Thursday, August 16, 2007

Preseason All-America Opponents

Four Ivy Leaguers and eight players Dartmouth will face this year have been chosen to one of the three Sports Network preseason All-America teams.

Named to the first team (hardly a surprise) is UNH quarterback Ricky Santos, a unanimous selection. He's joined on the other side of the ball by Colgate linebacker Mike Gallihugh.

On the second team are Yale running back Mike McLeod and Holy Cross defensive back Casey Gough.

Third-team offensive picks are Brown kicker Steve Morgan and Colgate tailback Jordan Scott. Yale tackle Brandt Hollander and Yale linebacker Bobby Abare were tapped on the defensive third team.

Tennessee Titan Casey Cramer's big toe gets some pretty good ink in the Clarksville, Tenn., newspaper. Seems Casey is one of a number of Titans who likes to take a knife to his cleats.

The Daily Press in Virginia has a story about former Columbia coach (and onetime Yale standout) Bob Shoop, now in his first year as defensive coordinator at William & Mary. Shoop accepts responsibility for the way things turned out at Columbia (7-23 in three years) but in so doing fires a broadside that will raise a few eyebrows in New York City as well as other Ivy League outposts. Said Shoop:
"I failed as an Ivy League coach partly because of (passion). I was more passionate than some of the student-athletes."
This story sounds as if Anthony Gargiulo will be on the field for the Calgary Stampeders against the BC Lions this week before getting some time off when the CFL team enjoys its bye week.

The Colgate web site reports that, "Fans who purchase one general admission ticket (in advance) to the Albany game can receive up to three free."

Smart. The bet here is the marketing idea will result in an average ticket sale but an above-average crowd. The thought is probably that while some people who were going to buy tickets will get in for free, others who wouldn't normally go to the game would make up for them and swell the crowd. They might even have a good enough time to come back. Kind of a "loss leader" -- not unlike the Green Alert blog ;-)

There's a big push to pack the Memorial Field stands for Dartmouth's opener against these same Colgate Raiders. It might be worth watching what happens over in Hamilton and then calling a quick audible if it works.

Graduated Harvard offensive tackle Nik Sobic has signed with the New Orleans Saints. The Harvard web site now lists no fewer than six former Crimson players in NFL camps: Matt Birk '98 (Vikings); Clifton Dawson '07 (Colts); Matt Farbotko '07 (Colts); Ryan Fitzpatrick '05 (Rams); Isaiah Kacyvenksi '00 (Raiders injured reserve).

Later today on Green Alert premium: A look at preseason Ivy favorite Yale.

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