Week 2 opponent Holy Cross has a video interview with head coach Tom Gilmore in the aftermath of the Crusaders' spring game. I had no absolutely interest in sitting through the video and instead checked out the story posted below it.
As was the case with the video, I didn't want to spend much time reading the story, but at least with the written word I was able to scan down and cherry pick points of interest. Doing so I discovered useful nuggets about the Holy Cross quarterback situation and how the team was bouncing back from a tough, injury-plagued season.
After finishing with the story I had a hunch and clicked on the video. Here's what I found out: The story was a word-for-word transcript of the video.
What a great idea!
Being able to post video interviews is a wonderful thing. I'm hoping to do a little of it myself. But not everyone has the time or inclination to sit and watch videos, some of which last 5, 10 or even 15 minutes. Last year when I was writing detailed previews of Dartmouth opponents for BGA Premium, it took me three or four times as long to compile my notes about one opponent because I had to keep stopping and restarting a video interview to jot down points of interest. Worse yet, you couldn't rewind just a bit and had to start over at the beginning anytime you missed something. Frustrating to say the least when you were seven minutes in.
For what it's worth, I know there are folks who read stories about Dartmouth and its opponents who like to copy and paste paragraphs of information to send to the friends. I know this because they also send them to me. That said, here's a quote from the Holy Cross video transcript that took me about, oh, about 15 seconds to copy and paste:
"First of all, when you look at where they were at the beginning of last season to where they ended last season, there was a huge improvement," said Gilmore. "And that is partially because they were getting all of the reps in practice and getting game experience. So by the end of the season, I thought both of them were playing pretty well. They have kind of picked up where they were at the end of the season, and they have improved from there. So I think that is going to be one of the biggest strengths on our team, at the quarterback position, because we have two capable guys that can step in there and do a great job for us."Now here's a transcript I pulled together from a Penn football video with Quaker offensive coordinator Jon McLaughlin:
Q: How do you feel about the depth of the team is going to have the skill positions?That's some really good information but it probably took me 15 minutes, not 15 seconds, to get it pulled together and pasted here. How many alums or fans are taking the time to share that information with others who don't have the time to watch the video? I don't know, but I'd guess not many.
A: Starting off with four fifth-year seniors coming back on offense in Billy Ragone, Ryan Becker, Brandon Colavita and Lyle Marsh. Having those four guys coming back for their fifth season, obviously that in itself is a great starting point. Two fifth-year quarterbacks both who have started games for us, both who have won games for us. And two tailbacks, both who have been recognized as All-Ivy players and as tough guys, as hard-working guys as we have in our program. So to have that kind of maturity and experience in those four guys is a great rallying point. And then you throw into it Conner Scott, who has emerged and stayed healthy and really showed us everything we have been excited about since he's been on campus. And he can still get a lot better. That's the best thing about all these guys is I think they all walk away from last season knowing how much better they can be.
And how many media members are going to sit through the videos and quote them? None who cover more than one team, that's for sure.
The bottom line is, video is good but video with a transcript is much better. Yes, I know it's a lot of work for already overworked sports publicity staffs. But if I have to choose just one, I'll take the written word every time.
End of rant.
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OK, while I'm at it, Penn quarterback Billy Ragone, who saw his season ended last year with a nasty ankle injury in the next-to-last game for the Ivy League champions, was asked about his condition. He had this to say on the video. (Feel free to cut and paste ;-):I am still kind of in the middle of the rehab process. I've come a long way. I'm hopefully going to start getting on a running program pretty soon.
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The New York Times had a good story earlier this week about NFL hopeful Mike Catapano, the standout defensive end from Princeton.
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The Yale website talked with John Oppenheimer, the offensive lineman/hero who made a life-saving bone marrow donation. An excerpt:"People tend to think it over for a couple days. On the spot, I said I was fully willing to do it," Oppenheimer said. "It just seems like such an easy way to make a huge impact, and I had never had the chance to do that. I told her I would be happy and excited to go through with the donation.
The decision was an easy one for Oppenheimer as he thought more and more about the recipient -- even though he only had a handful of details about him. Due to privacy policies, Oppenheimer will never be able to meet the patient who received his donation, but he can get updates on how the patient is doing after six months.
"This guy is 41; he's probably someone's father," Oppenheimer said. "Just putting myself in his shoes … especially if this man has children, you can only imagine how badly he wants someone out there to donate to him."
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Yesterday's issue of The Dartmouth had a story about athletic retention and recruits quitting teams. That has most definitely not been a problem for the football program over the past few years.
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Did you see this? Mike DuBose, head coach at Alabama from 1997-2000 has been hired as the head coach at Luverne High in Alabama. Wow. Turns out it's not even his first high school job since going 24-23 with an SEC title at Bama.
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We went to see the Jackie Robinson film "42" last night here in Hanover. It's one of the few movies we've seen that was greeted with applause when it was over. That was well deserved but it still made me snicker. I mean, who was there to hear the clapping who had anything to do with the film? It's a terrific movie, although it might be a little too neatly wrapped up for those who know the story.
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And finally, congratulations to That Certain '14 for running a terrific campaign for Dartmouth Student Body president. When the votes were tallied last night she finished a healthy second in the field of four. The winner had 736 votes, she had 637, the third-place finisher had 425 and the fourth candidate 329. Although the campaigning wore her down and she admitted last night she "bombed" a quiz because she simply didn't have time to do everything, she made it closer than expected against the winner, who was off-campus in the spring and returned to Hanover for a week of full-time campaigning. Find a story with quotes here.Keeping involved in campus activities, That Certain '14 is the moderator tonight for a group of students who won a lottery to have dinner with the school president.
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Check out BGA Premium tonight for coverage of today's spring practice.
