Series on Athletics Continues

Part two of the Valley News' three-part series on the state of the Dartmouth athletic program begins with a look at the most recent athletic director search that saw the individual who was hired essentially resign shortly before his introductory press conference. The story – it's a column, really – ends this way:

The new athletic director needs the promise of a free hand to make the changes that need to be made. Housecleaning will be painful, but it needs to be done.

There is no more time to waste.

Tomorrow's story: "A new Dartmouth athletic director would have to break with tradition and start over in order to restore Big Green athletic success."

The series began yesterday with the column: "Dartmouth Should Not Be Afraid to Win."

FootballScoop is reporting that Dave Wodds will be the new linebacker coach at Penn. New assistants join Ivy League programs all the time so why mention this one? Because a posting on the most active Ivy message board notes that once again Scoop has, well, scooped the Penn athletic department's announcement. One poster to the message board got it right (link):

They always will be ahead of the official announcements. Coaches are offered and accept these positions in principal several days before any paperwork is actually signed. Schools can't publicize a hiring until there is a signed employment agreement. Rumor mills crank up before paperwork is signed. Not any shortcoming at all by the athletic departments, just a reality.

This is by way of letting you know that FootballScoop could be reporting another name at Dartmouth shortly. No change is in store, but an addition or two.

The Princetonian has a story about the start of spring football under new head coach Bob Surace. There's also a video where former Brown quarterback (and onetime Dartmouth assistant) James Perry discusses Ivy football and his offensive philosophy.

Yale has released its spring practice schedule, which begins Monday and features the Blue-White game on April 24.

The Brown football website has a piece on two Pro Days. Taking part were seniors Buddy Farnham, Bobby Sewall, Jimmy Develin and David Howard.

The Daily Pennsylvanian writes about Chris Wynn, Joe Goniprow and Jake Lewko joining players from Lehigh, Villanova and California University of Pennsylvania in a Pro Day at Franklin Field. The Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts all had representatives at the event.

Dartmouth safety Peter Pidermann attended a Pro Day at UNH in March. (link) I stumbled into Pete leaving Floren Varsity House yesterday and he reported he's finally signed the contract with his agent and has several workouts tentatively planned in Florida.

Columbia will be doing what they are calling a Spring Football Live Blog. It looks a little more like a live Q&A. Check it out starting at 4 p.m.

From the Penn website:

In just a four-hour time period, the University of Pennsylvania football team recruited 374 new donors for the "Be the Match" program Friday night as part of the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) registry. The amount was a team record and nearly doubled last year's total of 192.

A nice quote from Penn coach Al Bagnoli:

"This is an opportunity for our kids to realize how fortunate they are. They're young, healthy, vibrant, and that is not always the case. I think everyone has been impacted by these illnesses in one way or another, and we will continue to do whatever it is we can to help."

In a story about the newest Hall of Fame class for Belmont High School in Massachusetts, the Belmont Citizen-Herald has a capsule on inductee Charles Cashin. It notes:

He was awarded a scholarship to Dartmouth in 1941, where he received the nickname of “Lucky Charm” Cashin, for his ability of never getting hurt in football, despite his small frame.

Love the nickname. Interestingly, he appears on the list of Dartmouth ice hockey and baseball lettermen but not on the football list in the media guide.

The Boston Globe writes that Cornell hoops coach Steve Donahue interviewed yesterday for the vacant Boston College head coaching job. Still no word and no stories in the local press about the status of the Dartmouth search for a new basketball coach. Terry Dunn resigned the position in January.

And finally, it is Decision Day around the Ivy League. The number of applicants is staggeringly high, so the percentage of acceptances is ridiculously low. Check out the Daily Pennsylvanian's interactive chart.

From the Daily Dartmouth:

Dartmouth College will extend offers of admission to 2,165 applicants for its Class of 2014, from a pool of 18,778. This year’s applicant pool is the largest in the College's history – and represents a 3.5 percent increase over last year’s record number of applicants. The overall rate of admission this year was 11.5 percent, compared to 12.5 percent for the Class of 2013.

Of those who were ranked by their secondary schools, 95.3 percent of students admitted were in the top 10 percent of their secondary school’s graduating class, including 39.9 percent who were valedictorians and 11.9 percent who were salutatorians. The mean SAT scores for students admitted this year are: 733 Critical Reasoning, 741 Math, and 740 Writing.

The New York Times has a story here and over at Dartblog the Times' chart is reproduced.

Among those who will be learning their fate today is That Certain Hanover High Senior, who has apps in at two Ivies. Without a "hook" the odds are very long, but she knows that, and while she will be disappointed if things don't work out when she checks online at 5 p.m., she won't be surprised. (She'll be a lot more surprised if a teammate who received a "Likely Letter" from Harvard is dinged, which he won't be.)

The biggest disappointment is simply that if she had been healthy in the fall and had been able to pop that big race she had hoped to run the odds would have been significantly different today. That said, she knows she already has a selection of schools to choose from that would be the envy of most high school seniors in the country.

And finally, That Certain Hanover High Sophomore got his April Fool's Day off with a splash by rubber-banding the sprayer on the kitchen sink this morning. Good thing Mrs. BGA had another red sweater she could change into because the first one got thoroughly soaked.

Keep smiling.