Boston
With only his eyes visible beneath a spandex head cover, but wearing a T-shirt with the sleeves cut off, the Dartmouth College tight end seemed to send conflicting messages about the conditions, which were clear and 26 degrees at kickoff.
“This feels like home,” said Penza, an Ohio native who recalled several times playing in the snow during his high school career.
Elsewhere in the Big Green end of the field, quarterback and receiver Jared Gerbino practiced throwing and catching. During a pause, the native of the Rochester, N.Y., area remembered once competing in single-digit temperatures back home.
“This is just fine,” Gerbino said.
Robin Harris, the Ivy League’s executive director, apparently felt otherwise. She made a pregame tour of the press box while clutching a pair of hard-warmer packets.
Also less than toasty were former Dartmouth linemen Pat Lahey, Ryan O’Neill and Rob Bathe, who were seated in the front row of the Green Monster seats behind the Brown bench. A few catcalls were lobbed the Bears’ way.
The trio, now in their late 20s, were squiring female companions and didn’t need much convincing to head indoors. However, Lahey, a Massachusetts native who’s now working in the reinsurance field in Boston, looked back with slight disbelief as they departed during the second quarter.
“It’s crazy how in-demand these seats are for Red Sox games,” he said. “They were sold out for tonight, too, but there’s almost no one out here.”
Can’t imagine why. The temperature at that point had dropped to 22 degrees with a wind chill of 12.
Fenway Park grounds crew members worked energetically on the turfed-over areas near first and third base in the minutes before the game. Some were down on hands and knees, while others slammed tamping weights onto the grass. The tamping continued during timeouts for the NBC Sports Network broadcast.
Dartmouth receiver Drew Estrada, exiting the field and headed toward his team’s locker room through the third-base dugout, deemed the footing acceptable.
“Not too bad,” he said. “It’s not too hard, and making a cut isn’t a problem.”
From higher vantage points in Fenway, a careful observer could see that the grass laid over the infield appeared more brown and washed-out in color. A faded American League Division Series logo remained painted behind home plate, 10 yards behind one end zone.
Plenty of New Hampshire folks were inside Fenway on Friday, but one was literally so. Paul Doran, a 2014 graduate of Londonderry High, is a journalism major at Boston’s Suffolk University and was one of three workers inside the Green Monster, placing and replacing the small metal panels that usually indicate scores, statistics and the pitchers’ uniform numbers.
The latter were replaced by the quarterback’s jersey numbers for Friday, No. 11 for Dartmouth’s Jack Henegan and No. 16 for Brown’s T.J. Linta. It would be a quiet night for the scoreboard crew in comparison to a Boston Red Sox game, when four workers are in a flurry of activity to keep up with all the nationwide score changes.
Doran, who recently finished his first baseball season and was working his first football game at Fenway, said he found his job online when the Red Sox invited applications for various positions. He considered joining the grounds crew, but said he’s glad he wound up in the left field wall.
“It’s an extremely unique experience,” said Doran, who was guarding the entry door with co-worker Aaron Kanzer, a 22-year-old from Cape Cod who designs web sites for his other job. “It’s really weird to see lots of people walk around all over the field. The grounds crew is usually hawkishly protective about that.”
Notes: The Dartmouth College marching band, which has sent out as few as 15 playing members during some Big Green games this season, rounded up more than 30 for Friday’s contest. … Red Sox mascots Wally the Green Monster and his sidekick, Tessie, were in attendance. … Steve Ward, Dartmouth’s football equipment manager and onetime U.S. Marine, was part of a pregame ceremony at midfield honoring military veterans. … Did you know that the game clock operators are assigned by the Ivy League? Yep, and on Friday it was Navy veteran and former on-field official Dennis Devine and Bob Denise, both of Middleborough, Mass. The pair work Ivy, Colonial Athletic Association, Patriot League and Northeast-10 Conference games. Devine said he’s been on that job since 1992, when knee injuries ended his flagging days. … Media members covering Brown ate for free in the press box dining room. Those covering Dartmouth had to pony up $12 to be fed. … Dartmouth defensive coordinator Don Dobes, a south Chicago native and big Chicago Cubs fan, said that even with his game focus, it would be an exciting experience to play at Fenway. Dobes once coached at Temple, which played its home games at Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium. … David Smith’s blocked extra-point attempt in the first half was the first of his career, ending the senior’s streak of 44 consecutive without blocks. The school record is 51, held by former NFL kicker Nick Lowery, who played during the 1970s. … A Red Sox official said the park’s indoor luxury suites were sold out.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.