Gate, Cross Well-Regarded

Dartmouth opponents Colgate and Holy Cross were picked second and third respectively in the Patriot League's preseason poll of head coaches and sports information directors released as part of the PL media day. From the league website:

PATRIOT LEAGUE FOOTBALL PRESEASON POLL
(Head Coaches and Sports Information Directors)

1. Lehigh, 58 points (8 first-place votes)
2. Colgate, 55 (6 first-place votes)
3. Holy Cross, 38
4. Lafayette, 36
5. Georgetown, 19
6. Bucknell, 16

Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Nate Eachus, Colgate (Sr., RB)
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Mike Groome, Lehigh (Sr., LB)

Click here for a three-minute video with Colgate coach Dick Biddle.

Click here for a three-minute video with Holy Cross coach Tom Gilmore.

The quote of the day from Biddle when asked where he stands on scholarships in the Patriot League:

"I'd love to see it happen, I think it be great for Colgate and I'd have a hell of a football team if we did get scholarships."

Um, do you think?

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In taking a look at the future of the 25-year-old Patriot League, Lehigh Football Nation takes a look at its past. From LFN:

Originally, the Patriot League modeled itself against the Ivy League in terms of freshman eligibility (no redshirting), scholarships ("none"), academic standards, and even on postseason play.

One by one, though, some principles have been eliminated or modified. Postseason play came first - the Patriot League got an autobid to the FCS playoffs in 1997. Then, athletic scholarships were introduced in every other sport, with football being the lone holdout.

As a result the Patriot League sits in a strange place: with more stringent academic standards than most FCS teams and operating without the ability to offer full scholarships to those that are academically qualified, but still competing in the same NCAA competitions.

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The Northeast Conference media day is today and if you want to ask Sacred Heart coach Paul Gorham a question about playing Dartmouth again or Columbia for the first time hustle on over to that site. You could even win some swag.

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The Ivy League media day is next Tuesday. BGA Premium will have a report that day and Ivy League previews will start shortly thereafter. Here's the schedule for the BGA previews:

Friday, Aug. 12 – Brown
Monday, Aug. 15 – Columbia
Tuesday, Aug. 16 – Cornell
Wednesday, Aug. 17 – Harvard
Thursday, Aug. 18 – Penn
Friday, Aug. 19 – Princeton
Monday, Aug. 20 – Yale
Tuesday, Aug. 21 – Colgate
Wednesday, Aug. 22 – Sacred Heart
Thursday, Aug. 23 – Holy Cross

Thanks to those of you who have already "re-upped" your subscriptions for 2011, and welcome to those who are along for the ride for the first time.

A very special thanks to the subscribers who have helped support this blog along with their subscriptions.

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With former linebacker Gordy Quist '02 and The Band of Heathens up from Texas to play dates in South Burlington, Vt., on Thursday night and in Northampton, Mass., on Friday, I've tossed a story I wrote several years ago on Gordy up on the BGA site. I've posted it before but in case you haven't read about his switch from investment banker to musician you might want to check it out.

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From the Orlando Sentinel:

(Jupiter Christian quarterback Kedric) Bostic (6-3, 175) is a pro-style passer and rated a two-star prospect by Rivals.com. He passed for 1,354 yards, 18 touchdowns and two interceptions last season.

Brown, Dartmouth, Princeton and Eastern Illinois all recruited Bostic. He narrowed his finalists to UCF, Princeton and Dartmouth before ultimately picking the Knights.

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The local daily has a story today about former Columbia head coach Larry McElreavy returning to football. A native of Claremont, NH, about 25 miles south of Hanover, McElreavy will be the head coach at Claremont Middle School this year.

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Be sure to come back to visit the blog later today for a few interesting photos I'm going to take when I'm in town.