In a story from the Winter Carnival issue of The Dartmouth, head football coach Buddy Teevens explains why he clears the "D" in the middle of the football field when it snows. From the story (LINK):
“It’s respect for Dartmouth, for the institution, certainly for our program."
Ever since Memorial Field installed artificial turf in 2006, Teevens has been shoveling the field’s midfield D every time it snows.
“I kind of fly under the radar,” Teevens said. “I just thought, ‘Man, it’s beautiful out there, the field’s covered with snow. And if it’s offset with the green and the D… it’s a neat little way to lay it out there.”
And . . .
“He could simply have somebody else do it,” assistant head coach Sammy McCorkle, who has been coaching with Teevens since 2005, said. “But he says ‘Why would I ask somebody else to do it when I can easily go out there and do it myself?’”
McCorkle said it speaks to who Teevens is as a person, and what Dartmouth means to him.
“He’s always been the guy that if there’s garbage on the ground on campus, he doesn’t walk by it —he picks it up,” McCorkle continued. “Nothing is beneath him, and he’s always had that mentality… It doesn’t matter what your status is. Anybody can pick up trash, anybody can shovel a field.”
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Had to double-check this because a big change took place while I wasn't watching.
To my surprise (and maybe yours) there is no intercollegiate skiing component of the Dartmouth Winter Carnival this year. It turns out that with more skiing schools than available snow-covered winter weekends, the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (EISA) restructured the carnival schedule to allow more schools the opportunity to host. As a result not only does Dartmouth not host this year, but neither does Vermont, or Middlebury for that matter.
Dartmouth had hosted a ski carnival for almost a century before that streak ended in the 2019-20 school year.
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It didn't take Shane Cokes long to make an impact off the field at Colorado:
Congratulations to Football Students of the Week, @ben_finneseth & @ShaneCokes 👏#GoBuffs 🦬 pic.twitter.com/zmSLJ9AnxD
— Colorado Buffaloes Football (@CUBuffsFootball) February 9, 2023
And the USA Today Sports site BuffaloesWire expects Cokes to do the same on the field in a story headlined, Predicting Colorado football's 2023 defensive starters. From the story (LINK):
Shane Cokes played the five-technique for Dartmouth, but I see him as a run-stuffing defensive end on base downs who can pinch on passing downs to generate an inside pass rush.
The 27-year-old pass rusher had a breakout season with the Calgary Stampeders in 2022, amassing 37 defensive tackles, six sacks, one forced fumble and a pick-six in 17 regular season games. Orimolade had his best performance of the year in the West Semi-Final against the B.C. Lions, tallying six tackles, two sacks and one forced fumble in the loss.
Former Calgary defensive line coach Corey Mace coached the Washington, D.C. native through his first three seasons in the league and he’s currently the defensive coordinator for the Argonauts. With Ja’Gared Davis expected to hit free agency, Orimolade will be a highly coveted addition to his defence once contracts can officially be signed on Tuesday, February 14.
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Once again next fall Dartmouth's Ivy League football games will be streamed on ESPN+ or show up on one of ESPN's other networks. But what about the nonconference road games?
With the CAA announcing its rights deal yesterday the Sept. 16 opener at New Hampshire will be carried by FloSports, which offers annual and one-month memberships. The one-month deal was $12.50 last season.
Dartmouth's Oct. 14 game at Colgate will be on ESPN+ as part of the Patriot League package.
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Interesting stuff. Someone at FootballScoop surveyed 1,788 FBS football games over the past two years and worked up the winning percentage for teams that accomplished five goals. Here are the goals, how teams fared that reached them, and the winning percentage:
• Rush for more yards: 675-218 (.756)
• Pass for more yards: 531-359 (.597)
• Score first: 606-288 (.678)
• Lead at halftime: 674-174 (.795)
• Win turnovers: 503-180 (.736)
Teams that accomplished ALL FIVE of those goals? They were 146-1, a winning percentage of .993.
And the one game when a team reached all five goals and lost? Texas Tech 51, Oklahoma 48 on Nov. 26 of last year.
Read the FootballScoop story about the most unlikely games of the past year per those five criteria HERE, and about the most unlikely result of them all – the Oklahoma loss – HERE.
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EXTRA POINT
Griff the Wonder Dog loves to hike but sticky show that clings to his feet and belly, and an icy snow surface that can cut his feet if we hike too long limit his winter outings. (He has booties but he doesn't like them and they tend to come off.) I wouldn't bring him when the temperature is in single digits or colder, and because he loves to run free, it's best when there aren't others on the trail (although he wouldn't hurt a fly and never barks).
Add it up and his opportunities to go up the mountain in the winter are limited.
Yesterday was one of those rare opportunities and with a light snow falling the big fella had himself an absolute ball ;-)
