Daftar 16 Tim Yang Lolos Babak 16 Besar Liga Champions Eropa musim 2013/14

Babak penyisihan grup Liga Champions Eropa musim 2013/14 sudah selesai, 16 tim memastikan diri melaju kebabak selanjutnya. Inggris diwakili 4 tim: Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City. Jerman juga menyertakan 4 tim mereka: Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munchen, Bayern Leverkusen, Schalke 04. Barcelona, Real Madrid dan Atletico Madrid menjadi wakil liga Spanyol.

Berikut ini daftar selengkapnya 16 tim yang berhasil melaju kebabak 16 besar Liga Champions 2013/14:

1. Manchester United
2. Bayer 04 Leverkusen
3. Real Madrid 
4. Galatasaray
5. Paris Saint-Germain
6. Olympiacos 
7. FC Bayern München
8. Manchester City 
9. Chelsea
10. Schalke 04
11. Dortmund
12. Arsenal
13. Atlético Madrid
14. Zenit
15. Barcelona
16. AC Milan

Setiap Grup Ketat, Piala Dunia 2014 Brasil Akan Jadi Tontonan Berkelas

"Memangnya kenapa bila kami se grup dengan Italia dan Uruguay? jika kami ingin jadi yang terbaik maka kami harus mengalahkan yang terbaik juga" demikian komentar penuh optimis dari Wayne Rooney, striker Inggris saat mengetahui Inggris berada dalam grup yang dijuluki sebagai grup neraka dalam undian pembagian grup piala dunia 2014.

Sejatinya setiap tim yang tampil di ajang piala dunia adalah tim-tim terbaik yang telah lolos dari ketatnya pertarungan di fase kualifikasi. So, setidaknya setiap tim yang tampil adalah perwakilan terbaik dari setiap zona (pengecualian untuk Oceania yang gagal mengirimkan wakilnya).

Jika melihat dari sejarah, gengsi dan jumlah pemain bintang yang berada di satu tim, sangat wajar jika grup D tempat Italia, Uruguay dan Inggris berada dijuluki sebagai grup neraka alias grup yang sangat ketat persaingannya.
Namun sesungguhnya setiap grup dalam piala dunia 2014 nanti menjanjikan laga-laga super ketat nan emosional yang layak untuk ditonton.

Tidak percaya? mari kita ulas satu persatu.

Grup A (Brasil, Kroasia, Meksiko, Kamerun)
Brasil mendapatkan grup yang ringan? tidak juga!
Beranikah anda memprediksi bahwa Brasil akan dengan mudah melibas Kroasia yang diperkuat salah satu galacticos di Real Madrid, Luka Modrid?
Jangan lupakan juga  Mario Mandzukic si pemenang treble Liga Champion, Liga Jerman dan Piala Jerman bersama Bayer Muenchen.
Perhatikan pula Meksiko bersama striker Manchester United Javier " Chicharito" Hernandez yang sering merepotkan tim-tim Amerika Latin dalam gelaran Copa America.
Dan kontestan jagoan benua afrika Kamerun yang akan datang bersama jagoan sarat pengalaman Samuel Eto'o.

Grup B (Spanyol, Belanda, Chile, Australia)
Boleh saja perhatian utama di grup ini ada pada Spanyol dan Belanda sebagai pementas partai final di edisi terakhir piala dunia 2010.
Namun jangan lupakan Arturo Vidal dan Alexis Sanchez di tim Chile.
Bagaimana dengan Australia?
Meski sudah tidak segemerlap masa-masa Harry Kewell dan Mark Viduka, Australia tetap calon kuda hitam yang layak diwaspadai.
Ingat, Australia adalah runner up Piala Asia edisi terakhir, artinya mereka adalah salah satu jagoan asia, benua yang perkembangan sepakbolanya dianggap menunjukkan perkembangan pesat.

Grup C (Kolombia, Yunani, Pantai Gading, Jepang)
Penghuninya boleh saja tidak "semewah" grup lain tapi ini adalah grup yang seimbang.
Setelah absen di tiga gelaran sebelumnya, Kolombia tampaknya kini lebih menjanjikan kualitas dengan bintang-bintang yang tengah memasuki masa emas seperti Radamel Falcao.
Menarik juga menunggu performa macan asia Jepang bersama bintang-bintang eropanya seperti Shinji Kagawa, Keisuke Honda dan Yuto Nagatomo.
Pantai Gading akan menjadi jagoan afrika di grup ini dengan bintang-bintang seperti Didier Drogba, Kolo Toure dan Yaya Toure yang mungkin akan merasakan piala dunia terakhir mereka.
Tentu akan menjadi menarik menunggu sepak terjang mereka bersama bintang yang tengah memasuki puncak performa seperti Salomon Kalou dan Gervinho.
Yunani sekilas akan menjadi yang terlemah di grup ini. Tapi bukankah mereka menjadi juara piala eropa 2004 saat dianggap sebagai yang terlemah? Waspadalah

Grup D (Uruguay, Kosta Rika, Inggris, Italia)
Grup neraka seperti yang banyak disebutkan di media-media.
Anda akan melihat striker tajam seperti Luis Suarez, Wayne Rooney dan Mario Ballotelli berkumpul disini.
Masih kurang? di grup ini juga masih ada Edinson Cavani, Jack Wilkshere, Steven Gerrard, Andrea Pirlo dan kiper termahal di dunia Gianluigi Buffon.
Lalu dimanakah Kosta Rika?
Mereka adalah jagoan baru zona Concacaf yang memaksa tim sekelas Meksiko menjalani play off untuk lolos ke piala dunia.

Grup E (Swiss, Ekuador, Prancis, Honduras)
Prancis seperti menang lotere dengan grup ini.
Adakah dari Swiss, Ekuador, dan Honduras yang bisa menahan kehebatan talenta seperti Karim Benzema, Oliver Giroud, Paul Pogba dan salah satu pesepakbola terbaik saat ini Frank Riberry?
Well, jangan lupakan bagaimana klub jagoan Swiss, Basel menekuk raksasa Inggris Chelsea sebanyak dua kali di liga champion musim ini. Hubungannya?..Swiss berisikan punggawa inti dari Basel !!
Ekuador...hmmm..mereka punya Antonio Valencia dari Manchester United.
Honduras...sama seperti Kosta Rika, mereka "menyingkirkan" tim sekelas Meksiko ke babak play off.

Grup F (Argentina, Bosnia, Iran, Nigeria)
Juara dua kali piala dunia bersama pemain terbaik di dunia, Argentina bersama Lionel Messi. Bisa apa Bosnia, Iran dan Nigeria?
Jika melihat komposisi bintang, mungkin hanya Nigeria dengan Obafemi Martins dan Jon Obi Mikel nya yang bisa sedikit menyulitkan Argentina.
Wajarlah karena Bosnia adalah debutan di piala dunia yang bisa jadi hanya bergantung pada ketajaman Edin Dzeko di depan, kepiawaian Mirale Pjanic di lini tengah serta kehandalan Asmir Begovic di bawah mistar gawang.
Namun jangan lupakan bahwa di tahun 1998, Kroasia mengejutkan dunia sebagai debutan piala dunia yang langsung tembus ke babak semifinal.
Bagaimana dengan Iran? tim ini adalah jagoan di asia.
Cukup sampai disitu karena mereka belum bisa berkembang seperti Korea Selatan dan Jepang dalam kiprahnya di luar asia.

Grup G (Jerman, Portugal, Ghana, Amerika Serikat)
Selain grup D yang berisikan Italia, Uruguay dan Inggris, ini adalah salahsatu grup neraka di piala dunia 2014.
Tim spesialis turnamen Jerman dengan bintang bintang yang tengah matang seperti Mesut Oezil, Mario Goetze, Manuel Neuer dan Per Mertesacker diprediksi akan mencapai puncak performanya di brasil setelah hanya menjadi runner up di piala eropa 2008, semifinalis piala dunia 2010 dan piala eropa 2012.
Bicara mengenai puncak performa, ada satu nama di Portugal yang diprediksi sedang dalam puncak performanya...yah..Cristiano Ronaldo.
Bersama Nani, Pepe, Joao Moutinho dan Fabio Coentrao, Portugal tidak kalah garangnya dengan Jerman.
Saking banyaknya bintang di kedua tim, orang sedikit lupa bahwa Ghana adalah tim paling konsisten dari afrika saat ini.
Catatan dua kali ikut piala dunia dan selalu lolos dari fase grup.
Kali ini bersama Sulley Muntari dan Kevin Prince Boateng mungkin saja mereka bisa melangkah lebih jauh.
Drama yang lain adalah saat Amerika Serikat di bawah Jurgen Klinsmann mengadu taktik dengan mantan asistennya di Jerman Joachim Loew.
Klinsmann dianggap sebagai pionir yang mengubah gaya sepakbola Jerman bersama Loew di piala dunia 2006...manakah yang lebih unggul nantinya?

