriot League teams and 34-8 against Ivy League opponents. This year’s team finished 9-2 and ranked 21st in The Sports Network Poll and 20th in the Football Championship Subdivision Coaches poll.

While others put their efforts into the West Coast offense, the spread or whatever attack is the lates and the greatest, here's Biddle's time-tested philosophy in his own words:

“The basic concept has not changed about what we think you need to do to win, and our players have bought into it. You’ve got to run the ball and stop the run, and avoid losing the game and try to win the game in the fourth quarter."

Today's obligatory non-football note, with a nod toward another blogger equally amazed at the numbers: Penn may have won the Ivy League football title, but it's hardly a banner year on the hardwood in West Philly. Hard as it is to believe, the once-mighty Quakers are 0-8 in men's basketball (and headed for 0-9 with a game tomorrow at Duke) while the Penn women are 0-9. That's a combined 0-17.

Got down to 4.5 below zero last night. Winter has arrived.

Four Stars to Harvard

Why would a four-star tight end Blake Barker forgo offers from Florida and Tennessee and back off a Stanford commitment to go to Harvard. An ESPN.com story tries to answer the question in a story that includes this:

Some can't figure out why he wants to perform in front of several thousand fans against Yale or Dartmouth instead of 100,000 against USC or UCLA.

Also, the local paper has a story about Dartmouth's 45-year-old freshman and no, he's not a football player ;-)

Prospects?

The good news is that the Internet up here on the mountain is working. The bad news is that it can take several minutes to load a single page, which makes stopping by my usual surfing spots t-e-d-i-o-u-s. So I'm punting.

To make it up for you, I'm going to take you behind the curtain and point you toward two of the more comprehensive lists of Dartmouth recruiting targets.

For the Scout.com listing, click here.

For the ESPN.com listing, click here.

Neither site is updated regularly and curiously they include just one of the dozen or so recruits who has committed and been admitted (California receiver Trevor Niemann).

That said, all of these high school seniors have been identified by someone, somewhere as being involved in some way with Dartmouth.

For those who asked, that certain Hanover High senior had an OK 1500 yesterday, but it confirmed that the longer the race, the longer it will take to recover from the health issue she had in the fall. For the second time in as many weeks, she missed qualifying for states by about one second. (Last week it was in the 1000). She's out right now taking a one-hour run in brutally windy, six-degree temperature as she takes aim at Saturday's meet, when she will run the 600 for the first time ever.

More to Come

The headline in yesterday's Boston Globe:

Playing the field
Non-baseball events: Fenway has just about touched ’em all

From the story:

Frank Leahy’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish beat Dartmouth, 64-0, before a crowd of 38,167 at Fenway in 1944.

Times have changed, huh?

We're on the way back from Christmas in Massachusetts for that certain Hanover High School senior's track meet. A day with lots of Christmas goodies, a late night and a lengthy early drive back probably isn't the formula for a memorable run, but we'll see. Check in later today for a real blog.

A History Lesson

Zipping off to Massachusetts this a.m. for Christmas with that certain wife's side of the family, so no time for blogging this morning. If you are desperate for your Dartmouth football fix today, check out this Dartmouth football page on Wikipedia. The first paragraph includes this:

The team possesses a storied tradition that includes a national championship, seventeen Ivy League championships, and eleven College Football Hall of Fame inductees.

The page includes a list of Dartmouth's conference championships dating back to 1888 and the Triangular Football League. Even this year's results are posted.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll be back at you tomorrow after we get up a O-dark-30 to zip back for the track meet that was postponed because of the storm that we never got on Saturday ;-)

The Day After

We awoke Christmas morning to find our trees and bushes covered with little daggers of snow-ice, some almost a half-inch long. Very unusual.

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FootballScoop.com mentioned earlier this week that Dartmouth assistants Mike Hodgson and Cedric Calhoun "will not return," and also has a note about Cornell head coach Jim Knowles leaving for Duke.

The 2009 All-America team chosen by The Sports Network includes the following players Dartmouth saw this fall:

Second team
OT – James Williams, Harvard
TE – Scott Sicko, UNH
SS – Terrence Klein, UNH

Third team
Kick Returner – Buddy Farnham, Brown
QB – Dominic Randolph, Holy Cross
S – Anthony DiMichele, Holy Cross

The Young Cons, the two Dartmouth basketball players with the conservative rap act, are featured in a story in the Detroit Free Press and another in The Canadian Press.

In case you are curious, here is the "Young Cons" web site.

Christmas Day

Comings and Goings in the Ivy League

One Ivy League head coaching search ends just as another begins.

Named head coach at Princeton yesterday was Princeton alum and longtime NFL assistant Bob Surace. Interesting quote from athletic director Gary Walters in the Trentonian:

"We are thrilled that Bob Surace will be our new head coach. He has experience as a player here at Princeton, as well as in the NFL and as a college head coach. He is also a product of and a believer in the Princeton concept of education through athletics.’’

Read that last part again and I'll italicize if for you: "... a believer in the Princeton concept of education through athletics."

The Trenton Times story about the hiring is under the headline, "Princeton Reads Back to Move Forward." Princeton's official release is here and there's a story on TigerBlog.

A little farther north Cornell coach Jim Knowles stunned many by announcing his decision to leave Ithaca and become defensive coordinator at Duke just two weeks after getting a vote of confidence from his athletic director. A few outtakes from the Ithaca Journal story:

"It boiled down to finances, job security and the opportunity to work with what I think is a great coach and an unbelievable staff," Knowles said. "Duke's a great university, but it still took a lot of deliberation."

and ....

According to Knowles, his departure is amicable, and athletic director Andy Noel supported his decision

"(Noel) wanted me to stay," Knowles said. "He supported me 100 percent, and also supported me as a person, but this is a wonderful opportunity for me and my family.

The New Britain Herald has a piece about the outstanding football players in its coverage area and one is lineman Martin Pomykala, slated to play on the defensive side of the ball at Dartmouth. From the story:

Few high school football players can say they were four-year starters but All-State tackle/defensive lineman Martin Pomykala was a warrior from the start. Offensive linemen do not accumulate statistics. Even his role on defense was not to make tackles but to control the line of scrimmage so linebackers could make the plays. He ended his career with three All-CCC certificates and was twice named to the All-Herald first team. His work in the classroom was equally stellar, and the reward is that he’ll further his education and football career at Dartmouth.

And finally, that certain Hanover High senior had a track meet scheduled for Saturday so we delayed a trip to visit the grandparents until Sunday, booked a motel for Sunday night and planned to return late Monday. All well-and-good until an email arrived yesterday with news that the 15-team track meet had been abruptlyrescheduled for Monday. Suddenly my decision to get the room through Hotwire – which does not allow refunds – doesn't look all that smart.

Cornell's Knowles Steps Down

Official news is on the Ithaca Journal website.

Princeton Stays in the Family With New Coach

Princeton has named Bob Surace, a 1990 graduate of the school and an assistant coach of the Cincinnati Bengals for the past nine years as head coach. The Princeton news release is here.

From FootballScoop.com:

FootballScoop has learned that Cornell University head coach Jim Knowles will be heading to Duke as co-defensive coordinator. Knowles coached at Ole Miss with Duke head coach David Cutcliffe in 2003.

