Score A Big One For Williams

Over a 41-year period, Dartmouth had just two people directing its athletic communications efforts, but with the assistant who had been overseeing the office moving on last month, the department will now have its second new director in just over two years.

The perfect candidate for the role is was out there, but per this release out of Williams College he'll instead soon be running the show for the "Little Ivy" powerhouse in Massachusetts:

That, of course, is Rick Bender, who succeeded longtime Dartmouth SID Kathy Slattery Phillips in 2008 and was highly regarded around the Ivy League for his professionalism and steady leadership guiding the office into the digital era. After 17 years at Dartmouth he served as the first full-time athletic communications director at Knox College in his home state of Illinois before the position was eliminated.

Said Williams Athletic Director Lisa Melendy in announcing the school's new SID director of athletic communications: 

"I am pleased to welcome Rick Bender to our department, and excited for him to begin his work with our student-athletes, coaches, and staff. With a proven track record of excellence and a specialized focus on the student-athlete experience within a liberal arts context, Rick is uniquely positioned to lead our communications department as we enter the next chapter. We are incredibly fortunate to have Rick's expertise at the helm."

Green Alert Take: As a former assistant SID who knows and respects Rick, I couldn't have said it any better.

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Ranking the Top 15 FCS Transfer Portal Safeties for the 2026 Season might be a fool's mission before a single game has been played, but when one of your former players is among those who are ranked and his photograph leads the story, why not?

The photo is of Tyson Grimm, who will be a grad transfer this fall at Rhode Island. From the story (LINK):

Grimm is a super-experienced defensive back who played in nearly every game for Dartmouth over the past two years. He has posted over 100 career tackles with 2 INTs and 6 pass breakups. He's expected to play an important role for the Rams in 2026, who need to replace some major pieces in the secondary.

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EXTRA POINT
When I was in sixth grade my grandfather sent me a "glow engine"  model airplane. This was back in the days before remote control, and so the plane was tethered to the operator by a control line. I never once got the engine to start and out of frustration took to swinging it around like it was the hammer throw until it broke into pieces on re-entry. ;-(

That, my friends, was the beginning of my lifelong issue with internal combustion engines and the like. I had a grass trimmer that worked for a while, but after a bit I could never get it to start. Whenever my lawn mower wouldn't start, I'd stare at it for a while and then load it into the car to take it to someone who could fix it.

Now maybe you understand why I have a Ryobi string trimmer, a small electric chainsaw, and an electric tractor. The two EVs are a different deal, but I promise you when something goes wrong with our '84 VW camper it's immediately on its way to the shop.

All of that is by way of saying it won't be me cleaning up the mess after the wind storm a few days ago that twice took our power down. Unfortunately, it also took down half a tree that is now splayed across the bottom of our field. I'm not happy about what it's going to cost, but someone with facility for a chainsaw that I clearly don't have will be getting a call in the next few days to take care of that tree and a couple others that have seen better days.