The 'Dartmouth Model'

The Dartmouth Review doesn't do much in the way of sports coverage these days but the latest issue does feature a story under the headline COVID and the Dartmouth Model: A Glimpse into the Future of Football. (LINK)

From the story:

Full-contact practices are not as valuable as they were once perceived to be and, as Andrew Beaton recently discussed in the Wall Street Journal, the solution to this is exporting the Dartmouth model nationally. 

And . . .

Some may joke about the robot dummies utilized in practice to simulate player-to-player contact, but the radical steps the College has taken have yielded results. Coach Teevens’ gamble in 2010 paid off: the College’s overall 70-30 record and two Ivy League titles since the change made a “school in football’s hinterlands…the curiosity of the football world.” Soon, the rest of the Ivy League followed in the College’s footsteps, banning full-contact practices in 2016.

A clarification that Teevens is never afraid to make: While Ivy League did ban full-contact practices in 2016, the ban was only during the season. Dartmouth remains the sole Ivy League team not to tackle in spring football or the preseason.

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It's not surprising who was on the cover of Street and Smith's Official Yearbook of 1966 College Football. That was Florida quarterback Steve Spurrier, who would go on to win the Heisman Trophy that fall and later gain fame, of course, as the "Head Ball Coach."

Perhaps more surprising is who was on the cover of the NCAA's Official Collegiate Football Guide for 1966. That would be one Mickey Beard, the quarterback who would go on to lead Dartmouth to a share of the 1966 Ivy League title with a 6-1 conference record and a 7-2 overall mark. Beard made the All-Ivy League first team that fall, throwing 13 touchdown passes, a Dartmouth record that stood for 20 years until David Gabianelli threw 17 in 1986. Beard graduated in 1967 as the Big Green's all-time leader for passing yards.

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EXTRA POINT

I promise to take it easy on the foliage pictures after today but this is the most eye-catching leaf-peeping season Mrs. BGA and I can remember and because a lot of people who have planned trips to this part of the world to check out the colors on Columbus Day weekend are going to be disappointed I'm tossing a few more up that I shot yesterday. All of these were taken in our town of West Newbury, Vt., about a half hour north of Hanover.

As beautiful as the colors are, know that these pictures don't do them justice. The reds this year are remarkably red and the oranges are electric.

I remember the first time I ever saw tour buses disgorging pensioners from all over the country to gawk at the leaves and wondering why anyone would spend the money on a tour like that. After this fall I'm not wondering anymore. In a year like this it is incredibly beautiful. Click to photos to enlarge them and see for yourself.

That's the back of our house with our garage.

That's Mount Moosilauke out our side window, and if anything the actual colors are even more brilliant.