Sunday, June 08, 2008

Changes

A couple of changes in the football offices at Floren Varsity House to report. Jake Kirkendall, who did a terrific job as the Big Green's video coordinator/football operations person for the past year, has moved on to Eastern Michigan University, where he will be the director of football operations. The move returns Kirkendall, an Ohio University graduate, to the Mid-American Conference...Also, assistant coach Kenyada Davis has stepped down for personal reasons.

Want a real time waster on this Sunday? Check out Texas Bob's database of Texas high school football stadiums. He has the stadiums broken down into categories such as top capacity, those with video capability (there are 56 of them!) and the six-man stadiums. There are photos of a majority of the facilities and I'll admit to clicking on more than a few of the pictures. I particularly enjoyed getting a peek at some of the incredibly remote fields that host the six-man game.

A reminder that the Friends of Football golf outing is this Saturday. There's still time to sign up. You can find a flyer for the afternoon/evening here.

Remember Chip Kelly, the offensive coordinator responsible for that high-tech UNH offense? He won over a lot of skeptics in his first year at Oregon and now at least one pundit has him potentially ending up as head coach at Syracuse or Arizona after the 2008 season. Check out the story that includes this:
Oregon offensive coordinator Chip Kelly won't say it, but I will: he's a rock star. In fact, I wouldn't be shocked if he's a I-A head coach at this time next year.

Not bad for a guy who was coaching Division I-AA New Hampshire in 2006. I know it has a good program. But, c'mon, it's New Hampshire.
It's graduation day in Hanover and it's going to be a scorcher. I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but trust me, hot and humid are the order of the day. The temperature is expected to crack 90 degrees. ...

I spend a good part of yesterday and will be working the next three days as the media coordinator for the Vermont Open professional golf tournament at Lake Morey Resort, about a half hour north of Hanover. Players from 19 states and as far away as California have descended on the Lake Morey course and will be playing for $51,800 in prize money.

The tournament is the lid-lifter for the New England state open tour that always features a number of freshly minted pros getting their game in order before heading to Q-School in the fall. The best-known of the recent winners at Vermont was Sean O'Hair. He won at Lake Morey in 1994 and was on the PGA Tour the next year. He's gone on to win almost $8 million on the tour since then, including a victory this year at the PODS championship...In addition to filing stories and agate with the media, I've created a Vermont Open blog.

Saturday, June 07, 2008

Color Baseball Draft Green

Two graduating seniors on the Dartmouth baseball team and one incoming freshman have been selected in major league baseball's amateur draft. Outfielder Damon Wright was taken by the San Francisco Giants in the 25th round with lefthanded pitcher Russell Young grabbed by the Cleveland Indians in the 28th. Recruit Kyle Hendricks, a righthanded pitcher who posted a 0.93 ERA at his California high school this year, was chosen by the Los Angeles Angeles of Anaheim in the 39th round. Find Dartmouth's release here.

Keggy, the unofficial Dartmouth mascot, gets a brief mention in this story out of California.

This is kind of fun. Hanover is ranked No. 6 nationally among towns/cities with a population of 5,000 or more for the percentage of the population who walk to work (47.2) by city-data.com. All five towns above Hanover on the list are military bases, and almost every town or city listed in the top 101 is either a base or a college town. Now, I could be wrong but methinks a good, hard look at the methodology used for the study is in order ;-).

The Boston Globe has a story about the veterans President Jim Wright has brought to campus as undergraduates now that they've completed their first year. It's a wonderful initiative and a very interesting story.

Next in a series of recruiting lists – Women's Lacrosse:
  • Georgia Bird, D, Kent Place/Summit, N.J.
  • Dana Brisbane, M, Hotchkiss/Locus Valley, N.Y.
  • Kirsten Goldberg, A, St. Paul's School for Girls/Cockeysville, Md.
  • Hadley Lankford, A, St. Stephen's and St. Agnes/Alexandria, Va.
  • Erin Massimi, M, Westwood/Westwood, Mass.
  • Sarah Parks, A, Centennial/Ellicott City, Md.
  • Sarah Plumb, M, Nobles and Greenough/Wellesley, Mass.
  • Hilary Smith, D, Hackley School/Bronxville, N.Y.

Friday, June 06, 2008

Honoring The Champions

Four more Dartmouth football teams that won Ivy League titles will be celebrated this fall:
  • The 1978 team quarterbacked by one Eugene F. "Buddy" Teevens will be honored on Sept. 27, the afternoon of the UNH game.
  • The 1958 team, whose leading rusher was one John "Jake" Crouthamel, will be feted on Oct. 11, when the Big Green takes on Yale.
  • The 1966 team that finished in a rare three-way tie for the crown will be honored on Nov. 1, when Dartmouth plays Harvard.
  • The 1990 team that won the first of two Ivy championships under coach Buddy Teevens will be recognized on Nov. 15 when the Big Green plays Brown.
Additionally, all former Dartmouth teams will be celebrated on Oct. 18 when the Green hosts Holy Cross for Homecoming.

Oh, and please don't ask why Homecoming is against Holy Cross instead of Yale or Harvard. While many of you – most of you? – would probably prefer Homecoming be against Harvard, that is not a football decision and is not made by the athletic department.

