Admit it. Tomorrow at this time you'll be lamenting the idea that there will be no more pro football until August when the NFL preseason begins.
Not so.
While it won't be the NFL there will be former NFL players in action – including two from Dartmouth when the first of two spring football leagues kicks off in just a few days.
Defensive end Niko Lalos '20, who became a fan favorite while playing in six games for the New York Giants in 2020 and spent time on the New Orleans Saints practice squad last fall, is expected to be on the field one week from tonight as a member of the XFL's Seattle Sea Dragons when they visit the D.C. Defenders in 8 p.m. game on ESPN.
From a Yahoo story about the XFL starting up next week (LINK):
For fans of the New York Giants, there will be quite a few familiar faces. More than 25, in fact. The most notable are Will Hill, Cody Latimer, Niko Lalos, and Trent Harris.
Check out Niko Lalos' Wikipedia page HERE.
One week before the XFL's final regular season game the USFL is slated to start its season and the Big Green will be represented in that league as well.
Offensive tackle Matt Kaskey '19, who was on and off the Carolina Panthers' practice squad for several years and was promoted to the active roster for two games in 2020, is on the USFL's Birmingham Stallions roster.
The Stallions are scheduled to host the New Jersey Generals in their opener on April 15 under the lights in a game to be broadcast by FOX.
Check out Matt Kaskey's Wikipedia page HERE.
Defensive lineman Seth Walter, the third Dartmouth grad initially expected to play this spring, was on the early roster of the XFL's St. Louis Battlehawks, but has chosen not to play and instead to begin his post-football career.
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The Dartmouth football recruiting class BGA has compiled now features 26 names. The 247Sports site, however, features just quarterback Woods Ray, defensive lineman Keoni Perkins and tight end Taysire Williams. (LINK)
Number of commits 247Sports lists for each Ivy:
Princeton 14
Penn 9
Yale 9 plus two “signed”
Harvard 7
Brown 3 plus one signed
Columbia 3
Dartmouth 3
Cornell 2
Green Alert Take: Each of those schools has at least two dozen players committed. Think about those numbers next time you try to compare recruiting rankings using one of the national services.
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Caught the Dartmouth men's basketball team's big win over Ivy League-leading Princeton yesterday. The Big Green is just 9-15 on the season but is 5-5 in the conference . That includes the win over the Tigers (and an overtime loss at Jadwin), a win over fellow league-leader Yale, and another against Penn, tied for third in the league.
Dartmouth has four games remaining with a shot at making its first appearance in the conference tournament, which features the league's top four teams. It won't be easy with three of the final four on the road. The Big Green will do the always difficult Cornell-Columbia trip and has to play Penn in the Palestra before finishing with a March 4 matinee against Harvard at Leede Arena.
The women's basketball team, for many year's the Ivy League standard bearer, hasn't been as fortunate. The Big Green fell to 0-10 in the Ivies and 2-22 overall with yesterday's loss at Princeton.
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This will annoy you to no end, from the computer voice's mispronunciations (most notably DartMOUTH) to the mix of actual Dartmouth campus photos with stock pics from other schools. But there is at least some interesting information, and at 6:24 you can watch Derek Kyler's Hail Mary pass to Masaki Aerts in the memorable win at Harvard.
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EXTRA POINT
I never did this but I was always tempted when I was at the newspaper to go out on Super Bowl Sunday and interview people who have to work during the game like nurses, police officers, servers, plumbers helping homeowners with frozen pipes and cashiers at convenience stores.
I think it would be a good story but don't look for it here tomorrow. I'm going to hunker down with a good book instead.
Just kidding.
