Big Green Teams
Phenomenal Games and Championship Stride of Tearns Have Featured Many Sports This Winter
THIS HAS BEEN a month taken from the book of the masters. Never a dull moment on the sports pages but there have been some pretty hectic ones. Two of the Big Green teams currently lead their respective packs, and the final spurts toward championship honors promise to be terrific and slightly hard on the nerves of the Indian followers.
In addition to the fast paces being set by the basketball five and the hockey sextet, the swimming team also came through with its first victory over Harvard in eleven tries, so all in all, with some disappointments here and there, no one has any objections to the trend of affairs locally for the Big Green.
Somehow the Dartmouth ski team has managed to fall from its lofty position of yesteryear as evidenced by the University of New Hampshire's present-day supremacy in the winter sports field, but even this state of collapse on the part of a traditionally powerful Dartmouth unit hasn't been able to deaden the enjoyment that Hanoverites have experienced through the stickmen, the courtmen, and the swimmers.
It has perhaps been a long time since Dartmouth has had two better teams in the same season than the basketball and hockey squads of this campaign.
Both are in leagues where the most minute slip may mean complete disaster, but both have so far been capable of meeting the opposition and withstanding the pressure that always goes with front-rank honors.
There has likewise been no disposition on the part of the fans to compare the two teams in their respective sports, since each rates the accolade of greatness.
The basketballers have found that the League this winter is as well balanced as it has ever been.
Victories over Pennsylvania, Cornell, Princeton, and Harvard at home and a defeat by Harvard and a win over Yale and Princeton on the road relates the cold statistical facts of the race to date. Behind the statistics lie the not-so-cold drama of the encounters, especially against Princeton both here in Hanover and at Princeton.
It was fairly well conceded before the schedule opened that one of Dartmouth's stiffest tests before a fifth consecutive league title could be won would be given by the Tigers. When the Indians made the misstep of losing to the Crimson on the first league appearance, the Tigers seemed even more formidable than ever as potential titleholders. It was, therefore, "make" or "break" in the two matches with the Princetonians, and both tilts proved to be hair-raisers.
At Princeton the score at the end of the regulation 40 minutes was tied at 48 all. Dartmouth had the stuff, the poise, and the confidence to emerge from the overtime the winner, 54-50.
Coach Ossie Cowles might be excused if he felt at the time that this home-and-home series, at least, had already supplied enough excitement for one campaign. Little did he realize what was in store a week later when Princeton came to Alumni Gymnasium for the last and return conflict.
Ten and 12 points ahead of Dartmouth almost from the first minutes of the game, the Tigers seemed to be playing the Indians right off the floor, and certainly right out of any title hopes. Four minutes and 30 seconds remained on the clock and still Dartmouth could not overcome the half dozen points the Tigers held as their lead. Things looked hopeless and no fan could be blamed who was about ready to concede victory to Princeton.
Then followed one of the most amazing comebacks this writer has ever seen. While Princeton was held to three points in the last four minutes, Dartmouth scored 15 points and won the encounter, 57-55. Action and scoring were so fast and furious that it was almost impossible to keep track of the happenings. Center Jim Olsen, whose 25 points made him high scorer of the game,. George Munroe, who garnered 8 of his 14 points in the wild finish, and guards Stub Pearson and Bill Parmer each contributed to the almost unprecedented scoring spree that made the win possible. Parmer was the hero who sank the tying basket making the 55-55 score, and Olsen, patiently waiting under the basket while Parmer dribbled until five seconds remained on the clock before passing to Munroe, who whipped the ball to Olsen, was the hero-of-heroes with the winning bucket.
In print the blow-by-blow description written in its full bloom, would unquestionably sound corny to the reader. Certainly the mad yelling and complete bedlam that broke out in the grandstands during the last ten minutes of the game and for ten minutes after the final whistle, would sound like nothing at all to the reader. It was just downright necessary to be present to feel the tenseness, the thrill and the exhaustion that followed to visualize the whole picture of the tilt. In any event it belongs with other games, and few others at that, as one of the really memorable basketball games of Alumni Gymnasium history.
Whether Dartmouth can continue to weather the storms ahead is something else. A game with Cornell at Ithaca, two games with Columbia, a game with Penn at Philadelphia and a home game with Yale are the hurdles left in the path of the Indians. No league team is ever easy on its home floor and the rate that Cornell is going and Princeton is bound to go, leaves no further room for upsets or defeats of any kind. We, however, feel that Munroe, Olsen, Pearson, Skaug, Myers, Parmer, and company have already displayed the qualities of champions, and that Dartmouth should be the first entrant in the E. I. L. to take five titles in five years. And no matter how you ponder on this accomplishment, it is almost miraculous in the way of athletic achievements. Even if the unforeseen does happen, Coach Osborne Cowles is certainly to be congratulated for the sixth winter in a row for the accomplishments of his pupils.
On the hockey side of the ledger, Dartmouth has yet to meet defeat in the newly formed Pentagonal League. In fact the Big Green six has been defeated only twice by anybody, once by Colorado College and once by Illinois, both teams having absorbed lickings from the Indians in return bouts.
Most of the answer to the Green's bid for a league title and national championship honors as well—if there is any such designation for hockey sixes—rests on the shoulders of the sophomore line of Dick Rondeau, Jack Riley and Bill Harrison. These boys were almost famous as members of the freshman six last winter. Great things were predicted of them, and they have even exceeded expectations.
This trio in its first year on the Varsity has already stamped itself as the best forward line Dartmouth has ever had in hockey. We know that this takes in a lot of former greats and that the statement may not go unchallenged, but if anyone wishes to pick up sticks and start an argument, we've plenty of facts and figures to prove our point. We won't beg off, either, on the basis of the fact that Rondeau, Riley and Harrison are only sophomores and would be forced to compare with lines that played together for three years. We say best—just as they are, and have been, not as they might have been had they been Dartmouth undergraduates in peace-time.
