Patriot Act

Give it up for the Patriot League, which has gotten a jump on the Ivies and a lot of other FCS leagues by posting a collection of links about the upcoming season in its Patriot League Football Offseason Central site.

Included in this one-stop shopping site are:

• Composite Schedule

• Recruiting Classes


• Preseason Recognition

          
CFPA Offensive Watch Lists


          CFPA Defensive Watch Lists

• Individual Team Capsules including:

          Offense

          Defense

          Special Teams

          Recruiting Class

          Schedule

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I'm not a huge hockey fan but the NHL playoffs may be more exciting than any pro sports playoffs, and when the Stanley Cup Finals feature a couple of the Original Six who have already played a couple of overtime games, it's pretty good stuff. That said, if you stopped by this electronic precinct yesterday you read that we don't get NBC Sports Network with our bare-bones DISH TV package, so we couldn't see last night's game (and won't be able to watch the Ivy League football package this fall).

Ah, but I read somewhere that the Stanley Cup Finals were being streamed, and for free! It's not like TV, but hey, watching on the computer would be better than nothing. So I go to the page in the picture above where I read with glee (that's an exaggeration): "Sign In For Free Access To Live Streaming NBC Sports Network Coverage. You're Just 2 Easy Steps Away From Watching Live NBC Sports Network Coverage Of Your Favorite Sports."

Great! Free access is just two steps away!

It is midway through the first period of the game last night when I first try to to sign in.

Oops, password doesn't work. Try it again. Nope. OK, Mrs. BGA, are you sure that is the password you used? Let's try this one. OK, that one. What else could it be? Would you please write your passwords down next time? Sorry, I just want to see the game.

I click on "lost password," and I get a message that within 15 minutes we'll get an email giving us the password or information on how to reset it. These things never take 15 minutes so we check almost immediately. Then we check again. We eventually check all our email accounts. Fifteen minutes pass and the email doesn't come. Try again. The email doesn't come. Check the spam folder. Not there. Frustration.

OK, let's try another password. Try uppercase. Try lowercase. Oops, we get a message saying we've tried one too many passwords and we're now shut down. We must be on double-secret probation because we are told not to try again and to call for assistance.

Now, Mrs. BGA handles the DISH account and over the past few years she has spent hours on the phone with her good friends at the call center. But I can't pass the buck this time because I'm the one who wants to watch the game so I cowboy up and dial the phone. Press 1 for English. Press 1 for this. Press 5 for that. Press 4. If you have another issue, hold for an operator. I hold.

Once the operator comes on he asks me where Mrs. BGA was born. Ah, security question. I pass with flying colors then I explain the issue. After a bit he says he'll email me the password information. Thanks. We hang up.

It is 15 minutes later, the second period is whizzing by and no email. Not in this account. Not in that account. Not in the spam file. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

Back on the phone. Press 1 for English. Press 1 for this. Press 5 for that. Press 4. If you have another issue, hold for an operator. I hold.

Nice guy from Arizona this time. How's the weather up there? It's 107 here today.

Huh? No problem. I'll set a temporary password and you'll be good to go. Just type xxxxxx in there and that will allow you to go in and change to a permanent password.

Are you sure? The second period is over and I want to catch the end of the game. Playoff hockey is great.

Yup, I guarantee it will work.

You know where this is going, don't you?

It doesn't work.

Frustration is mounting. I am back on the phone. This time I write the numbers down so I'll have them the next time. Press 1, 1, 5, 4 and hold. Maybe I'll just try pressing them in order on the next call . . . but there better not be a next call. I hope I get the same guy. I'll tell him a thing or two about his guarantee, shmuarantee.

An operator comes on with a heavy accent. This isn't going to be easy. I explain the problem while I keep an eye on the gamewatcher thingie showing the time left in the third period.

Hmmm, I don't know what I can do about that. Let me check.

Music coming through the phone. Five minutes. I'll be back with you shortly. Hey that was a human being and not a recording. OK, I'll have a little more patience. More music. Sorry for making you wait. Him again. I'll get back to you. Music. He's finally back.

OK, I reset your password, OK?

Wait, wait, wait. Will you hold on while I try this to make certain it works? I don't want to go through this again and the game is winding down.

