Phooey

The plan all along was to be on campus last night to grab a few pictures and thoughts from old friend Kevin Demoff '99, the St. Louis Rams executive vice president of football operations and chief operating officer, and former safety Tony Pastoors '10, the team's senior assistant of player personnel. The pair were speaking at Floren Varsity House with students interested in pursuing a career in sports. (For a story I freelanced on Pastoors during his senior year, click here.)

Unfortunately, while I was looking forward to seeing Kevin and Tony, Mother Nature had other ideas. You see, up here on the shoulder of Moose Mountain it snowed all day yesterday. With the wind howling and a little wintry mix added in it figured to be quite a challenge driving the eight miles into town. Only later did I learn that down in town the roads were nothing more than wet, and once (if?) I got safely off the mountain the drive would have been easy. Oh well.

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A quick follow on the passing of former football great John Clayton '51. As this story notes, he also was a member of the original Dartmouth rugby team playing standoff, the rugby equivalent of quarterback. (Thanks for the link.)

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This is a very short (1:51) clip with Harvard '69 Tommy Lee Jones that I found on the Harvard website. It's well worth watching for the kicker at the end.

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From the Columbia website:

Seniors Sean Brackett, Ryan Murphy and Josh Martin will be working out at Columbia's own Pro Day! Set for April 2, at Noon, the three seniors will do drills and run the 40 in front of NFL scouts at Robert K. Kraft Field.

Brackett is a quarterback, Murphy a linebacker and Martin a defensive lineman.

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Did you see that two of the most prominent college teams in the nation now have made scholarship offers to – wait for it – an eighth grader? From the Times-Picayune:

University Lab eighth-grader Dylan Moses, who already has a 34-inch vertical jump and runs the 40-yard dash in 4.46 seconds, continues to exceed high expectations. 

And he and his family aren't necessarily surprised to receive scholarship offers from some of college football's top programs like Alabama and LSU.

The kid is 6-foot-1 and 215 pounds and while his numbers are unbelievable this is yet another example that big-time college sports are out of control.

Koop And Football

After hearing from a loyal reader who reminded me about the football part of the story, I hit the library and pulled together a few excerpts from Koop: The Memoirs of America's Family Doctor, the 1993 book by C. Everett Koop '37, the former U.S. Surgeon General who died this week at age 96.

Regarding his high school career Koop wrote:

The teachers encouraged me to try new things. I loved the athletic opportunities, especially football. Although the tiny school could barely field a football 11 my senior year our team remained unbeaten, untied and even unscored upon in our division in New York City thanks to several ringers. I joined the wrestling team but made the terrible mistake of pinning the coach.

He wrote this about a scary injury that would end his career after he'd been named to the first team – but before he'd played a game:

On defense I was playing roving center, and the opportunity came to intercept a short pass, just as (coach Red) Blaik had seen me practice. I snagged the pass, found a hole in the line, and must have run about 10 yards before I was hit by two very vicious tacklers. I was knocked out cold. I don't really know how long it was, but my friends told me I was on the ground for several minutes. When I tried to walk to the sidelines I realized that my shoulder was extraordinarily sore. More disturbing, something strange happened to my vision. I was seeing two of everything, a second image superimposed on the first, somewhat to the right and above it.

And . . .

The double vision was strange. When I woke up in the morning, it was very severe, and the two images were separated widely. By sheer effort of concentration, I could pull the two images together and hold them there, a feat I later learned I was able to do by tightening the six extraocular muscles around each eye. Throughout the day, as I got more and more tired, it became harder and harder to hold the images together, especially when reading. By the time I was ready for bed, the two images were as widely separated as they were when I woke in the morning.

Encouraged by a professor to consider his options if he wanted to be a surgeon, Koop gave up the game. From the book:

I don't think Dartmouth football suffered much from my absence. Instead, Dartmouth got a very fine center, Carl 'Mutt' Ray, who inspired team for the next three years, especially when in 1936 Dartmouth finally broke the "Yale Jinx" to pull off the great football victory during my college career.

Koop would suffer from some degree of double vision the rest of his life. From the book:

My wife thinks it's quite humorous that I managed to be such a successful pediatric surgeon and had the confidence of so many patients' parents for so many years, when all the time I had double vision.

Koop: The Memoirs of America's Family Doctor, is available here.

For a 2.5-page transcript of Koop's football story that, among other things, explains how poorly his decision to give up the game was received by Blaik and others around the program, click here.

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A helpful reader has sent along a note regarding the passing of former Dartmouth football great John Clayton '51. The note points out that John's granddaughter, Ellie Clayton, is a senior on the Dartmouth women's lacrosse team and that she made what might have been her first career start in last weekend's win at Oregon. Find her bio here.

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A note in today's local daily regarding Dartmouth's 13-8 win over Vermont in men's lacrosse reports that while defensive lineman Teddy Reed is playing lacrosse this spring as a senior, kicker RC Willenbrock, who came to Dartmouth has a lacrosse player, is no longer with the squad.

Among those who turned out to watch at least some of the game yesterday was sophomore quarterback Alex Park, who said he's fully recovered from the shoulder/rib injury that cost him the starting job late last season and is eager to get going again this spring.

A True Friend of Football

John Clayton
(Dartmouth photo)

Re-reading the obit for John Clayton '51 in today's local daily, two paragraphs are particularly worth reproducing here:

In 1947, John graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., where he excelled at football, basketball, and baseball. After high school, John headed to Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. A standout quarterback for the Big Green, “Johnny” Clayton received the prestigious George Bulger Lowe Award as New England’s top college football player, and was chosen to play in the 1950 East-West Shrine All-Star game. In an era of limited passing, his 2,227 career passing yards topped Dartmouth’s record charts; he remains 16th on those charts today.

And . . .

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in John’s name to the Dartmouth Football Mentors Program, c/o Friends of Dartmouth Football, 6083 Alumni Gym, Hanover, N.H 03755.

Going With the Flow

Teddy Reed
(Courtesy of Dartmouth)

This one caught me by surprise although I might have seen it coming. Graduating senior defensive lineman Teddy Reed has taken his game from the gridiron to the Dartmouth lacrosse field. In addition to his football prowess, the 6-foot-4, 280-pound defenseman was an All-Eastern Massachusettslax  all-star and All-Cape Ann League lacrosse player. Check out his lacrosse bio here.

Reed, chosen to the College Sports Madness All-Ivy third team prior to last football season, finished the year with 27 tackles and was second on the squad with 3.5 tackles for loss and second with 2.5 sacks.

