From a piece in the New Haven Register headlined, Sunday Gravy: Ivy League football teams deserve playoff shot:
“As a group, every year we’ve voted unanimously for the playoffs,” Yale football coach Tony Reno said on Saturday. “There’s a decision made at a higher level that keeps us where we are. I would love to be playing today. Our players would love to have the opportunity to play against the best teams in the country. That’s what it’s all about, right?”
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From a New York Times story headlined, Canadian Football’s Big Steps to Reduce Hits, a Contrast to the N.F.L.:Football programs that no longer hold full-contact practices have seen injuries plummet. Buddy Teevens, the coach at Dartmouth, a member of the Ivy League, said the number of concussions in practices and games at his college had fallen by 80 percent since 2011, when he stopped contact practices during the season and began focusing on better tackling techniques using robotic dummies. The reduction in head hits during the week has also made players less vulnerable on game days.
“The preconcussive hits you don’t get on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday don’t lead to big hits on Saturday,” he said. “That’s the encouraging thing — the in-game injuries have been reduced as well.”
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A reminder that the finalists for the Bushnell Cup, the Ivy League's offensive and defensive players of the year, will be announced tomorrow.