Rondeau, Riley and Harrison aren't even going to enjoy the privilege of one complete season together. For as we write this we are aware of the fact that Riley must bow out of hockey after Saturday night's game with Harvard in order to prepare himself for admission into the U. S. Naval Air Force in May.
It is a great shame that the trio will not be able to amass the record that three years would without doubt bring them. However, it is a true test of their unusual abilities that in three-quarters of one season they have left a stamp on Dartmouth varsity hockey that will last through the years. Without even finishing a whole season they have set new scoring records for the League, have drawn the applause of hockey fans and experts wherever they have appeared and have earned a niche all by themselves in the minds of 1942 hockey fans.
So far Dartmouth has defeated Harvard, Yale (2) and Princeton in its effort to win the Pentagonal title. If the Big Green can defeat either Harvard or Princeton, the pennant will be delivered in the next mail. Army, the new addition to the oldtime Quad group, is the League's weakest sister by four or five goals a game. The Army just wasn't ready to step up into a tough league with the Big Four of eastern intercollegiate
hockey circles, and the Cadets have suffered accordingly. How badly the loss of Riley will affect the team's ability is not easy to guess. Defenseman Johnny Krol was lost at the end of the first semester and his departure created a slump that was particularly noticeable. With another regular and another star absent, the future will not be a bed of roses for the sextet. Nevertheless, there still remains Rondeau, who has performed the "hat trick" so many times that it has lost its meaning, and Harrison to carry on to the end.
Somehow we can't help thinking, with the title so near at hand, that Eddie Jeremiah and his keep-fighting lads won't have the answer to the difficulties that the war and probation have brought forward.
How good the team was before it was hit in the midsection is best described as follows: D. 4-B. U. 3; D. 5-H. 3; D. 7-N. H. 1; D. 6-Y. 4; D. 7-B. C. 2; D. 8-B. U. 3; D. 8-P. 3; D. 6-Y. 3. In league tilts Rondeau has had 12 goals and 7 assists for a total of 19 points; Harrison has had 3 goals, and 9 assists for a total of 12 points; Riley has had 5 goals, 7 assists, and a total of 12 points. One couldn't ask for much better balance than this, nor any better scoring in four games.
As for the swimmers, a college named Yale has the corner on the championship honors, but as we tried to intimate last month a college named Dartmouth would be very pleased indeed to settle for a victory in swimming over a place called Harvard, and was it a thriller?
Trailing 36-32 going into the last event, the 400-yard free style relay, the Indians won the meet, 39-36, for a sports victory that warmed the heart of every athletic fan in Hanover. For this was the great goal, the one dream, the white hope of Dartmouth swimming for many years, and when the last man of the relay touched pay dirt, the swimmers went almost hysterical with their post-meet celebration. The victory they had worked for, for months and, even years insofar as the seniors were concerned, was finally theirs and all the grief and heartaches connected with intercollegiate athletics is always fully repaid when a gang of kids feel the happiness out of a triumph as did the natators and their coach Karl Michael.
First places for Dartmouth were won by the medley relay quarter (Captain Jim O'Mara, Bill Mussey, Larry Noble); Johnny Storrs in the 220; Bob Carney in the dive; O'Mara in the backstroke; and by the freestyle relay (Roger Feldman, Noble, Fred Worthen, and Storrs) which also set a new College record of 3.33.9 when the chips were down in the all-important last event.
DARTMOUTH'S STELLAR SOPHOMORE FORWARD LINE Left to right, Bill Harrison, Walpole, Mass.; Dick Rondeau, Providence, R. and JackRiley, Medford, Mass. They supply the scoring punch that is a treat to watch. Riley's en-listment in Naval Aviation last month breaks up Dartmouth best all-time line.
BASKETBALL CAPTAIN STUB PEARSON AND COACH COWLES
CAPTAIN TED LAPRES TALKS HOCKEY STRATEGY WITH COACH EDDIE JEREMIAH '30. TED IS A SENIOR, AND COMES FROM MARGATE CITY, NEW JERSEY. HIS GOAL-TENDING HAS BEEN NO SMALL FACTOR IN HOCKEY SUCCESS THIS WINTER
HERE'S THE SQUAD THAT IS PLAYING CHAMPIONSHIP HOCKEY THIS WINTER Win, Lose or Draw, These Members of the Varsity Hockey Squad Will Give a Good Account of Themselves. They are, left to right, back row, John L. Brooks '42, Minneapolis,Minn., William C. S. Remsen '43, Garden City, N. Y., Harold C. Cannon '44, Floral Park,N. Y., Harry G. Gerber '43, Minneapolis, Minn., Robert G. Pelren '43, Concord, N. H.,Edward W. Roewer '44, Cambridge, Mass., Stanton B. Priddy '43, Brookline, Mass., JohnS. Krol '44, Waltham, Mass.; middle row, David Pierson '44, Wayzata, Minn.; Ralph H.Dushame '43, Methuen, Mass., Charles C. Coffin Jr. '43, Nashua, N. H. (Assistant Manager), Edward Jeremiah '30 (Coach), Addison L. Winship '42, Melrose, Mass. (Manager),Robert E. Mulhern '44, Jamaica Plain, Mass., John W. O'Connor '43, Framingham,Mass.; front row, Theodore E. Lapres Jr. '42, Margate City, N. J. (Captain), William Harrison '44, Walpole, Mass., Richard E. Rondeau '44, Providence, R. I., John P. Riley Jr.'44, Medford, Mass., James McF. Hays '44, Cape Elizabeth, Me.
