Mark Your Calendar

The Ivy League football preseason football poll is scheduled to be released Aug. 3 and the conference preseason media day is slated for Aug. 10.  Thanks to Craig Haley of Opta Analyst for digging up the dates.

Green Alert Take: As someone who has been covering the Ivy League closely for longer than I care to admit and who might have a decent grasp of the Ivy football landscape, I was a voter in the poll as far back as the late '80s (or was it the early '90s?). For the first time last year I was not one of the two media members selected by Dartmouth to vote in the poll. I have no quarrel with that, but have to admit I found it curious.)

Oh yeah. I almost forgot. Haley also lists one more date that Dartmouth followers have to hope is worth marking on their calendars. The opening round of the 2026 FCS playoffs is Nov. 28.

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Danny O'Dea, who transitioned from running backs coach at Dartmouth to recruiting director a couple of years ago, gets a well-deserved nod from Mike Farrell, widely recognized as "the Godfather of college recruiting:"

Here's what would seem to be a pretty effective graphic put out on O'Dea's watch illustrating the value of attending the Dartmouth football camp:

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And speaking of recruiting, remember the placekicker from Hanover High School BGA blogged about just yesterday? Turns out he already has a Big 10 offer from Iowa. (LINK)

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Rocco Gasparro, who served as assistant director of sports information at Dartmouth from 2001-03, has been named Senior Director of Communications for the All State Sugar Bowl after spending the last 23 years at the University of Louisville. (LINK)

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YesPress, which bills itself as delivering "Breaking news, bold profiles and stories of companies shaping our world," has a piece on Cirkul, the company founded by former Dartmouth safety Garrett Waggoner '13 and quarterback Andy Gay '14. Find the story HERE.

While the Cirkul story has been well told since the company hit it big, this chart from YesPress offers up an easy-to-digest outline of how it got where it is today:

2010
Waggoner and Gay meet on the Dartmouth football team. The powder-in-a-bottle frustration begins.

2016
Cirkul is founded around the cartridge-and-dial concept.

2018
Product launches after the founders rent a Tampa warehouse and assemble cartridges by hand.

2021
$30M Series B led by AF Ventures. TikTok flavor taste-tests start going viral - mostly by accident.

2022
$70M Series C led by SC.Holdings lands a $1B valuation. Cirkul launches nationwide in Walmart.

2023
Becomes one of Walmart's fastest-selling home-division products; expands into Canada via Walmart

2025
Rolls out new beverage brands and 50+ flavors; named Official Hydration Partner of i9 Sports.

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A very special old friend sent along an email yesterday wondering if Ben Rice '22, has the record for most single-season home runs by an Ivy League graduate* in major league history. It turns out that last year he broke the record of 22 set by Princeton alum Will Venable with the San Diego Padres in 2013. Rice finished with 26 home runs, a number he matched with a home run for the Yankees last night. 

* Lou Gehrig attended Columbia but did not graduate.

And speaking of Rice, not only is he headed to the All-Star game, but he'll be in the home run derby. Find a story under the headline Yankees' Ben Rice headed to first home run derby — and he's bringing a special guest HERE.

Spoiler Alert: The special guest is his father Dan, a former pitcher at Brown, who will throw to him in the Derby.

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EXTRA POINT
Tuesday evening concerts on the green have started in the town just south of us. Griff the Wonder Dog very much enjoyed being my footstool during the performance. What I think enjoyed even more was having his ears scratched by my foot. ;-)

Meanwhile, Across The Street . . .

Yesterday's BGA note about top college football recruits in New Hampshire probably should have emphasized more strongly that the list was of high school class of 2027 recruits.

An email from a good friend of BGA offers a reminder that there's a player in the 2028 high school class who might well belong on that list.

For the record, he plays in the shadow of Memorial Field.

Click HERE to read a January story about Hanover High School's Dima Petrov, who traded soccer for football as a freshman, and then opened eyes as a sophomore placekicker and punter at the Kicking World 2025 National Showcase in Austin, Texas.

Per the story, the Hanover kicker finished second in the culminating field goal kicking challenge down in Texas, nailing every attempt out to 55 yards and  going 9-for-11 overall, with a 60-yard long. He also averaged 42.4 year per punt with an average hang time of 3.67 seconds.

From the story:

“Dima had a fantastic weekend at our 2025 National Showcase,” said Brent Grablachoff, a coach and the owner of Kicking World. “We expect big things out of Dima and feel he will evolve into a collegiate-level kicker and is someone that the New England and Northeast college football programs need to jump on early.” 