No confirmation on that yet, but FootballScoop is usually pretty reliable. If this is true it's a surprise because on Dec. 9 the Ithaca Journal reported that Cornell AD Andy Noel was standing "firmly behind Knowles."

More as it develops.

Two Assistants To Move On

Word leaked out yesterday and the news hit the local paper this morning that Dartmouth assistant coaches Mike Hodgson and Cedric Calhoun will not return.

Hodgson came to Hanover with head coach Buddy Teevens in 2005 as tight ends coach and one year later was named offensive coordinator. He coached the tight ends last fall. Calhoun, who was in his fourth year on the staff, worked with the outside linebackers last fall after three seasons coaching the defensive line.

Although Dartmouth is in the midst of a severe budget crunch that will have an impact on the athletic department the news brief this morning confirmed that neither coaching position is being eliminated or consolidated.

Tight end/defensive end John Daniels of Masconomet High School in Massachusetts will be playing football at Dartmouth next year according to The Salem News. The 6-foot-4, 205-pound Daniels was a high school teammate of current freshman Teddy Reed. Daniels is a forward on the Masco basketball court and competes in the triple jump, high jump and 110 hurdles in the spring. For a photo of Daniels in the triple jump, click here. Daniels' father Bruce graduated from Dartmouth in the Class of 1980.

Still Another Name

Another day, another email with a potential recruiting target. Thanks.

This one is Keith McBride, a 6-foot, 205-pound tailback from Memphis University School. For McBride's list of schools, click here and then click through on the "show all" link. This fall McBride ran for 141 yards and two touchdowns to help MUS to its second state title in a row (and 26th consecutive win). ESPN.com has an interesting evaluation but does not include Dartmouth among the schools he is "considering."

Memphis University School, by the way, sent basketball standout Jim Barton to Dartmouth in the 1980s. Barton is the second all-time leading scorer in Ivy League history behind only Bill Bradley.

The final FCS poll numbers have been compiled on CSN and four of Dartmouth's 10 opponents this fall are consensus top-25 teams.

The Any Given Saturday Poll:

7. UNH
14. Holy Cross
21. Penn
22. Colgate

The Sports Network Poll:

7. UNH
14. Holy Cross
20. Penn
21. Colgate

The FCS Coaches Poll:

7. UNH
14. Holy Cross
20. Colgate
23. Penn

It is interesting that for as consistent as the polls are otherwise, Penn drops to 23rd in the Coaches Poll. Without doing a survey of the voters I can't confirm this, but in the past I was told (by a coach not affiliated with Dartmouth) that Ivy League teams face an uphill battle in the Coaches poll. This person said coaches see no benefit in having a team from a conference that that does not go to the playoffs finishing high in the national rankings.

And finally, while our local paper didn't have the sports editor's columns about dealing with Dartmouth's budget crisis online last week, Dartmouthblog has reproduced them in their entirety along with an analysis.

More Recruiting Background

A little more background has trickled in on early decision H-back/tight end Charles Bakes of Hotchkiss School in Connecticut. Here's what originally appeared on Big Green Alert:

H-back Charles Bakes, 6-2, 240, Hotchkiss School, Conn.
An H-back/tight end who helped Hotchkiss to a 7-1 regular-season record before a 20-14 overtime loss to Exeter in the New England Class A Championship game. ... Like a good number of others in the early class, he attended football camp at Dartmouth. ... Fifth in the New England prep championships in the discus last spring. ... Coach Teevens: “He would remind you of (freshman) Justin Foley. He’s a similar size. He’s a productive blocker and a capable receiver. Physically he’s a little further ahead than some guys his age. Hopefully he’s a guy who contribute early as an H-back.”

This is from his high school coach:

'Dean' Bakes was a key player for the Hotchkiss School team this past season, helping them to a second consecutive Erickson League title. A two-year letterman, Bakes started at TE for the Bearcats this fall and caught 22 passes for 211 yards and three TD. He also added 14 tackles from his spot on the defensive line.

Joe Dowdell is a Dartmouth-bound receiver from Bishop Kelly HS in Oklahoma. Here's what appeared on Big Green Alert about him:

Wide receiver Joseph Dowdell, 6-3, 190, Bishop Kelley HS, Okla.
Helped Comets win their first 11 games before the dropped a 34-31 double-overtime heartbreaker in the Class 5A state quarterfinals. ... Caught 53 passes for 885 yards and 12 touchdowns this fall, averaging 16.7 yards per catch. ... Had 106 catches in his final two years. ...Returned 15 punts for 10.8 yards per attempt this year. ... Had nine catches in one game to break a school record set by his father John in 1972 and tied by brother Jack a year ago. ... Father John played wide receiver at Wake Forest and brother Jack was on the roster at wide receiver at Kansas. Coach Teevens: “We learned about him a while ago. He has good speed and is a good deep-ball catcher. He has good hands and is a disciplined route runner. He’s one of the top guys in the area.”

Dowdell's commitment has been reported in Tulsa World, which writes:
Another area high school football standout announced his commitment to the Ivy League as

Bishop Kelley wideout Joe Dowdell selected Dartmouth as his college choice.
Dowdell, who holds Kelley's season and career receiving records, chose Dartmouth over Princeton. He also was being recruited by SMU, Richmond and Northwestern.
Dowdell had 53 receptions for 885 yards and 14 touchdowns this year to help the Comets post an 11-1 record.

Nice to see that, although they came from different sources, the numbers – except for touchdowns – match up. That's not always the case ;-)

A name to keep an eye on is Evan Bach, a running back/wide receiver from Canal Fulton Northwest in Ohio. Thanks to a regular reader for sharing this link saying the 5-foot-10, 180-pounder with "reported" 4.5 speed has an offer from Dartmouth. According to another link, Bach ...

Moved to running back from receiver as a junior and rushed for 1,961 yards on 215 carries and 24 touchdowns. Also had 20 catches for 259 yards and one touchdown. Tallied 41 tackles and an interception on defense.

Dartmouth to the Big 10? A columnist from the Toledo Blade thinks that's what the conference – an academic conference, by the way – would like. Sort of. He writes:

... (I)n their heart of hearts, the Big Ten presidents appear to want Dartmouth, only with a 100,000 seat stadium and a new major TV market. The Big Ten coaches probably want Eastern Michigan, only with a 100,000 seat stadium and a new major TV market.

Whispers on the street – and I have no way of knowing if these are accurate – suggest that the search for a permanent athletic director will heat up with the start of the new year. A column in the Arizona Daily Star about the search for a new AD at the University of Arizona would be helpful reading for Dartmouth search committee members. Among other things, the column suggests the Arizona president speak with "the most prominent athletic directors of the (Arizona) Pac-10 years: (Former Washington AD Mike) Lude, Arizona's Cedric Dempsey and Stanford's Ted Leland."

Dartmouth may want to consider doing the same thing.

Leland, you may remember, served as athletic director at Dartmouth from 1983-89 before moving on to Pacific and eventually landing at Stanford, where he spent 14 years running what many consider the best athletic department in America. Click here for a story wrapping up his Stanford career when he stepped down to become vice president for university advancement at his alma mater, the University of the Pacific. The announcement of his move to Pacific included this:

Dr. Leland is one of the nation's most respected athletic directors. In 2000, NACDA named him its Athletic Director of the Year. He has also won the 2004 Dick Enberg Award, presented by COSIDA for supporting the ideal of the student-athlete, and he has been named one of the "10 most influential persons in college athletics" by Sports Business Journal.

