Time Out

The summer issue of PEAK, the official magazine of Dartmouth's DP2 program, has now been posted. I freelanced four stories (and a sidebar) for the electronic publication and Big Green football fans will (hopefully) find something of interest in each one.

In Taking The Fifth Year, a look at athletes taking essentially a medical redshirt season, one of the student-athletes I wrote about was defensive lineman Jeremiah Douchee. Find that story HERE.

Palm Trees To Pine is a story about the influx of Hawaiian athletes (and students in general) to Dartmouth. Two of the Hawaiians I spoke to were defensive back Bun Straton and receiver Kamana Hobbs. Click HERE to read that story.

In Adding Technology To The Toolbox Dartmouth strength coaches explain how they are using the Catapult monitoring system helps Big Green coaches properly guide their charges. That story is HERE.

A Catapult Case Study zeroes in a little more on how head football  trainer Spencer Brown used the system with the football program. Click HERE for the story.

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The next issue of PEAK is due out in early fall and Dartmouth football fans will want to keep an eye out for one story in particular that I'm working on ;-)

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With my responsibilities for the Tommy Keane Invitational golf tournament wrapping up last night and Dartmouth football practice beginning in three weeks, Mrs. BGA and I are taking advantage of this window of opportunity to celebrate our 30th anniversary with a two-week vacation. Electricity, let alone access to the Internet, will be sporadic at best. As a result, this site will be pretty quiet until we return.

For those of you subscribing to BGA Premium the same holds true. I have to manually activate accounts and I'll give that a shot when I can over the next two weeks.

A reminder, while I'm at it, that BGA Premium kicks off with comprehensive Opponent Previews starting on Aug. 13.

Bye for now.

-bw-

PS: For those who are counting, That Certain Dartmouth '14 crossed over the 1,000-mile mark yesterday on her Pacific Crest Trail hike from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. Her blog is about 150 miles or so behind but check it out HERE.

Dazzling Dazzo

Thanks to an old friend for sharing a little background on what former Dartmouth captain Steve Dazzo '15 is up to these days. From USA Rugby:

After captaining Dartmouth Football he helped Mystic River Rugby Club win a 2016 USA Club Rugby National Championship.

Now Steve Dazzo is hoping to earn a spot on the Men's Eagles 7s ahead of the 2017-18 World Rugby Sevens Series!

To watch the short video CLICK HERE.  (You may have to click the speaker icon to get sound.)

Check out his Mystic River Rugby Club bio HERE. Find his Dartmouth bio HERE.

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A screenshot taken from Dartmouth football's Instagram account shows former Big Green captain Bronson Green flanked by defensive back Micah Croom and receiver Charles Mack at Patriots training camp:

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Two days down and one to go at the 42nd annual Tommy Keane Invitational golf tournament at Hanover Country Club.

Those of you who remember Jeff Frechette when he was trainer for the Dartmouth football team might get a kick out of a story I wrote last night about his surprising round at the TKI. Find that story HERE.

And while I'm at it, the story I wrote for the first day of the event recalled late Dartmouth trainer Fred Kelley's role in the tournament and included a comment from former Big Green Athletic Director Seaver Peters. Find that story HERE.

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With little cell service in the back country atop the Sierras, That Certain Dartmouth '14's blog hasn't been updated for several days but we're thinking she crossed the 1,000-mile mark on her hike from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. If you want to see some of the truly awe inspiring scenery she's been taking in, do check out her most recent entry HERE.

Saturday Stuff

The Southington (Conn.) Observer has a lengthy story about former Dartmouth lineman Gerry LaMontagne '66 as part of its Southington Sports Hall of Fame series.

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Joe Moglia, the former Dartmouth defensive assistant-turned business mogul-turned successful Coastal Carolina coach, is taking a five-month medical leave of absence. In a Coastal release Moglia explains:

For three years now, I have had a bronchial asthmatic reaction to allergies, which causes inflammation around my lungs. The inflammation restricts the lungs, which could create a serious breathing problem.

I want to be clear: I do not have a disease and I am in no danger, but I do need to get this addressed.

Moglia is 51-15 as head coach at Coastal.

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From a Dartmouth release:

Buddy Teevens, the Robert L. Blackman Head Football Coach at Dartmouth College, will be at Fenway Park on the night of Monday, July 31 to throw out a ceremonial first pitch before the Boston Red Sox host the Cleveland Indians, which starts at 7:10 p.m. 

Flo Signs With Rams. Again.

As expected, former Dartmouth linebacker Flo Orimolade, released in the spring by the Los Angeles Rams, has been re-signed by the team. Find a mention HERE.

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The Patriot League coaches/sports information poll is out and it looks like this:

1. Lehigh (11 first-place votes), 70
2. Fordham (3), 61
3. Colgate, 54
4. Holy Cross, 39
5. Bucknell, 36
t-6. Lafayette, 17
t-6. Georgetown, 17

Dartmouth opens its home season against Holy Cross on Sept. 23 at 7 p.m.

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From The Dartmouth:

A look into the families of the greater Hanover community

Ah, that would include us, the denizens of Etna in the Hanover hinterlands ;-). The story notes that the 2010 Hanover population was 11,260 with about 25 percent of college age. (A lot of people think the listed population for Hanover doesn't include Dartmouth students – but it does. There are fewer of us "townies" than you think.)

