Dartmouth's Hanover Country Club was the place to be on a glorious Sunday afternoon of sledding. We have 14 inches at the snow stick here on Moose Mountain. (Kelly Wood photo)
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There's big and then there's huge. Whatever comes after huge best describes what happened at Thompson Arena last night.
With a sellout crowd of more than 4,500 looking on, the Dartmouth men's ice hockey team drilled the No. 2 team in the nation last night, beating New Hampshire, 4-1, in the 2012 Ledyard Classic. Dartmouth will now face the University of Massachusetts, a 4-3 winner over Bemidji, tonight for the championship of the former Auld Lang Syne tournament.
The young Big Green (8-2-2) woke up this morning tied with Boston College atop the national PairWise rankings. Dartmouth was 10th in the nation in the USCHO.com Division I men's poll in the Dec. 17 ranking.
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Over at Leede Arena, meanwhile, Elena Delle Donne earned MVP of the Blue Sky Classic tournament as she led Delaware to a 60-45 win over Duquesne in the championship of the Blue Sky Classic, the longest continually running women's basketball tournament in the nation. Dartmouth dropped the consolation game to Villanova, 60-37.
Don Brown, who got his start as a college coach at Dartmouth and returned to Hanover to serve as defensive coordinator under Joe Yukica, is on the move again. The highly regarded Brown, whose name seems to come up every time there is a head coach opening in the Ivy League, has been named defensive coordinator at Boston College. At UConn last fall his defense ranked 10th in the nation for fewest yards allowed per game, seventh against the run and 13th in tackles for loss.
The first is a new review of Dartmouth's Leede Arena posted on a site called Stadium Journey. I will leave it to those of you who have seen a basketball game in the Berry Center to decide whether or not you agree with the reviewer (who happens to be a Dartmouth athlete in another sport).
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Have you seen the trick-kicking video of the Norwegian soccer player that helped earn him a tryout with the New York Jets? The video is here. Also, read The New York Times' take on the kicker using YouTube and the Internet to get a shot.
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Back to Leede Arena . . . perhaps the most heralded athlete to play in Hanover this winter will on the court today when 6-foot-5 Delaware basketball star Elena Delle Donne and the Blue Hens take part in the 36th annual Blue Sky Classic. Read about Delle Donne as a 17-year-old high school student in this NYT story and about her basketball comeback in last January's Sports Illustrated. From the SI story:
By the start of eighth grade she was nearly 6 feet and had a scholarship offer to play at North Carolina. As a sophomore Delle Donne set a national record by hitting 80 consecutive free throws and then dropped 50 points in her team's final game to lead Ursuline Academy to a state title. As a junior The New York Times wrote that she could become the LeBron James of the women's game. As a senior, she was the Naismith Award winner.
Thanks to a regular emailer for a reminder that last night's Military Bowl game featured Dartmouth grad Adam Scheier '95 coaching special teams and tight ends for Bowling Green. The Falcons dropped a 29-20 decision to San Jose State.
He began his coaching career at Dartmouth, assisting with the secondary in 1996 after earning four varsity letters as a free safety for the Big Green and being awarded the special teams player of the year award as a senior.
To get a sense of who Scheier is, check out this video from an interview he did last February on National Signing Day.
A column in the Trenton Times lists four high school seniors from that area of New Jersey who have Dartmouth on their radar:
Jeff Mattonelli, RB-DB, Steinert
Chris Cardinali, DB, Hun
Shurman Riggins, LB, Lawrence
Anthony Tucker-Bartley, RB-LB, Ewing
Mattonelli, who lists only Dartmouth, has been doing a regular Q&A on something called Fish4Scores that, is "designed to give folks a look into what goes on in a student-athlete’s life, beyond the playing field. What they do in the classroom, with their social life; their thoughts on current affairs, how they use their time." Check out one edition here.
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No snow here on the South Shore of Massachusetts. The Baker webcam shows show back in Hanover.
We could be receiving 12-16 inches of snow overnight. If you'd like to watch the storm progress, click here to watch the live webcam from Baker Tower looking over the Green.
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We'll be out of town visiting relatives for several days and Internet accessibility may be dicey so only time will tell if the blog will be updated.
A 6-foot-8, 305-pound offensive tackle from Metairie, La., has been receiving recruiting interest from Ole Miss and Dartmouth. Not surprisingly, given that coach Pete Mangurian is a former defensive tackle at LSU, he's also hearing from Columbia. Scan down this story to find a recruiting mention about Rummel High's Patrick Kliebert. Find his bio here.
