And Another

Add to the growing list of Dartmouth commits who will play their final year of high school football this fall a tight end with an impressive offer sheet that includes FBS schools.

Announcing for Dartmouth is 6-foot-4, 225-pound Braeden Vetter of Williams High School and Burlington, N.C. In addition to Yale, Columbia and Brown, his offer sheet includes Memphis, Miami University, UNC Charlotte, Arkansas State, Liberty, Delaware, Mercer, Austin Peay, Furman, Campbell, The Citadel and Colgate. He's coming off a junior season in which he caught 19 passes for 265 yards and five touchdowns.

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Since focusing on his Jake's Takes audio substack, we haven't heard much from longtime Roar Lions blogger Jake Novak, but he recently posted a 13-minute discussion of the 2026 Columbia schedule that you may find interesting. Here's a transcript of his comments on the fall's  matchup with the Big Green on the northern tip of Manhattan (LINK):

October 24th is Homecoming against Dartmouth, and that game will be at 1.30. Columbia likes to make the Homecoming game start a little bit later so that people have more time to arrive, enjoy the Homecoming festivities under the big tent. 

Objectively, Columbia does probably a better job at their Homecoming situation than any other school in the Ivy League. The other schools just sort of expect you to do it yourself. They have better tailgating opportunities anyway. Of course, Columbia doesn't really have much chance to do any kind of tailgating, with that small lot adjacent to the baseball field. So Columbia has got to do it for us. And they do. The way that they put the tent up, the way that they put together all the Homecoming festivities for families and for kids, they do a really great job. So that should be a fun day. 

October 24th, 1.30 p.m. kickoff against Dartmouth. And just as a little bit of a teaser, I may be picking Dartmouth to win the Ivy League this year.

So this could be a huge game on a lot of measures.

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From a story in The Athletic headlined Thoughts on the Vikings’ 45 offensive players ahead of training camp (LINK):

Delby Lemieux, OL: The Dartmouth grad became one of the more interesting prospects at the Senior Bowl. Lemieux has NFL upside but requires sizable development.

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The HERO Sports countdown to the FCS opener featuring the best players in the country recognized seven Ivy Leaguers among the first 36 players chosen, but none in the next 26. That streak ends with Penn safety Ty Cortes being selected for the number 37. Here's the list of Ivy Leaguers chosen to date (LINK):

96: Yale DT Jaylin Tate
86: Cornell TE Ryder Kurtz
85: Columbia WR Titus Evans
77: Harvard OL Spencer Doan
75: Penn OL Luke Sacchetti
71: Harvard OL Thomas O'Brien
64: Princeton OL Barrett Eddlemon
37: Penn S Ty Cortes

Dartmouth's best chance to have a player named might be No. 24 Harrison Keith, the All-America safety, although there will be running backs with big stats who might edge him out. Kicker Owen Zalc was honored at No. 35 before last season, but he's probably not going to repeat this summer.

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Given the nature of the sport, it's hard to imagine the Harlem Globetrotters spawning a football equivalent so we'll close today with a look at the baseball equivalent featuring a former Dartmouth pitcher.

Right-hander Clark Gilmore '24 pitched at Notre Dame after collecting his Dartmouth degree and is now making people smile as a member of the Indianapolis Clowns, who play "Banana Ball." The Hartford Courant has a story on the Clowns and Party Animals playing three games in Connecticut this weekend and it centers around Gilmore, a Connecticut native. Find the story HERE, and Gilmore's Dartmouth bio HERE.

The Dartmouth had a Q&A with Gilmore this spring explaining how he came to play with the Clowns HERE. 

Earlier this fall a Gilmore trick pitch went viral on the internet. You may have to watch this twice to see how he delivers the ball:

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EXTRA POINT
Before heading to the weekly concert last night at the little town south of us, I pulled up a YouTube video of the group that was performing. When we learned their concert would be inside I made sure we left early so we could claim a prime seat . . . in the back row.

See, the town hall the group would be playing in was small – and the speakers were not.

As sometimes happens, the concert drew only a fraction of the usual crowd but what surprised us was the number of young children and toddlers it included, most kitted out with hearing protection. Given that band's promotional materials said they had added nine children since they last performed together, it didn't take long to figure out who the kids belonged to.

