Wet And Wild

This won't make you forget the excellent videos produced by Alex Dodds for the Dartmouth football office but this slide show (with a few video clips) I pulled together should give you a feel for the Big Green's afternoon of play yesterday at the Storrs Pond Recreation Area in Hanover:

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The wise guys have come to life with a relatively full slate of games this week (except for the Ivies of course).

UConn is a 21.5-point favorite at home over Holy Cross tonight and Sacred Heart is an 11.5 point home favorite over Stetson in a game featuring Dartmouth's other two nonconference opponents.

Of local interest tonight in addition to the Holy Cross game is New Hampshire playing host to Maine. The Wildcats are favored by 7.5.

The Holy Cross game will be broadcast on SportsNet New York and is being streamed on ESPN3 with kickoff at 7:30.

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Holy Cross Magazine has a story about Peter Pujals, arguably the best quarterback Dartmouth will face this year, under the headline The Comeback Captain. Pujals suffered a season-ending broken fibula against Dartmouth last fall that resulted in another year of eligibility.

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Dartmouth will be back on the field at this afternoon. Visit BGA Premium for full coverage of the session.

Heartbreaking

Unspeakably sad news out of Deland, Fla., where a sophomore football player at Stetson University, Dartmouth's Week One opponent, has died. From a story in the Orlando Sentinel:

(Nick) Blakely, an accounting major from Lawrenceville, Ga., said he felt light-headed during a workout Monday afternoon. Team trainers pulled him from the drills and watched the linebacker for 30 to 40 minutes when he started to show signs of recovery. Then, Blakely suddenly passed out.

Trainers started CPR and used an automated defibrillator before an ambulance arrived six minutes later, the school said. Blakely was then taken to Florida Hospital DeLand, where he died.

His cause of death is not yet known.

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That Certain Nittany Lion '16 is desperately trying to score a couple of tickets to the Penn State-Pitt game on Sept. 9 and he's been visiting online ticket resellers trying to find a reasonable price. That can be a dubious proposition, as the graphic above illustrates.

It's hard to read but the graphic shows StubHub advertising tickets for the Oct. 7 Dartmouth game against Yale on Memorial Field. The posting says it has "9 tickets left" and they are "from $75."

That may well be, but if you visit the Dartmouth ticket office web page and drill down you'll see the graphic below with prices that kinda, sorta beat "from $75."

In case you are interested, the best That Certain Nittany Lions '16 has been able to find online for the Penn State-Pitt game is $160 apiece. Yikes.

As an aside, the last time Penn State and Pitt played in Happy Valley I was in the Beaver Stadium press box. I had flown to Philly to write a story about Dartmouth linebacker Zack Walz '98 playing for the Arizona Cardinals against the Philadelphia Eagles the next day, and took the opportunity to rent a car and drive out to State College on Saturday. No. 2 Penn State beat Pitt that day, 20-17. Pretty good timing ;-)

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Speaking of football in Pennsylvania, if you are planning to take in the Big Green's Ivy League opener at Penn you won't want to miss the Dartmouth pregame festivities, "with legendary tailgate caterer Johnny Rodio grilling up great food, and DJ Ralph DAmelio bringing the "happy!" Check out the time, place, cost and other details HERE.

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Back on the subject of Dartmouth and the NFL, Flo Orimolade '17 gets a mention in a Yahoo sports preview of the Los Angeles Rams-Green Bay Packers preseason game. From the story:

With the roster cutdowns looming on September 2nd, the Rams defense offers multiple opportunities for the linebacker positions. Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips’ base 3-4 defense will create spots for around 10 linebackers, so Thursday night will see the best efforts of depth players like former Packer Andy Mulumba, Davis Tull, Willie Mays III, and Folarin Orimolade.

Watch And Learn

From the Dartmouth football office comes a mic'd up with defensive backs coach Sammy McCorkle:

A post shared by Dartmouth Football (@dartmouth_football) on Aug 28, 2017 at 1:59pm PDT

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The Roar Lions blog picks Dartmouth in sixth place, two slots below Columbia and ahead of only Brown  and Cornell. From the post:

Dartmouth has a good QB, a good potential backup QB in an Illinois transfer, and some great receivers. But the RB's are still unproven, (but apparently more talented than most know), and the defense is very young. The Big Green got snakebitten a few times last year and were better than their 1-6 Ivy record. But they're weren't a top four team then and aren't now. 

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Last night's BGA Premium took a look at the Dartmouth offensive line. with O-line coach Keith Clark. Coverage of the preseason continues tonight after practice No. 7 of the camp.

