Well Look At That!

A service called Aerial Pros uses drones to shoot photographs and videos of all sorts of sporting venues, landscapes and events. If you CLICK HERE on their football home page it will bring up a gallery of photos leading off with this one of Dartmouth's Memorial Field at Homecoming. There are at least two other Memorial Field photos in the rotation along with a wide variety of other college and high school stadiums and practice facilities. (Caution: The slide show is kind of addictive – but thanks for the link anyway ;-)

•

The Worcester Telegram has a feature on Holy Cross fifth-year senior Peter Pujals, probably the best all-around quarterback Dartmouth will face this fall. The story notes that the injury against the Big Green last fall that cost him his season was a cracked lower left fibula, down by his ankle.

A couple of quick outtakes from the story:

• Pujals is one of four HC players returning for a fifth season. Running back Gabe Guild and offensive linemen Nick Piker and James Murray also will be back, and the foursome will provide great leadership.

• HC, looking to improve upon last year’s 4-7 finish, opens the season Aug. 31 at Connecticut.

Dartmouth opens its home season in Week 2 with a Sept. 23 visit from Holy Cross and Pujals.

•

For those of you who have stuck with BGA since the start . . .

That Certain Nittany Lion '16 geography major has turned his temporary mapping assignment into a permanent position with an industry leader. Never fear, he's still working one day each weekend at Hanover Country Club and working to keep his game sharp.

And That Certain Dartmouth '14 has just about finished the desert portion of her 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail hike. She hopes to cross the 700-mile threshold early in the coming week. Her blog is generally about a week behind, but you can follow the adventure HERE.

One Of These Is Not Like The Others

Old friend Craig Haley of STATS has a rundown of every FCS preseason conference poll release date. Here's how his 13 Tweets were worded (italics are mine):

@MEACSports preseason poll will be released on July 28.
@PatriotLeagueFB preseason poll will be released on July 27.
@ValleyFootball preseason poll will be released on July 25.
@CAAFootball preseason poll will be released on July 25.
@PFLNews preseason poll will be released on July 24.
@PFLNews preseason poll will be released on July 24.
@SouthlandSports preseason poll will be released on July 20.
@NECFootball preseason poll will be released on July 20.
@NECFootball preseason poll will be released on July 20.
@BigSouthFB preseason poll will be released on July 18.
@BigSkyFB preseason poll will be released on July 18.
@theswac preseason poll will be released on July 14.
@Ivy_Football preseason poll tentatively scheduled to be released on Aug. 8.

•

The local Valley News has a story under the headline, Giving Vets a Boost: Dartmouth Graduate Works to Link Military, Sports, that details an initiative called Athletes of Valor.

Former Big Green football/baseball player and U.S. Marines company commander Jason Blydell '08 is director of sales and development for the effort started by another former Swampscott, Mass., that  provides free help connecting veterans with college coaches. Athletes of Valor also is working to develop connections that will lead to internships and professional opportunities for veterans.

Blydell told the newspaper:

“A lot of (veterans) think, ‘I’m too old’ or ‘I’m ineligible,’ neither of which are true. They don’t realize that the opportunity is there, that a lot of coaches are looking for players of their character and abilities.” 

And:

“We’re essentially trying to flip the recruitment model. Whereas a lot of recruitment sites charge high school kids to post their profiles, we feel like veterans offer unique value to college sports programs, and we’re working with athletic departments that feel the same way.”

Athletes of Valor notes that 50 percent of veterans graduate from college while 85 percent of student-athletes collect their degrees. That is at least in part because athletes have "regimented, busy schedules," a "powerful network of resources," the necessity to "work as a unit," and "eat, sleep, study (and) train together," much as it is in the military.

The Valley News story includes comments from Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens about former Big Green running back and Army veteran Kevin Price.

•

The Sheboygan Press has a story about the Green Bay Packers' flirtation with the Mobile Virtual Player developed at Dartmouth. From the story:

Coach Mike McCarthy hasn’t yet added robotic tackling dummies into the Packers’ practice regimen, but don’t be surprised if he does in the next year or two.

And:

“It didn’t work out this year, but it’s a good product. You never really want to be first on things, you never want to be last. I think any new product there’s some hiccups you work through. But I think it’s an excellent, excellent product.” 

•

Ballpark Digest has a story under the headline Select MLB Ballparks Set to Host College Football.

Dartmouth gets two mentions in the story, which lists games this fall at Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium, Target Field, Chase Field and Tropicana Field and future games at SunTrust Park, Yankee Stadium and possibly Wrigley Field.

Of interest in addition to the Dartmouth-Brown game this fall and Dartmouth-Princeton in 2019 is the game at Target described this way:

Arguably the biggest football rivalry in the state of Minnesota is going to the Show in 2017. The Division III University of St. Thomas will host St. John’s University on September 23. The “Johnnie-Tommie Game” (or is it Tommie-Johnnie?) will be the first football game for Target Field since it opened in 2010.

 

The 'Czar' Looks At The Ivy League

Football Gameplan and self-annointed "Czar of the Playbook" Emory Hunt offer up a 21-minute look at the 2017 Ivy League football season.

Points of note:
• Dartmouth has three players named to the FBGP All-Ivy League preseason offense (tight end Cameron Skaff, offensive lineman Matt Kaskey and wide receiver Hunter Hagdorn).
• No Dartmouth player is on the preseason All-Ivy defense.
• Skaff is referred to as an NFL prospect.
• Defensive lineman Jackson Yost is singled out in Dartmouth's incoming class.

