As you may have noticed, everywhere you turn these days, whether it's a video from Dartmouth admissions (LINK), in huge letters on the end wall of the college's indoor practice facility (LINK), on brochures printed by the college (LINK), or on recruiting material coming out of the football office (LINK), you are likely to see the message Welcome to the Woods.
Here's something you may not know.
It was Dartmouth head football coach Buddy Teevens who came up with The Woods moniker. Here's the back story.
As the Big Green program was finally turning the corner in his second stint in Hanover Teevens wanted to give Memorial Field an identity like The Swamp at the University of Florida, where he was on staff from 1999-2001. He tried out a few different nicknames and, given New Hampshire being The Granite State, was leaning heavily toward calling Memorial Field "The Quarry."
When he pitched The Quarry and a few other alternatives to the team as well as people around the program (present company included) it was The Woods that came away as the clear winner.
To Teevens' credit, he listened. The rest is history.
Also to his credit, he didn't bite at my idea of replacing the public address third-down "gong" sound effect with the sound of a revving chainsaw, or someone shouting "TIMBER!."
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The unfortunate part of this recent YouTube short is the confusion between a "bowl game" and the postseason. Either way, the point it makes is valid:
On a quiet Monday in this electronic precinct, another visit to the record books. Here are Dartmouth’s winners of the Bushnell Cup as Ivy League Player of the Year:
1970 – Jim Chasey, quarterback1978 – Buddy Teevens, quarterback1990 – Shon Page, tailback1991 – Al Rosier, tailback1992 – Jay Fiedler, quarterback2010 – Nick Schwieger, tailback2016 – Flo Orimolade, linebacker2018 – Isiah Swann, cornerback2019 – Jack Traynor, linebacker
Editor's Note: In 2009 the Ivy League introduced offensive and defensive Bushnell winners.
1982 – Mike Caraviello, quarterback1986 – Craig Morton, wide receiver1990 – Matt Brzica, quarterback1991 – Jay Fiedler, quarterback2001 – Steve Jensen, cornerback/kick returner2002 – Josh Dooley, linebacker2012 – Dalyn Williams, quarterback2016 – Hunter Hagdorn, wide receiver
And finally, Dartmouth's Dartmouth’s Ivy League Coach of the Year:
2019 – Buddy Teevens
2021 – Buddy Teevens
Editor's Note: The Coach of the Year award was established in 2014.
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Dartmouth spring football practice is on hiatus this week while the coaches hit the road recruiting. The next practice is slated for Tuesday, April 25 and as always there will be same-night coverage on BGA Premium.
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EXTRA POINT
A while back this space offered up a blurb from ChatGPT that Dartmouth football fans might have found interesting. Click HERE to read what the AI bot had to say.
Today I thought to try Google's Bard AI bot and gave it this prompt: Write several paragraphs about Dartmouth football. Here's what it produced:
The Dartmouth Big Green football team represents Dartmouth College in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) college football competition as a member of the Ivy League. The Big Green have won nine Ivy League championships, most recently in 2021.
Dartmouth football was founded in 1869, making it the second-oldest college football program in the United States. The Big Green played their first game on November 23, 1869, against Harvard University. Dartmouth won the game, 10-0.
Dartmouth has had a long and successful history in college football. The Big Green have won nine Ivy League championships, more than any other school in the conference. Dartmouth has also made several appearances in the NCAA playoffs, including in 1996, 2002, and 2004.
The Big Green are currently led by head coach Buddy Teevens. Teevens is in his 17th season at Dartmouth and has a record of 96-66. Teevens has led the Big Green to four Ivy League championships, in 2002, 2004, 2012, and 2021.
Dartmouth football is a tradition-rich program with a long history of success. The Big Green are one of the most successful teams in the Ivy League and have a chance to compete for a conference championship every year.
Here are some additional facts about Dartmouth football:
The Big Green play their home games at Memorial Field in Hanover, New Hampshire.
The team's colors are green and white.
The Big Green's mascot is Keggy the Keg.
Dartmouth has produced several NFL players, including Tom Coughlin, Joe Ayoob, and John Madden.
The Big Green are a member of the Ivy League, which is a non-scholarship conference.
At the bottom of that text was this disclaimer:
"Bard may display inaccurate or offensive information that doesn’t represent Google’s views."
To be fair, there was nothing offensive in what Bard produced. Inaccurate? Got that right.
There are significant errors in each of the first four paragraphs. Can you spot them?
In the additional facts list, former NFL coaches Tom Coughlin and John Madden were most certainly not NFL players produced by Dartmouth.
As for Joe Ayoob, I had to Google him to learn that he is "an American former arena football quarterback of Lebanese descent. He was signed by the Central Valley Coyotes as an undrafted free agent in 2008." How in the world did he end up in a story about Dartmouth football?
Having seen what the bot produced, I suppose it could happen some day, I'm not terribly worried about Bard or ChatGPT taking over BGA Daily anytime soon. ;-)