Sure.

It worked! It worked! Eureka, I have found it. Thanks so much, you've been great.

The Bruins still lead, 2-0, with time running out. I'm not a Boston fan but the Bruins have been involved in so many dramatic games in the series that I'm thinking all the hassle has been worth it because something exciting could still be in store.

I go back to the NBC Sports Network site. I type in the username and the new password. Voilá, I'm in. Hooray. Yippee. Hallelujah.

Whoa.

Wait a minute.

What does that say?

Upgrade your DISH subscription to watch

Really? REALLY? REALLY? REALLY????? After all I've been through?

What about Sign In For Free Access To Live Streaming NBC Sports Network Coverage?

What about being Just 2 Easy Steps Away From Watching Live NBC Sports Network Coverage Of Your Favorite Sports?

The game ends, 2-0, while I watch a Frasier rerun.

Figurine It Out (That's A Pun, Folks)

Through the wonders of photo manipulation I enhanced whatever it was Dartmouth Coach Buddy Teevens was holding in the grip-and-grin picture taken with Reggie Williams and posted on BGA last week. Lo and behold, it was Williams' Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award.

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Former Dartmouth offensive coordinator and then Princeton head Coach Roger Hughes is gearing up for the first season of football at Stetson since 1956. The Daytona Beach News-Journal has a story and photo about getting the team's stadium in shape for the season. Hughes' Stetson team will play in the Pioneer Football League along with Dartmouth opening-day foe Butler.

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I understand completely, but this made me chuckle. The lede to a story on the Penn football site last week:

Exactly 100 days from now, the University of Pennsylvania football team will begin another Ivy title defense. On Thursday, the team officially announced game times for each of the five home games in 2013.

An italicized kicker at the end of the story:

All dates, times and media are subject to change.

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The New York Times had a story Sunday about, "a crop of new lightweight devices that athletes can wear on the field may help people on sidelines (that) keep better track of hits to players’ heads during games and practice sessions." The link is courtesy of a loyal reader and much-appreciated occasional editor ;-)

Tonight's Stanley Cup final between the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks is on NBCSports Network, the same as Saturday's game. In other words, unless you have a certain level of service on your satellite or cable package, you won't be watching the game from the comfort of your own home. Hard to believe that about the finals of one of our major sports. Get your TV over the air? You are out of luck.

Come to think of it, that makes the Stanley Cup just like Ivy League football, something else we can't watch here on the mountain without upgrading (read: paying more for) our satellite service, something we aren't keen to do with a couple of kids in college. . . .

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And finally, a BGA subscriber sent along a link to the following video. It's not about Dartmouth or Ivy League football, but it's a perfect way to start your week. If you've seen it before, and 10.7 million of you have, it's worth watching again. If you haven't seen it, watch, listen and smile. Oh, and be sure to click that little box that allows you to supersize the video:

Daily Double

Jack DeGange, co-author of Dartmouth College Football: Green Fields of Autumn (and not coincidentally the college's former sports information director as well as the go-to person for BGA and anyone who has questions about the Dartmouth football program) shares this note that goes nicely with yesterday's blog photo:

Having one recipient of the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award visiting the Hanover area isn't unusual but two in the same day may be a record. The annual award, established in 1970, honors a player's volunteer and charity work as well as his excellence on the field. 

Reggie Williams ’76, the Dartmouth All-America and Cincinnati Bengals linebacker (1976-89) visits campus occasionally and was in town over the weekend to attend the Friends of Dartmouth Football semi-annual meeting. He has started a conversation with Coach Buddy Teevens about creating an award similar to the Payton Award that would recognize a Dartmouth player for contributions and service to the campus and surrounding communities.  

Williams, who was a member of the Cincinnati city council and was involved in various community activities, was named the NFL's Man of the Year in 1986. Payton, the Chicago Bears running  back, won the award in 1977. His name was added to the award shortly after his death in 1999. 

And the second NFL Man of the Year? That would be Rolf Benirschke, who grew up in Hanover while his father was a professor at Dartmouth Medical School and moved to San Diego in 1972 after his sophomore year at Hanover High School. A soccer player who evolved as a football placekicker, Benirschke graduated from UC Davis in 1977 and was the San Diego Chargers' placekicker from 1977-86.  

