Just a couple hours outside of Hanover, it's an entirely different world the sun is shining, flowers are blooming and it's almost 70 degrees. Despite my Easter dress and visions of Cadbury creme eggs dancing in my head, however, any given Sunday means preparation for Any Given Monday, and there's work to be done.
Today is a celebration of Dartmouth sports what they are and what, thankfully, they are not.
I raise a Peep to the fact that Big Green athletes are truly students. They're also part of the social life here and often involved in various other campus activities. Dartmouth's academic rigor demands that athletes are balanced, which leads to a relatively small emphasis on the athletic program. I'd love to see more fans and more wins across the board, but there are undeniable positives to staying small. The Big Green will never be the next University of Kansas, used by the next Josh Selby to kill time for a year before going pro.
But I raise another Peep to the fact that however inconsistent they are our programs are competitive and our players do sometimes get the chance to play after college. Take the men's hockey players who recently signed professional contracts, a host of internationally renowned skiers, Olympic biathlete Laura Spector '10 or Dan Keat '10, who was drafted by the Los Angeles Galaxy last winter.
I raise a puffy marshmallow chick in the air for the hope fostered at Dartmouth, for the athletes who will brave unknown territory to achieve their dreams. Take Shane Peterlin '11, a long snapper who will soon find out whether or not his road leads to the NFL. Dartmouth football last sent students to the big time in 1998 and, while on the rise, the team has been anything but glorious during Peterlin's tenure. Despite all this, the senior was ranked second out of 23 long snappers at a February elite skills camp there are no snappers at the NFL scouting combine suggesting his future is bright.
Another Peep for the men's and women's rugby squads, who prove over and over again that "club" teams can dominate competition at the national level and have alumni boosters that rival those of any varsity sport. With a tailgate planned for the men's match next weekend, rugby draws a consistent crowd of fans whose excitement wins out over their befuddlement over the game's obscure terminology.
A Peep for the Dartmouth women's tennis team, which finished its season this weekend tied for first place in the Ivy League. Thanks to incredible depth on the roster, the women edged out Harvard University and still have a shot at an at-large bid to the upcoming NCAA tournament.
I'm running out of Peeps, but the women's lacrosse team certainly merits the sugar rush. The Big Green is ranked 14th in the country and has only picked up one conference loss this season. Since coming here, I've always had this vague sense that Dartmouth's preppy culture should foster great lacrosse, and the women's team delivers results each year. While it has yet to win a national championship, it made the final game in 2006 and can claim 11 trips to the NCAA tournament since the team's founding in 1973.
Finally, one last sweet morsel goes to Dartmouth for running the world of sports. After a stint as the head of marketing for the Girl Scouts, Laurel Richie '81 has just been named the president of the WNBA. We're taking over. She doesn't seem to be an athlete per se, but with a recent designation as one of the top 25 most influential black women in business by the Network Journal, she's definitely one of the Big Green's coolest alumni right now.
Dartmouth sports are highly competitive and beloved by students and alumni alike. The great things coming from Big Green athletics are not only happening in Hanover, either.
As I scrape the bottom of my Easter basket, I'm personally grateful for the vibrant athletic programs here, which serve as the perfect counterpoint to a busy academic schedule. Furthermore, it's rare to weave sports into a rich campus culture like Dartmouth does and I'm happy to see such balance a trait that was notably missing from my sugar-laden diet today.
