Are You Ready For Some Football?

Or at least practice?

Condition testing will take place this morning for those who haven't yet been put through their paces. The first practice is slated for this afternoon. Unfortunately, the forecast suggests we might have rain.

Look for a little something here on the blog during the day and an in depth story on the start of practice tonight on Green Alert Premium.

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Speaking of which, the 10 opponent previews wrapped up on BGA yesterday with a look at a Sacred Heart team that may be a bit of a surprise this fall. Check out the Connecticut Post for a story on the Pioneers' 215-pound running back who had a pretty good game against an SEC opponent as a freshman before transferring to Sacred Heart last year.

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The first FCS Coaches Poll is out. Ranked teams of some interest to Dartmouth fans:

9. UNH
22. Colgate
T-25 Holy Cross
26. Penn
47. Harvard

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Former linebacker Matt Royer '93 has teamed up with wife Kerry on children's book called Nightbear and Lambie. Matt, now an attorney, studied biology and painting at Dartmouth and did the illustrations for the book written by his wife. Check out the Nightbear and Lambie website.

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The Philadelphia Sports Daily writes about Penn football having to deal with the deaths of Dan Staffieri – the legendary Coach Lake – and defensive end Owen Thomas.

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I got a sneak peek at the yet-to-be unveiled new Dartmouth athletics website yesterday and you'll like what you see. Barring hiccups, look for it toward the second half of next month.

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His only pass went for a one-yard touchdown and his long run is just three yards (also for a touchdown). New Hampshire's Ricky Santos had better quarters than that against Dartmouth but hey, he's hanging in there with the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL. Find his stat page here.

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That Certain Hanover High Grad is filling out the Dartmouth freshman athlete information questionnaire this morning and the irony is rich. As the beat writer covering Dartmouth sports for a long time, I probably made more use of those questionnaires than anyone. In fact, I know I did.

Anyway, I used to complain (nicely, I hope ;-) about the forms not having enough room for all the honors and accomplishments of the incoming student-athletes. After tiring of my (nice, I hope ;-) complaints, the late SID Kathy Slattery Phillips called me in one day and suggested, in her own inimitable style, that if I didn't like the *&%+ form, why don't I redesign it? So I did.

Little did it occur to me that a few years later someone in my own home would be filling one out. I have a tear in my eye right now because I know Kathy would be so very proud of her little friend.

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Speaking of which, thanks to Dartmouth women's basketball coach Chris Wielgus for a "shoutout," to that Certain Hanover High Grad.

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By the way, my favorite part of the questionnaire is the request for "Something that might surprise people about me (I'm a twin, I've been on a game show, I bicycled across the country, etc.)"

Although it's the last line of the questionnaire, it's one of the first things I read and it can be gold for a writer.