Sunday, May 26, 2013

It's No Joke (Say It Fast)

We awoke this morning to a surprise . . .

Memorial Day Weekend – the traditional opening of
the Jersey Shore. Here? Not so much ;-)
Ah lilacs. The true sign of spring? (double click for a better look)
We're chillin', not grillin'.
This morning was no picnic.
The antenna balls on our cars look jaunty with their new white caps. 

The Orlando Sentinel has a story under the headline:
    Eight Central Florida athletes are headed to the Ivy League
    Elite colleges provide eight unique athletes with chance to keep competing

Mentioned in the story is Dartmouth-bound tight end Blake Orvis:
When mail call came at Boone High, the letters from football-traditional schools were not unusual. Then there was mail for Orvis. 
"It's funny because coach would hand out the letters and the guys like Johnnie were getting the big-time schools, and A.J. too. And then he starts calling out Princeton and Dartmouth for my letters," Orvis said. "Some of the players didn't realize I was being recruited by them and one of them said, 'Wow, you're smart?' . . . I just said, 'Yeah, I guess so.' "
Not surprisingly, Dartmouth junior Abbey D'Agostino advanced to the NCAA Championships by winning her heat of the 5,000 at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships East Preliminary Round in Greensboro, N.C. She will attempt to defend her national championship in the event Friday, June 7 at the University of Oregon at 9:15 eastern.
Kudos to the Yale football team which joined with the school's field hockey and women's ice hockey teams to help the Bulldogs set an important record. From the Yale website:
With the final numbers now in from across the country, Yale has officially led the nation in potential life-saving marrow donors added to the Be The Match Registry® through the "Get in the Game. Save a Life." campaign. Yale's total of new registrants at its drive, named in memory of women's ice hockey player Mandi Schwartz '10 (1988-2011), was 843. The second-best total was 581 from the University of Delaware.

 This was Yale's fifth year participating in "Get in the Game. Save a Life."  The Bulldogs' five drives have now added nearly 4,000 people to the Be The Match Registry and identified at least 17 donor matches for patients with life-threatening illnesses.