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Also on the lacrosse roster is junior Evan Bloom, who proved to be a ballhawking defensive back with the junior varsity football team last fall.

Dartmouth, which dropped its opener at home against Colgate on Saturday, 13-10, plays host to Vermont this afternoon.

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Among the names floated on the message boards when Cornell was looking for a head football coach after the departure of Kent Austin for the CFL was that of Jim Hofher, a 1979 Big Red alum and the most successful Cornell coach since Jack Musick in the late '60's and early '70s. One of the questions surrounding Hofher was, could Cornell afford him? Following his stint at Cornell (45-35 overall, 33-23 Ivy from 1990-'97) he'd been an assistant at North Carolina and Syracuse and then head coach at Buffalo for five years. His most recent stop was at Delaware, which he left to become assistant head coach and receivers coach at Nevada.

The Reno Gazette-Journal reports that Hofher will be paid a relatively modest $131,225 next year.

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Princeton has announced that it will be holding its "Pro Day" on March 20. (link)

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Dartmouth alum and Hanover resident C. Everett Koop has died at age 96. Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine referred to Koop as America's Family Doctor in a story about his passing and ABC News called him the "Rock Star" surgeon general. The New York Times has an exhaustive look at one of the giants of our time.

Koop, by the way, used to own a little red farmhouse here on the shoulder of Moose Mountain. We still refer to it as "the Koop House."

Super Showing

Snapped this quick shot of Memorial Field on Thursday.
Several spring teams have used the field for practice.

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A sweet letter to the editor in our local daily newspaper under the headline, Super Bowl Treat at Richmond School:

The Richmond Middle School Student Council along with the rest of the school would like to sincerely thank Dartmouth football running back Cody Patch and quarterback Alex Park for their willingness to participate in our Super Bowl week. Our physical education teacher, Ms. Patch, invited the team to help teach Richmond Middle School students the basics of football, play touch football with us and answer questions about themselves, Dartmouth and football. It was a very fun and exciting experience to have these two at our school, and we would like to express our gratitude. 

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In what should be a surprise to no one, Dartmouth junior Abbey D'Agostino was the Most Outstanding Track Performer among the women at the indoor Heps over the weekend. From Hepstrack.com:

The Most Outstanding Track Performer for women was Dartmouth super junior Abbey D’Agostino, who broke both the Championships’ mile and 5k records. She shaved more than 11 seconds off the mile mark, finishing in 4:32.42. She also paced four others under the old mark of Cack Ferrell of Princeton in 2006. Her 15:47.02 in the 5k washed away Caroline Bierbaum’s record set for Columbia in 2005.

The Unofficial List

With the addition of tight end Blake Orvis, this is the best guess of the recruiting class. As always, heights, weights and perhaps most significantly, positions, are speculative. Whether a new name means another name should be dropped is unknown and likely will remain unknown until the official announcement of the class in late spring. In the meantime this is the best guess at who is headed this way. (Corrections and updates invited.)

OFFENSE
Quarterback
Jonathan Dibiaso, 6-1, 195, Phillips Exeter/Everett, Mass.
Running Back
Abrm McQuarters, 5-10, 185, Cascia Hall, Okla.
Jacob Siwicki, 6-0, 220, Northfield Mount Hermon, Mass.
Wide Receiver
Houston Brown 6-2, 175, The Woodlands HS, Texas
Jon Marc Carrier, 5-11, 165, Steinbrenner HS, Fla.
Joseph Cook, 6-4, 185, Bishop Amat HS, Calif.
Charlie Miller, 6-1, 180, Totino Grace HS, Minn.
Chris Warren, n/a The Woodlands, Texas
Tight End
Peter Eggert, 6-4, 227, Laguna Hills HS, Calif.

Blake Orvis, 6-3, 225, Boone HS, Fla.
Offensive Line
Zach Davis, 6-5, 290, Lake Havasu HS, Ariz.
Mike Langman, 6-5, 275, Naperville North HS, Ill.
David Morrison, 6-4, 270, Shaker HS, N.Y.
Garrett Strohmaier, 6-4, 290, Jesuit HS, Calif.
DEFENSE
Interior Line
Jack Friedman, 6-3, 285, Howard HS, Md.

*Zach Husain, 6-2, 245, Evanston Twp, Ill.

Michael Warren, 6-5, 279, Providence Academy, Minn.
End
Brandon Cooper, 6-2, 260, South Grand Prairie HS, Texas
Jeremiah Douchee, 6-4, 230, Hales Franciscan, Ill.
Zach Shank, 6-5, 235, Olentangy Liberty HS, Ohio
Jake Smirk, 6-2, 235, Gorman HS, Nev.
Linebacker
Brian Fordon, 6-2, 215, Providence Catholic HS, Ill.

Alex Mccrory, 5-11, 222, Shawnee HS, Ohio
Folarin Orimolade, 6-0, 218, Blake HS, Md.
#Cannon Wille, n/a, St. Mary's HS, Colo.
Secondary
#Chris Aguemon, 5-9, 180, Heritage HS, Va.
Lucas Bavaro, 6-1, 195, St. John's Prep, Mass.

Darius George, 6-0, 167, Cardinal Gibbons, Fla.

Danny McManus, 5-9, 175, St. Thomas Academy, Minn.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Kicker
Alex Gakenheimer, 6-1, 180, Charlotte Country Day, N.C.
Punter
Ben Kepley, 6-2, 175, Charlotte Country Day, N.C.
Snapper
Graydon Peterson, 6-1, 225, Whitefish Bay HS, Wis.
# Confirmed walk-on

* "Contingent on getting into the school," according to the Evanston Review

By the way, EFT Sports Performance of Highland Park, Ill., is listing Zach Husain as a Dartmouth commit. link

Add Another TE

Various Twitter feeds – including his own – are reporting that Blake Orvis, a 6-foot-3 or (6-4, 225) pound (or 235) tight end from Boone HS in Orlando, Fla. is headed Dartmouth way. Find a story on him here on the "Cane Insider." From that story:

As a prospect, he has the size you look for at 6-foot-4 and 225-pounds. He has great hands and can block well. When he goes after a ball, the majority of the time he comes down with it, even on the tough catches. His speed is good, but not elite. He is one of those tight ends who can play his role to perfection. During a play, he sticks to his assignment and plays with intelligence.

