Friday, January 17, 2025

Help Wanted

Aashon Larkins, who came to Dartmouth as secondary coach in July of 2023, has moved on. Larkins was announced as an "offensive assistant" at Appalachian State yesterday after two seasons with the Big Green. Find the App State announcement HERE.

#

Ejeke Adele, the Ivy League's defensive player of the year last fall when he had 54 tackles including six sacks, has found a new home as a grad transfer:

Adele follows in the cleats of Charlie Looes, a 2023 finalist for Ivy League defensive player of the year, who had a terrific season at Rice as a grad transfer last fall, posting 43 tackles, including 8.5 for a loss and 3.5 sacks.

#

Also announcing his grad transfer destination is fellow D-lineman Derrell Porter:

#

Both Adele and Porter will be Dartmouth graduates when they take the field next fall. That's not the case for some athletes who move on from the Ivy League.

A story in That Nation headlined Should the Ivy League Pay Its Student Athletes? includes this about Ivy basketball (LINK):

After a memorable two seasons for Ivy League men’s basketball ... this past offseason saw the exit of most of the best talent in the conference: Ivy League Rookie of the Year Malik Mack, First Team All-Ivy member Danny Wolf, Tyler Perkins, Chisom Okpara, and Kalu Anya. These Ivy League standouts joined a staggering number of transfers that amounted to more than 10 percent of Division I basketball. While transferring from the Ivy League is common for a postgraduate year, due to the Ancient Eight’s policy against student athletes’ competing after undergrad, all five of these players transferred after at most two seasons.

 In case you are wondering:

• Malik Mack transferred from Harvard to Georgetown

• Danny Wolf transferred from Yale to Michigan

• Tyler Perkins transferred from Penn to Villanova 

• Chisom Okpara transferred from Harvard to Stanford

• Kalu Anya transferred from Brown to St. Louis 

#

Congratulations to Dartmouth's Bob Whalen, who will serve as the president of the American Baseball Coaches Association for the 2025-2026 year. Find a Dartmouth release HERE and an ABCA release HERE.

The ABCA describes itself as "the primary professional organization for baseball coaches." Its membership include coaches in NCAA Division I, II and III, NAIA, NJCAA, Pacific Association Division, High School, Youth and Travel Baseball.

#

EXTRA POINT

Mrs. BGA and I spent a month last spring traveling roughly 9,000 miles around the country on a USA Rail Pass. The deal is you can take 10 trips over 30 days for a set fee. A trip could be as short as Boston to New York City or as long as Seattle to Los Angeles. The pass does not include a sleeping compartment, but with a little planning you can work up a schedule that doesn't require an overnight on the train. Or if you are up to it, a night on the train is a ton more comfortable than a red-eye flight across the country. (We know, because we spent several overnights on the train. ;-)


So why bring that up now?


Today is the final day of a flash sale on the USA Rail Pass. Usually for sale for $499, you can buy one before the end of the day today for $299. Learn more about the pass HERE. If you are interested, remember that the sale ends today. Honestly, I'd be hopping on that deal – and right back on the train – if our new EV hadn't come with two year of free high-speed charging, which makes traveling by car incredibly economical.

Posted by at

Thursday, January 16, 2025

New Name Of The Day

Just the latest to announce his "commitment to the process" of becoming a Dartmouth football student-athlete is Jackson Cheatham, a 5-foot-10, 165-pound defensive back from Gilman School and Baltimore. The MIAA all-conference player chose Dartmouth over an offer from Stony Brook.

#

Another honor for Flo Orimolade '17:

Orimolade has been rewarded with a two-year extension from the Calgary Stampeders, who just reacquired him. Find the story HERE.

