Greening Up The Garden State

Per Twitter: Dakari Falconer, 5-foot-11, 180 running back/safety St. Peter's Prep, Jersey City, N.J. Teammate of incoming wide receiver Masaki Aerts.

Hudl highlights.  Statistics

New Year, New Look

Mrs. BGA received an email from the Dartmouth Coop yesterday pitching a "New Year, New Look" selection of Dartmouth wearables. Clicking through to the Coop website revealed the usual selection of everything from Dartmouth baseball hats to T-shirts, sweatpants to jackets and more. Mrs. BGA forwarded the email this way because she noticed something that seemed new to her. Maybe it is, maybe it's not, but it isn't something I had noticed before, either. On some of the items the nickname "Big Green" now accompanies John Scotford's iconic Lone Pine logo.

Check out the blow-up below:

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University of Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown, who gave up teaching at nearby Hartford High School and worked as a bellman at the Hanover Inn while starting his college coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Dartmouth, is the subject of a lengthy ESPN story. Brown's story really is a good one. Check it out HERE.

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Football Scoop picks up on a Deadspin story about the highest paid public employee in each state. It's a football coach in 23 states and a basketball coach in 12. In New Hampshire and Vermont? College presidents ;-)

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Our snowfall wimped out last night at perhaps seven inches. Hard to tell because of high winds and drifting. Either way, paved roads this morning are wet and black. Don't you just wish the road crews by you were that efficient?

Before The Snow . . .

Hmmm. Randy Edsall is returning as UConn's head football coach. How it will work in Storrs remains to be seen, but it would seem there is precedent for a coach who had been successful the first time around going off and coming back to enjoy success again.  ;-)

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Dartmouth wide receiver Hunter Hagdorn has been chosen to the Hero Sports FCS freshman All-America second honorable mention team along with Yale running back Alan Lamar and Bulldog offensive lineman Sterling Strother.

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Florida defensive back DeWayne "DJ" Terry Jr. has made his commitment to Dartmouth official. Check out his commitment Tweet HERE. According to 247Sports, which gives him three stars, Terry had offers from Louisville, Cal, Minnesota and South Florida among others. He was first mentioned as a likely commit on BGA Daily HERE.

Interestingly, Terry is listed as having 12 "offers" by 247Sports and 10 by Rivals but Dartmouth is the only Ivy mentioned.

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We're expecting anywhere from 9-16 inches of snow today and tonight, with significant wind. If BGA Daily goes radio silent tomorrow blame it on a power outage ;-)

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Speaking of snow, Dartmouth's Tuck School released this short video earlier this month:

The Poll Of The Wild

So how did the official preseason Ivy League football media poll fare?

Here's what the poll predicted:
1. Harvard (7 first-place votes), 126 points
2. Penn (9) 119
3. Dartmouth 83
4. Yale 81
5. Princeton 79
6. Brown (1) 61
7. Columbia 43
8. Cornell 20

Here's how the season turned out:
1. Princeton 6-1, 8-2
1. Penn 6-1, 7-3
3. Harvard 5-2, 7-3
4. Brown 3-4, 4-6
4. Yale 3-4, 3-7
6. Cornell 2-5, 4-6
6. Columbia 2-5, 3-7
8. Dartmouth 1-6, 4-6

The biggest riser? Princeton.

The only team that finished exactly where predicted? Yale.

The biggest faller? You don't want to know.

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This isn't the place for much in the way of non-sports news regarding Dartmouth but the local daily had a story a few days back about the financial health of the college and alums may be interested in the big picture while families with current and future Dartmouth students may want to drill down to a specific.

The "lede" to the Valley News story paints the big picture:

With its blue-chip roster of alumni, 10-figure endowment and annual high-school senior scrum for admissions, Dartmouth College seems stable and on course. But as 2016 comes to a close, the leaders of Dartmouth find themselves navigating some rough financial waters.

The college, which was founded 247 years ago, posted a net operating loss of $112 million during the fiscal year that ended June 30. A year earlier, the college experienced a $15.2 million loss.

Here's the specific for families of current and future students:

The college’s list price of direct costs — tuition, fees, room and board — was just under $58,000 when (President Phil) Hanlon took the helm at the end of fiscal 2013. During the current year, that tab has risen to $66,200.

In June 2014, Hanlon said in an interview that he would limit future tuition increases to no more than 1 percent above the rate of inflation.

Hanlon came to Hanover in the wake of a three-year stretch when tuition rose at an annual rate of about 13.7 percent. During his first four years in office, the annual rate of tuition gain has been about 3.4 percent.

Now That Was Funny

A great quote from legendary Dartmouth football coach Bob Blackman regarding his return to coaching at Cornell after a stint at Illinois:

"I like the Ivy League," he said. "It's the only conference where the coaches are paid more than the players."

That's from an SI Vault story headlined, A Big Year For Big Green about the 1970 season. (LINK)

Perhaps Blackman's most famous quote, of course, came in response to a tongue-in-cheek challenge by Penn State's Joe Paterno to play the Nittany Lions after undefeated Dartmouth won the Lambert Trophy over Paterno's 7-3 team in 1970. Said Blackman:

"Of course, Coach Paterno knows that under Ivy League rules we're not allowed to play in a postseason game, but if we were allowed to play a postseason contest, I would prefer to play a team that had a better record."

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Here's something from the News-Gazette that I did not realize about Bob Blackman from his stint at Illinois (LINK):

Despite going 0-12 against the Big Ten’s “Big Two” of Michigan and Ohio State during his Illini career, Blackman’s Illini amassed a cumulative record of 24-11-1 against the other seven conference opponents.