The top units according to FBGP:
• Quarterback: Princeton
• Running back: Cornell
• Receivers: Dartmouth/Penn tie
• Offensive line: Princeton
• Special teams: Columbia

• Defensive line: Columbia
• Linebackers: Penn
• Defensive backs: Penn
• Special teams: Columbia

The "Czar" doesn't formally project his Ivy League standings, but it's pretty clear he started at the bottom and worked his way to the top. That being the case, his race looks like this:

8. Brown
7. Cornell
6. Columbia
5. Dartmouth
4. Yale
3. Harvard
2. Princeton
1. Penn

With that out of the way, here's the Football Gameplan look at the Ivies:

•

An update and a little more information on the recent Dartmouth players facing difficult struggles:

• The Ernest Evans GoFundMe page includes this:

His family and I would like to thank everyone for the generosity shown during this fundraising campaign. Whether you donated, shared the fundraiser with others, or have sent prayers and positive thoughts towards Ernest, we are very grateful for your contribution. As of now, there is not too much to update on his condition. According to the nurse I spoke with yesterday, he hasn't made any huge strides forward in the past few days, but he also hasn't had any major setbacks. Some of the positive strides he's made since the injury include decreased swelling in his extremities and ability to open eyes and move his arms and legs (but not so much on command). The most important part will be to respond to commands that show he can hear and react/control his actions to show a connection between mind and body which we are hoping picks up some speed. When I have new info, I will post here to keep all of you informed. Once again, we thank everyone for their help.

And RanchoMurieta.com has a story about helping Garrett Strohmaier's after the passing of his father, Paul, shortly after Garrett's graduation earlier this spring. The story features a special photo of the very proud father and son on the Dartmouth Green at graduation as well as a link to the Strohmaier GoFundMe page that includes information on Friday's services for Paul Strohmaier.

Odds And Ends

Yale has joined the party and become the final Ivy League school to release its list of football recruits. (LINK)

As was reported in the Great Falls Tribune earlier this month, standout Montana running back Andrew Grinde is on the list. Grinde was expected to join the Elis last year but after reporting to New Haven opted instead to take a gap year.

•

The STATS site has a story about most of the top FCS teams returning their starting quarterback. From the story:

Two more programs that won conference titles need new starters. Northeast Conference co-champ Duquesne can insert Boise State graduate transfer Tom Stuart into the lineup. Ivy League co-champ Penn's starting job is uncertain as the other two returnees, senior Will Fischer-Colbrie and sophomore Tyler Herrick, have yet to appear in a game for the Quakers. Touted freshman Ryan Glover and Georgia transfer Nick Robinson factor into the picture.

Green Alert Take: Dartmouth isn't playing Duquesne this fall but it is playing fellow Northeast Conference member Sacred Heart. Interesting that the Ivies are aligning themselves a little more closely with a conference that takes graduate transfers.

Green Alert Take II: At least one BGA reader will get a kick out of Penn quarterback Ryan Glover being "touted." The only thing he'd like more would be if Glover were "highly touted."

•

Jack Daly '84, who held the Dartmouth career receptions record when he graduated and still holds the record for yards receiving in a game (219 on nine catches against Colgate) has been elected to the Clinton County Mariners Hall of Fame – for baseball – per the Press Republican (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) From the story:

Following a record-setting career, Daly was signed by the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League and drafted by the Memphis Showboats of the United States Football League.

And this:

Daly is a member of the Peru Central School and Dartmouth College Halls of Fame.

For what it's worth, Dartmouth doesn't actually have an official Hall of Fame. It does have the Wearers of the Green, sort of an unofficial hall.

•

Another story about Jaret Pallotta committing to UMass mentions that his brother Jake is a Dartmouth quarterback. (LINK) From the story:

... (W)ith Dartmouth as an Ivy League school, the Big Green play their games on Friday nights and that means his parents would be able to drive to Dartmouth for a Friday night game and come down to UMass for his game the next day.

That could happen, but except on extremely rare occasions (such as this year's game at Fenway Park) the Big Green doesn't play on Friday nights. Should Dartmouth be chosen for a TV game this fall, it might have another Friday game this year.

An Oldie But Goodie

It's another s-l-o-w Monday at the front end of another s-l-o-w week. I'm flirting with the idea of going to a three-day-a-week schedule until things pick up. We'll see.

In the meantime, here's something from several years ago. It's a football trailer that plays off the theme The Woods. Enjoy.

•

Before I go, the morning email brought an update on Ernest Evans' condition in Los Angeles and because I don't know how much of it is/should be public I'll just give you the start: "As of today, Ernest has not had any major setbacks but no significant strides forward, either."

Find Ernest's story on the GoFundMe page started by teammate Chai Reece.

Garrett Strohmaier is another recent Big Green football player facing a difficult time with the passing of his father after Dartmouth graduation. A friend of BGA and regular emailer who made generous contributions both to the Strohmaier GoFundMe and Evans GoFundMe campaigns wants to make sure folks don't forget about the challenges faced by both. He sent along this note:

I don't ask for many favors but could you give (Strohmaier) a mention tmrow in the blog.

 Thanks again to everyone who has done what they can to help both families.

Camping QBs

Senior quarterback Jack Heneghan works under the watchful eye of Peyton Manning at the Manning Passing Academy, where Big Green head coach Buddy Teevens is an assistant director. (Photo courtesy of Dartmouth football.)

•

Dalyn Williams, who preceded Heneghan as Dartmouth's starting quarterback, is featured in the Denton (Texas) Record-Chronicle for working the Dak Prescott football camp at his former high school. Find the story HERE.

•

Speaking of talented quarterbacks, the STATS site has a note that Peter Pujals will be the first four-time captain in Holy Cross history this fall. (Pujals has Dartmouth to thank – or blame – because it was a season-ending injury against the Big Green that led to his return this year as a medical redshirt.)

A click back to the Holy Cross football  page for a story about Pujals making Crusader history came up empty but it did reveal a lengthy story about old friend Tom Gilmore, the onetime Dartmouth defensive coordinator and 14th-year Holy Cross head coach.