In 1978 he developed ulcerative colitis, an illness that worsened in 1979. He had two surgeries to remove his large intestine and was in intensive care for weeks. When he was released from the hospital he weighed 123 pounds. He returned to the team as an honorary captain on November 18, 1979 as the Chargers played the Pittsburgh Steelers. After an arduous training and rehabilitation regimen he rejoined the Chargers as their kicker in 1980. He played for seven more seasons and during his career he made 146 of 208 field goal attempts for the Chargers. He was an All-Pro selection in 1980, a Pro Bowl selection in 1982 and won the NFL Man of the Year Award in 1983 as he became involved in various community activities in San Diego where he continues to reside. 

He is the national spokesman for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) and on Saturday he shared the story of his illness at the seventh annual Dartmouth-Hitchcock Patient & Family IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) Symposium. In 1996 he published his book, Alive and Kicking.

Editor's Note: Benirschke went on to host the daytime version of the TV gameshow, Wheel of Fortune. (link)

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Yesterday's email also brought a note from Curt Bury '53, who was in town for his 60th reunion. After Coach Buddy Teevens addressed the class an impressed Bury sent him a note that included this:

Your message about not only building a successful Big Green football team, but even more important helping to train our young men to grow up be responsible adults contributing to society, was extremely important and very well received by our entire class and their families. 

Your words I thought went so far beyond the usual sports-related talk that I hope there
is some way to "publish" them to a much wider audience.

Bury, incidentally, was a pioneer in computerizing football play-by-play and producing a quick postgame report. He debuted his system in the early '80s in the Dartmouth press box and then spent five years helping run it at New England Patriots home games.

As loyal a Dartmouth fan as you will find, Bury has been to every Dartmouth-Yale football game since 1949 and will come up from his Maryland home for his 65th consecutive contest against the Bulldogs in October.

Along with his email to Teevens, Bury shared several pages from his first Yale game program, including this one with his handwritten notes included:

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And finally, for those of you curious about how the yard sale went up here on the shoulder of Moose Mountain yesterday . . . it was worth the effort. No question, if we lived in town we would have cleared out more stuff and filled our "shoebox register" a little more, but that's a tradeoff we gladly make.

Timing Is Everything

You know you've been waiting for this. The start time has finally been set for Dartmouth's Ivy League opener at Penn on Oct. 5 in Philadelphia. The game will kick off at 1 p.m.

The only start time yet to be announced is Brown.

Also, don't be surprised if one of the previously announced Dartmouth game times changes. But you can relax. It won't be the Homecoming game against Yale.

The 2013 schedule with game times:

Sept. 21 at Butler 6 p.m. 

Sept. 28 Holy Cross 7 p.m.

Oct. 5 at Penn 1 p.m.

Oct. 12 Yale 1:30 p.m.

Oct. 19 Bucknell 1:30 p.m.

Oct. 26 Columbia 1:30 p.m.

Nov. 2 at Harvard 5 p.m.

Nov. 9 Cornell 1:30 p.m.

Nov. 16 at Brown TBA

Nov. 23 Princeton 1:30 p.m.

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Incoming freshman offensive lineman David Morrison was recognized by Shaker HS (Latham, N.Y.) at its Excellence in Leadership and Sportsmanship awards ceremony. From a school release:

David has had an outstanding athletic career. He has also distinguished himself as a leader in his school and community. He has been a member of the school’s student council, serving as class president all four years. He is a member of the National Honor Society, a Physical Education Leadership award winner and a member of the world of difference club.

He has been recognized multiple time s as an all-area, all-league and even state level all-star. He has been a sectional champion and has elevated the play of his teammates and opponents. David was a key member of the 2013 Sectional and state regional championship football team, he played a major role in the SC Championship basketball season and has contributed greatly to the section 2 championship season of our outdoor track team.

Former NFL great Reggie Williams '76 visits with Buddy Teevens.