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I'm doing PR at the 42nd annual Tommy Keane Invitational golf tournament at Hanover Country Club for the next three days. Among those in the field is That Certain Nittany Lion '16.

This is a couple of years old but those of you who remember former Dartmouth Athletic Director Seaver Peters may enjoy this, which includes a few of his remarks:

Camping

Dartmouth in less than a minute . . .

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No FCS school in the country can match Harvard's 13 players in NFL camps as preparations begin for the 2017 season. The Crimson website offers up details on each of the players, 11 of whom were in the league last year.

A Hero Sports breakdown of players in camp from each FCS school lists James Madison, North Dakota State, Montana and Illinois State tied for second behind Harvard with nine players each.

Per Hero, here is the breakdown of the 23 Ivy League products in NFL camps per school:

13 – Harvard
4 – Penn
2 – Princeton
2 – Brown
1 – Columbia
1 – Cornell

Dartmouth and Yale do not have players on rosters at the start of camp.

The Big Green had four players give it a shot over the past year with center Jacob Flores '16 under contract for the better part of a year with the Green Bay Packers and corner Vernon Harris '16 with the Kansas City Chiefs. Linebacker Flo Orimolade '17 signed this spring with the Los Angeles Rams and safety Charlie Miller '17 with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but both were released before the start of camp. Don't be surprised if at least one of the Big Green's four ends up signing with another team.

A Few Numbers To Consider

Pounding away on the BGA Premium preview series I worked up the following five-year records for Ivy League teams and Dartmouth's 2017 nonconference opponents:

OVERALL
Harvard 43-7 (.860)
Dartmouth 33-17 (.660)
Princeton 31-19 (.620)
Brown 27-23 (.540)
Penn 26-24 (.520)
Yale 24-26 (.480)
Cornell 13-37 (.260)
Columbia 8-42 (.160)

IVY LEAGUE
Harvard 29-6 (.829)
Penn 23-12 (.657)
Dartmouth 22-13 (.629)
Princeton 22-13 (.629)
Brown 16-19 (.457)
Yale 15-20 (.429)
Cornell 8-27 (.229)
Columbia 5-30 (.143)

AVERAGE IVY LEAGUE FINISH
Harvard 1.6
Penn 2.6
Princeton 3.0
Dartmouth 3.4
Brown 4.0
Yale 4.6
Cornell 6.6
Columbia 7.0

NONCONFERENCE OVERALL
Sacred Heart 33-25 (.569)
Holy Cross 20-37 (.351)
Stetson 13-32 (.289)

NONCONFERENCE LEAGUE
Sacred Heart (NEC) 14-18 (.438)
Holy Cross (PL) 10-18 (.357)
Stetson (PFL) 7-25 (.219)

A reminder that signups have begun for BGA Premium. Coverage of the 2017 season will kick off with the first opponent preview on Aug. 13 and as there has been for the past 12 years, there will be at least one full story on the site every day until the season wrap on Nov. 20.

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Princeton has received a commitment from a four-star quarterback ranked by ESPN as the 193rd best player in the country, the highest-ranked Ivy League recruit since ESPN began its ranking in 2009. Brevin White of Lancaster, Calif., chose Princeton over offers from Washington, Tennessee, Oregon State, Arizona State and Utah among others. Find the ESPN story about White's choice HERE.

(Thanks for the tip ;-)

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For those of you keeping score, That Certain Dartmouth '14 has reached Yosemite National Park at Tuolomne Meadows. That's at mile 942 of the Pacific Crest Trail.

This And That

Colby College's 2017 football roster confirms quarterback Harry Kraft is transferring from Dartmouth to the DIII Maine school that plays in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), sometimes referred to as the Little Ivies.

The 5-foot-8, 175-pound Kraft, who shared time on the Dartmouth junior varsity, is listed as a junior on the Mules' roster. Find his Dartmouth bio HERE and his Colby page HERE.

Colby finished 3-5 last year.

Green Alert Take: Kraft worked as hard at improving his athleticism and skills as anyone in the first dozen years of BGA. But with 2016 starter Jack Heneghan returning, Illinois transfer Jimmy Fitzgerald joining the team in the fall, Jake Pallotta and improving Jared Gerbino among those a year behind him, getting on the varsity field didn't seem likely. That said, I thought given the tremendous respect his teammates and coaches had for him that he might have been elected a Dartmouth captain as a senior. While he will be missed on the practice field and locker room rest assured those who know him wish him nothing but good luck at Colby.

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Kraft is the second Dartmouth reserve quarterback to transfer to the NESCAC in recent years. Jonathan DiBiaso transferred to Tufts after the 2014 season.

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A little time spent on the Colby web page revealed that the NESCAC approved an interesting football scheduling change during the spring. From a Colby release. (Italics are mine):

Colby College will play all the New England Small College Athletic Conference football opponents after round-robin scheduling was approved by the conference presidents for the 2017 season.

While the league has 10 teams playing football, only eight games were played each season and each team was allowed a scrimmage. The scrimmage, played a week before the regular season began, will no longer take place and nine games will now be played.

Green Alert Take: A league that played fewer games than others trading a preseason scrimmage game for a regular-season game. Ivy League, are you paying attention?

