This And That

 As most of you probably know by now, BGA Premium has shut down after 18 seasons (and 19 years) of providing in-person coverage of Dartmouth football seven days a week from the start of preseason through the final game. After much thought, I've elected to continue a slimmed down version of BGA this year.

Originally going by the name BGA - The Sequel, the new site has been rebranded with a more suitable name: BGA Overtime. It will be available free of charge to everyone this fall, without a paywall –  although once the season starts and you see what's on the site you can decide it you want to kick something in to make the time I put into it worth the while.

For a look at the BGA Overtime coverage of spring football, click HERE.

Exactly what will appear on the new site is yet to be determined, but at the very least there will be a season preview, weekly game previews, game stories and some sort of analysis each week.

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A look at the Delaware football season includes this (LINK):

"It's about getting guys who want to win, no matter if there's a championship or whether it's not," said Tyron Herring, who excelled at cornerback last year after his transfer from Dartmouth. "As individuals, getting guys who want to compete at a high level every week, put their plays on film."

Herring could have played for the Big Green last fall and grad transferred for this season, but graduating from Dartmouth and playing two years at Delaware allowed him opportunities that are not available to an Ivy League football player.

Last year he posted six tackles and forced a fumble playing in front of 108,575 fans at Penn State. And he capped his season with six tackles, a sack and an interception against Montana in the second round of the FCS Championships, which do not include Ivy League teams.

Herring was chosen to the preseason All-CAA honorable mention team heading into the 2024 season (LINK) and is one of the top 30 corners in the nation per HERO Sports. (LINK)

Find his Delaware bio HERE and his final Dartmouth bio HERE.

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Cease and Desist.

For months now when I visit Dartmouth athletics websites I get the same pop-up and have to click the little X in the corner to mercifully send it on its way. It's no great hassle dismissing the pop-up but it is getting annoying.

Even if I had any interest in their newsletter, I wouldn't get it now out of spite for the intrusion. Please stop spamming my computer with this:

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EXTRA POINT

This is a view of part of our lawn and field this morning. If you look closely, you can see an arc starting at the lower right corner and working its way left. That marks the end of the lawn. Beyond that is the field.

The lawn is long, but manageable. You can't tell from this shot, but the field is out of control. All totaled, we have a little over six acres.

I'm more than happy to say that both the lawn and the field should look a lot different by the end of day today and a lot better tomorrow if the repair shop that called and promised a certain delivery today comes through!

P.T. Barnum Would Be Proud

As is the case every year, online ticket resellers will be more than happy to take your money in exchange for Ivy League football ducats. A word to the wise:

Don't give it to them.

Barring Caitlin Clark quitting the WNBA to play Ivy League football, tickets will be available at face value on game day for every game in the Ivy League except the little one in Cambridge on the final Saturday of the season.

For grins, check out these screen grabs for Dartmouth's home opener against Fordham from online sites:

In case the text highlighted in pink is hard to read, it says: "Don't miss out! Less than 1% of tickets left."

Green Alert Take: And can I interest you in purchasing the Ledyard Bridge while we're at it?

Check out this one from ticketsales.com:

Green Alert Take: That's right. You can pay $87 apiece for tickets in Section 7. Or you can buy a couple of general admission tickets at the trailer outside the main entrance to Memorial Field five minutes before kickoff and assign yourself a seat in Section 7.

And for the record, the game is not at 11:59 p.m..

This is from the Ticketsmarter.com website:

How much are Dartmouth Big Green Football tickets?

The cheapest seats at a Dartmouth Big Green Football home game can be around $25 for lesser matchups to get into the stadium. Seats at the fifty-yard line will come at a premium and can cost at least $50 in the upper levels and more than $100 in the lower levels. Rivalry games will typically see an increase in Dartmouth Big Green Football ticket prices by at least 25-50%. Throughout the season, the average price of Dartmouth Big Green Football tickets will be around $27.81, while the lowest price is $15.30 and the highest price is $41.40.

Don't miss out on the next game! Fordham Rams at Dartmouth Big Green Football tickets will start as low as $17.32, while the best seats will top out at $29.70. There are 32 football tickets left for the Fordham Rams at Dartmouth Big Green Football game at Memorial Field, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH on September 21st, 2024 at 12:00am, so be sure to secure your seats as soon as possible.

Green Alert Take: What it says is, "There are 32 football tickets left for the Fordham Rams at Dartmouth Big Green Football game." What it means is, "We have 32 tickets we're hoping not to get stuck with for the game."

Elsewhere . . ..

If you want to go to the Dartmouth game at Yale on Oct. 12? Gametime.co will gladly sit you in the Yale Bowl end zone for the bargain price of $73.

Green Alert Take: I have no words . . .