Seeing that the band outfitted their kids with ear protection signaled to us that our decision to come early so we could sit as far from the speakers as we could was probably a smart one. And it was.

One Of 1000

Harrison Keith, Dartmouth's 6-foot, 205-pound senior safety from Fairfield, Conn., is one of 41 FCS players nationwide to be named to the Shriners Children's East-West Bowl 1000 watchlist for the Feb. 4, 2027 game in AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Harrison Keith

Keith was a second-team, All-Ivy League selection last fall after he tied for the team lead with four interceptions and was fourth on the squad with 46 tackles. A third-team AP All-American, he was selected one of the Big Green's tri-captains in the spring and was awarded the program's Stubby Pearson Award for character, leadership, academic standing and performance on the football field.

Find Keith's Dartmouth bio HERE.

Also named to the Shriners watchlist is Chris Corbo '26, the former Dartmouth tight end now a grad transfer at Georgia Tech.

Other Ivy Leaguers among the 1,000:

• Ryder Kurtz (Cornell, TE)

• Samuel Musungu (Cornell, WR)

• Damien Henderson (Harvard, CB)

• Spencer Doan (Harvard, OT)

• Abu Kamara (Yale, S)

One other selection to the 1,000 who Dartmouth will face this fall is running back Luke Yoder of Lehigh.

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Your mileage may vary, but you could have some fun with this one.

Assigning all returning first-team, All-Ivy League players five points, second-teamers three points and honorable-mention selections one, here's how Ivy League teams stack up for the fall:*

31 points – Harvard

21 points – Yale

20 points – Princeton

14 points – Brown

9 points – Dartmouth

8 points – Penn

3 points – Columbia

3 points – Cornell

* Does not take into account potential fifth-year returnees or players with eligibility remaining who have elected not to return.

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Following up on last week's complaint about American sportscasters and sportswriters copying the English with sentences like "England are (unmistakably) through," this is from yesterday's newsletter from The Athletic:

Green Alert Take: No, I cannot see that text taking shape. What I could see is, "If Argentina gets to penalty kicks and wins . . . "

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EXTRA POINT
This is from the ABC TV station in Manchester, N.H., and will bring a smile:

If that doesn't work for you click HERE to watch the video.

Plus One

The list of rising high school seniors announcing for Dartmouth has grown again. The latest addition is Foster Calloway, a 6-foot-2½, 265-pound defensive lineman from Burnsville, N.C. and Mountain Heritage High School.

Calloway chose Dartmouth over offers from Wesleyan, Middlebury, Lenoir-Rhyne, Ferrum, Missouri University of Science and Technology, UVA Wise and Minot State.

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Here's the unofficial list of Big recruits so far, keeping in mind there may well be others BGA hasn't yet ferreted out:

DL Foster Calloway, 6-2½, 265, Mountain Heritage HS/Burnsville, N.C.
OL Oliver Costello, 6-5, 285, St. Paul's School/Plymouth, Mass.
RB Hezekiah Davis, 5-10, 185, Tampa Jesuit HS/Tampa, Fla.
LB Odin Erickson, 6-2, 222, Louis County HS/Mineral, Va.
DB Rowan Martin, 6-1, 180, Williston-Northampton/E. 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.
LB Bobby Wakefield, 6-2, 220, Charlotte Country Day/Charlotte, N.C.

As always, additions and corrections are encouraged via the contact form over to the right.

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Tom Friend has a terrific story in Sports Business Journal about the Rabil brothers – Mike '06 and Paul – and how their intertwined lives led them to start the Premier Lacrosse League. A lengthy piece worthy of the old Sports Illustrated, it begins this way:

Mike and Paul or Paul and Mike. It’s not important whose name comes first — although they did once almost come to blows over it — it’s whether, as blood brothers, they can make the Premier Lacrosse League last. One is quick-tempered (Mike), the other hot-tempered (Paul). One says he is pathologically optimistic (Paul), the other lives by the credo Only the paranoid survive (Mike). They are yin and yang, they are Mike and Paul or Paul and Mike Rabil. And, if they’re still sharing bedrooms 30 years later (for the sake of the bottom line), it’s all because of the townhome.

Find the story on SBJ HERE.

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A story in the Analyst headlined For Openers, FCS Football Will Seek to Deliver on Week 0 Spotlight includes mention of two games on Aug. 29 featuring Dartmouth opponents – Lehigh and Monmouth.