Leland's consulting work has been in the news periodically over the years. Here's a link to his work with Kansas in 2001. Here's a link is to his work at UC Merced last spring. Leland has been with Alden & Associates (Leland bio), a Hadley, Mass., concern with a lengthy list of clients.

Two More Names To Watch

Two more recruiting targets have surfaced according to news reports.

Pittsburgh Live says Shane Rugg, a 6-foot-2, 270-pound tackle who plays for Bishop McCort High School, " is being recruited by Dartmouth, Cornell and Penn." McCort was all-state as a junior and his blood lines are good. His father was a starter at the University of Maryland.

The Elmira Star-Gazette says Taylor Engstrom, a 6-1, 220 linebacker from the Ithaca Little Red, "will play at either Cornell or Dartmouth next year." The paper describes Engstrom as a "tough middle linebacker with outstanding speed and great instincts," and says he didn't miss a game after suffering separated shoulder early in the season.

The sports editor of our local newspaper has written a two-part column on the budget crisis at Dartmouth, suggesting ways to deal with the $100 million in cuts that President Jim Yong Kim has said are coming over the next two years. Unfortunately, those columns are not online.

In Saturday's first part, he suggested the possibility of the college calling on donors to step forward and erase the first $50 million. He wrote, "Without the generosity of its donors, without the love of its alumni, there would be no Dartmouth. And now, more than ever, that love and that generosity are needed."

In Sunday's second part, he suggested there may be only two alternatives: drop varsity sports or turn a good number of them into self-funded varsities, a la the Dartmouth swimming programs. For an in-depth look at how Dartmouth swimming did that, click here.

And finally, that certain Hanover High senior didn't quite hit the time she'd hoped in her first track race since her cross country season was lost to illness, but she still won the 1,000 meters yesterday at Leverone Field House in a 15-school race featuring teams from as far as two hours away and finished with a smile on her face.

Tanner Scott: National Academic All-Star

Dartmouth junior receiver Tanner Scott is one of 55 players named to the Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Directors Association Academic All-Star Team announced at the Football Championship Subdivision champion game between Villanova and Montana. Find the full team here. Dartmouth and Yale were the only Ivy League schools to have players named to the squad.

Scott led Dartmouth with 45 catches for 510 yards with three touchdowns. He was the only Dartmouth receiver to top 100 yards in a game this fall, and he accomplished the trick against two of the best teams the Big Green played – Holy Cross and Harvard. Find his bio here.

Florida high school linebacker Mike Mirabella has scheduled a recruiting visit to Dartmouth next month according to TampaBay.com. The 6-foot, 205-pound Plant High School senior had 130 tackles, 11 sacks, three fumble recoveries, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and a blocked punt heading into the Class 5A state championship game last night. Find video highlights of Mirabella here.

Back to Villanova's 23-21 win over Montana for the national championship ... there's a game story in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Two thoughts ...

One: If the Dartmouth coaches were watching versatile Villanova wide receiver Matt Szczur it might have given them a few ideas about how to use personnel next fall. I know it gave me a few ideas.

Two: Think about Penn's 14-3 loss to Villanova in the Quakers' opener. Penn allowed just one touchdown from scrimmage after Szczur's 87-yard kickoff return for a TD. The Quakers had 14 first downs to Nova's 13 and outgained the Wildcats, 239-187. Too bad the Quakers never had a chance to show just how good they were by appearing in the playoffs. Shame on the Ivy League presidents.

There has been much written about the heckling incident at the Dartmouth-Harvard squash match, much of it by commentators and bloggers around the country. The official Dartmouth website has an apology from the Big Green soccer captain here. And now let's be done with that.

Away from the world of sports, a regular reader shared a link to a remarkable New York Times story about a quadruplets being accepted at Yale. I'm sure there will be substantial financial aid but how would you like to have to pay that college bill?

And finally, the first indoor track meet of the season is on tap at noon today. Keep your fingers crossed that a certain Hanover High senior will find out she's all the way back from the blood disorder that sabotaged her cross country season. She's running the 1,000 and a leg on the 4x400 relay.

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 ...

State of Recruiting

Dartmouth's list of early decision recruits (as well as ED admits who have expressed some interest in playing football) includes three names from Massachusetts, two each from California, New Jersey and Connecticut, and one each from Oklahoma, New York, Tennessee, D.C., and New Hampshire. Conspicuously absent is anyone from a usually fertile Dartmouth recruiting ground: Texas. It would be a surprise if that doesn't change. One possible candidate according to Scout.com is Marcel Threat, a running back from Lamar Consolidated in Texas. Threat had this to say according to the recruiting service: "Right now I have been talking to Dartmouth and Penn for the Ivy League schools, but I've also heard from Baylor, Iowa State, Colorado State.” Threat apparently is one after rushing for 1,746 yards on 280 carries last fall. The 175-pound back averaged 6.24 yards per carry with 16 touchdowns while begin recognized as the district's MVP according to the Fort Bend Herald. There are six finalists to be the new CEO of the United States Olympic Committee and former Dartmouth assistant Joe Moglia is one of four with strong Upper Valley ties. The group of six also includes:

• Sandy Alderson '69 – former GGM and president of the Oakland Athletics, CEO of the San Diego Padres and Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations in the commissioner's office.
• Scott Blackmun '79 – former USOC general counsel and its acting CEO in 2000-01.
• Chuck Wielgus – CEO of USA swimming, popular onetime recreation director in nearby Woodstock, Vt., and former husband of Dartmouth women's basketball coach Chris Wielgus.
• Joe Moglia – Chairman and former CEO of TD Ameritrade who was Dartmouth defensive coordinator in the early 1980s.

Moglia has returned to football and spent this year as a consultant at Nebraska. He put his name in at Yale last year for the head coaching position, and it would be a surprise if he weren't at least looking into the Princeton position. A writer for Universal Sports doesn't think much of his qualifications for the USOC slot. Speaking of coaching changes, The Sports Network has updated its list of openings and hirings here. Princeton is one of 10 jobs still open at the DI level according to TSN's chart. The Associated Press FCS All-America team is out. Ivy Leaguers and players Dartmouth faced this year: Second Team Offense Buddy Farnham, Brown wide receiver James Williams, Harvard offensive lineman Dominic Randolph, Holy Cross quarterback Third Team Offense John Sheffield, Yale tight end Third Team Defense Jake Lewko, Penn linebacker The ECAC also named its FCS All-Stars yesterday. Here are Dartmouth opponents who were honored: Player of the Year Dominic Randolph, Holy Cross quarterback Offense Dominic Randolph, Holy Cross quarterback Buddy Farnham, Brown wide receiver Mark Callahan, Brown offensive lineman Paul Jasinowski, Brown offensive lineman John Sheffield, Yale tight end Chris Poole, Holy Cross offensive lineman Defense Chris Costello, Cornell linebacker Collin Zych, Harvard defensive back Jonathan Moore, Penn defensive back Michael Wright, Holy Cross defensive back Special Teams Buddy Farnham, Brown wide receiver Saw Blind Side last night and thought it was terrific. I read the book about a month ago and still enjoyed the flick. Sandra Bullock nailed her role. Next up: Invictus. Oh, and the temperature here on the mountain this morning? A brisk 3.5 below zero ;-)

A Few More Names

From an Austin American Statesman story about a linebacker at Lake Travis High School named Ian Lazarus:

Next year, Lazarus hopes to be playing football and studying business at an Ivy League school. But before he starts picking between Harvard, Dartmouth and Cornell, he is going to have to worry about picking apart a talented Longview rushing attack.