Grup H (Belgia, Aljazair, Rusia, Korea Selatan)
Belgia adalah kuda hitam paling ditakuti saat ini.
Perhatikan sederet bintang yang merata dari bawah mistar sampai line depan.
Belgia punya Simon Mignolet, Thibaut Courtouis, Vincent Company, Thomas Vermaeles, Marrouanne Fellaine, Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne dan Romelu Lukaku.
Jika Rusia mengandalkan sang pelatih Fabio Capello, maka Korea Selatan sekali lagi akan mengandalkan bintang-bintang mereka yang berlaga di eropa semacam Song Heung Min yang tengah menggila bersama Bayer Leverkusen di Jerman.
Bagaimana dengan Aljazair? kehadirannya di piala dunia membuat tim afrika lain yang memiliki skuad lebih mewah seperti Senegal dan Mesir absen.
Well, cukup menjanjikan bukan?

Selamat menikmati tontonan sepakbola kelas dunia di piala dunia 2014 Brasil.

Ada Yang Salah Dengan Manchester United

Beberapa waktu yang lalu saya pernah menulis tentang optimisme Manchester United dalam mengarungi musim kompetisi tahun 2013/14. Saat itu mungkin saya agak lupa, Manchester United sekarang berbeda dengan United sebelum-sebelumnya, karena era Sir Alex Ferguson sudah berakhir dan sekarang menjadi era David Moyes. Kenapa saya katakan berbeda?, tentu saja motode dan gaya melatih dua manajer ini jelas berbeda.

Saya miris saat dua kali beruntun MU harus menelan kekalahan dari lawannya di Old Trafford, kandang yang dulunya angker kini tak ubahnya menjadi tempat "sial" dimana kekalahan demi kekalahan terjadi di stadion ini. Yang lebih menyesakkan, kekalahan yang dialami United terjadi saat melawan tim yang bisa dikatakan (maaf) levelnya dibawah United, sebut saja WBA, Everton, dan Newcastle United.

Dua kekalahan beruntun di Old Trafford membuat United kian jauh tertinggal dari pemuncak klasemen sementara, Arsenal. Hinggal pekan ke-15, United berada di posisi ke sembilan, tertinggal 13 poin dari Arsenal, jarak yang cukup jauh, belum lagi tim-tim yang berada diatas United menunjukkan grafik permainan yang stabil.

Berat rasanya bagi United untuk mempertahankan gelar juara, untuk dapat bersaing diposisi empat besar pun butuh perjuangan ekstra keras. Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City siap menghadap, belum lagi ancaman dari tim-tim kuda hitam yang saat ini posisinya diatas MU, sebut saja Everton, Tottenham, Newcastle dan Southampton. Dalam sepak bola segala sesuatu masih bisa terjadi, termasuk juga peluang MU untuk mempertahankan gelar, tapi rasanya butuh keajaiban. Melihat kondisi Manchester United saat ini, rasa-rasanya ada yang salah dengan Manchester United.

Trend Jual Jersey Grade Ori

Jual Jersey Grade Ori merupakan salah satu bisnis yang perkembangannya sangat pesat di Indoensia. Perkembangan bisnis jual jersey grade ori terutama dikarenakan naiknya minat masyarakat terhadap sepakbola dari tahun ketahun terutama pada saat menghadapai event-event sepakbola bergengsi seperti sepakbola piala dunia, sepakbola piala eropa, konfederasi, liga champion dan event-event sepakbola penting lainnya.

Jersey Grade Ori

Kecintaan fans terhadap tim pujaannya tentunya tidak bisa dipisahkan dengan jersey kebesaran tim, disinilah jual jersey grade ori berperan. Jersey klub ataupun negara merupakan salah satu bentuk dari penampilan identitas Negara atau klub itu sendiri sehingga jika seorang fans mengaku cinta terhadap Negara atau klub tertentu sudah barang tentu dia wajib mengkoleksi jersey dengan grade yang cukup baik yaitu jersey grade ori. Saat ini Jual jersey grade ori mencatat ada beberapa Negara dan klub yang sangat diminati di Indonesia. Negara atau klub manakah yang banyak diminati oleh customer Indonesia? Untuk jersey Negara, beberapa Negara yang menjadi langganan juara di piala dunia maupun piala eropa banyak diminati oleh customer seperti Brazil, Jerman, Italia dan Spanyol. Sedangkan untuk klub, beberapa klub yang pernah memenangkan Liga Champion biasanya sangat diminati oleh customer sebagai contoh jersey Bayern Munchen dan jersey Borussia Dortmund adalah dua jersey yang banyak diburu pada pertengahan 2013 karena kedua tim tersebut berhasil mencapai final liga champion di tahun 2013. Selain jersey Bayern Munchen dan Jersey Borussia Dortmund, jersey-jersey lain yang pernah memenangkan liga champion sangat laku dipasaran, sebut saja jersey Real Madrid, Jersey Manchester United, jersey Barcelona ataupun Jersey AC Milan.

Dari liga domestic sendiri, jual jersey grade ori yang cukup diminati karena tim-tim tersebut sering masuk diklasmen papan atas di liga-liga eropa. Sebut saja di liga Premier Inggris, beberapa jersey sangat laku dipasaran seperti jersey Manchester United, Jersey Chelsea, Jersey Arsenal, Jersey Manchester City, Jersey Liverpool. Selain jersey klub papan atas liga Inggris, customer juga menyenangi beberapa klub papan tengah yang permainan sepakbolanya juga dikenal cukup baik seperti jersey everton, jersey Newcastle United, Jersey West Ham United, Jersey Tottenham Hotspur dan jersey-jersey klub papan tengah lainnya.

Selain jersey dari Liga Premier Inggris, jersey dari La Liga Spanyol juga merupakan jersey yang cukup banyak diburu customer, jual jersey grade ori yang paling mencolok di La Liga Spanyol adalah jersey Real Madrid dan Jersey Barcelona. Kedua tim ini adalah langganan juara di La Liga Spanyol dan juga sering nbersinar di Liga Champion Eropa. Selain Real Madrid dan Barcelona, jersey klub lain yang juga diminati oleh fans adalah Jersey Atletico Madrid, Malaga, Espanyol, dan jersey Celta Vigo. Jual Jersey Grade Ori dari klub lainnya yang sering dicari oleh fans adalah jersey Liga Jerman, Liga Belanda, Liga Italia dan Liga Prancis. Jersey liga-liga besar di Eropa ini memang punya daya tarik tersendiri baik dari segi desain, warna, ukuran dan promosi bintangnya sehingga tidak heran jika penjualan jersey klub-klub eropa ini sangat berkembang dari waktu kewaktu. 

Dari paparan diatas, jelaslah jual jersey grade ori mempunyai trend tersendiri dalam perkembangan penjualannya. Untuk saat ini, mempunyai stok jersey klub-klub top eropa apalagi yang pernah memenangkan Liga Champion jangan lhawatir ngga laku, sudah dipastikan bakal laku dipasaran. Jual Jersey Grade Ori sudah mempunyai tempat dihati fans sepakbola dan akan bertambah dari tahun ketahun searah dengan jumlah penduduk yang menghuni kepulauan Indonesia ini. Untuk mendapatkan jersey grade ori ini, anda bisa menghubungi beberapa reseller jersey grade ori yang biasanya ada disetiap kota yang ada di Indonesia.

Tips Untuk Reseller Jersey Grade Ori

Menjadi Reseller Jersey Grade Ori merupakan salah satu peluang bisnis terbaik dari banyak peluang yang layak untuk dijalani secara serius. Seperti kita ketahui bersama, permintaan akan jersey melalui jual jersey grade ori saat ini sangatlah tinggi, permintaan ini terutama datang dari anak-anak muda yang sedang menginjak dewasa. Permintaan lain juga datang dari para pria yang sangat menyukai sepakbola, sebagian lagi dari wanita dan anak-anak. Oleh sebab itu, tips yang pertama harus diperhatikan sebagai reseller jersey grade ori adalah mencari partner yang bisa mensupply jersey grade ori plus turunan produknya yang mempunyai produk yang cukup lengkap baik jersey Negara, jersey klub, jersey untuk ladies, maupun jersey untuk anak-anak. Karena berpartner dengan supplier handal akan membuat anda dicintai customer karena bisa mensupply jersey grade ori selengkap mungkin.

