Wearers of the Green

Ninety-five-year-old Dave Morey '13 came in a wheelchair and pro football player Nick Lowery '78 showed up on crutches. Three-time track All-America Jim Sapienza 'B5 had to practically run in. It was an event nobody wanted to miss The Wearers of the Green affair a night to remember. More than 1,100 alumni from across the country gathered at the Westin Hotel in Boston on April 27 to honor the College's most renowned athletes. It ranks among the three largest alumni functions ever staged outside Hanover.

As Bill King '63, put it "This dinner is a salute to the greatness of Dartmouth and its spirit." King, an All-Ivy League quarterback and All-America lacrosse player, was among 150 past and present athletes, spanning 74 years, attending the dinner. Invitations went out to more than 400 Dartmouth athletes who distinguished themselves nationally and internationally during the past eight decades. The 400 are a combination of national champions, Olympians, All-Americas, and professional athletes.

Although they played different sports in different eras they were all "Wearers of the Green" at one time or another, and they comprised a virtual Who's Who of Dartmouth athletics. A mixture of past and present it was an autograph hound's fantasy.

Recent stars such as Reggie Williams '76, Gail Koziara '82, Pete Broberg '72 and Nick Lowery were all there. And mingling with them were athletic giants of the past such as Gus Broberg '41, George Munroe '43, Mike McGean '49, and Tom Corcoran '54. "Just being in the same room as some of these people sends a chill up my spine," said Lowery, one of the NFL's top place kickers with the Kansas City Chiefs. "This is an opportunity for me to meet the people I've always heard about," said Reggie Williams, an eight-year NFL veteran with the Cincinnati Bengals. Their legacy lives through the hallways and in the locker rooms at Dartmouth. "I've always seen their names in the trophy case; now I'm finally getting to meet some of them face to face," said Koziara, the Ivy League's all-time leading basketball scorer.

It all began in March 1983, when Dave Orr '57, associate secretary of alumni, was having lunch with Walter Yusen '58, president of the Eastern Massachusetts Alumni Association. The two were meeting to discuss the Eastern Massachusetts Alumni Association's annual dinner. The organization was looking to do something "a little different" this year, so Orr suggested a dinner honoring Dartmouth athletes. "I thought it was a great idea," Yusen said. "It sounded really exciting."

The dinner got its name from a chapter in The College on the Hill by Ralph Nading Hill '39. That was the easy part. Building the list of athletes who were either national champions, All- Americas or Olympians took more than a year. The names came every- where from the College archives to the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame. "In some sports like skiing, not all the records are kept in the same place. That's what took so much time. My main concern was to make sure that we weren't going to overlook anybody," Orr said, several weeks after the event. "So far, nobody has come to us and said we missed someone, so I feel we were complete."

The first name on the list was Dave Morey. A halfback on the football team, Morey was a two-time Walter Camp All-American. As a senior, he tied Jim Thorpe's single season record of 17 touchdowns. "I talked to Mr. Morey when he arrived and he said, 'l've been sick all winter and this is better than any medicine,' " Yusen recalled. Morey, hospitalized in Martha's Vineyard Hospital, had his doctor's permission to attend the dinner. A college football coach for more than 50 years at Middlebury, Auburn, Bates, and Lowell Tech, Morey said he would be at the dinner even if "I have to crawl."

The logistics of getting Jim Sapienza to the dinner on time also took some planning by Orr and his staff. Sapienza was with the Dartmouth track team in Philadelphia for the Penn Relays the day of the dinner. "He ran at three o'clock that afternoon and we had to get him on a plane at 5:30," Orr explained. Sapienza arrived at the Westin just in time to sit down for dinner and later speak on Dartmouth and athletics in the 1980s. The next morning Sa- pienza caught an early flight back to Philadelphia and ran again in the afternoon.

The "Wearers of the Green" could be the beginning of a new type of Dartmouth alumni function. "The evening told us that we have quite a potential for more of these," said Michael McGean, secretary of the Alumni. "It really did say to us that we should bring people with common interest together whenever we can." McGean said the possibility for having similar functions for alumni in the fields of the performing arts and academics. "I think athletics was particularly good to us for a model," he said.

One of the most impressive aspects of the "Wearers of the Green" was the response it received from the alumni around the country. "One of the nicest things about the evening was that it not only brought many great athletes together, but there was a great many people who weren't athletes, and they wanted to be there."

There are no plans to have a "Wearers of the Green" dinner held on a regular basis. However, the event did begin a tradition of awarding pins to every Dartmouth athlete who qualifies for the "Wearers of the Green." The 150 "Wearers of the Green" in attendance received their pins that night. The evening, however, was much more than an awards ceremony. It was a tribute to the idea that athletics and academics can thrive in the same arena. "It was great to look across the room and see all those people who had done so much with their lives once they were out of athletics," said McGean, who with his wife Lois '84, won the 1950 world and the 1952 U.S. ice dancing pairs titles. "It sort of backed up the philosophy that you can have it both ways."

The dinner was also a financial success. More than $15,000 was raised for the Eastern Massachusetts Alumni Association's scholarship fund. A $2500 check was presented to Olympic alpine skier Tiger Shaw '85, to turn over to the U.S. ski team.