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Results of this week's BGA Poll about the impact of the institution this fall of Patriot League football scholarships on the Ivy League-Patriot relationship:

• 71.3 percent – The Patriot League will start to pick off a FEW more potential Ivy recruits.
• 20.8 percent – The Patriot League will start to pick off a LOT more potential Ivy recruits.
• 7.9 percent – There will be no change in the Ivy-Patriot recruiting dynamic

• 56.7 percent – The Patriot League will start to dominate the Ivy League on the field.
• 43.3 percent - The competitive balance between the Patriot and the Ivy on the field will remain the same.

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It was a tough night in Dartmouth athletics yesterday with men's and women's ice hockey and men's and women's basketball all losing. But keep your chin up, it's sailing season. OK, not quite in the Upper Valley but get this. The Dartmouth women's sailing team is ranked No. 1 in the nation.


Sailing World
Women's Ranking
1. Dartmouth
2. Yale
3. St. Mary's
4. Boston College
5. Navy
6. Georgetown
7. Charleston
8. Tufts
9. Stanford
10. Brown
11. MIT
12. Rhode Island
13. Eckerd
14. Hobart/William Smith
15. Roger Williams

Dartmouth received 10 of 16 first-place votes

The co-ed team, by the way, is ninth.

Green Alert Take: Why does it make me a little nervous to see the Navy women's sailing team ranked fifth? The Dartmouth co-ed team is ninth, two spots ahead of, yup, Navy.

Watch and Listen Closely

Incoming offensive lineman Mike Langman of Naperville North (Ill.) is featured in this "signing day" video. Introductory remarks note that the 6-5, 275-pound Langman had "numerous opportunities to play at BCS schools," (one of which made a late run at him and actually offered a scholarship while he was on his Dartmouth visit). The video is a little fuzzy and the sound could be cleaner but listen to Langman address the audience and it's clear there's another special kid heading this way.



Langman was first-team all-state for Class 8A this fall as chosen by the IHSFCA (Illinois High School Football Coaches Association). He has been a two-year all-conference player (DuPage Valley Class 8A) and was selected unanimously this year.

Chosen the conference's “Offensive Lineman of the Year,” he's also a two-year member of the conference all-academic team and was named academic all-state this year.

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Harvard grad, Super Bowl and 15-year NFL veteran Matt Birk is announcing his retirement today according to the Baltimore Sun.

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Two years ago it was a Florida high school recruit who newspapers and bloggers wrote was treated unfairly by Princeton. He ended up as a late addition to the Penn recruiting class. This time it is Penn in the headlines as a Florida high school coach tells the Tampa Bay Times the Quakers treated his star quarterback unfairly. Whether there were extenuating circumstances is unclear because, as the story notes, "(Penn coach Al) Bagnoli Bagnoli and the Penn athletics department have declined comment, citing NCAA regulations preventing coaches from talking about specific recruits."

The Daily Pennsylvanian's blog The Buzz also has a note about the situation.

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So you want to be a college football coach and hit the road recruiting? Maybe not. Watch this interview with Maryland coach Randy Edsall, who feared for his well-being – if not his life – on a trip to Florida.

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Former Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine as AD at Sacred Heart University? Sounds as if it could happen according to the Connecticut Post. (Thanks for the link.)

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Oh, and I'm giving you one more day to cast your vote in the poll (upper right).

Sad News

The local paper brings news this morning of the passing of former Dartmouth football standout John Clayton '51, at age 83. From a 2008 story about the 1948 team written by former Dartmouth SID Jack DeGange:

John Clayton, a sophomore from Chelmsford, Mass., would win the quarterback job over highly regarded classmates Bob McCraney and Gil (Ace) Mueller after Sullivan - the QB in 1946 and 1947 - was moved to halfback. Clayton recalled, “I was 'recruited' by Milt Piepul (the backfield coach who had been a great player at Notre Dame) over lunch one day in Boston.” His decision was influenced in larger part by his brother, Hal '47, who had been a Dartmouth fullback during the war years.  

In an era before drop-back passers were in vogue, the pass game evolved off the ground game. Clayton would become the trigger in an offense that saw the Green post matching records of 6-2-0 in 1948 and 1949 and become the first Dartmouth team to defeat six major opponents, Clayton passed for 2,227 yards (26 touchdowns), a career passing total that still ranks 14th all-time for the Green.

Find the full story and a photo here.

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Columbia's Campbell Sports Center

OK, so that's not the most flattering picture of Columbia's version of Floren Varsity House, but it's the only one I had from last fall's road trip to the Big Apple (and famed Twin Donut). While this picture doesn't do the new building justice, Columbia coach Pete Mangurian has a few pictures that do. Check out:

• the 144-seat team room
• a glass-walled conference room
• the student lounge
• the weight room

There's also a much more flattering outside view at night.

From a story in the Columbia Spectator:

. . . (T)he five-story, 47,700 square-foot facility is up and running. All programs that primarily practice at Baker will be moving their offices from Morningside to Inwood throughout the week, including football, soccer, baseball, softball, tennis, field hockey, and lacrosse. The football team moved on Monday from its office in Dodge to its new space—the entire fourth floor of Campbell.

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Ever wonder how you would fare on the Wonderlic Test administered to would-be NFL players? There's a 15-question sampling from the test (with answers) here. (Thanks to Mrs. BGA for sharing the link.)

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Voted in the poll yet? It's over there to the right ;-)

Title Town?

Click photo to supersize.

In the hallway of the football offices at Floren Varsity House are team photos of all 17 of Dartmouth's Ivy League championship teams. That's the most in Ivy history – and you'll notice there's room for more ;-)

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The Princeton football blog talked with coach Bob Surace about star tailback Chuck Dibilio, who missed last year with a stroke after running for 1,068 yards as a freshman. From the post:

“He’s (excelling at) the workouts,” said Surace about Dibilio, who is re-enrolled this semester.  Medical evaluation – and the search for a cause of the stroke he suffered in January 2012 – is ongoing, leaving his availability for spring practice still uncertain.

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It was long the toughest game on the Dartmouth schedule and I fully understand the arguments against it, but count me as someone in favor of the Big Green playing New Hampshire (particularly now that the Patriot League is going scholarship). One reason why I like the series: For the most part, UNH does things the right way. Sure, there was a highly publicized incident several years ago, but it's a good school that doesn't rely on transfers and graduates its kids. The CAA just released it's Academic All-Conference team and UNH boasted a league-best 24 members.

Dartmouth and UNH are scheduled to play next in 2014. There's a quick mention about the football series in a Wikipedia entry about the New Hampshire-Dartmouth rivalry.

