The Ivy League media guide has been posted HERE.
Green Alert Take: I really do wish the media guide would include 2014 rosters, a breakdown of starters and letterwinners returning for each team (a graphic would be nice), and a preview of each team written not by the individual schools, but by a media member. (I'd be willing to write the Dartmouth preview for free ;-). As it stands now, the publication is more of a very comprehensive history book than a media guide.
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Old friend Tiger Blog writes about Ivy media day and points out that TB and BGA are on opposite sides of the fence with regard to holding an in-person gathering rather than the phone call. (LINK) It's not that he doesn't believe in the value of face-to-face meetings but rather that he's pretty sure attendance would be poor. Tough to prove a negative, though ;-)
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One of the best quotes of the press conference was from Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens with regard to the Big Green being picked third in the preseason media poll:With all respect to the people doing the poll, you are rarely right.Green Alert Take: Given that Teevens is absolutely correct about the predictive powers of the poll as it is currently constituted, what I'd propose is giving the head coaches a vote and not allowing media or coaches to vote for their local team. Adding eight relatively informed voters and eliminating local favoritism might actually help. (Although judging by what we've heard over the years about coaches voting in the weekly polls, maybe that's not such a good idea ;-)
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The Sports Network's Craig Haley got several interesting responses regarding Ivy League football scheduling in the wake of the Patriot League adding scholarships (essentially that it is going to be a problem) but his follow to media day was, rightfully, about Al Bagnoli's place in Ivy League history. (LINK) The Penn coach is retiring at season's end.CSNPhilly also focused on the Bagnoli angle. (LINK)
The New Haven Register has a Yale story spun out of the Ivy League media day poll. (LINK)
Our local paper may well have traveled to a media day gathering, but did not take part in the phone call, choosing instead to publish the Dartmouth press release. (LINK)
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Penn Athletic Director Grace Calhoun did a Q&A as part of Philly.com's Soft Pretzel Logic column and had this to say about going to the FCS playoffs (LINK):I think that is something the Ivy League presidents have no desire to talk about. I've remarked of the fact that it has cycled through on my various stops. Every couple of years, it comes back up.
And I think there is a strong sense that there is just not a desire to extend the season any longer, to get into finals period, to take a sport where the Ivies are at the cutting edge of really making sure we are keeping player safety at the forefront and adding extra games.
There's a comfort level with how the Ivy League does things, and I certainly am not sensing any appetite to re-consider the stance on that.Green Alert Take: Now, I know Penn doesn't have ice hockey but if Calhoun took a look at the length of the hockey season, how many hockey teams go on to postseason play, and how many different sports/playoffs conflict with exams she would realize football players are being treated as second-class citizens. The Ivy League is essentially saying, "Football players, we don't think you are capable of handling the kind of challenges that athletes in every other sport in the Ivy League are capable of handling."
