Not Quite Lunch With Jeff Immelt

It's probably no secret (at least to my banker) that I'm a lot more at home reading Sports Illustrated than the Financial Times, but FT (as I have learned you call it) has an interesting, entertaining and informative interview with Jeff Immelt '78 under the headline: Lunch with the Financial Times.

A few outtakes from the story, which I recommend even if, like me, when you see FT you think free throws:

(General Electric's) Cincinnati-born boss is unshakably polite, self-deprecating and relaxed ...

(Immelt) believes executives need to take personal responsibility for how much they get paid: “This notion that a CEO can make a boatload of money and turn around and say the comp committee made me take it, that’s rubbish.”

(M)y favourite Immeltian crime is “deviousness.”According to Immelt: “Deviousness is the death penalty 100 per cent of the time.” Even deviousness by omission is forbidden: “If I have to ask the perfect question to get the answer, you can’t work for me.”

“Lunch at my age is for fat people,” Immelt, a 6ft 4in former college football player with a head of full, if greying, hair, retorts. “I find that three meals a day is not conducive to my boyish good looks.”

Having read the story I think I would like Immelt, someone I can't recall ever having met. I wish I'd had the chance to interview him back when I was a legitimate media type. (If ever I was ;-) Oh, and the (Not Quite) Lunch With Jeff Immelt header at the top of the blog? Ya gotta read the story to find out why it was Not Quite.

The wraps come off tonight for Anthony Gargiulo as the Calgary Stampeders open the regular CFL season against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at 8 p.m., Mountain Time. From the Calgary Sun:

KEY STAT

3 -- The number of new starters on the Stampeders defensive line this season, as Terrence Patrick, Anthony Gargiulo and Keron Williams replace Rahim Abdullah, Demetrious Maxie and Sheldon Napastuk. The new group has a lot of speed but is short on experience.

The CFL may not be the NFL, but it's big-time compared to the Ivy League and with that comes more scrutiny. From a canada.com column written by a Calgary writer and headlined, Take these CFL predictions to the bank:

Because of injury or ineffectiveness, not a single member of Calgary's starting defensive line - Anthony Gargiulo, Keron Williams, Terrence Patrick - will be in the lineup when the playoffs begin.

This story mentions that the rec center in Roxbury, Mass., was named after John Shelburne, one of the first great black Dartmouth football stars back in 1919 and 1920.

5th Down Game Ranked

It should be no great surprise that the famous 5th Down Game between Dartmouth and Cornell made ESPN's Top 100 ... "plays, performances and moments that define college football." That much could have been predicted. Where the game would fall in the rankings was the question. The answer: No. 35. Find the ESPN capsule here.

The National Association of Collegiate directors of Athletics has finished compiling its U.S. Sports Academy Directors' Cup, "a program that honors institutions maintaining a broad-based program, achieving success in many sports, both men's and women's." Stanford won the title for the 13th year in a row. The Ivy standings went this way:

55. Cornell
63. Princeton
64. Harvard
77. Penn
83. Columbia
90. Brown
95. Yale
124. Dartmouth

Green Alert Take: The methodology for the rankings is open to debate. That said, it's always better to be higher than lower. ... Dartmouth was 67th a year ago.

Anthony Gargiulo and the Calgary Stampeders kick off the CFL season this weekend. There's a Stampeders' preview here. ... Calgary, by the way, has been made the CFL favorite according to this story.

Thursday's Musings

An earlier posting included excerpts on gifts to upgrade Dartmouth athletic facilities over the past year. The full story is available here. ... In Philadelphia work has begun on an upgrade of the Penn football offices. Read about it here. ...

The Daily Dartmouth reports the college will spend $94 million to build a new home for the biology department.

Anthony Gargiulo will be rooming with Calgary Stampeders rookie fullback Gerald Commissiong, who began his college career at Stanford where his coach was ... Buddy Teevens. Small world.

Here's the Stampeders' schedule in case you want to follow Gargiulo's season (all times local):

Jun. 30 Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Stampeders 10 p.m.
Jul. 8 Stampeders at Saskatchewan Roughriders 7 p.m.
Jul. 12 Stampeders at Toronto Argonauts 7 p.m.
Jul. 21 Toronto Argonauts at Stampeders 7 p.m.
Jul. 28 B.C. Lions at Stampeders 7 p.m.
Aug. 4 Stampeders at Edmonton Eskimos 7 p.m.
Aug. 9 Stampeders at Montreal Alouettes 7 p.m.
Aug. 17 B.C. Lions at Stampeders 10 p.m.
Sep. 3 Edmonton Eskimos at Stampeders 4 p.m.
Sep. 7 Stampeders at Edmonton Eskimos 9 p.m.
Sep. 15 Saskatchewan Roughriders at Stampeders 4 p.m.
Sep. 21 Stampeders at Hamilton Tiger-Cats 7 p.m.
Sep. 29 Stampeders at B.C. Lions 10 p.m.
Oct. 8 Saskatchewan Roughriders at Stampeders 4 p.m.
Oct. 14 Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Stampeders 4 p.m.
Oct. 19 Stampeders at Winnipeg Blue Bombers 8 p.m.
Oct. 27 Montreal Alouettes at Stampeders 7 p.m.
Nov. 3 Stampeders at B.C. Lions 10 p.m.

Catch the live radio broadcast of all Stamps' games here.

More Ahnotty Aggiloru

Help! I can't find 'em all ;-).

Please, please, please, if you see something that deserves a mention here, send along a link as did a subscriber who found this column that mentions Anthony Gargiulo in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. ... And yup, it deals with his alphabetizing ability. ... The column ends with this:

If Gargiulo doesn't make the grade on the field, the team could use him in the front office. The Stampeders' press kit has Gargiulo's name spelled two ways — both wrong.

Oh, and Ahnotty Aggiloru, in case you haven't figured it out yet, is Anthony's name alphabetized.

bceru doow

Buddy's Back

The Manchester Union Leader ran an Allen Lessels piece in the travel section Sunday about Buddy Teevens' bicycle ride across the country. Find the story with several photos here. ...

A schedule update in case you are heading to Yale on Oct. 6. The Big Green game with the Bulldogs has been switched to 12:30. ... Also, it's looking more and more as if the Nov. 3 Memorial Field game against Cornell will be broadcast on the YES Network. If so, look for a noon kickoff.