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The start of preseason is still almost a month away but the preparation continues as this posting on Dartmouth's social media sites reminds us:

Focused on the process🌲#TheWoods pic.twitter.com/cArATiL4yZ

— Dartmouth Football (@DartmouthFTBL) July 24, 2024

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Back to Fordham. Dartmouth's Week One opponent was picked third in the Patriot League preseason poll and has the conference's preseason defensive player of the year. The poll:

1-Lafayette, 72 points (12 first-place votes)
2-Holy Cross, 56
3-Fordham, 53 (1)
4-Colgate, 46 (1)
5-Georgetown, 27
6-Lehigh, 24
7-Bucknell, 16

Off POY Lafayette RB Jamar Curtis
Def POY: Fordham DL Matt Jaworski

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EXTRA POINT
Still waiting . . . 

One Month Away

Are you ready for some football? Dartmouth kicks off preseason practice one month from today, at 8:45 a.m. on Aug. 24!

The season-opener is Sept. 21 when Fordham comes to town.

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Dartmouth announced yesterday (LINK) that in advance of the opening of training camp, the Big Green will once again hold its annual Football 101 celebration for children 12-and-under and their parents. The Aug. 14 event  featuring on-field skill stations, photo opportunities and free food, is slated for 5:30-7 p.m. on Memorial Field.

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Several grad transfers from Dartmouth are in the news as the opening of training camps nears.

From a story headlined Rice ready for leap in 2024 as steady progress under Mike Bloomgren continues comes this (LINK):

Florida receiver Thai Chiaokhiao-Bowman and Brown tight end Graham Walker offer fresh targets in the passing game, while Dartmouth defensive end Charlie Looes and Utah cornerback Faybian Marks could become impactful pieces on defense.  

A story about McNeese State headlined Things to watch at Cowboy camp includes this (LINK):

Micah Davey returns for his junior season after setting records and being named All-American last year. This season he won’t have to do so much if things go right.  Two transfers, Marques White from Dartmouth and Tristan Driggers out of Louisiana-Monroe should give Davey needed help in stopping opponents. 

And while Ethan Sipe is still listed on the Dartmouth roster, he shows up this way in a story headlined Virginia Football: Projecting UVA's Depth Chart Ahead of Fall Camp (LINK):

(W)ith UCF transfer Drake Metcalf expecting to miss a lot of time with an Achilles injury, late transfer addition Ethan Sipe (Dartmouth) could slide into the starting lineup at right tackle.

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EXTRA POINT
I'm almost afraid to jinx it, but The Great Electric Tractor Saga of 2024 could be coming to an end.

I picked up the new blades yesterday and delivered them to the repair shop where I gave the clerk my best pleading look while explaining how much my field has grown in the past month. He confirmed what I'd heard before about how quickly they can get the blades on the repaired tractor and said the only issue is when they have a trailer available to get it back to me.

I'm going to be out of town today but I'll be leaving the garage door up. Nothing short of winning Megabucks would bring a bigger smile than getting back home and finding the tractor in our garage tonight. Stay tuned.

The Official List

There are no positions, heights, weights, hometowns or high schools listed, but Dartmouth has finally announced its freshman class with a photo spread HERE.

All the names previously reported on BGA show up in the graphic along with two previously unknown names, and one who BGA kept waiting to announce.

New names to the class are:

• Christian Harris, a 5-foot-11, 155-pound athlete from Inderkum High School in Sacramento. He was the defensive player of the year in the Capitol Valley Conference this year with Six interceptions and the assumption is he'll play on that side of the ball.

* Aidan White, a 6-1, 225 defensive end from Forsyth Central High School and Cummin, Ga.. He was a  6-7A All-Region and all-county selection.

•  Thai Brown, a 5-10, 170 safety from McDonogh High School in New Orleans. He was unofficially reported as heading to Dartmouth but made the announcement official only after the last BGA posting of the class. His social media reports a Georgia Tech offer.

Here's the class list from Dartmouth's official social media with expected positions. Corrections and clarifications are not just welcomed, but encouraged. ;-)

QUARTERBACK
Noah Trigueros, 6-2, 180, Notre Dame Prep/Scottsdale, Ariz.
Kyle Meier, 6-3, 225, Whitesboro HS/Whitesboro, N.Y.

RUNNING BACK
Dylan Elder, 5-10, 185, Grayson HS/Longville, Ga.

WIDE RECEIVER
Luke Rives, 6-0, 170, Stratford HS/Houston
Jordan Leslie, 6-1, 180, Mullen HS/Denver, Colo.
Ky'Dric Fisher, 5-11, 165, Jacksonville HS/ Jacksonville, Ala.
James Elliott, 6-2, 195, Williston-Northampton/Leeds, Mass.

TIGHT END
Gergely Hudák, 6-6, 225, Kenston Forest/Hungary
Kristian Strong, 6-4, 225, Avon Old Farms/Avon, Conn.