The story about the rising junior, who was 5-for-5 on field goal tries and 31-for-31 on PATs last fall for Hanover High School, includes this:

“My goal is to play for a big school eventually,” Petrov said, even mentioning the possibility of donning a Dartmouth College jersey. 

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From ESPN (LINK):

A former Bucknell strength and conditioning coach was charged Monday with felony aggravated hazing following the 2024 death of a freshman football player who collapsed during his first workout with the team, according to a statement from the Pennsylvania attorney general and court documents.

Mark Kulbis was also charged with misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and hazing in the death of 18-year-old Calvin "CJ" Dickey Jr., according to the statement.

Immediately prior to Bucknell, Mark Kulbis spent three years on the strength staff at Dartmouth. Find his bio on the Big Green women's basketball site HERE.

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Occasionally random videos show up on YouTube, and that was the case several days ago when someone posted an hour-long look at the 1988 Dartmouth-Davidson football game shot from the sidelines in North Carolina.

The Big Green won the game, 24-3, but here's a suggestion. You might want to fast-forward to the fourth quarter because until that point Dartmouth was tied, 3-3, with a team that would finish the year  0-10.

Dartmouth finally took a 10-3 lead on a 32-yard touchdown reception by Craig Morton before tacking on a short Chris Pollard run for a score, and a Mike Campanale pick six. Morton finished his day with six catches for 120 yards.

Among those watching the first win of Buddy Teevens' second year at Dartmouth was legendary coach Bob Blackman, who made the drive from his retirement home in Hilton Head.

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EXTRA POINT
Something to think about that I read this morning regarding the Hoover Dam: "The dam used enough concrete to pave a highway from San Francisco to New York."

Now go on about your day. ;-)

Staying Home, Sorta

Scouting New England has ranked the "top 10" recruits in New Hampshire and Dartmouth has earned commitments from two of them. Headed this way in another year are quarterback Webber Marx, ranked the top recruit in the state,  and St. Paul's School teammate Oliver Costello, an offensive lineman who is ranked third.

Granted, both rising seniors are actually from Massachusetts, but for Dartmouth to have two "in state" high school recruits in the same class is highly unusual. They will join fellow St. Paul's product Harlem Taylor, a recruit arriving next month who actually is from New Hampshire. Concord, to be exact.

Several more of the top 10 have camped at Dartmouth and could perhaps end up coming this way.

Among those on the list who have announced others destinations are No. 2 tight end Brayden Murch to Harvard, No. 4 linebacker Dylan Terricciano to Lehigh, and No. 5 safety Jackson Sparks to Holy Cross.

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Team websites hosted by SB Nation hover in a space somewhere between fan blogs and sites featuring seasoned, professional reporters. Keep that in mind reading what More Than Just a 53-Man Vikings Roster Projection Part 1: Offense has to say about Dartmouth product Delby Lemieux ’26 (LINK):

Delby Lemieux played tackle at Dartmouth but doesn’t have the length or size to play tackle in the league. He is likely a center/guard candidate. He has a great RAS, particularly his agility and speed scores, but just 31 3/8” arms and 8.8” hands. He had excellent PFF grades in college against Ivy League competition, which isn’t so good in football. He is said to have good hand technique but needing to improve his footwork. But between taking a big jump in competition and learning a new position, Lemieux is more of a candidate for practice squad than a roster spot.

Green Alert Take: The tipoff that this leans toward the fan blog side was the author writing, “He had excellent PFF grades in college against Ivy League competition, which isn’t so good in football.” We can agree to disagree on the second part of that statement, but the editor in me cringes reading how it was worded.

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EXTRA POINT
I don’t know about you, but FIFA bullying Levi’s Stadium into being called San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, MetLife Stadium into being rebranded New York New Jersey Stadium, East Rutherford, and Gillette Stadium being called Boston Stadium rubs me the wrong way. (LINK) I’m hardly a fan of corporate stadium names, but out of principle you can be sure I would make it a point to reference Levi’s, MetLife, Gillette and others repeatedly if I were writing about World Cup soccer.

Looking Ahead

July 6 Update: Offensive lineman Aidan Cuff has switched his commitment to Yale. (LINK)

With Dartmouth posted an official release naming the players who will arrive on campus next month, it's as good a time as any to update the unofficial list of players expected to arrive on campus next year. Here's the list so far. As always, additions and corrections are encouraged in the box over there to the right.

OL Oliver Costello, 6-5, 285, St. Paul's School/Plymouth, Mass.

RB Hezekiah Davis, 5-10, 185, Tampa Jesuit HS/Tampa, Fla.

DB Rowan Martin, 6-1, 180, Williston-Northampton School/East Longmeadow, Mass.