Anthony Gargiulo gets a quick mention in this Calgary Sun story about the speed of the Stampeders' defence. (Love the Canadian spelling ;-) ...

A couple of Ivy League products in the NFL have been subjects of stories in recent weeks. Brown grad and special teams ace Sean Morey's move to the Arizona Cardinals is detailed here. ... Denver Broncos' safety Steve Cargile, a Columbia grad, is written about here.

And if you happen to want to buy a 1961 Bill King football card, click here.

Buddy Teevens And The Moving House.

The Brockton Enterprise has a story about local boy-made-good Buddy Teevens bicycling across the country. Find the story here. ... The story includes a couple of details I hadn't heard before including a close call with a moving house that you'll learn about if you click through! ... The story notes that Buddy's ride has raised about $12,000 for The Prouty Ride in support of Dartmouth's Norris Cotton Cancer Center.

In fact, the ride now has raised $13,818! And that number, as those of you who followed Buddy's ride here know, sticks in my craw a little bit because it is sooooo close to hitting $14,000. (Warning to regular readers: you know what's coming next, so avert your eyes if need be.) ...

With the Prouty still three weeks away, there's time for those of you who followed his trip in this electronic space but haven't yet contributed to do your part to help Buddy get over the $14,000 mark...He's currently the third-leading Prouty fundraiser.

Cato On Practice Squad

Derham Cato '05 landed on his feet. Let go in the last wave of cuts for the Toronto Argonauts, he is one of six players now on the CFL team's practice squad. He's the lone defensive lineman, so the thought here is he's likly a hamstring or high ankle sprain away from getting his big break after working long and hard for the opportunity. ...

A little farther west in the CFL, this story notes that the Calgary Stampeders' No. 1 draft pick , Justin Phillips, will back up starter Anthony Gargiulo '06 at one of the defensive end positions. ...

Our local daily had a story about Dartmouth assistant JJ Jackson managing to play Arena League2 football for the Manchester Wolves while still keeping up with his duties for the Big Green. Jackson: “If I'm not blocking, I can't get on them for not blocking.”

And finally, last night we had our breakup parent-player baseball game and cookout for the Little League team I co-coached again this year. We made it to the Connecticut Valley Little League semifinals last week, which was quite an accomplishment after "graduating" our two top pitchers and starting catcher (who happens to live in our house ;). It was a lot of work but also a lot of fun coaching a team, for once, without one of my kids on it! In what was a difficult spring personally, it was helpful to be around smiling kids having fun and enjoying a game that has always been very special in our family.

A Lateral Move?

Did you ever find yourself wondering what the perception is around the rest of the country about Ivy League football? Or if your perception of the Ivy game is clouded by your proximity to it?

If you have wondered about those things, consider what a columnist for the Des Moines Register said about football coach Rob Ash moving from Drake University to Montana State. Sean Keeler wrote:

(T)his wasn't a lateral move. Drake to Butler is a lateral move. Drake to Dartmouth is a lateral move. Drake to Montana State is a step up.

Drake to Dartmouth is a lateral move.

On first glimpse, that cuts pretty deep. From a school in the Pioneer League to any school in the proud Ivy League a lateral move? From a school whose schedule features a game against mighty the Waldorf College Warriors to any school from the legendary Ancient Eight a lateral move? He's kidding, right?

You make the call.

Dartmouth plays in the non-scholarship Ivy League
Drake plays in the non-scholarship Pioneer League

Dartmouth started football in 1881
Drake started football in 1893

Dartmouth has an all-time record of 638-395-46
Drake has an all-time record of 532-461-29

Dartmouth can't go to the FCS (nee I-AA) playoffs
Drake hasn't gone to the FCS playoffs

Dartmouth's home stadium seats 17,000 (or will)
Drake's home stadium seats 14,557

Dartmouth averaged 5,597 fans at home last year
Drake averaged 4,314 fans at home last year

Dartmouth plays on FieldTurf at home
Drake plays on FieldTurf at home

Dartmouth went 2-8 overall and 2-5 in conference
Drake went 9-2 overall and 6-1 in conference

Obviously, there are a lot of other things to consider such as coaching salaries, budget, institutional support, media coverage, national esteem, academic profile, etc. It still doesn't seem to be a lateral move, but it's a lot closer to that than it first appears.

Speaking of attendance, while looking up the numbers for Dartmouth and Drake (NCAA PDF file) I jotted down a few numbers. Here's the average home attendance for Dartmouth and its opponents in 2006:

1. Yale 18,562
2. Harvard 15,548
3. Princeton 12,220
4. Penn 12,021
5. Brown 6,517
6. Dartmouth 5,597
7. Cornell 5,008
8. Columbia 4,612
______
UNH 8,141
Holy Cross 5,742
Colgate 3,493

Green Alert Take: The surprise here is that Cornell's average attendance was so low. And while Brown did well to lead the second group of four, the Ivies clearly are a two-tier league with respect to football attendance.

***
Anthony Gargiulo's alphabetizing ability gets a little more play in the Calgary Sun after the former Dartmouth defensive end made the Calgary Stampeders' roster. From the story:

"It's like Rain Man, it's not a normal thing," laughed Stamps GM Jim Barker. "Like he says, it's the most useless gift that any person could ever have. So is it a gift?"

Curious about the football associations at other Ivy schools? Check out this PDF copy of Cornell's The Crescent.

Gargiulo Relieved To Have A Home In Calgary

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com

Calgary -- Relieved.

That’s the word former Dartmouth defensive end Anthony Gargiulo fell back on several times to describe his feelings when he learned Saturday he had made the Calgary Stampeders’ roster for the Canadian Football League regular season-opener this week.

A two-time member of the All-Ivy League first team, Gargiulo had shown well since signing with the "Big Red," as a free agent after a year out of football, but he wasn’t taking anything for granted.

“I was doing what I was supposed to do and the coaches complimented me a lot, so I had a pretty good feeling,” he said. “But I didn't want to count on anything. ... My parents wanted to come visit me and I was like, 'Don't buy tickets. I don't know if I'm going to be here.' ”

He learned his fate -- sort of -- on the charter flight back from the final preseason game of the year that he’d found a home in Alberta.

“A lot of guys on the plane back last night got letters saying they should meet with the head coach,” Gargiulo said Saturday night. “I didn't get anything and I wasn't really sure what that meant. But since I didn't get tapped on the shoulder or get a letter, I was assuming things were going to continue going the way they were which mean I was on the team. When nobody told me, that was my answer.”