Here's Blackman's record at each of his head coaching stops:

Denver (2 years) 12-6-2, 7-6-1 conference
Dartmouth (16 years) 104-37-3, 79-24-2 conference
Illinois (6 years) 29-36-1, 24-23-1 conference
Cornell (6 years) 23-33-1, 18-23-1 conference
Overall (30 years) 168-112-7, 128-76-5 conference

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This is a new one on me ;-). In a Q&A with Tanner Cross, the incoming Big Green linebacker provides the name of another potential Dartmouth recruit. Cross told Recruiting News:

“I reached out to a guy from Springdale (AR), Jayden Minchew. He is a safety. They have been talking to him.” 

A Little (Red) Light Holiday Reading

Out of town and away from the computer so for today a little piece of Christmas history with a Dartmouth connection.

Read about how Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer made its way into the world HERE.

Blue And White Christmas

With three generations of Penn Staters in the family and the Rose Bowl right around the corner it was hard not to go in this direction with our holiday wishes. Even That Certain Dartmouth '14, tucked into snowy Old Faithful today, would give this her blessing this year ;-)

Enjoy

Didn't win the audio book on the Ivy League and the origins of football? Not to worry. Take a little time to yourself and watch the film based on the book. Here's how the editorial review of the film on Amazon reads:

"8: Ivy League Football & America" is a celebration of the rich history of football and the eight Ivy League colleges that built the game: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, and Yale. The Heisman and Outland trophies. The forward pass. Franklin Field, the Yale Bowl, and Harvard Stadium. There isn’t one facet of modern football that did not develop first on Ivy League gridirons. Four Ivy teams have played in the Rose Bowl and three Ivy players have won the Heisman Trophy. As much as anything, the Ivy League was also the birthplace of the scholar-athlete ideal. "8: Ivy League Football & America" is narrated by award-winning actor Brian Dennehy and features interviews with Tommy Lee Jones, Joe Paterno, Ed Marinaro, Calvin Hill, Chuck Bednarik, George Shultz, and many other Ivy League greats, along with rare archival footage and contemporary game action. The film will interest anyone who loves the game of football. As Leigh Montville of Sports Illustrated said, “I grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, which means I grew up watching Ivy League football. There was a large hole under the fence outside Yale Bowl where my friends and I sneaked into every game in the Yale season. This movie, "8", makes me remember why we did it. Great stuff. Makes me even want to buy a ticket.”

A Proclamation And Contest Winners

I don't know about you, but my hometown never issued a Proclamation honoring me ;-).

The city of Manvel, Texas (population 5,179 as of the 2010 census) did exactly that for Dartmouth freshman Hunter Hagdorn after he was named the Ivy League football Rookie of the Year. Find a story HERE.

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Drum roll please.

The contest to win copies of a reading of Mark Bernstein's book Football; The Ivy League Origins of an American Obsession drew a surprising number of entrants. More surprising yet? The range of answers, including one 2015 ;-)

The question was: In what year did the Big Green assume the lead in Ivy League football championships that it still has not surrendered?

Dartmouth won its first title in 1958, the third year of formal Ivy League play. That tied the Big Green with Yale and Princeton with a grand total of one. Yale then assumed sole possession of the lead in 1960 with its second championship.

Dartmouth won its second Ivy League title in 1962 to grab a share of the lead with Yale. It has since been tied on several occasions but has never trailed in the title race since.

Dartmouth won No. 3 in 1963 only to see Princeton match the Big Green with its third championship in 1964. The Tigers never passed Dartmouth and the Big Green opened some distance by winning it all the next two years.

The last of three consecutive championships gave Dartmouth a 10-5 lead over nearest competitors Yale and Princeton after the 1973 season. Yale challenged by winning six championships in eight years to run its championship count to 11 in 1981 but the Big Green shared that fall's crown with the Bulldogs to bring its all-time total to 12.

Dartmouth stretched the lead over its nearest competitor to 17-12 in 1996 when it won for the fourth time in seven seasons, but the Big Green's struggles over the next 15 years or so allowed Harvard and Penn to roar back into the all-time championship hunt.

With Dartmouth stalled at 17, the Crimson won eight titles between 1997 and 2014 to get to 16. Penn, meanwhile, got to 16 by winning seven times between 1998 and 2012.

Harvard and Penn won their 17th championships in 2015 and would have tied Dartmouth if not for the Big Green earning the third piece of the title to run its all-time total to 18.

While Penn finally matched Dartmouth this fall with its 18th, no one has been able to look down on the Big Green since 1962 when Dartmouth won title No. 2. The Big Green has been tied but never passed in more than five decades since.

Here's the year-by-year championship picture, courtesy of Wikipedia (which I'm guessing some of you might have visited ;-)

