Monday, February 11, 2008

Another Texan Heading This Way

UPDATED TO Add OL recruit Kyle Cook (thanks to a reader for pointing out the oversight)


Thanks to a heads-up from an alert reader, add Aaron Limonthas of Lamar HS in Houston to the recruit list. A linebacker listed at 5-11 (or 6-foot) and 205 pounds, Limonthas is reported in a Houston Chronical blog as having made a commitment to Dartmouth.

Check out Limonthas' highlight video. A tour of websites tells us Limonthas is his senior class president, the student council president and winner of a $5,000 scholarship from the Rotary Club of Houston. Scroll down this page to see a photo of him on a Rotary page. His My Space page is viewable here and it includes this impressive sentiment:
I want to change the world. I do not know how this will come about. Only God knows, yet I believe my purpose on earth is to "in some way" uplift others and be their crutch when life breaks them down.
An updated list of Dartmouth recruits as of Feb. 11 (keeping in mind, once again, that this is unofficial and subject to change, and that positions and height/weight for some are questionable):

Reported In the Media Or By Reputable Internet Sources
Shawn Abuhoff, 5-10, 166, DB/WR, Dade Christian, Miami, Fla.
Andy Altman, 6-2, 275, OL, La Jolla Country Day, La Jolla, Calif.
Joey Casey, 5-11, 171, DB, Noblesville, Ind.
Kyle Cook, 6-5, 260, OL, Mater Dei HS, Santa Ana, Calif.
Anthony DiBlasi, 6-1, 175, DB, Belen Jesuit, Miami, Fla.
Diego Fernandez-Soto, 5-11, 190, TE/LB, Belen Jesuit, Miami, Fla.
John Gallagher, 6-3, 230, TE, West Salem H.S., Salem, Ore.
Chris Hardy, 6-3, 215, RB, Oakwood HS/Dayton, Ohio
Aaron Limonthas, 6-0, 205, LB, Lamar HS/Houston
Tyler Melancon, 5-11, 200, LB, Plano East HS/Plano, Texas
Brock Middleton, 6-5, 260, OL, Brophy Prep, Phoenix, Ariz.
Brendan Murray, 6-0, 180, DB, Notre Dame, Niles, Ill.
Nick Schwieger, 5-11, 195, TB, Bishop Feehan, Attleboro, Mass.
Eddie Smith, 6-4, 265, OL/DE, Christian Academy, Louisville

Confirmed Early Decision
JB Andreassi, 5-11, 185, DB, St. Anthony’s, Melville, N.Y.
Brad Dornak, 6-0, 195, WR, Westlake, Austin, Texas
Mark Dwyer, 6-4, 250, TE, Woburn, Woburn, Mass.
Austen Fletcher, 6-2, 285, OL, St. Anthony’s, Melville, N.Y.
Conner Kempe, 6-4, 225, QB, The Benjamin School, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Pat Lahey, 6-3, 285, OL, Brooks School, North Andover, Mass.
Grant Palmer, 6-5, 250, OL, St. Charles Prep, Columbus, Ohio
Connor Phillips, 6-4, 235, DE, Winston Churchill, Potomac, Md.
Mike Reilly, 6-3, 195, WR, Kent Denver, Englewood, Colo.
Foley Schmidt, 5-8, 180, K, St. Thomas Academy, Mendota Heights, Minn.
Alex Shulman, 6-2, 205, TE, Thayer Academy, Braintree, Mass.
Zach Wodka, 6-3, 265, OL, Buffalo Grove, Buffalo Grove, Ill.

***
And finally this ... I often laugh at comments I read on the Internet from Dartmouth students, former Dartmouth students and students at other colleges regarding what it's like to live in Hanover and the Upper Valley. There's a lot of talk about how cold it is, how remote it is and how "hick" it is. While I laugh about those comments I also applaud them because the last thing many of us who live around here want is to be overrun by ex-pats from the city.

I was proud - but also distressed - several years ago when author Bill Bryson, then a Hanover resident, sung the praises of our town in one of his books. Ditto last year when Hanover was listed as one of the best small towns in America in which to live.

Now (thanks to an alert reader) there's this in the New York Times. Some of the story is laughable to those of us who live here. But a lot of it is spot on and probably appealing enough to attract a few more metropolitan area escapees.

Um, before you start checking the house listings, can I tell you it was 2-below zero on our thermometer last night? And it's supposed to be colder tonight. Oh, and we could get another six inches of snow tomorrow night. You don't really want to deal with all that, do you? Then there's mud season, black flies, dialup internet if you live outside of town and having to drive 60 miles to the nearest mall if that's the kind of place where you like to do your holiday shopping. I ask you again. You don't really wanna live here, do you? I didn't think so.

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