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The Pioneer Football League released its coaches poll yesterday and Dartmouth Game One opponent Stetson was projected to finish far down the standings:

1. San Diego (9 first-place votes), 99
2. Dayton (2), 92
3. Marist, 69
4. Drake, 67
5. (tie) Campbell, 62
5. (tie) Jacksonville, 62
7. Butler, 49
8. Morehead State, 42
9. Stetson, 29
10. Valparaiso, 24
11. Davidson, 10

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Dartmouth isn't afraid to mix it up with the big boys in the recruiting wars. From Lancaster (Pa.) Online:

Will Levis is a QB from Connecticut who came into this summer with mid-major offers from the likes of Dartmouth and Rhode Island and Western Michigan.

Then he went to Iowa's camp, and got an offer. Went to North Carolina's camp, got an offer. Went to Florida State's camp, and got an offer from the probable leader for Fields.

Levis went to Penn State's Lasch Bash July 14-15, ran a 4.65 40 at 6-4, 222, got an offer and committed.

He's probably a better prospect that, oh, say, Trace McSorley was four years ago.

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Among those who helped the Chicago Bears' college scouting director along the way is one Buddy Teevens. From the Chicago Sun Times:

(Hi)s playing career at nearby Tulane was derailed by a knee injury that resulted in six surgeries.

Former Tulane coach Buddy Teevens honored his scholarship to (Mark) Sadowski, an engineering major, and asked him to coach. It became the launching point of Sadowski’s career trajectory.

‘‘He just came from a very humble, hard-working family situation,’’ said Teevens, who now coaches at Dartmouth. ‘‘That’s who he was, just a grinder. And that’s a term of great affection and great respect in the football profession.’’

Four Dartmouth Games Set For National* TV

Nationally* televised Dartmouth games:

Friday, Sept. 29 at Penn, 7 p.m. NBCSports Network

Saturday, Oct. 21 vs. Columbia, 12:30 p.m. Eleven Network

Saturday, Oct. 28 at Harvard, Noon, New England Sports Network (NESN)

Friday, Nov. 10 vs. Brown (Fenway Park) 8 p.m., NBCSports Network

* In case you are wondering about Eleven Sports, CLICK HERE. From Wikipedia:

Eleven Sports Network is a multinational group of sports television channels. Based in the United Kingdom, it is owned by Andrea Radrizzani—executive of the sports marketing agency MP & Silva—and The Channel Company. The company operates linear television and/or digital services in Belgium, Luxembourg, Poland, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.[1]

The network's business model primarily centres around the acquisition of "tier 1" sports rights in smaller "tier 2" markets.

All totaled, 23 Ivy League games will be shown on five networks.

Find the full Dartmouth release HERE.

Find the full Ivy League release HERE. The schedule from a screenshot of the Ivy League site:

And Another

Via Twitter:

Beyond excited to announce that I've committed to play football alongside my brother at Dartmouth!
Luca Di Leo @Luca_Beef_DiLeo

Ya gotta love a guy nicknamed Beef ;-)

Even bigger than Beef the golfer at 6-foot-2, 295 pounds, Luca Di Leo is a defensive lineman and younger brother of Dartmouth defensive lineman Rocco Di Leo. The brothers hail from Elmhurst, Ill.,

Check out Luca's Hudl page HERE.

Like his brother, Luca is a product of St. Ignatius Prep in Illinois. He'll spend the next year at Choate Rosemary Hall before heading to Hanover.

Middle brother, Frank, is a walk-on linebacker at Penn State. (LINK)

Another Big Get

That missing name from last week?

It's Calvin Atkeson, a 6-foot-5, 290-pound senior-to-be from Ravenscroft School and Raleigh, N.C. In addition to Ivy offers, the University of Virginia, Central Florida, Charlotte and William & Mary are among the schools that offered him scholarships.

He's also a state champion wrestler in the 287-pound weight class. (LINK)

Find his Twitter announcement HERE.

Find his highlights HERE.

Recruiting pages:

RIVALS
247SPORTS
YAHOO

Atkeson is the second player – and the second super-sized offensive lineman – to Tweet his commitment to Dartmouth this cycle. The other is 6-5, 290 Matt Hall of Walton HS and Marietta, Ga.

What Were The Chances?

From the "It's a small world after all," department, crossing paths in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., yesterday were former Dartmouth quarterback Brian Mann '02 and That Certain Dartmouth '14. Now an associate athletic director at Rice University, Brian is on a motorcycle tour in the West and just happened to be passing through while TCD'14 was taking a break 900-odd miles into her Pacific Crest Trail hike.

And The Mystery Guest Is . . . To Be Named

With the football camping season winding down commitments will start adding up.

Twitter informs us Dartmouth has landed an addition to the Class of 2022. What it doesn't inform us is the recruit's name, although it does provide a few connect-the-dots clues per these two Tweets from Friday:

MAJOR COMMIT ALERT! #BLEEDGREEN18 just got bigger and better ..Welcome to the family, young man 

BOOM! Big time commitment out of the 919! #BLEEDGREEN18 just got bigger and better up front!

The use of the word "bigger" in the first Tweet out of the Dartmouth football office can be interpreted as meaning it's an offensive lineman. The second Tweet seems to confirm that with a phrasing "better up front."

The second Tweet also refers to "the 919," which happens to be the area code for the Raleigh, N.C. area.