Confirmation came when he arrived at the stadium Saturday.

“I really knew I made the team after practice today when they moved my locker from the rookie locker room into the main room,” Gargiulo said.

Gargiulo, 22, will play in his first regular-season football game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats this week since Nov. 19, 2005, although he got his first taste of what’s to come a few weeks back. After spending the spring of 2006 with the Dartmouth rugby team, he was finally a football player again.

“I didn't feel like it until we ran out on the field for the first preseason game,” he said. “Then I felt like I was a player again. They had the big blowup helmet, the cheerleaders and everything. It was cool to come back on the field like that.”

Still, he knows he has work left to do in order to reclaim the form that helped him lead the Ivy League in sacks as a junior and make 17 tackles for loss as a senior.

“I feel like I've been developing my pass rush,” he said, “but I'm probably a half step behind where I used to be. I've got to get that back and correct one or two mistakes against the run game. It's nothing grievous but it's what you have to do to be a professional I guess.”

One constant: He knows he has the speed he needs to play at this level.

“Maybe not (to run down) some of the receivers in the open field but as far as making plays in the backfield and rushing the passer I feel like I have plenty of speed,” he said.

Without any days off, Gargiulo hasn’t had much of a chance yet to explore Calgary, but so far the New Jersey native has liked what he’s seen.

“It's very pretty and clean,” he said. “The people are really friendly. It's just a nice place. II hope to get a better taste of that in the next week or two when I get a car and get to see some things. It's been a long haul without a break.”

Gargiulo plans to find a place to live with another “Stamp,” who played at Stanford. The only former Cardinal on the roster is fullback Gerald Commisiong, who, like Gargiulo, played for Buddy Teevens.

Hollis To Princeton?

The inside skinny is that former Dartmouth running backs coach Adam Hollis could be in line for a position at Princeton. ...

I spoke with Anthony Gargiulo '06 last night and will have a story up at some point today. He thought he'd probably be starting for the Calgary Stampeders and if today's Calgary Sun is correct, he nailed it. From the Sun:

The starting d-line is Terrence Patrick, Anthony Gargiulo and Keron Williams, while the linebacking foursome is Shannon James, Tony Bua, Cornelius Anthony and Scott Coe.

The Stamps' website now has a head and shoulders picture of Gargiulo up. ... His first game will be Saturday night against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

The Sun story listed a number of players assigned to the Stamps' practice team, something I didn't know CFL teams maintained. As a late cut, there's a chance Dartmouth grad Derham Cato '05 could end up on the Toronto Argonauts' practice roster. He's worked tirelessly for this shot, so the hope here is that it works out for him with the Argos.

Gargiulo Wins A Spot

Defensive end Anthony Gargiulo '06 not only survived the final cut with the CFL's Calgary Stampeders, but is slated to start the team's opener. Check his blog for details. I missed a call from Anthony tonight but hope to have a writeup on his good news in the next day or two.

The news wasn't as good for defensive tackle Derham Cato, who was released in the final round of cuts by the Toronto Argonauts.

The Lyons Den

Kudos to the Manchester Union Leader for digging up someone in Germany to write a story about former Dartmouth coach John Lyons' short stint as interim head coach of the Cologne Centurions. JL reports that he hopes to return to the European league again next year if it works with his schedule at Kimball Union Academy. Lyons' daughter, Kyle, a talented athlete and particularly gifted hockey player, will be taking a postgrad year at KUA next year. ...

With final cuts pending for the Calgary Stampeders, former Dartmouth defensive end Anthony Gargiulo is doing what he can to stick with the CFL team. He's mentioned in the Calgary Sun report card for last night's exhibition finale.

Revisionist history continues in Miami where there's apparently a new appreciation for Jay Fiedler. From the Palm Beach Post:

Jay Fiedler, who always played hard and hurt if not effectively, is about the only quarterback in the post-Marino Era who came anywhere close to commanding a fierce locker-room allegiance.

And finally ... that Hanover High School freshman (oops, I guess she's a rising sophomore now) played her first Babe Ruth baseball game last night and thoroughly enjoyed a return to baseball with the boys after a spring on the high school softball varsity. She walked in her first at-bat and lined a two-run single over second the next time up before fanning on a check swing in her last AB. She played the entire game in left field, firing a strike to the cutoff who spun and threw out a runner at home and performing cleanly in the field. After she laced the single, her brother (who has a pretty fine-tuned sense of humor) crowed, "That's my sister." ...

No Age Discrimination

The morning newspaper reports that a jury in Concord, N.H., deliberated for just one hour before clearing Dartmouth football coach Buddy Teevens of age discrimination when he decided to let assistant Pat O'Leary go two years ago. ...

The "lede" to today's story (the rest is not on the web):

Pat O'Leary did not demonstrate his firing as an assistant football coach from Dartmouth College in 2005 was motivated by age, a jury ruled in federal court yesterday morning.

Former Dartmouth defensive end Anthony Gargiulo '06 is closing in on a berth with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. From the Calgary Sun:

Two defensive line spots are seemingly up for grabs with a handful of players still on the bubble. Terrence Patrick is pencilled in for one starting role, while the frontrunners for the others are Keron Williams and Anthony Gargiulo.

No word on how defensive tackle Derham Cato '05 is faring in his bid to make the Toronto Argonauts' roster, but his name hasn't yet appeared on the team's list of transactions, so that seems to bode well.

Should have posted this note about Brown's two new artificial surface practice fields earlier but with everything going on lately, I missed it.

CFL Is CLF In Gargiulo's World

There's a terrific TSN.ca video interview with Calgary Stampeders' hopeful Anthony Gargiulo available here. It includes both a bit about his ability to alphabetize words instantly as well as some nice comments on how he's doing from the team's defensive coordinator. There are also clips of him in practice. ... Final cuts for the CFL team are Sunday if I'm reading Anthony's blog right. Editor's note: The, ahem, veteran journalist in me has to whisper this, but Anthony is one of the good guys and I'm rooting for him ;-)

Damon Blechen '98 continues to play football -- and play it well -- as a member of the unbeaten Northbay Rattlers minor league team in Northern California. Blechen, listed at 6-3, 250 when he made 40 tackles as a Dartmouth senior, has 17.5 tackles and 3.5 sacks (statistics) for the 8-0 Rattlers, who have outscored their opponents 232-51 this year. The Rattlers are members Golden Coast Football League ("Northern California's Premier AAA Football League) & North American Football League. If I recall correctly, Blechen is following in the footsteps of his father, who was still playing minor league ball when Damon was at Dartmouth.