The story notes that the Academic All-American, who won the Bushnell Cup as a Penn lineman (think about that), almost did not attend college.

Read the Gilmore story here.

Gilmore's successful eight-year tenure at Dartmouth is described in his Holy Cross bio this way:

While at Dartmouth, he served as offensive line coach, linebackers coach and defensive coordinator. He helped the Big Green to two Ivy League titles, and in the 1996 season, Dartmouth finished the year ranked 17th in the nation after posting a perfect 10-0 mark. Gilmore also helped Dartmouth to a 22-game unbeaten streak from 1995-1997, which still ranks as the third-longest unbeaten streak in Division I-AA history. In addition, Gilmore coached a team of Ivy League All-Stars to a victory in the 1996 Epsom Ivy Bowl in Osaka, Japan.

As Dartmouth’s defensive coordinator during the 1997 season, he led one of the best defensive units in the school’s recent history. The Big Green ranked second in the nation in rushing defense, allowing just 77.3 yards per game and 2.3 yards per carry. Dartmouth also allowed just 16.5 points per game in 1997, while recording 40 quarterback sacks, 57 tackles for loss and 17 interceptions in 10 games. Gilmore’s defense also scored four touchdowns that season, two of which were game-winning scores.

•

After Dartmouth Gilmore coached at Lehigh, which was in the news this week for scheduling a "Week Zero" game at Navy on Aug. 25, 2018. (LINK)

•

And now for a little Sunday Silliness. Click HERE to see more on the RedditCFB site.

Click to enlarge.

Faith And Football

Former Dartmouth tight end and NFL fullback Casey Cramer was profiled in a Dartmouth Alumni Q&A. Today the pastor of children and families at a church in Nashville, Tenn., Cramer is also the chaplain of the Tennessee Titans. He explained the start of his journey from five-year NFL veteran to the church this way:

Every off-season I took the opportunity to prepare for the next phase of life after football. I had an internship on a bond trading floor, passed the Series 7 to sell and trade securities, did a wealth-management internship, participated in executive education courses at Stanford, Kellogg, Wharton, and Harvard business schools, and took the GMAT to prepare for doing an MBA. 

But after all these achievements, I learned that all the personal success and accolades I had received on and off the playing field did not satisfy me.

Read the full piece HERE.

•

Dartmouth alums are all over the sports world. Thanks to a loyal friend of BGA for sharing a link to a Boston Globe story about the retirement of Steve Nazro '63, the Boston Garden's vice president of event scheduling. The Globe notes that, "Nazro’s tenure spanned more than 8,000 events, 1,000 concerts, and eight Boston Celtics championships."

From the story:

Nazro, 75, recalled his mother asking him about his plans for the future. After graduating from Dartmouth College and serving two years in the US Army, it was time to find a profession.

Not long after his mother’s inquiries, Nazro sprung into action. On Dec. 26, 1966, he was hired as a group sales director at the Garden.

“From then on, I’ve just volunteered for everything,” Nazro said. “And I was volun-told to do everything.”

•

From a D1.Ticker posting:

"No way to celebrate Title IX: The poor hiring records of select college conferences." That's the title from UCF's Lapchick as he dives into the current state of diversity in leadership roles around college athletics, points to four conferences (SEC, Big East, Big Ten & Ivy) as receiving grades of "F" in his latest "Gender, Race & LGBT Inclusion of Head Coaches of Women's Teams" scorecard.

Find the story HERE.

•

 A little Saturday morning fun for you ;-)

Reprising something she did as a leader of a "psycho hiking" freshman trip while in college, That Certain Dartmouth '14 fooled some of the kids under her charge last summer during a weekend backpacking trip with a Yellowstone youth group. Check it out in this quick video clip (and know that you are not seeing what you think you are seeing. ) That's her in the orange shorts on the right. ;-)

For what it's worth, That Certain Dartmouth '14 is right about at the 500-mile mark on her Pacific Crest Trail hike.

Another Quiet Day

BGA Premium started in 2005 and this daily site began that same summer on another platform. This is the 5,570th posting since moving to this host and I've never been more proud of the community we've developed together. A heartfelt thank you for stepping up and helping a couple of former players and their families who are going through difficult times.

•

With precious little happening on the football front it was time for a Google search that turned up a couple of things for that Dartmouth fan who has everything.

First, how about a sterling silver Dartmouth football spoon thought to be from the late 19th century? You can own it for $79.99.

The back of the bowl has football laces, and the handle is a graduate in cap and gown.

Hard to tell what this depicts but it looks like Rollins Chapel.

•

For $199.99 you can buy your own 1953 Dartmouth College Stein with "with mascot, Indian head, Dartmouth Hall, and the school crest." Check it out HERE.

Help If You Can

It has been an incredibly difficult couple of weeks for the Dartmouth football family between Garrett Strohmaier '17 losing his father after graduation and quarterback Ernest Evans '16 lying hospitalized and in a coma as a result of what a GoFundMe page describes as, "a significant skull fracture and brain damage that caused swelling and bleeding."

It is a lot to ask for you to dig into your wallets again, but once again a member of the Big Green family needs your help and needs your prayers.

Learn more about the difficult fight ahead for Ernest Evans and how you can do your part for him and his family on the GoFundMe page set up by a teammate HERE.

And please don't forget about the Strohmaier family. Learn more and contribute HERE.

Here And There

On another slow day . . .

Did you know that Wikipedia has pages on every Ivy League football stadium? Here they are:

Brown

Columbia

Cornell

Dartmouth

Harvard

Penn

Princeton

Yale

And here are the home fields of Dartmouth's 2017 nonconference opponents. Like the Ivy League Wikipedia pages, there's some questionable information such as listing Sacred Heart's Campus Field with 10,500 seats when capacity is actually 3,334 ;-)

Holy Cross

Sacred Heart

Stetson

•

One of the interesting things about working for a state university is that salaries are a matter of public record, which is why we know former Dartmouth assistant Calvin Thibodeaux is doing OK as defensive ends coach at Oklahoma. OU Daily reports he just got a raise to $270,000.

