By Travis Normand
In 1970, Dartmouth was able to go undefeated and win the Ivy League Championship (and apparently the Lambert Trophy as well).
On June 28th 2006, one of the trophies from that team sold on eBay.com for $230.50! Now, from what I can tell this is not "The" team trophy from 1970. It is (according to my best guess) a replica of the actual team trophy. Just as every member of a championship team usually receives a championship ring, it is not uncommon for some teams to give out smaller replicas of the actual team trophy (although they are still pretty rare).
(**Important Note - The Ivy League Football Championship Trophy is a "Static/Traveling" trophy, and from my understanding it travels from champion to champion each year, and never takes on a new shape, form, or design. So in this case, when I say "replica" trophy, I mean that this trophy is a creation by Dartmouth to commemorate their 1970 Championship season. Whether they made one main trophy, and a replica for each player is unknown to me. There are many possible scenarios, as this trophy could also be one of a kind, made by the player who owned it. This is very common among teams that are from a conference who have a "static" trophy, as they want each championship to have it's own unique trophy from that year, showing/representing all of the season's accolades on it.)
This Dartmouth trophy apparently belonged to Alex Turner (Halfback), as you can plainly see from the plate on the front of the trophy. I don't know exactly how this ended up on eBay (but I have a pretty good idea, having followed trophies for as long as I have), but I do know that it was not Alex Turner who was selling the trophy.
In 1970, Dartmouth was able to go undefeated and win the Ivy League Championship (and apparently the Lambert Trophy as well).
On June 28th 2006, one of the trophies from that team sold on eBay.com for $230.50! Now, from what I can tell this is not "The" team trophy from 1970. It is (according to my best guess) a replica of the actual team trophy. Just as every member of a championship team usually receives a championship ring, it is not uncommon for some teams to give out smaller replicas of the actual team trophy (although they are still pretty rare).
(**Important Note - The Ivy League Football Championship Trophy is a "Static/Traveling" trophy, and from my understanding it travels from champion to champion each year, and never takes on a new shape, form, or design. So in this case, when I say "replica" trophy, I mean that this trophy is a creation by Dartmouth to commemorate their 1970 Championship season. Whether they made one main trophy, and a replica for each player is unknown to me. There are many possible scenarios, as this trophy could also be one of a kind, made by the player who owned it. This is very common among teams that are from a conference who have a "static" trophy, as they want each championship to have it's own unique trophy from that year, showing/representing all of the season's accolades on it.)
This Dartmouth trophy apparently belonged to Alex Turner (Halfback), as you can plainly see from the plate on the front of the trophy. I don't know exactly how this ended up on eBay (but I have a pretty good idea, having followed trophies for as long as I have), but I do know that it was not Alex Turner who was selling the trophy.
As for the actual team trophy that belongs to Dartmouth, I have not seen it or found any info on it, so I can't say for certain that this is an exact replica, or what the scale comparison is. (Again, I am not talking about the actual Ivy League Championship Trophy, but whether or not Dartmouth has a main trophy, identical to this one, that is for the 1970 season).
You can see from the pictures of the trophy that it is quiet worn and well used. The wood base is in good solid condition, but you can tell it has been banged up a little bit. The front of the base has a heavy plaque showing the outcome of each game from the 1970 season, along with two circles (both containing University logos or seals).
On the side to the left of the front plaque is a picture (on metal) of the Lambert Trophy (right side of photo) and the "Actual" Ivy League Football Trophy (left).
Across the back of the trophy is a large team photo in black and white. Across the bottom of the team photo it says "1970 Dartmouth College Football Squad." This lettering across the bottom is a little hard to read, due to some heavy scratches across the wording.
If there is (or was) a photo on the right side of the trophy, I do not know. My guess is that there was a photo there at one point in time, as it would not make sense to leave it blank, and the condition of the trophy leads me to believe that it was very "used" and the photo is something that could have easily been damaged or broken off.
Finally, sitting on top of the trophy is a large metal football (about life size) with very nice detail (as you can see by looking at the "laces" of the football). This is probably the most impressive part of the trophy. It is very striking, and the craftmanship is very good. The raised letters and large/centered Dartmouth "D" is very impressive.
I can only assume there are multiple copies of this trophy in existence (but who really knows for sure). If anyone reads this and has more info on the story of this trophy (where it came from, how many there are, etc.) please email me about it.
Here is the info from the auction listing (including dimensions of the trophy):
"This is a great item, especially if like college football and/or live on the East Coast. The Lambert Trophy is awarded every year to the top Division I college team from the Northeastern states or to a team outside of those areas that plays half or more of their schedule against teams in that region. In 1970, the Lambert Trophy went to the undefeated Dartmouth team. This is the very trophy awarded to halfback Alex Turner from that dynamite team. 10" tall on 9" x 6" base with embossed team record for the season on one pyramid side, trophy photos on another side and team photo on another. For some reaon "1970 Dartmouth College" is kinda scratched out on the back as you can probably see but overall this is a thick and heavy, rather substantial, original award and one not likely to be won by Dartmouth any time soon unless they can get over on Miami, Penn State or Boston College. Of course DU isn't D1 any more so they definitely won't be taking this beauty home any time soon."
For those of you who are unfamiliar with what the actual Ivy League Trophy looks like, I have posted two photos of it below. One is a photo of the trophy by itself, and the other is in the Harvard Locker room. The locker room photo actually shows the color that is on the school seals that surround the trophy.
3 comments:
This was an original trophy given to all members of the undefeated dartmouth 1970 football team (instead of rings). It is not a replica, but an original design. Coach Blackman preferred to give out trophies to championship teams. Alex Turner was a sophmore letterman on the team.
I am Alex Turner's daughter and this post was just recently brought to our family's attention. We would love to find out more about the trophy's owner and see if we can bring it back to the family. If you have any other information, please reply to this post. Anything would be appreciated. Thank you - the Turner Family.
Alexis....how can I contact you?
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