Lazarus has a whopping 132 tackles, three sacks and two interceptions this year. He's been a starter in every game of Lake Travis' 45-game winning streak, the fourth-longest in Texas schoolboy history.

All set for Dartmouth as noted in the Boston Herald are linebacker Will Connolly and defensive end Max Kingsley of St. Sebastian's school. A little more background on the two from Big Green Alert:

Long-snapper/linebacker William Connolly, 6-1, 230, St. Sebastian’s School
Following in footsteps of his father Bill ‘84, a center-long snapper at Dartmouth. ... Team captain who started on both sides of the line. ... Selected to the All-Independent School League team after helping St. Sebastian’s to a 6-2 record. ... One of three teammates headed to Hanover next fall. ... Did not have even one missed snap in his high school career with the Arrows.

Defensive end Max Kingsley, 6-5, 225, St. Sebastian’s
Like twin brother Ned, attended attended Dartmouth football camp. ... Team captain and four-year varsity player. ... Athleticism on display as a lacrosse player.

Ned Kingsley, a 6-5, 210 tight end will also attend Dartmouth.

A rambling Tuesday Morning Quarterback column by Gregg Easterbrook on the ESPN Page 2 site includes these thoughts that should appeal to Ivy League football advocates:

A college can field winning football teams and still have strict academic standards for players; in turn, because the overwhelming majority of players (even at football-factory schools) will never advance to the NFL, they must go to class! Why does the sports universe shy away from discussing these core points?

And ...

It is simply not true that colleges where football players study hard and go to class can't have winning seasons.

Rethinking Those Online Recruiting Lists

One of the most prominent and freely available online recruiting services features the names of 25 high school seniors who are identified as possible Dartmouth recruiting targets. Another prominent service that you can pull up on your trusty laptop associates 21 names with Dartmouth.

While there is some crossover among the names, just one of the names published by those two services actually showed up on Dartmouth's early decision list.

Now, I'm sure there are some high school seniors whose names appear on the two lists who are still considering Dartmouth. Worth noting, however, is that there are a dozen or so others who have now formally committed to Dartmouth who were never even mentioned.

The Walter Camp Football Foundation 2009 Football Championship Subdivision All-America team has been named and there isn't a single player Dartmouth faced this fall who is on the team.

Perhaps I'm just forgetting, but I can't recall an Ivy League school firing a coach in a high-profile sport at midseason in the past 20 years. But that's exactly what Penn did yesterday when it let men's basketball coach Glen Miller go midway through his fourth year.

The once-proud Quakers were 0-7 this winter and 23-43 over the past three seasons. Athletic Director Steve Bilsky tried to emphasize that Penn's record was only a part of the reason why he made the move now. From the Daily Pennsylvanian transcript of Bilsky's press conference remarks:

This is not really about wins and losses. This is really about – I think of Penn basketball as more than just a sport that plays games to win and lose. I really believe that in our case it's a community-building activity. There's so many people who care about the sport, it generates enthusiasm on campus, good feelings. In a way, it's an ambassadorship of the school to the world, both alumni and not. It was really that lack of what Penn represents in addition to the wins and losses that disappointed me, that led me to the conclusion to do this.

I used the word "wow," in responding to the first email I got yesterday with the news of Miller's firing. Interestingly, I got a handful of emails from others who used the exact same word. It was not about the fact that Miller was let go, but the timing of his dismissal which seems so, well, un-Ivy like. From the Philadelphia Daily News:

Bilsky understands that the wider world will see this move and wonder how an Ivy League school is letting a coach go in midseason.

"I was concerned (about that)," Bilsky said. "I think there was a consensus of the higher-ups here at the university that I had to do what I had to do . . . The question was raised: Is this the right thing for an Ivy League institution to do?"

Good question.

Of Football, the CAA and the Ivy League

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NOTE: The comments section of the blog is opening up again and I'm particularly interested, in these challenging economic times, to hear your take on the quote from the Northeastern football coach. (Please remember that comments are moderated.)

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With Northeastern and Hofstra pulling the plug on their football programs, Maine's Portland Press Herald has a story about the challenges faced by the New England schools that play in the Colonial Athletic Association. There's a lot of interesting stuff in the story including this quote from Rocky Hager, the Northeastern coach:

"To place a dollar and cents value upon the game of football, I personally don't think that's the way it should be looked at. There is a value placed upon being involved with a team, being able to pick yourself up, dust yourself off after defeat and be humble with success. Take a look at the Ivy League. Tell me those folks make money? Heavens no. I doubt there's a single one who'd consider not having the game of football.

"This is America. And in the fall, not to belittle any other sport, that is what people come back to campus for. There's so much more to it."

A couple of other thoughts from the Press Herald story, which points out that the CAA's only teams north of Philadelphia are from Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island:

Last spring, Maine cut men's soccer and volleyball to make up for an $871,000 department shortfall, part of an $8.8 million deficit at the school.

That decision was painful, said (Maine Athletic Director Blake) James, but he doesn't foresee anything so drastic on the way.

Football at UMaine costs approximately $3 million a year. The team also brings in about $1 million by playing a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent annually for a large guarantee. Maine football also has some well-known private donors.

He cited football's value going well beyond its financial burden, noting the diversity of the athletes, the alumni support it rallies and the impact on the community.

UNH Athletic Director Marty Scarano:

"I don't fear for UNH, frankly, but the four of us, from my perspective? Our situation is that we all need to kind of hold hands and create value around Northeast football."

The Columbia Spectator has a column about whether there's a chance the Lions would ever join with Hofstra and Northeastern and drop football. The author of the piece doesn't think so because the program ...

... is not hemorrhaging money like programs at some other schools.

And because ...

... the school needs to keep up with the rest of the Ivy League. It would be a terrible decision for the University as a whole to discontinue football because that would give an edge to every other Ivy school in terms of recruiting students. A lack of a football team could also drive current and/or potential donors away, which actually hurts present and future students.

And finally, because...

While these two reasons might be the main ones for why I believe Columbia football isn’t going anywhere, it doesn’t hurt that there’s hope for the future. Of course, a 4-6 record wasn’t what the team or its fans envisioned at the start of the season, but three Ivy wins and a strong corps of returning talent bodes well for next year.

While some schools are dropping football, for-profit Post University is adding SPRINT football as this story from Inside Higher Ed notes. From the story:

Post University, which was purchased by a private equity firm and became a commercially operated institution in 2004, will join the Collegiate Sprint Football League, a tradition-rich athletic association whose members include three Ivy League universities and two military service academies.

In October this blog had a note about Dartmouth alum Emily Daly '09 trying to raise money for an Olympic bid as a hammer thrower. Daly's quest was the subject of a story in the Metrowest Daily News. For Daly's web page and sponsorship information, click here.