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Watching the magical Russell Wilson with the Seattle Seahawks last night, I pulled up the following year-old ESPN video that nicely tells his story. What's fun is seeing the old Dartmouth football clips from when his late father Harrison '77 starred at wide receiver for the Big Green:
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Safe travels to those of you hitting the road today, and Christmas wishes to all. Thanks to a few inches the other day and some cold weather, it will be a white one up here on Moose Mountain.
He hasn't confirmed it 100 percent, but Jake Novak of the blog Roar Lions Roar is reporting that Columbia has landed a major transfer in former Stanford quarterback Brett Nottingham. From Nottingham's Stanford bio:
. . . four-star recruit ranks as one of the top quarterback prospects in the nation...ranked as the fourth-best pro-style quarterback by Rivals.com, 12th by ESPNU.com and 14th by Scout.com...ranked as the nation's 74th top recruit on PrepStar's Dream Team...SuperPrep All-American (No. 19 quarterback).
Because he would be transferring "down" to the FCS, Nottingham would not have to sit out a year. He is believed to have two years of eligibility remaining.
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It comes a little out of left field, but in an opinion piece about the passing of Sen. Daniel Inouye, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette executive editor David Shribman includes a note about Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens, Harvard coach Tim Murphy and Oregon football ops director Jeff Hawkins being from the same high school. It doesn't hurt that Shribman is a 1976 Dartmouth grad who has written frequently about Big Green football. Find the column here.
Brown grad-turned-Penn State coach Bill O'Brien is calling walk-on players at Penn State "run-ons" because, in their desire to impress, it would seem they don't walk anywhere. Among the "run ons" O'Brien will welcome next year will be two quarterbacks who might be of interest to Ivy League followers.
One is DJ Crook, a product of Barnstable HS on Cape Cod who played last fall at Worcester Academy. From a story in the Cape Cod Times (italics are mine):
Crook said he was also considering Albany, Villanova, Dartmouth and Penn.
The same story notes that another "run-on" quarterback who will be joining O'Brien's program is Austin Whipple from Salisbury School in Connecticut. Whipple is the son of former Brown quarterback and coach Mark Whipple, currently the quarterbacks coach for the Cleveland Browns. Whipple (who played his high school football in Western PA before prepping for a year) and Salisbury outdueled Dartmouth recruit Jonathan DiBiaso and Phillips Exeter for the NEPSAC championship last month in a battle of previously unbeaten teams.
Both "run ons" can take hope from the achievements of former Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin, who this year set Penn State records for most career touchdown passes, single-season passing yards and completions in a season. Of course, Penn State is bringing in a very highly regarded quarterback recruit in Christian Hackenberg, and in an unusual move also recruited a junior college quarterback named Tyler Ferguson. (Lest you think Ivy Leaguer O'Brien is compromising his educational values, Ferguson had a 3.3 GPA in high school and went to the JUCO route to improve his football chances ;-)
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With the annual early decision recruiting story posted on BGA earlier this week and recruiting interest building, you are wondering about Signing Day and the National Letter of Intent, aren't you? Aren't you? If you are, check out the NLI information page here. Interesting stuff . . . even if the Ivy League doesn't use the Letter of Intent ;-)
The Dartmouth Early Decision class was posted on Green Alert last night and includes two names not mentioned earlier. Add to the list of previously identified recruits 6-foot-3, 270-pound offensive lineman David Morrison of Shaker High School in Latham, N.Y. And 6-4, 240 defensive end Zach Shank of Liberty High School in Olentangy, Ohio. Morrison was an Albany Times Union All-Area Large School pick and helped his team to the No. 3 ranking in New York last fall. Find a story about him here. Shank earned all-conference and all-district mention. Find his highlight video here. The Confirmed ED Class Lucas Bavaro, safety, St. John's Prep, Danvers, Mass. Jonathan Dibiaso, quarterback, Phillips Exeter/Everett, Mass. Alex Gakenheimer, kicker, Charlotte Country Day, Charlotte, N.C. Ben Kepley, punter, Charlotte Country Day, Charlotte, N.C. Danny McManus, defensive back/athlete, St. Thomas Academy, Mendota, Minn. David Morrison, offensive lineman, Shaker HS, N.Y. Graydon Peterson, long snapper, Whitefish Bay HS, Minn. Zach Shank, defensive end, Olentangy Liberty HS, Ohio Jacob Siwicki, tailback, Northfield Mount Hermon, Mass. Expressing interest in walking on Chris Aguemon, defensive back, Heritage HS, Leesburg, Va. Cannon Wille, linebacker, Colorado Springs St. Mary's HS, Colo. Found another highlight video of Siwicki:
Former Dartmouth defensive end Malcolm Freberg '09 gave it the old college try on the TV reality show Survivor but came up short of the pot of gold. Freberg told Entertainment Weekly:
You lose a football game, you don’t hate the other quarterback that beat you, but you hate that you lost. So I’m cool with the people, but the situation is rough, I’m not Jeff Kent with a World Series to play for. I got my chance to play Survivor and came up 24 hours short.
