Thursday, December 26, 2019

(Almost) In Good Company

Craig Haley at STATS has ranked what he considers, "the most successful FCS programs of the decade," and Harvard comes in at No. 15.

Here's what he writes about the Crimson:
Record: 74-26 (.740) 
Resume: 4 Ivy League titles and 2 runner-up finishes; 22-game win streak (2013-15) 
Recap: The Crimson owned the Ivy League under coach Tim Murphy during the first half of the decade, posting a 31-4 record (45-5 overall) and four titles from 2011-15. Ivy schools don't participate in postseason play.
Green Alert Take: It's hard to quibble with Haley's choice but Dartmouth probably belonged in the next cohort. The Big Green's record over the past 10 years was 70-30 (.700) with two championships and four second-place finishes.

New Hampshire came in at No. 9 in the ranking with an 80-47 record (.630) headlined by eight FCS playoffs and two appearances in the NCAA semifinals.

The No. 1 team in the rankings? Hardly a surprise. That would be North Dakota State with a 136-13 record (.913), seven national championships (and counting), 10 playoff appearances, nine conference titles, a 6-0 record against FBS opponents and a partridge in a pear tree.
The local Valley News has a story about the impending retirement of Dartmouth head groundskeeper Honda Barnes. (LINK)

Honda (OKA - once known as Gordie) has run the show since 1998.

The Gazette out of Colorado Springs has a story about the passing of longtime Air Force assistant coach Tom Miller, who spent almost 24 years at the Academy. (LINK)

Miller coached the defensive line at Dartmouth in the early '80s as part of a terrific staff put together by Joe Yukica. He was joined by Joe Moglia, Frank Hershey, Dick Maloney, Bill Harris and "Cactus Jack" Curtis.
And finally, Christmas night delivered one of the prettier sunsets we've seen since relocating the BGA world headquarters. It's hard to pick out just one photo but here's the view looking up our driveway and I promise you those colors are accurate. In fact, they may not do the view justice:

Click photo to enlarge.