If Google offers up a name and you see it before I do please send it along and I'll post it here;-)

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The latest update on the health of former Dartmouth quarterback Ernest Evans is a reminder that sometimes good things happen slowly. As most of you know, Evans was found unconscious on the Pacific Coast Highway near Los Angeles on June 11 and he's been hospitalized ever since. Here's a mid-July update from his GoFundMe page:

Since the last update, there have been a few positive changes in Ernest's condition. Physically, most of his visible swelling has gone down significantly in his extremities and his head. He is now looking a lot more like himself. He also has been removed off the ventilator and has been able to breath on his own! They have moved Ernest out of the ICU to a different area in the neurological wing, and once they can get ahold of a new infection he's been fighting and clear it, the plan is for him to be moved to an LTAC (Long Term Acute Care) facility. In terms of responsiveness, there hasn't been any significant strides. He is still responding to commands like "put your thumb up," or "move this arm/leg" at a low rate but it's definitely a positive to know he can still somewhat hear. His family is very thankful for all of you who have contributed prayers, positive thoughts, donations, and other contributions to aid them through this time.

Ernest and the Evans family still need your help. Please see his GoFundMe page to see how you can contribute.

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And finally, That Certain Dartmouth '14 has reached Mammoth Lakes, Calif., 906 miles into her epic 2,650-mile hike up the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. She called last night and spilled the beans that she's finally been given a trail name. It came about when a few thru-hikers were together telling stories and TCD14 revealed that as part of her training as a Yellowstone ranger she was instructed on how to use an important power tool in that part of the country. And so she was baptized as . . . wait for it . . . Chainsaw.

Here's Chainsaw with her ice axe on the trail in the Sierras on July 9!

Two more things:

First, I wouldn't be surprised if Chainsaw has to do not just with the interesting training an Ivy Leaguer got in the wilderness, but how fast the words can come when she is telling a good story.

And second, yeah, there's a lot of snow left out there. It's slowed Chainsaw and Young 'Un down, but they are determined not to let it stop them. Chainsaw wrote this a few days back on her blog, Which Way is North?:

We had a late lunch in the shade by a creek with a group of hikers who were headed off the trail into the town of Lone Pine later tonight. They were planning to skip all the way north to Lake Tahoe to avoid the snowy Sierras. I've been surprised how many people we've met who are skipping sections of the trail. If anything, if gives me more conviction about hiking straight through. 

Polling Place

At the Northeast Conference media day Thursday at MetLife Stadium (home of the  Giants, Jets and Super Bowl XLVIII) NEC coaches picked Dartmouth opponent Sacred Heart to finish fifth in the seven-team league. An NEC release included this "snapshot" of the Pioneers:

For the first time since 2012, the Pioneers will have a new starting quarterback as they take aim at a fifth consecutive winning season. Edge rusher Dylan Ackerson and linebacker Kevin Barry anchor a defensive unit that ranked first amongst NEC leaders vs. the run.

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Rather than reveal its poll at a gathering in an NFL stadium, the Ivy League will release its poll during the annual Media Teleconference phone call on Aug. 8. To tide you over until then, here's the Hero Sports capsule of the Ivy League from a posting where it picks every FCS conference:

Penn – Both Penn and Princeton finished 6-1 in the 2016 conference season. Princeton loses plenty on defense while Penn returns its top two tacklers in Colton Moskal and Nick Miller along with its interceptions leader Mason Williams and sacks leader Louis Vecchio. Offensively, the Quakers will lean on running back Tre Solomon, who is coming off a 907-yard 2016 season, and wide receiver Justin Watson, who had 1,115 yards and eight touchdowns in 2016.

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A friend of BGA sent along a link to a story and graphic which together explain one of the reasons why not raising the subscription rate for BGA Premium in more than a decade hasn't made much sense ;-)

Find the story HERE. And here's the graphic:

Four Night Games, Two On Friday

Dartmouth has finally released game times (schedule page) and the Big Green's first three contests as well as the Brown game will be played at night. Penn and Brown will be on Friday nights.

Here's the schedule:

2017 SCHEDULE

Sept. 16 at Stetson 6 p.m.

Sept. 23 Holy Cross 7 p.m.

Sept. 29 at Penn 7 p.m.

Oct. 7 Yale 1:30 p.m.

Oct. 14 at Sacred Heart 1 p.m.

Oc. 21 Columbia 12:30 p.m.

Oct. 28 at Harvard 12 p.m.

Nov. 4 Cornell 1:30 p.m.

Nov. 10 Brown 8 p.m. (Fenway Park) 

Nov. 18 Princeton 1:30 p.m.

When the TV schedule comes out look not just for the Penn game to be televised but several others as well. The tipoff is unusual game times ;-)

Still Getting His Kicks

Dartmouth alum Matt Kelly drills a 47-yard field goal in practice (video).

It isn't always over when it's over ;-)

Former Dartmouth kicker/punter Matt Kelly '11, was back on the field this spring and summer as a kicker for Oregon's Washington County Pit Bulls of The Pacific Football League, an organization featuring teams from Oregon, Washington and Idaho.

Stats are a little hard to come by, but apart from one block Kelly was perfect on more than 25 extra point tries, booted field goals of 43 and 46 yards and came up just short on a 55-yard effort. He helped the Pit Bulls finish the season with a 5-3 mark.