The "Wearers of the Green" was an opportunity to rehash some of the great stories of the past and catch up to date with what's happening in people's lives today. Bob Blackman never attended Dartmouth, but he still has plenty of fond memories during his 16 years as football coach. After posting a 104-37-3 record, Blackman went on to coach at Illinois and Cornell. Part of him, however, never left Dartmouth. "There's no comparison between Dartmouth and the other schools," said Blackman, now enjoying his retirement in Hilton Head Island, S.C. "The Dartmouth spirit is difficult to describe, it's just there. I can remember getting back from games at two in the morning and bells at Baker Library would be ringing and the kids would be out there to meet us as we got off the bus."

Nick Lowery knows all about the Dartmouth spirit he's still very much a part of it. Lowery has raised $30,000 in recent years for the Dartmouth scholarship fund with his "Kick with Nick" program. "At Dartmouth, there's a sense of community you don't have at other schools," Lowery said. "There's a uniqueness. I relate it to something similar to the Olympic spirit." Lowery is a prime example of the Dartmouth athlete who has been successful on and off the field. He's worked for several U.S. congressmen in Washington, D.C. the past six offseasons. His future plans include law school. "Anyone that's ever gone to Dartmouth knows what it's like to perform under pressure," Lowery said. "Dartmouth prepares you for the real world; the time when you have to stand on your own two feet."

Lowery's feet were a concern as he hobbled into the Westin Hotel on crutches the day of the "Wearers of the Green" dinner. "It's not my kicking foot. During the last three years, I've developed bone spurs so I finally decided to have surgery. I kicked a 58- yard field goal last season, and I hope I'm going to be able to kick even further now."

The "Wearers of the Green" dinner was spiked with humor. The Rev. James W. Crawford '58, pastor of the Old South Church in Boston, set the tone for the evening with lines such as "Oh Lord, let us win a few hockey games."

The dinner featured six speakers, each representing a different decade in Dartmouth athletics. The audience relived with Paul Guibord '36 the days when hockey goalies didn't wear face masks, basketball players were seldom taller than 6' 2", and it cost .only 25 cents to get into the Nugget. "The hockey team had to wait for it to get cold enough each winter to make ice on the dirt floor in Davis Rink," Guibord recalled. "By then it was so cold, the puck felt as hard as a rock."

Guibord had first-hand experience in hockey he was a three-time All- American at Dartmouth. The Dartmouth basketball team also had its share of success in the 30s, but as Guibord remembers it, "their only experience at dunking was with a doughnut."

George B. Munroe played on some of Dartmouth's most successful basketball teams. He touched on how college athletics have changed in the past 40 years and Dartmouth faces more athletic challenges than ever before. "It's hard today for Dartmouth teams to win national championships," said Munroe, who played professionally for the Boston Celtics. "There are more and more people playing college sports because of the lure of pro leagues. The Ivies, however, will continue to produce individual athletes who are great champions."

A sport Dartmouth will continue to produce great champions in is skiing. Tom Corcoran, a two-time All-America and Olympian reminded the audience of Dartmouth's success in skiing. The College has sent 34 skiers to the past 14 Winter Olympic games, including seven this year to Sarajevo. "Dartmouth and skiing have been synonymous for three-quarters of a century," Corcoran told his audience. "Dartmouth has always acted as a magnet to talented young skiers."

Bill King '63 spoke about the College's rich football tradition. And he should know he has been part of it. He is one of the College's 48 All-America selections since 1896. "Dartmouth has names that evoke images in the mind," he said. "Statistics fall by the wayside when you think of some of the great people that have played here."

Judy Geer '75 traced the history of women's athletics at Dartmouth. A two-time Olympian in rowing, Geer has seen women's athletics experience tremendous growth since her early days in Hanover. "There have been a lot of growing pains in women's athletics," she said.

Her experience at Dartmouth, gave Geer the desire to continue with her rowing career after graduating. "When I graduated in 1975, I realized I had no desire to stop athletics," said Geer, who is training for her third Olympics this summer. Despite her rigorous training schedule, Geer has been able to combine rowing with graduate school. "I had to make a choice between medical school and engineering school," she said. "I ended up at Thayer because it's closer to the boat house."

There was also a serious side to the "Wearers of the Green." And Guibord, the All-American hockey player in the 19305, seemed to sum up the evening best of all. "Things have changed a lot at Dartmouth, yet in those 50 years the College has not changed in its principles. . . . Hanover's beautiful setting has nurtured Dartmouth's spirit. You usually go to college for four years; at Dartmouth you go for life."

A former end on the Big Green eleven, President David McLaughlin '54, awards thefirst Wearers of the Green pin to Dave Morey '13, former star halfback.

Baseball coach Jeff Tesreau, 1919-46

Joe Henley '79, All-America golfer

Aualey Brindley '44, All-America

Ed White '38, All-America swimmer

Gail Koziara '82, All-America shotput

Pam Bamholzer '81, Alison Hibbert '81, Muffy Rogers, Trinity exchange student,All-America tennis

Coach Tom Dent, lacrosse 1927-60, soccer 1924-60

Swede Oberlander '26, All-America,1925 National Championship Team,College Football Hall of Fame

Hockey coach Eddie Jeremiah '30, 1937-42, 45-67, All-America, Hall of Fame,Olympic head coach, professional

Paul Mott '80, All-America, professionalsoccer star

Walter Malmquist '78, Olympian, participated

in both the '76 and '80 Winter GamesOlympic skiers Brooks Dodge '51, Tom Corcoran '54, and Ralph Miller '55

Sailing

J. T. Stewart '29; 1927 National TeamChampionship, National Champion

Linda Deßenzo '82, Gail Koziara '82, All-America, Amy Nelson '82, Ann Deacon '83,and Ann Donovan '80