A short video went up this week on the MVP: Mobile Virtual Player YouTube account under the headline, Practice During COVID: Dartmouth Football Uses Multiple SPRINT Robotic Dummies To Stay Safe & Ready:
King also served as a quality control coach with Dartmouth College in 2019 prior to joining Washington. Dartmouth finished 9-1 and won an Ivy League title during her time there.
Bianca Smith '12, a former Dartmouth softball player, was hired by the Boston Red Sox earlier this month, making her the first black woman to coach in professional baseball. (LINK)
And Callie Brownson – who preceded Jennifer King at Dartmouth – earlier this season became the first woman to serve as an NFL position coach when she she was pressed into action for the Cleveland Browns when they played the Jacksonville Jaguars and COVID-19 sidelined several coaches. Brownson is the Cleveland team's chief of staff.
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Speaking of coaching news, a friend of BGA shared a link to something that went unnoticed in this electronic precinct when it was announced last winter. Sanders Davis '14, a former offensive lineman for the Big Green, was hired as the offensive line coach at Rice University last March, marking a meteoric rise from high school coach to grad assistant to full-time position coach. (LINK)
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And speaking of offensive linemen, Dartmouth was left at the altar by a big guy who chose instead to accept a preferred walk-on offer in the Big Ten. From 247Sports (LINK):
Rutgers continues to add more preferred walk-ons to its class of 2021 and yesterday, Holy Cross Prep (Delran, N.J.) offensive lineman Terrence Salami became the latest one to join the program. Salami committed to Rutgers over an offer from Dartmouth while a host of other FCS schools were showing interest, including Fordham and LIU.
Here's the kicker on Salami's recruitment by the Scarlet Knights: "(S)pecial teams coach Adam Scheier headed up that effort." Scheier is a Dartmouth '95.
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Today's Dartmouth has a story under the headline, Ahead of Ivy League decision, spring sports brace for likely restrictions. From the story (LINK):
According to (Dartmouth women's tennis coach Bob) Dallis, the Ivy League has not given much information to teams about what to expect — other than that they should not expect a normal season‚ leaving coaches to speculate. He thinks Ivy League-only competition is the most likely option if there is a season.
And . . .
Additionally, Dartmouth’s school-wide restrictions and the reduced on-campus enrollment prohibit teams from being on campus to practice as a full unit, further minimizing the likelihood of regular intercollegiate competition.
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Marist, which was supposed to play the second part of a home-and-home against Dartmouth on Memorial Field last fall, is one of the latest schools to opt out of spring football. From a Marist release (LINK):
"Unfortunately, at this point the threat of the COVID-19 virus has not diminished as we had hoped it would this past fall," Marist Director of Athletics Tim Murray said. "The overall landscape regarding this pandemic has not improved, and by most metrics, it has gotten worse. In the best interests of our student-athletes and our campus community, this is the unfortunate decision we had to make. Words can't express the disappointment this decision has caused for our athletes."
North Carolina Central also announced its decision to forgo spring football and Northern Colorado has said it has elected not to play conference games and will instead consider other opportunities in late spring.
Green Alert Take: I clearly remember last spring when the first murmurs started suggesting the possibility that the 2020 college football season might be in danger. It's early, but given that at virtually every step of the way the pandemic seems to have outpaced dire projections, Dr. Anthony Fauci's statement yesterday, while optimistic on the surface, must have college football players, coaches and fans wondering. From a Yahoo report (LINK):
Fauci went on to say that if the US could vaccinate 70% to 85% of people by the end of summer, it could approach a "degree of normality" by fall. He described this as the "best-case scenario."
Green Alert Take II: Let the murmurs begin.
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An ESPN story headlined In Joe Biden's White House, sports and politics may retreat to their own corners includes video of the president's standout high school football career at Archmere Academy. From the story (LINK):
"Over our high school career, I threw Joe 20 touchdown passes," said Bill Peterman, Biden's high school quarterback, who went on to play at the Coast Guard Academy. He added, laughing: "Joe caught 19 of them."
A Yahoo piece, The story of Joe Biden, Football Star, adds more detail HERE.
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An Axios trivia note reminds us that "Five schools have produced a U.S. president and a Super Bowl-winning QB." Can you name them? (LINK)
Answer after the Extra Point ;-)
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EXTRA POINT
Years ago, when I somehow convinced Mrs. BGA that we would make a good team, I made her just one promise. It's something we laugh about often.
I told her, and this is a verbatim quote, "It will never be boring."
I'd like to think I was right. But then came the pandemic. Dinners out? Nope. Breakfast out, Mrs. BGA's favorite? Nope. Our regular movie nights at The Nugget? Not anymore.
Weekend road trips when I covered Dartmouth football games? Not this year. Visits to and visits from family? Sorry. Anything else? Not much.
Apart from our socially-distanced VW camper trip last fall, we've done nuthin' in almost a year except watch TV together, read books, work on an occasional jigsaw puzzle, hike and hop in the car for the rare drive.
Finally, after all these years, it actually is boring.
But here's the thing we have come to realize. Sometimes boring isn't such a bad thing, if you know what I mean ;-)
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Axios Trivia Answer
The five schools that have produced a U.S. president and a Super Bowl-winning quarterback:
Miami (Ohio): Benjamin Harrison, Class of 1852/Ben Roethlisberger
Michigan: Gerald Ford, Class of 1935/ Tom Brady
Stanford: Herbert Hoover Class of 1895/John Elway/Jim Plunkett
Navy: Jimmy Carter, Class of 1947/Roger Staubach
Delaware: Joe Biden, Class of 1965/Joe Flacco
