The Trophy Finally Stays Put
Kathy slattery's Sports Information Office in the old gymnasium often looks a mess—there are pencils, pennants, media guides, and sheaves of stat sheets lying around. But space had been cleared away in the center of Slattery's anteroom on this November morn, and a large wooden box sat heavily in the clearing. "Try to lift it," Slattery said. We forewent the attempt. "What's in it?" we asked.
"The Ivy League Trophy."
Yes, of course it would be here today. Dartmouth was to play Princeton, and the prevailing 11 would get to keep the hardware for the next 12 months. The sterling silver tub had, most recently, been vacationing in Ithaca for six months, since a tie for the title—something of a tradition atop the Ancient Eight—had mandated that Cornell and Dartmouth share the dusting for half of the last year. This trophy, which was once such a fixture in Alumni Gym, hadn't been able to let its belly out and relax in Hanover for a fall annum since 1978. It hadn't spent 12 consecutive months in Princeton since the Tigers won the league 26 years ago.
There, in Slattery's office, sat the big box. If we might anthropomorphize, it seemed to us that the box wanted to stay right where it was. It didn't seem to want to go south with the Tigers, not at all. k Buddyand the boys see what they could do about that. Buddy is Teevens 79, of course, a fellow who knows a thing or two about how to win an Ivy League title outright. Back in the aforementioned '78 campaign, he was the quarterback. And now, in '91, he was the coach, and he had brought the Green to 6-2-1, 5-0-1 amongst the Ivies. So far.
Princeton kicked off under a grey gridiron sky and before a genial crowd of perhaps 12,000 green-sweatered Dartmouths and straw-boatered Princetons. On the first play Al Rosier '91 gained a lot of yards, and on the second he gained several more and on the third he added another handful, and the Tigers' worst nightmare was being realized. Job One for the Jersey boys was to wrap up Rosier, Dartmouth's best-ever rusher. Job Two would then present itself—dealing with the smooth-throwing Jay Fiedler '94 and his stylish receiver Mike Bobo '92. But first, there was Job One to do. Rosier had gained a best-ever-for-the-Green 229 yards the previous Saturday in the rout of Brown, and such a thing must not happen again if Princeton were to win.
That first drive ended in a field goal by the ure-footed Dennis Durkin '93. Rosier had asserted himself mightily and, for intents and purposes, the game was over at 3-0. Princeton played skittishly the rest of the day. Consider: Rosier, to soaring Orange hopes, limped off the field at one point and sat out several plays. Dartmouth, undaunted, moved within the Princeton five. Rosier returned to the lineup to loud hurrahs. Everyone in the place knew that Rosier would be the decoy on his first playback. But Princeton, having already been rent by the man for triple-figure yardage, couldn't be too sure of that. Rosier went left, five Tigers went with him, Fiedler went right, the ball went with him, and the score went up by six. If there were assists in football, Rosier would have been given one. On the afternoon, he gained 190 of the team's 304 yards (Princeton ran for 69) and brought this season's total to 1,432 (best in 110 Dartmouth campaigns) and his career total to 2,252, a number that won't be surpassed for a goodly while, we'd wager.
The final score, as you know, was 31-13.
There are hazards to success, there are always hazards to success. The chief problem with the Green's winning ways of late is that we must now say goodbye not only to the magnificent Rosier, the fine Bobo, and their talented class of' 92 colleagues, but to Buddy, too. Tulane, a Division I-A team with a Division Z record, sang him a siren's song and lured him to Creole country. We wish him well, of course. Whether Buddy can recruit scholars—that's what Tulane's faculty demands—who can beat Florida State and LSU and those other schools (schools?) that Tulane unwisely chooses to challenge... well. ..we wish him well. "I'm a can-do guy," Buddy said at his Nawlins press conference, as he bravely accepted the Green Wave reins. Buddy, we know you are, and thanks for the memories.
The last time the Big Green could celebrate a full year of Trophy keeping was in 1978.
Quarterback Fiedler and galloping back Rosier clinched after the game.