One plus about having Homecoming against Holy Cross: It should help what has the potential to be a pretty good year for home attendance. That's because ...

... The Memorial Field season opens with New Hampshire. While UNH doesn't exactly get blood racing among the locals, it has an appeal to some people around the state and usually sees a slightly better-than-usual crowd in the visiting stands. Sandwiched around Homecoming, Yale and Harvard should both be pretty good this fall and both have natural drawing power in Hanover. That leaves only the Memorial Field finale against Brown lacking any special appeal – unless, of course, the Big Green happens to be in the running for the title.

The Sporting News is carrying a story on Dartmouth alum/SEC commissioner Mike Slive '62 and his push for a "plus-one" championship model in major college football. The story is built around the playoff idea, but it is a throw-away note late in the story about something else that caught my eye:
Slive's vow to have the SEC probation-free within five years hasn't quite panned out. But Mississippi State and South Carolina's 5-year probation periods end in June, and only Arkansas' men's track team is currently under sanctions.

The old joke about SEC standing for "Surely Everybody's Cheating" isn't heard so much anymore.
If you know Mike Slive and his reputation, you might be tempted to say, "I told you so."

Reading that story, by the way, sent me scurrying back to the web where I found a thoroughly entertaining ESPN story about Slive from last fall that you absolutely should not miss. The day-in-the-life of the commish (a game day, of course) includes an anecdote that Slive has probably told many times, but for some reason I'd not seen before. From the story:
You might not guess it, but the small, trim man was a college athlete. He arrived at Dartmouth as a quarterback but switched to lacrosse and lettered three years after an unmistakable hint from the football coach.

"We had 20 quarterbacks and 19 centers," he says. "When we lined up and I was the one without a center, I knew I was in trouble."
Hilarious. The ESPN story, by the way, introduced Slive this way:
When the SEC hired Slive away from Conference USA in 2002, many people wondered how a Jewish lawyer with an Ivy League diploma and a New York birth certificate was going to mesh with a brass-knuckles league in the Bible Belt.
They're not wondering anymore.

Former Dartmouth assistant coach Don Brown has had a lot of success as head coach at Massachusetts, where he once served as an assistant to former Brown QB and coach Mark Whipple. Now it appears the Don Brown-Whipple relationship will go to another level as Whipple's son, Spencer is apparently transferring from Pitt to UMass. So says this story. ... Donny Brown, incidentally, has a glittering 88-40 record as a college head coach.

And finally this ... Did you catch the Celtics-Lakers game last night? Pretty good one, was it? I wouldn't know. My kids woke up this morning and asked me who won. I had to fire up the Mac to find out.

Apart from the game being on too late for those of us with sleepy eyes on the East Coast, the problem here on Moose Mountain was once again with our satellite dish. See, our TV picture breaks up or freezes when we have rain – even the hint of rain will do it – or wind. No kidding, I tried watching last night but Paul Pierce would put up a shot and with the ball in midair the picture would f-f-f-freeze. Sometimes it would come back with the teams running up the court, at which point I would try to read the score before the screen froze again to see if the shot went in.

Worse yet, the picture might freeze (or disappear completely) for 3-4-5 minutes. I'm not a big fan of the NBA or either team, but it got so frustrating that I found myself wishing I could end-over-end the clicker right into the screen.

We'd ditch the satellite for much-more dependable cable (with Internet capability) in a New York minute, but as they say down in Mike Slive's country, that dawg don't hunt. I spent part of Wednesday morning down in the town office with a handful of others from rural Hanover meeting with people from a cable giant for the third time to talk about getting cable/broadband Internet service out our way. To the credit of the cable people, they listened patiently to our pleading and didn't laugh. Nor, of course, did they give us any hope that it would happen. Not on their dime, anyway.

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Stump Story, Ivy Football Recruits

I had several people write and ask about yesterday's picture of the captains at The Stump. In case you were puzzled by the location of the annual photo of the captains, here's an explanation for the stump taken directly from the Dartmouth website (italics are mine):
The “Lone Pine,” also known as the “Old Pine,” was a pre-Revolutionary pine tree that stood for more than 150 years on what is now called Observatory Hill, above the Dartmouth Green. According to Ralph Nading Hill’s "The College on the Hill," graduating classes in the 1850s adopted the tradition of gathering around the tree to smoke a pipe, which was passed from one to another. The tree was struck by lightning in 1887, and more extensively damaged by a windstorm in 1892; the College cut the dying tree down in 1895. Today the preserved stump of the Lone Pine remains, covered for most of the year but unveiled for ceremonies around Class Day on Commencement weekend. The Lone Pine also lives on as a lectern used for the College’s major events, including Commencement and Convocation. A section of the trunk of the tree was used to craft the lectern after the tree was cut down. The pine has become one of the enduring symbols of the College, used as the basis for the logo that was created for the College’s bicentennial celebration in 1969 (and still in use today) as well as other graphic representations of Dartmouth.
The Ivy League used to – and still might – post a listing of football recruits from all eight Ivy League schools. Because it hasn't, I pulled the following list together. Sorry the format isn't identical for each school, but it was a royal pain just getting it this far ...

