Here We Go

The waiting is over. Spring practice begins today. (BGA file photo)

The Big Green hits the field at 4:45 today for the first of the 12 spring practices allowed in the Ivy League. The full schedule subject to change): Tuesday April 9 4:45 p.m. Memorial Field Thursday April 11 4:45 p.m. Memorial Field Saturday April 13 9:45 a.m. Memorial Field Tuesday April 16 4:45 p.m. Memorial Field Thursday April 18 4:45 p.m. Memorial Field Saturday  April 20 9:45 a.m. Memorial Field Tuesday April 23 4:45 p.m. Memorial Field Thursday April 25 4:45 p.m. Memorial Field Saturday April 27 9:45 a.m Memorial Field Tuesday April 30 4:45 p.m. Memorial Field Thursday May 2 4:45 p.m. Memorial Field Saturday May 4 10 a.m. Memorial Field * * Spring Game • Former wide receiver-turned-defensive back Corey Vann nicely crafts a story in The Dartmouth about how he ended up in Hanover instead of at Penn. From the story: I’m heading to Penn for their version of Green Key, called “Spring Fling,” this weekend. I’m excited to see what Penn has to offer. And more excited to tell them thank you. Thank you for not offering me a place on the football team. Thank you for letting me land at the coolest school in the country.  • Today's Dartmouth has a column under the headline: Athlete or Mathlete, Pick One? The writer's answer in a nutshell: (H)as athletic recruiting hurt the academic environment of Dartmouth and her sister schools in the Ivy League by recruiting less academically qualified students? Do test scores really mean everything? And would a Dartmouth without athletics and student-athletes be a “better” Dartmouth from a strictly academic point of view? I would argue no.  • Usually by this time of year I've run a picture that looks a little like this one I shot last spring: It's the second week of April and we haven't seen anything remotely resembling this. There's a temptation to think we may have dodged the Mud Season bullet this year, but the last time I said that it got ugly within a few days. Keep your fingers crossed. • A personal note today. That Certain Dartmouth '14 is in the paper today as one of four candidates for student body president (link). That's her in the bottom left head shot. The bug to serve and make a difference really bit her when she was second-in-charge of the Hanover High Council, regarded as one of the most powerful and influential high school councils in the nation. She's someone who almost didn't come to Dartmouth but loves the school beyond words, and wants to leave it an even better place than she found it. Whatever happens in the election, I think she will. • And finally, am I the only one who chuckled at this idea after seeing the Michigan basketball uniforms?  I sure wish I'd worked out a deal to market these things instead of just monkeying up a graphic ;-)