A jury in Concord, N.H., now has the age discrimination lawsuit former assistant coach Pat O'Leary has brought against Dartmouth head coach Buddy Teevens.

Among those playing in NFL free agent and former Harvard great Isaiah Kacyvenski's golf tournament that honors his mother was former Dartmouth QB Jay Fiedler.

Ranking The Opponents

Matt Dougherty's final Sports Network column before he joins the Patriot League ranks position players at the FCS level. Although it baffles me how someone can rank, say, the top 10 offensive guards, it's done all the time and we all eat it up. So, without further ado, here are ranked players on teams Dartmouth will face this year:

Tailback
4. Mike McLeod, Yale
6. Jordan Scott, Colgate

Defensive Tackle
6. Brandt Hollander, Yale

Linebacker
3. Mike Gallihugh, Colgate

Corner
3. Casey Gough, Holy Cross

(Matt already looked at the top quarterbacks and UNH's Ricky Santos got the nod in this column. Dominic Randolph of Holy Cross was ranked 13th and there was special mention of the Harvard QB tandem led by Liam O'Hagan.)

The South Bend Tribune is doing a series on College Football Hall of Famers. This edition is on Earl "Red" Blaik, who coached Dartmouth to a 22-game unbeaten streak in the 1930's before moving on to Army.

Our local paper today has a page one story about the age discrimination lawsuit brought by former Dartmouth assistant Pat O'Leary against Buddy Teevens. Both coaches testified yesterday in federal court in Concord. O'Leary, 58, contends that he was fired because he was too old. Teevens says the firing was related to negativism and recruiting deficiencies. The story says Dartmouth Athletic Director Josie Harper, Associate AD Brian Austin and O'Leary's wife may testify today. The jury of seven men and one woman may get the case today or tomorrow.

The national championship Dartmouth Ski Team visited the White House yesterday as part of NCAA Champions Day that honored 20 teams. President Bush's remarks can be found here. Well-prepped, here's what he said about the Big Green skiers:

Some of the teams here have been waiting a long time to reclaim a championship. Dartmouth Men's and Women's Skiing Team -- they won their first title 30 years ago, and now they're here at the White House. Congratulations.

Hopefully the Blog is getting back up to speed, although I've got a lot of work to catch up on after a couple of difficult weeks. My brother from Indiana and sister from Texas are still in town to help take care of family obligations. Thanks again for the emails and phone calls over the past days.

On A Former Defender And One Headed This Way

It will be a couple more days before the Green Alert blog is back in full force but in the meantime I want to share several links. ...

Former Dartmouth standout Anthony Gargiulo has started his own blog to keep friends up-to-date on his bid for a berth as a defensive end with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. Find Anthony's well-done blog here. ... Not surprisingly, it didn't take long for the Calgary Herald to realize there's a pretty good a story in the Ivy Leaguer who took a year off before testing the pro football waters. Find that story here. ...

Incoming Dartmouth linebacker Spencer Hood is profiled in the North County Times. From the story:

Recently named both scholar-athlete of the year and defensive football player of the year at Carlsbad High, Hood marches into Dartmouth College this fall with a 4.1 grade point average and 600 hours of community service under his belt.

Thanks to all of you who have sent along kind thoughts at this difficult time. It means a lot as we deal with our sadness.

Time Off

A quick note that I will be taking a little time off from the blog as my wife and I do what we can to help my mother at a difficult time. Thanks to those of you who have sent along kind messages of support. Do check back and when the time is right I'll be back to daily posting.
Thanks,
-bw-

News Trickling Out On Lyons

News on former Dartmouth coach John Lyons taking over as interim head coach of the Cologne Centurions of NFL Europa (nee NFL Europe, nee World League of American Football) isn't exactly streaming out of Germany. Head coach Dave Duggan has health problems and Lyons, the team's defensive coordinator, has taken over. While the original report didn't offer much more than that, this computer translated page gives a little more detail in its own, unique way. From the translation: "I expect perfect a preparation Lyons the team avowed by you on the crucial play against the Galaxy." Got it? ... For what it's worth, Lyons' bio on the team page is in English ;-)

John Spradling, a 6-1, 185, wide receiver from Kinkaid High School in Houston, gets a mention in this story about athletes from his high school going on to play in college. Spradling is listed along with the other incoming Dartmouth players although he is not categorized as an official Big Green recruit.

Tyler Stewart, a 6-foot, 190-pound quarterback from Florida, had conversations with Dartmouth, Penn and Princeton before deciding to walk on with his home-state Gators according to this story.

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I'm back at Lake Morey Resort 20 miles north of Hanover today serving as media coordinator for the final round of the 2007 Jeff Julian Memorial Vermont Open Golf Championship. No Vermonter has ever won his own state open and Trevor Murphy, a North Carolina-Charlotte senior from St. Johnsbury who said he has maple sugar flowing through his veins, holds a two-shot lead heading into today's round. He tied the course record with a 61 yesterday, making my job of getting the media to sit up and take notice a little easier. To see what I'm doing up there, check out my Vermont Open blog. (Photo courtesy of Lake Morey Resort)

Lyons Interim NFL Europa Head Coach

Former Dartmouth coach John Lyons has been named interim head coach of the Cologne Centurions after head coach Dave Duggan stepped down for medical reasons following last week's victory.

Lyons is also the Centurions' defensive coordinator and is in his third year with the team. Find a story about his new position here.

Cologne is currently 6-3 and has given up the fewest points in the league.

Treasure Hunt

Time to start digging through those old boxes up in the attic. Here's a note from Jack DeGange, former sports information director at Dartmouth:

In conjunction with a pictorial timeline portraying the history of Dartmouth football (1881 to the present) that is planned for the football lounge in the new Floren Varsity House, a companion display case containing Dartmouth football memorabilia is being planned. The timeline will be completed in time for the opening of Floren Varsity House this fall. The memorabilia display is will be developed concurrently. The timeline project committee is chaired by Bob Ceplikas '78, deputy director of athletics.

This query is Step One of a "Dartmouth Football Treasure Hunt." The DCAD has a number of suitable items available for the memorabilia display but there are many holes to be filled in order to capture the full story, especially from the earliest days of Dartmouth football, i.e., from 1881 to the 1950s.

