Sunday, June 07, 2015

More 5-Year Records

Following up on yesterday's posting, here are the conference records for Ivy League teams over the past five years, ordered from worst to best:

.143 Columbia (5-30)
.257 Cornell (9-26)
.429 Princeton (15-20)
.514 Yale (18-17)
.543 Brown (19-16)
.629 Dartmouth (22-13)
.629 Penn (22-13)
.857 Harvard (30-5)

Championships over last five years:
Harvard 3
Penn 2
Princeton 1
A few more pictures of the work at Memorial Field, taken on Saturday (click pix to enlarge):
Scaffolding surrounds the new press box.
Click for a closer look at the railing on the new grandstand.
The main entrance

New staging in the front
And yes, there will be plenty of bathrooms ;-)
Like a lot of people about the only time I pay much attention to horse racing is during the Triple Crown. I interrupted three hours of mowing our lawn yesterday to watch the Belmont Stakes and found myself jumping off the couch and cheering while American Pharoah (sic) headed down the home stretch to history.

It was a great run that surprised people like famed Harvard racing writer Andrew Beyer (LINK) and a not-so-famous Princeton-educated racing fan from our area. (LINK)

While I've never placed a bet on a race (even at a memorable wedding reception at Saratoga) and don't read much about the sport of kings, one of the absolute best sports stories I've ever read – maybe THE best – was William Nack's 1990 opus on Secretariat. It's a fabulous story that might actually bring a tear. I know it did for me. Find the story HERE.
That Certain Dartmouth '14 called home yesterday from Gardiner, Mt., one of the gateway towns to Yellowstone National Park. If you've been following along, you know she left a well-paying job in Madison, Wi., to accept a seasonal position at Yellowstone. As a "rec ranger" with Yellowstone Youth Conservation Corps, her main role will be to take a handful or so of 28 high schoolers from around the country on weekend adventures such as overnight hikes, canoe trips or just exploring the geology of the park. She will have three-plus days free each week to do her own exploring around Yellowstone.

While she isn't making anywhere near the same money she was making in Wisconsin, for someone who studied earth science at Dartmouth, minored in education and loves the mountains and outdoors, it's a dream job.

When I told her I was just a little jealous, she unknowingly gave me what may be the quote of the year:
"I'm jealous of myself."
Chatting with one of her fellow season rangers, That Certain '14 learned that he had hiked the Appalachian Trail (and remembered Hanover well). She told him the AT is in our back yard. (It's actually up the ridge beyond our nine acre woods, but you get the idea.)

The AT goes behind our house. This is in front (although trees bordering an old farm block most of the view from our driveway so I have to go out to the road to get shots like this one I took last night). The pointy peak in the middle is Killington.

Click the photo once or twice to supersize it. See if you can pick out seven ridges.