Monday, June 01, 2015

Rugby Final

It was an up-and-down second day of the Collegiate Rugby Championship for Dartmouth and the two senior football players playing for the Big Green sevens team.

Former tailback-turned-defensive back Cody Patch registered a try and drew a lot of mention from the TV announcers for his play all over the field in Dartmouth's 20-5 trouncing of Air Force in yesterday's "Plate" semifinals. In a 33-5 loss to UCLA in the finals later in the day the Big Green's lone points came on a long run by Steve Dazzo, whose athletic ability drew inquiries from a national team scout according to the announcers.
Not that Dartmouth football was going to play the College of Faith anytime soon, but as a result of an NCAA edict no one on the Big Green schedule is going to play Faith or any of the other shadow college programs, either.

The governing body of the NCAA has put out a ruling on so-called "countable opponents" that begins this way:
For games to be considered countable for statistics (including rankings and records), the following must be true:
• The institution must be a four-year, degree-granting institution
The ruling goes on to list a series of requirements and then includes "a list of institutions that do not satisfy the requirements."

Among those on the list? College of Faith – Charlotte, University of Faith – Florida, College of Faith – West Memphis, and schools like American Sports University of San Bernardino, Calif., and Zoubida Cole College of Denver.
The Columbia baseball team – which edged Dartmouth in the rubber game of the Ivy League Championship Series – shut out No. 6 Miami yesterday, 3-0, to set up a showdown with the Hurricanes for the NCAA Regional title tonight at 7. The Lions defeated East Carolina (6-3), lost to Miami (8-3) and then staved off elimination with a 4-3 win over Florida International followed by yesterday's victory over the Hurricanes. They are the first Ivy team to win three games in the current NCAA format, which debuted in 1999. (LINK)