Rooting For Casey

Although a shoulder injury that has sidelined Casey Cramer '04 for more than a week isn't helping his chances of winning back a spot on the Tennessee Titans' roster, you can bet there are a lot of kids in the Nashville area who are rooting hard for the fifth-year NFL special teamer. Earlier this year he conducted a three-day camp for kids at The Refuge Center in Franklin, Tenn. A Titans Online story quotes Cramer:

"The Refuge at Cool Springs does exactly what I wish I had when I was a little kid. It pours into lives and souls at a young age and gives them the tools and the armor that we need to have to survive this world. Kids get exposed to so many things that are not good for them and for us to be able to pour into them and teach them ways to avoid those pitfalls that we've had is amazing."

The story says:

Cramer, along with several of his current and former Titans teammates spoke about character and faith, created skits that focused on bullying, making the right choices, taking care of your body and having good study habits.

Cramer, by the way, was honored by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Middle Tennessee with the Sydney F. Keeble, Jr. Distinguished Service Award. (link)

And as long as we're on the Casey Cramer beat this morning, Titansonline also has a Q&A with him talking personal finance. (link) The guess here, and it's just a guess, is that Casey finally replaced his 1999 Toyota Corolla with more than 100,000 miles. The fact that he didn't get a "Q" on it makes me suspicious because writes loved to ask him about it and teammates with luxury "rides" loved to tease him about it.

Put this name in the back of your head and remember it when Dartmouth plays at UNH: Sean Jellison. The Nashua Telegraph has a story about how this is the "year to shine," for the 5-foot-10, 210-pound holder of the state high school records for rushing yards in a career (5,890), career touchdowns (103) and TDs in a season (41). Find his UNH bio here. Jellison had 64 yards on eight carries against Dartmouth last year.

Jellison's younger brother Steven, listed at 6-3, 230, has been said in media reports to be a potential Dartmouth recruiting target.

I got a couple of emails about Lake Champlain after yesterday's blog went up. In case you are wondering, the lake stretches 108 miles from top to bottom (although it gets pretty skinny in places), it is 12 miles wide at its widest, and hits 300 feet at its deepest. There are folks who claim there is a monster named Champ in the lake. (Others think it's just a big eel.) If you want to look for Champ or just enjoy a couple of hours on the lake, the Champlain ferries site is here. It's an easy and very beautiful 90-minute drive from Hanover to Burlington.

And finally, high school practices begin today for those two certain Hanover High kids. As of this writing, the soph is at golf practice at Hanover Country Club. The senior? She's still away at camp as a counselor, running on her own. She'll join the team one week into practice when camp finishes. I don't know if the site will be updated this year, but there's a nice site for the powerhouse Hanover XC program. That certain senior is fourth from the right in the top row (with the medal around her neck).