OFFENSIVE LINE
Anthony Ndika, 6-4, 290, Loomis Chaffee/Nigeria
Julian Sutton, 6-4, 306, Loomis Chaffee/Hamden, Conn.
Ryan Turk, 6-4, 280, Loyola HS/Los Angeles

DEFENSIVE LINE
Jackson Ashford, 6-2, 250, IMG Academy/Bradenton, Fla.
Ben Devall, 6-3, 262, Ouachita Christian/Monroe, La.
Taylor Faalele, 6-2, 325, IMG Academy/Plymouth, Minn.
Khari Mayeux, 6-3, 245, Wisdom HS/Houston
Aidan White, 6-1, 225, Forsyth Central/Cumming, Ga.

LINEBACKER
Sean Chester, 6-3, 215, Prestonwood Academy/Frisco, Texas
Tyler Kessel, 6-1 ½, 215 Summit HS/Summit, N.J.
Johnny Riley, 6-3, 210, Delbarton/Morristown, N.J.

NICKEL
Lou Lamar, 6-2, 185, Concordia Lutheran/Magnolia, Texas

DEFENSIVE BACK
Thai Brown, 5-10, 170, McDonogh HS/New Orleans
Christian Harris, 5-11, 155, Inderkum HS/Sacramento, Calif.
Nokoi Maddox, 6-1, 200, Granite Hills/El Cajon, Calif.
Niquis Ratcliff, 6-2, 180, Picayune HS/Picayune, Miss.

PUNTER
Luke Armistead, 6-1, 193, Brentwood HS/Brentwood, Tenn.

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EXTRA POINT
I'm headed out the door as soon as this is posted to drive 45 minutes north and pick up the much-anticipated blades for my electric tractor. This is the set I ordered in place of the blades the repair shop ordered that were to arrive between July 3 and 9, but seemingly have been lost in transit. I'll drop the new blades off at the shop on my way back home and have been told they will be put on in no time. Then all that will be left is getting the tractor delivered before finally attacking my overgrown field. Fingers crossed there are no more hiccups!

Touchdown Dear Old Dartmouth

This is an oldie-but-goodie posted just two days ago and listed this morning as having had "no views." Gotta love the Walt & Ernie's cover photo choice. ;-)

 

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From Dartmouth football's social media account comes a series of photos of Dartmouth football coach Sammy McCorkle tossing out the first pitch at an Upper Valley Nighthawks summer baseball game. The Nighthawks play in the wood-bat New England Collegiate Baseball League.

All smiles as Robert L. Blackman Head Football Coach Sammy McCorkle threw out the first pitch at @UVNighthawks baseball game last weekend.#TheWoods pic.twitter.com/3knXxQYlvq

— Dartmouth Football (@DartmouthFTBL) July 21, 2024

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Following up on yesterday's posting about Niko Lalos '20, his former teammate Isaiah Johnson '22 – who grad transferred for two years at Syracuse – is on the Miami Dolphins' roster as a corner heading into training camp. The Fins' first practice will be on Sunday.

The website Spotrac describes the contact earned by the former Big Green and Orange standout this way (LINK):

Isaiah Johnson signed a 3 year, $2,847,500 contract with the Miami Dolphins, including $17,500 signing bonus, $50,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $949,167. In 2024, Johnson will earn a base salary of $795,000 and a signing bonus of $17,500, while carrying a cap hit of $800,833 and a dead cap value of $50,000.

Keep in mind, he still has to make the team to earn the base salary.

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EXTRA POINT
Watching the Open championship on Saturday I was struck by a bit of a resemblance between pro golfer Justin Rose and Hamilton "Ham" Porter, the catcher in the movie The Sandlot famous for the saying, "You're killing me, Smalls."

OK, Rose is skinny in comparison to the chubby catcher, but hey, even Mrs. BGA could see a hint of a  resemblance when we pulled out the DVD and re-watched the sweet 1993 film. It still makes me laugh even when I know half the lines, like this classic offered by Ham when his rag-tag team was challenged:

57 And Counting

OK, this posting on the New Orleans Saints' USA Today page is based on the former Dartmouth standout's uniform number, I missed it a little over a week ago, and there's a glaring typo in the first line, but it's summer and not much is happening, so cut me a break. ;-)

Find the piece HERE. It ends this way:

 If Tanoh Kpassagnon misses most of the season with his Achilles injury, as is expected, that opens up a slot for someone like Lalos to climb the depth chart. But he’ll have to prove he’s a better option than rookie free agent Trajan Jeffcoat or maybe even Payton Turner. Lalos has the size the Saints covet at the position and more pro experience than other players in the competition. He just needs to put it all together with a strong summer.

Find Lalos' New Orleans Saints bio HERE and his old Dartmouth bio HERE.