Thibodeaux, by the way, just turned the tables in a recruiting Twitter war with fellow Ivy League coaching expatriate Stan Drayton (Penn). Funny stuff HERE.

JoMo Speaks

Onetime Dartmouth linebackers coach Joe Moglia is the guest subject on The Forbes Interview Podcast talking about "leadership, fostering talent (and) taking risks . . . " The 54-minute episode is introduced this way:

Few people achieve the rank of head coach of a Division I college football program. Even fewer chair $20 billion publicly-traded companies. Joe Moglia does both--at the same time. Moglia, the head coach of Coastal Carolina football and the chairman of TD Ameritrade has one of the unique resumes in modern business.

Raised in a rough New York neighborhood, Moglia worked his way up to an assistant coach on Dartmouth College's football squad before leaving for a job at Merrill Lynch where he rose the executive ranks. In 2001 he became CEO of then struggling broker, TD Ameritrade. As CEO he grew the online broker's market cap to $10 billion from $700 million. In 2008 Moglia stepped down as CEO to chase his dream of coaching college football--a move many in both finance and sports wrote-off as impossible. Nonetheless, Moglia has led Coastal Carolina since 2011 delivering an overall record of 51-15, and with it three conference championships. 

CLICK HERE to listen in as Moglia offers up his story, which begins with him sleeping on an army cot and trying to survive Hanover winters while living in an unheated storage room above the old football offices in Davis Varsity House.

Moglia's road from football and Dartmouth was told in a 2009 Forbes story headlined, From Boardroom To Gridiron At 60.

•

A Canadian Football League preview story this week in the Toronto Sun looks at the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and notes that former Dartmouth standout Garrett Waggoner '13 is among those no longer on the CFL team's roster.

• 

Former Dartmouth linebacker Alex McCrory gets a mention in a story about his brother Jack choosing to commit to Ohio University as a linebacker. (LINK) Last fall Jack honored his injured older brother by dedicating a big game to him. (LINK)

•

Kudos to the University of New Hampshire for starting up a Fan Advisory Board, "which is being created to foster discussion among various representatives from the Wildcat community to offer the best possible fan experience at all UNH athletic events." (LINK)

Green Alert Take: I don't know how many Ivy League schools have that kind of board but it's something they might want to consider given the direction attendance has been going to a lot of events.

Camping

It's the end of first week of the Buddy Teevens Football Camp. So far just one new commitment but don't be surprised if a few more trickle out in the coming days and weeks. Fingers crossed that the weather holds today.

•

No preview of this quick video from Saturday's golf outing but click and watch:

A post shared by Dartmouth Football (@dartmouth_football) on Jun 19, 2017 at 6:44am PDT

•

For those of you following That Certain Dartmouth '14's epic 2,650-mile hike on the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mexican to the Canadian border (LINK), know that they are wisely taking several days off to avoid the worst of the triple-digit heat wave baking the desert southwest. A friend picked them up at a trailhead and is hosting them in Los Angeles. They went to the Dodgers-Mets game last night and will spend at least one more night in LA before hitting the trail again. After 22 days on the trail they have put 430 miles behind them.

Dartmouth-Bound QB Honored

Incoming quarterback recruit Derek Kyler of DeKalb, Ill., is the Daily Chronicle Boys Athlete of the Year after being chosen the Daily Chronicle Football Offensive Player of the Year in 2016. (LINK)

From the story:

Kyler could be considered a case study in the national debate over the specialization of high school athletes. After being named the starting quarterback in 2014 for what would become one of the best football teams in the state, he still added baseball in the spring for his sophomore through senior years.

As a senior, after the football team made a run to the Class 6A semifinals, Kyler added basketball to his résumé once again before closing out his prep career with the baseball team.

DeKalb baseball coach Dedric Wright on the Dartmouth-bound athlete after he batted over .400 and posted a 0.75 ERA while going 2-0 on the mound:

“One of the things I’ve always said about him is he’s the most humble kid I know. In the game of football, there’s a lot of ego being the quarterback. Your chest is puffed out and then to go basketball, where you’re not the man and you’re a role player and then jumping back to baseball where you’re kind of the man, that says a lot about being humble and being a team guy. That’s one of the best qualities he has.” 

Kyler passed for 2,403 yards with 33 touchdowns and five interceptions last fall. He also ran for 849 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Fore!

After our successful yard sale (more about that later) I hustled into town for the Friends of Dartmouth Football Golf Classic, had a chance to say hi to a bunch of former players and stuck around for the auction. Here are a few snaps I took:

First things first. Nothing happens without these guys. Click photo to enlarge.

Nickels coach Danny O'Dea gets the auction going.

Bidding for an autographed Tom Brady shirt was 3H (Heated,  High and Humorous) and seemed to have stopped at a pretty impressive number until word came in that a phone bidder had upped the ante. In fact, the caller had more than doubled the last bid under the tent that had already just about floored me. When I heard the number I had to ask if it was true. It's, uh, my understanding that there were a few beers consumed at the event ;-) but not enough for anyone to take on the phone bid. Now THAT was a Friend of Football.

A helmet autographed by "Gronk," and a football autographed by Ben Roethlesgerger helped fill the football coffers along with a one-of -a-kind blanket.

One of the genuine treasures that sold at the auction was this beautifully crafted clock made by former safety Ian Wilson '08, who could earn a living making these things.

And finally, the damages:

Click to enlarge.