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Speaking of football and academics . . .

Not sure which is stranger. The idea that the fellow in this picture (and story) won the Heisman Trophy or the fact that he's taking all of his classes online this semester.

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Have you voted in the Patriot League scholarship poll over there to the right? I'm going to post the results Friday. If there's enough interest in restarting polls, I'll solicit ideas from you in the future. But first let's see how many folks vote on this one. Note that you can vote just once, but that you can vote several options.

Peaceful

Monday's sunset from Moose Mountain

Mrs. BGA convinced me to run inside and get the camera as we were pulling into our driveway yesterday and this unretouched picture was the result.  The two most prominent peaks are Killington and Pico, and if you click to enlarge the photo, you can see a jet and its contrail.

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All credit to a regular reader who spotted something I missed. From Coaching Search:

Kentucky: Souces tell me that Mark Stoops plans on hiring Joe Scola in a player development / personnel type of role. Scola served as the defensive grad assistant at Florida State under Stoops this past season.

I had been keeping an eye out for news on Scola '07, a defensive back whose career was hampered by injury and who went on to coach under Buddy Teevens. Find Scola's Florida State bio here.

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Spotted the following on the Harvard football page: "ESPNU Road Trip Visit Cambridge for "The Game"

Super Cooper

Brandon Cooper is shown on Signing Day.

Check out the highlight video of Brandon Cooper, a 6-foot-2, 260-pound defensive lineman from South Grand Prairie HS in Texas here. He was tapped as the "under the radar" selection by Texas Prep Stars. (link)

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The New York Times features former Dartmouth nose tackle and Olympic shotputter Adam Nelson in a story under the headline, Hard to Call Anyone a Winner, When Medals Are Lost to Doping.

Described by the paper as "an intelligent and articulate man," Nelson – who still doesn't know for sure if he will receive the gold medal from the 2004 Athens Olympics after the only man to beat him was disqualified for doping – tells the paper of record:

“I get frustrated when I see or hear about people who are taking drugs and who are beating the system. They’re stealing from everyone in the sport. People like to say it’s a victimless crime. Hell, no, it’s not.”

Watch And Listen

With 215 days until the Dartmouth football opener at Butler but a very promising Big Green baseball team opening play a week from Friday in Minneapolis, it's a good time to think about the differences in the sport. And who better to explain those differences than George Carlin?

FTK

Courtesy of The Daily Collegian

If you watched the Penn State-Iowa basketball game the other night you may have seen that one of the Nittany Lion players had the letters FTK shaved into the side of his head. The announcers never explained that the letters stand for the Penn State Dance Marathon slogan, For The Kids.

With the announcement late this afternoon that a record $12,374,034.46 had been raised this year, more than $100 million has now been brought in by Penn State students for the fight against childhood cancer since the start of the Dance Marathon in 1973. From Thon's Wikipedia page:

The money that is raised is donated to The Four Diamonds Fund, a charity devoted to defeating pediatric cancer through research and caring for patients at the Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital. More than 15,000 students get involved in the event each year, organizing it and raising funds with the rallying cry, "FOR THE KIDS!"

Penn State Proud? Heck yeah. 

I've said it before but it's a shame there isn't one single event that captures the imagination and energies of the entire diverse Dartmouth community in this way.

Of Penn and Penn State

Malcolm Gladwell, the author of Blink and Outliers, lectured at Penn last week and touched on a, well, a touchy subject. From a story in the Daily Pennsylvanian:

He suggested that Penn students boycott football games as a way to protest what he called a “violent, stupid game” that serves only entertainment purposes.

I generally enjoy Gladwell's writing because he really does get you to think in a different way. After reading the DP story I did a little Googling and came across this video from last spring:



Ban College Football
from Intelligence Squared U.S. Debates on FORA.tv

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The Buffalo News has a story about Cornell offensive lineman JC Tretter, the only Ivy Leaguer headed to the NFL Combine. Tretter switched from tight end to tackle while at Cornell, tacking on another 50 or so pounds to do it. From the story:

“My dad was always the athletic one, and my mom was the academic. You put those two together and you can see why I ended up at a place like Cornell to play football,” Tretter said. “It’s been a long journey, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. I wouldn’t change all the steps I’ve taken, going from quarterback to tight end to offensive line. It kind of makes it a good story and it’s really driven me to get better every day.”

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And finally, while it hasn't been the easiest year to be a Penn Stater, it's hard not to be immensely proud of what is happening in Happy Valley this weekend. THON, the 46-hour, Penn State Dance Marathon, is the largest student-run philanthropy in the world. Since 1977 it has raised more than $89 million for the fight against pediatric cancer. Last year alone it raised $10.68 million and while at least one reader from Pennsylvania will be relieved that the "kids with cans" won't be soliciting his change every day, it's hard not to be touched by the effort. It will wrap up later today with the announcement of exactly how much was raised this year.

There's a nice story here about the Penn State men's basketball coach donating $14,200 to the effort and another story with quotes from Jay Paterno here.

Here are several photos shot yesterday at the Bryce Jordan Center:

The dance floor is filled and the colors abound. (click to enlarge) 

A panoramic look at Thon. (Matt Wood photos)

Penn State football players join in.

They Call Them Highlight Tapes

Trying to make an assessment of the quality of this year's still unofficial recruiting class for Dartmouth (or some other school) based on highlight videos? Good luck with that.

Watch this compilation of high school highlight clips that were posted last year and think about what you saw of these players as Dartmouth freshmen last fall. It's a reminder that 1) it can take time for kids to adjust to the college game and 2) that highlight tapes are just that, highlight tapes.

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An eagle-eyed reader sent along a link to a New York Times story on the Millrose Games that mentions Abbey D'Agostino '14 running in the famed races's mile and former nose guard/Olympic shot put medalist Adam Nelson '97 being honored. D'Agostino runs at 8:40 tonight and if  you are lucky enough to be able to access ESPN3 (we aren't :-( you can watch her.

Book 'Em, Danno

Started up by former New York Giant Tiki Barber and a business partner, Thuzio is a web-based service that enables Joe Sixpack, Mrs. Sixpack, their kids or anyone else who has the money and the inclination to spend time with a hero. It might be to have lunch together, or to play pickup basketball. It might be to  attend a game together or tee it up on the links or just about anything.

Among the athletes on the Thuzio roster is former Dartmouth quarterback Jay Fiedler, whose biggest claim to fame was following Dan Marino as the Miami Dolphin QB.