Kelly is living in Beaverton, Ore., working in an account manager-type role for a Portland company whose proprietary software helps manage fleet inventory and risk management in the aoto and trucking industry.

Kelly was Dartmouth's starting punter in 2009.  

Phooey

The view southeast from Moose Mountain's South Peak at 6 a.m. (Click to enlarge)

The best laid plans o' mice an' men gang aft agley.

With a ton of work to do in the next two weeks the idea these days is to get up each morning at 5:15 and finish my hike up Moose Mountain by 7:15 or so, weather permitting. There's just no way I can do my usual afternoon hike.

I actually got down off the peak this morning by 7, eager to grab a quick shower and dig into the day's work.

Unfortunately, the power went out literally seconds before I popped back through the door. As those of you who have wells know, that meant no shower. It meant no internet. And that meant no work.

I needed to be home until 10 a.m. to welcome old friend Nala, who we are dogsitting for, so I used some wipes to clean off the mud from my hike and baby powder to clean off eau de trail, welcomed our house guest, and hurried the eight miles down into town to use the internet.

All that is by way of saying I'm four hours behind on my to-do list so I don't have time to dig anything up for you today other than what I think is a pretty nice snap I took from the peak around 6:15 this morning. It's Goose Pond that is creating the clouds and the tallest peak on the left is Cardigan Mountain, a fabulous day hike when you are in the area.

Now I've got to do something that actually pays . . .

Dartmouth From Afar

The Roar Lions 2017 unofficial Columbia football blog has an early preview of the Dartmouth team that probably reflects the thinking of a lot of people who aren't sure quite what to make of a Big Green program that went from first to worst in one year.

The preview includes this in the introduction:

Be careful with underestimating these guys for this fall. 

And concludes with this:

Overall, I think Dartmouth will continue to be a work in progress in 2017 with some occasional greatness.

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A couple more blurbs on the Jaguars releasing Charlie Miller "via injury settlement" HERE and HERE give more background on the Dartmouth grad, but no more detail on the "why."

Jags Release Miller

The Jackson Jaguars have released Dartmouth safety Charlie Miller '17. From NBCSports.com:

The Jaguars released rookie defensive back Charlie Miller via injury settlement.

Miller joined the Jaguars as a rookie free agent May 1 out of Dartmouth. Miller made 70 tackles, three tackles for loss, three interceptions and broke up four passes in 24 games in four years at Dartmouth.

Dog Days Of Summer

All quiet on the Dartmouth front although word is that game times/TV schedule could be released this week. Or next.

If you are hungry for Dartmouth football talk check out the unofficial Ivy League conference forum, started last year when the Voy message board was down. With Voy coming back online the CSJ Ivy board never did catch on, but the forum is still there in case you are interested.

Speaking of which . . .

CLICK HERE to read a string about last year's Dartmouth freshmen before they ever put on a uniform. Did the commenters get it right? What would they say about the incoming freshmen this year?

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I made three trips to a clearing across the road last night but never did see the northern lights. Supposedly we may have another chance tonight. Fingers crossed.

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In hiking news . . .

That Certain Dartmouth '14 shot this picture that looks to my eye like an Albert Bierstadt painting during her hike on the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail. Her blog is about a week behind but if we have it figured right, she should be somewhere around the 900-mile mark as we speak. Check out her blog HERE.

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With a ton of work in the queue and not enough time to do it, I decided I can't afford to give up time in the afternoon for my daily hike out the back door and up to the South Peak of Moose Mountain. That being the case, I hit the trail at 5:30 this morning.

It was pretty dark in the deep woods for the first 20 minutes or so and because That Certain Nittany Lion '16 has seen bears twice in the past week on his way to work and his mom also saw one, I was a bit jumpy in the early going. Griff the Wonder Dog and I had seen a bear on on the same trail last year and the pup had run it off, but this time he wasn't with me. As it turned out, that was a good thing when I saw what I first thought was a bear cub on the trail directly in front of me.

Rather than a bear, it was an enormous porcupine. I saw dollar signs while the porcupine was taking its sweet time heading into the woods because golden retrievers and porcupines don't mix. A year ago the pup got a mouthful of quills and when we couldn't get them all out it meant an expensive trip to the vet.

A second porcupine that spooked me as it noisily scurried up a small pine five feet from me reinforced the notion that Griff was better off sleeping on the couch than joining me on my early morning hike.

Out Of Town

Our beloved 1984 VW Westfalia camper van has transported us to a small, picturesque Vermont lake for a weekend getaway. BGA Daily will resume its regularly scheduled programming Monday morning. See you then . . . unless we get washed away.
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Friday Smörgåsbord

There will be a Dartmouth tailgate prior to the Big Green's first-ever game in Florida against Stetson on Sept. 16. For more information, CLICK HERE.

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The Daily Journal in Tupelo, Miss., writes that Scott Sallach, a Dartmouth assistant from 1998-2002, is no longer on the staff at Mississippi State, where he had worked since 2009.

From the story:

Sallach worked as tight ends coach on Dan Mullen's initial staff in 2009 and served in that capacity until February when D.J. Looney was hired for the position. Sallach has worked as the Bulldogs' director of player personnel since then.

Green Alert Take: Coaching football is at once a rewarding and a punishing profession.