•

As for the yard sale, we closed up shop a little after 2, at which point I phoned the local church that is having an auction this Saturday. The pastor himself answered and dropped by in his pickup truck a few minutes later to take away some of things that we simply didn't have enough traffic on our dirt road to sell. He appreciated the donation because apparently they were running short on items to sell off. We're bringing the rest to him this afternoon after his service. Unfortunately for the church, there's no autographed Tom Brady jersey in the mix ;-)

Busy Day

It's the Friends of Dartmouth Football Golf Outing today, and also . . .

. . . the Great Moose Mountain Yard Sale of 2017. I was up late and back setting up at 4 this morning as we try to dump, I mean sell, a bunch of stuff. Amazingly, furniture isn't moving although we did just sell a chest of drawers and night stand.

Lots and lots and lots of free stuff but we're still going to be stuck with a lot of it.

For what it's worth, we picked this date because there's a country fair just down the hill next week featuring a flea market and auction. What doesn't sell here will almost definitely sell there because of the crowd they draw.

Mandatory football connection: I'm wearing a Dartmouth Football T-Shirt and have had several people ask how the season is going to go this year.

OK, I've got to head back out to relieve Mrs. BGA. The official start time today was 8 a. m., and of course we had early birds. End time is 2 p.m., later than most but given our remote location, we need all the help we can get.

See you tomorrow.

The Staff

Meet the Dartmouth football coaching staff, courtesy of the Big Green football  office:

•

The Mobile Virtual Player developed at Dartmouth gets some pub on the New England Patriots site under the headline, Tackling Tech: Sports Tech Converges on NFL Head Health. From the story:

The ongoing need for breakthrough products for the head health challenge extend far beyond pro football as was witnessed this week with former Kansas City Chiefs Placekicking Star Nick Lowery's pledge to help fuel deployment of the Mobile Virtual Player (MVP) tackling dummy to high schools in the State of Arizona.

Read more about the effort to bring the MVP to high schools and the role the former Dartmouth kicker has taken in it HERE.

•

Recent Dartmouth graduate Garrett Strohmaier has a heartfelt thank you message to those who have contributed to the GoFundMe campaign to help his family after losing his father following graduation. He writes: "The love that has poured in during this very difficult time means the world to us, and the support that we have felt from our friends and family has assured us that we are not in this alone."

CLICK HERE to learn more about how you can contribute to the Paul Strohmaier Memorial Fund and click on the Updates link to read Garrett's full message.

Please Help

Please consider helping the family of just-graduated Dartmouth football player Garrett Strohmaier. A GoFundMe page tells the unspeakably sad story better than I ever could:

It is with a heavy heart that we mourn the passing of Paul Raymond Strohmaier, a beloved father, husband, son, brother, and friend. As many of you know, Paul was a wonderful and selfless man who worked tirelessly as the sole provider for his family – his wife, Heidi, and his two children, Garrett and Brittany. 

On June 11th, during a trip to New Hampshire to see Garrett’s graduation from Dartmouth College, Paul spent his last full day watching his son become the first graduate of a 4-year college in the Strohmaier family. The morning of the graduation ceremony, Paul began to feel ill. Over the course of the next 24 hours, Paul’s condition deteriorated, and he was rushed to a hospital in Manchester, NH for an emergency surgery. While the doctors remained optimistic at first, Paul was unable to recover from the surgery and passed away late on Tuesday morning. 

Paul was one of the most loving people anyone could ever meet. His friends and family remember his dedication to his loved ones, his unwavering support, and his unmatched sense of humor. We are all better for having known him and his passing has been devastating for many. 

Paul valued his family over everything else in life. To honor his memory, we ask for any help that you are able to provide to the Strohmaier family in this time of need. Your love and support means the world to Heidi, Garrett, and Brittany during this difficult time.

Visit the Paul Strohmaier Memorial Fund GoFundMe page HERE.

A Recruiting Tale

One of the high school seniors BGA and a few friends who help dig up recruiting information were watching last winter for a commitment was Austin Connor, a South Carolina wide receiver.

Why were we keeping an eye on him?

First, he's a talented player, earning three stars from 247Sports and at one point holding offers from South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Virginia Tech.

There are a lot of those types, but in this case  recruiting sites listed Dartmouth as one of his schools of interest, and the Twittersphere (and later the paper The State) noted that he indeed made a January recruiting visit to Hanover.

And last, but not least, his quarterback at Dutch Fork High School had been Cole Douglas, who will be a sophomore at Dartmouth this fall and might have had some influence on his decision.

So where did Connor end up on Signing Day?

Nowhere.

The scholarships he'd been offered were scooped up by other players. And for one reason or another the 4.3 GPA student did not punt and commit to either Dartmouth or Harvard, which also offered him.

A story in The State under the headline, Dutch Fork receiver learns lesson about waiting to commit, included this advice from the disappointed high school senior:

"I would say take all your visits early and find out the best place to call home. I took too long. I didn't know much and how fast paced dealing with ACC and SEC (schools) would be. I thought I could wait until Signing Day but a lot of receivers committed quickly."

More than four months after Signing Day Connor has finally found a home and it's not in Hanover or Cambridge. The SBNation South Carolina site reports he will walk on at South Carolina. From that posting:

Connor is not your typical walk-on addition. Per 247Sports Composite, he has a three-star rating and is ranked as the 12th best prospect in the state of South Carolina. Following his junior season, he pulled in Power 5 offers from Virginia Tech, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Vanderbilt, among others.

Connor’s mistake was drawing out the recruiting process. He wanted to wait until National Signing Day to commit, but by then all the larger schools he was interested in had filled up at his position.

Essentially, Will Muschamp and staff are adding a scholarship caliber player to the roster without having to use one.

•

Athlon has named its All-America team (LINK) and it includes Penn wide receiver Justin Watson.

