Countdown to Kickoff Continues

Welcome to July!

In case you were wondering, there are 79 days until the Dartmouth football team kicks off the season at Bucknell. You were wondering, weren't you?

Barring Internet issues (always a concern here on the mountain) I hope to open the official subscription process for the 2010 Big Green Alert Premium next week. Be sure to check back and bring a few friends along for the ride. ;-)

*

Jake Novak of the Columbia football Roar Lions Roar blog has offered up lists the past several days of his top returning quarterbacks in the Ivy League, top returning running backs and top running attacks.

In his post on quarterbacks, Jake writes:

The only serious contenders for this title are Harvard’s Collier Winters, Yale’s Patrick Witt, Brown’s Kyle Newhall-Caballero, and Columbia’s Sean Brackett.

Jake's QB ranking:

1. Kyle Newhall-Caballero, Brown
2. Collier Winters, Harvard
3. Sean Brackett, Columbia
4. Patrick Witt, Yale

Surprising that the list did not include Dartmouth's strong-armed Conner Kempe in the group given that he is one of the most experienced QBs in the Ivy League with nine starts over the past two years, that he has 1,686 career passing yards and that he was a relatively heralded recruit coming out of high school. Granted, Kempe figures to have competition for the starting job this fall, but so will Winters at Harvard and Witt at Yale.

The Roar blog lists the top running backs in the Ivy League this way:

1. Lyle Marsh, Penn
2. Nick Schwieger, Dartmouth
3. Treavor Scales, Harvard

... And the top running attacks this way:

1. Columbia
2. Harvard
3. Penn

I'm sure Dartmouth fans are wondering how you can be returning the Ivy League's leading rusher and not have one of the top three rushing attacks in the league. Likewise, there are probably Columbia doubters who wonder how a team can graduate its only rusher in the Ivy League's top-10 and be considered perhaps the best running team heading into the next season.

Jake is pretty good at stirring up the conversation and he's probably done it again!

*

Former New Hampshire wide receiver David Ball, who broke Jerry Rice's career touchdown record while at UNH, appeared to have made the Winnipeg Blue Bombers roster before the Canadian Football League team released him this week. Find a story in the Burlington Free Press.

*

Dartmouth men's golf coach Rich Parker saw a chance to play in the Montreal Champions Tour event evaporate in the last several holes of qualifying earlier this week but rebounded to earn a berth in the U.S. Senior Open by shooting a blistering 65 with five birdies on the back nine in qualifying at Thorny Lea Golf Club in Massachusetts. The Senior Open Championship will be held July 29-Aug. 1 at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Washington. Find a story about Parker here.

Parker played in the US Open in 1990 at Medinah Country Club in Illinois where a certain sportswriter who would go on to become a blogger covered the event. ;-)

*

Story headline: "NCAA, colleges align with ticket brokers to curb scalping." Yeah, sure. You can call 'em what you want, but until ticket brokers sell ducats without any markup, they are all scalpers in my book. The only difference is some are legal and some are not. That Certain Hanover High Junior-to-Be hopes to see a game at the new Yankee Stadium this summer so I've been checking out afternoon games that would allow us to drive down and back in the same day. The official Yankee outlet? Sold out. Ticket brokers? Loads of tickets available. I'm going to sound like Andy Rooney again here, but I miss the days when you could walk up to the window at a stadium and buy tickets instead of having to pay a broker's markup, handling and delivery charges.

*

And finally, thanks for your emails about That Certain Hanover High Graduate's college plans. She's back at camp already but I'm sure she's still smiling.