Speaking of Dartmouth athletes from other sports, Baseball Prospectus has a revealing Q&A with Jim Beattie, the former Dartmouth baseball and basketball star who went on to pitch in the big leagues for nine years and later served as general manager of the Montreal Expos as well as assistant GM of the Baltimore Orioles. Beattie was a very interesting candidate for the Dartmouth athletic director the last time it opened up. Thanks to a regular reader for the link.

Spotting a Sponger. Huh?

With the early decision recruiting class set, attention turns to the regular-decision group. According to the St. Petersburg Times, one potential member of that class is a 6-foot-4, 275-pound offensive lineman from Tarpon Springs, Fla., named Clay Paino. From the report:

According to (Tarpon Springs coach George) Kotis, both Brown and Dartmouth have saved Paino a slot. In the Ivy Leagues, schools don’t offer athletic scholarships, but this essentially is the equivalent of getting one.

To watch clips of Paino via YouTube, click here.

Tarpon Springs, by the way, is nicknamed the Spongers. Can't say as I remember hearing of another school with that nickname ;-)

Following a few links while digging up yesterday's note about Holy Cross coach Tom Gilmore being one of the five finalists for the FCS Coach of the Year Award turned up a Q&A with Colgate coach Dick Biddle, the 2003 winner of the award. (An aside: The only Ivy League coach ever to win the award was Columbia's Ray Tellier in 1996.)

One question Biddle was asked:

Name one team that you have never played that you would like to face in the future. Why?
At the FCS level I would like to play Appalachian State. I thrive on competition. App State is one of the best, if not the best, FCS teams.

Colgate, which comes off the Dartmouth schedule in 2012, is scheduled to play at Air Force in 2013. (Colgate schedule) The Raiders add Yale to the mix that fall.

A thought-provoking story from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette shared by a reader starts this way:

The study found intercollegiate athletics had become a culture unto itself, one rampant with escalating coaches' salaries, blatant commercialism and a "winning-is-everything" ethos that threatened the true mission of institutions of higher learning.

The year was 1929.

Now off to chop down (saw down, to be more accurate) our Christmas tree in 6-degree weather. Brrr...

Looking Ahead

* Late news at bottom

With the early decision recruiting class set (check out Big Green Alert for the skinny Monday), here's the schedule that those current high school seniors are slated to play their first four years in Hanover:

2010
September
18 – at Colgate
25 – SACRED HEART
October
2 – at Penn
9 – YALE
16 – HOLY CROSS
23 – at Columbia
30 – HARVARD
November
6 – at Cornell
13 – BROWN
20 – at Princeton

2011
September
17 – COLGATE
24 – at Sacred Heart
October
1 – PENN
8 – at Yale
15 – at Holy Cross
22 – COLUMBIA
29 – at Harvard
November
5 – CORNELL
12 – at Brown
19 – PRINCETON

2012
September
15 – BUTLER
22 – at Holy Cross
29 – PENN
October
6 – at Yale
13 – TO BE ANNOUNCED
20 – at Columbia
27 – HARVARD
November
3 – at Cornell
10 – BROWN
17 – at Princeton

2013
September
21 – at Butler
28 – HOLY CROSS
October
5 – at Penn
12 – YALE
19 – To Be Announced
26 – COLUMBIA
November
2 – at Harvard
9 – CORNELL
16 – at Brown
23 – PRINCETON

Holy Cross head coach and former Dartmouth defensive coordinator Tom Gilmore is one of five finalists for the national coach of the year in the FCS. The other finalists are Jerry Moore (Appalachian State), Danny Rocco (Liberty), Bob Spoo (Eastern Illinois) and John Stiegelmeier (South Dakota State).

Gilmore was earlier named the New England coach of the year.

Speaking of coaches, Football Scoop is reporting that Elon coach Pete Lembo, the former Dartmouth assistant, has withdrawn his name from consideration at Princeton.

So far there have been 28 coaching vacancies at the Division I (FBS and FCS) level with 12 of the positions filled. The Sports Network has the full list.

And finally, if you are following the NCAA playoffs, Villanova knocked off William & Mary last night to advance to its first FCS championship game. Find the full bracket here.

* The Boston Globe has a short editorial regarding the heckling incident at the Dartmouth-Harvard squash match. It is headlined, Dartmouth: green with embarrassment

Heading This Way ...

Another relatively quiet day on the news front.

A defensive back from Hillsborough High School in New Jersey is headed Dartmouth's way according to a Courier News blog. Highly regarded in Central Jersey coming into his senior season, Mike Banaciski broke his leg during a summer camp. He then reinjured the leg trying to come back and was lost for the year.

Loyola High School in Los Angeles has been very kind to Dartmouth the past few years and so it's no surprise that Bronson Green, a 6-foot-1, 220-pound linebacker is on Dartmouth's radar. This Scout.com teaser says Princeton is in the picture and UCLA would like him to walk on.

Yale's early action class is profiled on the Portal 31 blog.

Look for a story on Big Green Alert early next week about Dartmouth's early decision class.

A regular reader has sent along an interesting link to a Washington Post story headlined:

Football arms race engulfs the CAA; Conference revels in rising stature but costs prompt two of its programs to fold

To borrow from the (old) SAT's, is it possible that Dartmouth is to UNH as UNH is to Montana and App State? Consider this quote from UNH Athletic Director Marty Scarano:

If the Delawares, and the Montanas, and the JMUs, the (Appalachian) States -- and you can name maybe seven, eight schools -- if they decide their brand of football is completely different than the UNHs, well, who are they going to play with in the future, then?

Due to the money crunch, Harvard has halted construction on its $1 billion Science Center after the foundation was begun according to the Boston Globe. Dartmouth, meanwhile, is going ahead with the Class of 1978 Life Science Center and the Visual Arts Center projects the Daily Dartmouth said in a story about renovations on the president's home. That work (on the president's house) is being completed all with private money.

And finally, early decision admissions are trickling in for that certain Hanover High senior's classmates. (She couldn't pull the trigger on going ED.) Even before all the schools have released their classes, she knows of five classmates headed to the Ivy League. The bet here is there will be more.

National Championship Debate Hits Home

With Alabama gearing up for the national championship game early next month, someone who is most definitely not a Crimson Tide fan has a blog post that Dartmouth fans might find of interest. According to the post, Alabama has won seven national championship, not the 12 it claims. One the writer disputes: 1925, which the Crimson Tide says it shared with a certain Ivy League team. Here's the blog post:

1925: Myth

Alabama claims they "share" this one with Dartmouth. Who gave the Tide the title? Houlgate and Helms. Houlgate started his system in 1927. Wait a second—this means 'Bama won their 1925 national championship using a formula that didn't even exist until 1927? The other title giver, Helms Athletic Foundation, wasn't founded until 1941. Hmm, another mind-blowing retroactive scam.

The exhaustive College Football Data Warehouse, however, still awards shares of the national championship to both Dartmouth and Alabama. The CFDW includes a listing of what various teams claim for national championships, and what it will accept, and unless I'm reading it wrong, Alabama's claim holds up.

Dartmouth's Shawn Abuhoff will be one of the honorees tonight at the FCS All-New England dinner in Wilmington, Mass. The lone sophomore chosen for the all-star team, Abuhoff was recognized for his performance on special teams.

