Saturday Ramblings

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

More scholarships for its women's programs, additional football scholarships, another full-time strength and conditioning coach, and eventually one more full-time assistant football coach are all among the intended benefits to Duquesne's athletic department in the wake of Monday's announcement that the university would eliminate four of its men's teams at the end of the school year.

Slated to be dropped at Duquesne are baseball, golf, swimming and wrestling.

Discuss among yourselves.

The search that culminated with Kent Austin being named the football coach at Cornell got a lot of play on the Internet, from start to finish. Some of what was reported on blogs and websites was correct. Some was off base. For an overview of how that went, and how it was received in Ithaca, check out a posting on College Sporting News.

ESPN college basketball writer Andy Katz writes of an ESPN "Outside the Lines," roundtable:

The purpose of the discussion was to look at the four previous head-coaching firings, three at lower-level schools -- Penn, Dartmouth and Fordham -- and one in a power-six job at DePaul. But there's a consistent theme at all levels. As (Syracuse coach Jim) Boeheim said toward the end of our session, "The bottom line is you've got to win."

Whether or not Katz is correct in lumping what transpired at Dartmouth with the others – and Dartmouth administrators are vehement in saying Terry Dunn resigned and was not fired – it was something else in the story that caught my eye. The use of the expression, "lower-level schools."

If you are an Ivy Leaguer that description has to sting. It's a reminder that while absolute excellence is sought in some areas, it is not sought in others.

Oz Griebel '71, a member of Dartmouth's 1970 NCAA College World Series team and the holder of the second-best winning percentage for a Big Green pitcher (10-2, .833) is running for governor in Connecticut. A Hartford Courant story describes him as a ...

"... star athlete who pitched for a year in the minor leagues, teacher-turned-banker-turned-economic-development executive. Here's a guy who has crafted an image over decades as a nonpartisan, hyper-competent, non-wavering guy who gets things done with a minimum of fuss, blunt but good at avoiding controversy and with absolutely no concern for the elements."

Griebel was a sophomore guard on the 1968 Dartmouth football team. Former sports information director Jack DeGange shares the following tidbits:

His father, Richard Griebel '46, came to Dartmouth as a football and basketball player during the war years. He also played minor league baseball in the Yankees farm system while at Dartmouth (it was allowed in those days) When Joe Concannon wrote a profile for the Brown program in 1968, he was president and CEO of P. Ballentine & Son, the brewers who also owned the Boston Celtics. I just looked back to the story...he gave Joe some fascinating material, including about being in the hotel room in Boston in Sept 68 when Bill Russell signed a contract for about $400,000.

And finally, guess who I was told was at the Dartmouth women's basketball win over Harvard last week. Go on, guess. Aw, forget it. You'll never guess. I didn't.

None other than JD Salinger, the author of "The Catcher in the Rye," who died this week at age 91.