Wednesday, January 31, 2018

普通话 On The Gridiron

It's not unusual for a football recruit at an Ivy League school to be fluent in a foreign language. But Mandarin?

That novelty gets a headline and mention in a story about Dartmouth-bound offensive lineman Andrew Paxton.

(Thanks for the link!)
Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens is quoted in the News & Observer story out of North Carolina under the headline, I don’t know that we need football as a thing.’ Families flee America’s favorite sport.

From the story:
Teevens’ Dartmouth teams do not hit each other at practice. The team practices tackling against robotic dummies and other inanimate objects.
“We might be able to change the game for the better,” said Teevens, who banned tackling in practice in 2010. His teams are 52-28 since after going 9-41 in the previous five seasons.
Taking its cue from Teevens, the Ivy League has outlawed tackling at practices across the league.
 (Editor's Note: The Ivy League has outlawed tackling at in-season practices across the league.)

Bloomberg has an opinion piece under the headline, Brain Damage, the Super Bowl and MeI love football. I hate what it does to players. I'll watch. My son won't play.

From that story:
Buddy Teevens, the head football coach at Dartmouth College, said that he no longer allows tackling during practice to minimize potential brain injuries. “The skill of tackling can be taught on inanimate objects,” he said. 
CBS Sports Dennis Dodd writes about a proposal to change a tremendously unfair NCAA eligibility rule under the headline, Proposal to let athletes transfer instantly after a coaching change picks up steam.

From the story:
Athletes would be allowed to transfer schools without restriction if their coach were fired or left for another job as part of sweeping proposal that is making its way through Division I, CBS Sports has learned. However, athletes would not be permitted to follow the departing coach to their new program.