Freberg, who has been tending bar in Los Angeles, may be putting his Ivy League education to work soon. He told HitFlx:
I'm talking with a few people and starting at the beginning of next year, I'm hopefully going to be doing a tutoring program in Central L.A. working with under-privileged kids, without getting teaching credentials, getting back into working with kids.
(Thanks to emailers who sent along notes about how the TV series turned out because, um, I've never watched a second of it ;-)
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Harvard quarterback Colton Chapple and defensive end John Lyon will be playing in the FCS Scout Bowl Saturday in Myrtle Beach, SC. link
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Some of his Kansas City Chiefs teammates call him "Nasty Nate" Eachus. Legendary Syracuse columnist Bud Poliquin writes about the former Colgate great who Dartmouth somehow never saw in the backfield during the series between the teams. Eachus discusses what it's like to move up from the FCS to the NFL here, and talks about the tragedy in Kansas City and his relationship with Jovan Belcher here.
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Should Kids Play Football? That's the headline of this piece by New York Times op-ed columnist Joe Nocera.
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Hope to have a look at Dartmouth's Early Decision class on BGA Premium tonight.
A look at some football numbers . . . Five-Year Ivy League Records 1. Harvard 29-6 1. Penn 29-6 3. Brown 23-12 4. Yale 16-19 5. Dartmouth 13-22 6. Princeton 11-24 7. Columbia 10-25 8. Cornell 9-26
Three-Year Overall Records 1. Harvard 17-4 1. Penn 17-4 3. Brown 13-8 4. Dartmouth 11-10 5. Yale 10-11 6. Cornell 6-15 7. Columbia 5-16 7. Princeton 5-16
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Cornell coach Ken Austin has punted the Big Red after three years in favor of returning to the Canadian Football League as vice president of football operations, general manager and head football coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Austin, who won four Grey Cups in the CFL as a quarterback and as a coach, leaves Cornell after posting a 6-15 Ivy League record and an 11-19 overall mark. The Ithaca Journal has a story. Austin becomes the third three-year coach at Cornell since Jim Hofher's successful tenure. The Cornell coaching carousel: 1990-1997 Jim Hofher - 8 seasons, 45-35 1998-2000 Pete Mangurian - 3 seasons, 16-14 2001-2003 Tim Pendergast - 3 seasons, 7-22 2004-2009 Jim Knowles - 6 seasons, 26-34 2010-2012 Kent Austin - 3 seasons, 11-19
A look at some football numbers . . . Five-Year Overall Records
1. Harvard 40-10
2. Penn 34-16
3. Brown 33-17
4. Yale 24-26 5. Dartmouth 19-31
6. Cornell 17-33
7. Princeton 15-35
8. Columbia 14-36
A still from Charlie Rose's interview with Jeff Immelt '78
Click here to watch Charlie Rose's interview this week with former Dartmouth offensive tackle Jeff Immelt '78, CEO of General Electric. The interview runs 53 minutes. As a senior Immelt was the winner of the Dartmouth football program's Earl Hamilton Varsity Award.
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Linebackers Garrett Wymore and Michael Runger are two of the 10 Big Green athletes who have been named to the fall Academic All-Ivy League team for their performance on the field and in the classroom. From the Dartmouth release:
Senior Garrett Wymore (Palos Verdes Peninsula, Calif.), an economics and neuroscience double major, was eighth on the squad in tackles, registering at least one tackle in each game this fall, and had four tackles for a loss for a total of 47 yards. Teammate Michael Runger (Lisle, Ill.) is a junior economics major and a first-team All-Ivy selection. Runger led the Dartmouth defense with an Ivy League-best 98 tackles and recorded 17 tackles in the win at Princeton, the most by an Ivy League player all season.
Northfield Mount Hermon coach John Walsh has Tweeted that 6-foot, 220-pound running back Jacob Siwicki has committed to Dartmouth. Siwicki is listed as a 2012 NMH graduate.
Siwicki previously played at Upper Saint Clair High School near Pittsburgh and DeMatha Catholic in Maryland. An August 2011 story in the Easthampton Star details his travels before NMH. Check out his Scout.com page.
Click here for a recruiting page from when he was at DeMatha.