Green Alert Take: Watson is a talented and deserving choice, but is there another position in football that is so dependent on another player for success? It will be interesting to see what kind of numbers he posts without Alek Torgersen throwing him the ball.

•

Maybe the secret is out on why retiring GE leader Jeff Immelt chose to play his football at Dartmouth. Apparently he likes the cold (not a bad thing for someone whose company gained fame for making fridges ;-). Read about Immelt's fondness for low temps HERE.

•

Back to that advice about taking your recruiting visits and finding a place to call home early. A good friend of BGA has shared a link from ESPN that might be more at home on the Ripley's Believe It or Not site:

Hawaii has "offered" a fifth-grade quarterback and it's serious. Check the story out HERE.

•

Dartmouth pitcher Michael Danielak was chosen by the Oakland Athletics in the 19th round of the baseball draft. Find a Dartmouth release HERE. Teammate Beau Sulser was selected the day before by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 10th round.

Dartmouth Lands A Big One

And so it begins anew.

RecruitGeorgia reports that 6-foot-6 Matthew Hall, a tackle from Walton High School and Marietta, Ga., has committed to Dartmouth. The site notes he had offers from Tulane, Yale, Brown, Mercer and Eastern Kentucky. There's a little more about him HERE.

Hall's listed weight ranges from 288 on one site to 310 pounds on his junior highlight video.

•

Dartmouth pitcher Beau Sulser was chosen yesterday by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 10th round of the baseball draft. His brother, Cole '12, was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the 25th round in 2013.

Sulser was the first Ivy League player drafted this  year. From a Dartmouth release:

A 6-2, 195-pound senior out of Santa Ysabel, California, Sulser was the Ivy League Pitcher of the Year this past spring with a 6-1 record and miniscule 1.40 ERA, which ranks third among Division I pitchers and is the 10th lowest in program history. In 45.0 innings of work, he struck out 52 batters and walked just five while holding the opposition to a .201 batting average. Not only does Sulser rank among the nation's leaders in ERA, but also WHIP (0.80, second), strikeout-to-walk ratio (10.40, third) and walks issued per nine innings (1.0, seventh).

Cole Sulser has split time this spring between Akron of the Double-A Eastern League and Columbus, the Indians' Triple-A affiliate in the International League where he made eight appearances covering 11 1/3 innings without allowing an earned run. (LINK)

Editor's Note: I did an interview with Beau Sulser last week for a story I am writing about Dartmouth athletes who miss a season because of injury returning for a fifth year. He spoke enthusiastically about his dream of playing professional baseball. A link to that story, which will also feature 2017 Dartmouth football captain Jeremiah Douchee, will appear on this page after it has been published.

Are You Shocked?

Athlon has projected the 2017 FCS playoff field. Reading down the list and finding no Ivy League team I felt like Captain Renault, AKA Claude Rains:



(For the half dozen of you who don't know, the Ivy League allows every sport it conducts to compete for a national championship except football. Ask your school president for the explanation of how that is fair. If the explanation makes any sense, please send it along. Like Linus in the pumpkin patch, I'll be waiting. And waiting. And waiting.)

•

STATS has a story about ". . . (F)ive under-the-radar coaches who are doing as good a job as any other on the lower half of Division I college football."

From the story:

Ray Priore, Penn - Although it's difficult to succeed a coaching legend, Priore, who first became a Penn assistant in 1987, has done that admirably in his two seasons following Al Bagnoli's 23-season run with the Quakers. In fact, they struggled in Bagnoli's final two seasons, but Priore is the second coach in Ivy League history to win titles in each of his first two seasons. He has a 14-6 record.

Left out of the story? The name of the other coach to win Ivy League titles in each of his first two seasons. That would be Dartmouth's Jake Crouthamel.

Also left out of the story? Crouthamel actually won Ivy League titles in each of his first three seasons, 1971, '72 and '73.

Breaking News

Breaking news this morning. Former Dartmouth football player Jeff Immelt '78 is stepping down at General Electric. LINK

•

This was very, very good:

•

Notre Dame, Stanford and UCLA were once in the hunt for a potential game-breaking tight end named Aaron Judge, who hit a 495-foot home run over the weekend. (LINK) Those are some pretty good academic schools. Wonder if any of the Ivies took a look at him?

Congrats Class of 2017

Graduation day with Dartmouth grad and CNN anchor Jake Tapper '91 the speaker. Read about Tapper's days in Hanover HERE in The Dartmouth.

•

Incoming wide receiver Masaki Aerts is the subject of a feature story in New Jersey's Hudson Reporter. While it was winning two state gold medals that earned him athlete of the week honors and led to the story, the piece begins this way:

Honestly, Masaki Aerts wasn’t too keen on participating in track and field in the first place.

Aerts was a football player, through and through. He was also an excellent student, so getting a fine education was a priority.

But running track?

“For me, it was always football,” said the recently graduated student of St. Peter’s Prep. “The reason I initially tried out was to stay in shape for football. It was a way to keep in shape in the offseason. I never had any previous experience in track.”

•

For a few years there was a tradition that graduation week at Dartmouth included the showing of the epochal film The Graduate, for which Buck Henry '51, co-wrote the screenplay and earned an Academy Award nomination. CLICK HERE to watch the trailer for the film.

 

99 Days

On the eve of graduation. . . .

We're into double figures ;-) There are just 99 days until Dartmouth's opener at Stetson on Sept. 16.

•

Speaking of commencement, graduating punter Ben Kepley is quoted this way in a story in The Dartmouth under the headline, Senior student-athletes reflect on their Dartmouth careers:

“Being a student-athlete at Dartmouth has been an incredible experience for me. It has taught me the value of hard work and dedication as well as how to budget my time effectively. More importantly, perhaps, is that playing football here allowed me to meet some amazing people with whom I know I will be lifelong friends."