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Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens' role at the Manning Passing Academy gets his name in front of a lot of talented players from across the country. To wit, this from the State Journal in Frankford, Kent., about a quarterback from the University of Toledo:

“Logan (Woodside) was a great representative of his school, town and family at this year’s camp,” Buddy Teevens, an associate director of the academy and head football coach at Dartmouth College, said. “We enjoyed having him and hope he enjoyed his experience with us.”

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GoLocalProv has a story about Brown coach Phil Estes being scheduled to throw out the first ball at Sunday's Red Sox-Yankees game as part of the run-up to the Dartmouth-Brown football game at Fenway Park on Nov. 10. Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens was slated to throw the ceremonial first pitch in the spring (story) but the game was rained out. The story includes an interesting video interview with Estes.

UPDATE: Teevens' first pitch has been rescheduled for July 31, New Hampshire Day at Fenway Park.

Poll Time

The move in college football to night games and different start times has filtered down to the Ivy League. Game times for Dartmouth home games in 2017 have yet to be announced.

What is your preference?

Vote in the poll over on the right. Final results will be revealed Tuesday morning.

UPDATE: The poll widget was causing significant problems with the site so I yanked it. I've already spent too much time trying to find another one that works smoothly so I'm calling an audible and punting the whole idea.

The poll was up for too little time to have any real meaning but here we go anyway:

Noon – 10 percent
1 p.m. – 36 percent
2 p.m. – 20 percent
6 p.m. – 10 percent
7 p.m. – 23 percent

A Familiar Name

The Scout.com Dartmouth football recruiting page for 2018 features a name you might recognize.

John Paul Flores is one of former Dartmouth standout Jacob Flores' younger brothers. Jacob Flores '16, of course, was a first-team All-Ivy League and All-New England center who went on to spend a year under contract with the Green Bay Packers. Find Jacob Flores' Dartmouth bio HERE.

Given that his brother, Charlie, will be a senior at Columbia this fall, it's no surprise that the Lions are on John Paul's early list as well. Find Charlie Flores' bio HERE.''

Scout had a story about John Paul Flores last year HERE and ESPN has a recruiting profile of him HERE. Find his junior highlight video HERE.

For a look at other players listed by Scout as being Dartmouth prospects (graphic below), click HERE.

Wearers Of The Green

Newbies looking to get a feel for Dartmouth College athletics and oldtimers eager to rekindle old memories alike will enjoy this well-done 1984 video Wearers of the Green. The narrator is former athletic director Seaver Peters:

A Dubious Distinction

Sharper eyes than these have uncovered a previously overlooked distinction for the Dartmouth football program.

After winning a share of the Ivy League title with a 6-1 mark in 2015 the Big Green finished eighth in the conference in 2016 with a 1-6 record. That marked the only time in Ivy history a team won the championship one year and finished alone in the basement the next.

(Brown went from "first-to-worst" between 2005 and '06, but the fall was to a three-way tie for sixth place.)

Dartmouth has won 18 Ivy League championships and the only other time it slipped into the second-division the next year was when it won it all with a 6-1 record in 1973 and tied for fifth in the league standings with a 3-4 record the following year.

Here are other schools that have gone from the title to the second-division in a year:

1959-60 Penn (6th)1960-61, Yale (5th)
1968-69 Harvard (t-5th)
1969-70 Princeton (5th)
1973-74 Dartmouth (t-5th)
1981-82 Yale (t-4th)
1986-87 Penn (6th)
1987-88 Harvard (t-6th)
1988-89 Cornell and Penn (t-5th)
1989-90 Princeton (t-6th)
1995-96 Princeton (t-6th)
1997-98 Harvard (t-5th)
2005-06 Brown (t-6th — last)
2015-16 Dartmouth (8th — last)

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In the unlikely event your daily Internet tour doesn't take you to the All About Circuits website, CLICK HERE and you can read a little about the origins of Dartmouth's Mobile Virtual Player in a story under the headline, Early Prototyping Challenges of the “MVP” RC Football Tackling Dummy.

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As you may have read here last week, the subscription cycle for BGA Premium has kicked off. BGA Premium will start offering daily 2017 Dartmouth football coverage on Aug. 13 with the first in a series of in-depth opponent previews. The series will continue for 10 consecutive days as the lead-in to the start of practice on Aug. 23.

BGA Premium will offer at least one full-length story a day on the site from Aug. 13 through Nov. 19, including on-site coverage of every full practice as well as all 10 games.

Important Reminder: New subscribers who send along a subscription to BGA Premium MUST fill out the form HERE to finish off the subscription. It is there that you will pick a User Name and Password that will allow access to the site. Also, be sure to click in that pesky orange box that says, "I agree to the Terms and Conditions above."

Two folks have opened subscriptions but not filled out the forms: MM and AS. Please, please, please take that next step so I don't feel guilty ;-)

Returning subscribers should NOT fill out a new form.

Thanks!

Catching Up

For those of you who have been following along, That Certain Dartmouth '14 has been totally out of cell service for the past 10 or so days of her hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. Yesterday, about 765 miles into her hike, she got a signal on top of Mount Whitney, at 14,505 feet the highest point in the continental United States. Her blog will be updated shortly at Which Way is North? Unfortunately, cell service will be spotty for much of the next part of the 2,650-mile hike, so it will be catch as catch can for all of us vicariously hiking along.