Reseller Jersey Grade Ori

Selain lengkapnya produk yang bisa dipromosikan, tips lain yang juga cukup penting untuk reseller jersey grade ori adalah support yang diberikan oleh supplier jersey grade ori. Salah satu yang mungkin kadang-kadang terlewat adalah adanya katalog. Mungkin katalog ini bagi sebagian orang tidak terlalu dipedulikan, atau dianggap tidak penting. Tapi kalau menurut standar promosi yang benar, promotion tools seperti katalog atau brosur adalah sangat mutlak dibutuhkan untuk promosi. Bagaimana mau promosi kalau katalog saja tidak ada? Selain katalog yang merupakan “hard copy” tool promotion, seorang reseller jersey grade ori juga harus memperhatikan tools yang lain berupa “soft copy” tools promotion seperti penyediaan katalog berupa e-katalog jersey grade ori atau katalog berupa file-file elektronik. Sedikit menyinggung file-file elektronik katalog jersey, file ini bisa berupa list produk yang stoknya ada untuk dijual dan juga berupa file satuan yang bisa digunakan berbagai aplikasi seperti digunakan untuk media social seperti facebook, twitter, website, blog.

Hal lain yang tidak kalah penting adalah memperhatikan harga bagi reseller jersey grade ori. Saat ini dengan fluktuatifnya harga akan membuat standard harga menjadi berubah-rubah, apalagi tahun depan akan dilakukan pemilu untuk memilih legislative dan presiden, kecenderungan nilai mata uang rupiah akan melemah sudah bisa dipastikan terjadi. Hal ini akan mengakibatkan reseller jersey grade ori akan mendapatkan harga yang lebih tinggi dari harga biasanya. Standard harga untuk reseller jersey grade ori adalah 90rb/pcs untuk harga satuan dibawah 1 lusin. Sedangkan jika memesan lebih dari 1 lusin seorang reseller akan mendapatkan harga yang lebih murah yaitu 85rb/pcs. Akan tetapi, jika nilai tukar rupiah melemah terhadap dollar, harga jersey grade ori sudah pasti akan naik.

Sebagai tips terakhir, supaya berhasil dalam promosi gunakanlah teknologi. Pada sekarang ini penggunaan blackberry messenger atau yang kita singkat dengan bbm sangatlah memasyarakat di negeri tercinta Indonesia. Mengapa tidak menggunakan aplikasi ini? Banyak sekali kegunaan dari penggunaan bbm. Jika anda menjadi reseller jersey grade ori, anda akan dengan mudah mengirim beberapa foto kepada customer anda dengan gratis, selain itu anda juga bisa bolak-balik mengirim dan menerima pesan dengan gratis juga. Selain aplikasi bbm, anda tentunya juga mengenal aplikasi yang namanya Facebook atau twitter, aplikasi ini merupakan aplikasi jejaring social yang juga sangat diminati oleh masyarakat Indonesia dan dunia pada umumnya. Aplikasi Facebook dan Twitter berfungsi sebagai media efektif untuk memperkenalkan produku jersey yang anda punya ke teman-teman yang terkait di facebook terutama teman-teman terdekat anda.

Jangan Remehkan Manchester United (MU Kandidat Juara)

Kompetisi liga inggris musim 2013/14 sudah memasuki pekan ke-14, itu artinya hampir setengah kompetisi terlalui. Namun, hingga saat ini posisi Manchester United kurang menguntungkan, penampilan Manchester United bisa dibilang kurang meyakinkan.

Hingga pekan ke-13 kemarin, posisi MU masih berada diperingkat ke-8 dengan mengumpulkan 22 poin, selisih 9 poin dengan Arsenal yang menjadi pemuncak klasemen dengan 31 poin. Lawan berat bakal dihadapi dipekan ke-14, Everton, klub yang posisinya berada diatas United.

Namun demikian, jangan remehkan Manchester United. Dengan berbekal pengalaman dan mentalitas sebagai tim juara, bisa jadi diakhir kompetisi nanti bisa menjadi penantang serius untuk meraih tangga juara. Mungkin saja dibursa transfer musim dingin Januari nanti kekuatan MU yang menjadi titik lemah akan diperbaiki dengan merekrut pemain anyar.

Saya tetap yakin kalau Manchester United tetaplah penantang serius untuk memperebutkan gelar juara, dengan mentalitas juara dan konsistensi sebagai klub dengan segudang prestasi dan pemain bertalenta. Bagaimana menurut Anda?

Gareth Bale Mulai Menunjukkan Kelasnya

Pada awal negosiasi harga antara Tottenham Hotspur dan Real Madrid terkait harga Gareth Bale menjadi sebuah perbincangan hangat. Pro kontra bermnculan terkait tingginya harga yang dipatok oleh Spurs, dan hal tersebut tak menyurutkan minat Madrid terhadap Gareth Bale. Tentu saja harga yang diminta Spurs lebih tinggi dari harga Cristiano Ronaldo yang memecahkan rekor dunia saat kepindahannya dari manchester United ke Real Madrid. Meski demikian, akhirnya Madrid menuntaskan transfer Bale dan memecahkan rekor transfer termahal di dunia.

Awal penampilan Bale bersama Madrid tak begitu mulus, banyak yang meragukan kapasitasnya, karena memang pada awalnya penampilan Bale tidak begitu menjanjikan. Namun seiring berjalannya waktu, Gareth Bale menunjukkan kelasnya, dia membuktikan diri layak menjadi pemain yang menyandang status pemain termahal dunia.

Trio lini depan Madrid menakutkan, bersama dengan Ronaldo, Benzema, dan Bale. Gol demi gol tercipta, dan yang terakhir pada pekan ke-15 La Liga kemarin, saat melawan Real Valladolid, tanpa kehadiran Ronaldo, Gareth Bale mampu menjadi mesin gol yang menakutkan. Tiga gol dan satu assist menjadi bukti. Hebatnya lagi, tiga gol tercipta lewat kaki kanan, kaki kiri, dan sundulan kepala,

Saya kira Bale akan terus berkembang, dia akan menjadi lebih baik dan lebih menakutkan bagi pemain lawan. Bagaimana menurut Anda?

Runger Defensive Player of the Week

Dartmouth's Michael Runger is the Ivy League defensive Player of the Week and after posting 15 tackles while helping the Big Green hold Princeton to a season-low point total. Dominick Pierre made the honorable-mention list. Check out the Ivy League release.

Also getting a well-deserved mention and national attention in the Dartmouth release is defensive lineman Evan Chrustic.

Final

Princeton Revisited

Princeton highlights courtesy of Dartmouth sports publicity:




•
Although he didn't seem all that eager to begin the snowy drive back to New Jersey when we said so long for another year, Jay Greenberg did his usual terrific job in his Princeton Football blog writeup of Saturday's game.

•
Sitting on their buses after doing their part by beating Yale, Harvard players were following the

Saturday Roundup

Click to enlarge


Week 10 scores, stats and thoughts regarding Dartmouth opponents . . .


Harvard 34, Yale 7
Story and stats
A crowd of 50,934 watched the Crimson totally dominate the Bulldogs. Again. Paul Stanton ran for four touchdowns as Harvard earned a share of the Ivy League title with its seventh consecutive win in the series, holding Yale to 279 yards of offense.

Cornell 42, Penn 41

Wrapping It Up

This week's Teevens Teleteaser from the Dartmouth sports publicity office:



The weather forecast that late last week suggested cold, snow and rain for today's finale against Princeton? As they say in New Jersey, fuhgeddaboudit. As of this writing it's blue skies and sunshine.

•
In case your Dartmouth football Jones is starting to kick in, here are some future schedules:

2014 
Sept. 20 Central

Final Friday

Dartmouth Now has a story about senior tailback Dominick Pierre that is accompanied by this video:




•
The Sports Network has a capsule preview of tomorrow's Dartmouth-Princeton game that includes this:

Although Dartmouth is ninth in the FCS and ranks first in the Ivy League in scoring defense, the Princeton offense that ranks second in the country in scoring offense will be too much for the

And Another?