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Also, the Colorado Springs Gazette reports that Cannon Wille, who played linebacker at St. Mary's HS in the Springs, is headed to Dartmouth next fall. He was a member of the 2A Tri-Peaks League first team. link
Add Brian Fordon, a 6-foot-2, 215 outside linebacker from Providence Catholic HS in New Lenox, Ill., to the Dartmouth recruiting class according to Rivals' wonderfully named EdgyTim affiliate in Illinois (which surprisingly spells a certain college Darthmouth throughout its report.) Thanks for the link.
MaxPreps' numbers aren't complete but they showed Fordon leading PC with 7.7 tackles per game and two sacks. He was a Chicago Tribune All-State special mention.
Here's the best guess at Dartmouth's early decision recruiting class per what has appeared on the Internet and a couple of emails:
•Chris Aguemon, defensive back, Heritage HS, Leesburg, Va.
•Lucas Bavaro, safety, St. John's Prep, Danvers, Mass.
•Houston Brown, wide receiver, The Woodlands, The Woodlands, Texas
•Jonathan Dibiaso, quarterback, Phillips Exeter/Everett, Mass.
•Brian Fordon, linebacker, Providence Catholic, New Lenox, Ill.
•Alex Gakenheimer, kicker, Charlotte Country Day, Charlotte, N.C.
•Ben Kepley, punter, Charlotte Country Day, Charlotte, N.C.
•Danny McManus, defensive back/athlete, St. Thomas Academy, Mendota, Minn.
•Graydon Peterson, long snapper, Whitefish Bay HS, Minn.
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The Denton Record-Chronicle down in Texas writes about quarterback Dalyn Williams earning Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors at Dartmouth. The story includes the following quote from Big Green coach Buddy Teevens about the challenge of recruiting quarterbacks when he already has a freshman QB who was the Ivy rookie of the year and a sophomore QB who was having a terrific year and might have gone on to break the school record for completion percentage before being hurt:
“Guys that are worried about competition, they’ll opt out to pursue other schools. Guys that are confident in their abilities and aren’t hesitant in willingness to compete, they still have an interest. We’re in a pretty good situation right now.”
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Should have mentioned this yesterday but 12/12/12 was the ever-patient Mrs. BGA's birthday. Happy Birthday!
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Dartmouth Now has a story about what students who are on campus for the six-week break are doing. That Certain '14 has been working in the Earth Sciences department and today is out doing field work in a stream in 22-degree weather. Brrr.
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And finally, while his sister has been home since before Thanksgiving, That Certain Nittany Lion Freshman is wrapping up his final week of classes and begins exams Monday. While he's envious of his sister now, things will change. His summer break begins no later than May 3 while her exams don't end until June 3.
If you are like us and don't have so-called premium channels on your TV you might have missed the 2008 film Harvard Beats Yale 29-29. The good news is it is available for free on Hulu, "with limited commercial interruption." I watched it last weekend and found it to be a terrific look at an unbelievable game played amid the turmoil of the late 1960s. Watch the film at this link.
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Speaking of great rivalries, the 150th Lehigh-Lafayette (or is it Lafayette-Lehigh?) game – AKA The Rivalry – will be played at Yankee Stadium in 2014. The always thought-provoking Lehigh Football Nation blog has a story.
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Be careful what you wish for. UMass is taking look at its decision to join the FBS. Turns out the first year wasn't just challenging on the field (1-11 record, outscored 40.2-12.7) and in the stands (10,901 average attendance at the New England Patriots' Gillette Stadium) but also in the pocketbook. Masslive has a story.
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Of course, there's a reason why UMass made the jump. From a New York Times story earlier this week about the IMG Intercollegiate Athletics Forum held in Manhattan:
Did you know . . . that college football was the top-rated program on four of the five Saturday nights that it aired in 2012? That consumers spent more than $4.5 billion on college sports merchandise in 2011? That more than 20 million college sports fans earn $100,000 a year?
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Caught SportsCenter's Top 10 plays this morning and wasn't at all surprised that eight of the 10 plays were dunks. One or two, OK. But eight of 10?
The College’s early decision applicant pool decreased by 12.5 percent from last year, dropping to 1,574 applications for the Class of 2017, while the number of students offered admission remained stable at 464 students . . .
Athletes make up almost 30 percent of the early decision class according to The D, which notes that "students accepted in the early decision pool must confirm their spot in the Class of 2017 by Dec. 21."
There are three potential Ivy League recruits on the Chicago Tribune All-State second team with two mentioned as having interest in, or from, Dartmouth.