QB Webber Marx, 6-6, 210, St. Paul's School/Wellesley Mills, Mass

OL Henry Reagan, 6-3, 275, New Canaan HS/New Canaan, Conn.

QB Richmond Saunier, 6-2, 195, Lafayette HS/Lafayette, La.

DE  KJ Sims, 6-3, 192, Seckinger HS/Buford, Ga.

OL Brysen Terry, 6-6, 325, Webster Schroeder HS/Webster, N.Y. 

Additions since this list was last posted are Cuff, Martin and Terry. As reported on BGA (LINK), Reagan actually committed a year ago, after his sophomore season.

Cuff chose Dartmouth over reported offers from Yale, Brown, Cornell, Lafayette, Fordham, Georgetown, Maine, Stonehill, Bryant and New Haven.

Martin's reported offer list includes Princeton, Penn, Cornell, Army, Navy, Colgate, Holy Cross, Monmouth and Bryant.

Terry has been offered by Buffalo, Cornell, Albany, Fordham and New Haven, while Reagan had an Albany offer before shutting down recruiting with the early commitment to Dartmouth. Reagan, like Richmond Saunier, has a brother already on the Big Green. His brother Ben is a 6-2, 285 junior offensive lineman.

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EXTRA POINT
Enjoying a final day here at the lake, where the water this weekend is as warm as I can remember. It may not be enjoyable when the air temperature hits 90, but I'm not about to complain when it makes the water more comfortable than we are used to here in Northern New England.

A decorated pontoon boat pulls George Washington and a crewmate  across the Delaware (?) during yesterday's boat parade here on the lake.

Incoming

Happy Fourth of July!

And as Sergeant Phil Esterhaus used to say at the end of the morning roll call on Hill Street Blues, “Let’s be careful out there.”

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With the next recruiting class starting to build, Dartmouth has at long last announced the group that will report to campus next month. The official class includes two players not included on the unofficial list compiled for BGA, and is missing two players who previously announced for Dartmouth but have changed their plans.

The additions are Ayomide Adeniyi, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound defensive end from Maryland who spent last year Williston-Northampton School in Massachusetts, and Tim Ioane Jr., a 6-1, 215 linebacker from Tustin High School in California.

Find a story out of Dartmouth with some general thoughts about the incoming players HERE. 

Here’s the updated list with positions, heights and weights in the Dartmouth release:

• DE Ayomide Ayo Adeniyi, 6-2, 223, Williston-Northampton School/Maryland
• WR Blake Betette,  5-11, 182, Richard Northeast HS/South Carolina
• LB JJ Bolz, 6-1, 223, Bishop Verot HS/Florida
• DB David Brown III, 6-1, 162, Cypress Woods HS/Texas
• QB Jack Cannon, 6-1, 207, Holmdel HS/New Jersey 
• OL Tim Church, 6-3, 291, Buckingham Browne & Nichols/Massachusetts
• S George Duggins, 6-3, 200, Mona Shores HS/ Michigan
• DL August Dupree, 6-3, 235, Folsom HS/California
• DE Quinn Enguita, 6-2, 212 Bishop Verot HS/Florida.
• WR Kareem Fisher, 6-1, 170, St. Vincent Pallotti/Maryland
• RB Jacob Henry, 5-11, 185, Maumelle HS/Arkansas
• LS Will Hester, 6-1, 215, Lexington Christian/Kencuky
• LB Tim Ioane Jr., 6-1, 210, Tustin HS/California
• DB Emory Jones, 6-1, 180, Cass Tech/Michigan
• LB Gavin King, 6-3, 228, Loyola Academy/Illinois
• WR George Loop, 5-11, 175, Isidore Newman/Louisiana
• DL Will Maloof, 6-4, 215, St. Peter's Prep/New Jersey
• DB Trey McFadden, 6-2, 190, Montgomery HS/New Jersey
• OL Brody McLeod, 6-4, 275, Ponte Vedra HS/Florida
• OL Mikey McMahon, 6-3, 289, Bergen Catholic HS/New Jersey
• OL Jake Namnun, 6-1, 273, St. Josephs Prep/Pennsylvania
• K/P Tanner Pidwell, 6-2, 159, Park City HS/Utah
• S James Rush, 5-11, 175, Saline HS/Michigan
• TE Ayden Sadler, 6-5, 215, Green Hill HS/Tennessee
• OL Nick Schenkel, 6-4, 267, Liberty HS/Pennsylvania
• DL Roman Sosnovyy, 6-3, 245, Lyons Township HS/Illinois
• DL Harlem Taylor, 6-1, 247, St. Paul's/New Hampshire

Green Alert Take: Heights and weights reported previously on BGA were from individual player social media accounts. Not at all surprisingly, the majority of players are a little shorter than noted earlier, with several losing multiple inches. The only player to add height was safety James Rush, who comes in at 5-11 after being listed previously at 5-10.