What we seek: Virtually anything (tickets and programs from historic games, old equipment that reflects an era long gone). If it was worth handing down, it's worth considering. Like the Supreme Court justice said about pornography, "I don't know what it is but I'll know it when I see it."

This is the first step: to identify items that can be candidates for inclusion. If you have an item (or know someone who does) that reflects the history of Dartmouth football that you would consider donating to this project, please contact Jack DeGange, the former Dartmouth sports information director who is the writer for the timeline project and coordinator of this football memorabilia acquisition process. This will be a locked display and donors will be suitably recognized for their gift.

To keep spammers from harvesting Jack's email address, I won't include it here. Email me (my box is already filled with spam) and I'll forward your responses to him.

First it was Trent Green's arrival, now it's Daunte Culpepper's expected departure that is softening attitudes toward former Miami Dolphins (and Dartmouth) quarterback Jay Fiedler. A Sun-Sentinel story about sympathy toward Culpepper includes this:

These are some of the same fans who showed no sympathy to any number of Dolphins, with hard-playing Jay Fiedler earning 37 wins but no benefit. Just doubts and curses.

A couple of non-football notes. That certain Hanover High freshman was all smiles yesterday after a good friend presented her with a signed Willie Mays baseball. The friend's father is a Dartmouth prof who had two balls signed by the Hall of Famer when he was here over the weekend for graduation. It's doubtful they could have found anyone who appreciated the ball more ... except her brother. He's a little jealous, but thrilled to have the autograph in the family.

Today is Day 2 of the Vermont Open and I'll be back at beautiful Lake Morey Resort about 20 miles north of Hanover. No Vermonter has ever won his own Open but an amateur who played for the No. 3 team in the NCAA Division I championships this spring will have a shot. Unless he gets too much sleep. Read why on the Vermont Open blog.

Big Green In Motion

Like cross-country bicycling Coach Buddy Teevens, the Dartmouth football team is going to keep pushing until reaching its goal according to this story on the school web site. ...

The graduation issue of The Dartmouth has a recap of the 2006-07 athletic season at Dartmouth. While saying the football team continued to struggle, it did note that the Big Green was generally competitive in the Ivy League this year. ...

The I-A/I-AA or FBS/FCS nomenclature problem comes up in a column in the Boston Globe discussing the chance that the University of Massachusetts would move up to the next level -- whatever it is. From the story:

UMass is thinking of doing the opposite, upgrading its successful, money-losing, I-AA football program to the big time, I-A

Two responses. First, there is no I-A or I-AA anymore. It's FBS or FCS. Like it or not, get used to it.

And second, I'm continually annoyed when programs are referred to as "money-losing." UMass football is not money-losing.

Money is being spent and value is being returned for that money in the form of a football program. Agree or disagree about the value, the money is not "lost." Is money colleges spend on art museums, fitness centers, landscaping and glossy publications considered "lost" if it doesn't pay for itself? No, because the money brings something of value.

By that definition, UMass football is not "money-losing."

It would be more accurate to say it is "not money-making."

There is a difference.

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Football takes a back seat to golf this week as the Big Green Alert home office relocates to Fairlee, Vt., for the Vermont Open pro golf tournament. The 54-hole event is the lidlifter for the New England State Open season and yours truly is helping with media relations. For a little more on the tournament, take a look at the Vermont Open Blog.

There are 186 golfers from 20 states and three Canadian provinces in this year's field. There are usually a few former PGA Tour players who show up (Jumbo Elliott is one this year) and a bunch of Nike Tour players. Among the former champions is Sean O'Hair, who won in 2004 and was making noise on the PGA Tour a year later, and Dana Quigley, who has gone on to win millions in senior golf.

Congratulations

10:45 a.m. update: Graduation is taking place outside under a canopy of white skies. ... The AP is carrying a story about possible changes in the Dartmouth alumni trustee voting process in the wake of another petition candidate winning election.

It's a soggy graduation Sunday in Hanover. Up here on the mountain the rain has stopped but there's heavy overcast and a chill in the air. ... A certain Hanover 7th-grader who lives and breathes baseball of the '50s and '60s would like nothing more than to camp outside of the Hanover Inn today trying for a glimpse of soon-to-be Dr. Willie Mays (scan down this story) but given the rain that's probably not going to happen. ... I'm not sure if next fall's fifth-year seniors are walking, but the guess is they are, so congratulations to all of last fall's players in the Class of '07: Lucius Alexander, Chris Blanco*, Don Bly, Bobby Calderwood, Dan Cook*, Preston Copley, Mike Fritz, Joe Gibalski, Cullen Gilchrist*, Sam McDonald and Joe Scola. (* fifth-year seniors next fall; Scola will be back to finish his degree but ineligible to play.) ...

An interesting note from a Dartmouth release:

Eighty percent of the Dartmouth Class of 2007 made donations to support the Senior Class Gift (SCG), breaking the old participation record held by the Class of 2006, which stood at 73 percent.

Former All-Ivy defensive back John Carney '78 gets a mention regarding the race for governor of Delaware and one of his projected opponents in the primary in this story. Carney won the Bob Blackman Trophy for contributing the most to the success of the team one year before it was given to a fellow by the name of Buddy Teevens. The story says of Carney:

The second of nine children born to Jack and Ann Carney of Claymont, he helped quarterback St. Mark's High School to a state football championship and went on to earn degrees at Dartmouth College and the University of Delaware.

With the Miami Dolphins' signing of Trent Green, Jay Fiedler's name keeps being invoked, occasionally with a little more respect than when he was on the roster. The Miami Herald writes:

Green is today a more talented quarterback than gritty Jay Fiedler or goofy A.J. Feeley.

Saturday's Notes

An Oklahoma prep quarterback invited to a one-day showcase in San Diego mentions having heard from Dartmouth (and Penn) in this story. . ... Columbia grad Tad Crawford is impressing the British Columbia Lions of the CFL. ... Nothing new yet on Dartmouth grads Anthony Gargiulo with the Calgary Stampeders and Derham Cato with the Toronto Argonauts. ... Lafayette has dedicated its new Bourger Varsity House. By all means take a look at the photo album of the impressive new facility linked to on this page. There's also a link to a video tour of the inside of the building that I couldn't get to work properly.

