The sports year is just two weeks old, and yet it is already shaping up to be the best year in recent memory. I can only hope it will slow down, for my sanity as well as to prevent the inevitable aneurysm that comes from being a Boston sports fan. Unfortunately, former Ivy Leaguers are being left out, with no members of the Ancient Eight on the rosters of the NFL's four remaining teams. Dartmouth's best shot ended in the last game of the regular season, when Casey Cramer '04, along with the rest of the Tennessee Titans, blew their chance at the playoffs by losing to the New England Patriots.
I wanted to find an Ivy League angle to this year's NFL playoffs, but it was difficult. However, such football powers as Bloomsburg, Midwestern State (which is in Texas of all places), Weber State and Texas A&M-Kingsville still have players remaining. Fortunately for Dartmouth, they have what those other schools lack: a functioning hockey program. I only mention this because of an incident in late December involving Dartmouth's lone NHL player: Lee Stempniak '05.
Despite both the NHL and college hockey's crackdowns on fighting, former Dartmouth star Stempniak knows fans always enjoy watching players drop the gloves. It all started when Nashville Predators forward Jordin Tootoo ran over Stempniak's teammate on the St. Louis Blues, Jay McKee. After the puck was frozen, a scuffle ensued behind the St. Louis net, with Stempniak and Predators defensman Marek Zidlicky continuing long after anyone else. Zidlicky hails from a small Czech mining city named Most, notable mostly for its smog-filled skies and rampant pollution. To put it short, they breed them tough.
But that did not stop Stempniak from going right at Zidlicky. Stempniak probably hasn't been in too many hockey fights, but evidence shows he is a quick study. He ended the fight by pile-driving Zidlicky into the ice, and showing the folks in Nashville just how tough the Ivy League really is. Though the fight happened late in 2006, Stempniak is my frontrunner for Ivy League hard guy of the year.
Stempniak, despite being only a second-year player, is also the second-leading scorer for Dartmouth all-time in the NHL. He gained that honor earlier this season when he passed Scott Fraser '94, a journeyman whose career spanned 71 games over three seasons and resulted in 16 goals and 15 assists. Stempniak and his 55 points have a long way to go, however, given that Dartmouth's career NHL leader had 427 points over nine seasons. That, of course, belonged to Carey Wilson '83, whose career peaked his rookie season when he recorded the highest point total of his career with 72 points, 14 more than he would ever tally again.
That is enough about Dartmouth sports for now. Between all the controversy over our mascot (or lack thereof) and the North Dakota fiasco, we have been overloaded with what qualifies as big news in the Ivy League sports world. On the topic of mascots however, I have one thing to say. The team makes the mascot, not the other way around. Mascots do not resurrect fledgling athletic programs, nor does the lack of a mascot make teams worse. If Dartmouth had a mascot, it would have to be something students rally behind. Otherwise you end up with fiascoes like the Red Sox's "Wally the Green Monster," who in my mind does not exist. Or the Stanford tree, whose origin has yet to make sense to anyone. Let us be fair: the "Dartmoose" is a bad mascot, and an even worse play on words.
The NFL playoffs provide a perfect example of why mascots are unnecessary. The Indianapolis Colts are named after horses and do not have a mascot. I originally thought the New Orleans Saints did not have a mascot either (probably because designing a mascot would be a little un-P.C.), but they gave into the temptation, and have a Saint Bernard dog named "Gumbo." I hope not to see Gumbo roaming the sidelines next weekend. Chicago has "Staley Da Bear," who replaced earlier, unofficial bear mascots. And last, and certainly least, comes Pat the Patriot, a mascot known less-than-affectionately as "The Flying Elvis" due to his oddly shaped head. At least for the next few weeks, be glad Dartmouth does not have a mascot.
