A Trivial Pursuit

The Ivy League office is posting football trivia each day until the start of the season in something it calls 56 to 56: Countdown to the 2011 Ivy League Football Season. Unfortunately, it's only offered on the league's Facebook and Twitter pages. Link

If you are like me and you aren't a Facebook user (I recently heard it called a "time sucker") and are so overwhelmed by Twitter feeds that you don't even check them these days (like me) here's a chance to catch up on the Ivy League's offerings this week in countdown fashion. These are copied straight from the Ivy postings:

• 56to56: @YaleAthletics captured the 1st Ivy title in ‘56 in dominating fashion, defeating Ivy foes by an avg. of 21.7 ppg.
• 55to56: Who was the 1st Ivy player to earn first-team All-America honors after formation? @dartmouthsports Joe Palermo in ’57.
• ‎54to56: @YaleAthletics Herb Hallas set an Ivy record in ‘58 that still stands today -- highest career punt return avg. (23.4).
• ‎53to56: Paul Choquette of @BrownAthletics was first Ivy player to be named a NFF (@NFFNetwork) Scholar-Athlete in ‘59.
• 52to56: In ’60, @pennathletics Chuck Bednarik earned his 8th Pro Bowl selection and guided the Eagles to the NFL title.
• 51to56: @GoColumbiaLions tied with @harvardcrimson with 6-1 identical records for its first and only Ivy football title in ‘61.

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Here's a curious one. A Duxbury, Mass. receiver told an ESPN blogger, "with the exception of Dartmouth, all the Ivy League schools have shown interest. He visited Richmond and William & Mary last April, and has also been contacted by Holy Cross, Lafayette, Maine and New Hampshire." Link

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Nothing really new in the story but the Daily Dartmouth writes that the college's DP2 program receives praise. From the story:

DP2, funded by an anonymous gift of an undisclosed amount to the athletic department, will begin offering new and enhanced services to athletes at the end of August to provide a “more cutting edge experience,” according to Drew Galbraith, senior associate athletic director for peak performance. He emphasized that the program is still in its beginning stages and will evolve as its leaders determine what is needed and what works.

Right now, the department is holding focus groups with student athletes, and collaborating across divisions to better understand where the need is greatest.

The athletic department currently provides strong academic support to its student athletes, but DP2 will integrate those services with athletic and personal resources, Galbraith said.

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Don Matheny, a 6-1, 315-pound defensive lineman who started his college career at Holy Cross in 2006, will complete his eligibility as a sixth-year player for Ohio State, courtesy of an NCAA waiver. Matheny played in two games with OSU last year. Find his old Holy Cross bio here.

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I'm off to the Tommy Keane Invitational golf tournament at Hanover Country Club where I'm serving as the media coordinator once again this year. Part of what I do is update a TKI blog throughout the weekend.

I've said it many times before, but (with apologies to Dartmouth football) if I had this writing career to do over again, I'd focus on golf. There's a saying in this business, "The smaller the ball, the better the writing." I don't know if I agree completely, but it's a very interesting sport to cover. Here's the lede I wrote on last year's TKI championship match:

Old MacDonald Had a Son ...
HANOVER – Watching his dad play in the Tommy Keane Invitational at Hanover Country Club was fun for Nick MacDonald when he was a boy, but the most fun might have been simply the chance to climb behind the wheel and drive the golf cart.

Except that one time.

“My dad told me to follow Ned and Ned was zig-zagging down the fairway,” the younger MacDonald remembered yesterday with a laugh. “The cooler went flying out, ice fell out on the fairway and everything went everywhere.

“My dad yelled, ‘Nick, what are you doing?’

“I said, ‘You told me to follow Ned.’ "

If you know Nick’s dad Shane you know that the cooler is not something you want to trifle with during the TKI. Better to yank a steak out of a Doberman's mouth.

But not to worry. Nick made it up to his old man on Sunday.

The newly crowned New Hampshire Amateur champion and former University of Hartford standout made birdie on 3, 5 and 6 to help the team of MacDonald and MacDonald go a very healthy 5-up through 12 holes. He added another birdie putt on 15 to clinch a 4&3 win over former Lebanon High School teammate Pat Pelletier and Joe King.