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The Dartmouth has a story about recent graduate Bond Almand IV – the ultramarathon bike rider who pedaled 14,000 miles from Alaska to the tip of South America in a record 75 days – setting off shortly on an NFL-themed marathon ride. Find the story headlined The longest rush attempt ever? Bond Almand ’26 partners with NFL to bike to all 30 NFL stadiums in the USA HERE.

From Almand’s own description of the adventure:

I will bike with the NFL kickoff football to all 30 @nfl stadiums. On July 7th, I will begin my ride in Miami, Florida, and over 10,000 miles later on September 9th, I will bike into Seattle to deliver the football to the first game of the NFL season!

Here’s a map on the rider’s Instagram (LINK) showing his route:

You can follow his ride HERE.

Green Alert Take: As someone who bicycled across the country twice, I have immense respect for the challenge Almand is taking on.

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EXTRA POINT

Our internet provider sent out an email yesterday afternoon letting us know we were finally back online. We actually passed their repair trucks on the drive here:

Also enjoying the wonderfully warm water was my proud friend, Griff, who took a very long time to dry out. ;-)

 

BGA On Hold (Updated)

2:30 Update

Mrs. BGA's grandmother used to say, "There should never be an empty bed at the beach."

Fortunately, our good friends believe the same thing. Each year when they pack up and spend the Fourth of July week with four generations of their family on a New Hampshire lake, they generously invite us to enjoy a few days here at their Vermont lake house.

The internet is still down back at our house but it is working fine here, so I'll be back with you tomorrow.

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A localized power outage last night has our internet down. If it comes back up before we head out for a Fourth of July weekend at the lake, a post will go up. Stay tuned.

BW

Looking Ahead

Quick notes from Dartmouth's first two 2026 opponents, but first . . .

Huge congrats to good friend Mike Mahoney, moving on from his longtime role as director of athletic communications at Penn to become Senior Associate Commissioner of the Atlantic 10. (LINK) 

Green Alert Take: That's a huge loss for the Ivy League, and a huge win for the A-10.

Green Alert Take II: Sure would have been great to see the New Hampshire native return as the athletic communications director at Dartmouth, where he earned a degree in English and then spent six years learning the SID business under Kathy Slattery.

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Per a Lehigh release, the Big Green's Sept. 19 opener at Goodman Stadium will be a noon kickoff. The theme for the Mountain Hawks' fourth game the season will be Family Weekend.

Green Alert Take: The original plan had been an O-Dark-30 start for a game-day drive from Vermont down to the Lehigh Valley, but the early kickoff more likely means a Friday overnight with relatives about an hour east of Bethlehem.

For the record, Dartmouth's last three games against Lehigh were all in Hanover. The Big Green last visited Bethlehem on Sept. 28, 1996, coming away with a 21-14 win before 11,325 at Goodman.

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FCS Football Central on SI has a piece headlined 2026 CAA Football Preview: Contenders, Sleepers, & Key Storylines that offers a look at Week 2 opponent Monmouth HERE.

The overview lists the Hawks with transfers from Syracuse, Temple, UMass, Delaware, Richmond, Penn, Lafayette (2), Holy Cross and Charleston Southern and includes this:

Returning Significant Contributors (OFF): 6

Returning Significant Contributors (DEF): 9

Projected Returning Significant Contributors by position:

- QB (1)
⁠- RB (1)
⁠- WR (2)
⁠- TE (1)
⁠- OL (1)
⁠- DT (3)
⁠- EDGE (1)
⁠- LB (3)
⁠- S (1)
⁠- CB (1)

In case you were wondering (which I was ;-), here's an explanation of Returning Significant Contributor  from the site:

"Returning players who played over 200 snaps last season were labeled as returning significant contributors. An exception was made for players who suffered season-ending injuries, who would have been starters or major contributors if they were healthy." 

Green Alert Take: The Dartmouth statistics page does not include snaps so I can't work up similar numbers for the Big Green. How significant the "Returning Significant Contributors" are is up for debate, but it would be interesting to see how the numbers break down for Dartmouth and the other Ivies if FCS Football Central on SI follows through and does a breakdown of Ancient Eight teams.

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Graduate transfer corner Patrick Campbell '26 gets a mention in a Virginia Cavaliers on SI piece headlined Ranking Virginia football's 3 deepest position groups heading into 2026. Per the story, Campbell is joining the second-deepest room on the roster. From the posting (LINK):

After suffering at the cornerback position last season . . . the team added Patrick Campbell from Dartmouth, Omillio Agard from Wisconsin, Justin Ross from Navy, and Jacobie Henderson from Rutgers in January.

