Jeff Anbinder writes:
>>An even further digression, just random trivia: the league was originally
>only four teams. Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and Cornell formed the "League
>of IV" (read it as a Roman numeral), thereafter referred to casually as the
>I-V, or Ivy, League.
>
>These four teams were later joined by Brown, Dartmouth, University of
>Pennsylvania, Columbia, Army, and Navy, to form a league of ten. I believe
>the military academies left the league in the late 1940s, shortly before
>league play was formalized, but I'm not positive.
To which Luiz Valente responds:
>I believe this is incorrect. The Ivy League originated from the Pentagonal
>Agreement between Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton and Yale. Columbia,
>Cornell and Pennsylvania were added later.
>Two of Brown's Ivy League championships in hockey are actually Pentagonal
>championships (before the official formation of the Ivy League).
>As far as I know the I-V story presented above is apocryphal.
>Geoff, we need your expertise!
My name is Geoff, and I'm here to help :-). I reprint the following from
the Ivy League Directory and Record Book:
"The designation 'Ivy League' first appeared at the typewriter of Caswell
Adams of the New York Tribune in 1937. The tag, premature of any formal
agreement, was immediately adopted by the press as a foreshadowing of
an eastern football league which, at the time, was big news to everyone
except the athletic directors involved.
"For years, the Ivy members had already been allied in leagues in
basketball, ice hockey, baseball and swimming. Further common competition
was found in the Heptagonal Games Association, which includes Army and
Navy, in the sports of basketball, track and field, and swimming. Through
these other scheduling arrangements, the Ivy athletic directors were used
to dealing with each other in matters of administration or the exchange
of calculated confidences.
"As a result of these dealings, and through extensive presidential
meetings and discussions, the first 'Ivy Group Agreement' - addressing
only football - was signed in 1945. While the 1945 statement did not
address any scheduling issues, it did affirm the observance at the the
eight institutions of common practices in academic standars, eligibiilty
requirements, and the administration of financial aid. These tenents are
what still bind the Ivies together today and all continue to be based
on the desire to secure competition with others having like philosophies..."
"In February 1954, what is more commonly accepted as the founding date for
the Ivy League, the Ivy League Agreement was reissued to extend its
philosophical jurisdiction to all sports and to foster, insofar as possible,
intra-group competition. In layman's terms, that meant a complete round-
robin schedule in football, beginning with the 1956 season. Such an
agreement - assuring seven spots on an eight to ten game schedule to Ivy
opponents - required numberous concessions from each institution and marked
a high point in intercollegiate cooperation."
etc., etc. (all typos mine; responsibiilty for heinous overuse of passive
voice and various other stylistic no-no's falling to author William McCarter,
Director of Athletics at Dartmouth College from 1937-54).
The "Ivy League" appellation had nothing to do with four schools ('IV' in
Roman numerals). It was an off-hand way to characterize the eight schools
whose ancient walls are covered with ... Ivy. As Luiz noted, the hockey
playing schools previously competed in the Quadrangular League (1933-41;
Dartmouth, Harvard, Yale & Princeton), the Pentagonal League (1940-47;
add Army, delete Army, replace with Brown in 1948) and, finally, the Ivy
League in 1955. Basketball, on the other hand, was a 5-6 team circuit
until 1933 and went to a full 8 in 1953. Prior to formal league play,
football took place between all of the schools beginning in 1919.
Geoff Howell
Drop the Puck Magazine
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