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| Lineman Jacob Flores poses with NFL Hall of Famer Kellen Winslow. |
NFL Hall of Famer Kellen Winslow was on campus yesterday to talk about wellness in a college environment. Quoted in a story in The Dartmouth about Winslow's talk was Big Green freshman quarterback Ernest Evans, who had this to say:
“As I listened to him, I thought of our Peak Performance program. We have an academic advisor, a person to help out with finances and many other people that are able to hold us accountable and responsible to be as well as possible. I think we are way ahead of the curve compared to other schools and I think this pays dividends to the athletes who graduate from this school."
I was surprised that neither the story in today's Dartmouth nor the piece in our local daily had any mention of Winslow's thoughts about concussions in sports. Clearly that wasn't central to his appearance but it was a terrific opportunity for a journalist to ask someone who played the game at the highest level – and sent a son on to the NFL – about a subject he hasn't been afraid to address. From a story in the Fayetteville Observer last year:
Like many players, Winslow has concerns about the issue of concussions that is a hot topic of concern in the NFL.
He compares the concussion debate to the old legal battles over tobacco.
"There was knowledge of a defective product or effects of a certain activity that was held back from the general public so they could not make a good decision as far as health was concerned,'' he said. "Big tobacco was accused of having evidence that tobacco caused cancer back in the 1930s and 1940s but they hid that evidence.''
To be fair, Winslow said any study of concussions must include all concussions a player has suffered, dating back to the start of his career before pro football. "That's a hard nut to crack,'' he said.Editor's Note: If that Gellin' With Kellen headline got you smiling, click here.
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In a column pointing out that there are 100 days until the first college football game of the 2013 season, various notes involving the number 100 are included. One involves a Dartmouth football game against Yale that was one for the books. The history books.Editor's Note: There are 122 days until the Ivy League season begins. Dartmouth kicks off at Butler on Sept. 21, four months from yesterday.
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Venerable Franklin Field is getting a new SPRINTTURF surface for next season as noted on the Penn football web page. Although the story isn't completely clear, it seems to suggest that the old surface was in use for 10 years.That got me thinking about Dartmouth's FieldTurf surface on Memorial Field. A FieldTurf website says that "based on 80,000 square foot fields and average costs and usage rates across North America," a FieldTurf field should last 8-10 years.
Dartmouth installed its FieldTurf on Memorial Field in 2006 and while I'm hardly an expert, it seems to be holding up well. Proper maintenance of the field has surely helped.
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A local writer gives the "new" Hanover Inn a thumb's up on the Forbes magazine blog. He writes:Hanover, New Hampshire is home to Dartmouth College and by far the smallest and quaintest of the college towns in the elite Ivy League, with its original white buildings dating to the mid-18th century and its prominent library tower surrounding a classic open New England town green. Its Main Street is lined with shops, Hanover sits smack on the famous Appalachian Trail footpath, and the entire place oozes atmospheric New England flavor.
But for as long as I have lived in the Hanover area, which is over two decades, the town has lacked something: good lodging. Fortunately for students, parents and visitors, that has changed.While the writer goes on to laud the new restaurant at the Inn, reviews I've heard on the whole of the Hanover Inn renovation project have been decidedly mixed. To each his or her own ;-)