The 10th Annual Friends of Dartmouth Football Golf Classic will be held one week from today at Hanover CC. Big Fatty’'s Barbeque and The Harpoon Brewery will supply the tent. Among the auction and raffle prizes available will be tickets to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in San Francisco, a condo on Sanibel Island in Florida for a week, a Sugarbush, VT ski house for a weekend, Red Sox and Yankees tickets, golf at Ballyneal in Colorado and much, much more. Among those who have committed to be at the Classic are:

Gerry Sarno 1950
John Patten 1953
Bob Simpson 1953
John Springer 1953
Seaver Peters 1954
Lee Mann 1957
Bill Colehower 1959
Bill Gundy 1959
Dave Marshall 1959
Moose Morton 1959
Jim Progin 1960
Bob Bysshe 1963
Wayne Young 1971
Tom Csatari 1974
Bill Cahill 1975
Dan Kenslea 1975
Byron Anderson 1976
John Gleason 1976
Kevin Case 1977
Bill Jarrett 1977
Pat Sullivan 1977
John Carney 1978
Jay Murphy 1978
Jack Reeder 1978
Paul Centenari 1979
Jim Eden 1979
Jeff Hickey 1979
Jim Rill 1979
John Cholnoky 1980
Myron Luthringer 1980
Tom Martinson 1980
Joe Misiewicz 1980
Keith Quinton 1980
Shaun Teevens 1980
Rich Zogby 1980
Jerry Pierce 1981
Mark Clayton 1982
Steve Milano 1982
Mark Edwards 1983
Jim Calmas 1984
Bill Connolly 1984
Matty Lopes 1984
Frank Polsinello 1984
Tiger Shaw 1985
Brian Conroy 1986
Tom Stephens 1986
Nigel Ekern 1987
Ernie Torain 1987
Kevin Griffin 1988
Brendan Mahoney 1991
Mike O'Flynn 1991
Mike Bobo 1992
Steven Fox 1992
Bill Kuehn 1992
Dan Mulligan 1992
Deke Schultze 1992
Sal Sciretto 1992
Steve Hinshaw 1993
Greg Hoffmeister 1993
Andy MacDonald 1993
Todd Marker 1993
Sean Riley 1993
Dan Subin 1993
Joe Tosone 1993
Matt Feeley 1994
Jay Fiedler 1994
Darius Kirksey 1994
Ryan Spayde 1994
Chris Umscheid 1994
Josh Bloom 1995
Chris Boran 1995
Hunter Buckner 1995
Marcus Motroni 1995
David Schumacher 1995
Adam Sheier 1995
Rob Bourque 1996
Jeff English 1996
Jay Fanuele 1996
Justin Moscardelli 1996
James Whitticom 1996
Dan Thibeault 1997
Bobby Corso 1998
Dan Liebsch 1998
Greg Dietrick 1999
Bo Hinton 1999
Mike O'Donnell 1999
Matt Shevlin 1999
Brian Hood 2002
Eric Lerch 2002
Brian Mann 2002
Greg Smith 2002
Jay Barnard 2004
Casey Cramer 2004
Tom Finnigan 2004
Phil Frost 2004
Mike Giles 2004
Grant Wagner 2004
Scott Wedum 2004
James O'Brien 2010
Jim O'Brien Parent
Jim Bumphus
Paul Campagna
Tom Hoyt
Eric Knapp
Fred Knapp
Ryan Pierce
Bob Snyder
Chris Snyder
Tim Teevens
Chris Teevens
Fred Kelly

On Schedule

This nifty schedule for Dartmouth football and all of its opponents was provided by Don Jennings. Click on the image to enlarge it. If you'd like one more suitable for larger printing, click here for a PDF file.

A blurb from The State in South Carolina about Dartmouth-bound linebacker Carter Scott:

Carter Scott, a recent graduate of Hammond School, was recognized and congratulated by members of the 2007 state Legislature in May.

USA Today features a story about former Dartmouth track and cross country coach Vin Lananna, who led Stanford to several national championships and now is reinvigorating the legendary program at Oregon. Vin's son Scott '08 has been a multi-events performer for Dartmouth.

South Coast Today has a story about Jimmy Gilchrist, brother of Dartmouth defensive lineman Cullen Gilchrist. The younger Gilchrist will be walking on for former Dartmouth assistant Don Brown UMass in the fall.

Building For The Future

Big Green Sports News has an update on seven gifts of between $500,000 and $1 million to Dartmouth athletics during the 2006-07 school year. Among those that will most directly impact the football program:

• College Football Hall of Famer Murry Bowden '71, with wife Polly has given $1 million to name the lounge in Floren Varsity House after Jake Crouthamel, his former coach.
• Kerry and Bill Holekamp '71 have made a $1 million naming gift to the strength and conditioning head coaching position as part of the Dartmouth Athletic Endowments program.
  
• An anonymous donor has contributed $500,000 to name the study lounge in Floren after former Athletic Director Seaver Peters '54.
• John Engleman '68, alumni coordinator of the Athletic Sponsor Program, has "increased his overall Campaign commitment to athletics to more than $600,000 to support both the athletic endowment and facilities — in this instance, the Floren Varsity House," as quoted in the Big Green Sports News.
  

The construction of Floren Varsity House was enabled, of course, by the lead gift of Olivia and Doug Floren ’63. The building will be formally dedicated on Nov. 17.

With Trent Green headed to the Miami Dolphins, the Gainesville Sun takes a look back at the records of the NFL team's starting quarterbacks since Dan Marino. Dartmouth alum Jay Fiedler comes out smelling like a rose. Jay went 21-10 during the 2000 and 2001 seasons and 36-23 between 2000 and 2004.

Being a Mac guy, I've got a number of "widgets" that show up on my computer desktop to help with all kinds of little tasks. One is a countdown timer that is set for the season-opening football game against Colgate. When I woke the computer up this morning it had a big 100 on it meaning there are 100 days remaining until the Sept. 15, 2007 opener against Colgate.

A "teaser" on the front page of today's Harvard Crimson:

ATHLETES OF THE YEAR: This year, Grigg and Suchde claimed their rightful places at the top of the collegiate squash world.

The feeling here is that national perceptions of the Ivy League -- and Harvard -- couldn't be more perfectly synopsized.

Birge '92 Promoted At IMG

Rob Birge, a three-year letterwinner at defensive back for Buddy Teevens before graduating in 1992, has been promoted to Chief Marketing Officer, Worldwide at IMG, "The world's premier sports, entertainment and media company." (George Pyne, president of IMG Sports and Entertainment, is a former Brown player.)