Year	Champions	Conference Record	Overall Record
1956	Yale	7-0	8-1
1957	Princeton	6-1	7-2
1958	Dartmouth	6-1	7-2
1959	Penn	6-1	7-1-1
1960	Yale	7-0	9-0
1961	Columbia	6-1	6-3
	Harvard	6-1	6-3
1962	Dartmouth	7-0	9-0
1963	Dartmouth	5-2	7-2
	Princeton	5-2	7-2
1964	Princeton	7-0	9-0
1965	Dartmouth	7-0	9-0
1966	Harvard	6-1	8-1
	Dartmouth	6-1	7-2
	Princeton	6-1	7-2
1967	Yale	7-0	8-1
1968	Harvard	6-0-1	8-0-1
	Yale	6-0-1	8-0-1
1969	Dartmouth	6-1	8-1
	Yale	6-1	7-2
	Princeton	6-1	6-3
1970	Dartmouth	7-0	9-0
1971	Cornell	6-1	8-1
	Dartmouth	6-1	8-1
1972	Dartmouth	5-1-1	7-1-1
1973	Dartmouth	6-1	6-3
1974	Yale	6-1	8-1
	Harvard	6-1	7-2
1975	Harvard	6-1	7-2
1976	Brown	6-1	8-1
	Yale	6-1	8-1
1977	Yale	6-1	7-2
1978	Dartmouth	6-1	6-3
1979	Yale	6-1	8-1
1980	Yale	6-1	8-2
1981	Yale	6-1	9-1
	Dartmouth	6-1	6-4
1982	Dartmouth	5-2	5-5
	Harvard	5-2	7-3
	Penn	5-2	7-3
1983	Harvard	5-1-1	6-2-2
	Penn	5-1-1	6-3-1
1984	Penn	7-0	8-1
1985	Penn	6-1	7-2-1
1986	Penn	7-0	10-0
1987	Harvard	6-1	8-2
1988	Cornell	6-1	7-2-1
	Penn	6-1	8-2
1989	Princeton	6-1	7-2-1
	Yale	6-1	8-2
1990	Cornell	6-1	7-3
	Dartmouth	6-1	7-2-1
1991	Dartmouth	6-0-1	7-2-1
1992	Dartmouth	6-1	8-2
	Princeton	6-1	8-2
1993	Penn	7-0	10-0
1994	Penn	7-0	9-0
1995	Princeton	5-1-1	8-1-1
1996	Dartmouth	7-0	10-0
1997	Harvard	7-0	9-1
1998	Penn	6-1	8-2
1999	Brown	6-1	9-1
	Yale	6-1	9-1
2000	Penn	6-1	7-3
2001	Harvard	7-0	9-0
2002	Penn	7-0	9-1
2003	Penn	7-0	10-0
2004	Harvard	7-0	10-0
2005	Brown	6-1	9-1
2006	Princeton	6-1	9-1
	Yale	6-1	8-2
2007	Harvard	7-0	8-2
2008	Brown	6-1	7-3
	Harvard	6-1	9-1
2009	Penn	7-0	8-2
2010	Penn	7-0	9-1
2011	Harvard	7-0	9-1
2012	Penn	6-1	6-4
2013	Harvard	6-1	9-1
	Princeton	6-1	8-2
2014	Harvard	7-0	10-0
2015	Dartmouth	6-1	9-1
	Harvard	6-1	9-1
	Penn	6-1	7-3
2016	Penn	6-1	7-3
	Princeton	6-1	8-2

While no one picked 1962 as the correct answer a handful of entrants in the contest went with 1963. 

A random drawing from among those who chose 1963 resulted in winners CB and BA. 

Congratulations. You will be receiving instructions on how to download the book via email in a few minutes.

For those interested in a last-minute gift idea, Kyle Tait's reading of Football; The Ivy League Origins of an American Obsession, is available through Audible at this LINK.

More Dartmouth-UNH Reaction

Enthusiasm for the Dartmouth-New Hampshire football series in recent years has been much stronger on the Seacoast than in Hanover. With the announcement that the state's only Division I football teams will play a four-game series beginning with an Oct. 16, 2021 game in Durham the UNH Insider has reaction from the New Hampshire side HERE.

From the story:

UNH football coach Sean McDonnell: "Nobody knows where everybody will be when we get to (2021). But when we do, it's an easy trip for both schools and an easy trip for their support people and fans and everyone else. In the end, I just think it's the right thing to do for college football and especially for college football in New England."

UNH AD Marty Scarano: "I think it's fabulous. It's fabulous for the fans of football in the state as well. I'm appreciative of the fact (Dartmouth athletics director) Harry Sheehy and the administration at Dartmouth find it of equal value and we're delighted we worked out this four-year series and hopefully it goes through perpetuity."

Steve Metcalf, UNH deputy athletics director: "Dartmouth and UNH continue to play each other in I think every sport that the two of us have. We have a great relationship with their administration. They're just great colleagues. Generally scheduling between the two institutions is very agreeable and is easy. We just had to go back and forth and find good dates."

Dartmouth won this year's matchup with a UNH team that finished No. 22 in the STATS poll, 22-21. The Dartmouth release about the future series with UNH can be found HERE.

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Pennsylvania's Morning Call has a story about former Princeton standout John Garrett being named new head football coach at Lafayette of the Patriot League. According to the story Joel Lamb, offensive coordinator/quarterback coach at Harvard, and James Perry, OC/QB coach at Princeton, were among the other finalists.

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The Tracy Press in California writes about a tight end at West High whose "football skills" and "academic work gained him a scholarship offer for Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, an NCAA Division I Ivy League school." Find the story HERE. 

Another Name

Entries are starting to pile up. If you haven't entered the contest for a chance to win a reading of the book Football; The Ivy League Origins of an American Obsession, what are you waiting for? The deadline is 5 p.m. tomorrow. For more information on the book and the contest, CLICK HERE.

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Thanks to Twitter you can add a new name to the Big Green recruiting class.

Announcing his commitment to the Dartmouth football program via the blue bird of social media  is 6-foot-2, 220-pound Arkansas linebacker Tanner Cross. His Tweet includes this:

Finding the right place for me has been a long journey but I feel I've found a home where I can excel as a student in the classroom and also as a player on the field. With that being said, I would like to commit to Dartmouth College. #GoBigGreen 

CLICK HERE for highlights from Cross' senior season at Northside High School in Fort Smith, Ark.

For a Recruiting News Guru story on him CLICK HERE and a Times Record story on him CLICK HERE.

First Team This Time

Flo Orimolade has been named to yet another All-America team. The difference this time around?

