Postseason Thoughts

If you haven't voted in the poll (left) it wraps up tonight, so what are you waiting for?

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The advent of Ivy League postseason tournaments in men's and women's lacrosse this year has not gone unnoticed by those who think it completely unfair that the conference bans just one sport – football – from competing in any form of postseason play.

The first lax tournament has also caught the attention of those who can't understand why the Ivy League won't allow basketball to join the rest of the free world – as well as its winter season compatriot ice hockey – in having a postseason tournament.

First, football.

With the women's lacrosse tournament held over the weekend (Dartmouth dropped a 9-8 decision at Penn) and the men's tournament coming up, Jonathan Tannenwald down at Philly.com got Robin Harris to address the ban on postseason football. Kudos to the Ivy League's new executive director for not dodging the issue, but the feeling here is she only added a little gasoline to the fire by mentioning That Game.

Here's an excerpt dealing with the football playoff ban from Tannenwald's Soft Prezel Logic column:

“That’s an issue that with the presidents is absolutely a non-starter, and it has to do with more than class time and exams,” Harris said. “It also has to do with focusing on the tradition of intra-league competition in football, and our history, and the tradition of culminating with certain games at the end of the season - certainly the Harvard-Yale tradition.”

There, for the first time ever, was an on-the-record statement of something I’ve heard off the record from a lot of people over the years. The belief is that Harvard and Yale are the biggest obstacles to the Ivy League participating in the playoffs, because they want their rivalry game to be the most important of the season.

I put that to Harris.

“It’s actually the presidents in general,” Harris said. “It’s really based on the tradition and the focus on intra-league competition, and not intruding on the student-athletes’ time demands.”

Apparently safeties and corners aren't the only ones who can backpedal.

The New Haven Register on Sunday featured a column by Dave Solomon about the Ivy League lacrosse tournament and one of the reasons why it was instituted. The column included this:

The upcoming conference lacrosse tournament (for both men and women) represents a crack of enlightenment for a league that continues to arrogantly deny most of its student-athletes the thrill of a postseason league tournament.

So far, so good. Solomon added this ...

We’ve heard that the leading argument for a lacrosse tournament — to the exclusion of other sports — is that two or possibly even three Ivy League teams could qualify for the NCAA tournament. There are currently five Ivy teams ranked in the national Top 20, making it almost certain that the league will get at least two teams in the 16-team field.

But again, what are the Lords of the Ivy League saying here ... that in sports where the league can potentially get more than one team into the NCAA field, it’s OK to have conference tournaments? Ivy League lacrosse players are effectively being treated as separate and special because it’s a sport consisting of elite schools with a rich history in the Ivy League. And that doesn’t sound discriminatory?

Then the kicker:

I’m all for as many Ivy League teams getting in the tournament as it can, and if the conference tournament helps toward that end, it’s a positive development. But if getting extra teams in the NCAAs is the only reason for the existence of the lacrosse tournament, then the league is hypocritical to the core.

Ouch.

The Daily Dartmouth has a Green-White roundup largely culled from Dartmouth's official website.

Kyle Battle, a walk-on who saw a promising career as a Dartmouth wide receiver ended because of injury, organized Carnival for a Cause, that raised $2,200 for the National Down Syndrome Society. The Daily Dartmouth has a story.

Among those who spent time in the dunking booth – sure wish I had been there with camera in hand – were head football coach Buddy Teevens, defensive coordinator Don Dobes and women's basketball coach Chris Wielgus. (Battle has helped keep stats for women's games and has scrimmaged against the women's team.) Find Kyle's old football bio here.

Dartmouth will play host to Butler in 2012 and visit the Indianapolis school in 2013 – the senior year of the incoming freshman class. (Future schedules link) Suffice it to say the once-impressive Butler Bowl where the Bulldogs currently play is something less than impressive today. There's good news on tap, but first let's consider the situation today. From the school website (italics are mine):

Currently, the Butler Bowl has permanent seating located only on the southwest side of the field, running from the south 20-yard-line to the end-zone, but additional seating is available on the east sideline and on the south end-zone lawn.

By the way, having once worked in PR, I love this spin (again, the italics are mine):

The most recent renovation saw the removal of the Brown Theatre and all of the permanent seating on the east side of the field to make way for the construction of the Butler Apartment Village, which gives the stadium a much more cozy and nostalgic feel

Check out this quick video scan of the stadium and see if you agree.

But change is under way. From a Butler news release two weeks ago:

Construction has begun on a major renovation at the Butler Bowl that will include building a brick press box with multi-use booths and new seating on the west and east sides of the playing surface.

And ...

The renovation of the facility just east of Butler University’s historic Hinkle Fieldhouse will increase the seating capacity to 5,500 with the addition of new bleacher seats along the west side of the field and a section of seating for visiting fans on the east side.

The brick press box will be approximately 40 yards long, reaching between the field’s two 30-yard lines. The main level will have home and visitor radio booths along with private booths for home and visiting coaches. Also, there will be an expanded area for game operations and the top level will house a video booth and an observation deck.

For a quick video look at how the project is expected to turn out, click here.

Speaking of stadiums, Brown coach Phil Estes announced after the Brown-White game that the Bears will be playing Harvard under the lights in Providence. No, they aren't installing lights. Not permanent lights, at least. Temporary lights will allow for the first night game in Brown Stadium history. Apparently a generous alum will foot the bill.

Cornell held its spring scrimmage Saturday and the Ithaca Journal has a story. Sounds as if the QB position might still be as open as it seemed coming into the spring.

Thanks to a former Dartmouth running back (who has a hometown reason to follow the career of Brown's Buddy Farnham) for a link sharing the news that the former Brown receiver made it through minicamp with the New England Patriots and has won a contract. The Providence Journal had a story this morning.

Congratulations to the Dartmouth baseball team which won its third Red Rolfe Division title in a row and fourth in six years with a doubleheader sweep of Harvard yesterday. That the Ivy's northernmost school has had that much success on the diamond is remarkable. Dartmouth will now play in the best-of-three Ivy League Championship Series at Columbia. There will be a doubleheader Saturday and a single game Sunday if needed. All games will be nine innings.

Speaking of Columbia, the Lions have tapped St. Mary's (California) associate head coach Kyle Smith as their new head men's basketball coach. The Columbia Spectator notes:

The year before Smith arrived, the Gaels recorded only two wins. In the final three seasons of his nine-year stay, Smith helped guide St. Mary’s to 81 wins.

Still on the subject of coaches, Bill Tierney shocked many in the lacrosse world when he left Princeton (where he guided the Tigers to six national championships) to take over the program at the University of Denver. But Tierney knew what he was doing with the move to Denver, which has become a lacrosse hotbed. Consider this from a Friday New York Times story:

“It gave us a sense of legitimacy,” Bryan Perry, the coach at Cherry Creek High School for eight seasons, said of Tierney’s arrival. “Not to say there wasn’t before, but when you get a Hall of Fame guy, the John Wooden of lacrosse, you raise your eyebrows and say we’re at a different level now.”

And how has the, "John Wooden of lacrosse," fared this spring? A team that went 7-8 last year knocked off No. 6 Loyola Sunday at Invesco Field to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Pioneers are 11-4 and ranked 16th nationally. (Link)

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Finally, that Certain Hanover High Senior mentioned Saturday night that was elected by her classmates to be one of four marshals at graduation next month. Neat stuff.