#

FCS coaches looking to rebuilt their teams through the transfer portal might be interested in the results of the 32 teams that last year each had 15 or more transfers from elsewhere in Division I (FBS and FCS). As HERO Sports notes, of those 32 teams (LINK):
• 13 saw an increase in their number of wins
• 15 saw a decrease in their number of wins
• 4 saw their number of wins stay the same

The only team in our region that chose to go that heavily into the portal was Albany, and the result wasn't pretty. The Great Danes added 21 transfers – 10 from the FBS level and 11 from the FCS level (including Dartmouth's Jamal Cooney) – and went from 11-4 in 2023 to 4-8 in 2024.

#

You know those Guardian caps Dartmouth and other schools use in practice that are now showing up on a few NFL players during games? They are getting a cosmetic upgrade:

#

EXTRA POINT

Downloaded a new book from the library onto my Kindle last night. While I completely understand people who prefer to hold a book in their hands and turn pages, if you are going to read at night with the lights out, it's hard to beat an e-reader.


You may be interested to know that the protagonist in the book I'm reading is a ranger at Yellowstone and the book was written by a Dartmouth alum. (But not That Certain Dartmouth '14, who has actually been a ranger at Yellowstone. ;-)

Posted by at

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Still Another

Ayomide Adeniyi, a 6-foot-3, 230-pound defensive end/athlete who has played football for just two years, has posted his commitment to Dartmouth. The product of Oakland Mills High School and Columbia, Md., chose Dartmouth over offers from Penn, Princeton, Lehigh, Merrimack, Wagner, LIU and Hampton.

On the season, Adeniyi had 52 tackles (23 for a loss) with nine sacks. He had two defensive touchdowns, five forced fumbles, four blocked punts and three pass breakups. His team went 11-2.

And while he's relatively new to football, he's apparently up-to-speed with regard to NIL:

#

Dartmouth alum Charlie Looes hopes to parlay his success with the Big Green and last fall as a grad transfer at Rice into a pro career: 

Looes posted 43 tackles with the Owls last season with 8.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacs, two QB hurries, one fired fumble and two fumble recoveries. 

#

Misses this from Shane Cokes, who spent the last two seasons at Colorado after grad transferring from Dartmouth:

The game was played last week in . . . Florida. ;-)

#

If you grew up running to the mailbox to grab the latest issue of Sports Illustrated the way it did, you know the name Heinz Kluetmeier. Jon Wertheim has an appreciation of the legendary photographer and member of the Dartmouth Class of 1965 who died yesterday.

#

EXTRA POINT

It's just a little thing, but something I never paid attention to before.


Walking into my home office last night I was struck by all the bright little dots of color sparkling in the darkness before turning on the overhead light. There was a yellow speck on my second computer screen, orange where the power cord joins my MacBook Air, green where my knockoff ear buds were charging, blue on a button on my printer, and red on a power strip on the floor that feeds juice to all the others. There were also a couple of small green lights where I was charging AA batteries.



Posted by at

Tuesday, January 14, 2025

And Another

The hits just keep on coming . . .

Another day, another new name to add to the list of Dartmouth recruiting commitments. This time it is Santino Cicarella, a 6-foot-2, 175-pound wide receiver from University Liggett School in Grosse Point Woods, Mich.

Per published reports, Cicarella had 55 catches for 1,235 yards and 10 touchdowns last year under head coach Andre Rison, the former NFL star. He was named the Sports illustrated Michigan Athlete of the Week after a game in which he caught nine passes for 164 yards and a touchdown, collected 11 tackles and closed out the contest with an interception.

Find a story about Cicarella in the Grosse Pointe News HERE.

#

From a story about former Dartmouth linebacker Flo Oriomlade '17 returning to the Calgary Stampeders (LINK):

(Stampeders defensive tackle) Mike Rose considers him "the real deal."

Pundits felt losing him a few winters ago was the biggest drop in recent free-agency windows by the Calgary Stampeders.

So the Red and White getting sack-master Folarin 'Flo' Orimolade back to terrorize quarterbacks is a big deal.

And . . .

"Flo's built different than a lot of people," (Stampers head coach and GM Dave) Dickenson said. "Twitchy, strong, relentless motor, violent, super smart, great person. I just enjoy watching him play. 