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The Sports Network has announced its All-America team and while it's certainly noteworthy to make any of the various All-America teams, this one carries a little more weight. Or perhaps should. Notables:
Second Team
Quarterback - Gavin McCarney, Colgate
Tight end - Kyle Juszczyk, Harvard
All-Purpose - Tyler Varga, Yale
Defensive Tackle - Caraun Reid, Princeton
Third Team
Running Back - Jordan McCord, Colgate
Offensive Line - Ryan Risch, Colgate
Offensive Line - JC Tretter, Cornell
Defensive End - Mike Catapano, Princeton
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That mystery postseason all-star game Princeton defensive end Mike Catapano was selected for is . . . the envelope please . . . the East-West Shrine Game. Find a release about his selection here.
From an Associated Press story dated last night regarding the NHL and a possible return to the bargaining table:
"Trying to set up something for this week, but nothing finalized yet," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly wrote Sunday in an email to The Associated Press.
The emailer would be Bill Daly '86, a former running back at Dartmouth.
As a senior Daly carried 62 times for 224 yards and two touchdowns, had eight catches for 81 yards and a touchdown and returned six kickoffs for 98 yards.
Canada's National Post had a 20-question Q&A with Daly two years ago that began with this question:
It’s a late fall day 25 years ago, you’re up 13-0 on Columbia when you get the ball. What do you do?
A Nov. 28 story in The Woodlands Villager in Texas reports that 6-foot-1, 175-pound wide receiver Houston Brown. . .
". . . committed to Dartmouth a few weeks ago after a convincing summer visit. Houston said playing college ball was a goal since he was a child, but academics were important, as he hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps as an engineer."
If the math is correct, Brown caught 46 passes for 765 yards and nine touchdowns this fall for The Woodlands, which finished 8-4. He averaged 16.7 yards per catch with a long TD of 73 yards. He was a member of the All-District first team and the All-District Academic team.
Find his Hudl page with highlights here and his ESPN recruiting page here.
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Dartmouth and Yale are in the running for Michael Carlson, a 6-2, 215 safety from Bellevue, Wash., according to Northwest Prep Report. He also has offers from Montana, Montana State and Portland State according to Scout.com and ESPN.
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No word yet on where he'll be going to school but kicker Wyatt Schmidt, brother of four-year Dartmouth kicker Foley Schmidt '12, has been named not only to the Minnesota all-state first team, but as the winner of the 2012 Herbalife 24 Chris Sailer Award as the national kicker of the year. He tied the Minnesota State record in September with four field goals in a game.
A 6-foot-3, 210 linebacker as well as a kicker, Schmidt is also a talented ice hockey player who has drawn interest from several Ivies for his play on the ice.
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The unofficial Dartmouth recruit list so far:
•Chris Aguemon, defensive back, Heritage HS, Leesburg, Va.
•Lucas Bavaro, safety, St. John's Prep, Danvers, Mass.
•Houston Brown, wide receiver, The Woodlands, The Woodlands, Texas
•Jonathan Dibiaso, quarterback, Phillips Exeter/Everett, Mass.
•Alex Gakenheimer, kicker, Charlotte Country Day, Charlotte, N.C.
•Ben Kepley, punter, Charlotte Country Day, Charlotte, N.C.
•Danny McManus, defensive back/athlete, St. Thomas Academy, Mendota, Minn.
•Graydon Peterson, long snapper, Whitefish Bay HS, Wis.
If Pinterest and Twitter have it correct, add to the list of incoming Dartmouth football players Chris Aguemon, a 5-foot-9, 180 senior at Heritage High School in Leesburg, Va. Although he played outside linebacker in high school, the guess here is he'll end up in the secondary in Hanover. He is listed with 42 solo tackles and 24 assists last year with 21 tackles for a loss and one interception.
• Harvard tight end Kyle Juszczyk
• Princeton defensive lineman Caraun Reid
• Brown corner AJ Cruz
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Went to the Christmas tree lighting on the Green in Hanover last evening. It's interesting. It's the Dartmouth Green when school is in session and the Hanover Green when it's not ;-)
Top returning receivers next fall for each Ivy League team ranked by number of catches last year – with catches, yards, touchdowns and yards per catch:
Columbia
Sophomore Connor Nelligan - 62-636-0-10.3 ypc Cornell
Junior Grant Gellatly - 61-940-5-15.4 Yale
Junior Cameron Sandquist - 55-597-2-10.9 Penn
Junior Conner Scott - 52-691-5-13.3 Dartmouth
Sophomore Ryan McManus - 42-664-2-15.8 Harvard
Junior Cameron Brate - 41-592-6-14.4 Brown*
Junior Jordan Evans - 40-452-2-11.3 Princeton
Junior Roman Wilson - 37-649-5-17.5
* Expected to petition for a fifth year is Brown's Tellef Lundevall, who had 72-718-3-10.0 last year.