BROWN
  • Sean Hack Burns, FB, 6-3, 205, Minnetonka, MN/The Blake School
  • Shane George Cooney, OLB, 5-11, 190, Mountain View, California/Mt. View
  • Derrick Duquette, LB, 6-2, 225, Plymouth, MA/Plymouth South HS
  • Nicholas Matthew Faber, TE/OL, 6-3, 235, Alamo, California/San Ramon Valley HS
  • Mel Farr, CB, 5-10, 180, Bloomfield Hills, MI/Detroit Catholic Central
  • Jonah Fay, WR, 6-1, 170, Brookline, MA/Noble and Greenough School
  • John (Jack) Geiger, OL, 6-3, 260, Whitefish Bay, WI/Marquette University HS
  • William James Gray, Corner., 6-1, 165, Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta Valley HS
  • Bradley Griffith, TE, 6-5, 220, Cincinnati, Ohio/Glen Este HS
  • Mark Hammer, Safety, 5-11, 185, Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Chagrin Falls HS
  • Mark John Hogan Jr., RB, 5-11, 190, Sudbury, Mass/Lincoln-Sudbury HS
  • Evan P. Johnson, OL, 6-3, 270, Kettering, Ohio/Archbishop Alter HS
  • Luke Iverson Landers, OL, 6-4, 290, Friendswood, TX/Friendswood HS
  • Nathan B. Lovett, Athlete/WR, 6-4, 190, East Providence, RI/East Providence HS
  • Jeffrey Matteis, DE, 6-2, 220, Havertown, PA/Haverford HS
  • Sam Martin McGrath, OLB, 6-2, 190, Longmeadow, Mass./Longmeadow HS
  • Luke MacKenzie Miller, TE/DE, 6-4, 215, Bryn Mawr, PA/Episcopal Aca./Phillips Academy,
  • Matthew Martin O'Donnell, ILB, 6-0, 230, Tipton, Iowa/Tipton HS
  • Patrick William Pakan, QB, 6-2, 205, Tallmadge, Ohio/Tallmadge High School
  • Stephen Douglas Peyton, FB/TE, 6-2, 210, Pioneer High school/Woodland, CA
  • Stephen Patrick Reid Jr., OL, 6-6, 270, New Port Richey, FLA/Gulf HS
  • Joseph Kyle Rettig, DL, 6-3, 245, Clearwater, FLA/Clearwater Central Catholic
  • Neal Kevin Rooney, DE, 6-3, 235, Scituate, RI/LaSalle Academy
  • Aaron Matthew Ruffin, CB, 5-9, 170, Alpharetta, Georgia/Northview HS
  • Jimmy Saros, WR, 6-3, 190, Grosse Pointe, Michigan/Grosse Point South HS
  • Richard Kevin Saunders, OLB, 5-11, 200, Akron, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary HS
  • Daniel Timothy Smithwick, S, 6-0, 190, Danville, Calif./San Ramon Valley HS
  • Spiro Alexander Theodhosi, RB, 5-11, 205, Londonderry, NH.Londonderry HS
  • Nathanial John Thomas, DB, 6-0, 180, Seven Mile, Ohio/Edgewood HS
  • Landon Ray Turley, DE, 6-4, 220, Alpine, Calif./Granite Hills HS
  • Brett Wyman, ILB, 6-2, 220, Bridgewater, Mass./Bridgewater-Raynham HS
  • John Charles Zoppo, OL, 6-3, 285, South Salem, NY/John Jay Cross River HS

COLUMBIA
  • Jeff Adams, OL, 6-7, 270, Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township
  • Pete Batesko, WR, 6-2, 205, Point Pleasant, N.J/Red Bank Catholic
  • Jerry Bell, QB, 6-2, 196, Corpus Christi, Texa /W.B. Ray
  • James Burrell, WR, 5-10, 180, Richmond, Va./Bridgton Academy
  • Sam Cecil, OL, 6-4, 250, New Martinsville, W.Va./The Linsly School
  • David Chao, RB, 5-10, 185, Park Ridge, Ill./Maine Township South
  • Will Claunch, LB, 6-1, 225, Palm City, Fla./South Fork
  • Alex Cornish, LB, 6-2, 210, Frederick, Md./Frederick
  • Christian Daniel, WR, 6-3, 195, Anaheim, Calif./Canyon
  • Ben Evans, OL, 6-6, 275, St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis University HS
  • Chris Groth, DL, 6-3, 280, South Lyon, Mich./South Lyon
  • Ryan Haslett, FS, 6-3, 205, Holmdel, N.J/(Holmdel
  • Bob Hauschildt, OL, 6-6, 280, Rosedale, Ill./Lake Park
  • Peter Holst-Grubbe, FB, 6-2, 250, Torrington, Conn./Avon Old Farms School
  • Kalasi Huggins, DB, 5-11, 185, Plainfield, N.J./Kent School
  • Kevin Lenehan, QB, 6-3, 210, Middletown, Conn./Xavier
  • Rafael Lopez, TE, 6-3, 235, Los Angeles, Calif./Birmingham
  • Anthony Maddox, SS, 5-9, 175, St. Rowlett, Texas/Garland
  • Donnie Miller, RB, 6-2, 215, Spring Lake, Mich./Muskegon Catholic
  • Nick Mistretta, LB, 6-2, 225, Nanuet, N.Y./Don Bosco Prep
  • Ross Morand, CB, 6-2, 170, Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier
  • Mark Muston, WR, 6-0, 180, Eden Prairie, Minn./St. Margaret's
  • Nico Papas, FB, 6-0, 233, Watertown, Mass./Buckingham Browne and Nichols
  • ChrisParuch, S, 6-3, 205, Bayside, N.Y./Chaminade
  • Ben Popeck, DL, 6-4, 230, Olive Branch, Miss./St. George's
  • Neil Schuster, CB, 5-11, 175, Dunwoody, Ga./Marist School
  • Shea Selsor, DL, 6-2, 230, Piqua, Ohio/Piqua
  • Kyle Stupi, OL, 6-3, 265, Eldersberg, Md./Loyola Blakefield School
  • J.D. Tyree, DL, 6-5, 225, Martinsville, Va./Martinsville
  • Kurt Williams, CB, 6-0, 180, Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Don Bosco Prep