Among the names that have surfaced in the Princeton search for a new coach is former Notre Dame coach Bob Davie. Fact or fiction? Hard to tell but Harvard basketball's hiring of former Michigan coach Tommy Amaker may have changed the landscape just a little bit with regard to high-profile coaches coming to the league. The Daily Princetonian reprises potential candidates gleaned from other sources. (Amaker, by the way, last night led Harvard to its second win at Boston College in as many years. Boston Globe story)

(Harvard, by the way, made a push for Heisman Trophy finalist Toby Gerhart as this Bloomberg story notes.)

While Princeton is looking for a coach, Cornell is standing pat behind Jim Knowles despite a last-place finish in Ithaca this fall. The Ithaca Journal writes:

Cornell athletics director Andy Noel gave football coach Jim Knowles a vote of support in light of the team's last-place finish, and fourth straight losing season in the Ivy League, plus Princeton's decision to cut ties with its own coach.

Following a 2-8 season that ended with an eight-game losing streak, Noel on Monday said Knowles -- who has two years left on his contract -- will be back next season. Cornell finished last in the league with a 1-6 record. Since back-to-back 4-3 league records in 2004 and 2005, Cornell has gone 8-20 in league games.

Speaking of Cornell, the Ithaca paper has a look ahead to next year that includes this:

...(A)s bad as this season was, looking ahead to next season could cause some anxiety.

Cornell is losing a lot: The Big Red's leading rusher for the past three seasons, Randy Barbour; starting quarterback, Ganter; record-breaking receiver and return man, Bryan Walters; triple-threat option Stephen Liuzza; and starting bookend tackles Andrew Bohl and Quentin Bernhard.

The Boston Globe has a lengthy story about the squash heckling incident at Dartmouth last week prompting an apology from Dartmouth President Jim Yong Kim to Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust. The Daily Dartmouth also has a story about the aftermath of the incident.

Snow Day

A quick blog before the snow and whipping wind knock the Internet radio transmitter on the mountain behind us out of service ...

Penn defensive coordinator Ray Priore, who led one of the best defenses he's had in his 23 years with the Quakers, is one of four finalists for the National Coordinator of the Year Award presented by FootballScoop.com. To view information on the finalists and/or vote, click here. The site notes that Penn was:

• 1st nationally – Red Zone defense
• 1st nationally – Total Defense (217.6 yards per game)
• 1st nationally – Scoring Defense (9.5 yards per game)
• 2nd nationally – Rushing Defense (63.2 yards per game)
• 2nd nationally – Pass Efficiency Defense
• 7th nationally – Sacks (3.1 per game)
• 7th nationally – 3rd Down Defense (27.6 %)
• 7th nationally – Passing Defense (154.4 yards per game0
• 23 turnovers gained in 11 games

The FCS playoffs have reached the semifinal stage. If you are an Ivy League fan you've probably already gone on to basketball or hockey, but in case you are curious, find the updated bracket and information here.

It has been some time since Dartmouth football has had an impact transfer but they can make a difference. If you remember back, the undefeated 1996 team featured leading rusher Greg Smith (Missouri) and fullback Pete Oberle (Colorado State). Some other schools have turned more toward transfers including Columbia. The Columbia Spectator writes about transfers on several of the New York school's teams.

The College of William & Mary is working on developing a mascot and is down to five finalists. Drawings of the candidates can be found here. Historical background on the choices and a survey in which you can vote for your favorite can be found here. I know this: If William & Mary were on my schedule I'd vote for King William III and Queen Mary II just for giggles.

While you are at it, check out this New York Times story headlined, "In Twist, Tribe Fights for College Nickname."

And finally, it's a snow day for those certain Hanover High kids. We could be getting a foot of the white stuff but with the way the wind is howling, it will be hard to tell. There might be four feet of it in one place and bare ground in another by the time this storm wraps up.

Statistically Speaking

An emailer yesterday questioned what was wrong with the stats above. Because they are based on per-game averages, and that requires playing in 75 percent of the Ivy League season, the answer is nothing.

Dartmouth sophomore Nick Schwieger was recognized by the NCAA as the Ivy League's leading rusher with 78.2 yards per game because he appeared in eight of Dartmouth's full complement of 10 games (80 percent, obviously). But Schwieger played in just four Ivy games (57.1 percent), so his 386 yards and average of 96.5 yards per game doesn't appear on this list. Also missing is quarterback Greg Patton, who had 317 rushing yards in his three appearances (42.9 percent), a 105.7-yard average.

All that is understood because the rushing leaders are recognized on a per-game average. And as Dartmouth SID Rick Bender astutely pointed out, you cannot simply factor in zero yards for the necessary games to get the two players up to the 75 percent threshold because the possibility exists they could have had minus rushing yards in the phantom games.

Receptions per game, however, are a different animal. It is not possible to have "minus" receptions for a game, and that brings us to Dartmouth sophomore wide receiver Michael Reilly. After a strong start with eight catches in the two non-conference games that opened the season (including UNH when he was lost to injury in the first half) Reilly missed the Penn and Yale contests.

He returned in time to have two catches against Columbia, six against Harvard, nine against Cornell, three against Brown and six against Princeton. Add them up and that's 26 catches in five games, or 5.2 per game. That would have placed him fifth in the Ivies – if he had the minimum-required six appearances.

Ah, but as we said before, you can't have negative catches per game, so let's give Reilly zero catches for his phantom sixth game. That would drop his average to 4.3, but still leave him eighth in the Ivies for catches:
All this isn't to petition for Reilly to be counted among the Ivy League's receiving leaders per game. He's probably not the only player who would move into the stats under similar circumstances. But just think about the havoc that loophole could play on the national scene.

This year's early decision recruiting class won't be announced until later this month and the regular recruiting class until spring. But that doesn't stop the recruiting services from already connecting Dartmouth with some targets for next year. Among those are a 5-foot-6, 146-pound back from Oakland and a 6-5, 238 tight end from Massachusetts.

Football Scoop is reporting that Princeton is interested in former Dartmouth assistant Pete Lembo, who had a glittering 44-14 record at Lehigh and has gone 5-6, 7-4, 8-4 and 9-3 this fall building Elon into an FCS powerhouse. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if Holy Cross head coach Tom Gilmore and Maryland assistant Don Brown (both former Dartmouth assistants with experience around the Ivies) have also drawn some interest.

Lest anyone think Dartmouth football is the only program to take the occasional hit in the media, the WHRB sports blog reprises a quote from Doug Gottlieb, color commentator for the Big East Network, after Harvard's Jeremy Linn scored 30 points in a 79-73 loss to No. 14 UConn. Said Gottlieb:

"It's one thing to get career high against Dartmouth, it's another vs UConn."

Monday Mélange

Given that Ivy League teams played wildly different non-conference schedules, statistical comparisons between Ivy teams can be dubious. To see how Dartmouth fared statistically in Ivy League games only, click here.

There are 34 former Dartmouth players and/or coaches who have pages on Wikipedia. Some are no surprise (Jay Fiedler, Reggie Williams and Buddy Teevens) while others like Myron E. Witham (63-26-7 as head coach at Colorado) and Josh Taylor (actor) are a little less obvious. For the full Wikipedia list (with links to each person) click here.

And as long as we are on the subject of Wikipedia, the story of someone infamous who has made an appearance or two at Memorial Field can be found here.