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That Certain Dartmouth '14 passed the 1,325-mile halfway mark on her Pacific Crest Trail hike on Aug. 14 and wrote about it HERE. I was particularly taken by how she ended the post:

We've been hiking for a long time.

We've had so many incredible experiences.

We've had so many challenging experiences.

Met so many people.

Feet hurt so bad.

Been so hungry I want to cry.

Been so happy I've started to cry.

Been way too hot.

Been freezing.

And we've hiked half of the trail.

I'm excited to see what kinds of experiences the north half will provide.

Little did she know what lay in store at that point. But after hiking through triple-digit desert temperatures and having to buy ice axes and wear micro-spikes in the snowy high Sierras, fires in northern California and particularly Oregon have forced her, reluctantly, to call an audible.

Although she was absolutely determined to hike straight through, fire, heavy smoke and trail closures have forced the hikers to do a "flip-flop" and jump ahead to the Oregon-Washington border. The current plan is to hike the Washington section to the Canadian border and then return to the Oregon border and, fingers crossed that the fires have subsided, hike south to Northern California where they were forced off the trail to complete the 2,650-mile journey.

Back At It

From the Dartmouth football office comes a mic'd up with wide receivers coach Jerry Taylor:

A post shared by Dartmouth Football (@dartmouth_football) on Aug 27, 2017 at 2:02pm PDT

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The Boston Herald previews Holy Cross, which will help Dartmouth kick off the home season on Sept. 23 at Memorial Field. Holy Cross has the potential to be a high-flying offense with quarterback Peter Pujals at the controls. The Crusaders open the season Thursday night with an FBS game at UConn.

Dartmouth Week One opponent Stetson kicks off the campaign Saturday evening at Sacred Heart, yet another Big Green opponent.

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The Sagarin Ratings are out and they look like this for Ivy League teams and Dartmouth's nonconference opponents:

137 - Harvard
160 - Princeton
175 - Penn
188 - Dartmouth
198 - Yale
209 - Brown
225 - Cornell
226 - Columbia

199 - Holy Cross
212 - Sacred Heart
249 - Stetson

The highest ranked FCS team is North Dakota State at No. 48. The lowest is Davidson at 254.

The lowest FBS team is Charlotte at 184.

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Dartmouth alum Flo Orimolade was credited with one tackle in the Los Angeles Rams' 21-19 loss to the cross-town Chargers in his latest preseason game and sharper eyes than mine caught THIS PHOTO of him making the stop.

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Practice No. 6 of the Dartmouth preseason is slated for 2 this afternoon on Blackman Fields. As always, check BGA Premium for practice coverage.

It's Different At Dartmouth

First-year Dartmouth offensive coordinator was mic'd up at practice on Blackman Fields, which abut the Appalachian Trail:

on

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Speaking of Blackman Fields, Mrs. BGA and I were at the visitor center for Crater Lake National Park this summer and as we walked out of a video about the park who did we run into? Julie Blackman, daughter of legendary Dartmouth coach Bob Blackman.

It's a small world after all. (Click if you dare but don't blame me if Stuck Song Syndrome takes hold ;-)

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OK, it's Sunday. You've got time.

Check out this video about a really neat bicycle recycling program at Dartmouth. One of the managers of the program is Dartmouth senior running back Ryder Stone. Also key in the program is former running back Forrest Town.

Stone is interviewed at the 5:30 mark. Town at 4:30.


(re)cyclers : the story of Dartmouth Bikes from Joe Fairbanks on Vimeo.

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Colgate scores one for Northeast FCS football with a 20-14 win at Cal Poly last night. The Raiders built a 20-0 lead and then needed a fourth down stop in the final minute to hold on for the win over the No. 23 Mustangs.

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Dartmouth holds practice No. 5 today on Memorial Field after three days on Chase/Blackman. Check BGA Premium for coverage.

Saturday Stuff

The Dartmouth football  office has produced a video: The Dartmouth Way. Watch it here:

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Craig Haley of STATS has a good a grasp on the FCS as anyone you'll find and as a former beat writer covering Princeton football, he's usually spot on with regard to the Ivy League. That said, it's a surprise that his prediction for Dartmouth's finish in his conference writeup is the lowest I've seen:

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

The STATS Dartmouth capsule begins this way:

Dartmouth doesn't appear as good as its 2015 Ivy co-championship squad, but isn't as bad as last year's last-place squad. The Big Green have to win more of the close games.