He's been named to the STATS organization's FIRST team, joining a couple of Dartmouth's best players from the past two decades. (LINK)

From the Dartmouth release found HERE:

(Orimolade is) the third Big Green player in the last 20 seasons to be selected for the first team from any organization. The others are Shawn Abuhoff ’12 as a return specialist by The Sports Network in 2010, and Casey Cramer ’04 as a tight end by three separated groups — the AFCA, Sports Network and Walter Camp.

Here's the STATS first team, which includes Princeton's John Lovett in the all-purpose role:

OFFENSE
*-To be determined by STATS FCS Walter Payton Award results
*QB - Jeremiah Briscoe, junior, 6-3, 220, Sam Houston State, or Gage Gubrud, sophomore, 6-2, 195, Eastern Washington
RB - Tarik Cohen, senior, 5-6, 173, North Carolina A&T
RB - Chase Edmonds, junior, 5-9, 196, Fordham
FB - Joe Protheroe, junior, 6-0, 225, Cal Poly
WR - Karel Hamilton, senior, 6-1, 202, Samford
WR - Cooper Kupp, senior, 6-2, 215, Eastern Washington
TE - Dallas Goedert, junior, 6-5, 250, South Dakota State
OL - Julie'n Davenport, senior, 6-7, 315, Bucknell
OL - Casey Dunn, senior, 6-3, 290, Jacksonville State
OL - Zack Johnson, senior, 6-4, 329, North Dakota State
OL - Mitch Kirsch, senior, 6-6, 290, James Madison
OL - Brandon Parker, junior, 6-7, 299, North Carolina A&T
DEFENSE
DL - Keionta Davis, senior, 6-4, 270, Chattanooga
DL - P.J. Hall, junior, 6-1, 280, Sam Houston State
DL - Tanoh Kpassagnon, senior, 6-7, 275, Villanova
DL - Karter Schult, senior, 6-2, 265, Northern Iowa
LB - Dylan Cole, senior, 6-1, 240, Missouri State
LB - Folarin Orimolade, senior, 5-11, 240, Dartmouth
LB - Christian Kuntz, senior, 6-1, 220, Duquesne
LB - Brett Taylor, junior, 6-2, 230, Western Illinois
DB - Dee Delaney, junior, 6-1, 193, The Citadel
DB - Lorenzo Jerome, senior, 6-0, 195, Saint Francis
DB - Donald Payne, senior, 6-1, 219, Stetson
DB - Cole Reyes, junior, 6-2, 215, North Dakota
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK - David Marvin, junior, 6-2, 210, Wofford
P - Miles Bergner, senior, 6-0, 225, South Dakota
LS - Joshua Appel, senior, 6-2, 250, Indiana State
KR - Darius Hammond, senior, 5-10, 192, Charleston Southern
PR - Rashard Davis, senior, 5-9, 175, James Madison
AP - John Lovett, junior, 6-3, 225, Princeton

This And That

Have you entered the contest to win a reading of the book Football; The Ivy League Origins of an American Obsession? For more information on the book and the contest, see yesterday's BGA Daily ;-)

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No new names to report but the usually accurate Football Scoop is reporting that Jerry Taylor, Dartmouth's wide receivers coach, has added recruiting coordinator duties. Scroll down HERE to find the mention.

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Already chosen second-team All-America by the Associated Press, Dartmouth linebacker Flo Orimolade has earned the same distinction from the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). Find the story HERE and the full list of honorees HERE.

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As already noted, Orimolade has been selected for the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl all-star game on Jan. 21. He'll be joined by Cornell punter Chris Fraser. STATS has a list of FCS players chosen so far for the postseason and to date Orimolade and Fraser are the only two Ivy Leaguers mentioned. (LINK)

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Speaking of Orimolade, his bio on Dartmouth's official football web page has been updated. Here is his senior year in toto:

Tri-captain ... Bushnell Cup winner as the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year ... Buck Buchanan Award Finalist ... All-Ivy League First Team at linebacker ... led the nation in forced fumbles per game, ranked 10th in sacks per game and 22nd in tackles for a loss per game ... led the league in forced fumbles and sacks, plus was second in TFL ... 83 tackles were fifth-most in the conference ... named College Sports Madness Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 19 after helping the Big Green defeat No. 22 New Hampshire for the first time in 40 years with a team-high nine tackles, one for a loss, two forced fumbles and two passes broken up ... Defensive Player of the Week for the Ivy League and honorable mention for FCS from STATS the following week for his role in the 35-10 win at Holy Cross ... half of his eight tackles against the Crusaders went for a loss, including two sacks ... collected 10 tackles for the first time in his career versus Penn ... dropped the Yale QB for a sack twice ... contributed seven stops with a sack in the 20-17 triumph over Towson ... once again posted 10 tackles, this time at Columbia as the Big Green limited the Lions to just three field goals ... two of his six tackles in the 17-13 win at Cornell were sacks, one of which jarred the ball loose, earning Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week honors once again ... final sack of his career came against Brown in his final home game ... collected a career-high 13 tackles at Princeton to end the season. Preseason honors: STATS Preseason FCS All-America Second Team ... STATS Defensive Player of the Year Watch List ... College Sports Madness Ivy League Preseason Defensive Player of the Year and All-Ivy League First Team

Get In It To Win It!

Running out of time to find that perfect present for your favorite Ivy League football fan? How about the audio version of Mark Bernstein's book, Football; The Ivy League Origins of an American Obsession? It is available via download from Audible, an Amazon company, for $24.95 if you click HERE.

Here's a little more background on the book:

From the day Princeton played the first intercollegiate game in 1869, the Ivy League shaped football as we know it today. Ever wonder why touchdowns are worth an arbitrary six points? Why a field goal is worth three? How did fight songs become a part of the game, and who wrote the earliest ones?  And where did the term "line of scrimmage" come from? It all emerged from the Ivy League. In this new release from Audible, enjoy a journey back in time, as Mark F Bernstein writes and Kyle Tait brings to life the history behind the sport that dominates our Autumn weekends.