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Got home from a spur-of-the-moment overnight in our 1984 VW Westfalia camper at a Vermont state park about a 40-minute drive from here and found three readers had sent along a link to the same story about incoming linebacker Naeem Morgan. Ironically, the story is from my old hometown newspaper. I had seen a promo for it a few days ago and had been waiting for it to show up online. Find the story, headlined Jamaican-born Snapple Bowl football star Morgan headed to Dartmouth, HERE.

From the story:

“I came to school and everybody looked me up and down,” recalled Morgan, who developed a lean athletic build swimming and running track in Jamaica. “They said, ‘You need to talk to the football coach right now.’ I’m into trying new things, so I walked over to Brett Stibitz, who was the head coach at the time. He looked me up and down and said, ‘We have a spot for you, son.’ From that moment on it’s been a learning experience.”

And . . .

“When we moved to America, my family sat me down and said, ‘One of the goals of coming here is so I could get a better opportunity to get a better education,’” said Morgan, who plans to major in economics. “To actually sign and get to go to one of the best schools in the world feels amazing. All the hard work of my parents coming to this country and moving proves it paid off.” 

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The BGA mobile headquarters was offline for the past 24 hours ;-)

That's A First

I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure this site has never before posted a link to a story about a former Dartmouth football player being selected to head up the Turkish Lacrosse Association ;-)

Chosen for that role is Ryan Danehy, who managed to letter three times as a Big Green longsnapper while starring on the Dartmouth lacrosse team.

Find the story about his appointment HERE. From that story:

Danehy will also take over the reigns as head coach for the senior men’s field team for the upcoming 2018 FIL World Field Lacrosse Championships held in Netanya, Israel next summer.

“I’m honored that the board has elected me president and chairman of the Turkish Lacrosse Association,” said Danehy. “I’m grateful to be a part of such an incredibly passionate and dedicated community of lacrosse fans. I’ve had a passion for growing the game and I couldn’t think of a better opportunity to do it in a country with such close personal ties to me over the last decade.” 

Find a bio from his time as a Dartmouth lacrosse assistant HERE and a profile I did of him HERE.

Where Are They From, Part 3

Number of football recruits headed to Ivy League schools per state:

23 – Texas

22 – Florida

20 – Massachusetts

18 – Pennsylvania

17 – Georgia, New Jersey

15 – California

11 – Illinios

10 – Ohio

8 – New York

6 – Alabama, Tennessee

5 – Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Virginia

4 – Connecticut

3 – Arkansas, South Carolina, Louisiana, Maryland

2 – Indiana, Kentucky, New Hampshire

1 – Arizona, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington

0 – Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

* Again, the numbers could be slightly off depending on whether a player should be listed by their hometown or their prep school state.

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It's  c-o-m-i-n-g.

Allen Lessel's UNH insider notes that players report to the University of New Hampshire on Tuesday, Aug. 1, with practice starting the next day. Lessels writes that UNH will have an unusual opener this year against its traditional rival:

The 2017 season begins in dramatic fashion eight weeks from Thursday night – on August 31 -  with a "Thursday Night Throwdown" 7 p.m. game against archrival Maine to open UNH's second run in Wildcat Stadium. 

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In case you are wondering, Dartmouth kicks off practice on Aug. 23 in anticipation of the Sept. 16 opener at Stetson.

Where Are They From, Part 2

Number of states represented in the football Class of 2021 per Ivy League school:

18 – Columbia

17 – Dartmouth

16 – Cornell (plus Ontario)

14 – Harvard

13 – Princeton

12 – Brown 

12 – Yale (plus Washington, D.C.)

10 – Penn

Most players from one state by one school:

8 – Texas/Penn

6 – Pennsylvania/Cornell

5 – Massachusetts/Yale

5 – New Jersey/Penn

5 – Pennsylvania/Yale

5 – Florida/Columbia

States with no Ivy recruits this year (unless I missed one ;-):

Alaska

Colorado

Delaware

Hawaii

Idaho

Iowa

Kansas

Maine

Mississippi

Nebraska

New Mexico

North Dakota

Rhode Island

South Dakota

Utah

Vermont

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Where Are They From, Part 1

What is the theory? Give enough monkeys enough typewriters and enough time and they will eventually type Hamlet.

Shakespeare this isn't, but given enough time, enough energy and that one pesky last recruiting class finally being announced this monkey has pulled together some (perhaps) interesting information on  where Ivy League recruits are coming from this year.

Today's entry is about the top 10 feeder states.* The first two are hardly a surprise. What might catch a few people off balance is where California falls.

With that said, here are the top 10 states for producing Ivy football recruits in the Class of 2021. (The number of Dartmouth recruits from those states is in parentheses.)

1. Texas – 23 (1)
2. Florida – 22 (3)
3. Massachusetts – 20 (2)
4. Pennsylvania – 18 (2)
T-5. Georgia – 17 (1)
T-5. New Jersey – 17 (3)
7. California – 15 (1)
8. Illinois – 11 (4)
9. Ohio – 10 (0)
10. New York – 8 (0)

All totaled, there are incoming players from 32 states, one from the District of Columbia and one from Ontario.

* Note: Ivy rosters aren't consistent about listing an incoming player's hometown or prep school so some numbers could be slightly off.