From the column (LINK):

Week 0: Saturday, Aug. 29

Lehigh at Holy Cross – One of these two teams has won an outright or gained a share of the Patriot League title in nine of the past 10 seasons. 

Monmouth at Tennessee Tech – This first-time matchup features two of the FCS top-10 scoring offenses from a year ago. Monmouth will be under a head coach (Jeff Gallo) other than Kevin Callahan (33 seasons) for the first time.

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A huge thank you to those who continue to support BGA and BGA Overtime. I've heard from a few of you in recent days and I want you to know how much I appreciate your help and kind words as I gear up for another season that begins with the first fall practices just over a month away.

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EXTRA POINT
They are still a 5½-hour drive away but That Certain Dartmouth '14 and That Fellow Who Roots For A Baseball Team That Shall Not Be Named have come east.

After three-plus years at Utah's Bryce Canyon National Park and stops at Yellowstone, Grand Canyon and Black Canyon (in addition to the Everglades and Alaska's Glacier Bay), TCD'14 has landed at Maine's Acadia National Park – sort of. She will continue working remotely in the park as the Bryce Canyon planner while That Fellow starts his now position at the crown jewel of eastern national parks.

It will be an adjustment for the couple, who have lived and worked in the mountain west for the better part of a decade, but we are happy to have them back in their native New England and excited for what the future will bring for them!

Interesting

It is a bit of an understatement to say that Ivy League football is not really known for its out-of-conference scheduling. That said, four Ivy games show up in an NCAA.com story headlined Top 25 nonconference games in the 2026 FCS season, and one of those happens to feature Dartmouth. From the story (LINK):

Week 3

• Dartmouth at Lehigh

• Harvard at New Hampshire 

The Ivy League enters the fray in Week 3 with Darmouth and Harvard facing some quality opponents. The Big Green didn't win a share of the Ivy last year, but are perennial contenders atop the conference. Harvard made the playoffs last year before a blowout loss in the first round. There's no better test for the two Ivy League contenders than Lehigh — last year's No. 5 seed — and a CAA-contending New Hampshire.

The other Ivy games mentioned:

Week 5
• Brown vs Rhode Island

Week 7
• Rhode Island at Yale

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Former Dartmouth defensive lineman Josiah Green '25, who signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after one year as a grad transfer at Duke, talks about flattening the Tampa Bay Rays' mascot at a baseball game (1:02), about playing at Dartmouth and choosing where to grad transfer (2:52), about wanting to get into real estate and open his own gym (5:28), about why Ivy League players are valued in the grad transfer pool (6:50), about his "freak tendencies (8:53), about always being underestimated (16:12), about draft day (16:56), about ending up in Tampa Bay (19:33) and a lot more. 

Here's Green laying out the Rays' mascot:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Matthew Hewitt | Buccaneers Content (@bucstracker)

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EXTRA POINT
I don't know about you, by I'm going to be glued to the TV today for an international sporting event. 

Yup, they are playing the final round of the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale on England’s northwest coast. Rooting hard for Sam Burns.

About the only thing that could make the day better is heavy rain and a stiff wind coming in off the Irish Sea as the leaders head for the back nine.

Anything else going on today?

Charting The Special Teams

Wrapping up a roster look for 2026, this chart shows the Dartmouth special teams. As was the case with the offensive and defensive charts, this is drawn from the 2025 roster and the official announcement of the incoming class. There could still be additions, possible departures and position changes to be announced. (Click the charge to enlarge it.)

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Another look at the Dartmouth alum who is biking ± 10,000 miles to every NFL stadium this summer. (LINK)

Bond's Extreme Journey - 10,000 miles | Extreme Networks

If I'm reading his "Track Live" correctly, Bond Almand IV has already been to Miami, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Houston and Dallas. His next stops are Kansas City, Tennessee and Atlanta. Then it's on to Charlotte and up the east coast all the way to Foxboro before heading west.

Almand has already biked 1,800 miles, and is averaging 164.26 miles per day. He has 53 days remaining before arriving in Seattle.

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The Vikings Territory website has a post titled 5 Vikings UDFA Talents to Know Ahead of Training Camp. You know who one of the five is. There's nothing much new in the quick paragraph but if you are curious you can find it HERE.