Playoff Time

It was Villanova 46, UNH 7 in an NCAA Quarterfinal game played in a heavy snowstorm. Nova scored on the first New Hampshire play from scrimmage (think about that) and then things got worse. A couple of factoids from Allen Lessels story in the Manchester Union Leader:

• There was 6:25 left in the third quarter when UNH picked up its initial first down of the game.
• Villanova had 344 rushing yards. UNH? Minus 56.

Dartmouth tailback Nick Schwieger was a proud older brother Saturday after Bishop Feehan High School sophomore Zack Schwieger helped his school to a 12-6 win over Marblehead and the MIAA Eastern Mass. Division 3 Super Bowl championship at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. From the Attleboro paper:

... (T)e youngest member of the Schwieger football dynasty at Bishop Feehan High School probably wasn't supposed to play much varsity football this year. Yet there he was Saturday, carrying the ball 23 times and gaining 132 yards, and scoring the winning touchdown in the biggest game of his life to date.

The Portal 31 New Haven Register blog has a look at the early action (not early decision) acceptances at Yale.

And finally, that certain Hanover High senior's team scored big Saturday in an engineering contest at the University of Vermont. Her team won a laptop for her high school, a $500 prize, a second $200 prize in another category, and iPod Nanos for each of the five team members who designed and constructed their device.

Oh yeah, and we got about four inches of snow up here on the mountain yesterday while we were gone. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ...

You'll Get a Kick Out of This

An oldie but goodie. ...

Several weeks back this blog had an item about former Dartmouth placekicker Erik Hinterbichler '06. For an interesting 2002 New York Times profile of Hinterbichler, click here. From the story:

Hinterbichler was recently named a first-team all-American place-kicker by USA Today and a second-team kicker by Student Sports magazine, a prominent high school publication. But he has yet to be offered a college football scholarship, and he was not part of the nationwide letter-of-intent day Feb. 6, when top high school players make commitments to Division I programs.

Various spinoffs of the "Read Option" are all the rage in college football these days. What is it? A regular reader sent along this link.

And today's trivia question: What college once had 22 members of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society on its football team?

The answer: Dartmouth in 1925.

And now we're off for Burlington, Vt., to watch that certain Hanover High senior compete ... in a robotic contest.

Younger Brother Day

The Sun Chronicle has a story featuring younger brothers of Dartmouth tailback Nick Schwieger. Sophomore tailback Zack Schwieger figures to be a key player for Bishop Feehan High School in Saturday's Massachusetts Division 3 championship game at Gillette Stadium. Ted Schwieger, a senior tailback, will miss the game with an ankle injury. From the story:

Football is meaningful in the Schwieger household. Older brother Nick excelled at Feehan and continues to shine as a running back at Dartmouth College, and younger brother Zack has become an important cog in the current Shamrocks' offensive attack, averaging 7.5 yards a carry in Feehan's Thanksgiving victory over Sandwich.

"Football's always been a big tradition in our family, and Zack's really stepped it up since I went down," said Ted. "He's stepped it up and did what he needed to do to win some games."

Dartmouth co-captain Timmy McManus gets a mention in a story and video about St. Thomas Academy's appearance in the Prep Bowl at the Metrodome in Minnesota. McManus' younger brother Ryan was a junior quarterback slash halfback slash wide receiver slash punter for St. Thomas this fall. (Sound familiar?) The story is headlined, "Football Is A Family Affair At St. Thomas Academy," and the video features interviews with the boys' mom and dad. Find the story here. For the video, click here.

Still on the subject of younger brothers, All-Ivy (and Academic All-Ivy) wide receiver Tanner Scott's younger brother Connor, also a wide receiver, is headed to Penn next fall. The younger Scott captained the Deerfield Academy team this fall. (story)

And finally, one more younger brother. While former quarterback Josh Cohen is finishing up his studies at Dartmouth, Jake Cohen has gotten his college basketball career off to a rousing start. The 6-foot-10 Cohen is Davidson College's leading scorer (13.7 ppg) and rebounder (5.0) through seven games. Cohen had 20 points last night as the Wildcats opened conference play with a win over The Citadel.

Dartmouth is in good company in contacting premier Chicago-area offensive lineman Victor Nelson. From a Q&A with him in the Sun Times:

What are your college aspirations?
I’d love to play college football. I hope USC gives me a call. I’ve been a big USC fan all my life. Illinois has offered. I’ve got a lot of interest from Wisconsin, LSU, Iowa, Northwestern, Dartmouth and Arizona.

Holy Cross quarterback Dominic Randolph has won the Harry Agganis Award, symbolizing the outstanding senior football player in New England.

The decision by Hofstra to join fellow CAA member Northeastern in dropping football has the Providence Journal wondering about bringing back an altered version of an old friend. From the story:

... (T)he re-birth of the Yankee Conference makes sense. The conference could consist of the original charter members URI, UMass, UNH and Maine, plus Albany, Stony Brook and Fordham.

The ProJo also offers information on what will happen in next year in the CAA, which lost two schools in its North Division:

The CAA will play an eight-game league schedule without divisions in 2010, commissioner Tom Yeager said Thursday afternoon. Except for the addition of ODU and Georgia State, the future beyond that is uncertain. One possibility is to move Villanova and Delaware to the North Division for the 2012 season.

With the passing of two football programs in the CAA North, several newspapers considered the future of football in their back yards. Regarding the New Hampshire program, the Portsmouth Herald asked UNH Athletic Director Marty Scarano if the Wildcat program was in danger. His answer:

“Unequivocally, no. If anything we’re going in the opposite direction. We are fervent about trying to get these facilities figured out. And that’s not just me; that comes from our president (Mark Huddleston).”

From a Bangor Daily News story on the Maine program:

“Football is an important part of the University of Maine athletic program,” (UMaine director of athletics Blake) James said. “I’m excited about the young men that we have coming back to represent us on the field next year and look forward to competing for a championship in the CAA.”

And this from the Springfield Republican on the Massachusetts program, which has had severe funding concerns in the past, quoting UMass Athletic Director John McCutcheon:

"There is nothing in my hands that says (dropping football) is on the table with us. We remain committed to a top program, and the good thing about belonging to the CAA is that there are enough teams to protect us.''

Chuck Burton at Lehigh Football Nation expresses his concerns in a post headlined: Northeast Football: Endangered Species.

And finally, UNH will play at Villanova Saturday in a battle of the Wildcats with a visit to the NCAA semifinals at stake. Allen Lessels has a preview in the Manchester Union Leader.

Hofstra Drops Football

From the New York Times

Hofstra University is announcing Thursday that it will drop its football program, a nod to the fiscal challenges facing Football Championship Series programs.
Hofstra becomes the second Colonial Athletic Association program to drop football in the past week; Northeastern University dropped its program in late November because of the financial commitment with little reward that comes with F.C.S. football, formerly known as Division I-AA.

Statement from the Hofstra president.

There's also a Q&A that includes this:

What has the attendance been?
In 2009, for example, the football program sold 172 season tickets, compared to 750 season tickets for men’s basketball. While student attendance at the average football game is about 500, basketball games draw an average of 900 students. We could not continue to justify the expense of football, compared to the benefits it brought to the University.

Class

The story I freelanced on safety-turned-coach Kyle Cavanaugh has been posted on the Dartmouth website. It's hard to imagine anyone having worse luck with injuries than Cavanaugh had, and harder yet to imagine anyone handling such disappointments with more grace and class.

