The latest product from MVP (for Mobile Virtual Player), which is still in the prototype phase, looks a lot more human. Like the football dummy, it travels around on a wheeled base. But the man-shaped mannequin is built to weave and dodge as it avoids live fire in training sessions.
The new training robot is called the HEKTR — the Humanoid Engageable Kinetic Training Robot. MVP Robotic says it has a $700,000 grant from the U.S. Air Force to develop the robots in partnership with a company called Columbia Tech in Westborough, Massachusetts, which is manufacturing them.Read the full story HERE.
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A little more from the Ivy League media day at ESPN:
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Elsewhere around the Ivy League . . .The long-rumored transfer of former Boston College quarterback EJ Perry to play for his uncle James at Brown is now official. From a story in the Eagle Tribune:
“I entered the transfer portal and a lot of schools started reaching out to me,” said (EJ) Perry. “It was a much faster pace than recruiting in high school. I took some visits, then sat down with my parents and made a decision.”And . . .
“Playing for (James) wasn’t the focus,” said E.J. IV. “Finding the right fit was the focus. But I’m very excited to be coached by him. He is an unbelievable coach that has had great success in and out of the Ivy League. (James) was a quarterback himself, and he knows how to coach quarterbacks. It will be great to learn from him every day.”Perry, who saw his most extensive action last year against Clemson, had been projected as the BC backup quarterback this fall. He will be a junior at Brown.
(For a little more about Perry's transfer check out the Brown preview that was posted last evening on BGA Premium.)
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Princeton has announced that it will play a game at Army next fall. (LINK)No date has been announced for the game but speculation is that with Army having an open date on Oct. 10 Princeton will reach an agreement to reschedule a game set for that date against in-state rival Monmouth.
Army already had Bucknell of the Patriot League as next year's opener. The Cadets are slated to play Bucknell again in 2021 and Colgate in 2022 before facing off against Dartmouth on Sept. 28, 2024.
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Two years ago when Dartmouth played Penn fans of both teams sat on the south side of venerable Franklin Field while maintenance was being done on the other side of the facility. This year everyone will be sitting on the opposite side (with the scoreboard to the right and the closed end of the stadium to the left). From a Penn release:Due to concrete restoration projects at Franklin Field, the South and East stands will be closed for the next two seasons. All season ticket holders and fans will be relocated to the North side of the stadium.
Penn Football will also be switching its "home" sideline to the North side of the Franklin Field turf so the team can continue to hear your support throughout the game.Green Alert Take: Sure hope the ESPN cameras aren't facing the empty side of the stadium ;-)
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The Columbia website notes that the Lions will be scrimmaging New Jersey Division III Montclair State for the third year in a row on Aug. 30.Dartmouth scrimmaged Harvard in the preseason each year since Buddy Teevens' return to Hanover until last fall. The teams are not slated to scrimmage this year.
Green Alert Take: While the official reason for ending the Dartmouth-Harvard scrimmage last year was a reinterpretation of NCAA rules such that a scrimmage would have cost the Big Green practice time, given that Dartmouth ended its long losing streak against the Crimson in the same year that it ended the scrimmaging it's doubtful anyone who bleeds green has a problem with the teams not meeting this year ;-)
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A release by Memorial Field opening night opponent Colgate reveals an interesting approach to naming captains out in Hamilton, N.Y. From the release:"We do it a little bit differently in that guys have to actually apply to be captain," (Colgate coach Dan) Hunt said. "They don't have to be seniors but they do go through an application and interview process, and we had 13 guys apply for the job.
Captains for the 2019 season, as voted by the student-athletes, are senior defensive back Aidan Gaertner, senior defensive lineman Cam Rohr and senior offensive lineman Jovaun Woolford, and junior quarterback Grant Breneman.
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Unlike baseball's spring training when players have been known to pack along their golf clubs, NFL summer camp is grueling. That said, playing a game in Hawaii isn't so bad. Among those at Aloha Stadium for the Los Angeles Rams game with the Dallas Cowboys was former Dartmouth offensive tackle Matt Kaskey. The 6-foot-7, 325-pound Kaskey, bidding to make the Rams roster as an undrafted free agent, met up with William Straton, brother of his former teammate Bun Straton, a native Hawaiian, at the game.
