Sunday, March 22, 2015

Potpourri

Always enjoyed the potpourri category on Jeopardy. Here's some BGA potpourri on a "spring" morning when it is nine degrees and absolutely howling out there . . .
Dave Bell '59 has been selected to the Beverly High Hall of Fame. Bell played football and ran track for two years at Dartmouth before his career was ended by a back injury. (LINK)
One of the true legends of Ivy League football has been lost with the passing of two-time Penn All-America Charlie Bednarik. The New York Times story about Bednarik talks about the fearful hit he put on Frank Gifford, but begins his way:
They called him Concrete Charlie, and while Bednarik worked during his off-seasons as a salesman for a concrete company, the nickname perfectly captured his fearsome presence as a jarring blocker at center and a thunderous tackler at middle linebacker.
Princeton sophomore Chad Kanoff completed 15-of-29 pass for 207 yards and two touchdowns as the Tigers overwhelmed Japanese collegiate powerhouse he Kwansei Gakuin University Fighters. From the Japan Times:
The level of play in Ivy League football is still a few steps ahead of the Japanese collegiate league, even for the four-time defending college champion Kwansei Gakuin University Fighters.
The Princeton Tigers scored five touchdowns and a field goal in their first seven possessions to rout the Fighters 36-7 on Saturday at Kincho Stadium in the Legacy Bowl, an exhibition game to celebrate Kwansei Gakuin’s 125th anniversary year. 
There are a few more details about the game played before 4,500 fans in the Princeton sports information story HERE.
Columbia football coaches have taken aggressively to Twitter. If you don't think there's change afoot in New York City, check out this Twitter feed, aimed directly at high school football players. Columbia assistant Jon Mclaughlin's Tweets and re-Tweets include:
What better way to make a name for yourself then to do something everyone doubts you can do
And . . .
The most dynamic urban campus will accentuate an elite education and the opportunity to make history in football
And . . .
It's not a matter of if but a matter of when
And . . .
Columbia University's diverse faculty help create (an) ideal culture of support for elite student athletes of all races 
Saw this list of upcoming FBS games on a message board:

  • Bucknell: Army this fall
  • Colgate: Navy this fall, Syracuse next year
  • Fordham: Army this year, Navy next year, Army in '17
  • Holy Cross: UConn in '17 and Boston College in '18
  • Lehigh: Navy in '18

Green Alert Take: Maybe I'm guilty of crying that the sky is falling but with scholarships, FBS games and the NCAA Playoffs to dangle in front of impressionable high school athletes and their parents, the Ivies are going to face an increasingly difficult recruiting challenge from the Patriot League schools and tougher challenges on Saturday afternoons in the years to come.
While spring has been off to a rocky start for several Dartmouth teams, the men's lacrosse team kicked off the Ivy League season with a dramatic 12-11 double-overtime win against Harvard. (LINK)

Old friend Courtney Banghart '00 led the undefeated Princeton women's basketball team to an 80-70 win over Wisconsin Green Bay yesterday afternoon in the NCAA Tournament. (LINK) It was the first NCAA Tournament win ever for Princeton and just the second in Ivy League women's basketball history. Among those in the stands: President Barack Obama, whose niece plays for Princeton but did not get into the game.

Banghart is one of four finalists for the Naismith Coach of the Year along with UConn's Geno Auriemma, South Carolina's Dawn Staley and Florida State's Sue Semrau. (LINK)

Since going 7-23 in her first year and 14-14 in her second, Banghart has posted a ridiculous 148-29 record the past six years. The Tigers haven't won fewer than 21 games or lost double figures since 2009-10. Find Banghart's bio HERE.