Hall-of-Famer Lem Barney thinks the end is near for football. link

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We've got our yard sale going this morning. Lots and lots of stuff priced to sell. We'll see. Sure don't want to pack that stuff up and haul it back into the basement ;-(

Check It Out

Well, look at that! Miami Marlins infielder Ed Lucas uses an aerial photo of the Dartmouth baseball and football fields on his Twitter page (@ELuke21). Lucas, of course, played one year of quarterback in Hanover before deciding to concentrate on baseball in hopes of playing professionally. It took a while, but his plan worked out.

Through the first 11 games of his big league career Lucas is batting .333.

Access Lucas' Twitter feed here.

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From the Times-Dispatch in Virginia:

The University of Richmond’s faculty athletics representative has proposed a Spiders sports future in Division III without football in a recent email to other UR faculty members. 

Putting aside the Division III aspect for the moment, which is worse? Having your faculty athletics rep feel that way about football, or your admissions director feel that way? Those of you who cringe when you hear the worth antithetical may want to discuss among yourselves. Those of you who are curious why a Big Green football fan would cringe at that word may want to do a Google search including the words "antithetical" and "Dartmouth."

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That Certain '14 worked Dartmouth reunions the past few days and during a break happened to meet new President Phil Hanlon in Baker Library. They chatted for just a few seconds but she came away impressed.

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It will be yard sale time here on the shoulder of Moose Mountain tomorrow.

As you have probably figured out, we really love living here 1.5 miles up a dirt road in a rural outpost of Hanover, but to be completely honest, it's not an ideal location for this kind of sale. We try it every five years or so and do OK, but nothing like we'd be able to do in town. It's a tradeoff, to be sure.

That Certain Nittany Lion keeps saying we should price things higher to make more money. I don't think he quite understands that the idea is to get rid of stuff ;-)

Overlooked

Dartmouth will be facing two linebackers this fall who made the College Football Performance Awards watch list – Penn's Dan Davis and Bucknell's Evan Byers.

Davis counted 13.6 stops for loss among his 58 tackles as a sophomore last fall.

Dartmouth's Michael Runger led the Ivy League with 98 tackles and joined Davis on the All-Ivy first team, but the CFPA overlooked him presumably because he was credited with just 1.5 tackles for loss.

The 2013 CFPA linebacker watch list:
• Jarkevis Fields, Bethune-Cookman
• Evan Byers, Bucknell
• Nick Dzubnar, Cal Poly
• Wes Dothard, Chattanooga
• Carl Robinson, The Citadel
• Quinn Backus, Coastal Carolina
• Kris Kent, Colgate
• Jeff Williams, Delaware
• Dorian Bell, Duquesne
• Anthony Brown, Eastern Kentucky
• Ronnie Hamlin, Eastern Washington
• Stephon Robertson, James Madison
• Nigel Muhammad, Lehigh
• Nick Sigmon, Liberty
• Dan Sullivan, Monmouth
• Brock Coyle, Montana
• Jordan Tripp, Montana
• Ra’a Moeakiola, Montana State
• Carlton Littlejohn, North Dakota State
• Grant Olson, North Dakota State
• Lynden Trail, Norfolk State
• Jake Farley, Northern Iowa
• Caleb Taylor, Old Dominion
• Dan Davis, Pennsylvania
• Donelle Williams, Presbyterian
• Justin Sexton, Sacred Heart
• Justin Hughes, South Carolina State
• Tyler Starr, South Dakota
• T.J. Lally, South Dakota State
• Bryan Presume, Southern Illinois
• Anthony Balancier, Southern University
• Zak Browning, Southern Utah
• Monte Gaddis, Towson
• Ben Johnson, UT-Martin
• Alvin Scioneaux, Wofford

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Dartmouth receiver Victor Williams gets a mention in this Dartmouth release for his volunteer efforts with a school initiative called Find The Courage. From the release:

The non-profit program is run in area schools and gives students effective strategies to be positive leaders by promoting kindness, inclusion, encouragement, compassion and respect to all people.

Find The Courage was co-founded by Erin Rewalt '99, formerly a Dartmouth assistant women's basketball coach.

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Question: Was Dartmouth football in a conference before the Ivy League?
Answer: Yes. A long time ago.

From the Wesleyan University website (italics are mine):

The fierce Wesleyan-Williams-Amherst rivalries are among the oldest in the East. In fact, they are so ancient that it is difficult to tell when the "Little Three" came into existence. A forerunner of the present group was the New England Intercollegiate Triangular League, founded in 1882. Its members were Amherst, Dartmouth, and Williams. This group lasted until 1899, when Dartmouth withdrew.