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The Beyond Sports College Network (BSN) has named 36 first-team All-Americans, 35 second-teamers, 35 third-teamers and 38 honorable-mention picks. Rather than take the easy way out and name those few who were not picked, here are the Ivy Leaguers who were:
First
Tight End Kyle Juszczyk, Harvard
Second
Tight End Cameron Brate, Harvard
Quarterback Colton Chapple, Harvard
Defensive Tackle Caraun Reid, Princeton
Third
Defensive End Mike Catapano, Princeton
Wide Receiver Luke Trasker, Cornell
Offesive Tackle JC Tretter, Cornell
Honorable Mention
Defensive Back AJ Cruz, Brown
Athlete (read: running back) Tyler Varga, Yale
HANOVER – The Dartmouth junior varsity football team finished 2-1 this fall with wins over a combined Middlebury varsity/junior varsity (21-14), and Williams (21-10). After the Harvard game was scrapped because of a player shortage, the Big Green closed out the abbreviated schedule with a 21-6 loss to Bridgton. All three games were played on Memorial Field.
There also was a non-tackling passing scrimmage with Norwich.
Freshman Kyle Bramble led the running backs with 28 carries for 228 yards, an 8.14-yard average. He played in just two jayvee games after beginning the season as a varsity kick returner.
Freshman Thomas Militello completed 30-of-57 passes (52.7 percent) for 151 yards with three touchdowns and one pick, getting most of the snaps at quarterback. His passing efficiency was 88.74.
Freshman Daniel Gorman topped the receivers with eight catches for 167 yards, a 20.88 average per. Like Bramble, he did all his damage in two games after playing just one snap in the opener against Middlebury. Junior Clay Robbins also had eight catches for 103 yards (12.88 ypc) with a touchdown.
Junior lacrosse player-turned-defensive back Evan Bloom led the defense with 24 tackles while freshman linebacker Zach Slafsky and sophomore linebacker Ben Ticknor each had 20.
By now you've probably read that as a result of a retroactive drug test snaring the narrow winner, former Dartmouth football player Adam Nelson '97 is in line to have one of his Olympic silver medals in the shot put upgraded to gold. From the New York Times:
While driving to the Atlanta airport on Wednesday, Adam Nelson may have won a gold medal in the shot-put at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
A little Nelson background for newcomers to the blog. . . . Nelson came to Dartmouth as a linebacker but switched to the defensive line as a senior. He finished with 18 tackles on the undefeated 1996 Ivy League championship team that held six of 10 opponents to a touchdown or less. . . . He had 18 tackles as a junior and 22 as a sophomore. . . . He was the first freshman to play for Dartmouth when first-year eligibility was restored in the Ivy League in the 1993 season.
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The Trenton Times has a story about Princeton corner Khamal Brown's life being saved by emergency brain surgery in early October. From the story:
While teammates and even Khamal Brown himself thought he had suffered a concussion during football practice, it was actually the rupturing of the AVM, a cluster of veins and arteries about the size of a large grape, that caused the confusion and lethargy he felt as he staggered off the field.
Also from the story:
(Neurosurgeon Mandy) Binning said Brown was likely born with the rare condition, which affects 300,000 people in the United States. Some never know they have it. Others are diagnosed after they experience seizures or bleeding in the brain, like Brown.
Binning said the renewed awareness of the dangers of concussions on the football field probably helped save Brown’s life.
Brown is the third Princeton football player in four years to face a life-threatening condition. Chuck Dibilio suffered a stroke last winter after rushing for more than 1,000 yards as a freshman. And fellow running back Jordan Culbreath was diagnosed with aplastic anemia in 2009 after winning the Ivy League rushing title the year before.
A current Princeton Alumni Weekly story reports Dibilio is making good progress. From the story:
Dibilio has high hopes for a return to football in 2013. Since the summer, he has been exercising without restrictions, and his primary physician recently cleared him for full contact. (Princeton coach Bob) Surace said that the University is committed to putting Dibilio’s health first, and there will be no pressure for him to return to the field.
Culbreath's story was widely documented, including in the New York Times.