What's better than having 13 hours, 54 minutes of Ivy League football history to listen to over your next few flights or drives to Ivy League games?

Getting the audio book for free!

Kyle Tait, the voiceover artist, play-by-play broadcaster and audiobook narrator who reads the book has provided coupon codes for the BGA Daily to give a couple copies of the audiobook away. Two winners will be selected at random from among entries that correctly answer the question in bold-face type:

Dartmouth has won 18 Ivy League football titles. No school in the Ancient Eight can claim more.* In what year did the Big Green assume the lead in Ivy League football championships that it still has not surrendered?

* Penn tied Dartmouth's total of 18 Ivy League titles this fall but Dartmouth maintains a share of the lead ;-)

Email your answer by CLICKING HERE. That will address an email with the subject line, AudioBookContest. Then just put your answer in the body of the email.

One entry per email address. The winner will be drawn at 5 p.m. Thursday from among the entries with the correct answer.

Good luck!

And remember, even if you don't win you can get the book via download from Audible for $24.95 HERE.

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Dartmouth men's basketball finally broke into the win column Sunday with an 82-68 win at LIU Brooklyn. (LINK) LIU came into the game with a 7-4 record that included a win over St. John's of the Big East and a 10-point loss to Minnesota of the Big Ten in its previous two games. Dartmouth is now 1-9.

Interesting Reading

A couple of stories of interest in the Valley News today.

First, there is a lengthy look at the need for, and status of the proposed indoor practice facility. Find the story HERE.

A good quote from Athletic Director Harry Sheehy from the story headlined Big Green Plays Catch Up With $120 Million in New Ahtletics Facilities:

“Athletics and athletic stories are still inspirational. One of my main jobs is to help Dartmouth build community. From Monday to Friday on this campus, hardly anyone agrees on anything. But on Saturday, the majority of the 8,000 people at the football game want to beat Harvard.”

There's also a story about the women's basketball team dropping to 3-6 on the season with a home loss to 4-7 Marist. (LINK) Within the notes at the end of the story Harry Sheehy addresses the 0-9 record so far this season for the Big Green men's basketball team under the direction of first-year coach David McLaughlin:

"I’m not shocked, but I’m a little surprised. I don’t care what (McLaughlin’s) record is this year. David’s going to get time to build this in the right way.

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If you are of a certain age, this book cover will bring back memories of those first days of school. For some of us, this might of been the first awareness of the Ivy League. Folding these things was actually kind of fun ;-)

This one is for sale on eBay for $9.95 as are the others. I'm going to guess you got the whole Ivy League's worth of foldable covers for something like 59¢ back in the day.

The Flo Show

Courtesy Dartmouth football 

Dartmouth linebacker Flo Orimolade has earned another significant honor with his selection to play in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. Find a press release from the game site HERE announcing his commitment to play in the game, which will be broadcast Jan. 21 on FS1.

The NFLPA Collegiate Bowl began in 2012. From the game website:

Nearly 200 scouts, player personnel staff, general managers and head coaches from all 32 NFL teams are expected be in attendance to watch live practices, conduct player interviews and review tape. 

Orimolade was just named a second-team All-American. Find the Dartmouth release about the senior earning that distinction HERE.

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Snow is falling this morning and we could have a new five or six inches by the time all is said and done. Given what's been on the ground for the past couple of weeks it's a pretty fair bet we'll be having a white Christmas . . .

. . . But it won't be as white as the one That Certain Dartmouth '14 will be having in Yellowstone. The educational ranger-turned-snow coach operator for the winter shared a few photos yesterday along with a note saying she's never seen as much snow as there is on the ground already at Old Faithful, where she is stationed.

Caution: bison crossing!

The sign is for the Yellowstone River although you'd be hard-pressed to know it ;-)

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

All-America Honors For Flo

Dartmouth linebacker Flo Orimolade has been named to the 2016 Associated Press FCS All-America second team. Three other Ivy Leaguers earned All-America mention.

The 2016 Associated Press FCS All-America team:
FIRST TEAM
OFFENSE
Quarterback — Jeremiah Briscoe, junior, 6-foot-3, 209 pounds, Sam Houston State.

Running backs — Chase Edmonds, junior, 5-9, 205, Fordham; Tarik Cohen, senior, 5-6, 170, North Carolina A&T State.

Linemen — Julie'n Davenport, senior, 6-7, 315, Bucknell; Jessamen Dunker, senior, 6-5, 290, Tennessee State; Zach Johnson, senior, 6-4, 331, North Dakota State; Landon Lechler, senior, 6-7, 298, North Dakota State; Mitchell Kirsch, 6-6, 300, senior, James Madison.

Tight end — Dallas Goedert, junior, 6-4, 250, South Dakota State.

Wide receivers — Cooper Kupp, senior, 6-2, 215, Eastern Washington; Karel Hamilton, senior, 6-1, 205, Samford.

All-purpose player — Detrez Newsome, junior, 5-10, 210, Western Carolina.

Kicker — Griffin Trau, sophomore, 5-8, 180, Richmond.

DEFENSE
Linemen — P.J. Hall, junior, 6-1, 280, Sam Houston State; Karter Schult, senior, 6-4, 269, Northern Iowa; Tanoh Kpassagnon, senior, 6-7, 290, Villanova; Darius Jackson, junior, 6-3, 237, Jacksonville State

Linebackers — Dylan Cole, senior, 6-1, 240, Missouri State; Alex Scearce, senior, 6-3, 220, Coastal Carolina; Darius Leonard, junior, 6-3, 220, South Carolina State.