North Of The Border, Eh?

Barring a change of plans, Derham Cato '05 and Anthony Gargiulo '06 should be in their respective Canadian Football League camps now. Cato, a defensive tackle, is with the Toronto Argonauts while defensive end Gargiulo is with the Calgary Stampeders. Find Cato's bio on the Argos' web site here. Helping Cato since graduated has been Select Athlete Services. His fact sheet with SAS is here and you can access video of him running the 40 here. ... Find Gargiulo's bio with the Stamps here. (Although it lists him at his college weight of 235, he's now over 250.) ...

The Palm Beach newspaper lists some of the celebrities who turned out for the inaugural Raymond Floyd Invitational, which raised $200,000 for the Don Shula Foundation for Breast Cancer Research and the Sandler O'Neill Assistance Foundation:

"Legendary Hall of Fame Coach Shula, his wife Mary Anne and son David Shula, Old Palm Members, joined hosts Raymond and Maria Floyd and their entire family in welcoming guests like former Dolphins quarterback Jay Fiedler, Hall of Fame Dolphins quarterback Bob Griese ..."

Lacrosse seems to be a quickly growing sport but a commentary in Lacrosse Magazine wonders why the men's version of the sport hasn't exploded on major college campuses in the spring and still takes a back seat to offseason football at many schools. An interesting story includes this surprising fact:

(N)ot since Notre Dame's first varsity season of 1981 has the sport seen a major football-playing university add men's lacrosse. Michigan State, a prominent Big 10 school, dropped its varsity team in 1997.

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Some of you know that while a certain Hanover 7th grader moved up to 90-foot bases this spring, I stayed behind to help coach his old Hanover Green Machine Little League baseball team once again. I just updated our stats and have to share this. Believe it or not, we have a player batting a legitimate .839 with eight home runs in the 12 games in which he has played. No one else on the team has hit one homer. The Big Dog has 36 RBI's. Next on the team: a player with five. The Green Machine, by the way, is 10-2-1 heading into tonight's regular-season finale.

JJ Jackson Catching On

Dartmouth assistant coach JJ Jackson is leading the Arena2 Manchester Wolves in scoring with 102 points. He has 13 receiving touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns. He's caught two PAT attempts and run for another. The former Oklahoma Sooner standout also tops the team with 66 receptions. He's averaging 71.1 yards per game receiving, has brought back three field goal attempts 79 yards and tops the team in every kickoff return category: number (26), yards (428), average (16.5) and long (35). Manchester, 4-5, plays host to Albany Friday night and depending on how the family schedule looks, we may make the trip down. ...

Desmond Robinson, a Buddy Teevens assistant the first time around, will serve as assistant athletics director for football operations at Syracuse. He'll also serve on the athletic director's senior staff. A former Pitt start, Robinson coached inside linebackers at Dartmouth in 1987.

The Harvard Crimson has a rambling column that touches on the renovations at Harvard Stadium, the university's ambivalence toward athletic success and diversity in the school's athletic department.

It was back in 2003 that former Brown President Gordon Gee, in his role as chancellor at Vanderbilt, eliminated the school's athletic department in favor or running sports sports under the banner of Student Life and University Affairs. As this Gannett story says, "Media and fans, who already loved to poke fun at the ‘Ivy League’ member of the Southeastern Conference and the league’s only private school, had a field day." How has it turned out? The change has been successful enough that Gee is crowing. Here's what he had to say recently:

‘‘We proved you don’t need an athletic department that is isolated and segregated and separated from the rest of the university and acting as its own entity in some arms race for facilities. We performed surgery on that model. We removed the athletic director and the athletic department. We treat athletics the way we treat physics. What we did was get rid of a lot of mid-level bureaucracy. Our dollars go to student-athletes and coaches, not to a lot of assistant athletic directors and other bureaucratic nonsense.’’

A number of people I spoke to in athletic adminstration after Vanderbilt's decision called it a grandstand play. I'm wondering what they are thinking now. ...

Memorial Field Seating Photos

The modified east stands at Memorial Field are being encased in cement block in the first photo. (Click photos to enlarge) The shot above (courtesy of Dartmouth) shows the stadium as it was prior to last year; In order not to block Leverone Field House, the east stands were not symmetrical with the west stands, which extend to the back of the end zone.

In the photo below the newest sections of stands, stretching from the workmen to the right, will now match up with the west stands.The last two pictures give a little better sense of how the stands in front of Leverone are being erected. The new sections will not rise quite as high as the sections in front of Floren Varsity House. (All photos except Dartmouth courtesy photo shot on June 3, 2007)
There's a Q&A with Erik Greenberg Anjou, filmaker of the Ivy League football documentary For Love & Honor on a site called Hollywoodlot; Where Movies Make Headlines. One of the Q's:

“For Love & Honor” is a documentary film about Ivy League football and American leadership. How did this project first get started and what was the inspiration behind it?

That certain Hanover High School freshman was one of the subjects of a story in Saturday's local newspaper about the fact that there were just five local girls (from more than a dozen area high schools) earning three varsity letters as a freshman. The reporter asked the certain freshman her favorite sport and she told the writer "baseball," which she obviously didn't letter in. From my days as a writer, I would have been all over that answer, but it didn't make the story. Different strokes. ...

Speaking of that Hanover frosh, she ran the Covered Bridges Half Marathon Sunday in 1:55 and change. At age 15 she was sixth in the 19-and-under group, a footprint ahead of the friend she went stride for stride with the whole way.

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And finally this: If you somehow missed the minor league baseball manager who put on an unbelievable show after being ejected last week, you don't want to miss this ...

Echoes Of Dartmouth's Past

There is a terrific story out of the San Francisco Chronicle taking a look at athletic successes and failures at Stanford. The story is headlined:

HIGHER STANDARDS
Stanford teams finding it's hard to win if athletes can't get in

There's all kinds of interesting stuff in this story, starting with a lede that does a good job of setting the stage for what's to come:

Stanford will soon wrap up its 13th straight Directors' Cup, which recognizes overall success in intercollegiate sports. Many Stanford alumni, however, consider the cup a booby prize, won mainly because the school excels in non-revenue producing sports.

Does that have a familiar ring, Ivy League fans?