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The McNeese State University website has a story about the school adding patches advertising a local Chevrolet dealer to every athletic uniform this year. From the story (LINK):

Beginning this season, Division I programs are permitted to feature up to two commercial sponsor patches on uniforms during the preseason and regular season.

Green Alert Take: Nothing against my favorite pizza restaurant, but I think it would be pretty cheesy to see a Ramunto's patch on Big Green unis some day in the future.

Green Alert Take II: Could it happen? I still remember a Dartmouth athletic department representative asking to have a Coca-Cola sign taken down during an event at Chase Field back when I worked at the college. It was a modest sign on the front of a concession stand letting patrons know where they could get a cold drink, but heaven forbid there be advertising at an Ivy League athletic contest. If you've been to a Dartmouth football, basketball or hockey game in recent years you know how far we've come since then.

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EXTRA POINT
Yes, you can waste a lot of time mindlessly watching YouTube. Heaven knows, I'm guilty of that.

But there's another side to the service. If there's something you want to build, need to fix, or want to learn, there's probably a video someone posted that can help.

I was reminded of that yesterday when I was changing out the blades on my electric tractor. That might be easy (for anyone but me) on a lawn mower you can turn on its side, but on a tractor I was lost until I got a few tips from YouTube. Likewise, several years ago when I had to disassemble the back of the tractor, replace the machine's four car-sized batteries, and wire up the new ones, the laptop was in the garage right next to me walking me through the process step-by-step to I didn't shortcircuit anything – or electrocute myself.

Getting our wireless printer working properly, freeing up a stuck glass globe over a ceiling fan light without breaking it, figuring out how to change the battery in a car key fob, or start the car when the battery is dead, getting a wireless keyboard to play nice with my computer, you name it, YouTube has walked me through it. Yes, it can be a time suck, but it can also be a huge help.

Charting The Defense

Following yesterday's look at the 2026 Dartmouth offense, today's chart lays out the Big Green defense for the coming season. As was the case with the offense, this is drawn from the 2025 roster and the official list of incoming recruits. Given that the 2026 roster has not yet been posted on the website, there are likely position changes still to be announced and possibly departures from the program yet to be revealed. (Click the chart to enlarge it.)

Special teams will be posted tomorrow.

* As always, the defensive lineman/defensive end distinction can be a gray area. Also, note that nickel is listed with the linebackers.

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Dual-threat quarterback Jack Cannon scored three touchdowns to help his county win the Monmouth-Ocean all-star game in New Jersey in his final game before reporting to camp in Hanover next month. Check out his highlights and postgame comments:

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From a FootballScoop story headlined, Georgia officials set to levy fines for high school kneepad violations, backed by NFHS (LINK):

(F)ootball pants must be worn as designed and in accordance with NFHS rules, and knee pads are required to be worn in their proper position covering the knee. ... Knee pads may not be tucked underneath the pants, rolled up, pulled up above the knee, cut, altered, or modified in any way.

Green Alert Take: Time will tell if Georgia has more success enforcing this rule than the NCAA has enjoyed when it took on the same issue. I'd say, good luck with that.

Green Alert Take II: Somewhere the late, great Dartmouth equipment manager Steve Ward is smiling and rooting hard for Georgia.

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EXTRA POINT
Our '84 VW Westfalia poptop camper went in for inspection yesterday and the news is surprising. Not only did it somehow pass, but the mechanic found and fixed the coolant issue that kept us from driving the bus to the VW bus jamboree last week.

Confidence in the old vehicle will have to build back slowly, because every new noise it makes is a concern, but it's great to have it back on the road.

Given that they were always underpowered and are prone to breaking down, some VW Vanagon owners eventually give up and replace their engines with transplants from passenger cars that someone discovered years ago not only fit neatly into the engine compartment at the back of the bus, but provide both dependability and a lot more power.

Here's a decal that we saw in the back window of one of the converted VWs that should tip you off as where the engines in these conversions come from:

Which reminds me. We've had several Subarus over the years and the saying before they went a little upscale used to be, "They run like (crap) . . . forever."

Charting The Offense

The Dartmouth roster has not yet been updated on the team's official website, so this chart is based on last year's roster and freshmen the website announced are headed this way. (Click the chart to enlarge it.)

The defensive chart will appear here tomorrow, and special teams on Saturday.