Defensive backs — Donald Payne, senior, 6-0, 223, Stetson; Cole Reyes, junior, 6-2, 215, North Dakota; Lorenzo Jerome, senior, 6-0, 195, Saint Francis (Pa.); Dee Delaney, junior, 6-1, 193, The Citadel.

Punter — Miles Bergner, senior, 6-0, 225, South Dakota.



SECOND TEAM
OFFENSE
Quarterback — Gage Gubrud, sophomore, Eastern Washington.

Running backs — Khalid Abdullah, senior, James Madison; Jonah Hodges, senior, San Diego.

Linemen — Corey Levin, senior, Chattanooga; Erik Austell, senior, Charleston Southern; Brandon Parker, junior, North Carolina A&T State; Casey Dunn, senior, Jacksonville State; Nick Demes, senior, Penn.

Tight end — Eric Saubert, senior, Drake.

Wide receivers — Brian Brown, senior, Richmond; Kamron Lewis, sophomore, St. Francis (Pa.).

All-purpose player — Rashard Davis, senior, James Madison.

Kicker — Lane Clark, sophomore, Tennessee State.

DEFENSE
Linemen — Donovan McCray, senior, Grambling State; Keionta Davis, senior, Chattanooga; Anthony Ellis, junior, Charleston Southern; Derek Rivers, senior, Youngstown State.

Linebackers — Christian Kuntz, senior, Duquesne; Folarin Orimolade , senior, Dartmouth; Brett Taylor, junior, Western Illinois

Defensive backs — Mike Basile, junior, Monmouth; Casey DeAndrade, senior, New Hampshire; Deion Harris, junior, North Dakota; LeRoy Alexander, senior, Youngstown State.

Punter — Jake Ryder, senior, Towson.


THIRD TEAM
OFFENSE
Quarterback — Devlin Hodges, sophomore, Samford.

Running backs — Lenard Tillery, senior, Southern; Lorenzo Long, senior, Wofford.

Linemen — Taylor Gadbois, senior, Southeastern Louisiana; Anton Wahrby, senior, Wofford; Mark Spelman, senior, Illinois State; Jerry Ugokwe, senior, William & Mary; Max Rich, senior, Harvard.

Tight end — Andrew Vollert, junior, Weber State.

Wide receivers — Jake Wieneke, junior, South Dakota State; Troy Pelletier, junior, Lehigh.

All-purpose player — Jody Webb, senior, Youngstown State.

Kicker — Erik Medina, senior, Texas Southern.

DEFENSE
Linemen — Pat Afriyie, junior, Colgate; Samson Ebukam, senior, Eastern Washington; Greg Menard, junior, North Dakota State; Winston Craig, senior, Richmond.

Linebackers — Garrett Dolan, junior, Houston Baptist; Darien Anderson, senior, Alcorn State; Chad Geter, senior, Gardner-Webb.

Defensive backs — Nick Gesualdi, junior, Cornell; Danny Johnson, junior, Southern; Xavier Coleman, senior, Portland State; Jaylen Hill, senior, Jacksonville State.

Punter — Tate Lewis, senior, Southern Utah.

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The Valley News has a follow story (LINK) on the town denying the college approval to build the indoor athletic practice facility. Town manager Julia Griffin on how many times objections by neighbors have resulted in a similar decision:

"In my 20 years here, which is only a very small time period ... I can’t think of another."

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Princeton men's swimming is the latest Ivy League team to run into trouble for "unacceptable" behavior. According to the Princeton athletics website (LINK), the season has been "suspended pending a decision about the remainder of the team's schedule" after . . .

". . . a complaint earlier this week alerted the University to several materials, including content on the University-sponsored men's swimming and diving team listserv, that was vulgar and offensive, as well as misogynistic and racist in nature."

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In case you were wondering, it was a brisk 11.3 degrees below zero when Griff the Wonder Dog and I went out to get the newspaper this morning.

Hooray: Dartmouth-UNH To Play Four-Game Series Starting In 2021

From a Dartmouth release:

The two schools have committed to four more games with the first scheduled to be played in Durham on Oct. 16, 2021, followed by a contest in Hanover the following October. After a one-year hiatus, the Wildcats will host Dartmouth on Sept. 28, 2024, and the Big Green will return the favor in 2025 on Sept. 20 to conclude the contract.

And . . .

“We are thrilled to be able to continue this series with New Hampshire,” said Harry Sheehy, Dartmouth’s Director of Athletics and Recreation. “It is a great event for football fans in the state, and will continually test our players on the field against a perennial FCS playoff team.” 

Recruiting News And Notes

A little recruiting news as we await official announcement of the early decision class  out of the football office. (The admissions office is already heralding the full class HERE.)

Named to the Naperville Sun All-Area Team is Naperville North offensive lineman Evan Hecimovich, a Big Green recruit. From the story (LINK):

 The 6-3, 260-pound left tackle was an all-conference selection and an academic All-State pick for conference co-champions. Committed to play at Dartmouth.

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Connect the dots and it would appear corner Dewayne "DJ" Terry of Gulliver Prep in Florida will be joining the Big Green next fall. Terry's Twitter account includes a copy of his early decision acceptance letter from Dartmouth and the Tweet, "into the Woods" with a pine tree icon ;-). He's also "followed" by Dartmouth linebacker Flo Orimolade among others.

Terry is listed as holding offers from Cal, Minnesota, Louisville, South Florida, Army, Navy, Bowling Green and Appalachian State with his "interest" highest for Dartmouth and Minnesota per the Rivals site.

A little Googling reveals he is a three-star recruit according to 247Sports and two stars according to Rivals. His father was a Duke co-captain under Steve Spurrier.