Speaking of a familiar ring, a severe downturn in a number of Stanford sports -- including football -- just happened to coincide with the tenure of an admissions dean:

The common denominator is the rosters of those teams were largely determined during the 2000-05 tenure of Robin Mamlet as dean of admissions. She came from Swarthmore, a small liberal arts college near Philadelphia that competes in sports on the Division III level. She had not worked at a Division I school previously and apparently had little experience dealing with applications from elite athletes.

Those of you with institutional memory regarding Dartmouth might find the mention of Swarthmore, admissions and a downturn in football all in the same story eerily familiar.

The San Francisco Chronicle writer tried to contact Buddy Teevens for a few thoughts but he was either still on his bicycle and out of contact at the time, or thought better of reopening old wounds. Bobby Clark, the legendary Dartmouth soccer coach who later coached at Stanford and now at Notre Dame, spoke to the Chronicle about the admissions difficulties he faced at the end of his successful stint with the Cardinal:

"Two kids, one in each of our last two years, were turned down, and both got into Harvard. One was our top (recruited) player.''

Matt Dougherty, the former Dartmouth sports information intern who has meant so much to FCS/Division I-AA football as the editor of the sport at The Sports Network, is leaving that post to become director of media relations with the Patriot League. He's a good guy who will be soreless missed by a lot of readers.

Thanks to a regular reader who sent along a link to a very interesting discussion about this fall's Princeton-Hampton game on a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference MEAC message board. In addition to some interesting back-and-forth that offers a look at how people perceive the level of football in the Ivies, the board included this:

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Dartmouth and Norfolk State play a series in a few years. The head coaches are old friends from their days in Florida as asst. coaches.

The Norfolk State coach's bio doesn't list anything about him being at Florida, so I'm not really sure if there's a connection between the two, but it's worth watching ...

Help Wanted

Stumbled across two ads this morning regarding Dartmouth football, one for an "offensive assistant," and one for the position of Director of Football Operations/Video Coordinator. I'm guessing there might be a mistake in these postings, given the listed responsibilities. Here are the ads, boilerplate at the end included, as they appear on a coaching web site:

A couple of days later only this ad has been left up:

Dartmouth College seeks candidates for the position of Director of Football Operations/Video Coordinator. Responsibilities: This position works closely with the head football coach and staff, assisting with all operational activities of the football program and directing all aspects of video collection, editing, and exchange. Qualifications: Applicants must have an Associates degree; a Bachelors degree is preferred. Previous experience in athletics is highly desired, football background preferred. Additional qualifications include strong organizational skills, a good working knowledge of computers and software applications, and video taping/editing proficiency. Application: Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Send letter of application, resume, and names of at least three professional references to: Susan Devost, Administrative Assistant for Intercollegiate Programs, 6083 Alumni Gymnasium, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755 or sue.devost@dartmouth.edu.. One of the most diverse institutions of higher education in New England, Dartmouth College is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and has a strong commitment to diversity. Women, persons of color, persons with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply.

This one has been removed:

Dartmouth College seeks candidates for the position of Offensive assistant coach Responsibilities: This position works closely with the head football coach and staff, assisting with all operational activities of the football program and directing all aspects of video collection, editing, and exchange. Qualifications: Applicants must have an Associates degree; a Bachelors degree is preferred. Previous experience in athletics is highly desired, football background preferred. Additional qualifications include strong organizational skills, a good working knowledge of computers and software applications, and video taping/editing proficiency. Application: Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Send letter of application, resume, and names of at least three professional references to: Susan Devost, Administrative Assistant for Intercollegiate Programs, 6083 Alumni Gymnasium, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755 or sue.devost@dartmouth.edu.. One of the most diverse institutions of higher education in New England, Dartmouth College is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and has a strong commitment to diversity. Women, persons of color, persons with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply.

I just dropped the Hanover High School freshman off at the local middle school where she is taking the Biology SAT. Although she's young, it's recommended that students in Hanover's gruelling honors biology class take the test as freshmen because the subject is fresh for them. There's a lot of talk that honors bio is the toughest class at Hanover, which is saying something. Time will tell how she does. ... An even tougher test may come tomorrow when she runs in the Covered Bridges Half Marathon, a tremendously popular road race in Vermont. She's run in three 5-K's during softball season and won her age group in each, so she should be OK. But since finishing indoor track and moving over to softball she hasn't been able to train nearly as much as she had been during the winter so 13-plus miles will probably take their toll. She's a tough cookie, though ;-)

Thanks

Someone answered this morning's call and pushed donations to The Prouty inspired by Buddy Teevens' cross country bicycle ride over the $13,000 plateau. Thanks once again, everyone, for your incredible generosity.

I'll stop bugging you now.

Promise.

(But before I do, I'll remind you the donation link will remain active. ...)

Have a great weekend!
-bw-

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From a web page for The Prouty:

The 26th Annual Prouty Century Bike Ride & Challenge Walk will be held on July 14, 2007 in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Through the Friends of Norris Cotton Cancer Center and the Prouty, you support Cancer Center researchers and clinicians who are working on innovative ways to prevent, diagnose, treat and hopefully, one day, cure cancer.

All money raised helps to support cancer research and patient services at Norris Cotton Cancer Center, one of only 39 comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute for excellence in cancer research, care and community outreach.

Thank you for your support!

Former DB In The News

From a Minneapolis Star Tribune blog:

Vikings agreed to terms today with seventh-round draft pick Chandler Williams. The contract was negotiated by agents Joseph Palumbo and John Owens.

John Owens '91, was a three-year letterwinner as a defensive back for Dartmouth and won an Ivy League championship with Buddy Teevens on the '90 squad. John also served as a sounding board for Ryan Fuselier when the former wide receiver was considering pro football. Find John's bio here.

From yesterday's New York Times:

The rate of diagnosed clinical depression among retired National Football League players is strongly correlated with the number of concussions they sustained, according to a study to be published today.

Today's New York Times has an interesting look at the role basketball plays in the life of Barack Obama. It notes that before she married him, Obama's wife asked her brother Craig Robinson -- former Princeton star and current Brown coach -- to play pickup ball with him to get a sense of what kind of person he is.

One final reminder that it's not too late to contribute to The Prouty fundraiser for Dartmouth's Norris Cotton Cancer Center in honor of Buddy Teevens' bicycle ride across the country. The current total is so close to another threshold that I'm hoping someone will step up and bring the money raised to an even number.
11 a.m. UPDATE: It's now $32 from an even $13,000!!!