#

Former Dartmouth wide receivers coach JJ Jackson's success this year as head coach at Texas College has been noted here before but the honors keep rolling in. From a story about the award and his season (LINK):

Jarrail Jackson, who sparked a turnaround in the Texas College program, has been named the top coach on the 2024 All-Texas Non-FBS Football Team, Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine announced on Monday.  

#

And on the subject of former Dartmouth coaches, here's a little more about Adam Scheier heading to UNLV as special teams coordinator (LINK).

#

Thanks to a friend for sharing a link to an ESPN story about the Los Angeles Rams moving their playoff game to Arizona and the role a couple of Dartmouth grads played in making that happen. Team president Kevin Demoff, widely quoted in the story, holds two Dartmouth degrees and was a Big Green football broadcaster while in Hanover. Tony Pastoors, the team's VP of football and business administration, is a former Dartmouth safety. From the story (LINK):

"'There was no way we were going to take players and staff without their families,' Demoff said."

And . . .  

"Tony Pastoors put it best: 'Hope is not a strategy,'" Demoff said. "Watching [Thursday] in the middle of practice when all hell broke loose, those players can't focus. And they can't focus with their families behind and having them have to make a choice between do I pay attention in a meeting, do I pay attention or do I worry about my family? That's an untenable position to put anybody in."

And . . .

The Rams' traveling party Friday night comprised 335 people and two dogs.

"We got Noah's ark going over to Arizona today," tight end Tyler Higbee quipped on Friday after practice. 

#

And finally, that note yesterday about Dartmouth looking to hire a new OC for the football program accurately reproduced verbatim what FootballScoop had posted. But it turns out the Scoop had it wrong. The posting said the Big Green was looking for a new offensive coordinator. What it should have said is Dartmouth is looking for an operations coordinator. Sorry for the confusion.

#

EXTRA POINT

If you've been visiting this electronic precinct for a while, you know we have a solar tracker in our field that pretty much eliminates our electric bill. The unfortunate part is that it sends its production directly to the grid, and that electricity is credited against our usage. It's unfortunate because when the power from the grid goes out we can't fall back on the solar tracker because the system was not set up to allow it to send power to a power wall-type thing in our house or garage.


The good news is that technology has come to the rescue. Last week we bought a converter that will allow us to pull energy back out of our EV (electric car) to power the house. As long as we are conservative in how much else we try to run, we can keep our refrigerator, small appliances, lights and more going for several days with power from the car, and still have enough juice left to drive it into town for a charge if necessary. Given how frequently we lose power here, it's a huge win.

Posted by at

Monday, January 13, 2025

Two New Names

Finally, a little more news on the recruiting front with two new additions.

Thanks to Xwitter we can add running back Myles Craddock and wide receiver Andrew Smart to the incoming class:

Smart is a 6-foot-3, 185 pounder from Arapahoe High School and Centennial, Colo. An All-Colorado selection, he caught 67 passes for 1,098 yards and 14 touchdowns last fall. He also was a special teams unicorn, serving both as his team's punter and punt returner.

Craddock is a 5-foot-11, 200-pound back from Cranston, R.I., who played last fall at Phillips Exeter. As a senior at Moses Brown School in 2023 he was named Rhode Island's Gatorade Player of the Year after running for 1,504 yards and 21 touchdowns. He averaged 10.1 yards per carry.


At PE in 2024 he was named to the Northeast Football Conference first team and All-NEPSAC honorable mention.


#


This is straight off the FootballScoop site this morning (LINK):


Dartmouth (FCS - NH):

Dartmouth College is hiring for their Offensive Coordinator position. Interested parties should reach out to / e-mail materials to Dartmouth.Football@dartmouth.edu. Please no phone calls

#


EXTRA POINT

With sunset almost 25 minutes later than it was a month ago I took a look at the clock and headed out on my hike yesterday a good deal later than usual. My warm beanie has a built-in head lamp that I've used before on the trail so I had no concerns about it getting dark before I finished my three miles up and over the mountain.