More tomorrow ;-)

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From a STATS story:

There are so many FCS matchups that are rarely seen yet simply make sense and would be downright fun. These ones need to happen . . .

Harvard vs. New HampshireHarvard needs to step up its non-Ivy League schedules and there isn't a better regional option than New Hampshire. The Crimson are 7-0 all-time in the series, but they haven't met since 1939. 

Green Alert Take: I'd buy a ticket to see that game except for two things. I'll be working and – wait for it – I'm pretty sure it's not going to happen in the foreseeable future.

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A reminder (as if that blinking GIF down there isn't obnoxious enough) BGA Premium sign-up has begun.

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And finally, for those of you following along That Certain Dartmouth '14's hike from the Mexican border to the Canadian border along the Pacific Crest Trail, she reached California's Kennedy Meadows a couple of days ago. That's roughly the 700-mile mark and is the unofficial line of demarcation between the "desert" section and the Sierras. Suffice it to say after a couple of years rangering in Yellowstone she's feeling a lot more at home in the mountains. The entire trail is about 2,650 miles.

Oh, and she said to pass along a huge thank you for the yummy snacks and sustenance. She put in a 30-mile day recently and hiking like that takes a lot of fuel ;-)

Have A Happy

Happy and safe Fourth of July with family and friends.

Here We Go

via GIPHY

The 13th season of BGA Premium officially kicks off today. (To be completely accurate, BGA Premium sign-up begins today. Daily content on the site will begin with opponent previews 10 days before the start of preseason camp in mid-August.)

BGA offers the most comprehensive, professional coverage of any FCS program anywhere with at least one 1,000-word-plus story SEVEN DAYS A WEEK from the start of preseason practice through the final game of the season. BGA has been at EVERY full practice Dartmouth has held over the past 12 years and the cost for a yearly subscription is the same it has been for the past decade.

For everything you need to know about BGA and how to sign up, CLICK HERE.

For those of you who jumped the gun on the official start of signups, not to worry. You are all set for the coming year. Thanks!

Editor's Note: It is BGA Premium that makes this daily site possible. Subscriptions to the Premium site dropped significantly last year for the first time, which was hugely disappointing. The best way to make sure this site continues is to make sure the Premium site continues, so don't forget to sign up and please, please, please spread the good word.

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Did you know that Google has a "patent search" service? Neither did I.

If you click on THIS SEARCH it will bring up patent US8782925 B2 for an "athletic shoe." Here's a screenshot from the page:



Check out the name of the inventors and compare that to Dartmouth football rosters from the past decade ;-)

And if you were to check out the Bloomberg page on Jennus Athletics Company you would find the name Jennus is a portmanteau of its co-presidents, former All-Ivy League receiver Timmy McManus '11 and former quarterback Alex Jenny '10.

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The NCAA is looking into the concept of a 14-week, Division I football season with two off-weeks. (LINK)

If the move is adopted, Division I teams could play 12 games with two weeks off. Ivy League schools, meanwhile, would continue to play 10 games with no weeks off.

Interesting . . .

Numerology

The unofficial and unfortunately anonymous Voy Ivy League message board has a discussion going about the athletic prowess of member schools and it includes this LINK to the year-by-year totals of conference championships for each school.

Here's some of what Ivy League records page shows:

Ivy League championships in 2016-17
11 Harvard
11 Princeton
5 Cornell
5 Penn
4 Yale
3 Columbia
2 Dartmouth
0 Brown

Ivy League championships last five years
55 Princeton
53 Harvard
23 Cornell
18 Columbia
17 Penn
17 Yale
9 Dartmouth
3 Brown

Ivy League championships last 10 years
113 Princeton
84 Harvard
55 Cornell
34 Yale
33 Penn
28 Columbia
17 Dartmouth
12 Brown

Ivy League championships all-time
476 Princeton
415 Harvard
230 Cornell
210 Penn
202 Yale
140 Dartmouth
123 Brown
105 Columbia

The Ivy League page also has the listing to the 2016-17 Learfield Directors' Cup Division I Final Standings, which purport to show the overall strength of athletic programs using up to 10 men's and 10 women's sports.

Not surprisingly, Stanford was the overall winner.

Here's how the Ivy League schools ranked nationally
48. Princeton
58. Harvard
62. Cornell
76. Yale
77. Penn
86. Dartmouth
109. Columbia
165. Brown

Bucknell was the top Patriot League football school at 125.

The top 10 overall
1. Stanford
2. Ohio State
3. Florida
4. USC
5. North Carolina
6. Michigan
7. Texas
8. Penn State
9. Oregon
10. Kentucky

Schools of interest finishing below Dartmouth
92. Pitt
92. UConn
102. Georgia Tech
116. Rutgers
163. Army
209. Tulane

Camp Town

There was a time when football camps were about helping teach 10-year-olds to throw a spiral or the chess champion of fifth grade how to boot a field goal. It's not that way anymore.

College football camps, by and large, are tryouts. Don't believe it? Watch this compilation from a 2014 tour of all eight Ivy League schools by a young man from Southern California:



And where did he end up? You might be surprised.

Here's his college bio.

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A few of you have jumped the gun (thank you very much) but the official kickoff for 2017 BGA Premium signup will be Monday, July 3.