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The Houston Chronicle has a series "highlighting Houston-area high school football programs specializing and building an identity in producing talent at a specific position." One installment is under this headline: Manvel's short but prolific history at receiver just beginning.

Manvel, of course, is the school that sent 2016 Ivy League Rookie of the Year receiver Hunter Hagdorn to Dartmouth. Find the series segment and slide show featuring the slide above HERE.

The Chronicle piece notes:

The program graduated 23 wideouts to the college ranks its first nine years – an average of two signees per season - making it one of the most productive wide receiver factories in the Houston area.

Among others, Manvel has sent receivers to Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Memphis. An early receiver ended up at New Mexico, switched to defensive back and went on to the NFL.

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Dartmouth holds its fourth practice of the preseason this afternoon. Old friend Colgate, meanwhile, kicks off its season tonight at Cal Poly in a game being broadcast tonight on ESPNU.

In The NFL

The revamped Ivy League website includes a list of former Ivy players in NFL camps this summer as well as those coaching in the NFL. The page also includes Ivy personnel in league and team offices. (LINK)

Posted below is the site's list of all Ivy players in NFL camps (with the Big Green's Vernon Harris added) along with one Dartmouth coach and Dartmouth alums working in the league:

Brown
Zak DeOssie, LS, New York Giants, 10th year
James Develin, FB, New England, 5th year

Columbia
Jeff Adams, OL, New York Jets, 3rd year
Josh Martin, LB, New York Jets, 5th year
^Kendall Pace, OL, Washington, Rookie

Cornell
JC Tretter, OL, Cleveland, 5th year

Dartmouth
Folarin Orimolade, LB, Los Angeles Rams, Rookie
^Vernon Harris, CB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2nd year

Harvard
Cameron Brate, TE, Tampa Bay, 3rd year
Ben Braunecker, TE, Chicago, 2nd year
*Desmond Bryant, DL, Cleveland, 9th year
Nick Easton, OL, Minnesota, 3rd year
Anthony Fabiano, OL, Cleveland, 2nd year
Anthony Firkser, FB/TE, New York Jets, Rookie
Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB, Tampa Bay, 13th year
Kyle Juszczyk, FB/TE, San Francisco, 5th year
Jacob Lindsey, LB, Buffalo, Rookie
Tyler Ott, LS, Seattle, 3rd year
Adam Redmond, OL, Indianapolis, 2nd year
Max Rich, OL, New England, Rookie
Cole Toner, OL, Arizona, 2nd year

Penn
Brandon Copeland, DL, Detroit, 3rd year
Ryan O’Malley, TE, Oakland, 2nd year
Alek Torgersen, QB, Atlanta, Rookie
Greg Van Roten, OL, Carolina, 3rd year

Princeton
^Mike Catapano, DE, Houston, 5th year
Seth DeValve, TE, Cleveland, 2nd year
Caraun Reid, DL, Los Angeles Chargers, 4th year

*Recently Released
^recently signed

HEAD COACHES
Bill O’Brien, Brown – Houston
Jason Garrett, Princeton – Dallas

DARTMOUTH
Assistant Coach
Matt Burke, Dartmouth – Defensive Coordinator, Miami

DARTMOUTH 
NFL Personnel
Dan August – VP of Strategy, Los Angeles Rams
Katie Blackburn, (Ice Hockey) – Executive VP, Cincinnati
Chris Blanco – Scout, Houston
Michael Brown – Owner, Cincinnati
Casey Cramer – Chaplain, Tennessee
Kevin Demoff – Executive VP of Football Operations/COO, Los Angeles Rams
Lisa Friel – Special Counsel for Investigations, NFL
Bronson Green – Site Operations Manager, New England
Dawn Hudson – Executive VP Chief Marketing Officer, NFL
Joana Hunter – Corporate Communications, Los Angeles Rams
John Idzik – Consultant, Jacksonville
Cole Marcoux – Junior Rotational Program/Finance and Corporate Development, NFL
Tony Pastoors – Lead Contract Negotiator and Senior Assistant, Los Angeles Rams
Dan Rooney – Player Personnel Coordinator, Pittsburgh
Alvaro Saralegui – NFL Consultant

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The Ivy League football media guide has been posted in six parts on the Ivy site HERE.

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Haldane High School in New York's Hudson River Valley is benefiting this preseason from the use of the Dartmouth-developed Mobile Virtual Player. A local website that is part of the USA Today Network has posted a story that includes quotes from former Big Green receiver Ryan McManus, now the MVP's director of marketing. (LINK)

From the story:

The heat and humidity were conspiring to spoil the mood, but Haldane’s best practice player got off the sweltering turf without complaint and set up for the next in a relentless line of tacklers without hesitation.