About a half mile from finishing I decided the time had come to turn on the headlamp. Oops. Nothing. I've had the hat for several years and I figured the battery had finally run down. Fortunately, it wasn't completely dark yet, I know the trail inside and out – even snow-covered – and a near-full moon was casting some light on the snow, so I made it to the end of the trail with no problem.


Back home I showed Mrs. BGA the hat wouldn't work and puzzled over how to replace the batteries. She took the hat, in no time adjusted a clamp on the light that had come loose, and like that, it came on bright as day. What would I do without her?

Posted by at

Sunday, January 12, 2025

Big Dreams

Following in the path of former wide receiver teammate Jamal Cooney '23, Isaac Boston '24, has declared for the NFL Draft after a year as a grad transfer. Boston had 21 catches with a team-high five touchdowns this fall at Central Connecticut. One of the TDs came against Dartmouth and two in his final collegiate game against No. 9 Rhode Island. Click the graphic to read his entire message.

Jamal Cooney, who played last fall at Albany, announced his intention to enter the draft HERE.

x

Always great when someone else does your work for you! Following up on the posting about coaches who have won three-or-more Ivy League titles, a loyal BGA reader worked up the percentage of the time the coaches led their team to the championship. Here's what he found, reordered according to percentage.

Jerry Berndt

Penn

4

5

80%

Jake Crouthamel

Dartmouth

3

7

43%

Tim Murphy

Harvard

10

29

34%

Dick Coleman

Princeton

4

12

33%

Tony Reno

Yale

4

12

33%

Joe Yukica

Dartmouth

3

9

33%

Carm Coza

Yale

10

31

32%

Bob Blackman

Dartmouth/Cornell

7

22

32%

Al Bagnoli

Penn/Columbia

9

29

31%

Bob Surace

Princeton

4

14

29%

Steve Tosches

Princeton

3

13

23%

Buddy Teevens

Dartmouth

5

22

23%

Joe Restic

Harvard

5

22

23%

John Yovicsin

Harvard

3

14

21%

Phil Estes

Brown

3

20

15%


Should Dartmouth's Sammy McCorkle win his third title in as many tries in 2025 he'll move to the top of the chart. ;-)
#

Another loyal reader shared a link to this jacket, which is available HERE. 


Green Alert Take: I have a hard time believe this was officially licensed by Dartmouth.

Green Alert Take II: If it was licensed . . .  it shouldn't have been.

Green Alert Take III: And oh by the way, the website refers to it as a baseball jacket, which ought to tell you something right there.

#

EXTRA POINT
Our nephew is part of a musical trio that came up from southern New England to play a gig at the new casino in Lebanon last night. It was great seeing them perform . . . but don't expect to see us walking through those doors again anytime soon. ;-)
Posted by at

Saturday, January 11, 2025

Saturday Stuff

First, an addition to yesterday's listing of coaches with three or more Ivy League titles. Through a transcription error Jerry Berndt was originally left off the list.  After inheriting a 1-9 team he went 1-9 in his first season (1981) and then earned Ivy League championships in 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1985.

#

A piece headlined FCS Football: Highest-Graded Offensive Players In 2024 that uses the PFF metric has Dartmouth guard Kyle Brown as the second-ranked interior offensive lineman in the country, behind only Montana State's Marcus Wehr. (LINK) The 6-foot-4, 280-pound Brown will play at UMass as a grad transfer next fall.

Big Green junior Delby Lemieux was the sixth-ranked offensive tackle per the story.

Other Ivy Leaguers gaining mention included three interior offensive linemen. Harvard's Austin Gentle was ranked sixth while Penn's William Bergin and Columbia's John Iannuzzi were tied at eighth.

Penn running back Malachi Hosley was tied for eighth among running backs and Harvard offensive tackle Derek Osman was 10th.

Green Alert Take: Interesting that All-American tight end Chris Corbo was not among the 10 listed at the position.