Possibly heading Dartmouth's way according to Twitter reports is Eric Meile, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound outside linebacker at traditional New Jersey powerhouse Don Bosco Prep:



Find Meile's four-game senior highlights here.

•
New Jersey's Shore Network has a brief story about Matawan's Nick Tomkins choosing Dartmouth. The piece says the 6-foot-3, 240-pound Tomkins has 61 tackles, seven sacks and

Well Hello!

Dartmouth has received a commitment from 6-foot-3, 290-pound Andrew Yohe, a three-year starter at Kiski Area High School in Pennsylvania.

The Trib Live has a story and headshot.





To check out his highlights click here.

Well Hello!

Via 247 Sports: Nick Tomkins, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound tight end/defensive end from Matawan High School in New Jersey has committed to Dartmouth.  The "State of Rutgers" website lists him at 6-4, 240 with a 4.75 in the 40.




•
NJ.com has a story triggered by Princeton coach Bob Surace showing his players the Ivy League championship ring he got when the Tigers shared the title during his

Those Championship Years-The Standard To Shoot For

It is truly comparing apples to oranges to try to equate some of Hank Norton's championship teams to Ferrum teams of today. These are two different eras of Ferrum football. While the teams of the sixties and seventies were far different from teams of today, many of the basic approaches to success could and should be the same. If you were to look at Ferrum's last championship team, the 1977 team, the main thrust seems to be the defense. Over that championship year, Ferrum finished the season 9-1, only losing to Grand Rapids Junior College, 16-14. That loss played in a heavy downpour, saw Ferrum fumble eight times, and lost six of those. The Grand Rapids team scored the game winning touchdown on a 38 yard pass with less than two minuets remaining.

Overall that season, Ferrum gave up 36 points. That, at the time was the second fewest points given up by a team, and six of their ten games were shutouts....Incidentally, the fewest given up was by the '65 championship Panthers, who only allowed 19 points on the season. In short, defense was always the bedrock of Ferrum success.
This year, Ferrum gave up 394 points, with 23 touchdowns of opponents coming through the air. On the ground, Ferrum gave up 2109 yards, and 29 rushing touchdowns. While there are many differences between the athletes of those championship teams, and the ones of today, the focus on defense must be primary, and no options should be taken off of the table to make Ferrum's defense formidable again.
If there is going to be a re-evaluation, and review of the season, defense would be where I would start, and while it may not be realistic to think that Ferrum will break any records of the '65 team, It really, can only get better, and it must.

If the defense is going to be the first need addressed, then offense should not follow too far behind. This season, Ferrum's offense scored 223 points. This was down from last years total of 322. A 99 point decrease on offense, and a change in points surrendered by the defense from 231 in 2012, to 394 this season. Not a recipe for success. The 1977 championship team scored a total of 314 points. Not as strong as the offense last year.

Ferrum is looking good in some areas...I was fortunate for the first time to visit the Hank Norton Center Saturday. This is nothing short of a masterpiece. This facility is one of the nicest I have seen, and is something Ferrum should be very proud of. The entire Adams stadium is looking very much first class, and I was just as impressed with the new press box, and the new restrooms. Changes that will all make a difference.

So exactly, what will it take for Ferrum to get back to prominence? I am not sure, but there are things that I think are impressive about the program, and there are things that need work. I do believe that next year will have a much better ending.

Go Panthers!

Panthers Long Season Ends on a Sour Note

While I was able to get to the game Saturday, the game itself seemed like a microcosm of the entire season. Relying more of a sense of hope, rather than  facts gathered over the season, I predicted a Ferrum win.....Unfortunately, the Panthers ended the game on the wrong end of a lopsided score. The Panthers fell hard to the CNU Captains, 58-12.
There is not a lot to say about the game. Too many turnovers early gave the Captains a lead that they would not relinquish, and all the Ferrum fans could do was to bear the misery until the clock read all zeros.

For Ferrum, the ending of this season marked the end of what started out as a season that had a lot of question marks. A lot new faces this year meant a young team, and more often than not, young teams struggle. While I still thought there would be more success, it just did not materialize. So the question begs, what should we expect next year? In short, Ferrum fans, I have no idea. I do know this, Ferrum must do a careful review of all aspects of their season to make gains next year.

Ferrum will lose 14 players to graduation. Hardest hit will be the interior offensive line which will be a total turnover. (5) Other positions to fill will include 3 defensive linemen, 1linebacker, 3 running backs, 1 safety, and the punter/kicker. However it shakes out, I look for next season to be a better season, but to get there Ferrum has to begin the process of improvement right away. I doubt it will be an idle off season.

AD Sheehy: I Have Seen Progress

As noted on BGA Premium yesterday, Buddy Teevens will be back as Dartmouth head coach next  year. Details are scarce but a brief story in the Valley News quotes Athletic Director Harry Sheehy:

"I have seen progress in how our team has reacted to adversity, and I think there is good potential there for that to continue. Sure, I'd like to be farther along. We are a field goal away from playing for

Brown Revisited

Dartmouth-Brown highlights courtesy of Dartmouth sports publicity:







•

The Dartmouth has a story about Saturday's win at Brown that includes this from Big Green quarterback Dalyn Williams:


“I think our defense played really well, especially being on the field so much during the game because our offense could not stay on the field. With that being said, I think our offense did a great job

Saturday Roundup

A look at how Dartmouth opponents fared on Saturday with a thought or two . . .Princeton 59, Yale 23Story and stats
The Tigers topped the 50-point mark for the fifth time while claiming at least a share of their first Ivy League title since 2006. Princeton had remarkable balance with 254 rushing yards and 253 passing yards. Princeton, whose only loss was by one point in its opener against Lehigh,

Game Day

Headed off to Brown while it's still dark so we can grab breakfast at a very special place we discovered several years ago (link) and still get to Providence early enough to spend a little time with one of my oldest friends. How long have we known each other? He used to tell people we became friends after he admired my baseball glove when it was dangling from the handlebars on my three-speed

GAME PREVIEW: Christopher Newport @ Ferrum

With both teams playing for nothing more than pride, the Captains make the long trek to Franklin County to take on the home standing Panthers. Ferrum has struggled, only winning two games, while CNU has only lost two. Those two losses were both conference games, and these losses, in a rare instance, have left the Captains out of the playoff picture. So this is a game for respect. Ferrum has not beaten CNU in their last 9 meetings, and would like put the brakes on this slide. Most will think this is a formality, and CNU will romp.....and they may, But Ferrum  can win this, and I think with the help of Senior Wesley Franklin, they will

Ferrum 17

CNU 14

Green Notes

Dartmouth's game notes for Saturday's game at Brown have been posted here.

•
The Brown Daily Herald has a preview story with this headline:

Football hosts Big Green on Senior Day
The matchup showcases top Ivy talent but hopes of a conference title are dim for both sides
The first part of the headline is correct. As for the second part, Dartmouth (4-4, 3-2 Ivy League) still has hopes for a

Brown Notes

Brown's game notes for Dartmouth have been posted here.

•

The notes include a scary list of the 70-plus yard touchdown runs by John Spooney, the Ivy League sprint champion who probably would have had more but didn't play football last year as he concentrated on track:

94 yards vs. Penn, 11-2-1393 yards vs. Penn, 11-2-1381 yards vs. Cornell, 10-22-1173 yards vs. URI, 10-5-1371 yards vs.

AC Milan Yang Tidak Berjodoh Dengan "Cinta Lama"

Kembalinya Kaka ke AC Milan di awal musim 2013 -2014 membangkitkan kembali gelora dan semangat Milanisti sedunia bahwa team kesayangannya akan meretas kembali jalan menuju kesuksesan.
Bukan tanpa alasan karena terakhir kali AC Milan meraih titel Liga Champion adalah di tahun 2007 saat Kaka masih berada di dalam team dan atas performanya di musim itu Kaka meraih gelar sebagai pemain terbaik dunia versi FIFA.
Selang beberapa pekan berjalan, apa yang tampak pada klasemen sementara Liga Italia mungkin menjadi sebuah kejutan.
Bagaimana mungkin team peraih gelar eropa terbanyak dari Italia yang diperkuat talenta macam Balotelli, El Sharawy, Robinho dan sang pangeran yang telah kembali Kaka bisa berjarak hanya beberapa poin dari jurang degradasi.
Kembalinya Kaka ke AC Milan yang awalnya ditenggarai sebagai solusi atas kemandekan AC Milan mengatasi hegemoni Juventus dalam dua musim terakhir (bahkan sampai membuat AC Milan memberanikan diri melepas Kevin Prince Boateng yang meloloskan AC Milan ke fase grup Liga Champions), ternyata tidak terbukti, setidaknya sampai tulisan ini dipublikasikan.
Kaka yang sekarang bukan lagi Kaka yang dulu.
Hangatnya bangku cadangan dan cedera yang terus menghambatnya di Real Madrid tampaknya membutuhkan waktu dan kerja keras untuk mengembalikan talentanya.