He’s a machine.

Literally, a remote-controlled Rudy gifted anonymously to the program by a member of the community who understands the importance of reducing contact in practice. The wrong twist or turn Monday through Friday can quickly ruin the season of a Class D school that will open with 21 players on the roster.

Back On Memorial Field . . . For A Day

The majority of Dartmouth practices during the preseason are slated for afternoons on the Blackman Practice Fields. That's to acclimate to the kind of heat the Big Green may face in its opener at Stetson (although it might not hit 70 degrees in Hanover today) and to prepare on the same surface they will play on in Florida.

There's another advantage to Blackman and it is this: It consists of two full-sized fields. While the consistent surface of Memorial Field is a plus for practice it's still only one field, which requires a lot of organization to run different positional drills. (Click the photo above to supersize it.)

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The local Valley News covers the opening of Dartmouth practice HERE.

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STATS apparently thinks Dartmouth's nonconference schedule is manageable. Today it predicts Stetson will finish 10th in the Pioneer Football League, ahead of only Davidson. (LINK)

The leading source for FCS football previously pegged Holy Cross (Sept. 23) for a fourth-place finish in the seven-team Patriot League and Sacred Heart (Oct. 14) for fourth in the seven-team Northeast Conference.

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Speaking of the Patriot League, it's kind of hard to believe that Dartmouth practiced for the first time yesterday and old friend Colgate will be playing for the first time in two days. The Raiders face off against Cal Poly Saturday at 7 p.m., and if you just can't wait for some football you can catch the game on ESPNU.

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Dartmouth will be back on the field today at 2 p.m. As always, check BGA Premium for full coverage of the second practice of the preseason camp.

That's defensive line coach Duane Brooks with his stylish hat running his group through its drills Wednesday.

And So It Begins

Dartmouth football practice starts today and practice coverage on BGA Premium will start tonight. Here's the updated schedule including practice locations:

8/23 2:00 (Memorial)
8/24 2:00  (Blackman)
8/25 2:00  (Blackman)
8/26 2:00  (Blackman)
8/27 2:00  (Memorial)
8/28 2:00  (Blackman)
8/29 2:00  (Blackman)
8/30 2:00  (Blackman)
8/31 2:00  (Memorial)
9/1 2:00  (Memorial)
9/2 10:00 Green-White Scrimmage (Memorial)
9/4 2:00  Practice (Blackman)
9/5 2:00 Practice (Blackman)
9/6 2:00 Practice (Memorial)
9/7 3:00 Harvard Scrimmage (Memorial)

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With camp beginning 10 days of opponent previews that began while we were away wrapped up last night on BGA Premium. As noted last week, each preview had a TV show theme. If you are trying to match the theme to the team the easiest place to start is with Penn ;-)

In no particular order, here are the TV themes reflected in the previews:

Everybody Loves Raymond
Frasier
The Gong Show
Roy Rogers
Sale of the Century
The Office
The Wonder Years
The Apprentice
Arrested Development
Hill Street Blues

If you waited until today's start of practice to start reading BGA Premium be sure to click back through the previews and learn why these shows were chosen for which teams ;-)

One more thing: I'm still building that list for email alerts, which will start going out at the end of the week. If you signed up to have alerts and haven't already sent along the addresses they should go to, CLICK HERE and it will address an email to me with the subject Email Alerts. Then just include the addresses that should receive notifications each time a story has been posted. Thanks!

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STATS predicts the Patriot League race and has Dartmouth's Sept. 23 opponent Holy Cross pegged for fourth. The paragraph-long preview begins this way:

The dark horse in the league race is Holy Cross, which hasn't won the title since 2009. The Crusaders will have an explosive offense, bolstered by the return of fifth-year seniors in dual-threat quarterback Pujals, running back Guild and offensive linemen Murray and Piker. 

Find the STATS Patriot League preview HERE.

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Former Dartmouth and Stanford athletic director Ted Leland has announced his Oct. 23 retirement at University of the Pacific, where he's served as as the Vice President of External Relations and Director of Athletics since 2011.

Find the story HERE.

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The Valley News has a short obituary for valued friend of the Big Green football program John Stearns, referring to him as, "a most loyal Dartmouth graduate of the Class of 1949." Find it HERE.

Well-Deserved Honor

All-time Dartmouth great and College Football Hall of Famer Murry Bowden '71, is the recipient of the 2017 Touchdowner of the Year award presented by the Touchdown Club of Houston. The award is, "given annually for extraordinary contributions and outstanding achievements reflecting honor and sportsmanship to football over a lengthy period of time."