Watch (Lists)

Thanks to the Patriot League website the entire collection of preseason offensive positional watch lists posted by College Football Performance Awards have been collected on one PDF you can find here.

As noted earlier. Dartmouth's Dom Pierre makes the list at running back. All totaled, there are seven Ivy Leaguers mentioned on the offensive side:

Quarterback 

Jeff Mathews, Cornell 

Running Back 

Dominick PIerre, Dartmouth
Tyler Varga, Yale 

Wide Receiver 

Grant Gellatly, Cornell
Roman Wilson, Princeton 

Tight End 

Hamilton Garner, Columbia
Cameron Brate, Harvard

The Big Green will face two members of the CFPA offensive watch list in non-league action: the Butler tandem of quarterback Matt Lancaster and running back Trae Heeter.

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The Springfield (Mass.) Republican has a fun story under the headline, Western Mass. hoop legends Henry Payne, Gene Ryzewicz recall their wondrous 1964 season.

When talk gets around to great athletes ever to attend Dartmouth Gene Ryzewicz '68 is always in the conversation. As a football halfback who battled injury throughout his career he averaged 7.5 yards per carry as a sophomore and junior, before switching to quarterback and leading the team in scoring as a senior.

On the baseball field he was an All-America second baseman who still holds the school's all-time record for stolen bases and led the squad both in batting average and RBIs as a senior.

He didn't play basketball at Dartmouth but set a Western Massachusetts tournament record with a 51-point game.

For good measure, the Berkshire Beacon reminds us that as a golfer he competed in the U.S. and British Senior Opens.

Ryzewicz gets a nice mention in a lengthy Sports Illustrated story about the famous 1967 win over Harvard under the headline, Dartmouth's field-goal kicker thought he had lost the game when he missed with a minute to play, but a penalty gave him another chance and Harvard was defeated in a wild battle of Ivy League unbeatens.

The Dartmouth Cup

It took some detective work to solve the mystery – and not by me. The program for Sunday's Dartmouth commencement noted that graduating linebacker Garrett Wymore was the winner of the Dartmouth Cup. The only mention of the Dartmouth Cup I could find was Lord Dartmouth's Cup and after reading about it here I doubted Garrett would have to pay extra to lug that thing back to California.

Leave it to someone with eagle eyes to find the answer in plain sight. Turns out another former Dartmouth football player being honored Sunday also once won the award. From the introduction of Bill King, quarterback of the unbeaten 1962 Dartmouth team who was awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters (italics are mine):

WILLIAM HAVEN KING JR., you were given so many accolades upon graduating from Dartmouth that the alumni magazine referred to the senior awards ceremony as "Bill King Day," reflecting your Watson Trophy for Athlete of the Year and Dartmouth Cup for the athlete who reflected the most credit on Dartmouth.

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Speaking of graduation, strolling through town Sunday I stumbled across Doug Henry, a local artist (as well as a talented musician) and father of sons who were classmates of That Certain '14 and That Certain Nittany Lion. Anyhow, Doug was set up on the Hanover Inn corner with some of his paintings from the Dartmouth campus. This one, of course, caught my eye:

GATE FOUR (Click to enlarge)

From Doug Henry's website:

His most recent work is dedicated to an artistic portrayal of Dartmouth College. This new body of work is called CAMPUSscapes of Dartmouth. The paintings depict unique perspectives of the campus throughout all the many changing seasons. Doug paints with acrylic on wood panels and on canvas. 

Recently, the Tuck School of Business purchased Doug's portrayal of Tuck. The painting hangs in the school's foyer and is part of their permanent collection.

Here's a little more of his work from the CAMPUSscapes collection:

(Click to enlarge.)

For information on purchasing a print of the Memorial Field painting Gate Four, click here. The 8.5 x 11 original of the painting is available for $495.

By the way, Doug also sells campus puzzles, notecards and signs, and will do Dartmouth paintings on commission through his online store.

Editor's Note: No, I don't have any stake in Doug Henry's work. I saw it, I liked it and I thought you might as well ;-)