Bila ditelusuri lebih jauh, sesungguhnya AC Milan kerap tidak berjodoh dengan yang namanya "cinta lama".
Masih ingat dengan Fabio Capello?
Dia adalah sosok yang membawahi generasi the dream team AC Milan di tahun 1991 - 1996 dan meraih sejumlah gelar Liga Italia dan Piala Champions.
Milanisti tentu masih ingat bagaimana Capello membawa AC Milan membantai The Dream Team Barcelona 4-0 pada final tahun 1994.
Hebatnya lagi, Capello adalah pelatih yang membawa AC Milan meraih titel Serie A 1992 tanpa terkalahkan!!
Hebat bukan?? tapi lihatlah saat Capello kembali ke AC Milan di tahun 1997 setelah memenangi Liga Spanyol bersama Real Madrid, Capello hanya mampu membawa AC Milan finish di peringkat 10.

Sebelum Capello, AC Milan juga punya sosok luar biasa yang gagal merajut cinta lama saat kembali, dia adalah Arrigo Sacchi.
Sebelum era keemasan Fabio Capello, era Arrigo Sacchi adalah awal mula julukan the dream team disematkan ke AC Milan.
Sacchi dengan trio Belandanya adalah jawara Italia sekaligus Eropa dalam rentang waktu 1987 - 1991.
Sukses besar di AC Milan, Sacchi pun dipercaya menangani timnas Italia. Not bad, Italia meraih runner up Piala Dunia 1994.
Cinta lamanya gagal bersemi saat kembali ke AC Milan di musim 1996 - 1997 dan gagal memperbaiki kinerja buruk Oscar Tabarez.

Apakah AC Milan cuma berjodoh buruk dengan pelatih untuk cinta lama? TIDAK
Tengoklah saat Andriy Shevchenko, si peraih Ballon D' Or kembali dari kegagalan di Chelsea pada musim 2008 - 2009.
Catatan penampilannya sangat buruk. Hanya bermain 18 kali di serie A tanpa gol!!
Bandingkan dengan catatan 208 kali penampilan dengan 127 gol saat Sheva masih berkostum AC Milan di rentang waktu 1999 - 2006 dan berbuah titel Serie A, Liga Champion, Coppa Italy dan gelar individu tentunya.

Masih kurang?
Perhatikan bagaimana ketajaman Marco Boriello saat di Cagliari mendadak lenyap saat kembali ke AC Milan.
Contoh terkini, Alessandro Matri yang cukup menjanjikan di Cagliari dan Juventus sekarang menjadi calon pembelian terburuk AC Milan.

So, mungkin memang AC Milan tidak berjodoh dengan cinta lama mereka.

Worth Noting

From the latest Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. Click to enlarge


•
Former Dartmouth wide receiver/defensive back Corey Vann '13 offers an insider's look at Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Jonathan Martin in a story published in yesterday's New York Post. Vann and Martin were high school teammates at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. Vann includes a quote from former Dartmouth receivers

Memorial Field Reviewed

A website called Stadium Journey has posted a relatively positive and accurate review of Dartmouth's Memorial Field featuring comments on food & beverage, atmosphere, neighborhood, fans, access, return on investment, extras and this "final thought":

Memorial Field may not be included in the conversation of historic Ivy League football stadiums, but it deserves to be. With a façade untouched

Big Green Dominates Honor Roll

Four Dartmouth players made the Ivy League honor roll this week. From the Ivy website:

HONOR ROLL

Mike Banaciski, Dartmouth (Sr., DB - Hillsborough, N.J.)
6 tkls. (5 solo)

Kyle Bramble, Dartmouth (So., RB - Floyds Knobs, Ind.)
24 car. for 110 yds.

Seth DeValve, Princeton (Jr., WR - Manchester, Conn.)
7 rec. for 77 yds., 1 TD

Andrew Flesher, Harvard (Jr., PK - Little Rock, Ark.)
2 FGs (29, 33

Looking Back

Highlights from the Cornell game, courtesy of Dartmouth sports publicity:





•

The Dartmouth has a story that reprises the game while The Cornell Sun has a story that includes this quote from Cornell running back Luke Hagy:

“Dartmouth has a very good defense, but it wasn’t as much of what they did but more of what we didn’t do. We didn’t execute and had penalties that killed us. We were the

Looking Ahead

While there are many that believe that Ferrum's season is a wash, I do not count myself among those. Ferrum has a chance to do something this weekend that has not been done since November 15th, 2003....defeat Christopher Newport. Why do I think it is even remotely possible that Ferrum can win? Because no one else does....especially Christopher Newport. Ferrum has lost for nine consecutive seasons to the Captains, and while there have been blow outs, there have also been games that were close. The average margin of victory has been 16.7 points for the Captains, with that including games as close as three points, and blowouts by 48. This year, for the first time in a while, neither team is in playoff contention. The conference playoff spot has already been wrapped up by Maryville. This game next week is all about pride...and for Ferrum, ending a skid that has gone on too long.

Yesterdays game against LaGrange showed me a team that played an inspired brand of football. They did not give up and were in the game until the end. While CNU is no slouch, they are not having the year that everyone thought they would have. Granted they started off strong, defeating Hampden-Sydney, and Salisbury, and gaining a national ranking early in the season, but they are not the winning machine that it looked like they might be early in the season.

For Ferrum to win they must first believe that they can win. There are plenty out there who don't give them much of a chance at all. It will not be easy, but another effort like yesterday may just give the Ferrum fans something to scream about, and the Seniors a memory that will last a lifetime.

Go Panthers!

Saturday Roundup

A look at how Dartmouth opponents fared on Saturday with a thought or two . . .

Princeton 38, Penn 26
Story and stats
Penn jumped out to a 16-0 lead and was within five points with five minutes remaining but came up short as Quaker quarterback Billy Ragone completed just 10-of-31 passes with three interceptions. Quinn Epperly completed 32-of-45 throws for 268 yards and two touchdowns as

Ferrum Posts Strong EffortFalls to LaGrange 10-3

In a rare defensive struggle, Ferrum found itself in a heck of a ballgame today but was unable to pull out a win as they fell to LaGrange 10-3. Going into the 4th quarter, Ferrum and LaGrange remained in a 3-3 tie. LaGrange had an opportunity to break the tie, but missed a field goal. Later LaGrange was driving inside the Ferrum 10 when they fumbled, and Ferrum recovered,  but both times were unable to capitalize.

Again Ferrum gave ground on defense, and LaGrange had the ball deep in FC territory. A well thrown pass to the corner was caught by the LaGrange receiver for the game winning touchdown. Ferrum would have another chance to get to the end zone, but it was not to be as Ferrum had a Hail Mary intercepted to end the game.

The home standing Panthers should be very proud of their effort. The defense played very well. The pass defense was the best it has been all season. Holding this team to 10 points was a huge accomplishment. The main difference, as I saw it was the mismatch between the Ferrum O-line, and the LaGrange D-line. Reynolds had pressure for much of the day, and while there were moments that the Ferrum offense moved the ball, it was inconsistent. This was as a result of the LaGrange defense rather than the Ferrum offense. Just not big enough horses up front.

Ferrum will close the season out next week at home against CNU. This game today gives me hope for the final game of the season. CNU only defeated LaGrange 13-10. Keep your heads up boys...a win next week would go a long way toward easing the pain of this season.

Game Day

Another terrific football day for the Big Green and its fans. We've got a dusting of snow up here on the mountain but down in town it is expected to be 41 degrees and partly cloudy for the 4 p.m. kickoff. According to our friends at AccuWeather, the temperature will dip to about 35 degrees by game's end, but it will be dry – for the eighth week in a row.