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Here are the Dartmouth recruits confirmed in the media or via Twitter (along with Terry). Whether there might be more we should know within days:

WR Masaki Aerts, 6-2, 170, St. Peters/Jersey City, NJ
DE Nathanael Boone, 6-3, 225, Penn HS/Mishawaka, Ind.
OL Donny Carty ,  6-7, 265, Episcopal HS/Dallas
OL Sean Dowling, 6-4, 284, St. Stephens/Alexandria, VA
OL/DL Jake Guidone, 6-4, 275, Xaverian Brothers/Westood, Mass.
OL Evan Hecimovich, 6-3, 260, Naperville North HS/Naperville, Ill.
CB Dewayne Terry, 6-1, 174, Gulliver Prep/Hialeah, Fla.
TE Holden Wilmsen, 6-4, 250, Priory HS/St. Louis

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Dartmouth's plans to build an indoor practice facility on Chase Field's "sunken garden" where football used to practice have hit another bump in the road. From the Valley News:

The Planning Board on Tuesday night voted, 4-1, to deny a permit for a controversial 70,000-square-foot athletic facility proposed by Dartmouth College and opposed by neighbors near South Park Street.

Board members described conflicting influences on their votes, and seven-year board veteran Iain Sim called the detailed and acrimonious site plan review process “the most difficult case that we’ve had to review” during his tenure.

Dartmouth had been seeking site plan approval for a roughly $17.5 million facility the school said it needs so that athletes may practice through the winter.

Find the full story with artist renderings of the proposed building HERE. While Harvard, Columbia and Penn have "bubbles" for offseason workouts, Dartmouth's intention is to put up a permanent building.

Find a video report HERE.

How The MVP Grew Up

This screenshot from is from the definitive history of the Mobile Virtual Player, written for IEEE Spectrum by Elliot Kastner '13, the former Dartmouth defensive lineman who has been a driving force behind the development of the MVP. (IEEE is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.)

The feature includes this wonderful photo of a mockup for an early iteration of the MVP drive mechanism. Suffice it to say it has come a long way since then ;-)

Here's the finished MVP in action:

The Green Team

 Josh Clark '16 (left) and Graydon Peterson '17, flank former teammate Jacob Flores '16 while visiting the Super Bowl Trophy Room during a visit to Green Bay yesterday. Flores is currently on the Packers' Practice Squad.

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A newspaper player of the year from DeKalb, Ill., who has an "offer" from Colgate is also "talking" to Dartmouth, Columbia and the Air Force Academy according to the Daily-Chronicle. (LINK)

Derek Kyler completed 61.3 percent of his passes with 35 touchdowns and six interceptions this year. The 6-foot, 170-pound dual-threat quarterback passed for 2,615 yards and ran for 1,003 yards.

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Say this much for Dartmouth: It's not afraid to shoot for the stars. The Daily Progress reports that the University of Virginia won the battle for the state's Gatorade Player of the Year over suitors from Boston College, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Syracuse, Harvard and Dartmouth. (LINK) 

Lamont Akins, a 5-11, 200-pound tailback, ran for 1,905 yards and 31 touchdowns last fall for Lake Braddock.

OK, So That Was A Tease

Sunday's BGA Daily noted that a soon-to-be available book titled The 50 Best* College Football Teams of All-Time; * The most interesting, innovative, and important, anyway . . .

. . .  had Dartmouth listed at No. 26.

If you followed the link you found the author's list of his top 49 (he hadn't "unveiled" his final team as of his last website update). Here's his list:

1. 1906 Chicago (4-1)
2. 1917 Georgia Tech (9-0)
3. 1923 Illinois (8-0)
4. 1924 Notre Dame (10-0)
5. 1925 Alabama (10-0)
6. 1930 Utah (8-0)
7. 1931 USC (10-1)
8. 1938 Tennessee (11-0)
9. 1938 TCU (11-0)
10. 1940 Minnesota (8-0)
11. 1941 Northwestern (5-3)
12. 1943 Iowa Pre-Flight (9-1)
13. 1945 Army (9-0)
14. 1947 Notre Dame (9-0)
15. 1951 Michigan State (9-0)
16. 1955 Oklahoma (11-0)
17. 1957 Auburn (10-0)
18. 1959 Ole Miss (10-1)
19. 1959 Syracuse (11-0)
20. 1960 Iowa (8-1)
21. 1962 Nebraska (9-2)
22. 1965 UCLA (8-2-1)
23. 1968 Texas (9-1-1)
24. 1968 Purdue (8-2)
25. 1970 Alabama (6-5-1)
26. 1970 Dartmouth (9-0)
27. 1972 Tampa (10-2)
28. 1973 Michigan (10-0-1)
29. 1974 Miami-Ohio (10-0-1)
30. 1978 Missouri (8-4)
31. 1980 Georgia (12-0)
32. 1981 Florida State (6-5)
33. 1982 Pittsburgh (9-3)
34. 1984 Boston College (10-2)
35. 1985 Oklahoma (11-1)
36. 1988 Miami (11-1)
37. 1990 Virginia (8-4)
38. 1991 Washington (12-0)
39. 1991 Florida (10-2)
40. 1993 Wisconsin (10-1-1)
41. 1993 Texas A&M (10-2)
42. 1994 Nebraska (13-0)
43. 1998 Ohio State (11-1)
44. 2002 USC (11-2)
45. 2004 Texas (11-1)
46. 2007 Oregon (9-4)
47. 2010 Boise State (12-1)
48. 2011 LSU (13-1)
49. 2013 Auburn (12-2)

Now, don't forget the asterisk at the end of his main headline. In case you skipped over it, the asterisk points to this critical qualification of the author's 50 Best: The most interesting, innovative, and important, anyway.

The book is a Kickstarter project you can learn more about, or order from THIS LINK.

