Multimedia Sunday

Dartmouth has posted a Welcome to the Class of 2014 video on YouTube and among those offering a quick welcome is head football coach Buddy Teevens. To learn some interesting facts about the 1,100 or so freshmen who will begin their Dartmouth studies in the fall, click here. And if you just want to see Teevens' three seconds, push forward to about the 1:37 mark ;-)

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To keep the multimedia theme going, I linked to this video of Dartmouth by air last year, but it's so beautiful that it is worth a second look.

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OK, sue me. I've got one more. Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center produced a gorgeous video that offers a glimpse at life in the Upper Valley. One of the catchphrases the video uses to describe this area: serenity, simplicity and safety.

Videos like that make me nervous that our little Shangri La on the Connecticut is going to get overrun by escapees from the city. I felt the same way when I read Bill Bryson's book, I'm a Stranger Here Myself, about his repatriation from England. He wrote:

We settled in Hanover, New Hampshire, for no other reason than that it seemed an awfully nice place. Founded in 1761, it is a friendly, well-ordered, prettily steepled community with a big central green, an old-fashioned Main Street, and a rich and prestigious university, Dartmouth College, whose benignly dominant presence gives the town a backdrop of graceful buildings, an air of privileged endeavor, and the presence of five thousand students, not one of whom can be trusted to cross a road in safety. With this came other attractions – good schools, an excellent bookstore and library, a venerable movie theater (The Nugget, founded in 1916), a good choice of restaurants, and a convivial bar called Murphy's.

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A reminder in these parts that football season is approaching is the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl, pitting the finest graduated seniors from Vermont against their counterparts from New Hampshire. The 57th renewal of the game will be played on Saturday.

One of the oldest games of its kind in the nation, the Shrine Game was played annually at Dartmouth's Memorial Field until construction concerns forced a move to Windsor High School, about 30 minutes south of Hanover several years ago. Although it will be played at Windsor again this week, the hope here is that it will return to its rightful home at Memorial Field in the near future. For the players, most of whom will not be playing college football at all and certainly not at the Division I level, playing in the biggest stadium in either of the Twin States is a special treat.

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Speaking of football, it is August and practice is beginning. The Georgia Bulldogs, for one, hit the field tomorrow.

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At this risk of overdoing links to Penn State, I can't help but pass along this quote from a Reading Eagle Q&A with Joe Paterno. It should bring a smile to your face:

Q: After your knee injury and your hip injury, did you think about getting out of coaching?

JoePa: ... When we were out at the Rose Bowl, I started out in a cart and then I walked around. Tommy Lasorda came out to practice one day and he was in a cart. He says, "Get in the cart, you dumb head." I said, "No, you're a dumb head. Get out of that cart and lose some weight."

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Dartmouth men's golf coach Rich Parker has now shot 72-77-76 at the US Senior Open. The good news is that he's tied with Watson. The bad news is it's Denis Watson. Play concludes today.

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I should have mentioned this earlier, but the story in our local paper identifying possible finalists for the Dartmouth athletic director position had my "in-box" humming yesterday. Seems everyone has an opinion, and that's without even knowing if the writer has the correct names. If he does, Dartblog is casting a vote for one of the possible candidates. Click here to see which one and why.

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And finally, a reader points us toward a Boston Globe story headlined, She Shoots, she scores! From the story:

...(N)ew research has begun to document a measurable benefit to girls playing sports, sweeping away any fuzzy, feel-good reasons why girls athletics matter and showing that sports can truly change the lives of the young women who get the opportunity to win, lose, and just play.

I think That Certain Hanover High Female Athlete of the Year, who plans to continue her career right across the street, would agree.

I just hope she proves to be the exception to Bryson's rule and is one college student who really can cross the road safely. Believe it or not, we've already talked about it ;-)