Click on Jay's Thuzio page and among other things here's what you will see:

Attend a game $1,500
Have an extra seat at the game? Jay will join you and give you and your guests insight on the game. Discuss Jay's career with the Dolphins and his trajectory to become a NFL player. (Up to 3 hours)
 

Appearance $1,500 per hour

Hire Jay to make a guest appearance at your next event! Jay's appearance will be the perfect way to promote your store opening, bank, gym, car dealership, etc.
 

Personal Coaching $300 per hour

Jay will be your personal coach giving you access to a NFL athlete. Jay will take you through NFL drills and plays. You'll learn firsthand what it takes to be a NFL player.


Camp $2,500
Jay will make a guest appearance as a coach at your camp for a full day, giving the players a glimpse of what it takes to be a professional football player. What better way to keep motivation levels high than to have a pro running drills for the day. (Up to 1 day) 

Jay also offers a round of golf ($2,000), speaking ($2,500 per hour) and group coaching ($500 per hour). Sorry, but Jay's "booking area" doesn't extend this far north. ;-)

For what it's worth, Brown grad and New York Giant Zak DeOssie will make an appearance at your fantasy draft for $2,500 (up to two hours), join you for lunch or dinner ($1,500 for up to two hours) and be a guest coach at $1,000 per hour.

If Fiedler or DeOssie doesn't do it for you, former heavyweight champion Larry Holmes, "will attend an event of your choosing for up to 2 hours," for $6,250 per hour. Former Yankee shortstop Bucky Dent will join you at a game of your choice for $4,000.

And competitive eater Kobayashi will "share stories from his career" while having lunch or dinner with you. Yes he'll be on the clock, but it will be 90 minutes, not 12 minutes, and you won't be eating hot dogs and soggy buns on Coney Island. He will eat with you only at one of three New York City restaurants, for $1,500. No word on who picks up the tab but I've got a pretty good idea.

Why, you can even book media members. Broadcaster Dick Stockton will attend your fantasy draft for $1,000 or "your birthday, bar/bat mitzvah, wedding, or anniversary party," for $2,000 if you live between Miami and West Palm.

Hmm, that gives me an idea . . .

Green Alert Take: I mentioned Stockton and the media because I was going to make a few jokes here about how a Certain Ivy League Internet Type would do this or do that for a mere pittance, but then I realized sometimes truth can be funnier than fiction.

Athletic Big Man

A story from the Spotlight News about the three Shaker (N.Y.) HS players who will play FCS football next fall sheds light on the athleticism of incoming Dartmouth lineman David Morrison as well as his recruiting process. Regarding the 6-foot-4, 270-pound Big Green recruit:

Morrison, who is also a prominent player on Shaker’s Suburban Council North Division championship boys basketball team, said football was always going to be his first choice. 

“I definitely knew since eighth grade that I love to play football,” said Morrison. “Basketball is a close second.” 

Dartmouth, though, wasn’t an automatic choice for Morrison. 

The first time I ever visited Dartmouth, I was like 'I’m not even sure I want to come here,'” said Morrison. “But I gave it a second chance over the summer, and I fell in love with the school.”

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The "Boise State" rule would have pertained to Dartmouth a few years ago. Huh?

A Yahoo story about proposed NCAA rules changes sidesteps most of them to focus instead on the Broncos' blue unis and blue field. The story includes this:

Teams that wear green, like Baylor, Colorado State or South Florida to name a few, are also affected. Under the proposal, they will be restricted from wearing all-green uniforms on their green fields.

Green Alert Take: As someone who wasn't a fan of the all-green look Dartmouth sported a few years ago I can't say I'm unhappy it won't be returning.

Green Alert Take II: As someone who enjoys watching Boise State play the game but hates what it looks like when they are home, I applaud the rule. But I'd prefer the school keep the all-blue look if it must and instead ditch the field – as if that's going to happen. (I've been known to experiment unsuccessfully with the color controls on our TV to make it less of a problem on the eyes.)

To learn more about the rest of the NCAA proposals – the headliner is recommending ejection for targeting defenseless players – check out the NCAA release.

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Mississippi State tight ends coach Scott Sallach will leave the sidelines to become "coordinator of football scouting." Sallach was a Dartmouth assistant from 1998-2002 before moving on to Princeton.

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Dartmouth will be loading up on a plane and flying to a game for the first time since visiting Navy in 1986 when it plays at Butler in the 2013 opener. Should the Big Green want to play a game in the south in a few years, it will have an "in" when Kennesaw State fields its first team in 2015. An Atlanta Journal Constitution story about official approval of financing for an FCS team at the school 20 miles north of Atlanta includes this:

Sitting slightly away from the Regents, KSU President Dan Papp pumped his arms and athletic director Vaughn Williams exhaled noticeably after the unanimous vote.

"It’s absolutely memorable," Papp said.

Papp is a 1969 Dartmouth graduate.

For an FAQ about football in an area that turns out a lot of Ivy League football players, click here.

Here Today . . .

From a note in the Tulsa World about the Oklahoma defensive line coach being dismissed and Tulsa assistant Calvin Thibodeaux being mentioned as a possible replacement:

If Thibodeaux were to leave for Norman, he would be coaching with his fifth team in five years. In 2009, he was a graduate assistant with the Houston Cougars. In 2010, he coached junior-college linemen at Navarro (Texas) College. In 2011, he coached the defensive line at Dartmouth.

When Thibodeaux left Hanover last year 6-foot-3, 270-pound defensive tackle Jerry Uwaezuoke, who had taken a Dartmouth admission spot, decided to go to Tulsa instead of Hanover. Although he was re-recruited by the Big Green and was thought to be coming this way at that point, he ended up at Tulsa where it would appear he may not play for his anticipated coach after all. Find Uwaezuoke's Tulsa bio here.

It's a cautionary tale both about counting your recruits before they hatch, um, enroll, and making decisions based on a coach.

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Penn spring football practice will begin in less than a month. One day less, according to a release on the team's website. From that website:

Spring Football will get underway at the University of Pennsylvania on Tuesday, March 12. The defending Ivy League champions will hold 12 practices during the 24-day spring schedule, highlighted by the annual Spring Game on April 6.

Dartmouth spring practice is slated to being three days after Penn wraps up, April 9, with the spring game slated for May 4.

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The first scholarship recruiting class in the Patriot League is in place and here's a look at the incoming players from Holy Cross who Dartmouth will line up against for the next few years. Seems strange to see a full class with just 16 names on it, no?

