Eclectic Notebook

The 44-member NCAA Council--which includes Harvard Athletic Director Jack Reardon--has unanimously endorsed a proposal that calls for year-round random drug testing for all collegiate athletes. Meeting last week in Indianapolis, the legislation-initiating board fully endorsed the broad-based powers of the proposal, which would allow NCAA officials to test any or all of the teams at a campus at any time without prior notice.

The Council will sponsor the initiative at the annual NCAA convention January in Dallas. The Boston Globe reported earlier this week that Boston College Athletic Director Al Shields--also a member of the council--expects the drug testing proposal to be passed and put into effect next year in Division I-A football.

Two other initiatives approved by the Council and to be voted on at the January meeting include shortening the basketball season and mandatory disclosure of annual graduation rates.

Council members felt that the basketball season could be made into one semester by prohibiting official team practices before November 15. Currently, team practices are not allowed before October 15, but most team captains hold "optional/informal" practice sessions in which all the team members participate.

Also under consideration was the prohibition of spring football in an effort to reduce the amount of time serious athletes must spend on the playing fields.

Mimicking a Cowboy: Looking for a good way to lose some money this weekend? Try betting on the Princeton field hockey team, which brings a 2-2 Ivy League record into tomorrow's game with Harvard at 11 a.m. at Soldiers Field.

Why are the Tigers such big underdogs?

One quick look at the Crimson is enough to understand. Led by Ivy League Player of the Week Char Joslin, Harvard, which has won seven of its last eight games, kept its Ivy record unblemished last weekend with a overtime win over Dartmouth. One of Harvard's four league victories was a 2-1 overtime win over nationally-ranked Penn.

Princeton lost to those same Quakers by a 3-0 score earlier this month, when it was outshot by Penn, 44-5. The Quakers launched 33 first-half shots against Tiger goalie Liane Kersey. But Kersey has notched two shutouts in Ivy action this year, so Princeton can't be considered as big an underdog as, say, the Dallas Cowboys.

Does Anyone Know What Time It Is?:Ten members of the Harvard men's tennis team will be competing in the Rolex Region One Individual Competition in Princeton, N.J., which begins Wednesday.

The Crimson, which captured the ITCA Region One team competition with a 5-4 upset of West Virginia in the finals two weeks ago, qualified six players for the main draw--Michael Zimmerman, Mike Shyjan, Derek Brown, Albert Chang, Mark Leschly and Jon Cardi.

John Tolmie, Roger Berry, Richard Ellman and Ravi Kumar will each have to win two matches in Wednesday's qualifying rounds to make the main draw of 64.

Quote of the Week: "I have a policy not to say anything about the officials. It's a damn good thing I'm keeping that policy after today's game."--Dartmouth football Coach Buddy Teevens after watching several obviously-questionable calls go against his squad in a 6-5 loss to the Crimson last Saturday.

Runnerup: "That was one of the single most bizarre calls I've ever seen. He called offensive clamping, which has never been called in the history of water polo. It's a defensive call. As far as I'm concerned, we won this game in regulation."--Harvard water polo Coach Chris Hafferty after another highly-questionable call helped Brown tie last Sunday's game against the Crimson and send it into overtime. The Bruins eventually won, 8-7.