•

Former Dartmouth defensive back and now Miami Dolphins' defensive coordinator Matt Burke's penchant for dramatic vacations – like summiting 19,340-foot Mount Kilimanjaro – is the subject of a story in the Palm Beach Post. From the story:

He may be the only man in NFL history who has coached Bengals and Lions (in Cincinnati and Detroit) and vacationed with Bengals and lions (in Asia and Africa).

•

I'm not sure FBS players should be paid but something is very much out of whack when football programs are putting in slides to get to their players to the weight room and bunk bed cubbies for them to take naps. Check it out here.

The MVP Back Story

From the intro to a 20-minute audio interview on the Athletic Director U site:

As a research engineer at Dartmouth, John Currier never imagined he would be tasked to create a tackling dummy on wheels. But after a chance conversation with the Big Green football coach, that’s exactly what happened. Listen to how the Mobile Virtual Player (MVP) came about and how it is helping us explore the future of college football.

Listen to the interview HERE.

•

A little background on how this Internet/blogging thing works:

Unless readers email me, I have no idea who they are. I can access analytics telling me what part of the country or world you are from, what browser you use and when you visit BGA Daily, but not much more.

It is that last bit that has me posting the video below today instead of on Saturday or Sunday for Dartmouth graduation.

The analytics tell me that traffic on this site is far heavier during the week than on weekends (except in the fall). That being the case, you may not be able to watch this whole thing today (unless you have one of those 'The Boss is Coming' apps that makes a fake spreadsheet appear on your screen) but  at least you'll know that it's here and maybe remember to come back and check it out tomorrow.

Either way, don't miss this. It's as good as it gets.

Packers Cut Flores

The Green Bay Packers have cut Dartmouth alum Jacob Flores. From the Acme Packing Company website:

As for the departing Flores, the move marks the apparent end of his year-long run in Green Bay. The interior offensive lineman originally signed with the team shortly after the 2016 NFL Draft and battled for a roster spot during the subsequent training camp and the preseason. He received a settlement from the Packers in September arising out of an undisclosed injury but rejoined the club on the practice squad in October.

•

Back in the dark ages when I worked at Dartmouth there was a minor crisis when someone working at a refreshment stand had the audacity to put up a small banner advertising Coca-Cola in its familiar white-on-red script. The sign was ordered taken down because that kind of commercialization was deemed improper at a school like Dartmouth.

We've come a long way. Check out this page from the summer issue of the magazine, Here in Hanover:

Sounds Familiar, Huh?

There's a familiar name in the Daily Hampshire Gazette down in Massachusetts. Make that a familiar last name.

Here's the headline:

UMass football lands first commit from class of 2018, quarterback Jaret Pallotta.

From the story:

Jaret Pallotta wanted to make his college choice early and UMass felt like a fit right away.

The 6-foot-5, 200-pound quarterback from Canton, Ohio, visited Amherst last month on his way to the spring game at Dartmouth, where his brother Jake is the starting quarterback.

Yup, Jaret is Jake's younger brother. He'll be a high school senior in the fall. But the Gazette jumped the gun a little bit in anointing the older brother as Dartmouth's starting quarterback. He did not see action as a freshman.

Jaret Pallotta chose UMass over offers from Eastern Kentucky, Western Kentucky and Georgetown according to Scout. The 247Sports site reports he also had an offer from Davidson and interest from or in Dartmouth.

From the story:

“I love Coach (Mark) Whipple and I think the offense he runs is perfect for my set of skills,” said Pallotta, who was also considering Western Kentucky and Toledo. “The offense he runs fits me. It’s an NFL type offense. At the end of the day my goal is to play in the NFL and this gives me a great opportunity to showcase my skills in a great system.”

•

By the way, the Dartmouth roster page has been updated with the addition of freshmen.

Catching Up With Nonconference Recruits

Following up on last week's list of Ivy League recruiting classes (sans Yale), here are the classes that are joining Dartmouth's nonconference opponents this fall:

• Stetson will try to improve on last year's 4-7 overall record and 2-6 Pioneer Football League record with a whopping class of 40. The only crossover with Dartmouth is the class features two teammates of incoming Dartmouth defensive end Seth Walter at Manatee High School in Bradenton, Fla.  (LINK)

• Holy Cross, which also comes in off a 4-7 record and a 2-4 Patriot League mark, has a smaller class of just 20, a result of the PL's move to scholarships. Not surprisingly, Holy Cross tapped into Ivy League feeder programs Hinsdale Central (Illinois), Loyola Academy (Illinois) and Marietta High School (Georgia). (LINK)

• Sacred Heart finished 6-5 overall but just 1-5 in the Northeast Conference last year and will count on a class of 21 to improve its league record. Nearly half of the Pioneer class comes from New Jersey. (LINK)

•

The Friends of Dartmouth Football auction has gone live with items up for bid running the gamut from a set of eight crystal Dartmouth football glasses to four tickets to a Red Sox game (including a VIP tour and field access during batting practice) to a stay at a five bedroom, ocean front house in Silver Sands, Jamaica.

Check out what's up for auction and bid HERE.

Interesting

Could this be the year of the transfer quarterback in the Ivy League?

Lindy's and Sporting News picked Penn to win the 2017 Ivy League title despite the graduation of NFL hopeful Alek Torgersen – in the conversation for best Quaker quarterback of all-time – and the surprising transfer of heir-apparent Michael Collins to TCU.

Among those vying to replace the player who would have replaced Torgersen are two transfers who began their careers at the FBS level.

Nick Robinson spent a year as a scout team quarterback at Georgia before moving on to Saddleback College, a community college in Mission Viejo, Calif., where he passed for 2,127 yards and 16 touchdowns with seven interceptions last fall. He completed 61 percent of his passes and ran for 201 yards including a 47-yard gallop.