Green Alert Take 2: PFF numbers are debated at the FBS level so their value at the FCS level is open to interpretation. Maybe the best approach is to hype them if they work in your favor and pooh, pooh them if they don't.

#
Former Bushnell Cup winner Flo Orimolade '17 is headed back to the Calgary Stampeders after a couple of seasons with the Toronto Argonauts. Find a story about the defensive lineman/sack artist HERE. From the story:
It’s a return to Calgary for Orimolade, who played 31 regular-season games over three seasons with the Red and White (2018, 2021-22) before signing with Toronto as a free agent. The Dartmouth College product was a member of the Stampeders’ Grey Cup-winning team in 2018 and contributed two special-teams tackles and a fumble recovery in the championship game.

Orimolade added a second Grey Cup ring with the Argos in 2024.

“Flo is a premier pass-rusher and a player we believe will make us better,” said Stampeders general manager and head coach Dave Dickenson.

#

Callie Brownson, whose career in football took off after Buddy Teevens brought her to Dartmouth, is leaving the Cleveland Browns to become Senior Director of High Performance and National Team Operations, USA Football. From a story on the BrownZone site (LINK):

“Callie has been a valuable member of our coaching staff for the last five seasons, and it’s been rewarding to see her growth,” (Browns coach Kevin ) Stefanski said in the news release. “We appreciate her many contributions to our team and look forward to seeing her continue to serve and grow our sport at USA Football.”

Brownson’s a trailblazer, having been the first woman to coach full time in Division I football at Dartmouth and the first to coach an NFL position group in a regular-season game when she led Cleveland’s tight ends against the Jaguars in 2020.

From a USA Football release:

Brownson, 35, will be a “critical part of the staff responsible for selecting, training and leading the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Teams that represent the United States on the world’s stage, including when flag football makes its Olympic debut in Los Angeles in 2028,” the release says. She will also “oversee the operational execution of USA Football’s U.S. National Team program and the implementation of the program’s long-term strategic plan.” 

#

EXTRA POINT

It's getting close to 10 a.m. as I write this and has been snowing lightly since I woke at 6. That said, we've probably had only an inch or so of accumulation. That's fine by me. These days my snow preferences are for either just enough to cover the ground or a good two feet of the stuff.

Posted by at

Friday, January 10, 2025

FYI

A little trivia on a quiet day in the Ivyverse (although it's hardly trivial ;-)

Most Ivy League Championships by Coach
10 – Carm Cozza, Yale (1967, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1989)

10 – Tim Murphy, Harvard (1997, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2023)

9 – Al Bagnoli, Penn (1993, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012)

7 – Bob Blackman, Dartmouth (1958, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1970)

5 – Buddy Teevens, Dartmouth (1990, 1991, 2015, 2019, 2021)

5 – Joe Restic, Harvard (1974, 1975, 1982, 1983, 1987)

4 – Bob Surace, Princeton  (2013, 2016, 2018, 2021)

4 – Dick Colman, Princeton (1957, 1963, 1964, 1966)

4 – Jerry Berndt, Penn (1982, 1983, 1984, 1985)

4 – Tony Reno, Yale (2017, 2019, 2022, 2023)

3 – Jake Crouthamel, Dartmouth (1971, 1972, 1973)

3 – Joe Yukica, Dartmouth (1978, 1981, 1982)

3 – John Yovicisin, Harvard (1961, 1966, 1968)

3 – Steve Tosches, Princeton (1989, 1992, 1995)

3 – Phil Estes, Brown (1999, 2005, 2008)

On deck to make the three-and-more list are Dartmouth's Sammy McCorkle (2023, 2024) and Penn's Ray Priore (2015, 2016).

Looking to join McCorkle and Priore with two titles are Columbia's Jon Poppe (2024) and Harvard's Andrew Aurich (2024).

#

EXTRA POINT
I have it on good authority that the sun came up this morning.
Posted by at
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)