Kicking off the '06 Green Alert Blog

I'm a couple of days later than expected getting the blog up and going again. Four weeks on the road and getting a couple of kids off to overnight camp will do that to you. But today kicks off the '06 blog -- and there will be posts every day from now until at least the end of the season.

NOTE: The revamped subscription Green Alert site (which will feature complete daily practice coverage, premium newspaper length features, previews, game stories and analysis) will be up and running shortly. Watch the blog for subscription information.

There was a nice story in yesterday's Boston Globe about Dartmouth football-baseball player Jason Blydell North Shore Baseball League and how he's been faring this summer. It mentions that he is switching from strong safety to cornerback this year. Blydell missed all of last season with a leg injury.

Catching up on a couple of incoming freshmen who played quarterback in recent all-star games: Alex Jenny of Wayland, Mass., completed 8-of-8 throws for 91 yards and ran for another 13 yards in the eastern Massachusetts Shriners Football Classic. Jenny, by the way, was named the 2005-2006 academic year Wayland Town Crier Male Athlete of the Year. The story about the honor opened this way:

How to begin describing Alex Jenny is a very difficult task.
Do you start with the autumn night during his senior year when the Wayland High quarterback defined the word warrior; playing on a broken ankle and doing everything he could to beat the unbeatable Acton-Boxboro Colonials?
Perhaps, but then again he played on a broken leg his junior year.

Out in Illinois, meanwhile, Jordan Kling stepped up and helped his team win the Eastern Star All-Star Game. The story about the game and Jordan's clutch play begin this way:

When Tuscola football coach Stan Wienke knew he had to rely on one player, the call was easy. It was Jordan Kling.

It was just last fall that Kling was quarterbacking the Warriors to the Class 1A semifinals and coming up big the entire way. And Kling did it again at Saturday's Eastern Star All-Star Game at Millikin's Frank M. Lindsay Field.

Much like last year's game, the game came down to the final moments before the East team pulled out the 12-7 win when Kling repeated the success he found early.

What else? While I was gone Jay Fiedler signed with Tampa Bay. That was just about a done deal before I left and I ate a little crow on that one. I thought for sure he was headed to the Giants. Jay's made very few missteps in his career and after looking over the Tampa Bay roster I suspect this is another wise choice. ... After heavy rains delayed work at Memorial Field, the workers have just about caught up to the schedule and I've been told the first turf sections could be put down this week. We'll see. ... The first girders for the new varsity building have risen behind the reduced visiting stands. It looks a little strange right now, but I'm sure once a little more of the framework is in place it will make a big difference.

Finally, the big news during my vacation was the loss of incumbent starting quarterback Josh Cohen for a year to academics. I didn't mean to leave this to last, but I'm going to pull together my analysis during the day today. If I get it finished today, I'll post it some time tonight. If not, I'll have it for you tomorrow. Normally, it would go on the subscription site, but because that isn't ready yet, I'll post it here.


As threatened, a picture from our vacation. This shot of the kids was taken at our Grand Canyon campground the night before we hiked to the bottom to camp at Phantom Ranch. Kudos to the kids and my wife for surviving the hike and to the '84 VW camper for getting us safely out West and back with barely a hiccup in more than 7,500 miles of driving.