Closed Off

There's a brief note on the Dartmouth Sports Information home page that, "The football scrimmage between Dartmouth and Harvard is closed to the public." The teams are slated to meet tomorrow afternoon.

In previous years the scrimmage – more of a preseason game, actually – has been open to those people on an approved gatelist, and right up until Tuesday afternoon Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens said that was the plan for this year as well. In the end, though, the decision was made to have no one in the stands, present company included.

It's been an interesting evolution from the days when I used to write about the outside scrimmages regularly for the local daily, to a gatelist when writing was OK, to a gatelist with writing verboten, to "don't even think about peeking through the fence."

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Jake Novak down at Roar Lions Roar dug up a little NFL scouting information on Jeff Adams, Columbia's 6-foot-7, 305-pound offensive lineman. That sent me scurrying to the websites Jake cited to see if they had any Dartmouth players listed.

Poking around, I got tired of inputting the names of Big Green players and discovered that the only one that allowed searching by school name was NFL Draft Scout. Not to diminish being on the list but Dartmouth must surely be on the way to the national championship because it has no fewer than nine players listed. Harvard was second among Ivy schools with six players listed while two-time defending champion and favorite Penn had one, which surely means the Quakers will bring up the basement this fall ;-)

Those included from Dartmouth were tight end John Gallagher, quarterback Conner Kempe, tailbacker Nick Schweiger, defensive lineman Eddie Smith and Mark Dwyer, offensive linemen Ryan O'Neill and Kyle Cook, defensive back Shawn Abuhoff and receiver Michael Reilly who is not in school this fall.

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Speaking of Penn, the Daily Pennsylvanian blog has a back-and-forth discussion about whether the 2011 Penn football team will be better than the 2010 team that went unbeaten in the Ivy League.

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This week's Sagarin Ratings are out and they rank 246 Division I teams. Here's how they look:

121. Penn
129. Harvard
160. Brown
164. Yale
199. Dartmouth
202. Columbia
219. Princeton
221. Cornell

149. Colgate
178. Holy Cross
237. Sacred Heart

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Saw a note that, "Children aged 14 and under accompanied by an adult who has purchased a ticket will be admitted free to all Holy Cross home football games." (link) It's a great idea. Bucknell is also free for kids 12 and under.

That sent me scurrying around the web to see what the single-game policy is for kids at Ivy League schools. Here's what I found:

• Harvard – Free 12 and under
• Yale – Free general admission for 12 and under, including Harvard
• Dartmouth – $5 14-and-under except $7 for Homecoming vs. Columbia
• Cornell – $5 12-and-under except $10 for Homecoming vs. Bucknell
• Brown – $10 12-and-under except $15 for URI

Columbia, Penn and Princeton information on youth prices may be on the web but if it is, I couldn't find it.

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The Harvard website turned up a few other interesting notes, including the following about reserved tailgating packages. For $2,000 you can get the Touchdown Package that includes:

• Five (5) Parking Passes
• Reserved Outdoor Space
• 30 x 40 Private Tent
• Eight (8) 8 f.t. Banquet Tables
• Six (6) Round Tables
• Sixty (60) Chairs
• Recycling and trash bins at tent
• Company/Group sign at tent entrance

Harvard also offers the Goal Line Package ($1,500, 30-50 people) and the Field Goal Package ($1,000, 20-35 people).

Just don't bring your own grill. Off to the side there is a note that, "All football reserved tailgates must us one of the following caterers" . . .

By the way, Harvard is also offering Season Courtside Seats for basketball. From the website:

Experience all the excitement from the best seats in the house as the Harvard Crimson contend for the Ivy League Championship and a possible big (sic) to the NCAA Tournament - perfect for entertaining clients, employees, family, and friends!

For $500 (or $200 women) you get:

• Comfortable seat close to all the action: Located courtside directly across from the teams' benches.
• Basketball season parking pass: One (1) is included for every two (2) tickets purchased.
• Concessions food voucher: One (1) is included for every ticket purchased.
• Game program and halftime statistics: Delivered right to your seat!

No information on whether Jack Nicholson or Dyan Cannon will be in your row.

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And finally, I remember being told in school about how there are map companies, or at least there used to be, that put inconsequential errors in their maps just to see if anyone is copying them. I found myself thinking about that yesterday when I hit a wrong key on the computer and posted a link on BGA premium that wasn't yet active. I discovered there are more people wandering by the site early in the day than I ever knew when the emails started coming in about a dead link. ;-)