CORNELL
  • K.C. Aharanwa, S/LB 6-3, 192, Dallas, Texas/LD Bell HS
  • Drew Bourassa, OL,6-3, 265, Pittstown, N.J./Delaware Valley HS
  • Rashad Cambell, DB, 5-8, 175, Cheltenham, Pa./Chestnut Hill Academy
  • Emile Chang, DL, 6-3, 265, Elmont, N.Y./Valley Stream Central HS
  • Adam Currie, QB, 6-1, 200, Memphis, Tenn./Evangelical Christian School
  • Chris Dennis, DB, 6-1, 160, Houston, Texas/Eisenhower HS
  • Tom Doupe, DL, 6-2, 225, Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake HS
  • Adam Harris, LB, 6-2, 228, Towanda, Pa./Towanda Area HS
  • Matt Harrison, OL, 6-4, 300, Missisauga, Ont./Phillips Exeter Academy
  • Jordan Heller, WR, 6-2, 187, Miami, Fla./Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior HS
  • Ryan Houska, S, 6-2, 210, Plymouth, Mich./Detroit Catholic Central HS
  • Zack Imhoff, LB, 6-4, 225, Cincinnati, Ohio/Colerain HS
  • Alex Johnson, QB, 6-3, 200, Ithaca, N.Y./Ithaca HS
  • John LaBarre, P, K6-3, 175, Walnutport, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic HS
  • Tommy Laymon, OL, 6-2, 252, Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Detroit Country Day School
  • Troy Lewis, RB, 5-10, 175, Hanover, Md./Cardinal Gibbons HS
  • Mat MacFarlane, DL, 6-3, 240, Verona, Wis./Verona Area HS
  • Keaton Marks, S, 6-2, 195, San Diego, Calif./Santa Fe Christian HS
  • Drew McGowan, TE, 6-5, 235, Evergreen Park, Ill./Saint Rita of Cascia HS
  • Jim Miner, OL, 6-5, 255, West Chicago, Ill./West Chicago HS
  • Zak Murdock, LB, 6-1, 230, Leechburg, Pa./Kiski Area HS
  • Ryan Pardoe, OL, 6-52, 93, Montandon, Pa./Milton Area HS
  • Tom Randall, WR, 6-3, 200, Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J./Bergen Catholic HS
  • Shane Savage, WR, 5-10, 170, Leesburg, Va./Flint Hill School
  • Jon Scheidler, WR, 6-1, 180, Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier HS
  • Travers Schmidt, S, 6-0, 200, Tamaqua, Pa./Tamaqua Area HS
  • Chris Sheridan, WR, 6-3, 180, Pacific Palisades, Calif./Loyola HS
  • Mike Spooner, LB, 6-1, 220, Rocky River, Ohio/St. Edwards HS
  • Zach Tally, DB, 6-0, 168, Dallas, Texas/W.T. White HS
  • Adbul Taylor, DB, 5-10, 160, Manhattan, N.Y./Paul Laurence Dunbar HS

