Dartmouth has had six football players chosen to the All-Ivy League team three times. Can you name them all? (The guess here is you can get three or four. Some people will get five but precious few will get all six.)
The answer is just above today's Extra Point.
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With classes now in session (virtually right now) The Dartmouth has come back to life and today it features a piece about senior athletes electing to finish their careers elsewhere as graduate transfers. Among those mentioned and quoted in the story is football receiver and jack-of-all-trades Drew Estrada. From the story (LINK):
Estrada will fulfill his lifelong dream of playing in the Big-12 after committing to Baylor University. He documented his transfer journey on Twitter, revealing other offers from Florida State University, Texas Christian University and the University of Utah, among others. Estrada will head to Baylor this spring to take classes and get a head start on his MBA before finishing his collegiate football career with the Bears this fall.
He told the paper:
“I wasn't able to visit any of the places that offered me [a spot], so it was all about really just the conversations that I had with the coaches and the rest of the staff and what I really felt most comfortable with,” Estrada said. “At the end of the day, that was Baylor.”
Estrada credits his coaches for helping him find his new home:
“As time progressed, I was talking to them about my options, and it became more clear that I really didn't have many option, I couldn't stay at Dartmouth, and they knew that, and they really helped me a lot in the recruiting process, just by being able to reach out to their contacts and … get my name out there a little bit.”
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While Estrada and his former teammates will have to wait for the fall to get back on the field it's not so for players at most FCS schools. The Cowboys of McNeese State actually began preseason practice Wednesday in anticipation of their Feb. 13 opener against Tarleton. (LINK)
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As of now, 21 schools at the FCS level have announced they will not play this spring, the latest being Saint Francis, the Northeast Conference school in Loretto, Pa. Surprisingly, the decision not to compete in football this spring was not a response to the surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths. The Red Flash will still be conducting two seasons of sports in the spring. From a Saint Francis release (LINK):
The university seeks to pursue a successful 2021 season for winter and spring sport student-athletes whose 2020 seasons were abruptly cut short by the pandemic. The determination helps to ensure unaffected Fall 2021 competition for fall student-athletes.
And the explanation?
. . . (T)he decision to limit Spring 2021 competition to winter and spring teams with conference-sponsored championships will assist in greatly decreasing the amount of out-of-state travel for Saint Francis students while also decreasing the number of out-of-state visitors to campus. A significant portion of the Saint Francis student community are student-athletes. Hosting Spring 2021 competition for only winter and spring teams will help to mitigate the risk of virus exposure for the broad campus community which is paramount for the institution.
Green Alert Take: Uh . . .
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New Arizona football coach Jedd Fisch on the hiring of defensive coordinator Don Brown, who held the same role at Dartmouth, Yale, Brown and most recently Michigan (LINK):
"Today is a huge day for Arizona football as we have the opportunity to welcome Dr. Blitz to our football program. ... He is incredibly passionate and a phenomenal teacher. He brings an energy and enthusiasm to play an attacking style of defense, one in which all former and current players, football alumni and our fan base will be proud of and genuinely excited to watch on Saturdays in the fall."
Green Alert Take: As an old friend of Donnie's but also a Penn Stater who was at cross purposes with him coaching at Michigan, I'll gladly go back to rooting for him.
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Dartmouth's three-time members of the All-Ivy League first team:
Defensive end Tom Csatari— 1971-73
Running back Nick Schwieger— 2009-11
Linebacker Jack Traynor — 2017-19
Linebacker Zack Walz — 1995-97
Punter Alex Ware — 2000-02
Linebacker Reggie Williams — 1973-75
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EXTRA POINT
Here on our hill in rural Vermont we have a well instead of town water. With precious little rain last summer I started to wonder about the well running dry. Fortunately that didn't happen.
We have barely six inches of snow at the stake out front of our house right now and that's not a lot. There have been years when the three-foot stake has disappeared by now. For perspective, the Vermont Ski Areas Association reports just 37 percent of downhill trails are open right now, compared to 70 percent at this time last year. And there's no snow or rain in the forecast.
There aren't many advantages to being cooped up in our houses these days but when it comes to our well, maybe it's not a bad thing. This isn't exactly breaking news, but it's not like the washing machine is getting much of a workout. Since putting away my shorts last fall I've got a rotation of two pairs of pants going, with the rest hanging forlornly in my closet. And seriously, how often do flannel shirts or sweatshirts need to be washed? Underwear, sure, but Mrs. BGA has me so stocked up in that department I could go a month or more before seeing the bottom of my top dresser drawer.
Oh, and don't tell anyone, but instead of showering every day and heading out to practice, meeting people for interviews or doing research for a story, I'm sitting here at the keyboard thinking about that old joke about taking a bath every Saturday . . . whether I need one or not.
I've got my fingers crossed that we get a healthy snow before long and that April showers live up to their reputation this spring, but with enough other things to worry about I'm glad our well won't be one of them.
