Tuesday, December 08, 2020

Another 'Offer" For Estrada

To the list of suitors for Dartmouth product Drew Estrada '20 add Baylor University. Other offers for the wide receiver/returner that have gone public come from Florida State, SMU, Utah, Rice, Western Kentucky and Texas State.

Word is that Drew had been planning to make his decision in early December so an announcement of where he'll continue his football career as a grad assistant could be coming any day.
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NIKO LALOS NOON UPDATE from Giants.com (LINK):
The New York Giants activated rookie defensive lineman Niko Lalos and quarterback Clayton Thorson for a Week 13 game against the Seattle Seahawks, but per NFL rules, both have now reverted back to the practice squad.
For Lalos, this move is significant because he’s been activated in back-to-back weeks meaning if the Giants want him on game day once again, they’ll need to sign him to the 53-man roster or make him subject to waivers. And given how well Lalos has played, opening him up to waivers could be dangerous.
Duane Brooks and Niko Lalos (Dartmouth photo)

I can tell you that numerous times over the past four years Duane Brooks, Dartmouth's defensive line coach, had a twinkle in his eye whenever I brought up the name Niko Lalos. As it turns out, Brooks was tipping off more than a few people that he believed he had a diamond in the rough in the future New York Giant. A terrific NJ.com piece posted yesterday under the headline, Who the heck is Giants’ Niko Lalos, and why is LeBron James tweeting about him? Here’s the story includes this (LINK):

Brooks is long-time friends with two Giants coaches — defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and defensive line coach Sean Spencer.
Five years ago, he called them to rave about a rail-thin, 225-pound defensive end — “the ultimate nerd,” Brooks said — they needed to keep an eye on. At the time, Graham was coaching with the Patriots. Spencer was at Penn State. Brooks, Dartmouth’s defensive line coach since 2014, hadn’t even coached Lalos yet, when he told them: “I got one. He’s going to be special.”
“He always talked about him,” Spencer said. “He always used to say: ‘One thing he can do is run. I don’t know if he can play in the pros yet, but he can run. If he can run, he has a chance. He always said that about him. He was dead on.”

The story offers more detail on how Brooks was far more than just a coach for Lalos. From the piece:

Brooks became his father figure, something Lalos missed out on as a kid. His dad bolted to work on a farm in rural Ohio when Lalos was a child, and for nearly 15 years, he never heard a word from him as his single mother worked as a teacher and shuttled him to football practice.

And . . . 

Brooks came into Lalos’ life when he committed to Dartmouth, rather than walk-on at Ohio State. Recently, Tim Witkowski, his father, did too. And that’s because of Brooks. During Lalos’ senior season, his dad started calling him, but Lalos was resistant to a reunion.

Brooks told Lalos, “One day, he’s probably going to come back in your life, you’ve got to accept him and say, ‘It’s OK’. Or, don’t and say you don’t want him around, but why would you want to carry that burden?”

Lalos graduated with a degree in economics in March, just as the pandemic hit. His mother had to be in Florida with Lalos’ cancer-stricken grandmother, so, at Brooks’ prodding, Lalos called his father. He told him — if you are willing to be there for me, I’ll let you back in my life.

And finally . . .

Now they talk once every other week.

“It’s working out,” Brooks said.

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Love this that Lalos reTweeted:

(Click HERE if that didn't load.) 

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From a Dartmouth press release (LINK):

With COVID-19 cases increasing across the country, including in Grafton County, the campus residential move-in for the undergraduate winter term will be delayed, Provost Joseph Helble said today in a message to the community. Winter-term classes will begin as planned, on Jan. 7, and will initially be held remotely for all undergraduates.

Students currently scheduled to move in on Jan. 5 will shift to Jan. 16, and students scheduled to move in on Jan. 6 will shift to Jan. 17.

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EXTRA POINT 
I was checking out a website last evening while doing some prep work for today's BGA Daily and had to do one of those annoying CAPTCHA tests where you click all the boxes that show traffic lights, or crosswalks, or buses to prove you are not a robot.

This time I had to click on all the boxes with taxis, which was a new one for me.

Interesting, I thought. It's never "Click on all the boxes that have cats," or "All the boxes that have baseballs." It seems it is always something to do with roads and traffic. Is there a reason for that?

With a little Googling I learned why that might be. It may be old news to you, but it could be those annoying tests are helping to develop artificial intelligence to make self-driving cars smarter. Read more about that HERE.

Green Alert Take: Look, as annoying as those CAPTCHA things are, if they keep an 18-wheeler from plowing into me from behind bring 'em on and I won't complain anymore. Not much, at least.

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