DARTMOUTH
  • Shawn Abuhoff, CB, 5-11, 185, Dade Christian/Hialeah, Fla.
  • Joseph Andreassi, CB, 5-10, 175, St. Anthony's/Water Mill, N.Y.
  • Garrett Babb, WR, 5-9, 175, Bethel/Shawnee, Okla.
  • Joseph Casey, CB, 5-10, 175, Noblesville/Noblesville, Ind.
  • Kyle Cook, OL, 6-5, 260, Mater Dei/Anaheim, Calif.
  • Anthony Diblasi, SS, 6-1, 175, Belen Jesuit Prep/Miami, Fla.
  • Brad Dornak, WR, 6-0, 180, Westlake/Austin, Texas
  • Mark Dwyer, DT, 6-4, 240, Woburn/Woburn, Mass.
  • Royce Egeolu, LB, 5-10, 240, John Paul Stevens/San Antonio, Texas
  • Diego Fernandez-Soto, LB, 6-0, 185, Belen Jesuit Prep/Miami, Fla.
  • Austen Fletcher, OL, 6-1, 275, St. Anthony's/Old Brookville, N.Y.
  • John Gallagher, TE, 6-2, 225, West Salem/Salem, Ore.
  • Chris Hardy, RB, 6-2, 210, Oakwood/Dayton, Ohio
  • Charles Hollis, CB, 5-10, 170, Phillips Academy/Longwood, Fla.
  • Conner Kempe, QB, 6-4, 200, The Benjamin School/Tequesta, Fla.
  • Patrick Lahey, OL, 6-3, 282, Brooks School/North Andover, Mass.
  • Ryan Lee, OL, 6-6, 240, Heathwood Hail Episcopal/Columbia, S.C.
  • Aaron Limonthas, LB, 6-0, 210, Lamar/Houston, Texas
  • Benjamin Magnus, LB, 6-3, 190, Albuquerque Academy/Corrales, N.M.
  • Sir Norman Melancon, LB, 5-10, 180, Plano East Sr./Allen, Texas
  • Brock Middleton, OL, 6-5, 250, Brophy Prep/Phoenix, Ariz.
  • Brendan Murray, LB, 6-0, 185, Notre Dame HS/Chicago, Ill.
  • Ryan O'Neill, OL, 6-4, 240, Marist/Orland Park, Ill.
  • Grant Palmer, OL, 6-4, 245, St. Charles/Bexley, Ohio
  • Connor Phillips, DE, 6-3, 225, Winston Churchill/Potomac, Md.
  • Cody Poe, DT, 6-4, 250, Sequoyah/Tahlequah, Okla.
  • Michael Reilly, WR, 6-1, 190, Kent Denver/Denver, Colo.
  • Dan Rooney, QB, 6-3, 200, Shady Side Academy/Pittsburgh, Pa.
  • Foley Schmidt, K/P, 5-9, 175, St. Thomas Academy/Inver Grove Heights, Minn.
  • Nick Schwieger, RB, 5-10, 190, Bishop Feehan/Norton, Mass.
  • Alex Shulman, TE, 6-2, 205, Thayer Academy/Hingham, Mass.
  • Eddie Smith, DT, 6-3, 265, Christian Academy/Louisville, Ky.
  • Zach Wodka, OL, 6-3, 265, Buffalo Grove/Arlington Heights, Ill.

HARVARD
  • Stephen Aborn, TE, 6-3, 235, Plymouth, Mass./ Milton Academy
  • Hugh Archibald, CB, 5-11, 180, Memphis, Tenn./ Harding Academy
  • Patrick Bane, DE, 6-1, 235, Lynn Haven, Fla./ A. Crawford Mosley
  • Adam Chrissis, WR, 6-0, 195, Pittsburgh, Pa./ Upper St. Clair
  • Richard Cox, CB, 6-4, 210, Sardinia, Ohio/ Mason County (Ky.)
  • Blaise Deal, RB, 6-1, 195, Glendale, Ariz./ Moon Valley
  • Patrick Duffy, K, 6-0, 170, Irvine, Calif./ Mater Dei
  • Scott Fritz, OG, 6-2, 275, Houston, Texas/ Clear Lake
  • Alex Gedeon, QB, 6-1, 220, Hudson, Ohio/ Hudson
  • Matthew Hanson, WR, 6-1, 185, Lafayette, Colo./ Boulder
  • Nima Khavanin, OT, 6-4, 235, Davie, Fla./ University School
  • Matt Lunati, DE, 6-3, 240, Atlanta, Ga./ The Westminster School
  • John Lyon, DE, 6-3, 220, Durham, N.C. Hillside
  • Jonathan Mason, CB, 6-1, 205, Mitchellville, Md./ DeMatha Catholic
  • Dan Minamide, RB, 5-11, 175, Escondido, Calif./ San Pasqual
  • Kevin Murphy, OT, 6-7, 270, San Clemente, Calif./ San Clemente
  • Frank Myslicki, K/P, 5-10, 165, Ft. Myers, Fla./ Ft. Myers
  • Alan Reeves, QB, 6-0, 205, Alabaster, Ala./ Thompson
  • Dave Salutric, LB, 6-5, 235, Naperville, Ill./ Naperville North
  • Alex Sarkisian, QB, 6-3, 195, Valparaiso, Ind./ Valparaiso
  • Devin Saxon, QB, 6-0, 185, Hayward, Calif./ Moreau Catholic
  • Ben Stabler, DT, 6-5, 275, Lancaster, Pa./ Manheim Township
  • Aaron Spisak, OG, 6-4, 280, Phoenix, Ariz./ Sandra Day O’Connor
  • Sumner Webster, LB, 6-5, 240, Concord, Mass./ Governor Dummer Academy
  • Danny Wood, LB, 6-4, 230, St. Petersburg, Fla./ Clearwater Central Catholic