This talented group of newcomers joins Donavon Platt, Jam Jackson, Ja'Maric Morris, and Josiah Persinger to form one of the absolute deepest cornerback groups in the conference heading into 2026. . . . .Platt, Jackson, Henderson, and Agard are probably the top four, but we've been hearing great things about Morris and Campbell this offseason as well.

Ranked as the third-deepest room on the UVa team is defensive end, where the Cavaliers have added two more Ivy League products. Joining the team for 2026 are Yale's Ezekiel Larry and Columbia's Justin Townsend.

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EXTRA POINT
With our windows offering 180-degree views of the White Mountains, and no one able to see into our house from the road or nearby homes, there's no need for curtains here at our Vermont hillside home. We do, however, have wood blinds in upstairs bedroom windows that face south.

Those wood blinds are pulled down and closed maybe just a handful of days all year. With the temperature climbing into the 90s, today is one of those days when the blinds are down. Hopefully they keep the upstairs from getting too hot.

As for the lack of curtains, if you go back in history, it's appropriate to these parts. The internet says of New England Puritans: "Elaborate drapes or anything that significantly obscured the interior of a home could be seen as socially inappropriate, even rude, because it violated the cultural expectation that one’s life should be lived simply and transparently before both neighbors and God."

Or maybe, like us, they just wanted to enjoy the views. ;-)

How About That!

It's July 1 and you know what that means? It means that as of today we can say, "Dartmouth football returns to campus next month to begin the 2026 preseason."

In case you are wondering, the Big Green's first official practice will be August 22.

BGA plans to be there for the opening practice for the 21st time in 22 years – the only exception being 2020 when you-know-what happened and the season was canceled.

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 You can get your own Delby Lemieux '26 Minnesota Viking jersey HERE.

The former Dartmouth offensive lineman's old teammate Josiah Green '25 is currently trying to make the Tampa Bay Bucs and while there's a jersey with his name on it HERE, it isn't the 96 that is his listed number on the current team roster, but rather a 0.

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Speaking of former Dartmouth players in the pros, on Monday we posted a link to a video with Flo Orimolade '17 talking about his anticipated return to the Calgary Stampeders after an Achilles tear last September. Here's what he had to say after his first game back:

Click HERE to watch the interview.

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Dartmouth has begun the search for what used to be called a sports information director. Find the job listing HERE.

Green Alert Take: Let's hope they get someone onboard before long so we can learn a little more about the first-year players who are reporting next month, and check out an updated 2026 roster. And so things like program's official website's recruiting map – which includes four coaches no longer with the program – will be updated.

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Incredibly sad news out of Monmouth University, Dartmouth's opponent in its Sept. 26 home opener. Louis DiRienzo Jr., introduced during the offseason as the team's first-year defensive coordinator, has passed away unexpectedly at age 34. The university has a release HERE.

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Last Sunday you read in this space about Ohio State football offering a roster spot to a safety whose Baylor School (Tennessee) teammate and very close friend just so happens to be the top running back prospect OSU is recruiting. The gist was that the Buckeyes were offering the former as a way to lure the latter to Columbus.

A poster on Xwitter who purports to have inside information believes that, instead of heading for the Big Ten powerhouse, the player is actually headed this way (LINK):

Per sources: Jordan Darren Djila has committed to Dartmouth. The Ivy League school has strong ties with Baylor. Education is more important to his family than football.

Find the 247Sports page for the player in question HERE. 

Green Alert Take: The player has not posted anything about choosing his college destination and college coaches are not allowed to discuss his recruitment by NCAA rule, so your guess is as good as mine until the player goes public with his decision.

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Speaking of Ohio State, there's a story under the headline Another school is copying our tactics to try and steal away a very good player that has me gritting my teeth. Not about what is in the story, but about the headline.

Although it's commonly used, the expression "try and," is one of my peccadilloes. It should be "try to steal away," not "try and steal away." One of my favorite fiction authors uses "try and" all the time, and it is fingernails on a chalkboard for me.

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EXTRA POINT
Did you know that on this day in 1963 the United States Postal Service introduced the Zone Improvement Plan? You may know it better as the ZIP Code. Something I did not know: The first three digits in your ZIP Code (in my case 050) indicate the part of the country where the mail is headed, and the final two numbers (in my case 85) the specific post office or delivery zone.

And just because . . .

The first two numbers of the +4  identify a specific group of streets or block, and the second two the side of the street, a particular building, or in my case, our post office.

Now you know. ;-)