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On July 1 BGA showed the Minnesota Vikings' No. 62 jersey being worn by Dartmouth grad Delby Lemieux '26 that is available for purchase. (LINK) Now available is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' No. 96 jersey being worn by Josiah Green '25, who signed with the Bucs after one season as a grad transfer at Duke. (LINK)

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Speaking of Lemieux, this mention is from the latest posting on Minnesota's Purple Insider site under the heading Training camp preview: Offensive line – A deep dive into the trenches as we approach training camp (LINK):

The Dartmouth lineman played tackle in college but is expected to move to the interior in the NFL. He played almost 2,000 snaps and is considered a quality athlete but he will need to pass block inside better than in college in order to have a chance.

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Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on SI has a piece headlined Buy Or Sell: Is Georgia Tech's TE Room Good Enough To Win The ACC? that includes this about grad transfer Chris Corbo '26 (LINK):

Chris Corbo is another impressive receiving tight end from Dartmouth, who will finally get a chance to show his ability in fall camp. Last season, he finished with 45 catches, 516 yards, and four touchdowns. Corbo will be another option Georgia Tech can use in different areas of the field, and he can use his ability in certain situations.

And . . .

They haven’t had a tight end room like this in the Brent Key era, and they will have something to say about the success of the 2026 iteration of the Yellow Jackets. 

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EXTRA POINT
We had a seriously orange-tinted sky earlier this week largely as a result of 184 wildfires burning in Ontario, but yesterday was much better, and we're on the lucky side this morning. Here's a look at the smoke forecast via NOAA's Global Systems Laboratory. The darker the color, the more intense the smoke. Find the full map HERE.

Three Of A Kind

From a story out of Lafayette, La.:

For years, the Saunier name has been a familiar one at Lafayette High School.

This fall, senior quarterback Richmond Saunier is adding another chapter to the family's football legacy while preparing for his future at Dartmouth.

Saunier is the third brother to serve as Lafayette's starting quarterback, following older brothers Xan and Grayson. Grayson, a former Super 16 selection, now starts at quarterback for Dartmouth, where Richmond will continue both his academic and athletic career after committing to the Ivy League program in May.

Find the full story about the future Big Green quarterback, the current Dartmouth QB, and their older brother who chose to play college baseball, HERE. 

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In this video, Georgia Tech-bound tight end Chris Corbo '26 talks about how being on the scout team as a Dartmouth freshman aided his development, about how his Ivy League education prepared him for his MBA studies at Tech, about the different pace of life in The Woods compared to Atlanta, and how Dartmouth got him ready for his grad transfer experience in the ACC. 

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Following up on yesterday's note about Dartmouth opponents on the initial watchlist for the Payton Award as the top offensive player in the FCS, today the Analyst has its first watchlist for the Buchanan Award to the top defensive player in the FCS. (LINK)

Among the 30 players named to the Buchanan list are two from the Ivy League, and another Dartmouth will face early in the season:

• DB Abu Kamara, Yale

• DB Demien Henderson, Harvard

• DB Nick Peltekian, Lehigh

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EXTRA POINT
I listened to a 1A public radio program yesterday titled, How cities and states are fighting subscription traps. The intro began this way:

The average American spends $219 every month on subscriptions. That's more than $2,600 a year. Subscriptions mean predictable profits for companies. That is unless you cancel. Enter subscription traps. That's when companies make it easy for customers to sign up but difficult to cancel. Some also use deceptive tactics that automatically enroll customers into a subscription after a free trial ends without making the terms clear. In recent years, cities and states have moved to crack down on subscription traps.

That hit home for me. Not because I have fallen into subscription traps – I haven't – but because I almost created one a few years ago.

I used to start signing people up for BGA Premium each year on July 1. As a shoestring operation, I had to do the behind-the-scenes stuff manually, and that was always a massive headache. I thought I had a solution when I found a "subscription" functionality – only to discover to my horror a couple of days after turning it on that it would automatically renew each year.

When I realized renewals were automatic, I went back in and removed the "subscription" button. I'm sure that cost me a lot of readers, but at least I knew there wasn't anyone paying for BGA without realizing it. In the final analysis, converting to a donation model for BGA Overtime a couple of years ago probably wasn't the best business decision I ever made, but at least I can sleep at night. ;-)