Dartmouth will play host to Bucknell this fall and the Bison recruiting class is listed here. It would appear Bucknell has split up several scholarships, with 18 players listed.

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Saw the video below on the Harvard football website and it is kind of fun. Using a technique called "tilt-shift" the filmmakers have made Boston look something like a miniature toy layout. It was on the Harvard website and is here because it begins with scenes from inside Harvard Stadium:

Schedule Musings

A few assorted 2013 Ivy League football scheduling notes . . . Dartmouth has six home games . . . Princeton has six road games including three in a row at Hampton, at Brown and at Harvard . . . Cornell plays three of its first four games at home and three of the final four on the road . . . Bucknell, Colgate, Lafayette, Lehigh, Monmouth and Fordham each show up on two schedules . . .  Yale's trip to Cal Poly wins the long-distance award (UPDATE: Alert eyes suggested that Harvard-San Diego is shorter than Yale-San Luis Obispo and it is – by 42 miles ;-) . . . Dartmouth will travel 917 miles to play Butler . . . Princeton's trip to Hampton is almost exactly the same distance that the Tigers will travel to play Dartmouth.

THE SCHEDULES

Columbia

Sept. 21 at Fordham

Sept. 28  Monmouth

Oct. 5 at Princeton

Oct. 12 Lehigh

Oct. 19 Penn

Oct. 26 at Dartmouth

Nov. 2 at Yale

Nov. 9 Harvard

Nov. 16 at Cornell

Nov. 22 Brown

Cornell

Sept. 21 Bucknell

Sept. 28 at Yale

Oct. 5 Colgate

Oct. 12 Harvard

Oct. 19 at Monmouth

Oct. 26 Brown

Nov. 2 at Princeton

Nov. 9 at Dartmouth

Nov. 16 Columbia

Nov. 22 at Penn

Dartmouth

Sept. 21 at Butler

Sept. 28 Holy Cross 

Oct. 5 at Penn

Oct. 12 Yale

Oct. 19 Bucknell

Oct. 26 Columbia

Nov. 2 at Harvard

Nov. 9 Cornell

Nov. 16 at Brown

Nov. 22 Princeton

Harvard

Sept. 21 at San Diego

Sept. 28 Brown

Oct. 5 at Holy Cross 

Oct. 12 at Cornell

Oct. 19 Lafayette

Oct. 26 Princeton

Nov. 2 Dartmouth

Nov. 9 at Columbia

Nov. 16 Penn

Nov. 22 at Yale

Penn

Sept. 21 Lafayette

Sept. 28 at Villanova

Oct. 5 Dartmouth

Oct. 12 at William & Mary

Oct. 19 at Columbia

Oct. 26 Yale

Nov. 2 at Brown

Nov. 9 Princeton

Nov. 16 at Harvard

Nov. 22 Cornell

Princeton

Sept. 21 Lehigh

Sept. 28 at Georgetown

Oct. 5 Columbia

Oct. 12 at Hampton

Oct. 19 at Brown

Oct. 26 at Harvard

Nov. 2 Cornell

Nov. 9 at Penn

Nov. 16 Yale

Nov. 22 at Dartmouth

Yale

Sept. 21 at Colgate

Sept. 28 Cornell

Oct. 5 at Cal Poly

Oct. 12 at Dartmouth

Oct. 19 Fordham

Oct. 26 at Penn

Nov. 2 Columbia

Nov. 9 Brown

Nov. 16 at Princeton

Nov. 22 Harvard

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Bloomberg News had a story spun out of last week's Ivy Football Association dinner in New York City. From the story:

“It’s quite an amazing thing that happens when people kind of bang heads for a number of years but also have brains,” said Michael O’Flynn ('91), who played defensive end at Dartmouth, where former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson also played. “It teaches you to get up after being knocked down. It teaches you to do things you never dreamed of doing.”

Speaking of the IFA dinner, you can find a video slide show of Ellis Rowe's '74 pictures from the event here.

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As a former sports editor of a Pennsylvania daily newspaper I found a story in the Philadelphia Inquirer headlined Pennsylvania high school football no longer a prime producer of top college recruits interesting but not particularly surprising.

Check It Out

Memorial Field

Finishing off a freelance program story about The Berry Center/Leede Arena I stumbled across the Book Dartmouth College: an architectural tour by Scott Meacham '95. The book is filled with interesting information about virtually all of the college's buildings and grounds, including the athletic facilities.

Click here to read details about Memorial Field that you probably did not know. Scroll up and down for a sneak peak at other Dartmouth athletic facilities.

Numbers, We Have Numbers

Interesting attendance numbers out of the NCAA:

Ivy League home attendance

1. Yale 12,453
2. Harvard 11, 520
3. Penn 10,114
4. Princeton 7,984
5. Brown 6,872
6. Cornell 6,420
7. Dartmouth 6,402
8. Columbia 5,600

Percentage of stadium filled
1. Dartmouth 42.68
2. Harvard 37.28
3. Brown 34.36
4. Columbia 32.94
5. Princeton 26.61
6. Cornell 25.08
7. Yale 19.38
8. Penn 19.08

Patriot League home attendance
1. Lafayette 8,826
2. Lehigh 7,206
3. Holy Cross 7,671
4. Fordham 4,463
5. Colgate 3,704
6. Bucknell 3,135
7. Georgetown 2,410

Percentage of stadium filled

1. Georgetown 100.40

2. Lafayette 64.19
3. Fordham 63.75
4. Lehigh 45.04
5. Holy Cross 32.64
6. Colgate 36.24
7. Bucknell 23.93

Opponents of interest

Butler 2,960
Sacred Heart 2,294
New Hampshire 7,746 (119.16 percent of  capacity)

FCS attendance Leaders

1. Appalachian State 26,358

2. Montana 25,236

3. James Madison 22,783

4. Old Dominion 20,037

5. Delaware 18,542

Division III attendance leaders
1. St. John's (Minn.) 7,948
2. Wisconsin - Whitewater 7,552
3. Hampden-Sydney (Va.) 6,723
4. Wabash (Ind.) 4,873
5. Concordia - Moorhead (Minn.) 4,839

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Scheduling has become more difficult for the Ivy League and it might only get more difficult with the Patriot League going scholarship. Let's just hope it never gets to this. Here's a posting on the Football Scoop site:

Wagner College (FCS): Wagner College is looking for a game on one of the following dates 9/7, 10/5, or 10/19. Looking for FCS, Division II, or Division III opponent.