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The (Champaign-Urbana) News-Gazette has a story about the Illinois football fortunes under the headline, Ground game priority for UI under center. The story includes this tasty nugget:

So (Illinois coach Lovie) Smith’s task is retaining an effective aerial game, which has become the Illini brand dating back to White, John Mackovic, Greg Landry, Ron Turner, Paul Petrino and most recently Bill Cubit (is he joining Buddy Teevens at Dartmouth?) while switching emphasis to the ground attack.

Find that story HERE.

How About That?

From a book due out next week titled, The 50 Best* College Football Teams of All Time (*The most interesting, innovative, and important, anyway:

For seven years, he had fought with and antagonized professors at Dartmouth who thought football was taking on too much emphasis.

Wonder what that's all about? Click HERE.

Hint: The reference was to a former coach who was smiling down on Baltimore yesterday.

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Speaking of The 50 Best* College Football Teams of All Time (*The most interesting, innovative, and important, anyway, wanna guess what team comes in at No. 26?

OK, I won't tease you this time. It's the 1970 Dartmouth team.

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That Certain Nittany Lion '16 got his Rose Bowl ticket yesterday. I'm sure he'll have a great trip but I doubt it will be quite as memorable as when yours truly drove with three friends from State College, Pa., to New Orleans for the 1979 national championship Sugar Bowl game against Alabama and we ended up selling my buddy's car on the drive back to Pennsylvania. It didn't help that Mike Guman got stonewalled by Barry Krauss on the goal line in the fourth quarter and Bama came away with a 14-7 win.

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OK, Army finally got its win and I'm glad about it. From now on in this electronic precinct it's back to, "Go Navy, Beat Army."

Saturday Stuff

Click to enlarge.

As the Dartmouth beat writer at the local daily for many years I had a Heisman Trophy vote. I was a little surprised that I kept the vote after moving over to BGA but maybe it shouldn't have been such a surprise given the decline of newspapers and the rise of the electronic media.

I've shared this story before but it's worth repeating. My grandfather, who grew up in Nevada, came East and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. I remember being told that late in life he would turn off his hearing aid when Navy was losing to Army. My father also was a Navy man, and so I grew up always rooting for Navy in one of the best games of the year. All of which makes it hard to do this, but once again I'll be rooting for Army today. Fourteen consecutive losses is simply too many.

Illinois QB Announces Transfer To Dartmouth

The Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette breaks the news that former Illinois quarterback Jimmy Fitzgerald is transferring to Dartmouth. Find the story HERE.

From the story:

Fitzgerald told The News-Gazette on Thursday he will join the Big Green upon his formal acceptance in March. He will start classes in the fall.

And this:

He considered Dartmouth and Harvard, picking the Big Green in mid-September.

He will remain with his current job until late December. Then, he is moving to Hanover, N.H., where he has an internship starting in January with a real-estate company.

“The campus community is what really swayed me to Dartmouth,” Fitzgerald said. “Coach Teevens is a guy with extremely high character, and we really connected. There was a cooperative effort between the coaches, students and faculty that I was really attracted to.” 

Fitzgerald was a three-star quarterback according to ESPN and Rivals and Scout.



Fitzgerald played just two games his senior season of high school football before suffering an ACL injury but still threw for 3,741 yards and 34 touchdowns (in his career ;-). Those numbers come from a News-Gazette story written about his decision to leave the Illinois program. (LINK)

Find his Illinois bio (below), which reports he was the No. 27 quarterback in the nation as a high school senior, HERE.

Happy Camper

Former Dartmouth quarterback Jay Fiedler's Tweets congratulating Flo Orimolade on winning the Bushnell Cup steered me to a look at what the former Miami Dolphins starter is doing these days. Check it out (with Jay making an introduction right around the one-minute mark):


NOT JUST SPORTS: Family, Tradition, & Celebrities at The Sports Academy at Brookwood Camps from Brookwood Camps on Vimeo.

Flo Follow

I'm not much of one for social media but for BGA Daily I have to take a look around and here are a few things I found today.

After being named Bushnell Cup winner as the Ivy League defensive player of the year, Flo Orimolade offered brief comments during the presentation. He expanded on them via Instagram:

I am truly blessed to be the recipient of the Asa S. Bushnell Cup. I was too nervous to really remember to thank everyone that needed to be thanked on my way to the end of my collegiate career, I just wanted to get off the stage actually. But, I just want to thank all the people that helped me from when I started playing in 10th grade. My family, friends, coaches, supporters, and doubters. I wish everybody who has helped me along the way could get the award at Their house for a day but we would run out of days in the year because it's a 1 of 1 trophy and more than 365 people have helped me. It was a really disappointing and by far my most difficult season of football that taught me a lot about my self but a Special shoutout to the Dartmouth defense this past year that had a lot of people step up because of injuries and lack of starter experience that made a hard season easier. Thanks to all that have supported me and will continue to support me. 

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A little more from social media – Tweets from former Dartmouth and NFL quarterback Jay Fiedler, himself a Bushnell winner:

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Speaking of which . . .

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The temperature at Old Faithful in Yellowstone was projected to be 18 below zero at 8 a.m. today. Wonder if That Certain Dartmouth '14 has *warm* memories of spending last winter as a ranger in the Everglades while she continues training to spend the winter driving and giving tours in one of these?

She's also training on the snow coaches with continuous tracks like those on bulldozers ;-)

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And finally, with the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor the news is filled with clips and soundbites featuring survivors of the attack. Truly the Greatest Generation.

Unless I heard wrong, on the Today Show this morning a 104-year-old hero standing amidst young men in uniform snuck in a "Go Army" chant that just might have a little to do with a game being played Saturday in Baltimore ;-)