•
The BGA Premium preview of this today's

Gameday GAME PREVIEW: LaGrange @ Ferrum

Today it's Panthers vs. Panthers as LaGrange visits Ferrum. LaGrange comes into the contest off of a close game with Christopher Newport, losing 13-10. Ferrum comes off of their loss with North Carolina Wesleyan, looking to close out the last couple of games of the season the season on an upswing. As I have watched the season progress, I am skeptical that Ferrum will have much success in the final two games. There have been bright spots, but all in all, Ferrum is just not where they need or wanted to be. This has been a disappointing year for Ferrum, While they do have talent, Ferrum just has not gotten the job done . I don't see many things changing today.

LaGrange   44

Ferrum       20


As for the rest of the conference, Maryville should capture the conference crown today. A win against Greensboro will send them to the playoffs. Here is how I see the rest of the day going for USA South teams.

Greensboro @ Maryville

Methodist @ Huntingdon

Averett @ Christopher Newport

Brawn And Brains

From the Dartmouth office of sports publicity:

Dartmouth seniors Mike Banaciski, Cole Marcoux and Michael Runger were each named to the Capital One Academic All-District I Football Team for Division I schools as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Thursday afternoon. This is the second time Banaciski and Runger have been included on the team, while

DL Stunts - Part 2

Part 2 of the Defensive Line Stunts series will look at stunts where the Defensive Tackle works in tandem with the Defensive End.  DL Stunts - Part 1 looked at stunts with just the Defensive Tackles.  Blitzes and Fire Zones are great for applying pressure, but the easiest and safest way to get pressure is from the guys up front.  It is nice to be able to play your favorite coverage on 3rd and Long and still get pressure from the front 4.  If a defense can do that, it has an opportunity to be great on 3rd Down.

Stunts are also important for stopping the run and for giving smaller, quicker defenders a better chance to be successful.  Former Florida Co-DC and DL Coach Greg Matteson talked about giving his defensive linemen a 3-way go.  A right defensive end could attack the offensive tackle in three ways: 1) slant inside him, 2) run through him, or 3) jet upfield right past him.  Using all three techniques keeps the offensive lineman off-balance and gives the defensive lineman his best chance for success.

3-Way Go

The stunts I will talk about are Ex, Tex (and Dbl Tex), Veer, Spear, and Watch Me.  Ex and Tex are great vs. the pass or run.  Veer and Spear are primarily run stunts, although they still work vs. the Pass.  The Veer has its origins as a stunt to stop Inside Veer, and Spear is a Greg Matteson stunt that is very similar.  Watch Me is a pass rush stunt all the way designed to give your best pass rusher the freedom to do his thing.

Ex from Barry Hoover on Vimeo.

Ex

Clip 1 (Giants) – Right DE takes a step upfield, slams the Guard, then comes off and makes the sack.

Clip 2 (Jets) – Right DT hesitates and lets DE slam the Guard.  The Tackle turns inside just enough to cause him to be too late in trying to block the DT, who makes the sack.

Clip 3 (Giants) – Ex can also be run with a 1 tech NT.  DE slams Guard and gets in QB's face.  OT chases DE too far, allowing NT to come around free.

Clip 4 (Giants) – DE one step upfield then moves quickly inside but does not slam Guard.  He could not slam the Guard since he slid inside, leaving a nice lane for the DE to pressure the QB.

Tex from Barry Hoover on Vimeo.

Tex

Clip 1 (Steelers) – DT takes a step upfield and slams the Tackle.  The Guard chases the DT and chases him too far outside to block the DE who comes inside for the sack.

Clip 2 (Gators) – DE takes two steps upfield and then come inside.  The Guard is locked on the DT and never touches the DE who makes the sack.

Clip 3 (Cowboys) – The 1 tech NT looks to slam the Guard, who slides away so the DT gets pressure on the QB.  The Center locks onto the NT and does not see the DE come inside.

Clip 4 (Dolphins) – don't think this was Tex, just the DE seeing an opening to the QB and running to daylight.

Clip 5 (Miss. St.) – Tex stunt allows DE to come free inside to tackle RB on Draw.

Clip 6 (Giants) – Tex Ex – Tex on the left, Ex on the right.  The Guard turned outside with the DT and the DE sped right past him inside for the strip sack.

Dbl Tex

Clip 1 (Giants) – Left DT could have done a better job taking a step upfield first, but he makes up for it with a great swim move inside the Tackle to sack QB.

Clips 2, 3 (Broncos, TCU) – Guard too aggressive blocking DT and doesn't see DE come inside.

Veer from Barry Hoover on Vimeo.

Veer

Clip 1 (Gators) – Right DE to 1 tech side takes a step inside and then quickly re-directs.  Current Michigan DC Greg Matteson did a tremendous job at Florida of teaching his DL to read the OL that you are slanting away from.

Clip 2 (Giants) – Tackle thought he had an easy base block on Iso play but DE blew by him inside to wreck the play.

Clip 3 (Gators) – Veer stunt pressures the RB who tries to cut all the way back on zone play to Sam LB and SS.  Good job by Sam LB of squeezing OT and not leaving a crease.

Clip 4 (Gators) – DE re-directs and causes RB to cut back inside to pursuit.

Clip 5 (Ravens) – A quick DE is deadly on this stunt.

Clip 6 (Giants) – DE able to re-direct, but not quickly enough to catch RB.  LB must scrape quicker over top.

Spear from Barry Hoover on Vimeo.

Spear

Clip 1 (Gators) – good stunt vs. Power with DE working quickly inside of FB's block to make tackle.  DT in good shape outside to make tackle as well.

Clip 2 (Gators) – DE aims at hip of Tackle, works inside and runs to daylight to pressure QB.  This is the gruesome play where the Bama WR tore his knee up.

Watch Me from Barry Hoover on Vimeo.

Watch-Me

Clip 1 (Cowboys) – if you have a fast DE who has a knack for getting to the QB and working inside when the Tackle sets too far outside, this is a great stunt to give him the freedom to get the QB and not have to worry about pass rush Contain.

Clip 2 (Steelers) – DT does a good job of getting outside when the DE works inside, allowing DE to make a big hit on QB.

Clip 3 (Seahawks) – DT sees DE come inside and seamlessly works outside for pass rush Contain to get the sack.

Clip 4 (Eagles) – The DE worked inside and the DT worked outside and both got to QB.

Clips 5, 6 (Colts) – The Colts used this call to give Dwight Freeney the freedom to use  his devastating spin move.

Great Links
The speakers and schedules are now finally out for the 2014 Glazier Clinics here.
Strong Football with The Popularity of the 3-4 Defense: What's Old is New, Playing Fast with the 4-2-5 Defense, Wing-T Offense: Buck Trap, Dick LeBeau's Wime/Will Cross Fire Zone Blitz, and The 5 Step Guide to Striking a Balance as Football Coaches.
Chris at Grantland / Smart Football on Art Briles and the Baylor Offense.
Coach Mac with Analyzing Your Statistics, 3 Man Scat Combinations, and Changing Defensive Looks.
Duece with The Passing of a Great One.
Brophy with Cal's Solid Screen.

Well Worth Noting

From a Dartmouth release and certainly worthy of leading off today's blog:

The NCAA has released its annual student-athlete graduation rate survey, and Dartmouth College once again has been shown to lead the nation in Graduation Success Rate (GSR). With a GSR of 99 percent for student-athletes who began college in 2006, Dartmouth led Division I institutions for a second straight year. Tying for

Hasil Drawing Pembagian Grup SEA Games 2013

Bagi sebagian orang. cabang lah raga sepak bola menjadi cabang favorit untuk disimak hasilnya dan juga pertandingannya, dalam even apapun. Seperti yang akan digelar dalam ajang SEA Games di Myanmar tahun ini, perkembangan para pemain timnas U-23 yang akan menjadi wakil bangsa layak untuk diikuti. 

Sudah lama Indonesia kering prestasi, yang terbaru, Indonesia berhasil meraih juara AFF U-19 lewat perjuangan Evan Dimas dkk. Drawing pembagian grup SEA Games 2013 di Myanmar sudah dilakukan, Indonesia berada satu grup dengan raksasa sepak bola Asia Tenggara, Thailand, dan juga tuan rumah Myanmar.

Grup A: 
Malaysia, Laos, Brunei, Vietnam, Singapura, Filipina.

Grup B: 
Indonesia, Myanmar, Timor, Thailand, Kamboja

Layak dinantikan, apakah para duta bangsa ini mampu berbicara banyak di ajang SEA Games, karena sudah sekian edisi Indonesia selalu gagal berprestasi.