Speaking of injuries, former Dartmouth and Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Reggie Williams gets a mention in a Pittsburgh-Post Gazette about how the "tough-guy culture" in the NFL is changing.

The Boston Globe has a nice mention of Dartmouth quarterback Alex Jenny winning the Alan Hewitt ’34 and Robert Hewitt ’40 Award as the player who best epitomizes athletic performance with academic achievement.

On the opponent front, NFLDraftScout.com reports ...

Colgate senior wide receiver Pat Simonds (Sidney, N.Y.) has been selected to participate in the 85th East-West Shrine Game at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando on Jan. 23. Simonds will join Fordham quarterback John Skelton and The Citadel wide receiver Andre Roberts as the only players from Football Championship Subdivision schools placed on the rosters.

New Hampshire will be facing Villanova Saturday in a battle of the Wildcats in the NCAA Quarterfinals. A columnist from The Sports Network predicts a 28-20 win for Nova in his capsule look at this weekend's playoff games.

UNH, of course, is coming off the Dartmouth schedule next fall, to be replaced by Sacred Heart. (future schedules link) The Pioneers finished this fall with a 2-8 record, the same as Dartmouth. The wins came against St. Francis, whose coach just resigned, and Bryant, which was in its second season since moving up from Division II.

In case you are wondering, Sacred Heart returns 10 of 11 defensive starters from the final two-deep and seven starters on offense from the final two deep. Starting quarterback Dale Fink returns after completing 61.1 percent of his passes with 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, but leading rusher Brian Friedman and record-setting receiver Steve Tedesco both graduate.

Find the Sacred Heart football home page here.

Foxsports.com has a video with fan interviews from the Harvard-Yale game. Some of it was probably set up, but it's actually pretty funny. Take a look and you'll get a few laughs.

And finally, I probably should have linked to this before, but the Daily Dartmouth has a look at some of the options Dartmouth President Jim Yong Kim will consider as it addresses budget issues. Among them: adding up to 50 students per class. The local daily has an overview of the college's push to cut spending by $100 million over two years.

Big Year For The Schwiegers

From a Boston Globe story:

Powered by sophomore running back Zack Schweiger, the (Bishop Feehan) Shamrocks defeated Dighton-Rehoboth, 42-13, last night in a Division 3 semifinal at Taunton High.

Feehan will meet Marblehead Saturday at Gillette Stadium for a chance at its sixth Super Bowl trophy since 2000.

The brother of Dartmouth running back Nick Schweiger, the Ivy League’s leading rusher, Zach had a career day, rushing for 168 yards on 18 carries and three touchdowns.

“I’m just glad we have that family around,’’ coach Tony Wood said. “There’s just something about that gene pool.”

Abuhoff All-New England

Dartmouth sophomore Shawn Abuhoff has been named to the New England Football Writers Football Championship Subdivision all-star team as a return specialist. The only sophomore so honored, Abuhoff was 18th in the nation in kickoff returns this fall and in the top 20 in punt returns most of the season despite lingering injuries that slowed him as the year went on. He averaged 25.2 yards on kickoff returns with a long of 58, and 8.6 yards on punt returns with a long of 39.

The full New England Football Writers Football Championship Subdivision all-star team:

OFFENSE
OL Paul Jasinowski Brown Sr.
OL James Williams Harvard Sr.
OL Chris Poole Holy Cross Sr.
OL Vladimir Ducasse Massachusetts Sr.
OL Kevin Newhall Northeastern Sr.
OL Tom Neill New Hampshire Sr.
QB Dominic Randolph Holy Cross Sr.
RB James Mallory Central Conn. Sr.
RB John Griffin Northeastern Jr.
FB Chris Zardas Massachusetts Sr.
WR Buddy Farnham Brown Sr.
WR Steve Tedesco Sacred Heart Sr.
WR Landis Williams Maine Sr.
WR Shawn Leonard Rhode Island Sr.
TE Scott Sicko New Hampshire Sr.

DEFENSE
DL James Develin Brown Sr.
DL Don Smith Bryant Sr.
DL Jordan Stevens Maine Sr.
DL Carl Ehrlich Harvard Sr.
LB Paul Rice Yale Sr.
LB Sean Ware New Hampshire Sr.
LB Jon Takamura Harvard Sr.
LB Marcus Rodriguez Holy Cross Sr.
DB Terrence Klein New Hampshire Sr.
DB Marcus Dorsey Central Conn. Sr.
DB Michael Wright Holy Cross Sr.
DB Derrick Barker Harvard Sr.
DB Jeromy Miles Massachusetts Sr.

SPECIAL TEAMS
KS Tom Mante Yale Sr.
RS Shawn Abuhoff Dartmouth So.

The full New England Football Writers release:

Holy Cross senior quarterback Dominic Randolph and Brown wide receiver Buddy Farnham lead this year’s FCS All-New England team as selected by the New England Football Writers with each garnering their third-consecutive selection.

The team, which represents all 13 schools, will be honored at the annual New England Football Writers Captains and Awards Banquet on Thursday, December 10, 2009 at Casa Di Fior in Wilmington, Mass.

In addition to Randolph and Farnham, Harvard’s James Williams, Central Connecticut’s James Mallory and Bryant’s Don Smith are each making a second-consecutive appearance on the team. The squad of 30 features 28 seniors, one junior and one sophomore. Four conferences are represented with the Colonial Athletic Association sending 12 selections, the Ivy League contributing 10, and the Patriot League and the Northeastern Conference each adding four players.

Tanner Scott Honored

Lots of coaching links this morning, but first a few notes.

Another honor has rolled in for junior Tanner Scott. The All-Ivy League wide receiver is one of 10 Dartmouth student-athletes named to the Academic All-Ivy team for the fall. An economics major who walked on to the Dartmouth team, Scott led Dartmouth with 45 catches for 510 yards and three touchdowns this fall.

The Coschocton Tribune in Ohio has a story about local high school honors that says 6-foot-1, 210-pound Coshocton running back Marcus Johnston is, "most certain to play at the collegiate level, with schools like Dartmouth, Duquesne and Ashland courting his services." Johnson ran for 1,709 yards and 24 touchdowns last year. He was the offensive player of the year in the Eastern District and named to the Division IV all-state first team.

Now to the coaching news. ...

Today's Daily Dartmouth has a column about the relative success – and lack of success – of some Dartmouth teams. The column includes this:

Facility upgrades are one thing, but if the athletic department wants to show prospective students that Dartmouth wants to win, it’s time to replace underperforming coaches.

Opinions on former Princeton football coach Roger Hughes are mixed in a Daily Princetonian look back at his decade in New Jersey. Another Hughes story in the Princetonian includes quotes from players who requested anonymity.

A third Princetonian story lists a handful of potential candidates to be the Tigers' next head coach.

Harvard coach Tim Murphy's name has surfaced with regard to the University of Virginia head coaching position that came open when former Penn basketball coach and current UVa athletic director Craig Littlepage dismissed Al Groh. Murphy is mentioned in a Sporting News story and a piece in the Daily Progress. His had been mentioned as a longshot candidate the last time Notre Dame was looking for a coach.

Speaking of Murphy, his former Crimson quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is the subject of an AP story headlined, "Fitzpatrick's fearless play sparks Bills offense."