PENN
  • Lake Casco, DB, 5-9, 165, Lahainaluna/Lahaina, Hawaii
  • Colin Donnelly, WR, 6-0, 180, Central Bucks South/Chalfont, Pa.
  • Brian Gieske, DE, 6-2, 228, Chaminade/Manhasset, N.Y.
  • Matt Hamscher, RB, 5-10, 180, White Hall/White Hall, Pa.
  • John Hurley, 6-1, 190, St. Xavier/Cincinnati, Ohio
  • Kameron Jones, DE, 6-2, 219, Los Alamitos/Cypress, Calif.
  • Edwin Kispert, TE, 6-3, 225, Gloucester Catholic/Erial, N.J.
  • Jim McGoldrick, S, 6-0, 185, St. Joseph’s Prep/Havertown, Pa.
  • Chad Miller, QB, 6-6, 210, Foothill/Santa Ana, Calif.
  • Aubrey Moore, DL, 6-1, 245, Redland/Mechanicsburg, Pa.
  • Luke Nawrocki, TE, 6-3, 235, Chaminade/Syosset, N.Y.
  • Steven O’Hayon, DB, 5-10, 170, Miami Country Day/North Miami Beach, Fla.
  • Kyle Olson, QB, 6-0, 210, Kennedy (Fullerton JC)/Los Alamitos, Calif.
  • Zach Perlman, WR, 6-4, 210, Pinecrest/Weston, Fla.
  • Brendan Putnam, WR, 6-4, 205, St. Louis Priory/St. Louis, Mo.
  • Anthony Ramirez, OL, 6-3, 275, Dr. Phillips/Orlando, Fla.
  • Justin Rand, OL, 6-1, 265, Lacey/Toms River, N.J.
  • Erik Rask, LB, 6-1, 215, Corona Del Mar/Newport Beach, Calif.
  • Jason Rasmussen, LB, 6-1, 220, Lake Highland Prep/Winter Park, Fla.
  • Mason Rippey, LB, 5-11, 210, Jesuit/Portland, Ore.
  • Jason Schmucker, S, 6-2, 195, Gonzaga/Washington, D.C.
  • Jared Sholly, DL, 6-1, 250, Clear Lake/Clear Lake, Iowa
  • Joseph Silberzweig, DL, 6-0, 275, Scarsdale/Scarsdale, N.Y.
  • Alec Smith, OL, 6-5, 250, Carmel/Vernon Hills, Ill.
  • Matt Swanson, RB, 6-0, 185, Eden Prairie/Eden Prairie, Minn.
  • Gregory Van Roten, OL, 6-3, 255, Chaminade/Rockville Centre, N.Y.

PRINCETON
  • Matt Allen, OL, 6-3, 270, Tulsa, Okla/Holland Hall HS
  • Cameron Browne, OL, 6-4, 240, Lakewood, Colo./Bear Creek HS
  • Nick Broz, LB, 6-2, 210, Denve’Regis Jesuit HS
  • Mike Catapano, DL, 6-4, 230, Bayville, N.Y./Chaminade HS
  • Ivan Charbonneau, DB, 5-8, 160, Kansas City, Kan./Rockhurst HS
  • Blake Clemons, DB, 5-9, 160, Hampton, Ga./Lovejoy HS
  • Chance Cross, DB, 6-2, 205, Simi Valley, Calif./Simi Valley HS
  • Harrison Daniels, 6-2, 180, Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central HS
  • Kevin Demaio, DL, 6-4, 260, Holmdel, N.J./Holmdel HS
  • Drew Ellis, QB, 6-1, 180, Myrtle Beach, S.C/Myrtle Beach HS
  • Jaiye Falusi, DB, 6-2, 205, San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty HS
  • Dan Fitzsimmons, LB, 6-2, 210, Flemington, N.J./Hunterdon Central HS
  • Otavio Fleury, P, 5-10, 195, Oswego, Ill./Oswego HS
  • Ryan Gallagher, LB, 6-2, 215, West Chester, Pa./East HS
  • Chris Grous, OL, 6-3, 220, Sewell, N.J./Bishop Eustace HS
  • Jon Hibler, WR, 6-2, 175, Midland, Texas/Midland Christian HS
  • Patrick Jacob, K, 5-9, 170, Solon, Ohio./Solon HS
  • Brad Megay, LB, 6-2, 220, Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts HS
  • Jonathan Meyers, LB, 6-0, 255, Greenwich, Conn/ Greenwich HS
  • Mike Milano, LB, 6-0, 190, New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan HS
  • Kevin Mill, OL, 6-2, 245, West Chester, Pa./East HS
  • John Moellers, TE, 6-5, 245, Tulsa, Okla./Cascia Hall Prep School.
  • Mike Muha, DL, 6-4, 240, Coraopolis, Pa./Montour HS
  • Grant Serdy, FB, 6-0, 215, Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper Saint Clair HS
  • Isaac Serwanga, WR, 6-3, 185, Sacramento, Calif./Jesuit HS
  • Adam Shippey, DL, 6-4, 220, Lawrenceville, N.J./Culver Academies.
  • Tommy Stewart, WR, 6-3, 205, Eugene, Ore./Sheldon HS
  • Eric Stoyanoff, TB, 5-10, 205, Strongsville, Ohio/Strongsville HS
  • Nick Thomas, CB, 5-10, 180, Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice HS
  • Matt Wakulchik, DB, 6-1, 185, North Canton, Ohio./Hoover HS
  • Trevor Wilkins, DB, 5-10, 180, Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young HS
  • Tommy Wornham, QB, 6-2, 190, San Diego, Calif./The Bishop’s School