Check It Out

Harvard highlights from Dartmouth Sports Publicity:



•
For the football program story I freelanced on Dartmouth safety Garrett Waggoner, click here.

•
Cornell's game notes for Saturday have been posted here. The notes remind us that the game is being carried on the NBC Sports Network with Randy Moss (no, not that one) and former Princeton and NFL lineman Ross Tucker on the call. Becasue it is

Dazzo Honored

Dartmouth safety Stephen Dazzo was named to the Ivy League honor roll for his play Saturday evening at Harvard. In addition to five tackles and a pass breakup, he returned a lateral 33 yards for a touchdown (which was not mentioned in the Ivy release).

Harvard placekicker Andrew Flesher was the conference's special teams player of the week for hitting 3-of-4 field goals against Dartmouth,

Looking Back At Harvard, Ahead To Cornell

The Dartmouth recaps Saturday's loss to Harvard and also features a Q&A with linebacker Will McNamara centered around his two interception returns for a touchdown a week ago.

•
The Harvard Crimson has a game story and a sidebar that begins with the success of the Harvard run game Saturday night.

•
The major Boston newspapers still cover Harvard football and had stories about Saturday's game in

Ferrum Falls to North Carolina WesleyanDifficult Season Continues

At the beginning of the season, I predicted that Ferrum would finish fourth, and would have a record of 7-3. Better not quit my day job! ( I also predicted that NCW would go 0-10...ugh) After the defeat at the hands of NCW, Ferrum is assured of a less than .500 season, and will have a difficult time putting another notch in the win column this season. The Bishops soundly defeated the Panthers yesterday 33-16, but were leading at one time 33-0.
The train seems to have left the track for Ferrum, and with LaGrange and CNU left to close out the season, It is hard to imagine that things will get much better this year. As for yesterday, its appears that the offense and the defense both struggled. I again was not in a position to watch the game, but it seems that North Carolina Wesleyan was well prepared for the game, and Ferrum was just not effective.

I am disappointed that overall, Ferrum is not the contender I hoped they would be. I am hoping for a good turnout at the game the next two Saturdays. I would mean a lot to get a win, and a good crowd can help this.

Saturday Roundup

A look at how Dartmouth opponents fared on Saturday . . .

Brown 27, Penn 0
Story and stats
Sprint champion John Spooney had TD runs of 93 and 94 yards in the first half for Brown. That the Bears' talented offense scored that many points isn't a surprise. That they shut out Penn – even with quarterback Billy Ragone not playing – is a shocker.

Princeton 53, Cornell 20
Story and stats
You knew the

There's A Party Goin' On Right Here . . .

Editor's Note: As with all night games, there will be just one BGA Premium story tonight (but two tomorrow). Also, I will be writing on the drive home tonight while Mrs. BGA handles the wheel ;-) If we are out of Boston by 9 I should be back home and able to post tonight's story by midnight Eastern. If we are a little later . . . the story will be a little later.

Boston is going to be nuts today

Crimson Insights

From the Harvard Crimson looking ahead to Saturday evening's Ivy League showdown between Harvard and Dartmouth:
“I think you’re going to learn just how resilient we are,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “Our kids have a tremendous amount of pride. Some years you lose a tough game like this, and you’ve got a maybe average opponent. We don’t have that luxury.”
Curious about Harvard's defensive

GAME PREVIEW:Ferrum @ North Carolina Wesleyan

For the last time this season, Ferrum will board the bus as their schedule takes them to Rocky Mount North Carolina to play the 1-8 Battling Bishops of North Carolina Wesleyan.
Both teams are coming off losses, and for the Bishops, they are playing their last game at home. On the surface, this is a winnable game for Ferrum, but it is also one that is in no way a sure thing. NCW has an offense that can move the ball, and put points on the board. They are averaging 22ppg, and 148 rushing yards per game. They are also averaging 216 yards through the air. This could be one of the closest games of the season, and literally could go either way. I look for a lot of points to be put up, but believe Ferrum's defense will prevail in slowing their ground game, and that the Ferrum offense will have just a little more talent. It is a tough game to call, but I give Ferrum the edge....may be a last minute field goal.

Ferrum 38

NCW 36

In the other games, I see it this way.

Huntingdon @ Averett

Methodist @ Greensboro

Christopher Newport @ LaGrange


Go Panthers!

Check It Out

For the first time in, well, seemingly forever, The Sports Network is picking Dartmouth to win at Harvard Saturday.

TSN calls the game, "basically a title eliminator," and that's true. Since official Ivy League championship play began in 1956 only twice has a team with two losses won a share of the title and whichever team loses Saturday at Harvard Stadium will have two losses. (In case you are

A Little Recruiting

Recruiting news has been hard to come by this fall but with help from a couple of emailers here's a commitment and an interesting candidate:



The commitment is from Emory Thompson, a 5-foot-10, 170-pound defensive back from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Lexington, Kent. As a junior he led the state of Kentucky last year with seven interceptions. He had three fumble recoveries, two forced

Another Honor For McNamara

Dartmouth sophomore linebacker Will McNamara has been chosen one of two National Defensive Players of the Week for bringing back two interceptions for touchdowns in Saturday's win over Columbia. Find a story here.

•

Teams of some interest in the poll conducted by The Sports Network:
9. Fordham 8-0
10. Maine 7-1
16. New Hampshire 4-3
22. Lehigh 6-2
32. Princeton 5-1
34. Harvard 5-1

From the FCS

The University of New Hampshire School of Law and Sports Illustrated proudly invite you to attend A Town Hall on O'Bannon v. NCAA on Tuesday, November 5th from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in Room 282, followed by a reception in the Franklin Pierce Center for Intellectual Property.

The Town Hall will examine how a class action lawsuit against the NCAA could radically change college sports as we know it.  Through legal arguments sounding in intellectual property and antitrust, Ed O'Bannon—a former basketball star at UCLA—contends that current and former Division I men's basketball and football players should be paid for their image and likeness on television broadcasts, video games, trading cards, apparel and other commercial ventures.  The Town Hall will also consider related cases, including Sam Keller v. NCAA and Ryan Hart v. Electronic Arts, as well as pending federal legislation in the NCAA Accountability Act.  Collectively, these legal developments could lead to the compensation of college student-athletes and impact their unionization and quasi-employment rights.

The Town Hall will feature some of the most influential and insightful people in college sports:

Moderator
B.J. Schecter	B.J. Schecter, Executive Editor of Sports Illustrated and SI.com. Schecter is a sports journalism professor at CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Panelists
Charles Grantham	Charles Grantham, former Executive Director of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA). Grantham was an architect of the revenue-sharing business model while protecting the NBA’s greatest asset—its players. Currently, he is a sports business consultant and an Adjunct Professor at Seton Hall University’s Stillman School of Business and New York University where he teaches at the graduate level on collective bargaining and dispute resolution in professional sports.
Professor Michael McCann	Professor Michael McCann, Director of the Sports and Entertainment Law Institute and a tenured professor at UNH Law, teaching Pro Sports Law, Amateur Sports Law, andSales.  Legal Analyst and Writer at Sports Illustrated & SI.com.
Alan Milstein	Alan Milstein, Shareholder at Sherman Silverstein in New Jersey, Milstein is one of the nation's leading litigators in both sports and bioethics.  Milstein has litigated on behalf of Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, Eddy Curry, Allen Houston, Maurice Clarett & other sports figures.
Professor Alexandra Roberts	Professor Alexandra Roberts, Executive Director of UNH Law's Franklin Pierce Center for Intellectual Property and a professor of entertainment law and trademark law. Roberts is a former intellectual property litigator at Ropes & Gray LLP in Boston and New York.
Marty Scarano	Marty Scarano, University of New Hampshire Athletic Director in his 14th season, National Association of College Directors of Athletics "AD of the Year" in 2007.  During Scarano’s tenure, UNH teams have made 44 NCAA postseason appearances and captured 14 conference titles. Those teams have also achieved one of the best graduation rates among NCAA members.
Sonny Vaccaro	Sonny Vaccaro, Leading advocate for rights of college athletes and an unpaid adviser to Ed O'Bannon's legal team. Founding Chairman of The Roundball Classic and ABCD camp.  While a marketing executive at Nike, Vaccaro signed Michael Jordan to his first major endorsement package.

Come for the enthusiastic discussion and debate; stay for the hors d'œuvre, beverages, and networking opportunities. We hope to see you there!  Please RSVP to ip.center@law.unh.edu.