CLICK HERE to watch Robinson engineering an impressive TD drive in the 2015 Georgia spring game.

Looking to get on the field after two years behind Torgersen is senior Will Fischer-Colbrie, who began his career at Colorado. Check out his high school highlights HERE.

While Penn will have to find a new starter, Dartmouth's Jack Henneghan returns after throwing for 2,725 yards with 11 touchdowns last fall. But pushing him will be Jimmy Fitzgerald, Dartmouth's transfer from Illinois. Fitzgerald was out of school last year after redshirting as a freshman. Here's his Illinois signing day video featuring comments from then-head coach Bill Cubit:

•

Speaking of the Penn quarterback situation, the New Canaan (Conn.) News had a story on Collins' leaving the Quakers that included this comment from the quarterback:

“I knew I was going to have to compete wherever I went, and at Penn I would be able to probably start. But I could have gotten injured there and my football career would have been over, so I at least wanted to say I took the chance. If I end up sitting behind somebody so be it, at least I went for it.”

For more on the Penn QB situation, check out this story in the Daily Pennsylvanian.

•

Incoming Dartmouth freshman linebacker Tanner Cross is honored in the Best of River Valley Preps banquet per a story in Arkansas's Times Record.

•

It's not quite Baker Library, but That Certain Dartmouth '14 found a book collection in the most unlikely of places behind a sign reading: "Book you don't need in a place you can't find." Check it out HERE.

What Happens When Non-Sports People Make Videos?

Guess which three sports this video says Dartmouth is known for.

Here's a hint: You won't guess right ;-)

Saturday Stuff

A couple of notes from Athlon (written by Craig Haley of STATS):

• From a list of the Top 25 Conference games this fall:

12. Penn at Harvard (Nov. 11) - The Ivy League title may not be at stake … er, never mind, one or both of these Ivy League powers have been a part of 10 straight championships.

(No other Ivy League game was mentioned, including THAT one.)

And . . .

• From a list of the Top 10 receivers in the FCS:

4. Justin Watson, Penn, WR (Sr., 6-3, 210) For two straight seasons, Watson has led the Ivy League in receptions, receiving yards and touchdown catches, including a 74-1,082-9 line last year. Watson’s statistics are impacted by Ivy teams playing only 10 games per season, but his career average of 6.83 receptions per game tops all active FCS players.

(No other Ivy Leaguer was mentioned.)

The Athlon series also featured the top running backs in the nation. No Ivy Leaguers made the cut.

•

This weekend Dartmouth will try to recapture the Collegiate Rugby Championship it won in 2011 and 2012. (Big Green players are featured in the video above.) Dartmouth plays Temple today at 10 a.m., Boston College at 12:20 p.m. and St. Mary's at 4:33 p.m., the last on NBC (if I'm reading the schedule correctly).

•

For a short, well-balanced look at Dartmouth check out this Campus Explorer video:

Recruiting Roundup (Minus One)

This has been in the chute awaiting one final school but the time has come. Here are Ivy League recruiting classes sans one:

Brown

Columbia

Cornell

Dartmouth

Harvard

Penn

Princeton

Yale?

If the Bulldog class has been posted I haven't been able to find it.

•

In addition to the recruits, Dartmouth has at least two admitted high school players expressing interest in walking on.

CJ Hadnot is a 6-foot, 185-pound quarterback from Vero Beach and St. Edward's HS. Find his highlights HERE. MaxPreps lists him as completing 51-of-109 passes for 661 yards and 10 touchdowns with three interceptions as a senior. He also posted 33 tackles on a team that went 7-3.

Elijah Roth is a 5-10, 185 wide receiver from Brentwood School and Malibu, Calif. According to MaxPreps he caught 27 passes for 303 yards and two touchdowns last fall as his team went 6-3. He also made 33 tackles.

•

Incoming recruit Seth Walter gets a mention in the Bradenton Herald. From the story:

Walter was among the most well-rounded athletes in the county this year. He is committed to Dartmouth, where he’ll play both guard for the football team and compete in the shot put, and he also reached the Class 2A championship meet in weightlifting.

Hitting Their Stride

A couple of incoming Dartmouth football recruits showed up on the back cover of the Jersey Journal on back-to-back days for helping the St. Peter's Prep track team defend its county title and then win the state sectional for the first time. Featured were once-and-future teammates Dakari Falconer and Masaki Aerts.

Incoming running back Dakari Falconer

Incoming receiver Masaki Aerts

•

The Rockford (Michigan) High School football team will be employing one of the innovative Mobile Virtual Players developed at Dartmouth next fall thanks to the school's booster club. An MLive story featuring a video of graduated Rockford players tackling the MVP notes that the school is the first in western Michigan to adopt the technology.

The story begins this way:

Rockford’s Ralph Munger has been coaching high school varsity football for the past 36 years, so he has seen plenty of changes impact the game over the decades. 

Munger remembers when they would bring out blocking bags filled with sawdust for practices. Back then, he said he never dreamed that he would see the day when his players would be chasing a mobilized blocking dummy across the gridiron. 

But that day came Wednesday.

•

Enterprise, the business supplement of the Valley News, has a story about Riddell helmet technology developed by Simbex in Lebanon, which worked closely with the Dartmouth football program. (LINK)

From the story:

(T)he HIT System — for Head Impact Telemetry System— ... consists of film-thin microchip sensors placed on the inside of football helmets that measure the force of impacts to the head and relay the information to receiving equipment and computers where the data can be studied to assess the extent of the injury.

And this:

More than 600 athletic programs and organizations now employ the system, which has measured more than 5 million impacts since 2003, according to Riddell. The Dartmouth College football team was an early adopter: In 2005, 40 players used the helmets, which Dartmouth Medicine magazine described at the time as “mini mobile neuropsychology labs.”