Saturday, April 25, 2015

Saturday Stuff

The central section of the Memorial Field grandstand we've been tracking is now in place. It will be topped off by the press box. Chairback seats will reach from the edge of the press box (the tower is the left side of the box) down to the bottom of the upper portal. (See the drawing below.)
Click to enlarge this picture that gives a sense of the south-to-north progress installing the grandstand.
A reminder of how the grandstand will look. (Click to enlarge.)
Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh has written a powerful piece for the team website under the headline Why Football Matters. (LINK) Here's arguably the best part:
(T)here’s practically no other place where a young man is held to a higher standard.
Football is hard. It’s tough. It demands discipline. It teaches obedience. It builds character.
Football is a metaphor for life.
This game asks a young man to push himself further than he ever thought he could go. It literally challenges his physical courage. It shows him what it means to sacrifice. It teaches him the importance of doing his job well. We learn to put others first, to be part of something bigger than ourselves. And we learn to lift our teammates – and ourselves – up together.
A newcomer to our planet wondering exactly what this football thing is might want to watch this 1940s era video explaining the game. It was discovered by a loyal BGA reader:

A member of the Columbia football team traces the Ivy League's presence in the NFL draft back to the early days of the draft in his biweekly column. Find the column HERE.
The third week of Dartmouth spring football wraps up today. Oops, did I say spring? Much to the relief of Griff the Wonder Pup, who enjoys playing in the snow that is still a good six inches deep on the shady side of our back yard, it was 28 degrees here on the mountain this morning. It should be in the mid-40s during drills on Memorial Field. Check in later for a practice recap on BGA Premium.