* UNH Law is about an hour drive from Boston and directions can be found here.

** Portions of the town hall will be aired on SI Now, Sports Illustrated's Daily Talk Show.  Other portions will be shown through video provided by UNH Law's Sports and Entertainment Law Institute.

McNamara, Carrier Honored

From Dartmouth Sports Publicity:

Two Dartmouth football players — linebacker Will McNamara and wide receiver Jon Marc Carrier — were selected as the Ivy League Football Defensive Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively, for their performances in a 56-0 blanking of Columbia.
And this . . .

McNamara was also selected as the National FCS Defensive Player of the Week by the College Football

Mike Pouncey Subpoena

A potentially major development in the Aaron Hernandez murder case occurred last night, when Dolphins center Mike Pouncey was served with a grand jury subpoena after the Dolphins played at the Patriots.  The grand jury is investigating a potential scheme involving the same of guns and it may be connected to Hernandez.  On SI.com last night, Pete Thamel and Greg Bedard broke the story and I have a legal analysis this morning.

More Columbia

•
A note from a regular reader who dug up some interesting numbers about the Dartmouth football team:

Win one more game this year  the class of 2014 will be the first class since the class of 2000 to have a four-year winning record (Last year’s seniors were 19-21 over four years.) The class of 2014 has won 20 games and has four left to play.

•
The Dartmouth has a straight game story on the

Long Day on Rocky Top

Ferrum's trip to Maryville Tennessee did not go as hoped, but I am not all that shocked. Maryville is a very strong team, and Ferrum was, in the long run, not able to keep pace. As I was unable to follow the game live, I have to base this post on statistics, and what I have read. It looks to me that Ferrum put up a strongfight, especially in the first half, but were slowly worn down as the game went on. Maryville employed a balanced attack of running and passing, to account for over 500 yards of total offense. In the end the Scots prevailed 53-14.

Now as there are only 3 games left, Ferrum is essentially out of the conference running. Mathematically, they are still in it, and it is true that they were co champions last year with two losses, but things are much different this year. Maryville looks to be the odds on favorite to win the title. Methodist, and LaGrange may still try to have something to say about that, but one more win for Maryville, or one more loss for Ferrum puts the title out of reach for the Panthers. It is too early for speculation on what went wrong, or what changes need to be made,. What is important is that Ferrum finish strong, and let these Seniors go out under the best possible circumstances.

Saturday's Results

How Dartmouth Opponents Fared Saturday





A look at how opponents fared yesterday . . .



Princeton 51, Harvard 48 (Triple Overtime)

Story and stats

Princeton quarterback Quinn Epperly threw for 321 yards and six touchdowns, including one to Roman Wilson in the final overtime as the Tigers won a battle of Ivy League unbeatens. Epperly also ran for a team-high 86 yards. Harvard had won 15

Procompetitive Effects and the Ban on Paying College Athletes

USA Today's Steve Berkowitz wrote on Friday that Judge Wilken denied a motion to dismiss in the O'Bannon litigation.  Here is an excerpt from Berkowitz's article in which he addresses Judge Wilken's remarks concerning whether a ban on athlete pay serves a procompetitive purpose:

Meanwhile, the judge also raised questions about the applicability to this case of the 1984 Supreme Court ruling in NCAA v. Board of Regents, a case that was about control of college football TV rights but the opinion on which included the statement that "in order to preserve the character and quality of the (NCAA's) 'product,' athletes must not be paid, must be required to attend class and the like."

The NCAA has relied upon this language in defending its amateurism system and has successfully used it [in] many prior legal cases.

However, Wilken wrote in Friday's ruling that the case "does not stand for the sweeping proposition that student-athletes must be barred, both during their college years and forever thereafter, from receiving any monetary compensation for the commercial use of their names, images, and likenesses.

"Although it is possible that the NCAA's ban on student-athlete pay serves some procompetitive purpose, such as increasing consumer demand for college sports, Plaintiffs' plausible allegations to the contrary must be accepted as true at the pleading stage."

Wilken also wrote that the Supreme Court "never even analyzed the NCAA's ban on student-athlete compensation under the rule of reason nor did it cite any fact findings indicating that this ban is the type of restraint is 'essential if the (NCAA's) product is to be available at all'. More importantly, the Court never examined whether or not the ban on student-athlete compensation actually had a procompetitive effect on the college sports market."

Berkowitz's piece raises a really interesting question.  In sports antitrust cases, the issue concerning procompetitive effects essentially revolves around competitive balance.  Why is there an assumption that a ban on athlete pay increases consumer demand for college sports and/or fosters competitive balance?  

First, while I do believe there are many consumers who do not want athletes to be paid, I have serious doubts whether there is any correlation between consumer demand and athlete pay (or lack thereof).  For starters, the consumer knows there are lots of athletes in big-time college sports who are paid under the table from boosters and various other third parties (unless of course one believes that the number of athletes getting paid is limited to only those who actually get caught).  But more importantly, if the rules were changed to permit athletes to be compensated for their names and images, I don't believe fans and alumni would take the position, "I'm not watching my team play this weekend because I read somewhere that somebody paid our defensive end $1,000 this week for signing some memorabilia."  

But who cares what I think and let's assume for sake of argument that some consumers would not be interested in the product if the athletes were paid more than they are currently.  How much relevance should it have for antitrust purposes?  Is a producer insulated from antitrust liability simply by calling its product "unpaid labor"?  If all of the law firms in the U.S. agreed to restrict the pay of their associates (in the first four years before making partner) to law school tuition reimbursement, would the agreement pass antitrust scrutiny if they marketed their product to the consumer as "cheap associate labor"?  Most would not dispute that a team salary cap violates antitrust law but is the answer different if a sports league calls its product "salary capped labor"?  If the NFL could show that it is losing consumers because they believe the athletes are grossly overpaid, would/should that have any relevance for antitrust purposes if the league put an individual cap on each player's salary?  

Second, on the issue of competitive balance, the irony is that college football arguably has much less competitive balance than professional football where the athletes are paid competitive wages.  Unlike professional football, college football has "dynasties" and "powerhouses".  For a college sport that supposedly has competitive balance, why are Alabama's football fans leaving so many empty seats in the stadium? 

Baseball rules, again

One year after benefiting from a bizarre and controversial (although I believe correct) Infield Fly call in the NL WIld Card, the St. Louis Cardinals won Game 3 of the World Series on an obstruction call on the Red Sox third baseman (video embedded). Although early reaction (at least outside the Red Sox clubhouse) seems to approve of the call, this one will remain a point of contention, both because it occurred in the World Series and because it allowed the game-winning run to score (officially, it was scored an error on the third baseman who obstructed).

Rule 2.00 of the Official Baseball Rules defines "Obstruction" as "act of a fielder who, while not in possession of the ball and not in the act of fielding the ball, impedes the progress of any runner." A Comment to the rule provides that a fielder can occupy space when "in the act of fielding a ball," but once he has attempted to field a ball and missed, he can no longer be in the act. Thus, if a player dives at a ball and continues to lie on the ground after it is passed him and delays the runner's progress, "he very likely has obstructed the runner." The rule has no intent requirement; impeding the runner, even unintentionally, constitutes obstruction. Under R. 7.06(b), the umpire can "impose such penalties, if any, as in his judgment will nullify the act of obstruction;" typically, that is the base he would have been entitled to without the obstruction.

Here is video of the umpires' press conference, which can best be described as a judicial opinion issued from the bench, explaining a decision. A couple of themes emerge that, I think, support the call. First, intent does not matter, only the result. Even if (as here) it is almost unfair because the play happened too quickly for the fielder to do anything to get out of the way. Second, while the internet is talking about the Sox third baseman's legs going up in the air, the umpires insisted that it was not the legs, but the fielder's body that created the obstruction. Third, it did not matter that the runner was inside the foul line when he tripped over the fielder (one ump said he was right on the chalk, the video suggests he was inside the line), a point the Red Sox players kept repeating in interviews; a runner can "make his own baseline" by picking the most direct path to the next base.

As expected, some players (Sox starter Jake Peavy was one) complained about the game ending on the umpire's call and the umpire "deciding" the game, a reflection of what Mitch Berman has called "temporal variance" in enforcement of sports rules. That argument seems especially incoherent in this context. After all, the Cardinals could just as easily argue that the play was important precisely because the Cardinals had a chance to score the game-winning run and the Sox were preventing him from doing so.

Anyway, obstruction now will be the word of the rest of this Series.