Official polls are out for two of the conferences represented on the 2021 Dartmouth schedule as is the poll for the Ivy League's sister conference, and that last one features a big surprise.
First, season-opening foe Valparaiso is picked sixth in the Pioneer Football League with former Dartmouth opponents Marist, Stetson and Butler predicted to challenge for last place – behind even FCS novitiate St. Thomas, which last year played in Division III.
Pioneer Football League Poll:
1. Davidson, 97 points (8 first-place votes)
2. San Diego, 93 (3)
3. Drake, 67
4. Dayton, 62
5. Presbyterian, 59
6. Valparaiso, 55
7. Morehead State, 51
8. Saint Thomas, 36
T-9. Marist, 35
T-9. Stetson, 35
11. Butler, 15
Oct. 16 opponent New Hampshire is picked fifth in the powerhouse CAA.
CAA Poll:
1. James Madison, 231 points (15 first-place votes)
2. Delaware, 222 (7)
3. Villanova , 194
4. Richmond, 169 (2)
5. New Hampshire , 135
6. Rhode Island, 121
7. Towson, 115
8. Albany, 114
9. Maine, 99
10. Stony Brook, 73
11. William & Mary, 61
12. Elon 50
And while Dartmouth doesn't have any games against Patriot League teams, the official conference poll finds old friend Colgate, long the 800-pound gorilla of the conference, picked in the basement.
Patriot League Poll:
1. Holy Cross, 71 points (11 first-place votes)
2. Fordham, 63 (3)
3. Lafayette, 44
4. Lehigh, 35
5. Bucknell, 30
6. Georgetown, 28
7. Colgate, 23
The poll for the Northeast Conference featuring Sept. 25 Dartmouth opponent Sacred Heart, will be released next week.
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NJ.com takes a look at the chances of players in the New York Giants camp making the team and lists them as Longshots, On the Bubble, Less Than 100 Percent and 100 Percent Safe. Former Dartmouth defensive end Niko Lalos falls in the Longshots category. Here's what the story says about him (LINK):
EDGE Niko Lalos: He was a fun story last year coming out of Dartmouth as a UDFA and making an impact on a few games, but he’s a long shot now.
Green Alert Take: Before you take that to the bank think about where such a story would have had Lalos a year ago . . . and that didn't turn out badly, did it?
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A Vermont publication writing about Vermont's Norwich Inn, directly across the Connecticut River from Hanover, tells how Dartmouth football played a role in the current owners buying it. From the Seven Days story (LINK):
The inn's more recent history can be traced to the Dartmouth-Columbia homecoming football game in the fall of 2005. Joe and Jill Lavin attended the game with their son, Tyler Lavin, who was a placekicker for Dartmouth and worked at the inn during college. At a tailgate party, Jill told an acquaintance who worked for the football team and the inn to tell the owners that her husband wanted to buy it, Joe recalled.
"I think she wanted me out of the house," he said with a laugh. "Two days later, I got an email from (then-owner) Tim Wilson that said, 'Well, it's not really for sale, but let's have a beer.'"
That beer turned into a long discussion that resulted in the Lavins purchasing the inn in 2006.
Tyler Lavin '05, holds the Dartmouth record with three field goals of 50 or more yards despite an injury that contributed to him not kicking a single field goal in his senior year. He booted a 50-yarder in the 2003 win over Harvard, a 51-yarder in a 24-22 win over Columbia in 2002 and a 52-yarder in a 2003 loss to Colgate. The 52-yarder is the longest by a Dartmouth kicker at least since the start of formal Ivy League play.
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An announcement of ticket sales for Penn football notes the nationally televised Oct. 1 game against Dartmouth will be "Youth Football Night," as well as "Teacher Appreciation Night." The posting also notes (LINK):
Fans will see some changes around Franklin Field, including all seating moved to the south side of the stadium.
Green Alert Take: Not sure if that was a cut-and-paste leftover, but Franklin Field is starting to have that Golden Gate Bridge feel. You know the apocryphal story about how once they get to the far side they need to go back the beginning and start painting it again? It just seems as if every time we are in Philly they are working on the grandstand. Seriously, haven't they already shifted fans a couple of times?
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EXTRA POINT
Our new electric car (no, not a Tesla ;-) offers what is called one-pedal driving. When you engage the one-pedal function instead of using the brake pedal you simply let up on the gas (sic) and the resistance of the motor slows/stops the car. That generates electricity and recharges the battery.
You still have the brake pedal for emergency stops, of course, but the one-pedal system is easy to adjust to and surprisingly effective. I've found I only rarely use my brakes in the EV.
Now, as you have read here before, we live on a pretty good hill here in Vermont. It is downhill virtually all the way into town, with some of the grade significant.
What I discovered last evening is that on the four-mile drive into town the car actually generates five miles of additional range.
My first thought was that if we ever have a power outage, I'll still be able to get into town. (Of course, given the topography between here and town, I could get there in a baby carriage if I had to ;-)
On the other hand, while I could get into town, if the EV were to be running low on juice it would prove pretty challenging getting back home because the drive up the hill eats up almost as much range as the drive down the hill generates.