Among the previous winners are Archie Manning, Roger Staubach, Earl Campbell, Bear Bryant and Tom Landry.

From the club website:

The Touchdown Club is the Houston chapter of the NFF.  Founded in 1947 with leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame -- a non-profit educational organization -- runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people.

For a little more background on Bowden, check out this STORY from several years back about how he helped Build College Football Hall Of Fame In Georgia.

(Thanks for the tip and the photos ;-)

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Princeton alum and current Cleveland Browns tight end Seth DeValve "Is The First White Player To Kneel For The National Anthem," according to a Deadspin story.

BrownsWire has a story under the headline: Seth DeValve explains pregame anthem action as prayer, not protest.

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And finally, for those of you following That Certain Dartmouth 14's hike on the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail, she should hit Dunsmuire, Cal., today, which is 1,499 miles into the trail. Her blog is about 300 miles behind, but you can find the latest entry HERE. She has about 200 miles to go until the Oregon border.

This is the campsite from their latest entry:

And Another

Set to join the Dartmouth football team a year from now is John Pupel, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound All-IAC defensive back from Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Va. He Tweeted his commitment HERE.

Pupel was joined on the 2016 All-IAC team by incoming Dartmouth freshman offensive lineman Sean Dowling.

Find Pupel's highlight video as a strong safety HERE.

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John Stearns was linebacker Luke Hussey's '11 proud grandfather.

Unofficially John Stearns '49 was grandpa to a whole host of Luke's teammates and the players who came after him.

Stearns, who passed away last week, was a regular presence at Big Green practices and games along with wife Winnie. Tall and distinguished, Stearns would often sit quietly in the stands on one side of the field observing practice while Winnie would actively engage players on the other.

The son of a Dartmouth football player from the Class of 1908, brother of a Dartmouth '37, parent of two graduates, and a football grandparent, John was green through and through. An international relations major, he was editor of The Dartmouth, in Casque & Gauntlet, selected as a member of Palaeopitus for his dedication to the college, and among his many contributions to the college served as head of the Dartmouth Class Presidents Association.

It was always a pleasure to see John at practice, both on Memorial Field and the Blackman Practice Fields. He battled health issues in his later years but as soon as he was back on his feet he'd return to practice, always quietly looking on.

After moving to an assisted care facility in Georges Mills, N.H., John pledged to make it back for a practice and darned if he didn't. As the story goes, he drove himself!

The last time I saw John was on a Saturday afternoon in the fall. A car had pulled into the parking lot behind the old scoreboard location before a game and was heading in my direction. As it came alongside me the car stopped and a window came down.

I don't remember if Dartmouth won or lost that day. I don't remember who the Big Green played. But I'll never forget the warm greeting I got from John Stearns and the absolute joy I saw in his ear-to-ear smile. He was, after all, back where he belonged.

Adding A Familiar (Last) Name

Tweeting his commitment to Dartmouth is Griffin Lehman, a 6-foot-5, 265-pound lineman from The Hill School who was a first-team All-Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) selection as a junior. Find his junior highlights at the Pennsylvania school HERE.

If the Lehman name is familiar that might be because his dad, Zack '95, was a fine nose guard for the Big Green who made 47 tackles as a senior. An outstanding student who went on to graduate magna cum laude from Harvard Law School (and whose accomplishments were lauded in a posting on DartBlog), Zack Lehman is today headmaster at The Hill School.

Click to enlarge.

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I think this is the full list of rising high school seniors who have Tweeted their Dartmouth commitment so far. Heights and weights are per Internet reports. In some cases positions are best guess:

OL Calvin Atkeson, 6-5, 290, Ravenscroft, N.C.

DL Luca Di Leo, 6-2, 295, St. Ignatius College Prep, Ill.

OL Matt Hall, 6-6, 290, Walton HS, Ga.

TE Joe Kramer, 6-5, 230, Westwood Regional, HS N.J.

OL Griffin Lehman, 6-5, 265, The Hill School, Pa.

TE Robbie Mangas, 6-3, 240, Gonzaga College HS, D.C.

LB Carson Reich, 6-3, 220, The Woodlands, Texas 

Breaking: Harris Back In NFL

From Buccaneers.com:

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced today that the team has signed tackle Austin Albrecht and cornerback Vernon Harris. . . .

