Dartmouth has pretty much maxed out its capabilities for building new athletic facilities. After the recent addition of lights to the football field, the completion of the new baseball park and the addition of the Floren Varsity House, the softball field was the only facility that needed an immediate upgrade.I would have agreed with Chad if he hadn't included a mention of the addition of lights to the football field because if upgrades to Memorial Field are fair game, the problem of the home stands can't be overlooked. There's a reason why the plans were drawn up, the structural materials were ordered (and delivered to a nearby holding area) and the home stands were within days of being taken down several years ago before the economic downturn put the brakes on the project.
I'm not an engineer, but you don't have to have a degree from Thayer School to appreciate that there is one more serious project remaining in the athletic department's queue.
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The Brown Daily Herald has a story about new Athletic Director Jack Hayes. From the story:One of the biggest developments in Hofstra athletics history came in 2009 during Hayes’ tenure, when the university eliminated its football program because of financial constraints. The decision, which meant the $4.5 million annually committed to football was reallocated for academics and scholarships, brought to an end a 72-year old program that had recently sent star wide receiver Marques Colston to the National Football League.Brown football coach Phil Estes was on the search committee that recommended Hayes.
“It was an unfortunate situation, but one from which I certainly gained a lot of experience in how to deal with a situation that was a hot-button issue, that was certainly being viewed by the public and that involved the welfare of student-athletes,” Hayes said.
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If you are offended by foul language, you will not want to listen to former New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams' speech before a game against the San Francisco 49ers. If you are curious about why the NFL is concerned about "bounties," listen here.Green Alert Take: Call me naive, but Williams can deliver a pretty good pep talk. Take out the profanity and the specific calls for physical harm and this would be a pretty good speech anyway.
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You just had to know this was coming. The naming of Dartmouth's medical school after Theodor Geisel – Dr. Seuss – has spawned some doggerel.The Chronicle of Higher Education begins its piece this way:
At Dartmouth CollegeThe NPR Health Blog ends this way:
That great font of knowledge
They’ll soon introduce
A school named for Dr. Seuss.
But I have a question (and maybe it's strange):
With this new name will the school itself change?
Will students write poems and skip their exams
Or learn to prescribe green eggs and green ham?
If your dear father's heart has come to a stop
Will your Dartmouth-trained doctor advise, "Hop on pop"?
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Mrs. BGA and I went to see Salmon Fishing in the Yemen last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Anyway, there's a scene in the flick where the sheikh's aides are dressed in kilts and that reminded me of something. (By the way, if those aides were actually guards of some sort, they deserve to be fired. But I digress.)I meant to mention this yesterday but the other day when Cooper the Wonder Dog and I were on the way down from the South Peak of Moose Mountain, a 65-ish-year-old man came around a bend and froze for a second when he saw the dog. Realizing it was just a golden retriever, he did what virtually everyone does when they recognize what kind of dog Coop is. He relaxed and continued on his way.
That's not why I bring this up. No, what was deserving of mention is the fact that the man was wearing a blue plaid kilt! Hiking. In 40-degree weather. Over a soggy, muddy trail. After he was out of sight I found myself humming: Penny Lane . . . very strange.
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It doesn't happen often that when Coop and I go to the end of the driveway for the paper in the morning the conditions are perfect for looking out over the world. Today was one of the best. Two windy days and a crisp night had cleared the air and with the morning sun behind us illuminating the far-off mountains and the foreground shaded by clouds I hurried back to the house to grab my camera.Our seasonal neighbors tell us that it was possible on occasion to see Adirondack peaks back in the '60s. I think they may have snuck through this morning because for a bit I could see mountains beyond Killington, which was a first in the 16 years we've lived here.
Anyway, this was one of the good days when we could see six ski areas. Here are five. (Missing is Ascutney, which was all in shadows this morning.) Click the pictures to supersize them.
Killington (left) and Pico
Killington
Okemo
StrattonIn case you are wondering, Google Earth says the driving distance from here to Stratton Mountain is 82.5 miles and that it is 56 miles as the crow flies. ;-)
