First, the basketball game played on Dec. 21, 1983. I have written in the past about a group of us scrambling that day to find a business that had this relatively new cable network called ESPN, which was carrying the game. It took a bunch of calling but we finally found a place in White River Junction that said they thought they had it. After confirming they did they said they would make sure the TV was tuned to the network so we could watch this game:
The final score was top-ranked North Carolina 103, Dartmouth 58 with junior Michael Jordan scoring a game-high 25 points on 10-of-11 shooting from the field and 5-of-5 from the foul line. Sam Perkins, held out of the starting lineup because of strep throat, had 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting. North Carolina led at the half, 55-22, and then made 19 of its first 20 shots in the second half.
Paul Anderson and Scott Schroeder topped Dartmouth with 15 points apiece.
With the win the Tar Heels improved to 6-0 and would go on to finish 28-3, losing to Indiana in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Big Green dropped to 2-5 with the loss and would go on to post an 11-15 overall record and a 6-8 Ivy League mark.
•
Apologies if the game against MJ and the Heels buried the lede, which is probably this next note.
Dartmouth appeared to have dodged a bullet when sharpshooting guard Brendan Barry pulled his name out of the transfer portal in late March and announced he would return to Hanover this winter. Now the Big Green will apparently have to dodge a cannonball with immensely talented if occasionally mercurial post/forward Chris Knight announcing his intention to enter the portal after suffering an Achilles' heel tear this summer. Here's his tweet:
Trust the process 💆🏾♂️... pic.twitter.com/qpvDnFtopj
— Christopher Knight (@CKnight8174) August 25, 2020
Green Alert Take: You can make the case that Knight and Evan Boudreaux are the two best big men Dartmouth has had since Walter Palmer '90, the Utah Jazz' top draft pick in 1990. It would be a devastating blow to the Big Green program if Knight were to join Boudreaux in transferring. Rest assured that coach Dave McLaughlin, who successfully re-recruited Barry, will put a full-court press together to try to bring Knight back.
•
Want to attend the Sept. 8, virtual book launch of Resilient by Nature, the new memoir by Dartmouth and Cincinnati Bengal linebacker Reggie Williams '76? CLICK HERE to learn a little more about the event and how to participate.
•
The University at Buffalo pegs the cost of testing and protocols for COVID-19 at close to $1 million this year. (LINK)
UB has six men's sports and eight women's sports.
Even after cutting men's and women's golf, men's and women's swimming and lightweight rowing, Dartmouth has 13 men's sports and 16 women's sports. That's 29 sports compared to 14 at UB.
Green Alert Take: Just sayin'.
•
Did you know there's a college football game this Saturday? True story.
Central Arkansas plays Austin Peay at Montgomery, Ala., in the Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff game. The game will be televised on ESPN at 9 p.m. Eastern.
Speaking of Central Arkansas, it will be the only opponent this fall for North Dakota State, which walked back its earlier announcement that it will not play football this fall to schedule a single game on Oct. 3 at the FargoDome. (LINK)
Green Alert Take: Just when you thought things couldn't get any crazier. A one-game season?
•
Speaking of craziness, the Daily Pennsylvanian has had a couple of stories about the athletic careers of the presidential candidates, who both have ties to the school. Read about the athletic career of Donald Trump, who holds a Penn degree, HERE. Most of the story about Joe Biden, who is referred to as a former Penn faculty member, details his high school football career and bid to continue playing at the University of Delaware. Find that story HERE.
•
EXTRA POINT
I remember when I was a kid looking at an Adirondack chair and thinking it would have to be about the most uncomfortable thing ever. I couldn't have been more wrong. (LINK)
These days we have no fewer than four different kinds of the eponymous chairs and we love 'em.
We have one of the cheap plastic chairs they sell everywhere for around $20. We had a second one but discovered leaving it outside in the winter makes the plastic brittle and that's not a particularly good thing. We keep the surviving one on the porch looking out on our driveway.
Another of our chairs is made of wood and folds up for winter storage. That one was never left out for the winter but wood rot set in a few years ago and by now I figure I've used wood glue and longer screws in new holes on every one of its boards at least once, and in some cases two or three times. We've had it for almost 20 years and, unfortunately, it's nearing the end. We keep that one on a rise at the back of our property alongside the only one that's not Dartmouth green. That one was a shop class project made by That Certain Dartmouth '14 as a middle schooler and it's lightly stained wood. Last year we sprayed Flex Seal or some such rubber product on the feet to keep them from rotting in the wet grass. It sits next to the folding Adirondack where it's the perfect place to read a beach book, plop an iced tea on the arm rest, and only occasionally be distracted by the gorgeous view of Mt. Moosilauke in the distance.
The final two chairs are full-sized, all-weather Adirondacks (photo below) made of "eco-friendly" poly and guaranteed "to never crack, splinter, fade or rust." We bought them this spring and keep them on our front porch where we enjoy having breakfast or dinner with views of the White Mountains.
Ah summer . . .