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An update on the height and weight of Dartmouth defensive back recruit Darius George of Cardinal Gibbons HS in Florida. The ESPN site had his freshman specs. He should be listed at 6-foot-2, 190 pounds.

Finding Nemo Disappointing

That massive snowstorm Nemo?

It was a massive disappointment here on the mountain where we topped out at a measly eight inches, hardly enough to get out the snowshoes.

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Former Dartmouth offensive coordinator John Perry is the new passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Delaware.

Perry, who played wide receiver (and basketball) at New Hampshire and is a Chip Kelly disciple, had a 29-21 record in five years as head coach at Merrimack. Last fall his team had 62-, 63- and 81-point games while finishing second in the nation in total offense. It marked the fourth year in a row that Merrimack was in the nation's top 10 in total offense.

JP was at Dartmouth from 1999-2004.

From the Delaware release:

“John is someone that I grew up with and have known for 35 years,” said Penn State football head coach Bill O’Brien. “He is an outstanding person with a wonderful family. John is an innovative offensive coach and most importantly, a winner. He will be a great addition to Coach Brock’s staff at the University of Delaware.”

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Folarin Orimolade

Blake (Md.) HS linebacker Folarin Orimolade, here on signing day, is listed at 5-foot-11, 207 pounds on his ESPN recruiting page.

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Here's what we think we know about the incoming Dartmouth freshman class (including walk-ons):

OFFENSE
Quarterback
Jonathan Dibiaso, 6-1, 195, Phillips Exeter/Everett, Mass.
Running Back
Abrm McQuarters, 5-10, 185, Cascia Hall, Okla.
Jacob Siwicki, 6-0, 220, Northfield Mount Hermon, Mass.
Wide Receiver
Houston Brown 6-2, 175, The Woodlands HS, Texas
Jon Marc Carrier, 5-11, 165, Steinbrenner HS, Fla.
Joseph Cook, 6-4, 185, Bishop Amat HS, Calif.
Charlie Miller, 6-1, 180, Totino Grace HS, Minn.
Chris Warren, n/a The Woodlands, Texas
Tight End
Peter Eggert, 6-4, 227, Laguna Hills HS, Calif.
Offensive Line
Zach Davis, 6-5, 290, Lake Havasu HS, Ariz.
Mike Langman, 6-5, 275, Naperville North HS, Ill.
David Morrison, 6-3, 270, Shaker HS, N.Y.
Garrett Strohmaier, 6-4, 290, Jesuit HS, Calif.
DEFENSE
Interior Line
Jack Friedman, 6-3, 285, Howard HS, Md.

*Zach Husain, 6-2, 245, Evanston Twp, Ill.

Michael Warren, 6-5, 279, Providence Academy, Minn.
End
Brandon Cooper, 6-2, 260, South Grand Prairie HS, Texas
Jeremiah Douchee, 6-4, 230, Hales Franciscan, Ill.
Zach Shank, 6-5, 235, Olentangy Liberty HS, Ohio
Jake Smirk, 6-2, 235, Gorman HS, Nev.
Linebacker
Brian Fordon, 6-2, 215, Providence Catholic HS, Ill.

Alex Mccrory, 5-11, 222, Shawnee HS, Ohio
Folarin Orimolade, 6-0, 218, Blake HS, Md.
#Cannon Wille, n/a, St. Mary's HS, Colo.
Secondary
#Chris Aguemon, 5-9, 180, Heritage HS, Va.
Lucas Bavaro, 6-1, 195, St. John's Prep, Mass.

Darius George, 6-0, 167, Cardinal Gibbons, Fla.

Danny McManus, 5-9, 175, St. Thomas Academy, Minn.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Kicker
Alex Gakenheimer, 6-1, 180, Charlotte Country Day, N.C.
Punter
Ben Kepley, 6-2, 175, Charlotte Country Day, N.C.
Snapper
Graydon Peterson, 6-1, 225, Whitefish Bay HS, Wis.
# Confirmed walk-on

* "Contingent on getting into the school," according to the Evanston Review

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As always, corrections to the list aren't just welcomed. They are encouraged! You can email photos/links directly to me by clicking here. All submissions are posted anonymously, so send them along ;-)

Former Assistant Coach News

Several former assistants are in the news today starting with the passing of Dub Fesperman at age 79. William "Dub" DeBerry Fesperman, a two-sport letterman at Duke, served on Jake Crouthamel's Dartmouth staff from 1971-73 and went on to be an NFL scout. Find a story about him on the Duke site.

As noted here Monday, Matt Smiley is joining the Jacksonville Jaguars as an assistant special teams coach. Smiley was an original member of Buddy Teevens' staff when he returned to Hanover. The Jaguars' official announcement of his hiring is here.

Kevin Lempa, a Dartmouth assistant in the '90s and most recently defensive coordinator at Columbia, is the new secondary coach at Boston College. There are releases from Boston College and from Columbia. It will be Lempa's third stint at Chestnut Hill.

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The New Lenox Patch has a story and photo following "signing day," at Providence Catholic, the Illinois high school that is sending linebacker Brian Fordon to Dartmouth.

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Cornell lineman JC Tretter is the lone Ivy Leaguer to earn an invitation to the NFL Combine. He's mentioned in a Sports Network story about the 24 FCS invitees. The 6-foot-4, 300-pound Tretter is doing an occasional "draft journal" for the Cornell Football Association and in this entry writes about breaking his nose in Senior Bowl practice.

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The anticipated snow total from winter storm Nemo in our area has been downgraded from "up to two feet," to 8-14 inches. That's a little disappointing after getting our hopes up but more importantly, it's too late for Winter Carnival. Dartmouth Now reports on events canceled or moved elsewhere because of the lack of snow before today.

For those of you from *away* who don't understand what this weekend is all about, here's the Winter Carnival schedule. That Certain Dartmouth '14 is taking advantage of a snow day at the high school in the southern part of the state where she is interning to enjoy a special 99-cent lift ticket today at the Dartmouth Skiway.

For what it's worth, the snow has started as shown in the 9 a.m. web shot above.

Meet Two More

Jack Friedman with his parents and younger brother Adam 

First-team all-Howard County lineman Jack Friedman was labeled, "The crown jewel in the Lions' vaunted offensive line," by The Baltimore Sun.

Peter Eggert on signing day

Laguna Hills, Calif., tight end Peter Eggert, who chose Dartmouth over offers from Air Force, San Diego and Georgetown. The 6-foot-4, 227-pound Eggert is also an accomplished wrestler for Laguna Hills, which has won 26 consecutive league titles and is ranked in the state.