YALE
  • Michael Anderson, DL, 6-3, 245, Palo Alto/Palo Alto, CA
  • Ben Ashcraft, LB, 6-0, 230, Charlotte Latin School/Charlotte, NC
  • Drew Baldwin, DB, 5-11, 185 Thomas A. Edison/Alexandria, VA
  • Matt Battaglia, DE, 6-3, 235m, Salisbury School/Simsbury, CT
  • Alex Birks, TE, 6-3, 225, Mt. Lebanon/Pittsburgh, PA
  • David Bollweg, OL, 6-5, 302, Neuqua Valley/Naperville, IL
  • Bedford Booth, DB, 6-1, 210, Midland/Midland, TX
  • Carter Deutsch, DL, 6-4, 245, Second Baptist Upper School/Houston, TX
  • Geoff Dunham, DB, 6-2, 190, Lake Highlands/Dallas, TX
  • Evan Ellis, OL, 6-2, 285, Elizabethton/Elizabethton, TN
  • Bryan Farris, QB/K, 6-3, 215, Phillips Andover (MA)/Derry, NH
  • Jeff Fell, OL, 6-5, 290, Garden City/Garden City, NY
  • Cliff Foreman, LB, 6-1, 210St. Albans School/Washington, DC,
  • Michael Gabriel, OL, 6-2, 270, Choate Rosemary Hall (CT)/Powell, OH
  • Josh Grizzard, DB, 6-3, 196, East Wake/Zebulon, NC
  • Dawson Halliday, QB, 6-2, 200, Bearden/Knoxville, TN
  • Jordan Haynes, LB, 6-2, 225, Jesuit/Folsom, CA
  • Lars Knudsen, WR, 6- 4, 178, Whitefish Bay/, Whitefish Bay
  • Josh Kozel, FB, 6-1, 235, Staples/Westport, CT
  • Colin Kruger, OL, 6-3, 300.Riverview/Sarasota, FL
  • Jake McCrary, RB, 6-0, 185. Briarcrest Christian/Germantown, TN
  • Mike McInerney, OL, 6-4, 280. William Penn Charter School/Blue Bell, PA
  • Chris Morris, WR, 6-2, 175, Highland Park/, Dallas, TX
  • Wes Moyer, LB, 6-0, 205, Alameda/Alameda, CA
  • Sudiptho Paul, DB, 6-0, 175, Miramonte/Orinda, CA
  • Nick Schneider, LB, 6-3, 215. St. Xavier/Cincinnati, OH
  • McConnell Smith, WR, 6-0, 200, University School/Cleveland, OH
  • Reed Spiller, DL, 6-2, 275, Portsmouth/Portsmouth, NH
  • Jake Stoller, DL, 6-4, 260, University School/Shaker Heights, OH
  • Alex Thomas, RB, 5-9, 190, Ansonia/Ansonia, CT

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Where? Notre Dame, That's Ware

Dartmouth's 2008 captains are pictured at The Stump. (Photo courtesy of Dartmouth Sports Publicity)

KiJuan Ware, a Dartmouth defensive assistant in 2004 and a wide receivers coach in 2005, has joined the coaching staff at Notre Dame. Ware, most recently the recruiting coordinator and wide receivers coach at Georgetown, will be an offensive intern for the Fighting Irish and head coach Charlie Weis. While neither Georgetown nor Notre Dame has posted an announcement on the Internet, Ware is now listed in the Notre Dame football directory. Until it is taken down, you can find Ware's bio on the Georgetown web site here.

A couple of promising football players who succeeded in other sports at Dartmouth are in the news. Former baseball standout Eddie Lucas '04, who probably would have been the Big Green's starting quarterback in 2001 (see earlier Green Alert post) has been promoted to the Kansas City Royals' Triple-A team in Omaha. He's mentioned in this release. Find his current minor league bio here.

Lacrosse standout Chad Gaudet, whose promising career as a running back was derailed by a knee injury, has earned All-Ivy Academic honors this spring. Dartmouth's news release on the All-Ivy lax player can be found here.

Two more schools have released their recruiting lists. Find the Penn list here. ... For the Harvard list, click here.

The Harvard Crimson's graduation issue lauds the job head football coach Tim Murphy did last year while leading Harvard to a stunning upset of previously unbeaten Yale and the Ivy League title. ... Speaking of Yale, Jack Siedlecki is featured in the transcript of an espn.com roundtable discussion with coaches who toured the Middle East recently. What jumps off the page from Siedlecki's answer is just how important The Game between Yale and Harvard really is. The story is pretty long and I admit to skipping over the answers by the other coaches, but Siedlecki's responses are definitely worth reading.

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Tuesday's Notes

A potpourri Tuesday ...

As so often happens when the subject of sportsmanship comes up, the famed Cornell-Dartmouth 5th Down game gets a mention in a Washington Times story headlined Sportsmanship exists when money doesn't. ... For those of you who don't know the story, there's a terrific CSTV report on the game at this YouTube link.