Harris (6-1, 197) originally entered the league as a college free agent with the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2016 offseason. The Dartmouth product spent last season on the Chiefs’ Injured Reserve list, before being waived this offseason. Harris, a native of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, will wear No. 30 for the Buccaneers. 

AND this just in . . . a closer look at Harris from FanRag Sports.

See You There

Dartmouth football practice kicks off this Wednesday with the first full session on Memorial Field from 2:30-4:30 p.m. With the Sept. 16 opener against Stetson in Florida, the Big Green is eschewing the usual morning practices held at the start of camp in favor of afternoon practices to acclimate to the heat.

Keep in mind that changes to the practice schedule not only aren't unusual but are expected. That said, here's the current schedule:

Wednesday, Aug. 23 – 2:30-4:30
Thursday, Aug. 24 – 2:00-4:30
Friday, Aug. 25 – 2:00-4:30
Saturday, Aug. 26 – 2:00-4:30
Sunday, Aug. 27 – 2:00-4:30
Monday, Aug. 28 – 2:00-4:30
Tuesday, Aug. 29 – 2:00-4:30
Wednesday, Aug. 30 – 2:00-4:30
Thursday, Aug. 31 – 2:00-4:30
Friday, Sept. 1 – 2:00-4:30
Saturday, Sept. 2 – Green-White Scrimmage 10 a.m.
Sunday, Sept. 3 – No practice
Monday, Sept. 4 – 2:00-4:30
Tuesday, Sept. 5 – 2:00-4:30
Wednesday, Sept. 6 – 2:00-4:30
Thursday, Sept. 7 – Harvard Scrimmage (Memorial Field) 3 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 8 – No practice
Saturday, Sept. 9 – No practice
Sunday, Sept. 10 – Stetson week begins

A reminder that full coverage of practice will appear on BGA Premium each night.

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How did a half-dozen Mobile Virtual Player units end up on practice field in Sasakatoon, Sask.? It doesn't hurt that Saskatoon businessman/philanthropist David Dube, who bought the motorized tackling dummies, is married to a Dartmouth alum.

The Saskatoon StarPhoenix takes a look at how the MVP is being received and even brings up its potential use on the ice north of the border.

TV Talk

Opponent previews continue on BGA Premium today with a look at Cornell. Each of the previews has a theme drawn from TV. Here are the shows mentioned so far, plus one from today's preview of the Big Red. Can you guess who each refers to and why?

• The Gong Show
• Roy Rogers
• Hill Street Blues
• Frasier
• The Apprentice
• Sale of the Century

Hill Street Blues is the easy one ;-)

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Speaking of TV shows, CLICK HERE to watch a quick clip of the MVP in a short and funny segment from yesterday's Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Here's a screenshot from the video:

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And speaking of the MVP, a Yahoo story under the headline Are robots a solution to reducing football concussions? begins with a few thoughts from Los Angeles Rams linebacker Flo Orimolade about the team employing the MVP in practice. Find that story HERE.

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Finally, the always entertaining All About Circuits website has a Q&A under the headline, Timing, Crowdfunding, and Device Durability: Interview with Quinn Connell of the MVP Tackling Dummy.

From the story:

AAC: Yours is a unique product. Have you seen competitors pop up yet?QC: Not yet but it's very much a copycat industry. At all the conventions, you see a lot of equipment manufacturers. If they don't have a new product, come back a year later and all of a sudden, they've got one that looks identical to yours. We want to make sure that we're doing our due diligence, not only on the patent/IP side but also just trade secrets, making sure that everything that we do is protected. 

Flo By The Numbers

A friend of BGA has dug up a Turf Show Times participation breakdown from the first Los Angeles Rams preseason opener that offers an interesting insight to Dartmouth grad Flo Orimolade's chances to make the roster as an undrafted free agent. Here's the headline:

LA Rams-Dallas Cowboys Playing Time Breakdown: What The Snap Counts Say About The 13-10 Win

The piece lists Flo with 13 snaps at linebacker, representing 20.31 percent of the opportunities he had to be on the field at his position. He was on the field for 14 special teams plays, 46.67 percent of his opportunities in that capacity.

The post concludes:

I’m not going as far to suggest that (linebacker Andy) Mulumba, OL Folarin Orimolade or RB Lenard Tillery are going to make the 53-man roster. But I think it’s clear there’s a path to get there. And this is it.

We’ll have to see how the teams snaps develop over the course of the preseason, but if we’ve got a cluster forming among this group of players, I wouldn’t be shocked at someone to land on the final roster as a ST-only add.