Midday Update

Thanks to those who have sent photos and links. Keep them coming. (I'll be away from the computer this afternoon but will add whatever comes in this evening.)

By the way, I did get a note directing me toward a Facebook page that said this:

This content is currently unavailable. 

The page you requested cannot be displayed right now. It may be temporarily unavailable, the link you clicked on may have expired, or you may not have permission to view this page.

Call me a Luddite if you will, but in addition to refusing to own a cell phone, I'm also a Facebook holdout. You can email photos directly to me by clicking here.

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There's a Carolina blue sky out there right now without a cloud in sight. Hard to believe we could have 15-24 inches of snow, with starting tonight. Harder to believe it is coming just too late for the Winter Carnival snow sculpture on the Dartmouth Green. We've got plenty up here on the mountain.

For a live look at the Green, click here.

Check out some great sculptures of the past here.

Kicking Companions

Alex Gakenheimer (left) and Ben Kepley

The Dartmouth-bound Charlotte Country Day special teams teammates Alex Gakenheimer and Ben Kepley celebrated signing day in style. Alex is the kicker and Ben the punter.

Checking Them Out

BGA blog hits and visits this week

Blog hits Jan. 8-Feb.6

Ever wonder why services like Rivals and Scout do what they do? People are interested in recruiting. Check out the spike yesterday in BGA blog hits.

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If you've got links/photos to share, click over there at the top of the right column where it says Email BGA and I'll toss something up on the blog. And don't worry. I won't cite my source ;-)

Taking A Position

The Springfield News Sun writes about Alex McCrory, a 5-foot-11, 222 running back in high school who tells the Ohio paper he will be playing a different position at Dartmouth. From the story:

McCrory, Shawnee’s all-time leading rusher and a good student with a 3.73 GPA, will play linebacker in college. He said the Dartmouth coaches saw his highlights on ScoutingOhio.com, and one coach saw him in action at a couple of football camps last summer.
“They liked me and said I fit their academic criteria, and it took off from there,” he said. “I’m blessed to have an opportunity to play another four years.”

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Oh, and by the way, following the Tweeter feeds it looks as if someone was "catfishing" at least one actual recruit about signing with Dartmouth.

More Signing Day

Keep 'em coming. I can't find them all!

David Morrison (standing) shares a few thoughts in
this screen grab taken from a video on the Record site.

The Troy Record covered signing day not just with a story and photos, but also with a video that included speeches by Dartmouth-bound lineman David Morrison and two teammates.

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Michael Warren on signing day

Defensive lineman Michael Warren of Providence Academy in Minnesota taking part in yesterday's National Signing Day festivies.

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Joseph Cook of Bishop Amat in a screen grab
from the San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Wide receiver Joseph Cook was one of several teammates to commit yesterday. Find photos here. There's another photo and another story in the Pasadena Star-News.

Garrett Strohmaier in a screen grab.

Offensive lineman Garrett Strohmaier of Jesuit HS in California discusses his college choice in this video with ABC News10.

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The Manchester Union Leader writes that quarterback Jonathan DiBiaso is one of four Phillips Exeter players headed to the Ivy League next fall. From the story:

Davon Robertson, a tight end/defensive end, will play at Harvard; and both Matt Girard and Jake Whalen have committed to Brown. Girard is an offensive lineman/linebacker, and Whalen plays offensive and defensive line.

And Another?

Northern Illinois lineman Pat Husain has Tweeted:

Can't believe it's been 3 years and 2 schools since signing my letter of intent. Congrats to @HusBaby52 on signing his to Dartmouth today!

That's in reference to Zach Husain a 6-2, 245 lineman from Evanston Township HS, in Illinois.

From the Evanston Review:

National Signing Day roundup
Evanston
Football
Zachary Husain (Dartmouth University — contingent on getting into the school) 

By the way, Pat Husain is 6-7, 309 and transferred to NIU from Tulane.

A *New* Name

Cardinal Gibbons website screen grab showing commitment

One of those names I'd been sitting on came through with news that Darius George of Cardinal Gibbons in Florida has *signed* with Dartmouth.

Darius George (from Twitter)

George is a 6-foot, 167-pound safety (or maybe 6-2, 175 depending on where you look).

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Chicago Sun-Times confirms that in addition to linebacker Brian Fordon, lineman Jeremiah Douchee of Hales Franciscan and offensive lineman Mike Langman of Naperville North intend to play and study at Dartmouth.

Brown, Columbia, Penn, Princeton, Yale, Holy Cross and Butler also have players on the Sun-Times list.

More Signing Day

Pair from The Woodlands in Texas make it official:

Receivers Houston Brown and Chris Warren will find a teammate
on the other side of the field when they play Harvard as this
screen grab from The Woodlands football site shows.

Charlie Miller of Totino Grace HS in Minnesota was one of seven players from his school to declare his intentions today.

Charlie Miller of Totino Grace HS is in this screen grab - somewhere. Click to enlarge.

Peter Eggert, a 6-foot-4, 227-pound tight end recruit was one of a group of Laguna Hills, Calif., athletes to make their college choice official today.

Peter Eggert in a screen grab from the Laguna Hills HS site.

Screen grab for the Blake (Md.) HS site

Googling around the confirmation above showed up for the 5-foot-11, 207-pound outside linebacker. His recruiting page is here.

Brian Fordon shows his colors during signing day.

CSN Chicago had a nice story about linebacker Brian Fordon and his cousin/teammate Jack in anticipation of signing day. From the story:

Brian, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound linebacker, chose another less stressful path to college. After visiting five Ivy League camps--Penn, Harvard, Cornell, Princeton and Dartmouth--over a three-week period last summer, he chose Dartmouth. He also had attracted interest from Northwestern and University of Chicago but when Dartmouth offered a spot last December, he was ready to pack his suitcase.

And . . .

At Dartmouth, Brian will join former St. Rita linebacker Will McNamara and another St. Rita graduate, Don Dobes, who will be Fordon's linebacker coach. How badly did Dartmouth want him? Dobes called every Tuesday for six months to paint beautiful pictures of the football program and the campus in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Screen grab from Tampa Bay Online

Tampa Bay Online has a picture of wide receiver Jon Marc Carrier and father Mark Carrier, the former NFL standout during the celebration at Steinbrenner High School. There's a week-old story about his commitment here.

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No picture yet but the Las Vegas Sun blog has a mention of 6-2, 230-pound defensive end of Bishop Gorman "signing" with Dartmouth.