Holy Cross is ramping up the PR campaign for "2008 Walter Payton Award Candidate" Dominic Randolph. Find a web page listing achievements by the talented Crusader quarterback here. (And don't be surprised if similar pages pop up before long for Colgate tailback Jordan Scott, Yale tailback Mike McLeod and Harvard quarterback Chris Pizzotti, all deserving of being on the Payton Watch List. The Payton Award, of course, is for the outstanding offensive player in the Football Championship Subdivision of Division I.) ...

Curious about the timeline for the rebuilding of Memorial Field's west stands? This PDF lists projected timing for planning board-site review, planning, design, building permit, bid, construction and occupancy for all major projects at the college including both Memorial Field and baseball's Red Rolfe Field.

And finally, that certain Hanover High sophomore was announced as a captain of her softball team for next spring at last night's banquet. Making her parents more proud: She won the team sportsmanship award for the second sport in a row. She earned the same honor during the winter track season.

Monday, June 02, 2008

Sign Of The Apocalypse

So now Dartmouth football is getting dissed in Opera News Online? From an article headlined: Yankee Ingenuity; CHARLES A. RILEY II savors the small-town flair of New England's Opera North:
At cocktail hour, hot-air balloons in LifeSaver colors drift over Quechee Gorge ("the Grand Canyon of the East"), seven covered bridges, ten area ski resorts and a dozen golf courses. Below, on the country-club decks and inn porches, the chat runs from third homes in Florida to the iffy prospects for the Dartmouth football team and, more and more, Opera North.
The italics are mine. No, it isn't a real deep, hard dig, but a dig it is.

The Ivy League isn't getting much more love from the pundits as the preseason polls/rankings start to trickle in. The College Sporting News does a nice job over the summer compiling the polls and consolidating them into one über-poll. So far, only the Any Given Saturday poll and Lindy's ranking are in and Yale is the only Ivy team getting a mention. The Bulldogs are No. 24 in Lindy's and missing in action in the AGS poll. Defending champion Harvard, with two starting quarterbacks returning, is nowhere to be seen.

The only other Dartmouth opponent mentioned is New Hampshire, which is No. 10 in the Lindy's ranking and tied for 18th in the other.

Speaking of UNH, quarterback Ricky Santos has signed with the Montreal Alouettes after being released by the Kansas City Chiefs. Find a story here.

Still on the CFL, I had a nice conversation with former Dartmouth standout Anthony Gargiulo last week after his "retirement" from the Calgary Stampeders was announced. Anthony told me that despite the horrendous break in his lower leg last fall, he's rehabbed hard and is now able to run as fast as ever. The problem: He can only do it for short intervals before the leg tires and the pain builds up. He's still holding out hope about perhaps one day playing again but is realistic about his chances. In the interim he is continuing to train football players and other athletes back home in New Jersey at Test Sports Clubs. Among the athletes he's worked with: Joe Flacco, the Delaware quarterback taken 18th overall in the 2008 NFL Draft.

And finally, that certain Hanover High sophomore learned another lesson yesterday in the Covered Bridges Half Marathon. For the second year in a row she was using the run for training, rather than as a race. That said, she has a pretty strong competitive gene and so when the classmate she was running with developed blisters and asked her to walk with her on several occasions, she was torn. Stick with a friend or try to post a time? In the end, she tried to do both, walking with the friend on a handful of occasions before eventually running again. She felt awkward about finally leaving her friend, but also disappointed about not having a chance to see what she could do in a race that comes around only once a year. To her credit – and this will embarrass her – when people asked her time for the 13.1 miles and she told them 2 hours, not once did she add the "but," that I certainly would have been tempted to add on.

I'm reminded of my second cross country bicycle ride with a friend from grad school. He was a marathon runner but hadn't done a lot of bicycling. He found it frustrating that he couldn't keep up with me and I found it frustrating that I had to keep waiting. It made for some hard feelings before we decided after a few days that we'd both ride at our own pace and see each other at the end of the day.

Next in a series listing Dartmouth recruits: Women's soccer
  • Annalyse Chinco, G, Sacramento (St. Francis HS*)
  • Colleen Hogan, G, Houston (Awty International School)
  • Alexandra Dutton, B, Granite Bay, Calif. (St. Francis HS*)
  • Erin Fleischli, B, San Mateo, Calif. (St. Francis HS*)
  • Alyssa O'Dea, F, Irvine, Calif. (Irvine HS)
  • Jennifer Williams, F, Cincinnati (The Seven Hills School)
* Chinco and Dutton were high school teammates. Fleischli comes from a different St. Francis

Sunday, June 01, 2008

A Page Out Of History

Before heading across the river to Vermont to cheer on that certain Hanover High sophomore in the Covered Bridges Half Marathon (her more sensible brother is playing golf today) ... a couple of fun ones for you.

To read a 1913 New York Times story about Dartmouth agreeing to wear numbers on its uniforms in a game against the Carlisle Indians, click here (PDF page). In case you are wondering, Carlisle won the game, 35-13.

Do you remember Jay Fiedler on the cover of Sports Illustrated when he was with the Dolphins? Find that cover here. Oh, and in case you were wondering, the SI Jinx absolutely took a bite out of Fiedler the next week. Jay had two fumbles and two interceptions in a 42-10 loss to the Rams.