Before Heading Off to Ithaca ...

The Ithaca Journal has a look at Saturday's game that includes this quote from Cornell linebacker Zack Imhoff:

"Dartmouth will be one of the better offenses we'll face all year. They've got a great quarterback, great running back, good receiving corps. (If) we just play the way we can and are able to play, we should be able to hold them."

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The Cornell Sun has a preview of the game that includes this curious line:

Despite featuring identical records in Ivy League play, Cornell (2-5, 1-3) and Dartmouth (4-3, 1-3) are moving in opposite directions heading into tomorrow’s contest.

It turns out the writer was talking about what happened last week rather than over the course of the season. Last Saturday Cornell held on for a 21-19 win over Princeton while Dartmouth stumbled against Harvard, 30-14.

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A columnist in the Daily Dartmouth acknowledges last week's disappointment but isn't dismayed. From a column that only briefly touches on Dartmouth football:

There is a bright future, and nobody said the process was going to be an easy one.

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Jake Novak at Roar Lions Roar, the Columbia football blog, thinks the Big Green will prevail this weekend. He writes:

Dartmouth -10 at Cornell

I like the Big Green here. With their running game and decent pass rush, Cornell should get badly beaten. Take Dartmouth and give the points.

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Before I forget, last week's Bowling Pin winners for the Big Green:

QB/WR: Tim McManus
RB/TE: Dominick Pierre
O-line: Kyle Cook
D-line: Mark Dwyer
LB: Miles Gay
DBs: Garrett Waggoner
Special Teams: Shawn Abuhoff

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Former Dartmouth football MVP John Carney '78 is heading to Washington, D.C., courtesy of Tuesday's election. From a story about the election of the former first-team, All-Ivy pick:

John Carney says it didn't really start sinking in that he was Delaware's congressman-elect until he started hearing from unexpected places Wednesday -- far-flung members of the Sphinx Society he has been part of since he was a senior at Dartmouth College ...

Find Carney's bio here and a profile mentioning his All-Ivy status here.

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A running back named Nick Burrello from Glenbard West High School in Illinois, "has offers from Dartmouth, Harvard and Eastern Illinois, but Big Ten schools Indiana and Northwestern have shown interest," according to MaxPreps. There's a little more about him here.

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Given that Saturday's game starts at 12:30 p.m., and I'm a naturally slow driver behind the wheel of an old and underpowered car, rather than leave at 4 in morning on game day I'm heading off for Ithaca shortly. I'll be holing up at the same small mom-and-pop motel I always stay in about 75 minutes south of Ithaca, and finishing up my Fearful Forecast, game preview and a program story once I get out there so be sure to check Big Green Alert Premium tonight.

Count me among the small minority of people who actually like this trip, although rain and snow showers in the forecast threaten to make the drive tougher than usual. I've got a book on CD, made sure to put new windshield wipers on Vlad (our old Expo, get it?) yesterday, and applied some Rain-X glass treatment on the windshield, so I should be good to go. Catch you in a bit.