Elsewhere In the Recruiting World ...

Dartmouth-bound Ellis Glaw (right) "signs" with the Big Green Wednesday. Glaw is a 6-foot, 200-pound linebacker from Austin's Westlake High School.

Not all of Dartmouth's recruits are mentioned, but for an unofficial list of commits to all eight Ivy League schools, check out this message board posting.

The Ivy League, like the Patriot League and the Pioneer Football League, does not use the Letter of Intent. That being the case, there is no official listing of commits to the Ivy League schools, to 2010 opponents Colgate and Holy Cross, or to future Pioneer Football League foe Butler. The Northeast Conference, however, does use the LOI, so 2010 opponent Sacred Heart's incoming recruits are listed on the College Sporting News National Letter Of Intent Day posting. (Seems strange not to be mentioning the University of New Hampshire recruiting class, but with that series on hiatus the Wildcats are someone else's problem.)

A columnist for the Columbia Spectator throws a bouquet this way in a piece where he talks about how he dislikes Cornell, in no small part because it is in a "quaint little town nestled in the hills of upstate New York ..." He goes on to write:

Based on this reasoning, you might think that I have something against Dartmouth too, but actually, I don’t. Maybe it’s because the trip there is filled with scenic views of autumnal New England. Maybe it’s because both times I went there on Spectator business, we split the trip over two days. Maybe it’s because Buddy Teevens has a soothing voice and—win or lose—might just be the nicest coach in the Ivy League. I have no idea, but Dartmouth has tended to be the team that bothers me least in the Ancient Eight.

Gary Emanuel, defensive line coach at Dartmouth from 1988-91, is moving from Rutgers to Purdue, where he will serve as co-defensive coordinator/defensive line coach according to FootballScoop. Emanuel is a 1982 graduate of New Hampshire's Plymouth State, a Division III school that Dartmouth scrimmaged for several years. Find Emanuel's Rutgers bio here. He is a former assistant head coach at Purdue.

Rutgers, of course, is where former Dartmouth strength coach Jay "Big Bopper" Butler is doing strong work these days. He was the 2007 Samson's Division I-A National Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year. Find his bio here.

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Today's Daily Dartmouth has a story about controversial new alcohol enforcement policies planned by the Hanover police for the Dartmouth campus. The story begins this way:

During a tense meeting with Greek organization leaders and advisers Thursday evening, Hanover Police Chief Nicholas Giaccone announced plans to launch compliance checks, or “sting operations,” in the coming months to combat a perceived rise in alcohol use and abuse by underage individuals.

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Our local daily today offers a look at the meeting of Dartmouth trustees to consider how to implement the $100 million in budget cuts President Jim Yong Kim has announced. The story begins this way:

The captains of industry and millionaire money managers who will make decisions this weekend about Dartmouth College's financial status – including whether to lay off workers – keep a low profile in what has shaped up to be a high-profile debate over how the college should work out its budgetary difficulties.

Although the very next line of the story says, "And that's as it should be, says the head of an association dedicated to higher education governance," that low profile disappears when you turn the page and find head shots and bios of 18 trustees.

The paper has another story built around 400 people protesting on the Dartmouth green against anticipated layoffs.

The Harvard Crimson writes about financial difficulties at Yale. The story includes this:

Yale announced a new round of sweeping budget cuts as part of its ongoing efforts to close a $150 million budget deficit, Yale President Richard C. Levin announced Wednesday.

In a letter to the community, Levin called for salary freezes for top administrators and a 2 percent cap on salary increases for faculty and staff. The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences will take a 10 to 15 percent reduction in the number of accepted students, and funding for research and undergraduate study abroad programs will also be affected.

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On a brighter note, the local daily has a novella-length look at Dartmouth's interim men's basketball coach Mark Graupe, who comes to Hanover after a life spent almost entirely in North Dakota. Speaking of hoops, I am the Philadelphia Inquirer's man on the scene for tonight's basketball game between Dartmouth and our Penn Quakers. (Hope you understand ;-)

And finally, that certain Hanover High senior will take her last shot at winning an individual indoor track state championship Sunday at Leverone Field House. Although she ran on the championship 4x400 relay last year, she finished second in the state in the 1500 two years ago and second in the 1000 last winter. She'll run the 1000 Sunday.

Whatever happens, she's been one lucky kid to have been coached by Jeff Johnson, the man who came up with the name NIKE. She'll graduate as the only boy or girl in her class to earn the maximum 12 varsity letters, and few would argue he's the best coach she's ever had. Or probably ever will have.

I'm not sure that certain HHS senior has ever read a speech Jeff Johnson gave in 2001, but I'm going to make sure she sees it before this race. Whether you are an Olympic runner, a high schooler trying for that elusive state championship or, yes, a football player at an Ivy League school, this speech should inspire you. An excerpt:

There -- between those white lines, in a race that matters -- you will give your best
to each other. And there -- between those white lines, on that sacred plain, you will learn who you are ... of what stuff you are made ... and what you can endure ... which is essential knowledge ... essential knowledge ... for it will inform your whole, entire life.

Billy Joel wrote: "I won't hold back anything; and I'll walk away a fool, or a king."

For my money, if you've done your best, fool or king, there's equal honor in both. Doing your best is much more important than being the best ...