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EXTRA POINT
We watch the Nightly News on NBC with Lester Holt most evenings and I think the network generally does a balanced job covering the news. But there's one thing lately that I've found annoying, and that is seeing more and more slotting of "advance" stories on the Paris Olympics as part of the Nightly News broadcast.

I don't mean to be a kvetch. While I'm not a big fan of Synchronized Swimming, Rhythmic Gymnastics, BMX Cycling or, I can't believe I'm writing this, "Breaking," I actually like the Olympics. The problem is NBC Nightly News is supposed to be a news program.

Gee, do you think there's a chance NBC's news judgement might be clouded by the fact that the network owns broadcast rights for the Summer Olympics and that it will be dedicating a record 243.5 hours of time on its basic network to airing the Games over the next few weeks?

In case you are wondering, NBC paid $7.65 billion for the rights to broadcast the Olympics through 2032 – so get ready for lots and lots of advance stories about the Games during the Nightly News in years to come, whether they constitute news or not.

Strong Work

From FootballScoop:

Dartmouth (FCS - NH): Dartmouth College is looking for a volunteer Strength and Conditioning/Sports Science intern for the 2024 Fall term, starting September 16th and completing December 6th. Applicants will have the opportunity to work with 34 sports, including football. This is a curriculum based, experience and education focused internship program. Selected applicants will gain valuable experience coaching. The internship curriculum aims to develop future leaders in the field of athletic performance by educating interns on: developing relationships with athletes and staff, being a member of a performance team, designing training programs, nutrition for sport performance, sport science, and creating professional documents, among other topics. Dartmouth College competes in NCAA Division 1 athletics as a member of the Ivy League. Interested candidates can apply to James.M.Baker@dartmouth.edu.

Find the actual posting HERE.

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EXTRA POINT
If you've been a regular visitor to this site you've seen a good number of photos of the mountain views from our Vermont hillside home. (Newbies might want to scroll down this post to see what I'm talking about.) Today, a look at the view from the top of our hill, looking down at our house and the views to the mountains beyond. That Certain Nittany Lion '16 shot this pic of the full moon last night.

Click photo to enlarge.

Mack Tough

Pennsylvania's News Item has a piece about former Dartmouth linebacker Macklin Ayers '24  as he goes through summer drills prior to his grad transfer season at the University of Massachusetts. From the story (LINK):

There is a jump from Football Championship Subdivision (Dartmouth) to the Football Bowl Subdivision, but Ayers said his time at Dartmouth prepared him for the jump.

“I played some great competition and had great teammates at Dartmouth, so I feel it really did prepare me,” Ayers said. “I was ready for it.”

He has noticed differences, though, since joining the highest level of college football.

“I expected it, but the speed is a little faster,” Ayers said. “Guys are flying out there. If you don’t run full speed, you’re going to look slow. You’ve got to run with those guys.”

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From a player his his first year out of Dartmouth to one a year away from suiting up for the Big Green: An SI High School story headlined Top 10 returning South Carolina high school quarterbacks heading into 2024 football season features a Dartmouth commit who listed this way (LINK):

Jaden Cummings, Senior, Summerville
Cummings threw for 2,928 yards and 32 touchdowns with 8 interceptions while completing 68.2 percent of his passes. The Dartmouth commit added four rushing touchdowns.

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The Dartmouth sports publicity football page expands on yesterday's BGA note about linebacker Micah Green being a nominee to the AFCA Good Works Team HERE. 

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The United Football League held its college draft this week and each team could select 10 players. While most players taken were from the FBS ranks, the Memphis Showboats grabbed two FCS wide receivers with one a familiar name

Yale pass catcher Mason Tipton was the lone Ivy League chosen. Interestingly, Memphis also drafted Holy Cross standout Jalen Coker. The other eight Memphis players drafted were all from the FBS. (LINK)

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The Roger Federer-signed football helmet Dartmouth athletics auctioned off now has been followed by a Federer-signed Big Green tennis racket HERE.

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EXTRA POINT
I held off as long as I could in hopes that the AWOL lawn tractor would make an appearance but to paraphrase John Muir, "The grass is calling and I must mow." I put in a few hours yesterday and will get out there again today. I can't do anything about the field but I can at least make the lawn look presentable.

For those keeping score, the replacement blades – the last part of the Great Electric Tractor Rehabilitation of 2024 – were supposed to be delivered to the shop between July 3 and July 9 but they haven't yet arrived and I fear have been lost in transit. That being the case, I ordered a second set Tuesday that was originally supposed to be delivered to the store as early as today. They are now slated to be there "by Wednesday."

Per the repair shop, the tractor will be ready within an hour of the blades arriving – with the last hiccup being to get the thing trailered to our house.

And if the tractor doesn't get here soon? The way our field is growing, I may have to buy a couple of goats.