Dong's Top Ten

If you've been paying attention to ESPN recently, you know that it's trade season. The NBA trade deadline just passed while the NHL's is today, and big name stars like Carmelo Anthony have changed teams. All of the deadline talk got me thinking -- what if trades were allowed in collegiate sports? College teams are just like professional teams in many ways. Some are in the rebuilding phase and some are just a player away from winning a title. So what if teams could trade players to one another? Or even better, what if teams could trade away players for a couple of new recruits?

Of course this would never happen in the real world. But if we were to go along with my hypothetical idea, here are the top 10 players from other Ivy League schools whom Dartmouth teams should trade for.

1. Brian O'Neill, men's hockey (junior, Yale University) The Big Green men's hockey team has been putting up consistent offensive numbers all season, but the addition of O'Neill could take the offense to a whole new level. He has 16 goals, 19 assists and a plus-18 rating, all of which rank in the top five in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference.

2. Katherine Sheeleigh, women's soccer (senior, Harvard University) The Big Green definitely could have used Sheeleigh's help last season. She led the League in shots with 77, recording 31 more than the next closest player. She also led the conference in goals and points with nine and 25, respectively.

3. Trey Peacock, football (senior, Princeton University) Although the Big Green had a good offensive season (it was third in the League in scoring offense), Peacock would have instantly improved the team's receiving corps. Peacock led the League with 72 receptions and 955 yards last season. In comparison, Tim McManus 11 Dartmouth's leading receiver had 38 catches for 528 yards.

4. Brogan Berry, women's basketball (junior, Harvard) Among all of its weaknesses, Dartmouth has been particularly hurt by its play at the point guard position this season. The Big Green ranks last in the League in total assists and assists per game. Point guard Brogan Berry averages 14 points and 4.76 assists per game, and would change the complexion of the Dartmouth squad.

5. Amanda Mazzotta, women's hockey (junior, Cornell University) Dartmouth goaltender Lindsay Holdcroft 14 has held her own since taking over the full-time starting job halfway through the season, but Cornell goalie Mazzotta has posted unworldly numbers this season. She leads the league with 0.91 goals allowed per game and a lofty save percentage of .953.

6. Pat Lowery, baseball (junior, Columbia University)- Coming off its League-championship season, the Big Green still has some holes to fill in its pitching staff. Last season, Dartmouth combined for a 6.15 ERA and .321 batting average against. Lowery, a starting pitcher, could be Dartmouth's fix. He went 5-3 in 10 starts, with a 3.46 ERA and .224 opponents' batting average.

7. Antoine Hoppenot, men's soccer (junior, Princeton) Hoppenot led the League last season in points and goals with 23 and nine, respectively. Dartmouth's magical run through the NCAA tournament could have ended very differently if the Big Green had a dynamic scoring threat like Hoppenot to add to its already dangerous offense.

8. Kathleen Sharkey, field hockey (junior, Princeton) The Big Green has several great players, such as midfielder Kelly Hood 12, but the team could use some help from Sharkey. Her contributions last season were simply staggering. She led the League in points with 74 (Hood was in second with 39), and in goals with 33 (Hood was second with 18). Imagine those two players on the same team. Unstoppable.

9. Greg Mangano, men's basketball (junior, Yale) - If the Big Green basketball team wants to break its decades-long title drought, it needs a dominant forward like Mangano. He leads the League in points and rebounds per game, averaging almost a double-double with 16.3 points and 9.9 rebounds. I would venture to say that Dartmouth would be doing better than its current 1-11 record if it had Mangano on the team.

10. The Bulldogs, nickname (Yale) I love Big Green sports, but I just cannot take a color as a serious nickname. There is no threat behind names like the Big Red and the Crimson. The League generally has some pretty pathetic nicknames. Can you get anything more unimaginative than names like the Lions, Tigers and Bears? So the Bulldogs win by default. As much as people love fraternity dogs at Dartmouth, can you imagine if our mascot was an actual bulldog with the name "Handsome Dan?"