On the flip side for Flo, he gets some mention (and shows up in a video) from the Dallas News SportsDay page after being burned for a TD by a Cowboys tight end. Check it out HERE.

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The Mobile Virtual Player gave Baylor players and coaches a good laugh with its response to losing a race with the football program's operations assistant. Check out the story and video HERE. (Be sure to watch the second video for a great angle on what happened.)

Well, there is expected to be a revenge match between the ops assistant and the MVP on the Tonight Show tonight. Be sure to tune in!

Speaking of Baylor and the MVP, if you check out an SI.com story about tackling in football and keep reading you'll eventually get to this:

Baylor received its first MVP-DRIVE shortly before camp opened this month. The 190-pound dummy (retail price: $8,295) can cover 40 yards in seven seconds, and it can spin 360 degrees to evade a tackler—if the coach or manager handling the remote control has been practicing. “The players look at it like a pop-up dummy,” (Baylor equipment director Jeff Barlow) says. “All of a sudden they see it moving and their eyes get wide.” 

Bears coaches plan to use the battery-powered dummy as a kickoff returner, which would allow coverage team members a rare out-of-game opportunity to make a tackle on that play. The MVP-DRIVE can play other positions as well. “You can use it as a receiver, and a DB reacts off of it,” Barlow says. “It can break on a post. It can do a corner route. It can do a straight go route. That thing hauls butt.”

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Preseason FCS Coaches Poll 
1 James Madison (20) 642
2 North Dakota State (2) 618
3 Sam Houston State (3) 577
4 Eastern Washington 525
5 Jacksonville State 493
6 South Dakota State (1) 479
7 Richmond 474
8 Youngstown State 450
9 Villanova 413
10 North Dakota 412
11 Wofford 381
12 The Citadel 333
13 Chattanooga 330
14 Charleston Southern 261
15 Central Arkansas 251
16 New Hampshire 244
17 Lehigh 177
18 Illinois State 149
19 Samford 144
20 Northern Iowa 136
21 Grambling State 133
22 Weber State 102
23 Cal Poly 85
24 North Carolina Central 83
25 North Carolina A&T 78
Others receiving votes: Fordham (63), Albany (62), Western Illinois (54), Montana (51), Northern Arizona (42), McNeese State (34), San Diego (33), Tennessee State (26), Kennesaw State (17), William & Mary (16), HARVARD (16), South Dakota (14), Saint Francis (8), Southeastern Louisiana (7), Dayton (7), Nicholls State (6), PRINCETON (5), Prairie View A&M (5), Colgate (5), Towson (2), Eastern Illinois (2), Southern (2), Southern Utah (2), Mercer (1).

Green Alert Take: Penn?

The Best

The best of Dartmouth football was on display last night at Memorial Field. Here's a video from the football office:

Back In The Saddle

After catching up on sleep in an honest-to-goodness bed after two weeks camping in the wilds I'm back at it with way too much to do in the next few weeks and way too little time to get it done. That's the price we pay for vacation ;-)

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Catching up on a few things I missed when I was away, I'll start with this video featuring bearded former starting center Austen Fletcher '12 (thanks for the link):

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Another emailer sent along a note about former Dartmouth strength coach Dan Nichol running the football strength program at the University of Minnesota and getting a few cameos on the  show, "Being PJ Fleck." Nichol was at Dartmouth from 2006-08. Find his Minnesota bio HERE.

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An SI.com story under the headline, The Top 10 Mascots in College Football, Ranked by Someone Terrified of Mascots, includes Keggy, which to the chagrin of many at the college used to occasionally show up at Dartmouth events. The story includes this cheap shot:

It’s a shame Dartmouth isn’t better at sports, because Keggy deserves a much better platform than his current one.

For what it's worth, the mascot ranked just ahead of Keggy was the Fighting Okra of Delta State.

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The Wisconsin Badgers have two MVP tackling robots rolling around practice. Scroll down HERE to read about it and see them in action.

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Former Dartmouth quarterback Dave Bradley '58, a regular at practice and mentor of numerous Big Green players in recent years, was the grand marshal of the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl parade. (STORY). Bradley threw the winning touchdown pass for New Hampshire in the first game in its longtime series with Vermont.

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The local Valley News writes about Dartmouth's continuing struggle to get its indoor practice facility built. The lede to the story:

A ruling by the Hanover Planning Board denying a permit for a proposed 70,000-square-foot practice facility east of downtown was based on a standard that was too subjective to enforce, a lawyer representing Dartmouth College argued in Grafton County Superior Court on Wednesday.