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That Certain '14 worked yesterday as a "gofer" for the NBC Sports Network, which broadcast Dartmouth's 4-2 ice hockey win over Vermont last night. She was fetching this and that and doing all manner of other chores from about 8:30 a.m. until about 9:30 p.m. She hiked 12,000-foot peaks in the fall on Dartmouth's Stretch Program and runs 5-6-7-8 miles a day training for track and cross country, but when she got home last night the kid was out on her feet beat. Oh yeah. And not at all interested in a career in the production side of TV sports ;-)
Given that one of the main priorities for Dartmouth next fall will be getting quarterback pressure off the ends it is informative that Las Vegas Sun has 6-foot-2, 230-pound defensive end Jake Smirk with offers from Dartmouth and Colorado State prior to the 2012 season. The Sun page also has a short video where you can learn a little more about him.
ESPN recruiting and Scout both list Dartmouth and Colorado State among Smirk's suitors while Yahoo tosses Cornell and Georgetown into the mix.
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Top Returning Ivy League Rushers By School: Brown
Cody Taulbee 215 yards/23.9 ypg/4.3 ypc Columbia
Marcorus Garrett 957 yards/95.7 ypg/4.6 ypc Cornell
Luke Hagy 528 yards/52.8 ypg/4.5 ypc Dartmouth
Dominick Pierre 830 yards/92.2 ypg/5.0 ypc Harvard
Paul Stanton 171 yards/21.4 ypg/6.1 ypc Penn*
Spencer Kulcsar 91 yards/10.1 ypg/6.1 ypc Princeton
Will Powers 455 yards/45.5 ypg/4.0 ypc Yale
Tyler Varga 935 yards/116.9 ypg/5.5 ypc
* Penn'sLyle Marsh can petition for a fifth year. His numbers: 515 yards/51.5 ypg/5.4 ypc Penn's Billy Ragone also can petition for another year. His numbers: 476/47.6 ypg/4.2 ypc
Harvard's Zach Boden (484 yards/48.4 ypg/6.1 ypc in 2011) and Princeton's Chuck Dibilio (1,068 yards/106.8 ypg/5.3 ypc in 2011) may also return after missing last season.
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The No. 10 Dartmouth men's ice hockey team (6-2-2) plays host to Vermont (3-7-3) at 7 tonight at Thompson Arena in a game to be televised nationally on the NBC Sports Network. (A reminder that the NBC Sports Network is not regular NBC, but an affiliated station. Check your local listings.)
OK, write this down and put it where you can find it so you can save some bucks by booking your air travel early ;-)
Dartmouth's spring game is scheduled for Saturday, May 4, during freshman parents weekend. The spring game is usually played in late morning. In case you are wondering, that's 151 days away. A few other countdowns:
126 days until the first spring practice (Apr. 9)
265 days until players from more than 500 miles away check in (Aug. 26)
291 days until the opener at Butler (Sept. 21)
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Jay Greenberg has a story about Ivy League defensive player of the year Mike Catapano on his fine Princeton football blog. Catapano reports:
". . . I have one All-Star Game coming up.
Can’t say which one because the roster isn’t announced yet. But I think I’m the only player from the FCS at this one, so it’s my chance to compete against the LSUs and Alabamas.
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Speaking of which, Cornell confirms yesterday's report that Big Red offensive lineman JC Tretter is headed for the Senior Bowl in late January. Find a story here.
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This is kind of a fun one. Dartmouth Now has a blurb about Philip Hanlon's announcement as the next Dartmouth president being splashed on the big screen overlooking Times Square in New York City. To see the photo and read a little background, click here.
Harvard quarterback Colton Chapple and Princeton defensive end Mike Catapano have been named the Ivy League offensive and defensive players of the year. Neither is a surprise.
From the release:
Chapple (Alpharetta, Ga.) finished the regular season as the second-rated passer in the country with a rating of 161.51. He achieved Harvard single-season records for total offense (3,169 yards) and touchdown passes with 24, surpassing the previous high-water mark of 18.
Also:
(Catapano) led the Ivy League with 12 sacks and ended the regular season ranked second in the Football Championship Subdivision with 1.2 sacks per game. He ranked second in the Ivy League in tackles for loss with 15.5, which was only a half tackle off the League lead, and ranked ninth nationally in that category.
The Ivy League offensive and defensive Bushnell Cup winners will be announced today during a press conference at New York's Waldorf Astoria hotel slated to run from noon-1:30 p.m. with the presentation scheduled to begin at 12:30. According to an Ivy League release you should be able to watch the presentation live at this link.
Vying for the offensive award are quarterbacks Colton Chapple of Harvard and Jeff Mathews of Cornell.
Bidding for the defensive award are defensive end Mike Catapano of Princeton and corner (and return specialist) AJ Cruz of Brown.