Robert Carey, a lawyer for the college, said the $17.5 million building, which Dartmouth officials said was needed for its athletes to practice in the winter, had met all relevant zoning codes, as well as all specific site plan regulations.

Read the full story HERE.

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Dartmouth defensive back Jarius Brown writes about some of what he learned as an Under Armour Product Management Intern HERE.

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The first three opponent previews have been posted on BGA Premium. Ivy League previews begin tonight with a look at Brown.

If you haven't signed up or renewed your subscription yet the stories are going to keep coming and you may never catch up ;-)

Oh, and if you signed up for email alerts within minutes of each posting and haven't sent along addresses for the alerts, now's the time. The alerts will start going out in several days after the list is built.

To have those notifications activated, CLICK HERE and it will address an email to me with the subject Email Alerts. Then just include the addresses that should receive notifications each time a story has been posted. Thanks!

Homeward Bound

We landed in Boston at 1:53 a.m. – actually 4:53, but it felt three hours earlier. That's because of our successful adjustment to West Coast time during two weeks of camping in three national parks, national forests, state parks and a couple of other venues as well as a final weekend at a city hotel. While sitting at Logan waiting 90 or so minutes for the first morning bus to southern New Hampshire – where we left our car at a free park-and-ride facility – it's as good a time as any to get BGA Daily going again with a new name that will join the Dartmouth football program.

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While we wait 6-foot-3, 240-pound , Robbie Mangas of Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C., has Tweeted his commitment to Dartmouth. (LINK) Although he's listed as a fullback on his Rivals page, his Hudl highlights also lists him at tight end so it shouldn't be a surprise if he ends up  there with his kind of size. Bowling Green, East Carolina and William & Mary are among the schools that offered him according to Rivals.

Check out his highlights HERE.

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The Holy Cross preview is up on BGA Premium and Sacred Heart will go up later today. If you've sent in your membership and your account hasn't been activated, I'll be jumping on that after we finally get home (unless I fall asleep at the keyboard ;-).

Email alerts announcing the posting of new stories will begin in the next several days. If that's an option you selected be sure you've sent along up to three addresses to receive the alerts and I'll build that mailing list.

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And finally, flying home last night we passed over northern California and waved down at That Certain Dartmouth '14, who shared this photo from the halfway point of her epic 2,650-mile hike up the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mexican border to the Canadian border:

Here We Go

Still on the road but BGA Premium is now live with the Stetson preview kicking off the season. There will be previews for 10 consecutive days before daily coverage of practice begins.

If you signed up for the premium service and your account has not yet been activated I'll be able to take care of that after returning from vacation Tuesday afternoon. Thank you for your patience.

BGA Daily will resume Tuesday afternoon as well.

For what it's worth, we are in the city now and after two weeks in a tent in the woods I feel a little like Crocodile Dundee in the city. I'll take the woods . . .

Internet And Another Recruit

Out of the wilderness and the Internet pops up with another commitment via Twitter:

Joe Kramer, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound tight end from Westwood Regional High School and Washington Township, N.J.

Find his highlights HERE. Find a story about him HERE.

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Flying home on the red-eye Monday night. BGA Daily will pick up again after getting back to Moose Mountain late Tuesday morning.

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In the meantime, check out That Certain Dartmouth '14's Pacific Crest Trail blog HERE as she tops the 1,000-mile mark. (She's actually nearing 1,200 miles as this is written.)

Stopping For Camping Supplies And This Popped Up . . .

Results of the Ivy League preseason football poll are in and they are as ridiculous as ever . . .

1. Princeton (6) 120
1. Harvard (5) 120
3. Penn (5) 110
4. Yale 71
5. Dartmouth 60
6. Brown (1) 57
7. Columbia 38
8. Cornell 36

Green Alert Take: Should someone's voting privilege should be revoked? This thing gets thrown out of whack every year by one voter . . . and no, it's not me.

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And on our 30th anniversary we give you a gift from the end of the earth (or at least this country):

Joining the Dartmouth family is Carson Reich, a linebacker from The Woodlands, the Texas Ivy League feeding ground. Reich's announcement is HERE and his highlights are HERE.

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Now I have to stuff what we bought for our celebration dinner into a bear cannister and head back into the wilderness.

Several reminders.

1) This page is going dark again until we fly home on Aug. 15.

2) For those of you whose accounts have been activated, BGA Premium postings will begin Aug. 13 and continue daily until the end of the season.

3) If you have signed up for BGA and sent along a check or PayPal I won't be able to activate your account until we return. You'll be good to go Aug. 15.

A Vacation Is . . .