According to Scout.com, Army, Air force, Wyoming and Dartmouth have made offers to Calvin Chandler, a 6-foot-2 outside linebacker/wide receiver from Bellarmine Prep in Tacoma, Wash. A password-protected story on Scout.com had this teaser last Monday:
Tacoma (Wash.) Bellarmine Prep athlete Calvin Chandler talked about a new offer from Dartmouth.
The New York Times had an interesting story spun out of a Social Science Quarterly study regarding the hiring and firing of college football coaches. Here's the kicker:
The results, tracked over a five-year period following the coaching changes, might surprise many. The lowliest teams subsequently performed about the same as other struggling teams that did not replace their coach. Mediocre teams — those that won about half their games in the year before a coaching change — performed worse than similar teams that did not replace their coach.
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A few games of note from the second round of the FCS playoffs . . .
No surprise that Wofford's unique option run game piled up 454 yards with Eric Breitenstein, a finalist for the Payton Award, racking up 247. The surprise was that the high-octane UNH offense did not score and managed just 238 yards. The only Wildcat points came on a fumble return.
Old Dominion 63, Coastal Carolina 35
Former Dartmouth assistant Joe Moglia's team was tied, 35-35, late in the third period before FBS-bound ODU went on a rampage. (ODU is scheduled to join Conference USA - if it still exists by then - in 2015.)
Eastern Washington 29, Wagner 19
Wagner carried a 19-14 lead deep into the fourth quarter and was within a field goal until the final five minutes on EWU's garish red turf as the Northeast Conference champions showed well against the tournament's second seed. At least the top of the NEC apparently has arrived.
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Dartmouth never saw the best of shifty New Hampshire tailback Chad Kackert, who saw limited action because of injury in just two of the Wildcats' four games with the Big Green before he graduated in 2010. Maybe that was a good thing for the Ivy Leaguers. Kackert last week was named the MVP of the Canadian Football League's Grey Cup, the Super Bowl north of the border. He earned the award by running 20 times for 133 yards and catching eight passes for 62 yards in Toronto's 35-22 win over Calgary in the 100th Grey Cup.
Yesterday's blog gave several hints that the column in our local paper about Harvard withdrawing from the Ivy League was facetious.
First there was the headline that read Unbelievable Breaking News. (Italics are mine.)
Then there was the mention of the new conference. North East Royal Division. (Read NERD.)
And there were links to two of the most hilarious hoaxes of all time, Kim Jong Un being the sexiest man alive, and fictitious fireballer Sidd Finch. Perhaps I should have included the Plainfield Teacher's College.
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It's not football news but it's Dartmouth recruiting news with a football angle of sorts, thanks to a reader with eagle eyes. Moriah Morton of nearby Lebanon has accepted a recruiting offer to throw the javelin at Dartmouth according to a post on the New Hampshire Notebook site. She also hopes to walk onto the basketball team.
Morton is the daughter of former All-Ivy League wide receiver Craig Morton '89, still perhaps the most exciting player I ever saw in a Big Green uniform. Playing freshman football (before four-year eligibility) he caught 21 passes for 718 yards – a mind-blowing 34.2 yards per catch – with nine touchdowns in six games. As a sophomore on the varsity playing before numbers became skewed by spread offenses, he caught 44 balls for a then school-record 1,063 yards. He averaged 24.2 yards per grab with 10 touchdowns, including a 98-yarder against Columbia.
Morton went on to be the rare Ivy League wide receiver to earn an invitation to the NFL Combine. Morton opted not to pursue pro football in his first year after graduation before eventually playing in NFL Europe. Click here to what he's doing these days.
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Speaking of Ivy Leaguers getting invitations to show what they can do, various unofficial sources are reporting that Cornell offensive lineman JC Tretter has been invited to the Senior Bowl. Tretter is a 6-foot-4, 300-pound guard. He was a unanimous All-Ivy pick this fall.
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Old friend New Hampshire, which will reappear on the Dartmouth schedule in 2014 and 2016 to fulfill a contractual obligation, plays at Wofford this afternoon in the NCAA playoffs. Both teams are 8-3. The No. 11 Wildcats are making their ninth consecutive trip to the playoffs, the longest streak in the nation. Find a story here.
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Morgan State football coach Donald Hill-Eley, who had not been told there was a change coming, was unintentionally on the receiving end of an email suggesting he was about to be replaced. Oops. From the Baltimore Sun:
The e-mail, originally written by Kevin Banks, Morgan's vice president for student affairs, said the last year of Hill-Eley's contract would be honored and made reference to a possible reassignment within the university.
It laid out a schedule that would have the university interviewing potential replacements by mid-December and announcing a new coach by early January.
